IGN's Reviews
World of Final Fantasy is a humorous adventure that is just too cute for words, but its combat and exploration aren’t diverse enough to support a campaign nearly as long as this one. However, I did enjoy it for a long time - more than 30 hours - before it wore out its welcome.
Battlefield 1 does an amazing job of transplanting the fantastic chemistry of the series’ traditional multiplayer action into the weaponry and vehicles of World War I. The era brings with it not only a visually striking backdrop for classic game modes like Conquest and the compelling new Operations, but a distinct personality that touches everything from its rich lineup of archaic and distinctively designed weapons to the somber anthology of character-driven stories in its brief but surprisingly poignant single-player scenarios. While maps are not its strong point, Battlefield 1’s dynamically destructible environments and the minutely balanced mechanics of its classes and gadgets keep the moment-to-moment first-person shooting varied and engaging.
The Painted World of Ariandel presents a land that’s both enticing and dangerous, and there’s plenty of challenges to face even if you won’t have to face them too many times. However, unless you really love dueling in PvP arenas and can find sustained interest there, this adventure may serve as more of an appetizer than a full course meal.
Driveclub VR is Sony’s VR racing welcome wagon and, in small doses, I think it does its job of demonstrating the potential of VR racing. The racing genre is perfect for seated VR, and Driveclub VR delivers a functional example of that experience. Unfortunately, that’s really about all it delivers. Beyond that it’s just a pre-existing game with fewer features and graphics that make me feel like I have the vision of a 95-year-old man.
WWE 2K17 doesn’t make any big, drastic changes, but its smart gameplay tweaks have revitalized match types I’d ignored the past few years. I really miss 2K Showcase, and 2K17 is still weak in areas that I feel should have been shored up by now, but its excellent combat, and generous amounts of customization help it retain its title.
There is some single-player content, but other than the challenging wave-based survival mode, which is a great way to learn the abilities and limitations of a newly unlocked ship, the appeal wears off quickly. What passes for campaign missions are so quick and easy they’re barely there at all, and the enemy ships are so weak they might be made of tinfoil. There’s also a “scout” mode where you search uninhabited maps for hidden items to reveal extra bits of lore, which couldn’t be less exciting. Not knowing anything about EVE Online’s lore the story of cloned pilots signing up as mercenaries didn’t do much for me, though the voice acting isn’t bad.
Though it has a few unsettling, adrenaline-pumping moments, Here They Lie fails to deliver believable psychological horror. It definitely tries — it’s filled with the requisite creepy, gargling monster sounds and reality-bending that can contribute tension to scares — but it doesn’t blend its horror elements well enough to be consistently terrifying. Relying so heavily on overwrought surrealism and a few haunted house-style jumps to create tension rather than fostering any true discomfort (besides nausea) leaves it feeling flat.
Wang's stupid wisecracks kept me smiling from start to finish, and the variety of melee and ranged combat and the loot that dropped from it was satisfying enough that I came back with friends for more. It's great fun in solo or in co-op, and its small degree of randomization is enough to keep the action fresh for at least a few runs.
WRC 6 reminds me a lot of the PlayStation 2-era Evolution-developed WRC games; it’s an earnest attempt to capture the spirit of a niche motorsport series and, most importantly, it feels good to play thanks to a wide selection of tight-quarters race tracks, and decent handling. It might not hold a candle to Dirt Rally in its car selection or look and feel, but it’s not bad for developer Kylotonn’s sophomore effort on the series. If Milestone’s stint turned you off, as it did me, now could be a good time to get reacquainted.
At the end of the day, we’re mostly just stacking blocks in Tumble VR, and that’s rarely going to be exciting. Even when it challenged me with head-scratching feats of structural engineering it bored me with the mundanity of its theme. Adding onto that some of the PlayStation VR’s inherent limitations with tracking, and it was as often frustrating as rewarding.
Even if you don’t have a PSVR, Rez Infinite is still the most complete version of an imaginative cult classic with deceptively nuanced gameplay, but if you do, it’s also an impressive glimpse into the transportive power of virtual reality.
Mafia 3's strong characters and confident storytelling kept me engaged, even if the gameplay rarely delivered anything but bog-standard and repetitive open-world action. That's a bummer, because Lincoln is an incredible protagonist and New Bordeaux is a fantastic setting thematically, and it would've been great to see them put to better use.
I never expected to compare Gears of War 4 to The Force Awakens, but I couldn’t be happier to do so. Like the latest chapter in the story from a time long ago in a galaxy far, far away, Gears of War 4 is directed by a new generation of creators, shares a lot of similar narrative structures to the beloved first piece of the trilogy it succeeds, and is an experience you’ll walk away from with a big smile on your face – in campaign, Versus, and Horde modes alike. It’s about as good of a franchise reawakening as I could’ve hoped for. J.J. Abrams would no doubt appreciate what Gears 4 accomplishes.
Thumper’s brutal, breakneck speed and precision-based musical action kept me entranced for all nine of its bizarre, nightmarish stages, which contained enough nuanced high score-chasing tricks to demand several replays already. To really master Thumper’s many layers of rhythm-based mechanisms would take much more time than the 10 or so hours it takes to complete the first time – and that’s a challenge that I eagerly accept.
Rise of the Tomb Raider hasn’t lost its luster a year after its initial release. Bundled together with all of the content released so far, Lara’s already-packed adventure is now even bigger. And while Playing the new non-combat story mode, Blood Ties, with PlayStation VR was enjoyable (when I was in Comfort Mode, at least), and played normally it’s an interesting character study. The co-op enabled Endurance mode is also a new highlight.. For PS4 players just getting their first opportunity to play Rise of the Tomb Raider, 20 Year Celebration is a complete and amazing package.
Dragon Quest Builders is totally, thoroughly engaging. Its gameplay is accessible to kids while its dialogue offers enough sly references to keep Dad or Mom amused. Collecting, crafting, and building all sounds familiar, but this package encapsulates so much of the best parts of this creative process and wraps it in light roleplaying progression and storytelling. It doesn’t matter that there isn’t a multiplayer component, because it wouldn’t have contributed to the world. So that means this is a gold-standard RPG for the non-connected gamer to flex all their cerebral muscles wherever they want it to go.
You have to admire where The Tomorrow Children does innovate—particularly its look and social engineering—but it overly burdens you and bogs down progression with dragging resource collection and bureaucratic manipulation. Even though you immediately progress from a Prole to the ranks of the papered Bourgeoisie you're still tediously grinding for the man.
Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade's big multiplayer battles create some fun combat that captures the feel of the Warhammer 40K universe enough, but it currently doesn't offer the amount of content I'd expect from a $50 game. Balance and optimization issues also complicate the fun, as do missing elements in the shop and unfinished features that all suggest Eternal Crusade was released a bit too soon.
Paper Mario: Color Splash is a step in the right direction for the series after the 3DS’s Paper Mario: Sticker Star, continuing its shift from RPG to action-adventure game while also introducing some smart changes to its battle system. The beautiful Wii U graphics and playful humor stay true to the spirit of the Paper Mario franchise, but the story is straightforward and a bit bland. Inventive level design in the second act offers some much needed diversity to some of Color Splash's otherwise linear gameplay before the disappointing third act regresses into simple and uninteresting battles. Though Color Splash still isn't back to the high points of the first three games in the Paper Mario series, it's a strong step in the right direction.
Being Batman in Akrham VR is a great way to more intimately experience Rocksteady's universe and to search for clues in this brief mystery. However, the world and characters around you are largely rigid and unresponsive to your actions, which leaves a lot on the table for a game about a character known as much for his brawn as he is for his brains.