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The game is simple and fun and can pose a challenge to anyone who wants to find everything in the game. The developers had some really good ideas with the moon phases and to use real world time and weather. I think in the context of a more in-depth and purposeful game, that kind of feature would be distinctive and potent. Hopefully some other developers were paying attention.
The most creative that Game Freak has been with the franchise in quite some time, and players who had grown tired of the iterative approach the developer had been taking may well find this one a Renaissance for the series.
Football Manager 2017 is my favourite in the series so far. Aesthetically it can't hold up to games like FIFA that make the visual presentation a priority, but there are plenty of nice touches for the ever-evolving engine that help to sell the experience as you observe and coach it. Beyond that the depth here should appeal to fans of the sport, especially those willing to let the action take a back seat to strategy and preparation. With so many different options at your disposal, you can dig about as deep as you would like in your experience.
This is a game which tries to sell itself on its mechanics, but by constraint of budget, platform and other resources can’t quite live up to the game it wants to be.
The Little Acre exemplifies every reason indie point-and-click adventure games can still do more than hold a candle to the AAA shoot-em-ups with more brawn than brains and beauty combined. The story of a young single dad with a missing father and a rather rambunctious daughter touched my heart in ways I forgot video games could, and every time I had to put the controller down I yearned to just boot the console again and enter the phenomenal world The Little Acre takes place in.
Steins;Gate already demonstrated just how far the visual novel could be pushed towards an experience with genuine literary merit, and the sequel pushes things even further. This is a highly relevant game to some very real discussions that ethicists and moral philosophers will be pondering in the years ahead, and at the same time it tells a ripping, entertaining story. A real masterpiece on every level, and one of the best games I've played all year.
You'd be able to forgive Dungeon Bros if the action compensated for the misfiring sense of humour. But it doesn't. This is a slog and a grind of the highest order.
Last year I was willing to give the franchise a chance, hoping against hope that, it being the first game, future editions would be better. I am under no such illusions this time around.
Tumblestone deserves credit for being unique in a genre that often times plays things too safe and predictable.
If you can fight your way through it, you’ll find something quite unique. Lithium: Inmate 39 is a very thought-provoking horror game that’s managed to bring some wonderfully creative ideas to the genre.
I appreciate that multiplayer is a big deal in the Souls games, but this is the first time From Software has crafted a piece of DLC content that focuses almost entirely on that multiplayer experience, and I think this will fall flat with plenty of other Souls fans.
Seraph on a whole is brilliant and refreshing in its design. Having the player be able to concentrate on movement while the AI handles the aiming is an inspired idea and I honestly hope to see more of in the future, while the organic approach to difficulty and movement makes for a game that is mesmerising and deeply engaging from start to finish.
If you want cheap jump scares, Wick will do the job. If you’re after a more nuanced approach, one that goes beyond the superficial horror of sudden apparitions accompanied by heavy breathing, identical music, and a handful of different shaped insta-kill radii, then Wick is not for you. Wick is a blunt instrument – one designed not for players, but for observers of players. Aside from the occasional sudden jump caused by an inattentive ear, there is little of that creepy unease, that apprehensive discomfort, to elevate the overall horror experience.
Moto Racer 4 is not a bad game, but it is a shallow, arcade motorcycle racer. It might be perfectly serviceable, and average racer that is fun enough in short spurts, but it really doesn't do enough to separate itself from the racing pack in any meaningful or memorable way either.
Farming Simulator 17 is the best kind of game; it’s a game that offers more than just entertainment.
A small game that shows off all the artistic talents of the team. There's a real joyfulness in the concept of flight, as enabled by VR, and Unity has never looked better; if this is a sign of things to come from that engine then we're in for some wild times as developers of all sizes start creating more VR content for it. There's a purity and innocence to Eagle Flight so completely wondrous to behold that I wish Ubisoft created more of these kinds of games.
Watch Dogs 2 does a great job of demonstrating the potential perils of a too-connected world and improves upon the first game in multiple ways. This is not a guns over brains game - there is an interesting topic at play here about our society's dependence on technology and Ubisoft deserves credit for exploring this theme. The characters and narrative are leaps and bounds more engaging than the revenge tale the original game tried to paint.
In a way, Saturday Morning RPG is even more retro than its theme would suggest: it was retro when originally released back in 2012, and now its double the retro with ports to current generation consoles. Retro squared? Regardless of how much I can say retro in this paragraph, the word truly does represent the heart and soul of Saturday Morning RPG. At one point above I described battles as a "love story to the past," and that statement is at the core of all that Saturday Morning RPG is.
And BlazBlue really is gorgeous. Every character is animated in such a way that every movement they make reinforces their personalities. Every environment is a living, breathing thing that sets a meaningful scene and helps build the world around the characters. Because everything is 2D and quite flat, it’s easy to wish that all that storytelling and character building was funnelled into a more natural fit, but then again, with BlazBlue being such a successful franchise for so long now, it’s hard to argue that the developers and producers are making a mistake.
Nitpicking aside, Rhythm Heaven Megamix is still the definitive rhythm game for the 3DS. With a quirky sense of humour, simple gameplay and a jubilant aesthetic, this is a game sure to delight all players while training their sense of rhythm. After a week of playing, I found myself subconsciously tapping along to any music which played around me with impeccable timing, and if that’s not a glowing recommendation for this game then I’m not sure what is.