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Calling All Units doesn’t set out to do anything new, it’s pretty much an online only version of Need for Speed: Pursuit. The new mechanics of chasing down others online with a group of others is indeed fun, and for the most part the online does work. The story does nothing exciting whatsoever, but it does teach the new mechanics and how they work. Fans of The Crew will likely get something out of this, but it's not nearly enough to turn The Crew into an essential game, either.
The overriding focus of any point-and-click adventure game has to be on the excellence of the story, well fleshed-out characters, as well as puzzles that are germane to the story and enhance it. On all these counts, I believe Demetrios delivers, notwithstanding a few minor stumbles. It is particularly welcome on the Vita platform, which lacks a wider range of games in this genre. The game runs smoothly with minimal loading times, and the bubble icon looks very cool indeed, to boot.
The game is deep, meaningful, and powerful. It's reflective, different, and beautiful. It may well end up being more divisive than Ueda's previous masterpieces, but that doesn't mean it's not a masterpiece, from one of the industry's true auteurs. Play this game. Even if you hate it, it's going to broaden your horizons around what games are truly capable of.
Overall Senran Kagura Bon Appetit! is fun, as the rhythm portions and the soundtracks that they use mesh well together. But let's not pull punches about this; this is a game that is going to be exclusively of interest to existing fans of Senran Kagura, and who are also fans of rhythm games. It's not going to convert anyone to the franchise, and unlike the likes of Persona 4 Dancing All Night, it's also not meaty enough as a rhythm game to appeal to people who aren't already deeply involved in the genre. It's pure fanservice.
This game alone catapults Square Enix's most important franchise right back into the circle of most elite properties in gaming, proves that AAA games can be intelligent and meaningful, and deserves every plaudit and accolade out there.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization augments the formula of past entries and largely succeeds by doing so.
Playing Exile’s End involves a lot more aimless running around than it should.
Dragon Ball: Fusions takes a familiar tale and style of play and decides to mix the whole formula up. Some aspects of the formula work better than others, but the end result is still an enjoyable experience that takes an overly well-known property and manages to make it fresh in several ways.
For strategy gaming veterans, Motorsport Manager will just feel right. There are a myriad of meaningful choices embedded into each part of the game, meaning that lovers of micromanagement will find themselves at home in Playsport Games’ take on the manager genre. Even if you’re not a big racing fan, it’s hard not to find the game’s competitive atmosphere appealing. It does take a particular kind of player to enjoy something like this however – there is a lot of reading and the tutorial doesn’t shy away from forcing all the necessary information to you at once. Prepare to lose the first few races, and lose them badly.
Ultimately Anime Studio Simulator comes to the table a bit rough around the edges but presents a charming story of a group of friends making an anime. Scenes such as going to an anime shop for “research” and the long list of team visits to the café craft an embodiment of playfulness and silly fun, which is, ultimately, embracing what som many of us love about anime in the first place.
This is one of those games which you could buy on a portable device and enjoy far more because of that.
Tyranny is an excellent RPG experience that has many of the hallmarks of great classic role-playing games while still making plenty of smart choices to modernise the experience for today's audience. Refined systems and a story where choices can often have some real consequence made my time with Tyranny rewarding, despite a disappointingly abrupt ending that left me wanting for more.
I know I'm often critical of big budget blockbusters, but the Assassin's Creed series has always been one I've enjoyed because of that historical context. This specific package of games has clearly been designed to fill a gap in Ubisoft's schedule for the series. It shows that none of the main Assassin's Creed games are going to age particularly well, but it also does a good job of highlighting - when freed of the expectations that come with being a blockbuster - that the real strengths of the series are far more subtle than the graphics or size of the cities that it renders.
Ittle Dew 2 has many good things going for it, but I am wondering whether Ittle might thrive more now if she sets off on her raft, unencumbered by trying to be part of another franchise's tradition, to discover a new land all her own.
In the end, Yesterday Origins is part of a resurgence of the old point and click adventure game. It certainly offers a unique story in the realm of video games. Fans of the genre will certainly get a kick out of the game, others may just be intrigued enough by the story to try it out. But will it stand out as a classic in the genre when we're getting so many of them at the moment? Probably not.
Taking a shallow sub-mode from other games, and presenting it in a no-frills manner, might make for a competent and reliable shooter, But Killing Floor 2 also fails to be anything more than a diversion from other, better shooters as a result. It's utterly useless in singleplayer, and for multiplayer hijinks there are more creative examples out there.
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.