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So did the third episode of Minecraft Story Mode set a good precedent for the remainder of the series? Absolutely. Did it clear the bad taste left behind by episode two? Absolutely not. It makes me hopeful for episodes four and five to continue the upswing, but I'm hesitant to believe it will.
Being left with a real desire for a much bigger game is certainly preferable than struggling to care about it at all, but Image & Form has been teasing us with the potential for SteamWorld for some time now, and while I hope this is a big success for the team, because I want to see SteamWorld continue to grow, I really need for the next game in the series to be truly ambitious.
If the idea of truly great dungeon exploration appeals to you, Ruzar is a must buy. It's rare that you see a game focus so deliberately on one facet of their genre's appeal, yet Ruzar manages it and absolutely nails it too. Just don't go in expecting a deep character building experience or a rich plot - you're going in alone, and it's just you against the dungeon.
There have been a lot of retro games over the last few years, but I have found the ones that tend to be the most successful are the ones that blend in some sort of modern convention. In this case, the resource system that allows for ship improvement is easily the best part of what is otherwise a solid if unspectacular shooting game. If you enjoy a good retro shooter, Zotrix should be pretty appealing.
The base gameplay in Mayan Death Robots is quite entertaining. I certainly enjoyed the pacing, and could appreciate some of the tactical depth lurking beneath its humorous, brightly coloured surface. But lacking online multiplayer as it does, this is going to come across as a severely limited game to too many people for its own good.
More than anything, it's the crushing lack of originally that really does let down Baseball Riot. I don't think it's that hard to do something original, even when sticking to proven ideas. Heck, Tennis to the Face did just that, and the lack of innovation from that game to this one makes Baseball Riot seem like a cheap cash in. And a cheap cash in on a cheap mobile-style game is not a good combination.
I highly recommend playing Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair with a friend or three. And then, only if you're all fans of incredibly cheesy science fiction films. If you can get the right group together, the fact there are over 100 levels to play through means this will be a lot of long-lasting fun. The team behind this game knows exactly what it is trying to deliver, and in terms of the pacing and explosive combat, Earth Defense Force usually delivers nicely.
dozens of well-spent hours to genre fans and is enough to cover up for the gratuitous
So, while Yo-Kai Watch is pitched firmly at children, I found it to be utterly delightful, absorbing, and lengthy. I'm about 60 hours in, at the end of the main quest, but still have enough side quests to keep me going for a while. I can't see it resonating quite so powerfully in the west, and certainly Pokemon's extreme depth and competitive scene isn't going to be threatened by the gameplay on offer here. At the same time, there is a much stronger emphasis on the human characters, narrative, and setting in this adventure, and on that side of things, I haven't seen a game better suited for children (but one the adults can still enjoy) for quite some time.
The good news is that after the bomb that was Mario Tennis on the 3DS, Camelot turned things around and nailed the 3DS' Mario Golf. I do hope that there's history repeating there because a really, really good Mario Golf game would be either the perfect way for the Wii U to go out, or the perfect title to launch with the Nintendo NX next year.
All of that being said, I do have to point out that for people with young families, this is a good Christmas purchase. It's simple enough for people of all ages to enjoy, and, as I've already mentioned a couple of times through the review, it's utterly adorable.
Typoman deserves plenty of credit for creating a visually interesting world and one that requires players to figure out a way to proceed through it by literally spelling things out. This makes for a great initial impression due to the uniqueness of the game mechanic. However, the goodwill that it builds at the start does starts to suffer as you realise just how limited the spelling mechanic can be, and start to run into the rough edges around he platforming.
I'd like to say that Beyond: Two Souls is for everyone. I honestly believe that anyone can enjoy it, but that there are many out there that would not approach it the right way simply because their expectations of a video game are not what this offers. I did not know a thing of Cage's work prior to reviewing Beyond: Two Souls, but the excellent storytelling, the spot-on acting and the technical prowess that explodes out of the PlayStation 4 has made me a huge fan instantly.
I do believe that Rodea could have been a good little game. The ambition it has going for it is certainly appreciable, but ambition not put to good use is ambition wasted. Unfortunately, despite being one of the few high profile third party Wii U games, Rodea is a dud.
This is a simulation experience that drills into far greater detail than and typical sports games do, offering a more strategic line of thinking and slower pacing. This makes the title slow to get into, but the end result is a rewarding experience that football fans should enjoy.
Devil Survivor 2 is not even close to Atlus' finest moment, but it is a very fine game nonetheless. It does a good job of offering a narrative with thematic depth, and mixes in well with some deep character development and monster fusing mechanics. If it wasn't for the generally uninspired effort to pull the game into shape from a visual perspective, it would be in the running to be one of the better examples of the genre on a console loaded with them.
Primal Carnage: Extinction certainly sets itself apart from other online multiplayer shooters out there. With a few different modes and a couple of maps for each mode thrown in, there is some degree of fun to be had in the game. How long that fun lasts though is simply based on how much enjoyment a person can get out of online shooters in general, and just how much patience they have for balancing issues and mechanic design flaws.
Trails in the Sky: Second Chapter is a perfect sequel to the first entry. It offers some subtle improvements, while also keeping the focus on what Legends of Heroes does best; that narrative. It's traditional, but classy, and well worth the time it takes to play through it all.
Star Wars Battlefront is fun, but it doesn't take long for that fun to be reduced to monotony. Spawn, shoot, die, repeat. It would have also been nice to have a stronger offline component to the game. Even if it was something as simple as battling against bots in the different modes available. Maybe something along those lines will be included in one of the upcoming four DLC packs, so we'll have to wait and see what EA does with this game over the next year. In the end, it's a good game for Star Wars enthusiasts, but it still has lots to work on if it wants to stand up at the pinnacle of first-person shooters.
Legacy of the Void is a triumphant swan song for the Starcraft 2 trilogy, boasting a fantastic Campaign mode, fun casual multiplayer and a robust competitive multiplayer scene. Starcraft is a game about planning and forethought, and that's definitely something that Blizzard had in mind when making Legacy of the Void: in its aims to finish the Starcraft narrative, accommodate for new players and reinvigorate the competitive scene, this game is everything that it needs to be. There's really something for everyone in this title regardless of your experience in RTS games, with a great story, heaps of different ways to experience the game's content for all skill levels and for those who want to be the very best, there's a gauntlet of tough opponents just waiting for you.