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Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is bigger than ever, and certainly more beautiful as well. This is the best iteration of the game so far, but your mileage may vary depending on what system you are playing it on.
I'm not the world's biggest fighting game fan. Those fighting games that I do enjoy (Blazblue, or Persona 4 Arena, for example) always offer something beyond the fighting mechanics to hook me in (narrative and characters, in those two examples). The fact that I've been playing Dead or Alive 5 for years now, and keep coming back for each new release (and continue to buy the DLC) is therefore proof that what is on offer here is something more than a simply entertaining fighting game. It might be decadent, and looking at the screenshots in this review will tell you if it's a decadence that make you uncomfortable, but the gameplay behind it is rock solid and perfectly precise. I can't see any scenario where I'm not still playing this for however long it takes for Koei Tecmo to get around to Dead or Alive 6.
Harold is a fun game for fans of the continuous runner genre, and against all odds it actually manages to take such a simple genre and build on it in a genuine and unique manner. It has a fairly steep learning curve, but despite taking on the role of an angel, the ability to hinder opponents is actually devilish fun.
Fans of the Saints Row series will enjoy the expanded scope of Gat Out Of Hell and the new world. Everyone else may want to instead stick with Saints Row IV, which has been re-released on current consoles, before venturing into the underworld with the expansion.
As a cricket nut, Don Bradman Cricket is the definitive version of the finest cricket game ever produced. It's also quite possibly the most limited "HD Remaster" yet produced for the console, but Big Ant has now cut its teeth on next-gen development, and I can't wait to see a proper sequel down the track to a game that I have spent more time playing over the past year than any other.
You should be left feeling bubbly after playing Grow Home. It's not perfect in execution, but given it was never meant to be a commercial product, it's easy to see why Ubisoft couldn't resist turning it into one - it's a bright, charming and original little game that has an irresistable sense of happiness to it.
Aside from the lack of co-op, I can't really think of a more engaging action game than Apotheon. Equally, I can't think of a game that fans of ancient Greek mythology will find more interesting than the story that this one weaves. Sorry, Kratos, but you've got nothing on Nikandreos.
While this last episode did not end on an explosive moment the way that Iron From Ice did, it was a sadly beautiful scene that will no doubt resonate with players, and keep them keen until the third episode releases. Hopefully the story can use its established foundation and these moments of emotional investment to drive the story forward as House Forrester attempts to survive the challenges circling in around them.
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds isn't going to convert anyone who sees beat 'em ups as mindless entertainment. Yet even when its ideas are half-baked in execution, the overwhelming style and ambition here make for one of the genre's more memorable entries in recent years. If you're in the market for a decent beat'em up, you'll have a tough time not to respecting 5pb's effort to breathe life into the genre.
Yet despite its weaknesses, Alphadia Genesis doesn't do anything outwardly wrong. It sets out to offer a nostalgic JRPG experience, and it achieves that. It might lack the style and substance of a truly good game, but I can think of worse ways for JRPG veterans to eat away a lazy Sunday or two than this.
If like me, you just enjoy a quality story and a few dozen hours spent exploring and battling through turn-based combat, then Avernum 2: Crystal Souls is worth coming back to as well.
But while Carbon Fire Studio has demonstrated it has real talent behind it in its first game, I find it to be a lot of effort wasted because I can't look past the fact that this game costs money. It's pocket change, sure, but it's still the cost of a coffee. A coffee I could then buy and drink while playing Flappy Bird or one of its dozens of free clones on my iPhone or iPad - portable platforms that are far more appropriate for this kind of experience.
The biggest problem with Gunman Clive 2 is that for all the attempts to expand on the original game's formula, it remains a very limited game. It's not just that it's over quickly, but it doesn't do anything to really make it something memorable. It's fun, it's not much more than that, but that might well be enough to give it a go.
I would have simply been content with Techland releasing another Dead Island game, as long as it came with some needed polish to help it realise its potential. Instead, we got Dying Light, a surprising mix of old and new, which has managed to once again rekindle my excitement for both the genre and the developer. It may stumble every so often, but Dying Light is still the most fun I've had in a while.
The calm before the storm, in other words, which (without giving spoilers) is also literally the case with Max's adventure. Dontnod though the badly underrated Remember Me and now Life Is Strange is quickly establishing itself as a premiere developer of arthouse games, and the only criticism I have of Life Is Strange is that I have to wait so long for the next episode.
This is the same game you should have played before. If you already own it complete with random map generator and expansions and have minimal interest in the online, then this remake might not have enough going for it to convince you to buy it. However, if by some chance you missed this game before and enjoyed other tactics game, or you're just looking to take on real people to see how good your strategy really is, then it's easy to recommend nabbing the update.
If you can move past that, then Re;Birth 2 is a fine remake of the finest Hyperdimension Neptunia game in the franchise. It pushes more boundaries and is a sharper satire than the other games in the series, as fine as they are, and that marks this one out as something special indeed.
Now that we're barrelling, battle-biceps exposed, into the conclusion of this critique/ nostalgia trip, I feel I must briefly attempt to convince you that a remaster of a remake of a nearly two decade old PS1 game is relevant by today's bustling gaming standards. To summarise it simply, it's about how RE's limitations add measurable impact to your choices. It's about the exploration and puzzle solving sans omnipresent hand-holding. These concepts are rare attributes in today's AAA gaming scene. And when laced with enhanced visuals and a friendlier control scheme, RE HD Remaster becomes a precious survival experience for the nostalgic and a necessary one for the newcomer.
There's a place for these kinds of simplified tactics games, and there have been plenty over the years; be that tower defence games right through to the likes of Chain Chronicle. Unfortunately a lack of personality and gameplay that doesn't live up to its promises have left Ironclad Tactics dead in the water.
As an adventure that does just about everything right in the fun and technical sense, CoE's most valuable triumphs are its sense of humour and accessibility; whether you're politically knowledgeable or oblivious, and if you have a near-romantic relationship with turn-based RPGs, you will risk yawning through a filibuster if it means becoming the Vice President of this world.