USgamer's Reviews
Yooka-Laylee is built out of the heart, soul, guts, and bones of Banjo-Kazooie. It's exactly what fans of Rare's classic 3D wanted. Unfortunately, technical issues stick to it like bat guano.
Visually, Snake Pass recalls the Nintendo 64 era of Rare, with a bright and colorful presentation across its fifteen levels. When you dig into the game though, you find a unique set of controls that want to make the player really feel like a snake. If you spend time learning how Snake Pass controls, you'll find a rewarding, if sometimes uneven, experience.
At first blush, MLB The Show 17 is more of the same; but when taken together, it's actually a great update. It brings with it a lot of small but much-needed tweaks to the play on the field, and the graphics have never looked so good. Even better, Franchise mode actually feels approachable now. It leaves some opportunities on the table, but MLB The Show is still a great baseball sim that feels that much better with this year's update.
Thimbleweed Park has sharp, often hilarious writing and convoluted puzzles to spare. All in all, it's a welcome return to the point-and-click adventure, even if it ends up feeling a bit like a b-side to the classics before it.
With the most bewitching tale the series has ever told and an incredibly likable cast that rises above their typical archetypes, Persona 5 sings a song of rebellion. Not just against the norm of JRPGs, but of society's oppressive grasp, inspiring its players to rise up as the Phantom Thieves would. In the end, in spite of its minor missteps, Persona 5 has the power to steal the hearts of longterm fans of the series and newcomers alike.
Spectre of Torment stands up well next to the previous Shovel Knight and Plague of Shadows campaigns. It's a bit on the short side and the bosses are a bit easier, but Yacht Club Games has kicked out some excellent new stages this time around. This prequel still offers precise platforming and a unique, more aggressive style of play to the series.
Mass Effect Andromeda falls short of its predecessors, but it's still a competently executed open-world action RPG with an interesting world and tons of quests to complete. Its biggest shame is that it doesn't make better use of its setting, opting instead to go with more of the same. Hopefully BioWare will be more ambitious when it comes time for the inevitable sequel.
Snipperclips is an enjoyable little puzzle game that brings friends and families together. The primary mechanic - cutting each other into useful shapes - is instantly intuitive. Whether you're playing in a duo, or in a group of four, Snipperclips will delight... until you run out of puzzles.
We don't get games like Nier: Automata too often. And by that I mean games that simultaneously weave a deeply harrowing existentialist narrative, in addition to playing with our expectations on how we play games. There's nothing else around like Nier: Automata (except for maybe its predecessor). And in an industry that sometimes leans too heavily on sameness, it's wholly refreshing.
While Super Bomberman R brings back the classic Bomberman action, the package could stand to be better. Once you've polished off the short Story Mode, you're left with multiplayer. Local and online multiplayer is solid, but lacks match customization options found in older Bomberman games.
Ghost Recon Wildlands is all over the place in terms of its quality. Some missions are frustrating, the game is not without its technical and design flaws, and its sandbox action can sometimes be repetitive, ludicrous and over-the-top. On the positive side, the game's open world is magnificent to behold, packs a vast amount of missions to keep you busy, and is simply highly entertaining to play - especially cooperatively. Don't go in expecting perfection, but if you're into shooting, sneaking, and driving, Ghost Recon Wildlands is a lot of fun.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild draws from many sources of inspiration, including older Zelda games and titles like Skyrim and The Witcher 3, to create something wholly unique. Nintendo has crafted a wide, beautiful world to explore, underpinned with some interesting emergent mechanics. Breath of the Wild stands as one of the best in the series and a great opener for Nintendo's newest console.
Featuring an impressive roster of bikes and tracks, and a broad spectrum of events to participate in, Ride 2 starts out being a bit of a grind, but eventually becomes a very entertaining racing game. Its action might be a little too hardcore to appeal to anyone other than a real motorcycle fan, but if that's you, definitely check it out.
If one of your favorite things in RPGs is finding a new location, and reveling in the rush of new quests and characters and dialogues and battles, then Torment: Tides of Numenara does that better than just about anything. It's disappointing, although not surprising, that Torment can't maintain that energy for a full game, especially with a rushed ending. But that's a small price to pay for a wildly creative and clever role-playing game.
Halo Wars 2 is a very accessible RTS that's easy to pick up and play, but becomes increasingly complex as you get to grips with its more advanced commands. Assuming you're willing to invest the time and effort to truly master its intricate controls, the game offers plenty to get your teeth into. The campaign is a little short, but the multiplayer components are varied and robust - even if the really entertaining Blitz mode is soured somewhat by its microtransactional focus.
Mastering For Honor's complex, but brilliant Art of Battle control system takes time and effort, but doing so is very worthwhile. While its campaign is short and rather underwhelming, For Honor's multiplayer really delivers the goods, featuring strategic, involving, and brutal medieval combat that puts you front and center in some truly epic battles. Few games are as gritty and bone-crunching as this.
Horizon Zero Dawn is disappointing. It has a story that I struggled to care about (complete with massive expository dumps—yay), a bland protagonist, and overtly repetitive and constraining missions that worked against its open world sensibilities. When Horizon Zero Dawn hit its rare strides—from its gloomy Cauldrons to traveling across its sprawling vistas—it only made me wish the rest of the game were as worthwhile.
There's nothing out there quite like Let It Die. This action game offers Souls-like combat, 40 floors to tackle, multiple paths to tackle, and a host of gear to make your own oddball fighter. The free-to-play mechanics are reasonable until you get to higher levels, where a death spiral may leave you looking for your credit card. It's not perfect, but Let It Die is damned fun.
Double Dragon IV feels like the developer Arc System Works discovered an unreleased old NES game and emulated it on PS4. Its graphics, sound, and gameplay are utterly authentic to the period. Unfortunately, so are its cheap shots and frustrating design elements. It's certainly a lot of fun to play for a while, but once its nostalgic novelty wears off, only hardcore retro fans will likely want to come back for more.
Nioh is Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja taking a more measured approach to what they do best, and is a surprisingly feature-heavy and battle-focused heir to the Soulsborne method. But it ultimately stands on its own, and is a worthy addition to any Action RPG library.