USgamer's Reviews
What more can I say? I loved SteamWorld Heist and I think everyone should play it. Even if you don't normally like tactics games, Heist might be able to change your mind. It might not make a lot of Game of the Year lists, but I can assure you that it is one of 2015's best.
Overwatch may yet cool off and fall by the wayside at some point in the near future, but it sure seems like it's here for the long haul. Pretty much everything about this game feels fresh and exciting: the class-based combat, the art style, the roster, the modes. It's equal parts strategic and twitchy, encouraging you to think while also rewarding skill, and its roster is a delight. Overwatch may well be the best new multiplayer shooter to come along since Modern Warfare and Team Fortress 2 took 2007 by storm. I can't wait to play more.
Is Everybody's Gone to the Rapture a game, an experimental piece of interactive fiction, or is it perhaps even art? Whatever it is, the experience it delivers is a memorable one. It's gorgeous to look at, fantastic to listen to, and spins an intelligent and somewhat esoteric sci-fi mystery that's truly gripping through to its very end.
Regardless of its indie status, Undertale is one of the best and most inspired RPGs in years. By playing with traditional, turn-based mechanics, creator Toby Fox has crafted an experience with a legitimate surprise around every corner. If you have a PC and ten bucks, you owe it to yourself to play this amazing game.
It's a return to Final Fantasy's roots, and it's beautiful.
Tearaway has squirrels. Fat, papercraft squirrels who are periodically rather cruel to passing gophers. It also has charm, cleverness and enough heart to make up for five Call of Duty iterations. Tearaway is a 3D platformer mashed together with a creative craft class for adult kids, an adventure that is as close to sandbox-y as a non-sandbox game can get.
LucasArts' 1993 adventure game has aged incredibly well, making for an incredible experience for newcomers and veterans alike. Add in a host of great extras and upgrades, and it's hard to think of how this Remastered edition could possibly be better.
Bigger and better than its predecessor in every way, Forza Horizon 3 features a beautiful, incredibly diverse landscape, an impressive roster of over 350 meticulously-detailed cars, and an absolute ton of driving activities and challenges. Forza Horizon 3 is without doubt the finest arcade racer yet seen, and it looks set to become one of this generation's greatest games.
Combine a highly compelling visual narrative with superb puzzles and brilliant platforming, and you have Inside, one of the most intriguing, addictive, and beautiful-looking games of this generation. Its only downside is that it's quite short, but while it lasts, it's absolutely glorious.
This may be an entry in a highly specialized and generally unfriendly genre, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a better example of the type. Heartless, demanding, infuriating, yet seemingly boundless in the depth of its content and mechanics, the latest Shiren the Wanderer adventure wraps taxing game design in just-one-more replay appeal. Think of it as the Wolverine of console roguelikes: It's the best there is at what it does, and what it does isn't very nice.
NBA 2K17 addresses most of my biggest issues from last year in cutting out canned animations and going back to basics with MyCareer, and it's still as polished as ever. It's easy to take its excellence for granted, but Visual Concepts' ambition and willingness to take risks keeps it from ever becoming stale. NBA 2K17 is the champion, and it's tough to see it losing that title anytime soon.
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.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is simply the pinnacle of the CRPG genre. It offers a campaign with memorable characters, interesting role-playing options, and excellent systemic combat. The environments are beautiful and the soundtrack is solid. That alone would put it at the top of the heap, but then Larian added offline and online coop, a PVP arena mode, and Game Master mode, the greatest throwback to the Dungeons & Dragons pen-and-paper games that underpin the entire genre. I might have small issues here and there, but Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the best in a strong year for gaming.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a victory lap for an amazing entry in the series. The only place Mario Kart 8 faltered was in its Battle Mode and Nintendo has rectified that here with a full-fledged version. 48 courses, 42 characters, 8 battle arenas, 5 battle modes, extensive multiplayer action, and the ability to take console Mario Kart with you wherever you go. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is absolutely worth the asking price.
I was delighted by Metroid: Samus Returns. It hits pretty much every note you hope to see in a Metroid game, and MercurySteam's console background is evident in their flair for the dramatic— whether in their introductory cutscenes or their boss battles. Their dramatic reinvention reinvigorates the source material and strengthens the story's bridge to Super Metroid. In short: They nailed it.
Super Mario Odyssey honors much of what makes other 3D Mario games great, plus it adds plenty of its own flavor to the Mario stew thanks to its capture mechanic. Mario Odyssey can keep you busy for hours and hours if you want it to, and you probably will. Outside of a few instances where the camera took on a mind of its own, I can't think of a moment when I wasn't enjoying myself while journeying with Mario and Cappy.
Monster Hunter has been in need of a big change for years, and this reboot-of-sorts could have easily gone wrong. Instead, Capcom took a careful look at Monster Hunter's design and cut all the fat while leaving the series trademark dense gameplay completely intact. All the changes, from the broad, sweeping ones to the granular alterations, only serve to improve an already winning formula. The next generation of Monster Hunter has finally begun, and, with Monster Hunter World, it's off to an incredibly good start.
This is how you do a reboot. After Kratos lost his way, Sony Santa Monica has set the God of War on a new path. A more measure, nuanced character, a great supporting cast, an excellent combat system, and some of the best graphics in the PlayStation 4 game to-date add up to a winner.
If you're a fan of Dragon Quest VIII, you'll find a lot to love about Dragon Quest XI. Its character-driven plot and skill system recall the series' breakout PlayStation 2 installment, though Dragon Quest XI's lively world and expressive monsters lend it a unique feeling and flavor. Some fans might feel let-down about Dragon Quest XI's lack of job system or other options that let you fine-tune every aspect of your party (what I wouldn't give to see Dragon Quest V's monster-friending system make a return), but if you're in the market for a turn-based RPG that feels nostalgic but doesn't force you to deal with old genre mechanics, you won't find a better quest.
The Messenger establishes itself as an excellent tribute to old-school platformers, then proceeds to rapidly up the ante with a series of outstanding gameplay twists. I'm deeply impressed by The Messenger's ambition and polish. It's a must-own for any retro enthusiast.