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While the Senran Kagura series has always been rife with fanservice and hyper-sexualization, these moments were at the tail-end of addictive action gameplay, funny character interactions, and classic anime cheesiness. These things are what make up the heart and soul of Senran Kagura, and by removing those and placing full focus on the T&A virgin wish-fulfillment, Senran Kagura Reflexions is just a lifeless alternative to an afternoon with your Chrome Incognito tabs.
Zen Studios has raised the bar with its supreme table designs in Solo: A Star Wars Story, making it a near essential purchase for any Pinball FX3 fan. Much more than that though, it has managed to do the impossible. It has made me interested in watching the Solo film. Marvellous.
PES 2019 is a good football game. It isn't a major improvement over last year's title, but despite the lack of the Champions League it isn't worse either. The matches play well, the modes are well crafted for the most part, and there's plenty of fun to be had. There are some things that do need addressing which haven't been touched since over recent iterations, but hopefully they can be fixed in future patches and updates.
Hideo Kojima has been accused at various points of promoting style over substance, and in this remaster of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner that's more apparent than ever. For all of its fantastically designed mech, and its tight and often enjoyable combat, Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner is an ugly, poorly-told and overly short slice of nostalgia that can't be saved by the introduction of VR.
Building on the foundations of Rise of the Tomb Raider, there's more depth to the actual tomb raiding, more flexibility in the combat, and the city of Paititi is a hub that you can easily get lost in as you explore it and the surrounding jungle. So, while Shadow of the Tomb Raider's story lacks some of the meaning and impact that it sets out to, this is another action packed romp for fans of the series.
When the original Valkyria Chronicles dropped for the PS3 in 2008, it came about during a dearth of quality Japanese video games in the west and took peoples hearts with its unique visuals. Sega failed for years to properly build upon the success of that original game, and now, ten years later, a lot of what made Valkyria Chronicles unique is all too familiar to many people. Despite that, though, Sega has managed to craft an incredible entry in the long-suffering franchise that is fun, fully-featured, and gorgeous. In a time for the industry where a game like Valkyria Chronicles should struggle to find footing, Sega has proved that this dark horse has many bright years ahead of it.
It's almost heartbreaking how much fun SNK Heroines is, because all of that fun is wrapped up in a fetishistic presentation that didn't need to be there in the first place. By putting out a cool, casual-friendly fighting game that happened to only have a roster of female characters, SNK could have reached a wider audience of people and rekindled some of the magic they made 18 years ago with Gals' Fighters. Instead, though, SNK put Mai Shiranui in a cowprint bikini and gave Terry Bogard breasts, alienating a massive amount of people in the process. SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is one of the funnest new fighting games I've played this year, but I can only hope that a future installment trades the fanservice for familiarity, and gives us the Gals' Fighters sequel the world deserves.
It has been a long wait for Chasm and I am happy to report that it provides a great classic Metroidvania experience. It isn't as obviously polished graphically as the likes of Oni or Hollow Knight, and doesn't offer the Dark Souls stylings of Dead Cells, but it succeeds entirely on what it sets out to do. The art style is perfectly suited, the controls are responsive and focused (although I would have liked to move dodge from the Y button) and the world map is a real joy to explore, despite my worries about the procedural generation. It may not be the gamechanger that Dead Cells seems to be (having not yet played it myself) but it is a wonderfully pure and challenging experience. If you have even a passing interest in the genre, Chasm deserves a place on your playlist.
This might be the first Naruto game in a long time that does something new, blending anime with class-based online battles. The idea may seem a little strange but it works well, and it would be great to see Bandai Namco build off this with other anime franchises in future. Shinobi Striker is well worth your time if you like the Naruto series and even worth trying out if you just want a new multiplayer experience to get lost in.
Within it's ocean depths, there's plenty of fun to be found in coming back to Hungry Shark World every once in a while. The game's point system makes it competitive enough for players who want to beat their personal best score, but the game really puts emphasis on running the same stages with different sharks which can start to grind. So while the game itself is pretty fun, Hungry Shark is one of those games best played in short bursts.
Lacking the precision required to tantalize the more serious racing fan, but perhaps too much of a challenge for many, V-Rally 4 is packed to the brim with nice ideas and potential, but just as many annoyances. Sadly, in this competitive marketplace, it is stuck in a ditch. The strange layout of the career mode and iffy handling model do their very best to put a downer on things, but I really hope Kylotonn has the resources to build upon this effort and provide something that can take the fight to the very best racing games in the future.
Marvel's Spider-Man does a spectacular job of making you feel like the ultimate Spider-Man. From swinging through the city at high speed to fighting off legions of enemies by zipping between them and pulling them into the air, its gameplay looks like a scene from the films. It's remarkably well realised in terms of its world, design, and even technically, with short loading times and a rock solid framerate even on the base PlayStation 4. If Spider-Man is your thing then this is an essential purchase.
Firewall: Zero Hour is essential for PlayStation VR owners. Despite this being First Contact's debut game, it flawlessly executes on what the studio set out to do: to create PSVR's first must-have multiplayer shooter. It may even sway some of those yet to purchase one of Sony's high-tech headsets.
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate ties up the entirety of the series' history prior to World in spectacular style, and emphasises why the game has worked so well as a handheld title for all these years. While it leans heavily on the past heritage of the series, here's hoping that there's a place for further similar titles in Monster Hunter's future.
The result of merging together Diablo and Golden Axe should have been brilliant. It's a shame then that Moonfall Ultimate falls a long way short of that expectation. With more of a focus on explosive arcade combat this could have been a fun diversion, as it stands however there's far too many frustrating issues to see you to the end of its limited run time.
Into The Breach is a fantastic example of how you can play around with an established genre. Taking turn-based strategy and letting you see what is about to happen changes everything about what would normally play out. The feeling of intellectual superiority you feel when you outsmart the aliens is incredible and will keep you playing through every loss you will experience. Best of all the bite-size maps fit onto the Switch so perfectly that the idea of playing it on a PC is absurd. This is a game made for a handheld, and damn is it good.
While Freedom Planet doesn't hit the same dizzying heights as Sonic Mania, it is still an incredibly enjoyable platformer that just about manages to carve out its own identity. The great visual style really helps to build the world it is set in and the three playable characters help to give some replay value as you explore their abilities. By the end of the game Freedom Planet establishes its own way of doing things that puts it apart from its inspirations, it's just a shame that it doesn't do more to differentiate itself straight away.
I often feel like video game adaptations of anime are great entry points for people unfamiliar with the source material. Punch Line, however, is hard for me to recommend to anyone but the most hardcore fans of the original anime. While this game has interesting ideas that approach the same genre as cult-classic Ghost Trick, the sloppy presentation and pacing make it more of a chore than a pleasure to play through. A lot of the appeal of the original anime has also been lost in the switch of mediums. Fans of the anime will likely get enjoyment out of the new stories and beautiful character models. Anyone else is better off starting with the original television series or simply avoiding Punch Line altogether.
There's still plenty of potential left in the rogue-lite and I doubt these kinds of games will be going away anytime soon. As video games grow and evolve, we'll come to remember the select few roguelikes that truly shook up the genre and presented a polished, ultra-satisfying product. Hypergun will not be one of those games.
There are few games that can boast the level of personality and humour that Two Point Hospital does while still giving you something serious to sink your time into. For anyone with fond memories of Theme Hospital, this is the silly hospital management sim you've been waiting for.