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Exorder certainly has some potential, but it ultimately has a few issues with the UI and balancing of the campaign missions.
Disc Jam is a good attempt at combining multiple sports inspirations into a video game, and for the most part Disc Jam achieves this by delivering a solid competitive experience with simple mechanics.
Vermintide 2's co-op battling is nice step forward over the original. It's gruelling at times, and that can sap the fun out when you're failing missions and not making progress, with the weighty combat, the additional sub-classes and a long and deep progression of difficulty and loot, there's plenty here for those that want to be in for the long haul.
Far Cry 5 is another improvement to a series that hit its stride quite a long time ago. It gets a recommendation not because of any of its individual features, but because they all combine together into a game that becomes paradoxically funny and horrifying, occasionally at the same time.
Jettomero: Hero of the Universe is a unique videogame experience and one that you will likely either love or hate. It is not a title that will challenge you with compelling play, but it will provide you with the chance to play. It's attempts to be a ‘zen experience' are only half-successful, thanks to some frustrating controls, yet there is an arresting charm to the game that cannot be denied. If you're looking for a videogame to experience alongside your meditative or mindfulness training, then Jettomero is eminently suitable.
Overall, Assassin's Creed Rogue Remastered can still hold up pretty well today, but whether or not you should it pick up depends on a few factors.
After Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, I came into A Way Out with expectations of a fraught and trying prison escape drama. That's just the beginning though, and it soon transforms into a fun revenge flick. It doesn't have the emotional impact of Brothers, and there's some rough edges from the breadth of ideas that Hazelight include, but most importantly we just had a lot of fun.
Thanks to its derivative nature, Q.U.B.E. 2 never quite escapes the shadow cast by Portal. There's too many similarities within its core mechanics, structure, and themes for it to stand alone entirely. And yet, once the player accepts that, they will find a compelling puzzler. There's roughly five to six hours of gameplay here and, once Q.U.B.E. 2 is completed, little reason to return to its embrace. Yet whilst it burns it does so brightly, compelling the player to the end with several puzzles that equal Valve's best.
Castle of Heart is a generic, infuriating, and ultimately underwhelming experience. It doesn't even come close to emulating what made the old Castlevania games classics, as it just crams enemies and traps into levels and hope it works, rather than having coherent level design. If anything, all that Castle of Heart has done is reminded me of how good the old Castlevania games were and that this doesn't fill that void that has been left behind.
Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy my time with All Walls Must Fall.
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom may be vastly different, but it's ruddy marvellous! Its many systems sure are intimidating at first, but things click into place very quickly, and there's a lot to do in this gorgeous and well-crafted game. They say that it's difficult to recapture the magic, but this is one more Level-5 game that has become essential. They may have moved on from Studio Ghibli's tutelage, but the lessons learned have resulted in a phenomenally good JRPG.
Yakuza 6 is a beast of a game, and it sends Kiryu off in style.
Omega Force managed to do something incredibly rare and impressive with their Attack on Titan games, they managed to make a totally brand new video game. Some trappings of the Warriors formula remain, but they serve to complement a fresh and unique core gameplay experience. I wish the involvement from my character in the story had been a little more significant, but the opportunities I got to mingle with the cast between missions more than made up for it. Attack on Titan 2 is one of the strongest anime video games I've ever played, not because of a perfect story mode or graphics, but because it creates a unique gameplay experience that could only ever be done with an Attack on Titan game.
If you can look past the numerous bugs and glitches, then you'll find an essential experience for any fan of Assassin's Creed: Origins.
If we ever try to colonise our red neighbour, it's going to be one of the greatest challenges that mankind will ever undertake. Though Surviving Mars makes a game out of it, Haemimont have brilliantly kept that hard edge, as it constantly pushes and tests your ability to plan with survival in mind, especially with the unpredictability of the Mysteries of Mars. There's plenty of ways to improve it and put more colony control in the hands of the player, but the first landing is already off to a great start.
Kirby Star Allies feels like a greatest hits collection rather than its own unique experience. It takes inspiration from the majority of classic Kirby games and while it doesn't have quite the level of scope that Kirby Super Star had back in the day, there's a great amount of fun to be had. It's certainly more fun with friends and is well made, having plenty of nostalgia for the pink puffball's fans, but it's certainly the easiest Kirby game in years.
The crucial factor to take into account here is the sense of humour. Do you like silly, immature humour that has no respect for the fourth wall? If you don't, the gameplay probably isn't strong enough to maintain your interest, particularly in a crowded genre. If you do however, the gameplay is strong enough to maintain your interest for the length of the game, slightly short though it may be.
The Mad Ones' episode lays the foundation of a potentially intriguing mystery narrative, part An Inspector Calls, part Murder on the Orient Express. The Social Influence system, if implemented well through the rest of the episodes, really could be a game changer for narrative adventures, evolving a genre that has needed fresh ideas for a while.
It may a look a little basic compared to recent titles, but when it comes to gameplay Burnout Paradise still thrashes the competition. The racing is sublime, the stunts are spectacular, and there's always something to do round the next corner. It has one of the best soundtracks of any game – and yes that includes Avril – it's just a shame that some of the mechanics are dated and clunky.
With the game's release on Windows and the final additions to the game on console in the Royal Edition, it now feels that Square Enix have put the final brushstrokes to their masterpiece. As Final Fantasy XV comes to the end of its long adventure, it's fitting that it do so in such style, letting people savour the artistic vision behind the game in such glorious detail.