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If you're a fan of exploration titles then you should enjoy this. While The Station doesn't reach the heights of some other titles in the genre, it is a good attempt and tells a slightly different story. Hopefully the audio and visual bugs can be ironed out, but The Station is an intriguing little mystery that has you guessing what happened to the crew on board right until the very end.
Pop-Up Pilgrims is far from a must-have for PlayStation VR though helps demonstrate the tech's implementation in terms of clever gameplay mechanics and not just immersive dioramas.
Fe is a thoroughly lovely adventure, full of wonder as you explore and lose yourself in this darkly wonderful forest. Its distinctive art style and the unusual creature designs conjure up something that's both familiar and alien at the same time, which is only enhanced by the etherial lighting and the animals' voices. A few nitpicking design issues and some shaky performance on Switch aside, it's easy to recommend this charming game of discovery and singing.
With more depth to the combat, Crossing Souls could be a great game. As it stands, though, the lack of difficulty means that the only reason to drive forward is the story, so a recommendation relies heavily on your view of the 80s and reference-heavy stories set during that decade.
While these might boil down to being relatively straightforward ports from Wii U to Switch, that doesn't make them any less essential for fans of the action game genre and Platinum Games' work… unless you've already played them both on Wii U. Either way, with Bayonetta 3 in the works, the Switch is now the witch's new home.
If Kingdom Come: Deliverance has a ton of bug fixing to improve the performance drastically, it could be a hidden gem. It's clear that the game, despite its grand ambitions, was simply not ready for public consumption. Shimmers of brilliance are there and had it seen more time in the oven, or set its ambitions at a more reasonable level, it could have been brilliant and scored significantly higher as a result. Alas, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is another cautionary tale rather than a trend setter.
Sadly, this isn't the breakthrough fans were expecting. Omega Force took a pretty big risk with Dynasty Warriors 9, and while its open world integration can be seen as a small triumph, this newest entry is marred by its heavily outdated approach to combat design.
It's hard to recommend The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia to anyone but the most hardcore fans of the original series. Even then, though, I feel like a true fan would end their time with this game wishing they could have bought something better. A truncated story mode makes it impossible for newcomers to engage with any of the plot, and what little content that remains will only infuriate existing fans. It would be nice to be able to jump into Duel Mode and bypass Adventure Mode entirely, but when practically the entire cast needs to be unlocked, that really isn't an option. Long-time fans of Seven Deadly Sins might find some joy in seeing their favourite characters make the jump to a big, 3D action game, but that alone is hardly worth suffering through the rest of what this poor package has to offer.
For a sports title that strives to be adventurous, Steep's year-old snowboarding gameplay is starting to feel somewhat limited. Pulling off a sick combo still feels satisfying (as does racing down the slopes at breakneck speeds) but there's a sense of repetition there.
For any Final Fantasy fan, Dissidia NT has plenty to offer, with an array of the series' best loved characters, and plenty of chaotic combat to pit them in. Unfortunately the lack of definition to those encounters, messy UI, convoluted single player progression, and a barebones selection of modes saps a good chunk of the fun away.
It's been quite a start to the year with the sheer videogame quality on show in 2018. Aegis Defenders is a title that totally delivers on its initial concept. It's a game that built on the obvious passion of the developers, resulting in something that's vibrant, fresh, enthralling and addictive. And when you've reached the end, you'll be heading back to the start for more.
I tend to be pretty good at fighting games, but it's rare that any of the ones I play truly click with me. Back in 2015, Under Night on PS3 totally clicked with me. The balance between simple character movesets and how system mechanics elevate those moves into an endless suite of juicy combos is something I found myself attracted to like a magnet to an iron bar. Beyond that, though, Under Night sports a dynamic cast of characters and some of the prettiest 2D visuals I've seen in a fighting game. Exe:Late[st] takes the delicious Under Night cake and adds an entire extra layer of your favorite flavor, plus the garnishes and decorative frosting to make it stand out again, 3 years later.
EA UFC 3 is a good representation of the sport franchise, offering a well put together fighting game that represents the different styles and weight classes found in MMA. The action in the octagon mimics reality very well, with a decent career mode helping people to learn the ropes. On the online front, there's a divide between Ultimate Team and standard online divisions with the latter winning out in both accessibility and fairness. If you're a UFC fan in general, then this is a good game to pick up.
Strikers Edge has a strong and satisfying core, but there just isn't enough surrounding that core experience to keep me engaged for very long. A lack of game mode variety would be excusable if there were some incentive for me to keep playing the one core mode this game has, but that incentive is nowhere to be found. Coupled with the lack of character descriptions or a proper way to practice their abilities, Strikers Edge is a lot like highschool dodgeball; you can only enjoy the same rubber ball hitting you in the teeth for so long before you decide to play something else.
For fans of fast-paced, over the top twin stick action, complete with bullet time and a score system that awards perfection, Bleed 2 is excellent. The only real issue is its length, which is remedied to an extent by additional characters, weapons, and modes. If arcade, Contra/Metal Slug action is your thing and you've been missing it, you could do much worse than Bleed 2.
I wasn't expecting to have a good time playing Sairento VR because of all the movement, but once I'd gotten used to it I really enjoyed the over the top action. Even though it was just because of the ease of slaughtering enemies mindlessly, doing so in VR really helped with its appeal. It's by no means perfect, with some structural and technical issues getting in the way of the fun, but from a small studio making a relatively ambitious VR title, they could have done a whole lot worse.
If you liked Assassin's Creed Origins, then you'll like this The Hidden Ones DLC. You just won't like it for very long though, as you'll have it wrapped up in an afternoon. It's an add-on that is sadly both lazy and derivative, and when players are being charged around £30 for a season pass, I don't think its unjustified to expect a little more bang for our buck.
While you may not want to pick this up strictly for a single player experience, Shiftlings Enhanced Edition is probably one of the best co-op experiences there is on the Nintendo Switch, especially considering the recent surge in top-quality indie titles on the platform. If you like puzzles, platforming and have friends that enjoy video ganes, then this is for you.
Most people probably won't mind Lost Sphear's nostalgia tinted approach to game design, but there's surprisingly little to write home about. Despite a rather intriguing premise, the characters come across a tad too bland, while the quest itself is too linear. It's hard to knock it too much, but after the thoughtful journey at the heart of I Am Setsuna, this is a pretty average showing and certainly not a fresh take on the JRPG.
Black Mirror is a good story that suffers from a dated application of game styles. While this is interesting in a meta way, it is not much fun to play. The narrative itself plays out fairly successfully. but it is hard to recommend it for this alone. There is definitely space for such old school adventures on modern consoles, but this is not the game to fill it. As it stands, Black Mirror itself is a title haunted by its ancient roots and will horrify the player for all the wrong reasons.