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Knee Deep isn’t an adventure title worth playing, lacking any real hallmarks of the genre. The few puzzles essentially solve themselves, there is very little player participation outside of dialogue choices, and the plot is so bloated with forgettable characters that you lose track of who is who. It seems like the best ideas were poured into the design of Knee Deep, creating a well made digital stage show with voice actors who put in a decent performance. Unfortunately if Knee Deep was a real theatre show I would assume that the final curtain would fall quickly.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue may be saddled with a ridiculous title, but the package offers plenty to enjoy. It may not be the most welcoming of games, thanks to Kingdom Hearts being amongst the worst offenders for convoluted narratives, but the HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance combined with a glimpse of what is to come for the franchise makes this more or less essential for fans.
Tales of Berseria feels like a Tales game made just for me. There’s so many games in the series now, and I’ll never play them all, but the characters and the narrative and the combat mechanics of Berseria just click with all of my tastes so well. For some, the lack of gameplay innovation might be a turn off, but for me, a classic Tales gameplay system combined with a unique narrative led to a fantastic experience. Fans both new and old would be doing a disservice to themselves if they didn’t check this game out.
For them to successfully steer one of their flagships back on track, Capcom has done what many thought was unthinkable. It was less than twelve months ago that the publisher released Umbrella Corps, at which point I – and no doubt many others – were ready to call time on the series. Resident Evil 7 definitely has a handful of weak points, but it’s by far the best AAA survival horror game we’ve seen in quite some time.
Fruit Ninja VR is a hoot. It’s one of those games you can pick up and play with zero preamble, making it great for the odd few minutes of downtime or passing a headset around between people. It’s just a shame Halfbrick didn’t look to expand it further, with three of the four modes being transplanted from the original Fruit Ninja.
With the release of Yakuza 0, a smash hit franchise in Japan has its biggest chance yet of becoming a smash hit overseas, too. Yakuza 0 is not only an achievement in video game storytelling, but it’s the best this franchise has ever felt, looked, and played.
Fate/Extella will be a hard sell for most fans of the franchise. If you come into this expecting a setting, cast or narrative similar to any of the anime, you might be left disappointed and confused. It’s still a fun, addictive game with the flashy combat you’d expect from a Warriors-style game, but you might have to tune out the story in order to enjoy it. In a franchise where story is so key, that’s a huge bummer.
Atelier Shallie is a great entry in the series. I really enjoyed all of the characters, and the Life Task system is a fun take on quests and story progression. In those ways, I even like it more than Atelier Sophie. Unfortunately, so much of my love for this game is ruined by its choppy frame rate on PS Vita. If this were simply on PS3 or PS4, it would be a nearly flawless experience. As it stands, Atelier Shallie is the best version of the game available in terms of content, but having to suffer through a poorly optimised experience for those benefits is too steep a cost.
The Flame In The Flood is a remarkably well crafted entry in the survival genre that sets itself apart with compelling gameplay, an intriguing setting, and a stellar soundtrack. Having released on computer and Xbox One last year, its arrival on PlayStation 4 with the Complete Edition will hopefully see it find a new audience to entice on a beautiful, and bleak, journey down the river.
2064: Read Only Memories is a title that will appeal to a niche corner of the gaming public, with its focus on a murder mystery wrapped in discussion of social issues. It’s also feels like quite a passive experience compared to other games that are in the same genre. There’s interactivity with objects and solving puzzles, but being dialogue heavy may put some off. The story of 2064: Read Only Memories is decent however as is the voicework, and there is replayability through making different choices. 2064: Read Only Memories may be much more appealing to those who are fans of visual novels, and if you are then you’ve got a good plot to get involved in here.
Space Hulk: Deathwing does a great job of capturing the look and feel of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, but it doesn't manage to wrap that around a compelling co-op shooter. The missions are ponderous, the story already forgotten, and the core gunplay leaves something to be desired. Those with a fondness for Games Workshop or fraught co-op action will have wanted this to be great, but it's merely OK.
Gravity Rush 2 is everything I wanted out of a sequel. It’s bigger, better, it’s drop-dead gorgeous and it never stagnates. You’re always given something new to play wit, whether it’s a new power, a new city, a new gameplay element. Every time I found myself settling into things, the game added one more thing onto my already packed plate, and I always welcomed it. The beautiful world, the wonderful character and the constantly evolving gameplay had me glued to my seat for hours, and for as much as I came to love the first Gravity Rush, it never had me feeling as engaged as the sequel has managed to.
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King truly stands the test of time. Having this PS2 classic on the 3DS, despite its slightly inferior presentation, is a mind boggling feat. Each new gameplay addition or tweak is smart, not taking anything away from the original vision. It helps that the basis for this version was one of the better instalments of the franchise, but Square Enix could have easily just have ported it over and be done with it. If you don’t mind the slight presentation downgrades, this is the definitive version of a modern classic.
Cursed Castilla is one of the best modern retro games that I’ve played, successfully capturing the look and feel of its influences but also improving on the controls and level design. It feels just like the way I remember the arcade originals.
Tyranny is in many ways the Hamlet of videogames. By which I mean it is a fascinating exploration of the ways in which human behaviour can descend into evil, featuring a lengthy middle section defined by delay and conversation, before everything suddenly ends in a flurry of violence and a disappointing final exchange. There is much to like about Tyranny, but the game itself doesn’t live up to its narrative strengths.
Drive!Drive!Drive! is a stylish and fun attempt to rewrite the rulebook on racing games. Sadly it’s not always entirely successful, with a relatively simplistic handling model and a lack of challenge on the standard setting, but for those willing to take a chance there’s still a lot to like about it’s unique take on the racing genre.
It’s hardly complex and far from essential, but Lethal VR is a fun and polished romp while it lasts. Shelf life may be a concern, but the minimal setup time needed makes Lethal VR easy to slip into whenever in need of some brief ballistics training.
It’s clear to see WayForward put their Kickstarter funding to good use. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero features some of the best platforming of recent years, and it’s easy to recommend to anyone that’s a fan of platformers or Metroidvania style games, though a couple more levels to combat the game’s repetition would have been perfect. Wayforward will have to settle for almost reaching that mark instead.
Despite the plethora of content on offer with 7th Dragon III: Code VFD, this is a dull game. What good ideas there are within the class system and the initial premise of the plot, they’re almost negated by the tediousness of the dungeon crawling that’s barely disguised, combined with a narrative that ticks all the RPG tropes. An utterly forgettable experience when compared to the best RPGs of the year.
Whether you’re a returning fan, a lapsed player or a complete newcomer, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier gets off to a good and welcoming start, with more than a few twists and turns packed into the two-part episode. While it’s not perfect, that extra time has given Telltale room to breathe life into a new and interesting cast of admittedly flawed characters, build new relationships and present them with new and immediate dangers, always with the threat of zombies in the background.