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Octopath Traveler is a wonderful collection of adventures and stories, but the quirk of storytelling that lends it its name is both its greatest strength and weakness. While the turn-based combat and 'breaking' enemies makes practically every battle engaging, the eight tales this game tells don't really feel like they need to be told together. It's a little unbalanced because of this, but this remains a charming, beguiling JRPG.
While having both 1 and 2 may be necessary if you are completionist or if you adore the series, the second one is so much weaker that it is very hard to justify. Mega Man X Legacy Colletion 1 is a great set of games with some really interesting new features that will have you bashing your head against a cyber wall and somehow loving it. The new X Challenge is paticularly interesting and gives the game a different feel while still retaining the rewarding challenge that has inspired so many games since.
While having both 1 and 2 may be necessary if you are completionist or if you adore the series, the second one is so much weaker that it is very hard to justify. Mega Man X Legacy Colletion 1 is a great set of games with some really interesting new features that will have you bashing your head against a cyber wall and somehow loving it. The new X Challenge is paticularly interesting and gives the game a different feel while still retaining the rewarding challenge that has inspired so many games since.
Sleep Tight has some very interesting ideas, but unfortunately fails to captilise on them and falls into the depths of mediocrity.
While it can be argued that is entertaining, it also means those moments feel glossed over. Yet Ripples does keep your attention and its actual end really does set up a showdown of words that has great potential.
In The Persistence, the team at Firesprite have concocted a rogue-lite survival horror whose atmosphere and hard hitting combat feel fantastic in VR. Thanks to an impressive array of comfort options it's also amongst the best PSVR experiences we've had, and for owners of Sony's headset it's damn near essential.
Semblance is an astoundingly enjoyable puzzle game that never outstays its welcome.
Shining Resonance Refrain is a triumphant return overseas for an iconic JRPG series. It has solid foundations in the usual JRPG business of fantasy kingdoms and amnesiac warrior boys, but it builds off of that foundation with charming characters and gorgeous art to create a pretty unique identity for itself. While some aspects of the game are a little unpolished, it's still a standout JRPG worth standing alongside any of the other big players in that genre, and worth checking out by anyone who calls themselves a JRPG fan.
Blacksea Odyssey suffers from a poorly implemented rogue-lite structure. Putting aside the duff controls, the main hindrance to your enjoyment will be having to suffer through levelling up the player character in a near endless slog until the game finally becomes fun.
But for a dash of repetition, both in gameplay after a long period and the slightly disappointing variety of enemies, Mothergunship is really a great game. The story takes a back seat to the gameplay, so if you're looking for a story focused experience you're in the wrong place. However if an FPS rogue-lite with gameplay in the vein of Quake and the ability to create a gun that shoots both lightning and floating grenades is your thing, you could do a lot worse than Mothergunship.
I'm all for taking the spirit of a beloved classic and bringing it up to date, but you have to be prepared to be judged utterly against that original game. Under the right circumstances Earthfall is capable of capturing the frantic teamwork of Left 4 Dead, but there's too much wrong here to maintain it for long.
I have spent countless hours playing TxK on Vita and it's one of my favourite games, so I'm disappointed that Tempest 4000 doesn't really add anything new, especially considering the higher price. It's still a great game and hopefully a patch will tone down the overzealous use of effects. This is worth a look if you are bored of cut scenes, collectables, and other frippery that clog up video games and want some serious old school arcade action.
For fans of Ward, Sperry and Ross' previous work, Danger Zone 2 is the closest we've come to a new Burnout experience in years. Crashing into things hasn't lost any of its base appeal, and while we're waiting for Dangerous Driving to bring things full circle, this is more than worthy of your time.
Nintendo's continued run of Wii U ports has to have a finite end, but while Switch players are getting games like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker then its best just to bask in it. Gloriously cheerful, charming and enthralling, it's only diminishing features are its slightly short length and lack of difficulty for seasoned players.
Porting Captain Toad to 3DS might have been a surprise from Nintendo, but it's a very pleasant one. There's naturally some compromises to the game's looks and the 3DS's camera controls aren't always the best, but Captain Toad's adventure holds up really well on the handheld. If you don't own a Wii U or Switch, you won't feel shortchanged by playing on Nintendo's elder statesman of a handheld.
Despite its issues, All-Star racing is an original take on the kid-friendly kart racer which offers a wonderful selection of fruit themed content to keep both children and adults entertained. It might not get everything right, but it's a beautifully juicy start.
Antigraviator has tons of potential, and there's every chance that it could attain it a few updates down its spiralling road. However, as it stands there are too many problems with the game's underpinnings that the fantastic visuals can't quite cover up.
It's a worthy successor to any of the old games, it is the game that Megaman fans have been waiting for, and quite simply it does what it does spectacularly.
As far as hybrid genres go, this is an interesting one.
If you're a fan of Just Cause or Saint's Row, then Red Faction Guerrilla might well tickle your fancy. In the days of sprawling open world titles with hundreds of missions tied together with awful stories, the simplicity of this game makes a welcome change. Violence is not big, hard, or clever, but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun. Red Faction Guerrilla Me-Mars-tered is the remaster no one was asking for, but has turned out to be a welcome surprise.