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I've had a lot of fun with Mortal Kombat X so far, but as I said, my experience with the game is limited. The longevity of the game will largely be based on its online modes and new content, which as I said before was locked out at time of writing. But I can say that Mortal Kombat X is built on a very good base. It's easily better than Mortal Kombat 9 and Injustice: Gods Among Us. I expect that we will be seeing this game in many fighting game tournaments to come.
While Episode 3 of Telltale's A Game of Thrones still has some problems, it's certainly learning more about how the Game of Thrones narrative progresses. Its low points are still kind of disappointing and boring, but its high points are truly phenomenal. It's these set pieces like the fight with the dragon, the standoff against an invading house, and the fated confrontation atop the wall, that make Episode 3 a treat to play and make me very excited to see what Telltale has in store for Episode 4.
Episode Two of Life is Strange really hooked me. I still want to know more about this world. I want to know why Max has her powers. I want to know why teenage girls are mysteriously disappearing. I want to know how the rich kids' families destroyed the town. I want to know how Max could possibly save the town from the impending tornado she keeps having visions of. I want to know more, because the game tugged at my heart strings, even though it simultaneously pressed my anger buttons. I supposed I could deal with a couple more hours of Bottle Finder 3000 if it means I get to see what happens next.
Overall, Slender: The Arrival was pretty well done. It has issues. Make no mistake. There were a lot of glitches (unintentional ones), a lot of scaling and framerate issues, as well as limited controls, vast amounts of dead space, and a story that could still be fleshed out more before being a contender. It needs a graphics update and some good voice actors as well. Again, this game is ten bucks and two hours long, so I wasn't really expecting a massive surprise of awesomeness. But even my innate fear of the Slender Man mythos wasn't enough to keep me invested enough in this game to want or even try a second playthrough. I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers. But for what this game has in its psychological scare tactics, it totally lacks in the things that make a game one that you'd want to come back to and play again and again. So as the title implies, this game truly is thick on scares but slender on everything else.
That's really the golden thing about Borderlands: The Handsome Collection. It's just a great package. For newcomers to the franchise, as I said earlier, this is a great jumping on point. For the older fans of series this is not much beyond what you already know, but it is definitely worth a look simply because of the graphic upgrades and the new four player split-screen option. If this is not a reason to get a remastered version, I'm not sure what is. Just in case, though, remember you are getting two great games with an enormous amount of DLC. We're all hungry for more Borderlands, but until a new game comes along, Handsome Jack is happy to provide this quality interlude.
Bloodborne is not a game for everyone. It simply is not going to appeal to the mass audience. However, I can say that in the time I ended up spending with the game I grew very fond of what was before me. It's not punishment just because, it's more in line with challenging you to become a different type of player when enjoying these games. You can't just hack your way through things, even when you feel like your latest upgrades should make you unstoppable. You have to have a strategy to how you play no matter what. For that, I say this is probably my new favorite title of next-gen consoles, but then again I could have just become assimilated to enjoy the pain. Now I just have to figure out if I should say thank you or just sit quietly until my next punishment.
So don't let this weak conclusion turn you off. If you already got to Episode 3, you might as well pick up this episode just to play through the ending and unlock all of Raid mode. Just be aware that Resident Evil Revelations 2 Episode 4 is probably the weakest episode the game has to offer.
But all of these are really just minor annoyances. They may have ruined the experience in any other game, but to be honest the story is just so good I would sit through a million bugs to see it through to the end. 2K and Telltale are a narrative dream team that crafts a story unlike anything else you have seen on the market. Even if you haven't picked up Episode 1, even if you've never played Borderlands before, pick up Tales from the Borderlands. You won't regret it.
Mario Party 10 does not drastically change the mold. It does not evolve things into unfamiliar territory, nor does it become some gaudy, hollow version of its former self. It's simply you everything you want it to be. I cannot rave enough about how important this simple approach is to the survival of Nintendo. Not just for this franchise, but the gaming industry as a whole. Mario Party 10 has reminded me of the purpose and importance of gaming with friends. These are the games that stand out in a field full of tortured heroes, fallen worlds, and apocalyptic destruction, and it is these games people are in desperate need of to get back to basics of gaming – having fun. It might not be that for everyone all the time, but if you ever find yourself on the brink of ending your gaming experience due to one reason or another, grab some friends and punish each other the old fashioned way with harmless fun. Mario Party 10 has that fun in spades, and will remind you why you are a gamer in the first place.
I think, oddly enough, that Battlefield: Hardline appeals to you the most if you aren't a traditional Battlefield fan. To be honest, I have long been over Battlefield's traditional military shooter roots, and since Hardline breaks from that formula, I enjoyed it far more than I have any other Battlefield title yet. If you are looking for something different and experimental, and you enjoy single-player more than multiplayer, then Battlefield: Hardline is a pretty good recommendation for you.
Slimming down a typically convoluted Sid Meier's strategy game into a more time manageable endeavor for the player is a solid blueprint. Sid Meier's Starships provides a great baseline, but the working draft art, underwhelming sound effects and animation, and unbalanced gameplay keep this title from ever thrusting off the launch pad. It's a fun game that can be a challenge, but requires you to do most of the leg work to make it fun and challenging.
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. felt uneven to me. There's a lot of promise here, and the jovial experience was inviting. I loved the multiplayer far more than I expected to and look forward to many more hours playing it. The problem is a campaign that feels like it takes far too long for things to really happen, especially when all aliens move in real time and you have to clear multiple maps before you get a real stopping point. I like the lore and world enough to hope that this isn't the end for this series, and that instead Intelligent Systems will be given an opportunity to build on this foundation.
The best part of playing Tipping Stars is finding a devilishly clever community-made level to enjoy, but is that good enough? The basic gameplay in this entry just seems uninspired, especially its main campaign. It feels like Nintendo's famed devotion to fun first is simply missing from the game, which merely ports a too-familiar formula to new devices. It's time to just let these lemmings jump off the cliff.
Ori and the Blind Forest is the first fully realized endeavor from developer Moon Studios. With pristine quality in every facet of the game, it is a monumental premier that will hopefully be well-received by all and provide the financial support for the company to create more fantastic games. Microsoft deserves high marks for partnering with this independent developer, a relationship we can only hope gets nurtured moving forward. This gem of a title will captivate your heart and test your skill, providing a soul-inspiring experience that will remain long after the game has been put down.
In the end, Resident Evil Revelations 2: Episode 2 is another "of course" purchase. If you liked Episode 1, picking this episode up will be a no brainer, and frankly the game is only getting better. If you didn't, Episode 2 isn't going to turn heads and convert naysayers. It's just more of the same with a welcome tweak to difficulty, and honestly, that' s exactly what I wanted.
Pneuma: Breath of Life provides an interesting male lead, a gorgeous backdrop, and unique puzzles solved through the powers of perception. However, it fails to provide a nuanced story, and the one it delivers finishes much too soon. With such a surreal premise, there was an opportunity to take the journey much further and the puzzles much deeper. It's a stunning presentation, but in the end your personal judgment will be based on quality over quantity.
To see a fading classic rejuvenated with such a clear display of visual craftsmanship sets the bar going forward for any other would-be remastered title. And yet the untouched gameplay manages to stand the test of time, offering an engaging and challenging experience able to stand on equal ground and even eclipse some of the more recent RTS offerings. Homeworld Remastered Collection is a testament to game development done right, both in its original form and in the meticulously updated version, and one that should not be overlooked by any fan of the genre.
Five Nights at Freddy's 3 is a fantastic game, and since it doesn't look like there's going to be a Five Nights at Freddy's 4, I'd say this is a welcome end to the franchise. I couldn't ask for a more terrifying game. I wouldn't call FNAF 3 fun. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite of fun. It's tense and stressful and sometimes makes you want to cry when it's not wrecking you with just the right amount of gore to put horrible thoughts in your head. But that's the point. You play the FNAF series to scare whatever humanity you have left out of your hollow endoskeleton, and FNAF 3 does a superb job of that. I just wish its "true" ending was a bit more substantial because it falls short of a satisfying conclusion to the story we have been mulling over in the past two games. Oh, well. I guess it's just more speculation fodder for years to come.
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 Episode 1 – Penal Colony has a lot of ups and downs. Combat isn't great, and the environments are boring, but the story is fun, and playing the game in co-op, while certainly weighted toward the combat character, makes the experience a lot better. It's not quite the Resident Evil we all wanted, but it's a lot better than Resident Evil 6 was, and I was one of those weirdos that liked Resident Evil 6. If Capcom keeps making Resident Evil games closer to this formula, then maybe one day it will take its place on the throne as king of survival horror once more. We just aren't quite there yet.
You'll get about 12-15 good hours out of Dragon Ball XenoVerse's single-player and co-op missions, but you probably won't touch it much after that. But hey, 15 hours is pretty good for a full price game these days. If you are a fan of DBZ, especially if you have ever written a piece of DBZ fanfiction or made a piece of DBZ fanart, you should probably give Dragon Ball XenoVerse a try.