GamesBeat's Reviews
It's still a good proposition, but without something new to get people talking again, Rock Band 4 argues as strongly for the series' depreciation as it does its relevance.
As much as I respect this series, I cannot recommend that you purchase Might & Magic: Heroes VII.
Destiny finally feels like the big deal that Bungie wanted us to think it was last year.
Without a doubt, FIFA 16 provides countless hours of fun football. Any soccer fan will find tons to enjoy here. After all, this game is your mom's mac and cheese. It's familiar. It's comfortable. And that's the problem.
Skylanders Superchargers is the most diverse and enjoyable entry in the series to date, but it also locks away a lot more of its fun content behind additional purchases. You honestly won't enjoy it as much unless you also buy at least one sky vehicle and one sea vehicle to go with your starter set.
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer feels like a minigame for fans of the series. It features some of the best characters, gives you the chance to play house with their possessions, and offers the opportunity to put your unique design flair all over the village. The selection of items grows as you complete the game, which makes it feel even deeper than the broad selection of villagers you can choose. And its control scheme is simple and perfect.
Madden NFL 16 is a good transitional entry in the series, introducing promising features that are either incomplete or weighed down by bugs.
If you're not into nostalgia for titles from the 16-bit or arcade eras, you should probably avoid this game (and, at at the very least, subtract 15 points from the review score). But if you are … this is definitely the action-RPG for you.
The ideal entry point for any Persona 4 newcomer (and the franchise as a whole) should be the PlayStation Vita enhanced remake, Persona 4 Golden. Yet if you cannot foresee making a 70 hour commitment to that JRPG, Persona 4: Dancing All Night is more than suitable as a gateway experience to the series. It’s themes on teen angst and the value of friendship are in line with the main game, more so than the fantastical Persona Q or the outlandish Persona 4 Arena. It’s not without its tough challenges, but any superb game in this genre should be demanding. As one of the better and more charming rhythm action games to come out in recent years, Persona 4: Dancing All Night is not only an apt and engrossing spin-off, but it’s an effective side story that will help pass the time while we impatiently wait for Persona 5.
As a game, The Phantom Pain excels. The stealth and action work beautifully in the open-world setting, and maintaining your Mother Base gives you plenty of rewards. It’s long, fun, and gives players tons of variety.
[T]he poor camera, lackluster new levels and story beats, and overall larger size of Unfolded makes it a lesser experience than it is on the Vita. It's a semi-remake that fails to match all the charm of the original.
Dropsy is a game that warmed my hardened, cynical heart. Like the titular clown himself, the game smashes an amiable joviality together with an unabashed dementia. Making people happy is such a rare goal in games, and to have one excel at the notion and the motivation for doing so is a doubly rare joy, although glaring missteps do keep it out of the center ring of adventure games.
Mad Max isn't a terrible game — it's actually well crafted. The problem here isn't that it's broken or unplayable but that it's just boring. It feels a game that should've released three years ago when designers hadn't mastered the open-world formula or reiterated on it hundreds of times already.
Now we have this game that will produce an effectively limitless number of Super Mario stages. I'm not great at math, but I think if you multiply timeless gameplay by countless stages, you get something that is astronomically fun. But Nintendo didn't just do the bare minimum here. It didn't just scrap together a level editor and sharing system. It has put unparalleled craft and care into every element of this game because it loves Mario as much as we do. And that propels this game into a whole other realm of greatness.
N++ is the new co-op game of choice in our house. And, if you like crazy, physics-based platform action and a decent challenge, it'll likely find similar favor in yours. Even just played solo, N++ offers so much content and replayability — and is so obviously a labor of love — that it'll stay on your PS4 home-screen for months to come.
As a collection of Mega Man 1 through 6, this definitely delivers. The challenges are an especially nice touch and add a competitive element, and the museum of art and music is fun to browse through.
The original Gears of War holds up better than you might think for a game that inspired years of me-too shooters. It may not be worth $40 for everyone now, but if you haven't touched the series before and want a good starting point before Gears of War 4 hits next year, this is the best place to start.
The game really lives up to its promise and vision, and that's a rarity in an age of hype.
Die-hard Danganronpa lovers: add seven points to this score. For everyone else: Score: 85/100.
Escape Plan Bravo marks a departure in setting and tone for the series, but the humor, fun, and charm of the series remains intact. It's the funniest installment yet, and despite a few technical hiccups, it will have you preemptively sad that a series this entertaining only has one episode left.