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Though it has some rough edges, including occasional script-related issues and town-wide events that seem to ignore changes players have enacted around the village, Gleaner Heights has enough content to make it feel like an instant cult classic.
Metal Gear Survive should have been a free-to-play game just like Grasshopper's Let it Die or an actual Metal Gear release. It doesn't accomplish either aim.
If you played and loved the first game, you'll still find something to love here, but it's so buried under obtuse puzzles, terrible voice acting, and pointless combat sections that it's really difficult to recommend this. The story is still pretty solid, but getting to it is a total pain in the ass.
Warhorse Studios took a big risk with this game and hopefully in the long run the technical issues can be addressed, because as of right now, they prevent Deliverance from reaching greatness. If you can climb over the mountain of jank and poor optimization then you'll be in for an incredibly authentic experience, that when it works, truly puts role-playing front and center in a fabulous way.
Pinstripe isn't perfect, but it feels as if it nearly perfectly accomplishes what it sets out to do. It tells an emotional story with its own peculiar and disturbing flair. Like Dante seeking out Beatrice, Ted will walk through hell for Bo. That's something we can all empathize with on some level. That's what's worth fighting for.
So much can happen in Rust over the course of a week. Overcoming the elements is no small task in and of itself, and the game's punishing survival systems make it hard to recommend to everyone. But for those who are willing to put the time in and stick with it, Rust provides both a social sandbox and a deep, functioning crafting system. At times, it feels like anything is possible in Rust; like witnessing players double-crossing one another or stumbling upon a small sheet metal city in the desert. You just have to accept that nothing is permanent on the player-driven island. And sooner or later, you have to build everything back up again.
The Windows 10 restrictions simply do the development team a disservice. A lot of work went into Age of Empires: Definitive Edition and just enough tweaks were made to ensure that it's still relevant in 2018. I have an incredible amount of respect for the folks who brought this classic back to life, and for their restraint to ensure that this remaster doesn't abandon its roots.
You may as well just play the SNES version, even if it's the first time you're ever picking up a Mana game: the original spritework is able to pick up the slack of a few of its inherent shortcomings, which are only exasperated by the swap to 3D.
When I first previewed Monster Energy Supercross many months ago, I thought it was a fun racing game with a lot of potential. I still think it's fun, but this first run at the license from Milestone doesn't come anywhere close to meeting its real potential.
For a game that leans so hard into the feeling of discovery, Fe has shockingly little to say about anything. It has no clear goals or worthwhile revelations. The idea of mystery is more alluring than any of the actual mysteries in this forest. It's certainly pretty, and the platforming and light puzzle-solving are adequate enough. But Fe very obviously aims to evoke a certain emotional response, and it fails to evoke much of anything at all. That's nothing short of disappointing. Sometimes the trees are just trees.
The core of Bayonetta remains as solid and frustrating as it was when it first released. It lacks the polish, semi-coherent story, and rich color palette of its superior sequel, sure, but it's so masterfully designed and brazen in its direction that it's still a must play for every action game fanatic. While the Switch port may lack the exhaustive resolution and graphics options of the PC version, it's an absolute knock-out as a portable action game and further proof there seems to be very little the Switch is incapable of doing.
The core of Bayonetta remains as solid and frustrating as it was when it first released. It lacks the polish, semi-coherent story, and rich color palette of its superior sequel, sure, but it's so masterfully designed and brazen in its direction that it's still a must play for every action game fanatic.
The hack-and-slash moment-to-moment action works in its favor even when transitioning to a new style of play, but Dynasty Warriors 9, like some of its predecessors, is clunky and unwieldy; hampered by the aforementioned bugs and performance problems. If you're into the idea of playing an open world game where its arcadey elements are entwined with therapeutic but sometimes dry exploration, maybe give it a shot.
For what was initially a failed Kickstarter by the series' original creator to make it to a final release like this is impressive in its own right, and it is one of the few arcade-centric football experiences currently on the market. Mutant Football League is fast, dirty fun, and definitely one of my favorite sports games in recent years.
After clocking in over 200 hours across both games, on the same save file, I can safely say the Cyber Sleuth games are easily some of the best Digimon games in the franchise. Despite some minor issues, a fair bit of grinding, and while still nowhere near the production values or quality of the Persona series -- Hacker's Memory is another solid turn-based RPG and a damn good Digimon game that you shouldn't miss if you played the original.
There's a tease of depth in the fights, and I even managed to have quite a bit of fun when things fell into place. Too often, however, it felt like accidental fun. Like I wanted to enjoy what I was playing so much, I stumbled into a good time.
In the end, Break Arts II feels like a great mecha customization system in search of game. Whether or not it has legs will depend on players' willingness to put up with the racing to build their robots.
Barring some unfortunate bugs and one design decision that hampered my experience, Aegis Defenders is a smooth, well-thought-out ride. The original art, charm, and in-game universe only add to it, and I'd love to see more.
Despite the kick in the teeth, it was worth crawling back out of that hole and trying again. Any game where you're pondering the optimal setup for a chicken head that shoots egg bombs and a bee homing missile is a-okay with me. I won't be endlessly replaying it, but Octogeddon grabbed me hard for a good while.
Dandara has a firm foundation, but suffers from inherent design flaws and a lack of direction. Despite its imperfections, I mostly enjoyed my time with it. It treads a lot of familiar ground with its gameplay mechanics, but those were the portions of the game I found myself having the most fun with.