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I never thought we'd see Odin Sphere again, but here we are with Leifthrasir. Even if it kept all of the classic frustrations as is it would still be worth checking out, but Vanillaware and Atlus have somehow managed to cater to both crowds with the remake. This game is required reading, and now is the time to curl up and see what you've been missing.
In many ways Raiden has been left in the dust by its successors. The series that have survived have moved on and tried new things in an attempt to remain relevant, whereas MOSS is content on clinging to old-school sensibilities. While I don't think Raiden V will be a massive breakout hit, it's welcome in my living room any time.
Despite these shortcomings, I still find myself drawn to TurnOn. The majority of its levels are slow-paced and exploration-based, and there's something surprisingly cathartic about gradually lighting up the entirety of an area. It's just too bad that Brainy Studio wasn't comfortable enough to stick to TurnOn's strengths and had to turn to alternative sources for its energy.
However, even if you're one to stomach these triggers in some way, you must also be open to the power of storytelling over gameplay. If you're looking for a jump-out action packed horror game, The Town of Light is not for you. But I urge you to open your mind and consider it a separate learning experience.
TASTEE: Lethal Tactics is an uncompromising game to get into, never once changing gears from its difficult plateau. It’s firm but mostly fair, where your failures are usually based around that one lapse into laziness. But when you play back your success, and see this 20-minute incremental strategy turn into 40 seconds of ferocious B-movie action, it’s a violent ballet that even John Woo would be proud of. And it's also why you might just keep coming back to TASTEE, despite tearing your hair out in the process.
Too often RPGs and turn-based tactical battle games are the domain of knock off Middle-earths. Of poor fantasy pastiches stitched together with wizards sporting wispy gray beards, dwarves slurring cheap Scottish accents, and knights brandishing impractical shoulder pads. It is a joy and a treat to spend time with a world so different, so unique and intriguing. Even if it is a dying and depressing one.
That exact design decision is emblematic of most everything wrong with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. It does its best to spread little content as far as it can possibly go. It's a very short game that still manages to be far too long. The anchovies on the pizza is that it doesn't even necessarily succeed where Platinum Games usually excels. Cowabummer.
However many little nagging issues I have with Wild Hunt (the combat is still a bit too simplistic), Blood and Wine is the best The Witcher has ever been since the first game. I came in merely expecting a bigger Hearts of Stone, but ended up getting something more expansive in nearly every sense of the word.
While the robot motif comes in half-cocked, Planet Robobot is still a safe, serviceable Kirby game. After beating the story and reflecting on it, many elements felt like just going through the motions, but those motions haven't gotten stale yet after nearly 25 years.
Truly, I believe that we'll be seeing a lot more of Overwatch in the years to come. Blizzard has a great track record when it comes to long-term support, and given how good it is out of the gate, it can only get better from here. Blizzard has truly snatched victory from the draws of defeat.
If you are absolutely starving for more Fallout 4 content, Far Harbor will give you another impressively large landscape to explore and some great side content to dig into. If you were already tired of Fallout 4 and hoping the expansion would provide something unique enough to justify coming back, this isn't it.
Outside of Shogun 2, Total War: Warhammer is my favorite Total game to date. Developing this project must have been a massive undertaking, because it somehow manages to not sacrifice the core tenets of the series while staying true to the ever-expanding source material of the Warhammer universe. After nearly two decades of historical battles, having the chance to command a magical undead army is a breath of fresh air.
This is the kind of game where the people who are going to play it and love it already know they are going to play it and love it. If you have treasured memories of liberating Venus from the filthy capitalist pig-dogs in 1998, feel free to call me an asshole and just go and enjoy the game. If you missed it back in the day and are toying with giving it a try for the same reasons I did (soviets on the moon with flying tanks), you can probably take a pass and not miss anything.
In the buffet of 3DS RPGs, Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei is the day old, slimy tilapia Golden Corral employees forgot to take out. Other than the fact the game didn't crash on me, there isn't an iota of quality to be found. I knew I was going to have a rough go at it when I booted up the game and realized the developer switched the traditional roles of the "A" and "B" buttons for no goddamn reason. But that was only the tip of the poor execution iceberg that is Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei; a game I have no qualms calling the worst RPG I've ever played.
Yet with all that baggage, Minority Media has created something unique that's rarely seen in the industry today. Time Machine VR succeeds, without a doubt, in becoming a weaponized therapy session, allowing people to potentially overcome their fears. Whether that's aquaphobia or what have you, the intimate nature of the presentation isn't something I've experienced quite yet in other VR titles. Virtual reality truly is a new way to engage with games, and an experiment that I look forward to seeing bloom in the years to come.
Yet, I can't stress enough how much I loved The Call of Starseed, it hit all the right spots for me. The story feels like the dark adventure films of the '80s and '90s, the voicework is great, and the immersion is unmatched. If you've got an HTC Vive and can spare the $30, do yourself a favor and buy this game, you won't regret it. Those holding out for PS VR and Oculus Touch are in luck as well, as The Gallery is planned to release for those too.
I had no idea it would be this much fun.
The few times the game opens up to let the player make use of their high level of mobility are incredibly memorable, and the world building makes it feel like we’re only scratching the surface of this world. That’s not enough to make me recommend it, of course, but they do make Shadwen’s shortcomings all the more painful.
Of course, that’s something up for debate. Another time, perhaps. As it stands, and as a review of a product, Back in 1995 is a gimmicky curiosity, not unlike its graphical approach; flat and askew, with some semblance of structure if you squint between the lines.
At 10 hours, Hearts of Stone is rather brief given the sprawling scale of Wild Hunt, but with that brevity, it never overstays its welcome. It melds well with the overall themes of the core adventure even if it feels wholly detached from it, but sometimes all you need is more Witcher-based antics.