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The post-societal visuals of crumbling buildings, broken-down cars drifting along the flooded river, and menacing wildlife lurking in the distance, paired with an excellent folk rock soundtrack featuring Chuck Ragan, creates a unique atmosphere of exploring a desolate frontier. It's easy to become absorbed in this world and end up spending much more time on this treacherous river than you initially intended. That is, until it swiftly kills you without remorse. It seems mother nature is a cruel mistress indeed.
At this point I'm starting to tire from the Telltale formula, especially when it doesn't provide a cast of memorable characters from the get-go, but Michonne herself was enough to power me through the episode and keep me interested. In Too Deep hasn't topped either season of The Walking Dead so far, but if you can still stomach a few empty "remember" prompts, you'll enjoy the story they're trying to tell.
While Far Cry Primal is a well-made experience, one I enjoyed a great deal, it oftentimes had me thinking about the routine the series has settled into, and envisioning a future where the Far Cry formula may not be as compelling as it once was, no matter how extraordinary the setting.
Anyone who has a fondness for old-school platformers or action games from the NES era should get plenty of enjoyment out of Ninja Senki DX.
This one is for fans only; and good on Compile Heart and Idea Factory for that. So to the Nep-heads who have enjoyed the series' take on the console wars and its obsession with pudding and boobs: I can't think of a reason why you shouldn't pick this one up. To everyone else, there's probably a better RPG you should spend your time and money on.
This game is not for everyone, but if there's even a little part of you that wants to hurl daggers at skeletal spiders under extreme duress, I recommend you go to hell. It's fun here.
There is no reason to waste your time on a game as unambitious as Shooting Stars!
Under all of this is the framework of a great runner. There are times when it's pleasing in almost every conceivable way. But, the unnecessary is too much to ignore; it bogs it down into the waters of mediocrity. The cliché fits perfectly here: More isn't always better.
I suspect I'll be hooked for the rest of the year.
Birthright is probably the best starting place for newcomers. Not only does it offer unlimited grinding opportunities to beef up your party, but the actual missions mostly consist of easy "rout (kill) the enemy" parameters. The tale is also relatively open and shut, following a traditional storyline from a macro perspective, while keeping the complicated relationships intact. That's not to say it's a waste of time though, as you can still jack up the difficulty and add in permadeath if you want, and you still have to win those battles.
Conquest on the other hand is a more enjoyable from my perspective as a strategy veteran. It's much more complex from the start, and offers bigger maps, more interesting objectives (such as point defense or sieges), and a more intriguing plot. You can't grind, so you're encouraged to instead play through the limited amount of sidequests or arena world map battles to fine tune your party makeup. This leads to a larger need for a more tactical approach from just about every facet of the game. It's more thrilling and has a different feel to it, especially if you crave a challenge and blow through other titles in the series.
[I]t's still Fire Emblem. You're going to get the same great character interactions, spousal bonding, enthralling battles, and all of the heartache if you choose the permadeath option. If you nabbed the Special Edition of Fates, you're already good to go for Revelation. For the rest of you, picking it up as DLC next month in addition to whatever story you already chose is a safe bet, provided that you liked your first taste.
The multiplayer is fine if you can find people to play with, but it doesn't save the experience. If this shipped without a campaign, it might have benefited from it, but as it is now, even the good part will probably be forgotten soon enough.
Project X Zone 2 succeeds by following the simple sequel formula that many developers seem to ignore: use what worked with the first game and try to fix everything that didn't. This is flat out a better game than its predecessor. It's better paced, the action is more eye-catching, and the story is told in such a way that you don't have to be familiar with the properties covered to enjoy it. Plus it has Segata Sanshiro and his amazing Sega Saturn. Let's see those losers in Hoshido and Nohr try and match that.
In many ways Street Fighter V is unfinished, but as a platform, it has strong legs. If Capcom sticks to its word, this could have just as long of a lifespan as IV, if not more.
I would love to be able to give XCOM 2 my unreserved recommendation, but I can't ignore the elephant in the room. If you don't intend on playing on Ironman mode, and have enough patience to deal with (not so) occasional glitches, it's excellent. If you were looking forward to a hardcore playthrough, or can't stand it when technical issues get in the way of a good time, you'll definitely want to wait for a patch or two before deploying.
Layers of Fear wasn't as frightening as I thought it would be based on early impressions, but I was still entertained by its mind-bending haunted house even when the jump-scares fell flat.
There are some very bright moments within Dub Dash. When the music and gameplay jive together with interesting mechanics, it really does feel quite sublime. However, too often do poor mechanics or level design get in the way, causing more frustration than anything else. It's not a costly investment, which helps, but all things considered it is definitely more fit for a phone than a computer.
By wrapping classical adventure writing in a thoroughly modern play experience, inkle have turned Sorcery! into a great testament to the power and place of text in gaming's canon.
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth plays it safe in a lot of ways, but for many of you out there, that's going to be perfectly fine. Just don't expect it to convert you if you're sworn off the formula.