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Dexed is the kind of thing you might play a few times, in short sittings, and never return to again. There's not enough here to earn your continued interest, and while the on-rails shooting works well and seems promising at first, the game it's attached to fails to build on that initial seed of an idea.
Neo Atlas 1469 is an odd creation. Individually, each element is far too weak to stand on its own – and I'm certainly too lazy to go around calling it a "Adventure/Simulation/Strategy/Visual Novel/RPG/Point and Click Bear Finder." Yet, together, they keep you engaged, with light but solid narratives having you finding Sinbad's anchor or breaking curses while you wait for that next fleet report to come in.
There is a very specific person I would recommend play Tank Troopers. If you have a 3DS, and you have five friends nearby who also have a 3DS, and you’re all interested in playing Tank Troopers, go ahead and buy it because you are the only type of gamer who will get the maximum enjoyment out it. For everyone else, it’s an easy pass.
As it is, this is a game with a disposable single-player campaign, multiplayer matches that crash or disconnect as often as they complete, and a slew of fantastic mechanics that only rise to the surface in a single game mode out of a half-dozen.
Winning races and earning money to buy bikes just to compete in more races and earn more money was the greatest time trial of all.
Do you want to slice some demons into little meat chunks as a troubled badass, and perhaps missed out on the great Dreamcast and PS2 renditions of Berserk? Get Band of the Hawk. Seeing the story continue past the Golden Age is enough for an enthusiast to buy in. Otherwise, wait for the price to match what's being offered.
Horizon Zero Dawn is a fascinating premise wrapped in a tortilla of tropes. It has detective vision, radio towers, skill trees, masked load screens (Tony Hawk's American Wasteland gets no credit for popularizing this in 2005, by the way), and a world map littered with billions of points of interest -- all stuff you've seen before. But after you set up and execute a cunning plan to decimate a pack of giant robot crocodiles and that smile hits your face, it's more excusable.
Whether it's worth playing at that price depends on how into Psychonauts you are and/or how desperate you are for a delightful, well-crafted PSVR game. I'll say this much: as someone who is by no means a superfan, Rhombus of Ruin left me feeling proper excited for Psychonauts 2.
Sniper Elite 4 comes across as a fully-realized result of the shifts Rebellion set in motion with the previous game, and proves itself an ably constructed, often gorgeous, and thoroughly engrossing stealth-action shooter.
Circles may not be the most feature-packed game, but it sets out with a simple mission, accomplishes it well, and even throws in extra stuff. Maybe I'd have liked to see some more levels, but I still enjoyed what I played. I wouldn't have a hard time recommending it to anyone, either; it doesn't matter what language you speak or what age you are, because Circles has got you covered.
If you're craving an RTS on a console, or perhaps aren't particularly well-versed in the genre, Halo Wars 2 has you covered. It doesn't offer much that other games in the same space have given us over the past 10 years, but it's polished and fun to play.
The voice acting may be terrible, but Disgaea 2 makes up for that with incredibly solid game mechanics. Some of the mechanic interactions may be a bit obtuse, but there is something to be said for the amount of depth present here. I mean, how many games let you throw a tower of people across a map to cause a giant chain-explosion that wipes out literally everyone? And what other title allows you to bribe senators to sway them into letting you summon a "Busty Beauty?" Exactly.
Dungeon Souls proudly wears its inspirations on its sleeve (and its Steam Store description), a mishmash of inspirations that takes a step backwards even as it steps forward. Yet, despite that, it still manages to create a tiny universe of its own, full of engaging heroes and tenacious foes. It's a fun title, but when you have so many standout games that you can combine them to create something like Dungeon Souls, it's hard not to recommend those instead.
If you own a Vita and a PS4, and you absolutely must buy this game, get it on the more powerful console. The portable version doesn’t cut it, and even without the janky presentation, the game itself is bare bones as a strategy RPG. I have no doubt the Dynasty Warriors franchise would make a splendid SRPG, but this ain't it.
One thing I will say for it though – when you drain your last ball and you're asked to input your initials for your score, Riz Ahmed's character wistfully says “they're asking for a callsign...” as the three-letter faux-LCD screen blinks.
Bleed 2 manages to feel accessible while still rewarding precision and accuracy. It plays wonderfully, and you can enjoy it as a light co-op experience or really break it down and dig in to master its intricacies. I'd definitely recommend playing with a controller, but if you're looking for a fast-paced platformer with plenty of action, Bleed 2 has you covered.
Despite everything I've said, I still think We Are Chicago should be given credit for tackling some touch subject matter. It isn't successful, but hopefully Culture Shock learns from its first attempt and really hones in on the strengths that gaming has to offer. Much like how Depression Quest sought to inform gamers about a topic many never thought about, We Are Chicago is noble in its efforts to educate gamers on poverty and inner-city life.
All-in-all, Banned Footage Volume 1 is an interesting little package. You get a tense puzzle-focused escape room, a fun-as-heck action mode that I'm sure I'll be playing in the coming months, and a bastard-hard masochist-a-thon for those who want that. While I'm not a huge fan of Ethan Must Die, there'll be people out there who dig it, and those two tapes continue aspects of Resident Evil 7 that I'm hungry for. I hope Volume 2 has a similar value, and that the upcoming free DLC Not a Hero answers some burning questions I have from the game's ending.
Hopefully the next patch for this game will let any interested parties have the best possible experience. Not every product is for every person, but it becomes impossible to defend something that actively breaks due to misinformation or buggy code. Divide deserves better than to be forgotten because of launch-day issues.
With its emphasis on challenging combat and light storytelling elements that are at times bordering on parody (in a good way), Nioh feels like a true successor to the Ninja Gaiden series and fills a nice void that Souls left behind. Did Team Ninja ever leave? Whatever the case might be, it's back.