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I was holding out hope for Metroid Prime: Federation Force, but at this point, there are so many other dungeon crawlers that are worth your time. Just like Hunters on the original DS, the main questline of Federation will probably fade out of the limelight over time and become a whisper in hardcore Metroid crowds -- though I can see Blast Ball having longer legs.
Those are the issues that are easy to pin down. But really, Grow Up suffers from all the downsides of not giving the player structure. It just feels like less of a problem here because the developer is wholly transparent about that fact. Grow Up is as Ubisoft as a Ubisoft game can get. It may be a lot of bloat, but at least the game's comfortable enough to carry it proudly.
Here's a box quote for you: Uno is a shining example of misleading marketing and a great argument for Xbox Live to adopt Steam's refund practices.
It's tough to describe how amazing Inversus feels on paper, but once you pick it up for the first time you'll understand. The economy of bullets, sneaky homegrown tactics, a slight concession for solo players, and a robust multiplayer component with an array of maps? It's a no-brainer.
If I paid money for Hitman with just two packs to go (USA and Japan), I wouldn't feel slighted even if Bangkok and Marrakesh are weaker than the others. Diced up or whole, this can of blood-soaked tomatoes serves up so many experiences that aren't offered just about anywhere else outside of the original entries.
For all my complaints, Bound is an interesting beast. The way it incorporates its animation style has been rarely, if ever done so well. It's well worth experiencing in some fashion, just maybe not at full price.
Though I wouldn't consider it the best entry in the series, I absolutely enjoyed my time with Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate. It's a beautiful, challenging quest with a pleasing soundtrack I wouldn't mind having in my iTunes. With all the love I have for it in mind, I don’t know if I can recommend the game to anyone who isn’t already familiar with the series. Even if you’ve played the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon spin-offs, this is another beast entirely. It’s a game you can play for 20 hours and feel like you didn’t make any progress at all. That’s a type of punishment some gamers just can’t handle. For me, it’s a type of punishment I can’t get enough of.
Depending on your luck with the randomly placed key-cards and robot AI (whether you get the T-800 chasing after you or the Furby with one droopy eyelid that doesn't blink anymore) it will take somewhere in the neighborhood of an hour or two. And when it ends, it ends. As soon as you escape the police station it goes straight into a white dissolve and a logo splash screen. No epilogue, no wrap up, not even a voice over.
I can't recommend this Season Pass to anyone. Even if you haven't played the game yet and would be able to use these new utilities while completing the story, it's a bad sell. These DLC items make Just Cause 3 a brainless and straightforward snoozefest. Traversal becomes less exhilarating and liberating camps because way too easy, and since those are the only two real mechanics, why even bother at that point?
No Man's Sky isn't quite what I thought it would be. It's a fun sandbox game that's full of wonder, until it isn't. Unlike other similar titles, the magic fades over time, because 18 billion planets (sorry, 18 quintillion) don't matter if it feels like there's only truly 20 unique ones. I wouldn't recommend No Man's Sky if you don't like getting lost -- but for those of you who do, wander away.
I can’t recommend this to all but the most diehard of genre fans. Even then, the art style may be lost on people who aren’t old enough to remember MS-DOS or a ZX Spectrum. That seems to be the most unique feature of the game.
Blade Ballet can be a lot of fun in the right setting, but even then it won't set the world on fire. It won't supplant Samurai Gunn or TowerFall as a go-to indie party combat game, but it does a fine job supplementing those titles for a raucous evening. Add it to the list of stuff to bust out when friends are around, but don't even bother going in solo.
I enjoyed my time with this game. It's kid friendly, but there's a good level of challenge throughout, and getting 100% on everything would require a lot of practice. I think the composition mode could even be used as a sneaky way to teach kids a little bit about musical theory, since it incorporates an actual music staff. It's a simple game, but it does exactly what it sets out to do and it has a cute, clean aesthetic that serves it well.
Keeping in mind that this experience is $25, Everest VR does nothing but disappoint. While it looks astounding, it's at its best when it isn't trying to immerse the player with "gameplay" segments that only serve to take away from what it's trying to accomplish. If it were much cheaper, or at least longer, it would be a great way to demonstrate VR for someone uninitiated with it. As it stands, it's a lot of money for a paltry few broken moments.
An abrupt ending that doesn't have much of a climax and some moments of fist-clenching frustration keep Human: Fall Flat from the upper echelons of puzzle gaming, but it's still something I plan on going back to with friends. Plus, it lets you draw on your character, leading to the butt you see in all of the screenshots. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought this was hilarious. This one was for you, Laura!
This game is one of the best story-focused titles I’ve played in a long time, and I feel better for it.
Kill Strain has a lot of cool ideas, but many of them don't translate when mired by the sluggish pacing of each round. I think it definitely needs some further optimization, but the uneven fun factor between the Merc and Mutant camps may take longer to iron out.
None of these faults make Adventures of Mana a particularly bad game. It's just a primitive action RPG that, in many ways, seems outmoded in this day and age. While it may hold some appeal for nostalgic Game Boy fans, I wish Square Enix had gone to the trouble of remaking the game in a less perfunctory way. As it stands, this one's difficult to recommend to all but the most ardent RPG enthusiasts.
I did enjoy being in the water, but I can't help but feel the beautiful visuals and music were jamming pictures of places and emotions in my face instead of earnestly telling a compelling story. There's an unshakeable air of falsity about Abzû. As a treat to the senses, however, it's hard to beat.
Batman: A Telltale Games Series: Realm of Shadows is a nice setup. It's not as strong as some of Telltale's other work, but it manages to honor the legacy of the series and throw in a few curveballs to keep things interesting (thank God there's no Joker yet).