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I never want to stop playing Pocket Card Jockey. This game hit me the same way Tetris hit millions around the world back in the 80s. In fact, I want this game to be the next Tetris. I want Pocket Card Jockey on every Nintendo system. I want it on the Wii U. I want it on the NX. I want it on the iPhone, Kindle Fire, Apple TV, Windows and TI-89 graphing calculator. I want it everywhere, just hook it to my veins. I'll admit it: I'm addicted to this game, and if you try to make me go to rehab I'll say neigh, neigh, neigh.
Only for the most hardcore VR enthusiast, Bazaar gets the job done if you're looking for cheap thrills for an afternoon. Like most tech demos, it could stand to have most of its facets expanded upon (full-on flight would be cool), as developer Temple Gates Games is definitely onto something.
I have to stress how exceptionally polished it is across the board. The designers nailed the clean, friendly presentation, and early on, I was so ready to love the game because it makes such a wonderful first impression. But at its core, there's a lack of depth to keep this from being much more than a fleeting joy. It's the kind of oddball party novelty you play once with a group, get your fill of, and don't touch again until the next distant get-together.
There's a fascinating story here, but it's seemingly stretched out just to justify a price point comparable to That Dragon, Cancer, at the expense of quality.
I'd estimate the entire game took me around seven or eight hours maximum, though it could be finished quicker by skilled players. The deciding factor on whether or not Chronos is worth the $50 asking price is probably how much you love Zelda games or how hard up you are for something that feels like a fully-realized game for the Oculus Rift. Even with satisfying combat, an art style reminiscent of Guillermo del Toro, and virtual reality, I can't help but feel $50 is a smidgen too expensive. I guess that is the price you pay as an early adopter of VR.
But this review isn't about what other people might think, it's about what I think. To me, what matters most is if I had fun or not, and I had a lot of fun with Ray Gigant.
The main place Hitman continues to struggle is on a technical level. On the PlayStation 4 I'd need two hands to count the crashes I've experienced all week (plus one freeze necessitating a hard reset) and while the long load times aren't as much of a problem this time given the extra slack I found the lax coastal town to offer, it still does put a ding in a game that otherwise encourages you to try new things at the risk of failure. On the whole, though, Sapienza feels more robust than Paris, with even more gag costumes and slapstick deathtraps, leaving me even more confident in IO's move toward this new model, even if the American voice actors' pronunciation of "Falcone" physically pains me every time.
Vivian Clark is at least an interesting experience. It's not one that I want to return to, ever, but spending time with it always kept me on my toes, thinking about what could be next. Unfortunately, the actual mechanics are poorly implemented and fail-states are way too common, making what should be a laid-back, almost euphoric experience more like throwing your head against the wall.
Forget Crysis, The Climb is Crytek's best achievement in a long while. Is it worth $50? That depends entirely on how sold you are on VR.
King’s Quest: Once Upon a Climb isn't the most enthralling tale I've played, but I'm still very much all-in on the series and was grinning throughout. It's a nice slice of life with a likable cast, and with the goodwill this reboot has gained so far, that's all I need.
Despite some repetition and a handful of weird glitches, it'd be hard for me not to recommend Stories: The Path of Destinies. The "Goosebumps" kid in me was just too excited to have branching narratives from a developer that had fun with the concept instead of using it as another box to check in its marketing plans. I'd gladly return to this wonderfully weird world, but if there is a next chapter, I hope that there's more to see.
When that's the worst I can come up with, it's clear to me that DrinkBox Studios knocked it out of the park. I'm glad the team took its time.
I have no doubt that we will one day enjoy marvelous console games out of China. But this, sadly, isn't one of them, and it's lamentable to see this exchange begin on such an inauspicious note.
What We Deserve is an action-packed conclusion, but I wouldn't necessarily call it satisfying. It's interesting, because this Michonne series in general hasn't been the best side project, but it's far more satisfying than say, Jurassic Park, which was a failure all around. Grab it all on a sale if you really like the first two seasons.
Aliens vs. Pinball is great, both as a novelty and as a serious set of tables. Whether you're just a fan of Aliens stuff and like the idea of a fun way to kill a few minutes here and there, or the kind of fanatic that will obsess over a table, playing over and over again to complete all the objectives and set a massive score, you can't go wrong.
Still, Alienation is one of the best-feeling twin-stick shooters I've played, so I can't be too bummed. It wasn't long before I had that realization, and now that I'm 20 hours and several character save files in, I'm even more convinced. Housemarque could stand to flesh out the endgame content and also add support for local co-op, but even if it doesn't, I love what's here.
There are a few brief moments in Zenge that shine, but most of the time it's just a passable puzzler.
Sega 3D Classics Collection is an uneven package, but nothing outside of Altered Beast is what I would consider a "bad game." With several useful features and 3D effects that actually have effort put into them, it was a joy to play some of these for the first time, while reliving some great memories from others. Since the games that are available on 3DS already are generally priced at $6 each, nabbing 10 titles for $30 with a physical box and some extras isn't a raw deal.
Only clocking in at roughly two and a half hours, the whole experience is over rather quickly, but that's enough time to give players a clear satisfying story for those that paid attention to notes. It isn't all that innovative but truly, it doesn't have to be. If you're playing this, you're playing for the narrative.
[T]he baseball itself is as good as ever, and one of the better modes, Road to the Show, is far less clunky this time around.