Digital Chumps
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There are people who care about Formula 1 more than you and I care about anything. F1 2015 rewards their passion with an impressive simulation of not only the actual races, but a slice of the elegant culture surrounding the sport. Unfortunately F1 2015 doesn't have room for much of anything else, finding itself lapped by modern peers in expected features and ease of approach.
As a raw turn based SRPG, Lost Dimension would not be particularly impressive. The x-factor that makes it so interesting and different is the traitor-system that adds layers of intrigue, strategy, and makes the entire experience much more interactive and robust.
Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold is a hardcore dungeon crawler flaunting an old-school difficulty, yet imbued with modern sensibilities and accessibility. It's a terrific addition to a beloved series, and it's truly probably also the best entry to date.
Godzilla is not a terrible game, but it's just not a lot of fun. The repetition sets in very early and it becomes a chore to play for all but the most diehard of fans.
The Magic Circle is a playable videogame about a broken videogame made by people who aren't good at making videogames. While you're busy sorting between layers of candid reality and marginal fiction, The Magic Circle swiftly installs an impressive degree of agency behind its narrative and mechanics. It's not exactly commentary or criticism, but a relatable demonstration of game development hell and, ironically, one that's fun to engage as an untethered party.
Victor Vran is a very competent and solid game that dungeon crawling ARPG fans should not miss.
Stardock hits it out of the park with Sorcerer King. Turn-based strategy at its finest.
Planetside 2 is entertaining, huge and still a work in progress. It's certainly worth a go, if you have the available time on your side.
Most sports would probably be better if human participants were replaced with cars. While this thesis is typically reserved for late night conversations with close friends, Psyonix accepted it as a genuine assignment and produced Rocket League. It's soccer with cars—and the execution of this idea has no business being as good as the fantasy.
Onechanbara Z2: Chaos aims to be a garish, hyper-sensory accelerant of calculated brawling and provocative identity. It hits some of its marks—a generous frame-rate and a firm commitment to kitsch melodrama among them—but it's closer to the edges boredom and mediocrity. For a game meant to elicit a range of responses, all that it leaves the player is trite indifference.
As a successor to an admired name from a bygone era, Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess falls short of accrued expectations. As a means of introducing a different style of game to a different time and place, Deception IV is an exemplar of viable defiance against rote standards. Your position determines Deception IV's place—a setting made homelier through The Nightmare Princess' abundance of extra content—but it doesn't impede its lack of conformity. There's nothing like Deception IV, except, of course, decade-old Deception games.
Tembo The Badass Elephant is a high quality, gorgeous, fun, and challenging 2D platformer that I'm happy to recommend.
Playing as Batgirl is not quite as interesting as I had hoped primarily due to a lazy hacking mechanic, but, A Matter of Family was still different, interesting, and fun enough to recommend to Arkham fans.
Rory McIlroy PGA Tour may not win any awards for visuals, but it's a solid experience in the gameplay department with flexible controls, entertaining modes and enough depth to keep you going for awhile.
God of War III is still an excellent game five years later. The Remastered version is the best way to play it, but, it's a somewhat underwhelming release because it is so similar to the PS3's Ultimate Edition. This is not a Definitive Edition technically, but more content and thus value would have been great to see included here.
J-Stars Victory Vs+ brings together some good fighting moments with popular Bandai Namco licenses, while offering up somewhat addictive, yet sporadic, gameplay flow. Improvements in environment variety, CPU artificial intelligence and visuals could help to make this a more memorable brawler in the future, as it falls short in these categories as it stands.
As a commemoration of style and simplicity, Spectra speaks in the dearth of speedy arcade racers. Regrettably, Spectra's ambition, like its appeal, doesn't stretch beyond austere representation.
Traverser is keen to demonstrate that a submission to genre norms isn't an admission of exhausted objectives. Physics puzzles, light stealth, passable platforming, and a decent run of boss fights—it's all well covered ground, but Traverser's endearing characters and engaging fiction make it easy to pass through.
Payday 2 Crimewave Edition brings all the fun of Payday to the console. It's the game to buy if you're looking for a new, smart shooter.
What Whispering Willows lacks in complicated hands-on gameplay, it makes up for in story and atmosphere.