Shantae Half-Genie Hero - PS4 Review
Shantae Half-Genie Hero is the latest of the series seeing the return of everyone's, or at least my, favorite Half Genie. As nothing ever goes according to plan, here's another run of a day in the life as Shantae foils sinister plots all the while getting fired and replaced as the city's guardian while finding parts for her uncle to build a machine to make being a guardian a moot point in the first place!
Half-Genie Hero, at least in the beginning, feels like it moved away from that Metroidvania style for a more streamlined platforming experience. Stages have multiple sections that are run and platformed through before facing off against a boss and returning to the small town hub. This felt like a drastic change from the previous titles as even Pirate's Curse contains multi segmented metroidvania styled environments after selecting where to go from the main island. It felt odd but as much fun as it was? I could live with this change.
After running through the first two stages the way forward becomes blocked requiring Shantae to go back through these previous stages in order to find what is needed in order to move forward. But what could have been missed? There was only one way to go wasn't there? True to the series' roots, Shantae learns new dances that allow her to perform some rather cool feats. These dances can morph her into a monkey, an elephant, a mermaid, and more in order to help move forward into areas that couldn't be accessed previously. This could either have been because of the camera angles making it look like they weren't even there or they were just simply out of the reach of her human, sorry demi-human, legs.
So while not being able to simply run back to the location where you wanted to look can take some getting used to, Shantae's new moves makes getting back to some places easier and generally expands the adventure. A dance can be learned in order to warp through the various sections of a stage instead of having to traverse them repeatedly. Flying forms allow you to move higher while swimming forms allow you to move down lower.
Magic abilities can also be learnt and are always a welcome asset when taking out the enemies that lie between you and your goal. What if you've managed your goal and you're in the middle of a stage? Blow your whistle and your friend Sky will be right there with her now super large bird Wrench in order to give you a ride home. Moving into this direction still puts a heavy emphasis on platforming but doesn't completely remove the metroidvania keeping it somewhat alive on the adventure as there's often a reason to go back.
Half-Genie Hero plays host to six stages with the hub counting as only a seventh location that you won't really spend that much time in other than for dialog or buying things from the merchant. This honestly doesn't sound like much but once the metroidvania elements come into play it feels like an appropriate amount. The idea however of going back and forth between these levels can seem like it gets old fast but that's probably what I loved the most about Shantae's latest adventure.
Unlike a lot of other platformers, the first and the second/third/fourth time going through a stage are different. The original reason for going through a stage is no longer a factor and thus the environment changes things up a bit with different enemies as well as backdrop elements. This diminishes the "do I really have to factor" of going back through a stage either looking for an item to deliver or simply looking for powerups to one of Shantae's forms.
On a whole Shantae Half-Genie Hero clocked in around the five hour mark for the first playthrough with about seventy-five percent of the collectable items and the good ending. This leaves more time for completionists, speed running challenges, the new mode that opens up thereafter, and those wonderful platinum trophies that the more elite covet. With lovable and detestable characters alike making their return for the latest adventure there's no reason not to explore Sequin Land with our Half-Genie Hero Shantae.
Game Information
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
WayForward Technologies
Publisher(s):
WayForward Technologies
Marvelous USA (Physical Only)
Genre(s):
Platforming
"Metroidvania"
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation Vita Microsoft Xbox One Nintendo Wii U
Source:
Provided by Publisher
Article by Pierre-Yves
Infinity Wars: Animated Trading Card Game - PC Review
I have long been a fan of both digital and physical collectible card games (CCG), and I have to say that after extensive time spent with Infinity Wars: Animated Trading Card Game, it is one of the best designed CCGs out there.
Knee Deep - PC / VR Review
Knee Deep is a title that is broken up into episodes, and the story gets off to a really strong start that the later portions fail to fully live up to. There is a very cool mystery at the heart of this story, with interesting characters and an engaging setting. However, the title is unpolished in places and the VR is a nice touch but hardly essential to the experience.
Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide Karak Azgaraz - PC Review
Vermintide: Karak Azgaraz is the latest batch of Skaven slaying brought to us by Fatshark just before the Christmas Holidays. Jumping back into Vermintide right before Christmas could not have felt more appropriate with snow covered mountains and deep underground forges. With three new stages to jump into, those snow covered mountains made me feel just as at home as stepping outside in a canadian winter. I’m surprised the group weren’t sporting more parkas but with a fire mage who needs one?
Karak Azgaraz follows in the same direction as Drachenfels offering three new stages to explore and complete either alone or with friends. Sticking to the same core ideal of the previous two DLC entries, this newest one is free to use by anyone as long as they join up with a friend. Dragging back in players who had not touched Vermintide since before Schluesselschloss released, we explored the brand new snow covered peaks as well as the slightly older dark depths of Drachenfels together before tackling Schluesselschloss itself and the Last Stand.
I find it important to mention this as Karak Azgaraz while being fun, the new stages to explore did not feel as inventive as Drachenfels. The former put out portals that needed to be taken out by throwing a switch and making sure that they overheated all the while preventing the Skaven fire department marshalls from throwing water onto the coils in order to stabilize the temperatures. It also had areas that were utterly pitch black making seeing without a torch all but impossible.
The snow covered peaks and the Dwarven halls of Karak Azgaraz are impressive but seem to lack the same depth of its predecessor. Each stage has a twist to it but the twist did not feel as if it had the same level of impact of the other. A room about to blow takes the idea of darkness and instead limits the line of sight through steam that gets thicker and thicker severely reducing visibility. Once out of the room though steam will follow along for a bit longer still reducing visibility but eventually clearing up. It was impressive but it all happened in a room that you could not get lost in unlike the various darkness covered areas.
The new area and stages are nice as they add in a bit more variety to the overall experience even if they fall a bit short compared to the previous batch. I’m continually happy to see however that Fatshark has kept to its policy for the downloadable content only being required by one person instead of everyone as I was able to drag a few other meat shields, excuse me, “cohorts” along for the ride and get them back into Vermintide.
Game Information
PC
Developer(s):
Fatshark
Publisher(s):
Fatshark
Genre(s):
Action
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer Coop
Other Platform(s):
Core Game - PS4/XB1 DLC - N/A
Source:
Provided by Publisher
Article by Pierre-Yves
War for the Overworld / Crucible Mode - PC Review
War for the Overworld released about a year ago now and was a homage to a much older series known as Dungeon Keeper. You, are an Overlord and have all but one goal, to remove the blight from the lands as who needs those goody touchous anyways? To do so you'll need an army of demons and monsters but they don't come cheap and because of this? You'll need the treasury to support your war efforts as you build slaughter pens, training grounds and forges to build the parts for your defenses.
The one major idea to be kept in mind when diving into the darkness of the underworld is that it is a very hands off approach. Yes you will tell your minions where to dig and where to attack but in the meantime? They do their own thing leaving you free to explore through divination or readjust the facilities in your base. You don't need to train or build new soldiers in order to do battle for you. All you need to do is set up the facility, make sure it's big enough if you want a fair amount of troops, make sure those troops have a place to sleep and that the tavern is stocked with food. Somedays it would have been easier to have them built like StarCraft Marines but then where would the challenge be?
That idea in and of itself is the true challenge to players. Yourself. Can you find the perfect balance of what you need in order to achieve your goals? You'll need money, minions, money to pay minions and food to keep them happy because well a demon's got to eat right? To do any of this however you'll need your workers to dig out and claim the areas that have been dug out. This again is all automatic though they will only dig where you tell. This makes it easy to either to lay the ground flat or make sure that there are specific tunnels that enemies can use in order to walk through and be mauled by defenses while simultaneously grumbling at the locked door now in their face. Yes you can lock doors and it's awesome!
The first few missions can take some time in order to get used to especially if you've either A) never played the style or B) haven't played the style in quite a long while. The reason for this is because that it is a hands off approach you are generally waiting for something to be done. The only real instant actions in order to see the results are casting spells, laying out your facilities or ordering a charge of your forces forward. Even with facilities being instantly placed which is a blessing when you need more food production, you still need to wait those that use the facility to arrive through a portal.
Placing facilities on the ground is easy and requires nothing more than highlighting claimed ground and letting go of the mouse button with the selected facility. As long as there's enough money in your treasury you are good to go. Now, that's the easy part. Most facilities require at least a 3x3 placement on the grid in order to be used. Not even used effectively, but used. Taverns take this a step further requiring a 5x3 placement as they require more to be put into place in order to serve food to your minions from the slaughter pens that you set up. I hope those were set up as without them, your minions are not going to be happy.
The reason finding places for these 3x3, 5x3, or hell 5x5 grids are because the terrain being used is very uneven. Let's be honest in that you're digging out underground passageways and more often than not there's some materials that you cannot dig into or you've gone right up to the water. These leaves certain areas with nothing more than 1x4 or 2x2 placement options by the time that some of your 3x3 areas have been placed. 3x3 is simply the minimum that can be placed in order to be functional however some imagination will be required in order to work around these space limitations. Selling off parts of already built facilities is easy allowing for expansion of another to take place without much of a fuss but that can always run the chance of affecting something else. Making sure that this something else doesn't get affected will be key.
The overall flow of your world domination from underground is fairly smooth especially when the game is sped up. Even when speeding up to 150% however things can sometimes still take time in order to get done so a faster speed may have been a good thing to have but that's also the name of the game. Being more of a hands off it's to be expected. If this aspect does get to you however there is an option to get a little more hands on with dragging your forces by the collar and then dumping them where you need them. Either than, or taking direct control of one of your minions for a First Person View experience allowing you to control and go smack things like enemies instead of simply waiting for the result of the encounter.
Encounters themselves are kind of cool and can go either way depending on your preparations. Like any good strategy sometimes you'll be on the defensive while other times you get to take the fight to your enemies without worrying too much about your base of operations. In the later you'll want enough minions to storm their gates and break down any defenses and doors that lie between you and their core. In the case of the former however you'll need to make sure to properly craft pathways into your base in order to maximize the potential of your defenses. Where do you put a door? Where do you place a cannon? Where do you hide floor traps? This will come in time as you learn what does what and how much you can place in regards to your cash flow and your Mana.
Mana exists for two things. The first is the obvious which are spells that can be cast as long as there's enough mana to do so. Lightning bolts on enemies that are within your controlled reaches, divination spells in order to either check your surroundings or spy on your enemy's base or summoning more minions in order to dig and claim the surrounding areas. The last of these falls more into the second category in which summoned minions take a portion of your max mana and lock it away as long as the minion is alive. That doesn't seem so bad right? Just spam them and then everything can be built faster… right? It could, and it will, but like summoned minions traps and other defenses also lock mana away until they are destroyed making spamming minions good in the beginning to get stuff done but harder as time goes by. These minions can be dismissed at will granting back some of the locked mana in order to build more defenses. Everything in your conquest requires a balance.
On the subject of balances however there comes the topic of your treasury. This wonderful load of shiny gold can make even the richest of Dragons envy as long as there's room to put it. Starting off you have a limited balance space that can seem ridiculously high but it really isn't. It doesn't take much time after finding a gold mine in order to fill up your coffers to the point that there's nowhere left to put it. Thankfully there's a facility for that expanding how much you can put away.
Paying attention to how much is in your coffers is VERY important not because you need money to pay for new facilities and defenses (they take money and mana… I swear everything is greedy around here) but there's that wonderful time call Payday. When Payday rolls around you've got got to shell out cash to everyone under your command on top of having already granted them sleeping quarters and a tavern that has it's own slaughter pen. Making sure that your coffers balance is important as you don't want to end up in the red because you just so happened to have placed a 5x8 grid of training hall in order to muster and level up your forces to go to war. Oops?
The last item in your arsenal is the ability to learn how to make new buildings, craft new spells, and build new defenses by spending research points in the Veins of Evil. Gaining points to spend is easy as it can be done by placing the appropriate structure and letting it bring in minions to do said research. As research progresses you gain the points that can then be spent used to learn new tricks in three separate trees in order to either stomp out your enemy to protect yourself from being stomped. You wouldn't want your minion's hard work to go to waste would you?
War for the Overworld does have some tiny issues that are more of a lack of explanations than provided features. Once you know what you're doing then everything is fine but prior to that I've spent a good deal of time looking around for exactly how to do something. For example, you are told that if you do not want to wait for defenses to be built then you can directly drag resources from your forge directly on top in order to speed up the process instead of waiting for your minion to get there. Until zooming in VERY close I never saw these supposed crates with the parts required. From an arial view these are hard to spot leaving you to wonder exactly what can be picked up.
Following on the defenses are your minions and setting them up as a specific fighting force instead of sending EVERYONE to battle. The option is sitting right on the interface but it isn't clear as how to actually add someone to a warband. The warband has to be clicked, then the minion type below, then the addition button back on the warband. You cannot simply click on the minion, select all of the minions, and then hit a quick key like CRTL-1 in order to make them the first warband. There's only a long way to do it and unfortunately while the monsters essentially work the same way, they can be removed from the monster band but not added back in manually. They rejoin automatically later but it was weird that you yourself did not have the option to do so.
War for the Overworld - Crucible has just released as a free add-on to spice things up. Designed as an unlimited waved Tower Defense, your survival depends on how well you can manage your starting horde of treasure in order to establish your base, your troops, and your defenses. Be quick about it because after the initial timer is up things get hectic and any mismanagement will end your run rather quickly.
Unlike the main campaign mode that allows for you to make a decision on taking your time or simply rushing forward, the Crucible is all about survival and if you don't act fast, you won't last long. Starting off with only money, you have an entire base to set up and a Vein of Evil that needs to be established as it starts with nothing in it. Given ten points alongside the horde of money, this is what you have to work with.
Crucible comes with several maps to challenge and two challenge modes. The first is Classic and the second is Advanced. Advanced is essentially hard mode cutting waiting times in half and giving you even less time to prepare yourself. While Normal's "five minutes" can seem like a long time, it's really no time at all when learning how to operate on a map and figuring out your choke points. Don't choke a lane to the point of not being able to breath however as if you do? Earthquakes will break everything apart setting you back as avenues must be left for your enemies to march through. It's quite a different experience but none the less a fun one for Tower Defense lovers.
Overall War for the Overworld is a fun and interesting Real Time Strategy that reminds us that not everything is always in our hands. With minions to pay, minions to feed and minions to house, sometimes making sure that the books balance out is more important than attacking right way. Other times it's fun to simply rush the enemy before they even know what hit them and worry about the fallout that decision has on your forces should you fail.
The Crucible compared to the core campaign is something different but in a good way. With time ever counting down to the next wave of enemies that will march towards you, there's a stress that sets in taking the whole balancing your checkbook and throws it out the window. With multiple avenues for your enemies to march down, how long you stand up to their unlimited hordes depends solely on how well you can plan out your defenses and use. Don't forget about payday however as it does come around!
Game Information
PC
Developer(s):
Brightrock Games
Subterranean Games
Publisher(s):
Brightrock Games
Subterranean Games
Genre(s):
Real Time Strategy
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
N/A
Source:
Provided by Publisher
War for the Overworld
War for the Overworld - Crucible
Article by Pierre-Yves
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Happy New Year!
Well, not yet. Soon, but not yet. However, since we don't generally post on weekends, we thought we'd get this in now at the end of this week.
Games of the Year - 2016
Nick - The Boss
Grand Kingdom:
Our Review
This title's not going to be for everyone, but even though it's
been out for quite some time now, I still pop in pretty regularly.
Well, almost daily for my login rewards, but also just to put a few
levels on my primary unit every weekend or two. I've done just about
everything the game has to offer, but I enjoy it enough that I keep
coming back to it.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End:
Our Review
This one is something of a sentimental pick for me, because while
it is not my favorite release of the Uncharted games, it was a
satisfying conclusion to an absolute favorite video game series of
mine. It's one of those few games that I went back to for more (and it,
like Grand Kingdom was featured in Beeps and Beers from me this year).
Final Fantasy XV
Our Review
This guy just barely made the cut this year with such a late
release, but I am very comfortable with this game's buddy approach to
storytelling. It won't go down as my favorite Final Fantasy title of all
time, but great production values and plenty of fun systems had me
spending a lot of time with this one.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII
Our Review
This one narrowly beats out Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of
Influence - Ascension for me. Objectively speaking, Nobunaga is the
better game, with a little more polish and some nice quality of life
features missing from Romance. But this is my personal list, and I have
always had a personal preference towards the characters and setting of
the Romance series, so it gets the nod here.
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
Our Review
Just narrowly edging out BlazBlue: Central Fiction for my fighter
of the year (and dominating the overly rushed Street Fighter V), Guilty
Gear offers incredibly slick graphics and gameplay making it
best-in-class for the genre this year.
Honorable Mentions-
Bravely Second: End Layer - Our Review
My favorite reason for using the 3DS this yearForza Horizon 3
I'm not even a big racing fan, but this one was a blastNBA 2K 17 - Our Review
Probably my favorite sports game this year, but some early bugs knocked it down a few pegs for meCivilization VI
Another Beeps and Beers companion of mine, but I wish the AI was betterXenoblade Chronicles X - Our Review
One of the only reasons I used my Wii U this yearChris - The Sidekick
Pokemon Sun
An amazing entry into the pokemon series, a series I'd fallen off
on due to the general formula always staying the same across the games.
However, I'd been hearing how much friends were enjoying the game, and
how it added a lot of new mechanics, and changed up the formula.
Overall, the new generation of Pokemon games have really hit the mark,
with an overall polished experience, a new formula for world
exploration, instead of gyms, and an amazing story, compared to any past
pokemon game, with good surprises, and proper character development.
In the end, it was a solid entry into the series, and I highly
recommend looking into it.
Dark Souls III
Our Review
This game was very early into the year, but nonetheless remains
alive, and easily something to come back to. I wrote up a review when
the game came out, and I still enjoy the game just as much as I did
back then. With an expansion pack recently coming out - offering a new
landscape, some interesting bosses, and new weaponry, spells, and
armor, and adding in a PvP arena - there's still more you can do, and
there's one more DLC slated to be released early into 2017, so look out
for that.
Corpse Party (3DS Remake)
Our Review (PC)
Corpse party's a generally ill-known series, but nevertheless
something great if you're into horror games, but don't mind slower
gameplay for more plot. The plot remains the same as the original, with
some added chapters to fill in gaps left by the plot, but in the end,
it's still tried-and-true for the series, and offers a great
experience. There are 4 exclusive extra chapters available in the 3DS
remake of the game, that give even fans of the past remakes something to
look forward to other than a prettier experience. There's full art in
the 3DS edition, so you can see the gruesome pictures drawn up by the
team, and immerse yourself even more into the world. All considered,
the 3DS version of the original Corpse Party is easily the definitive
version, and something to add to your collection if you're the kind of
person that would enjoy the genre.
Overwatch
Overwatch is a game that everyone's heard about, and probably a
game that a lot of people are sick of hearing about. I don't play it
much more, a lot of the novelty has worn off, but I still managed to
rack up over 70 hours into the game before I stopped. For me, the game
was amazingly fun when I first started playing, but some things have
shaped the game in a negative way. The ever-increasing amount of
balance changes that end up weakening existing characters and creating
unbalance for a lot of different levels of play hasn't been the
greatest. It's something that was bound to happen, and while I don't
dislike constant balance updates (Read: League of Legends) there's
something to be said when a game that originally was all about just
having fun, instead of catering to the competitive side of things,
which honestly, Overwatch shouldn't be about. The competitive scene
balances a lot of the game, but unlike something such as League, CS:GO,
DotA, or any other similar title, the competitive just isn't anywhere
near the same level, and doesn't redeem the fact that characters most
people liked, that weren't/were issues at levels lower than the top,
got balanced into unhealthy ways, and different core identities, than
were originally intended, because of the competitive side of things.
All in all, it is still a great game, and definitely deserves the spot
on this list due to its success, but I can't play it anymore because
it's just not what it was supposed to be, even with all the constant
content updates, which are amazing on Blizzard's part.
Watch Dogs 2
They really did well on this one. Watch Dogs got a lot of flack
when it was released because of so much that wasn't what it was hyped to
be. From graphics downgrades to gameplay being more finnicky than
expected, and numerous bugs and server issues, it felt more like a GTA
clone than a game where hacking is important, and that just wasn't
great. That said, it was still a fun game, but compared to what it
should have been? Not great. Watch Dogs 2 has tried to rectify that, and
honestly, I feel they, for the most part, succeeded. There are still
issues, in that gunplay is something I feel shouldn't even be in the
game for the hero, or at least not lethal. But I digress, hacking has
had a significant step up from the last game, both in usefulness and
usability. You can quick-tap to hack so many objects in the world, you
can set up traps for enemies, you can ride scissor lifts and forklifts
to get to new locations, scout out areas with a 3D-printed drone, and
generally just do more. There's a lot more to do in this iteration of
the game, and I definitely feel like it's worth checking out.
Hamza - The Design Guru
Mother Russia Bleeds
Not having a powerful enough PC (as of yet) means I often miss out
on the graphically-demanding AAA games and have to wait a long time
until I can upgrade my computer to even remotely have a chance to run
them at playable frame-rates. All is not lost, however, as I always have
the ever-reliable indie market to fall back on. Championed by the
legendary Devolver Digital, this game is a brutal beat 'em up that is
sure to win over fans of Double Dragon and Streets of Rage. If you like
your action hardcore and music so loud it practically rebounds off the
walls, then look no further than Mother Russia Bleeds.
Devil Daggers
I'm quite ashamed to admit that until a few weeks prior to
uploading this list, I had absolutely not heard of Devil Daggers.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered it initially came out at the start
of the year, with newer versions added along the way. Anyway, now that I
have hastily put in a good 4+ hours into it, I can safely say I have
not played a more distilled, pure, naked form of addictive gameplay in a
long while. For the uninitiated, Devil Daggers is all about survival -
in the most brutal, stark definition of it. You see, the game only has
one achievement, and that is to survive for at-least 500 seconds.
Don't get fooled though - it is amongst the most challenging
achievements available. With graphics that harken back to the
first-person shooters of the 90's, there is much to love (and treasure)
about this game, and then some. Without a shadow of a doubt, Devil
Daggers is my 2016 GOTY!
Shadow Warrior 2
I'm going to keep this one simple: if you love a wide and wacky
range of weapons from this to that, then do yourself a favor and add
Shadow Warrior 2 to your wish list. The surprisingly deep amount of
weapon customizing is commendable, but it's the addition of magic and
special attributes that you can attach to your weapon of choice that is
the real kicker here. And yea, the rest of the game is great, too!
A Boy and His Blob
I first read about this game in a magazine way, way back in 2009. I
remember totally falling in love with the screenshots, they were so
beautiful and cute. The hand-painted graphics, lush environments, the
cuteness of the titular characters; all indicated that A Boy & His
Blob is a must-play for those who love getting their hearts melted while
solving neatly laid out puzzles. The only problem: the game remained
Wii-exlusive until the beginning of this year, when it was ported to the
PC by the ever-dependable Wayforward Technologies. Seeing how the game
is an accessible and lovable treat to the eyes, ears, and the heart, I'd
say the 7 years wait was totally worth it.
Deadly Tower of Monsters
This was a bona-fide surprise discovery of the year for me. I'd
never heard of the company ACE Team before in my life and now thanks to
this game I cannot seem to get enough of their games, each wonderfully
surreal than the last. This game is a lovely loveletter to the campy
B-movie scene of the 1950's, with eye-pleasing aesthetics that borrow
from that time period. Though the gameplay gets a bit repetitive after a
few hours, it's not enough to completely bog down the experience, with
the excellent narration and tongue-in-cheek presentation keeping things
fresh and humorous just enough for the player to go that extra "five
minutes". You should definitely play it!
P.Y. - The Coder
Dragon Quest Builders
Our Review
I normally save the best for last but this year? The King is at the top of the pile!
Dragon Quest Builders was my absolute favorite title of the year.
Taking a what if scenario, Builders follows the events of what would
have happened to the world if the Hero decided to side with the Evil
Dragonlord instead of slay him to free the lands from his malevolence.
Given an open sandbox it's up to you to restore the light to the world
in order to pave the path for the future Hero that will hopefully do the
job right this time.
I spent countless hours and stopped paying attention to the clock
after having put sixty or so hours in two or three weeks. Hell the first
day of release was a good twelve of those hours. Building towns, saving
people, creating new items and recipes, and generally having fun either
tearing something down or building something up before going into epic
boss battles and then diving back in to do challenges, I was hooked. The
first dragon you go up against in full set of armour was awesome! Then
there was the next one… in your underwear… not as awesome but you had a
stick! It was exhilarating for different reasons.
The Little Acre
Our Review
The Little Acre has just come out and honestly it deserves a space
on this list regardless of how late to the game it was. It was a
brilliant work of art and it had me hooked from the beginning to the
end.
I'm still learning the ropes on what makes a good Point and Click
Adventure as I've honestly only started experiencing this style in the
past few years. You can keep looking at me that way if you want to but
no, no I have not yet played Monkey Island. The Little Acre however has a
perfect balance of story, characters and their interactions with the
world that mostly come through puzzles. Some of these were obvious,
while others had to make you wonder exactly how the hell you were going
to get dressed without getting out of bed all the while not waking up
the sleeping monster AND getting the dog to do your dirty work.
Echoes of Aetheria
Our Review
Dancing Dragon Games have really hit gold with Echoes of Aetheria.
Actually not only have they hit gold but the two that follow are all
Indie RPGs created with an RPG Maker. That's how much these three titles
meant to me this year and the runner ups while I loved, didn't mark me
as much.
I had already had a chance to play Skyborn (DDG's previous title)
and was shocked when I loaded up EoA to see that the battles were an
entirely custom system designed from the ground up with three rows and
five columns in which your characters could move around. The story was
good but the systems that it used in order to tell the tale were amazing
including sieges that had enemies come from several avenues and had to
be dispatched before they could get to their destinations.
Tales Across Time
Our Review
Tales Across Time is Critical Games' second title following 8-Bit
Adventures which was its own level of interesting. A good interesting.
While it isn't overly long, it focuses more on a narrative experience of
three individuals separated by time but with something that they
unfortunately all have in common.
Not many games can cause me to have shivers but this is definitely
one of them. Had it been any longer I'm not sure the outcome would have
been the same as the concepts would have been marred by fluff. Instead
of fluff, Tales Across Time only takes a couple hours but it is time
very well spent with three completely different storylines, fleshed out
characters, interesting battle mechanics and one of the creepiest bad
guys that I've had the pleasure of running away from. I know they are
working on an 8-Bit Adventures 2 but I would really like to see more
like this.
Ara Fell
Our Review
In a way this is best for last because… wow. Ara Fell really
showed what could be done with and RPG Maker and quoting Stegosoft games
once again, they "brought RPG Maker 2003 kicking and screaming out of
retirement!". I'm very glad that they did.
Ara Fell blew me away. Honestly anyone who says that "oh it was
just made with an RPG Maker" has a lot to learn with titles such as
these. One of the first items starting off is that the world while not
open, does not feel restricted. Exploring places that you should not
even be in yet (due to level differences) is possible if you look hard
enough. Walking around, crawling, jumping, and other abilities that
follow exist in order to better explore the world. Combat is fun and a
little different than usual with twists of its own. If you need an RPG
to get away from the AAA levels, this is definitely one to look into.
Honorable Mentions
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 2 - Our Review
Class VII are back and after finishing the first and jumping straight into the second it was clear to see that Trails of Cold Steel 2 was only one one of the best games that I played on my Vita, but also an improvement upon the original which was already great.Arslan: The Warriors of Legend - Our Review
I'm a fan of Musou titles but Arslan for me was one of the best as it runs more with a story than it does with combat. There's still a fair amount of combat but all of it feels like it actually matters and is not simply filler between cutscenes because your actions are what lead the events from one point to the next.Dark Souls III - Our Review
Love it, hate it, run away screaming in the night, Dark Souls 3 was awesome and one of my favorite of the series. Seriously try to go back and play Demons Souls… good luck. Holy Hell it's hard after playing this. It's not everyone that will love this newest entry but for me it was the best one yet and I quite enjoyed the Bloodborne smoothness of dodging added into what makes Dark Souls, Dark Souls.Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir - Our Review
From cult classic on the PS2 to hit on the PS4. Best part? It contains the original if you feel like taking a trip back down memory lane. Honestly? Play the new one. Leifthrasir is more than just a HD port, it's a full blown remake of the game with new systems in place in order to provide a smoother experience. The story is the same but the supporting elements make it much easier to re-experience this magical tale.I am Setsuna - Our Review
I am Setsuna is an homage to the great Chrono Trigger. Those from the white expanses known as Canada, where it snows three quarters of the damned year (another two feet yesterday), will feel at home as the arctic wastelands are all that you are going to see. Thankfully there are bright colours to permeate the snow as well as an incredible piano arrangement that supports the title from start to finish. I do hope that more is done with this series as it was a pleasure to sit through.Richard - The Obsurist
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
Our Review
Odin sphere: while it may technically be a remaster, boy was it
done properly. It wasn't just a fancy graphic update, but the gameplay
was smoothed out and it just felt so much cleaner than its original.
Odin sphere was a great game to begin with, and the remaster reminded
people why.
Monster Hunter Generations
Our Review
Monster hunter generations: always been a huge fan, with 500+
hours clocked on each installment. Needless to say, the latest monster
hunter is going to be on this list for me. Besides, with the new styles
introduced, my friend who mains a hunting horn is now officially called
"the flying tuba", and nothing will make me stop laughing whenever I see
him in action.
Digimon Cyber Sleuth
Cyber sleuth: this was the digimon game I didn't know I needed.
The characters were hilarious and entertaining, the gameplay was solid,
and I loved making a team out of all my old TV favourite digimon.
Salt and Sanctuary
Our Review
Salt and Sanctuary: always enjoyed the demon/dark souls games, and
always loved 2D side scrollers. Salt and Sanctuary was a wonderful
combination of both of these, with what I would consider a much better
multiplayer system.
Superdimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls
Our Review
Vs. Sega Hard girls: probably my favourite neptunia game so far,
it was great to see IF in the spotlight. Combat felt refreshed, the
quest system was interesting, the new field map commands were cool, and
Neptune's role had me falling off my couch laughing way too hard.
Robert - The Tech
Tyranny
The Division
Rimworld
Hyper Light Drifter
Jeff - Super Secret Character
The Division
XCOM 2
Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition
