There is a great concept with wonderful moment to moment gameplay behind NARAKA: BLADEPOINT. but only if you can manage to get over a myriad of other issues.
With all the content available, the beautiful charcoal art style, the tense survival gameplay, the wonderful stories, This War of Mine: Final Cut is something that is absolutely worth your time - as long as you know what you're getting into.
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is like a mix between a Telltale game and an old school point and clicker, taking the best from both of those genres. It’s something very different and worth trying.
Toy Soldiers HD is genuinely worth playing if you have never done so before; there is a huge amount of fun to be had here. This HD title could have been a lot more too, and honestly might work less well than the original ever did. But what’s there is still a good time for strategy fans and it’s still able to provide a very unique experience.
Sir Lovelot on Xbox feels like a weekend game; nothing incredibly special but a well-made experience nonetheless. This is a fun and simple platformer that can provide some good fun for a few hours.
PUSS! on Xbox is absolutely worth picking up and trying. If you have the patience to get through its often brutal levels, you will find a surreal, rewarding experience that is simply unlike anything else. This is a game that will make you scream in both anger and delight, but it's also a game that comes with some of the most satisfying gameplay I’ve experienced in a long while.
During a press conference in Hawaii, Capcom made dreams come true by finally announcing Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. The wait was absolutely worth it - this was nearly everything fans had been hoping for.
Elliot on Xbox may not look like much at first, but if you give it a try you'll find a brutal platformer that can both entertain and frustrate for hours. The levels are massively creative and shockingly well-designed.
Being a retro revival of Asteroids isn't the flashiest look for an indie game and I fear Back to Belt on Xbox may suffer for that. But if you have any interest at all in arcade-style, pick up and play games, this one is definitely worth a look. It does not get everything right but there’s a lot of challenge and fun to be had here.
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes on Xbox is an excellent Souls-like experience and one that any fan of the genre should play. It’s constantly rewarding and delivers a frantic challenge on the whole. There are some hiccups along the way but it’s not enough to bring down this trip into steampunk nightmares.
Despite some minor gripes, Star Kings is the best expansion for Age of Wonders: Planetfall on Xbox so far: Paradox has only improved their output with every new content drop and this latest addition keeps to that trend. If you enjoy Planetfall, Star Kings is a no-brainer pickup. It truly adds to, and improves, the game in ways that feel almost necessary now for the full experience.
G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout on Xbox One has an audience, but I can't imagine it's a very big one. The title is perfectly serviceable but there are so many options that are of higher quality and more worthy of your time that it’s tricky to want to get involved here. However if you are a fan of this franchise, it will be a fun romp through the world of G.I. Joe; something which is perhaps all it was ever trying to be in the first place.
Nothing in An Evil Existence feels like it fits together; there is no flow to the gameplay, it’s janky and broken, the load times are incredibly long, the graphical glitches are prevalent, and there are constant frame drops. It's shocking that something like this has even made it through to the Xbox Store. It may seem like I am being harsh, however when you include the high asking price, you're essentially paying for two hours of punishment and boredom.
Port Royale 4 on Xbox One delivers a shockingly great time. I feel that many will skip past this title because it looks niche or too complicated, but truly this is a streamlined and swashbuckling affair that provides a good time throughout.
Pro Skater 1 was a good introduction to the world of skating to millions of gamers, but it was the second one that truly perfected the formula and created a masterpiece. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 took everything that made the original and turned it up to 11.
Zero Strain on Xbox One is a high quality top down shooter that has all the essentials that a game from the genre needs - the replayability, the challenge, and the engaging gameplay. Besides some minor setbacks, this can satisfy even the most white knuckled gamer and for the price that’s asked, it’s more than a good deal for the fun that it can offer.
Behind all of the technical trouble of Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Definitive Edition is a really great CRPG that honors its heritage and feels like a 90's CRPG release - the kind of thing that could stand right next to the classic greats. While it's certainly not as good as some of those seminal titles, it does come close and is a great time to anyone who wants to party up and venture into a wild and dynamic fantasy world. It’s just a shame that technical aspects stop that from happening.
Hyper Scape on Xbox One feels like it tries new ideas but fails to implement them in any effective way, and frankly even if they were well-optimized, it's still not enough to make it stand out from the rest of the pack. This is a perfectly serviceable battle royale, but it is just that - serviceable.
If you love the series, there is still worth with Rock of Ages 3, offering up more levels of the same great gameplay. But in all other senses, the rock has been dropped here.
For those of you who have been living under a rock or deep in the jungle for the last ten years, the Devil May Cry games feature a protagonist called Dante. And this is Dante when he was just effortlessly cool...
The two games featured in the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection were big deals when first released. Playing them again now, it is clear to see why.