It’s not every day in which you are brutally murdered by your best friend, but when it does happen, you better make damned sure to melt faces and bust the bones of your enemies, for that is the true punk rock thing to do in this certain situation! In an odd case of revenging the vengeance that was dealt against you and your band, Charlie Murder delivers the one-two punch combo with plenty of oomph and style based around neon hair and spikey leather outfits (no, not the kind in my basement involving whips and gags either).
The Wonderful 101 is at times a normal action/adventure brawler that is typical of Platinum Games, with an over-the-top sense of humor to boot. On the other hand, The Wonderful 101 is a deep action game with a unique battle system that brings about a sense of joy and discovery, alongside intense action from the bygone era of the SNES. It is, right now, one of the most unique Wii U games in retail, but it is not a game that holds your hand. Instead it will stomp on your hand and make fun of you; chances are you probably deserve it.
Even after playing, and enjoying games with heavy stealth influences like the Batman: Arkham series and The Last of Us, I wouldn’t say that I prefer stealth games. So, going into Splinter Cell: Blacklist, I was hesitant. My past experience with the series is terribly limited, having spent the most time with 2010’s Splinter Cell: Conviction. Though I initially worried that I wouldn’t find my footing, I quickly found that Blacklist had a lot to offer and by the time the credits rolled, I was more than happy to have experienced it.
I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t realize that Cloudberry Kingdom is entirely made up of randomly generated stages. They demand a level of precision and contain enough traps that you’d think some masochistic level designer was madly laughing as he put most of them together. Of course, this does speak volumes of the quality of the level generator that sits behind this intensely challenging 2D platformer, but without anything pulling everything together, it’s more of a never ending gauntlet of disparate levels than a game.
Misogyny. It’s a word that’s been thrown around in tandem with Killer is Dead since the fated Gigolo Mode was first revealed. However, creator Grasshopper Manufacture has gotten a raw deal. This tongue-in-cheek mode (that only features two unique encounters) has thrown the stars completely out of alignment for the studio and the game at large. The fact of the matter is, Killer is Dead is quite similar to Suda51’s past works. Combining the frantic action of No More Heroes with the third person shooting from Shadows of the Damned and the darker atmosphere offered by Killer7, Killer is Dead is a fantastic fusion of some of Suda51’s oeuvre. The cryptic narrative that undercuts the experience further accentuates the charm of this excellent action game.
It seems like the Etrian Odyssey series has steadily won over more and more fans since its first entry in 2007. Along the way, Atlus has added in niceties to take the edge off of a series that demands a lot of its players, and revisiting the original entry with these tweaks turns out to be a great move. Even though it seems a bit odd to remake a game that’s only six years old, Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl is the perfect way to please existing fans and those just joining the dungeon-diving party.
There are casual games, and then there is Toki Tori 2+, the Lord of the Rings of devilish puzzle games: epic, gargantuan, and deep as hell. It may look cute and innocent at first, but have no doubt, this game is both immensely creative and insanely difficult. Try as I did, I was ultimately unable to beat it after three weeks of battling its fiendish design. While I’m disappointed in myself, I realize that a lot of gamers are going to suffer some of the same problems I did with it, and while it’s a great game I have left unfinished, I still have a lot to say about it.
Old school games are here to stay, thanks to gems like Guacamelee, a fun 2D beat-'em-up/platformer with endearing characters and dialogue and a distinct Mexican flavor. It's filled to the brim with humor and now-ancient video game references to Mario, Zelda, and Metroid that will leave you laughing at how blatant they are. Its setting, music, and modern design choices all work together to make something new enough that you'll forget you're off yet again to save una otra princesa.
Two years ago, Rayman hit the scene with one of his most inspired adventures yet. It took series staples and wove them into one of the most beautiful and interesting platformers I’d ever seen. Well, Rayman Legends is now here and it somehow manages to surpass Rayman Origins in every way imaginable. It applies the same great platforming to gorgeous new inspired worlds and even manages to make it enjoyable for more than one concurrent player this time around.
Do Not Fall is a top-down platformer filled with cute fluffy bunnies, jolly pigs, adorable snowmen, and all things in between. Don’t let their innocent demeanor fool you—most things aim to knock you to your ultimate demise. The game takes your trust and turns it against you when the snowmen become murderous and the ladybugs become killer. Not to mention the hawks that dive-bomb your position and the bulls that suddenly take you for a matador.
As a huge fan of the Tales series, I was obviously excited for Tales of Xillia, but I also came to the game with some skepticism. I was worried that some of the luster of the franchise was starting to wear off for me, as I didn’t get into last year’s Tales of Graces f as much as I thought I would. However, I was pleased to see that the series still has more than enough kick left in it. Tales of Xillia is one JRPG that shouldn’t be missed, despite some flaws.
Games have become pretty advanced over the last couple decades. They used to focus on simply being fun to play, but nowadays developers look to create breathtaking visuals, cinematic experiences, deep player choices, and seemingly endless hours of content. The more of these checkboxes a game covers, the more seemingly eligible it is for a high review score.
The first chapter of The Game Kitchen’s experimental point and click horror title, The Last Door, was intriguing and more than a little scary for me. I couldn’t wait to jump into the next chapter, and fortunately I didn’t have to wait. Would the second chapter, Memories, continue to build on the strong foundation that the first chapter began, or would it begin to fall in on itself? So far, so good; chapter two brings a longer gameplay experience and takes the threads from chapter one into some truly creepy territory.
SteamWorld Dig is one of those completely out of left field games. Before it hit the market, I had no idea it was even a thing that existed. Shortly after witnessing a small sample of the gameplay, my interest level shot through the roof; rightfully so, as it turns out. This mining action-platformer is innovative, interesting, and fun from end to end.
Five years ago, in a small room at E3, Miyamoto let slip that Nintendo was developing another Pikmin title. The excitement he expressed in doing so was tangible and the reveal was seemingly unplanned, but it was clear that producing the game was something special for the father of modern gaming. The final product is beautiful, well-designed, and immensely entertaining – a true testament to Miyamoto's love for the series. However, it also shows clear signs of being rushed to market despite its extended development cycle, which is an unfortunate mark against such a fantastic game.
Making a game with no puzzles, no combat, and no action to speak of in order to tell a specific and carefully crafted story seems like such a simple idea, and one that could easily turn out to be pretty boring. Luckily, the creators of Gone Home have been paying close attention to the powerful little vignettes stuck in the cracks of other games that have come before. It’s the little notes left in Skyrim’s caves and the journal entries in Myst that paved the way for Gone Home to turn those little nuggets into a pretty amazing story.
I wouldn’t blame you if the words “Disney” and “video game” made you frown. After the 16-bit days, the quality of Disney Interactive’s titles took a huge nose-dive, which is a real shame as some of my favorite video games from this era were Disney titles. However, these titles were created by either Capcom or Virgin Interactive. After nearly twenty odd years (and no Virtual Console release), Capcom decided to task Wayforward with remaking their first and most legendary NES Disney title: DuckTales. As far as remastered titles go, does it fall in the same trap as most HD remasters go, or is it a worthy remake of the NES cult classic?
The previous piece of Dishonored DLC, The Knife of Dunwall, left me feeling slightly let down. Although it had the basics I loved from the main game – multiple pathways, interesting powers, and stealthy maneuvering that was top notch – the story and environments weren’t up to the new franchise’s high standards. The Brigmore Witches washes away all of my misgivings and brings things back my lofty expectations for the franchise.
For me to properly articulate my feelings on Saints Row IV, I think you need to know a little bit about my taste in movies. I greatly enjoy quiet little indie films like The Science of Sleep, Once, and Closer. I find them to be wonderful palate cleansers from all of the big budget action flicks that come out every summer. However, some of my favorite movies of all time are what I can only describe as “stupid”; stuff like Crank 2 and UHF starring the one and only “Weird” Al Yankovic. While these movies are lacking in artistic merit, they are immensely entertaining to me, and that’s exactly how I feel about Saints Row IV: a game that gleefully throws the “are games art” question out the window.
Kokuga isn’t your typical shoot-‘em-up. Despite being developed by Ikaruga alums, it takes a unique approach to the genre that encourages a more defensive playstyle and completely turns the conventions for power-ups on its ear. Though an interesting divergence, the changes made aren’t necessarily for the better.
Deadly Premonition: Director’s Cut is a one of a kind experience. It can be as creepy as it is delightful. It is intentionally and unintentionally funny. More than anything though, its packed full of personality.
I’ve kind of become the de facto horror guy around PixlBit, and that suits me just fine. For the longest time, I felt that the key to a great horror video game was graphical fidelity. Resident Evil was chilling for me when I was sixteen, but the original release doesn’t do it for me anymore. Surely, it takes bleeding edge graphics to terrify, right? Well, not necessarily. I learned that with Corpse Party, a game that chilled me to the bone on multiple occasions. That game looked like it came from the 16-bit era, and it was very effective at making bedtime a dicey proposition. So what would happen if someone made a horror game that used an art style from even earlier? Would it be scary at all? In the case of The Last Door from Spanish developer The Game Kitchen, you get a macabre and haunting horror title that gets in your head and stays there.
As an avid fan of the Wii, I’ll be the first to tell you that Muramasa: The Demon Blade ranks up there as one of the best games on the system. Unsurprisingly, I’ve also enjoyed the title on the Vita, but my second pass through has laid bare many of the title’s shortcomings.
Darby:
So, you’ve died. Kicked the bucket. Bit the dust. That’s unfortunate isn’t it? You may think so, dead before it was your time to go. Now you have nothing to do except gaze upon the mortals. Wait! Not so! Not when you get the badass job of bounty hunter, hunting souls and returning them to the underworld. There you are, partnered up with a senior hunter, and you get cool weapons to fight the Deados. You’ve got skill on your side, wit, and you’re the good guy. Imagine it: A super cool job in the afterlife, filled with danger and excitement for your enjoyment. Now you get to live through this fabulous life in a game with just that type of character! This game could be amazing! Unfortunately, as cool as the idea behind the story is, the game doesn’t live up to any expectation you might have had.
