50gamechallenge

Generations adds new Hunter Styles, Arts, improved/additional skills and a mix of some of the best Monsters of all time to create one of the best games in the Monster Hunter series yet! Ever since the original games, every weapon has had relatively the same style of fighting. However with the new “Art Styles”, combat sees some new, dynamic play-styles. Aerial style, much like the bug staff, allows you to launch on top of monsters and topple them with ease. Striker is focused on all-out attacking and faster charging of Arts and Adept is all about swift evades and devastating counterattacks. Of course there’s still the old standard “Guild” style which is the only one that doesn’t augment your moves in favor of new mechanics. Each new style, for any weapon, was a bit hard to learn but once you settled into it, the combat felt refreshed. The option to fluidly swap styles between fights was important, allowing you to change up your technique vs different monsters. Some monsters telegraph their moves often, opening them up to counter-attack opportunities while others are big, stationary brutes, making it much more efficient to attack aerially. Alongside the new Styles are Hunter Arts, which are basically super-moves based off your weapon choice. As an example, the Long Sword has a move called Sakura Slash which after a short jump back, your character will unleash two sweeping slashes and upon hitting the monster, will raise your spirit gauge one level and unleash a series of after-image cuts like an early Japanese anime. Unfortunately, there’s not all that much diversity in the Hunter Arts with only about 3 different moves but it’s a step in the right direction. Maybe in the next entry… Armor and weapon skills saw a huge upgrade as well, giving even more depth to the play-styles with completely new combinations. As an Aerial Long Sword player, I would sometime use a combination of Mounting, Evasion and the new skill Vault so that I could topple monsters faster, position myself better with evades and deal more damage while going for the dunk. They even added “Village Skills” which were a combination of things like “Ice Resist + Sharpener” or “Fire Resist + Gluttony”. It made experimenting with different styles and skills all the more fun. I could go on for days on how the styles and Arts has changed up the combat but I feel like the lineup of boss monsters needs to get some solid praise as well. Generations brings in all of the staple classics like the Zinogre, Rathian, Rathalos and Tigrex; but it also adds new awesome fights like the new “starting” monster, the Great Maccao which is a jumping raptor similar to the Velocidrome. There’s also the games flagmonster-hunter-picship monster, the Glavenus, which I can only explain as a more rampagey Deviljho with a razor-sharp blade for a tail that it ignites just so it can set you on fire to add insult to injury. Oh also, it also enjoys whipping it’s flaming tail around to send huge waves of flames directly at you. It’s an intense, but fun fight. On top of that, certain classic monsters like the Lagiacrus from 3U have gained new moves and patterns, making the fights you might’ve remember completely fresh. There are so many Elder Dragons in the late game it’s unreal. I don’t want to give any surprises away but just know that your time is well rewarded if you can make it up to the higher ranked fights with some of these beasts. Capcom really did listen to their player community again by trying to implement some more Quality of Life improvements, like being able to cook multiple meats at the town rather than the horribly painful process of previous games where you would have to cook one at a time out in the field. Oh my god, it was painful and I never want to go back. However, on the other side, with so many different systems to manage between quests, I still noticed that familiar mini-game fatigue. Between, running a farm, maintaining a Palico Army, grindy quests and regular village upkeep, it became much-more tedious than it should’ve been. Overall: 8/10 + Diverse New Monsters/Tons of Old Favorites/Revamped AI + New Arts and Skills Keep the Combat Fresh + Palico Hunter + Quality of Life Improvements + Multiplayer!!! - Slow Start - Grinding Quests Recommend for: Anyone looking for challenging but rewarding boss fights with huge Dragons, solo or cooperatively with friends. Ol’ WoW raiders and fans of Shadow of Colossus.

7 Days to Die is a survival horror post-apocalyptic crafting game that is a little bit of everything. In 2013, 7 Days to Die was green lit for Early Access on Steam where it currently resides, receiving numerous updates over time. In April earlier this year, it was announced that Telltale games would publish 7 Days to Die and bring it to PS4 and Xbox One. Unfortunately, the game was released with numerous technical issues on console, contributing to low review scores. In 7 Days to Die, your goal is to survive. Each night will get gradually more difficult as zombies gain in numbers and become more aggressive. On the 7th night, you must survive a wave of the undead headed straight for your defenses. Fortify your base well enough and you will survive to the next week. Rebuild your defenses and repeat with a new horde of zombies spawning every 7 days. Simple right? There's more to it than just that. Upon starting the game, you're told to craft a few basic items. After that, the tutorial is practically non-existent. The mechanics of the game aren't clearly conveyed so the game can be very overwhelming, especially for those not familiar with the crafting genre. For the first few hours of my playthrough, I had no idea where to start or what I should consider a priority so I just starting picking everything up for 2 hours. The game gives you no story or context and told to have fun in a giant sandbox. I was so lost that I ended up searching online for some sort of direction. You will spend more time gathering resources and crafting items than you will in enemy combat. Crafting mechanics are akin to those in Minecraft and Fallout: hit everything and get resources to build your base and protect it tower defense style. Craft your weapons, craft your clothes, craft your base, craft everything. This, in turn, makes exploring for resources a huge part of the game. As the game is still in early access, the overall look of the game is really crude. It's not by any means a "pretty" game. Limited textures and landmarks make exploring unimaginative and repetitive. With poor animations, weak combat, and no clear objectives to follow, exploring is also difficult. The game features a simple day/night cycle. During the day you get slow enemies and zombies that aren't much of a threat, and at night, you get faster, more aggressive zombies that actively seek you out. In addition, you must also be mindful of environmental threats as you explore. These include your core body temperature, hunger, or if you are carrying items that emit certain smells that attract the undead among other things. To combat these threats, 7 Days to Die has a very involved skill system with bonus perks. These skills affect everything from scavenging, character and weapon speed, to the use and modification of weapons. Points are assigned to the skills of your choice with points obtained at leveling. Of course, you need to look everything up to make sense of the system. 7 Days to Die offers 3 different modes to choose from. In Single Player, your goal is to survive for as long as you can without aid from other players. One of the game's saving graces is the ability to play couch co-op with a friend and team up to survive together. In this mode, outside players may attack and steal from you, making for a competitive playthrough. This is where the most fun you will have with the game takes place. Lastly, there is a Creative mode, for players that wish to explore and experiment without anything trying to murder them while they build their castles in the barren wasteland in peace. Despite the low scores that 7 Days to Die has been receiving, the game is fun and even more so with friends. Now that the game has had a few updates and many bugs patched, its easier to see the game for what it is. 7 Days to Die is the idea that sounds good in theory but ends up buckling under its weight in practice. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a sort of identity crisis. I play this game and I see emulations of Skyrim, Fallout, Minecraft, Dead Island, and Don't Starve rolled into one bogged-down game without tutorials. With a number of bugs still waiting to be patched, and a control scheme that was clearly not designed with console controllers in mind; 7 Days to Die is far from the game it could be. Is it worth the $30? Fans of crafting games and those looking for a challenging couch co-op game may say yes. Updates continue to be released to further stabilize gameplay and with new content being added periodically; it will be interesting to see where this game goes as it has already come a long way since 2013. For now, I would still wait for a few updates to release if you're planning to pick it up on the PS4. ________________________________________ Score 5/10 Pros/Cons + Complex crafting system + Survival simulation + Couch co-op + Challenging - Technical issues on console - Poor conveyance of game mechanics to player - Cumbersome controls

Life is Strange is an episodic, click-and-point, choose your own adventure game about Max Caulfield, a photography student who discovers that she has time-manipulation powers which she uses to save her best friend, Chloe while investigating the mysterious disappearance of one of her classmates. Throughout the game, Max uses her time powers in her everyday school-life, saving those she cares about and all while investigating the strange happenings in her home town of Arcadia Bay. Max’s time and space manipulation powers are some of the most impressive time/space powers that I’ve seen in a modern-day game. Max’s main power is her time-reverse ability, which is limited. It only allows her to go back in time, up to a few minutes, which is great for changing conversations, gathering important information or to get the best outcomes out of specific interactions The ability to see the initial outcome of your decisions and to have the option to change them, gives players better control on how the story develops and is a huge step forward for these types of choose-your-own adventure games. Secondly, Max’s time travel powers manifest in a different way using her love of photography. Without spoiling too much of the story, one of Max’s more prominent abilities later in the game allows her to change whole timelines for better or worse. It really opens up the game to a more dynamic element of time-travel that really solidifies the game’s heavier emotional and sci-fi elements. On top of Max’s amazing powers, Life is Strange has an emotionally gripping story. Not only does it give true science fiction enthusiasts a great story to rival movies like The Time Machine, Butterfly Effect, and Back to the Future, it also creates a truly immersive, dramatically-dynamic game similar to Heavy Rain. With choice being the main concept and consequences really meaning something, the game shows off it’s incredibly impassioned story telling with meaningfully hard choices and conversations that create a rippling effect that really make the player question their decisions as the game progresses, but in a positive way. While investigating, the game has you following a bold story with tons of intrigue and peril that truly keeps players on their toes. It should’ve been something I saw coming but the writing and personal choices I made really kept me guessing until the end, making it into a truly awesome roller-coaster mystery adventure. On top of that, the mystery solving in the game felt real, as if it were something I could figure out in real life. At one point in the game, Max and Chloe have to put together evidence they collected, which added a surprisingly fun puzzle element to the game without being stupid easy or ridiculously hard. The soundtrack was definitely a stand-out element of this game. Not only did the director do a fantastic job of creating a perfect environment for the soundtrack but the timing and artistic aesthetic made one of the best video game soundtracks. In a weird set of events, I accidentally ended up getting the Limited Edition version of the game, which came with a CD of the soundtrack. Some of the bands include Syd Matters, Message to Bears, Bright Eyes and several other indie-alternative artists. This game wasn’t without faults though as it had a rough introduction. From the very start, Max attends a prestigious, private art school which made the initial feel of the game to be pretentious. If you’re not big into art and photography it can be a bit of a drag. There were definitely some more down-to-earth supporting characters but, initially at least, I found it a bit hard to get into the setting of the story. Secondly, the game world of Arcadia Bay and Blackwell College was well done but I felt that the much of the click-and-point elements were meaningless. Even though most of time, interactions and conversations gave you some decent insight into the story, I found that a large portion of it was useless fluff. As an example, Chloe would comment on strange things like a poster or options like investigating the dirtiness of a vehicle. It slows the pacing of the game with unnecessary dialogue most of the time. Life is Strange is by far, one of the most impressive adventures games to date. It mixed emotional story-telling, dynamic gameplay and sci-fi time travel perfectly. This should be the new benchmark for choose-your-own adventure games because if this is what we can get out of these style of games, it makes me eager for the next one. Rating: 9.5/10 ________________________________________ + Time/space rewind skills to fully understand your decisions + Wonderfully written, emotionally gripping story. + Mystery Adventure elements + Soundtrack + Easy Platinum + Meta-gaming with real websites - Huge areas to explore, lots of useless point and click commentary Recommended for: TTG’s games like Walking Dead or for fans of time travel/sci-fi games/movies.

What do you get when you combine a classic turn based RPG, a visual novel, and a dating simulator? Probably not what you expected. What separates Persona 4 Golden from the flood of other Japanese imports hitting the market, with their copy-and-paste mechanics, is its individuality and creative spark. The story follows the protagonist, Yu Narukami, as he boards a train to stay with his detective uncle Dojima and young cousin Nanako in the sleepy town of Inaba. In this time your character attends school, meets some new friends and gets tangled up in a paranormal murder case shrouded in rumors of “The Midnight Channel,” a television show that appears at midnight to show the viewer their true love. Victims begin to appear around town hanging from telephone wires and without a single lead for Detective Dojima or his partner Adachi, it's time for the investigation team of high school friends to figure out what's really going on here. The main focus for the player is going to be, well, personas. These allies are summoned through tarot cards and earned through a card shuffle mini game after battles or through fusion. With little more than physical attacks and items, you're going to need to collect as many as possible. Personas are comparable to Pokemon (and the parent series of Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, actually started the collectible monster genre 4 years prior to the release of Pokemon), except you only want to see them as what they are: a tool. This might strike players used to their monsters being friends that level up with you as shallow, but in P4G there are hundreds of potential personas to help you along the way. The personas complement a fluid turn-based battle system that always felt fresh and new. Combat focuses heavily on your ability to play against enemy weaknesses and keep status buffs in a healthy rotation, something that feels more like an afterthought in typical RPGs. The battle system kept me interested as I traversed through the often bland and randomly generated dungeons for an hour or more at a time, an aspect that the previous Persona 3 suffered from as well. People new to the series might lose interest in this regard, but a player that enjoys grinding and hunting for treasure will feel right at home. As I continued through P4G, it became apparent that personality is where it counts. The jazzy pop soundtrack, vibrant color scheme, and varied character interactions set the tone for a memorable experience. Every character from your party members to the townspeople have their own fleshed out story to tell, and Golden invites you to speak to everyone you see and grow your reputation in Inaba. The social link mechanic allows you to form personal bonds with those you meet allowing new fusions, persona abilities, equipment, and stories in a way that transforms the conventional dating sim process found in many visual novels. Golden is a highly polished remake of the original PS2 title. The graphics received a complete overhaul, some enemies and bosses have been altered to get rid of outdated mechanics too heavily reliant on luck, and the new voice actors come from many notable roles in the industry (seriously, Johnny Yong Bosch has been in everything.) You'll also find extra content in the television channels available at the start screen, consisting of a trivia mini game, concept art, and footage from Persona Live concerts. Maybe the most prominent of additions is Marie, a character with a cloudy past. Marie can be unlikable from the start of her social link, often rude and lacking in social awareness. I found myself pressing fast forward through her dialogue but the conclusion of my time with Marie and the way our interactions filled out the overall narrative left me with a feeling of regret about judging this relevant piece of the puzzle too quickly. The content exclusive to Golden along with my 100+ hours spent in Inaba left me wishing for more time with the investigation team that altered my perspective of what can at times feel like a dying genre as a JRPG fan. It's a reoccurring lesson in P4G and even in life that sometimes it's best to just see where things go. If you have the time to spare and a love for well-crafted storytelling, Persona 4 Golden will treat you to an experience you won't soon forget. And while there are flaws throughout, it's hard to be down when you're having such a good time with good friends. ________________________________________ Rating: 9/10 + Persona fusion/battle system + Plenty of style and personality + Social link system is a fun way to interact with characters - Massive time investment and bland dungeon design - Extra content might not appeal or stand out to new players Recommended for: fans of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, or narrative-driven story games like Life is Strange, Ace Attorney, Or Danganronpa.

Hell is literally taking over a secret Mars facility and the only one who can save humanity is this mysteriously overpowered, silent sentinel, who clearly needs no help and somehow manages to make an already gory scene even gorier. So what is our hero to do? Fight like hell! Doom is a throwback to when games didn't need to be bogged down with complex story-lines, cultural references, huge set pieces, or crazy amounts of multiplayer content to be considered great. What you find instead is a wonderfully gory bad-ass death dealing experience. The goriest and most satisfying moments in Doom are found in its almost 13-hour campaign. While the actual story is rather bland, the combat is what compels you to keep plugging away at the game. Gone are the days where you’re forced to use cover and military tactics to complete your missions, Doom lets you actually live out an action movie. You’re motivated to move from enemy to enemy, dealing out enormous amounts of damage at every enemy in your path, arena style. Your Doom Guy doesn’t know when to stop. Your character moves at a ridiculously fast pace to creating a hectic sense of combat. You’re given tons of opportunities to use the environment within combat as well. Jumping from platform to platform is so seamless that it becomes second nature to bounce around for better combat vantage points. "You’re motivated to move from enemy to enemy, dealing out enormous amounts of damage at every enemy in your path, arena style." Onto the guns! Aside from the main weapon choices in Doom, you also have a hand full of special weapons that offer a unique tool. You can finish off a horde of enemies with a single shot from the classic BFG or turn a single demon into a pile of gory giblets with the chainsaw. The chainsaw is easily the highlight of your special weapon choices. Not only do you witness one the bloodiest death scenes in a game, you also have a tool to save you from a situation where ammo is just not available. You get an instant, satisfying kill with your chainsaw and, out of the bloody carcass of whichever poor demon is on the receiving end of your beautiful weapon, you get a rain of ammo as a reward. Do you kill off the demon tossing rockets everywhere or do you save your fuel (which is located throughout a level for the chainsaw) for when your ammo supply begins to dry out? Doom presents so many intense battles that your choices are all split second decisions that never feel too overwhelming. I found myself never utilizing the full arsenal at my disposal. The plasma gun felt a little under-powered and my poor pistol never saw the light of day unless I was completely out of ammo. After acquiring most of the weapons in the game, I came to realize that some weapons shared the same ammo pool. It was an interesting concept, but I felt forced to hold off using some inferior weapons so that I didn’t lose the ammo needed for the more interesting options. Everyone will have their own favorites, of course, but it felt a little too restrictive for me. The variety given each weapon is impressive with the upgrade system. "Every new area you visit is more impressive than the last." Doom is split into three parts and the multiplayer is the black sheep in the bunch. There is a bit of a disjointed feel to the combat in the multiplayer side of Doom. My attacks didn’t feel as effective against live opponents, and I would have loved for some of that bad-ass feeling from the single player campaign to find its way into multiplayer. At times, you can pick up the demon power-up which was the highlight of my experience. Thrashing around and causing mayhem as a baron of hell never gets tiring. With that being said, it felt like far too much of an advantage. I played way too many matches where one team had the demon rune consistently throughout a match, and no amount of skill could overcome. SnapMap is by far one of the simplest tools to create imaginative gameplay that I have seen in a shooter. Snapping enemies, power-ups, environments, and all manner of goodness is a button click away. You never feel overwhelmed with your choices after working through the well-made tutorial. The SnapMap also allows you to share your custom games or explore amazing created content from players around the world. One of the best examples was a match I played where you faced endless waves of enemies in a “horde mode” where communication and cooperation with other players is key. After having that much fun with such a simple SnapMap creation, I look forward to what other types of games the player base can create. ________________________________________ Rating 8.5/10 + Amazing single player campaign + Great upgrade system: Weapons and Suit. + Plenty of secrets and collectibles + Intuitive create your own game feature – SnapMap - Multiplayer can’t keep up with the single player - Some weapons needed more work to stand out Recommended for: fans of the original Doom, Gears of War or fast-paced shooters.

Stock up on those green herbs and order yourself a Jill Sandwich because Resident Evil is back! For the first time ever, both Resident Evil Remake and Resident Evil 0 are available together on disk outside of Nintendo consoles. Remake tasks players with revisiting the Spencer mansion and rediscovering the origins of the infamous Umbrella Company. Longtime fans of the series will not be disappointed as they are taken down memory lane to find it has been given a substantial visual and audio overhaul; as well as the option to change the control scheme from the old cumbersome tank feel, to a more fluid modernized style. You won't find any linear chapters to power through here. Resident Evil (Remake) The old mansion is just how I remembered it but with a few new caveats where I least expected them. This time around, we're treated to improved camera angles, adjusted lighting, and a complete overhaul of background textures and character models for a more immersive experience. As an added bonus, RE5 skins for both Chris and Jill are available from the start. Some small cut scenes however were not given an upgrade, and still remain grainy from the original release. Although somewhat jarring, the original rendered sequences still hold up to this day and serve as a nice throwback to longtime fans without breaking my immersion. While the overall structure of the game has not been changed, Remake includes new enemies to handle as well as new puzzles that kept me retracing my steps for clues and solutions. Another great addition is the inclusion of defense items. These are found throughout the game to give you the ability to parry an enemy attack. Initially, I was concerned that these items would take away from the overall suspense due to the decrease in my vulnerability. This is not the case as it quickly became clear that this time around, enemies are significantly more aggressive and harder to dodge than I had previously remembered. Additionally, I was very pleased to see that Capcom also decided to carry over the Lisa Trevor subplot from the 2007 Wii exclusive, "The Umbrella Chronicles". This not only gave me answers as to what really happened to the Trevor family, but added a new emotional layer to the story. As a longtime fan of the original release, it was clear that Capcom was listening to the fan base when it came time for improvements and additions for Remake. And they delivered. Resident Evil 0 Resident Evil 0 is considered by many to be one of the weaker installments of the franchise with it's fair share of criticism. This is due not only to poor implementation of the classic tank controls, but from the drastic change made to the item management system in general. Without item boxes, you must assume the roles of both Rebecca and Billy. The two characters swap items between their inventories, leading you to drop and retrieve items everywhere in the game as needed. At times, switching between the two characters for puzzles feels a bit unnecessary as much as it is inconvenient. RE:0 has still been given both a visual and audio upscale. Despite the upgrade, new voice overs were not recorded as with the original as I had hoped. With new high resolution textures and enhanced character models, RE:0 stays true to its original release. Because this is a remaster rather than a remake, RE:0 was not given new gameplay or storytelling features as is the case with its predecessor. Resident Evil Origins Collection manages to recreate the atmospheric dread that these games were well known for in the 90s. The storytelling and horror tropes of the classic Resident Evil games still hold up today; with the improved graphics and mechanics, younger generations are quick to understand why these games are still a big deal in the gaming community. Whether you’re a stalwart fan of the originals or are new to the series, Origins delivers when it comes to classic survival horror. With the newly announced remake of Resident Evil 2 in the works, Origins gives me hope for what Capcom has in store for us. With two iconic games in one, this collection is truly a great value that belongs on your shelf. ________________________________________ Score 8/10 + Atmospheric survival horror, a rare commodity in the AAA gaming industry these days + Great story that is a must play for fans of later installments + Beautiful environments and architecture + Multiple difficulty settings for veteran players and newcomers alike + New game plus for unlocked weapons + Long overdue shot of nostalgia +/- Cheesy Dialogue - Dated mechanics may alienate new players - Fixed camera angles - Inventory micromanaging Recommended for: fans of zombie shooters like The Evil Within, Silent Hill, Alan Wake, Dead Space, or for zombie movie lovers.

Kirby: Planet Robobot introduces mech suits and new, dynamic powers. What's not to like? The addition of the robot suits in Kirby is probably the most refreshing mechanic in a Kirby game that I’ve seen in some time. Jumping into the suit makes Kirby an absolute powerhouse. Every ability can be used in the robot suit, giving a whole new dimension to the combat and puzzle solving. Some puzzles can only be solved with a combination of the suit and a specific power, making puzzles much more enjoyable and dynamic. One of the biggest complaints I’ve had about Kirby games is that many of the powers have been one-dimensional. As an example, the Beam power has been around forever and the only thing you could do with it is create an arching beam “sword” against enemies. Now, in this new game, almost every ability has several different styles. From shooting up or at an angle or to creating a new effect while having full health (like Zelda’s sword beam), each new ability really shows off better combat capabilities for a more dynamic sense of play. In the Robot suit, instead of Electric powered Kirby shooting off an electric aura like Blanka from Street Fighter, the Robot suit shoots off bouncing balls of electricity. On top of that, most abilities also have alternate modes of fire, like being able to charge up a shot to do more damage. Planet Robobot really shows off in the collectibles department. Each level has hidden code cubes you gather by solving gradually tougher puzzles throughout the game. Each level has a set number of cubes and if you collect all of them in an area, a new EX level opens, giving the player a more difficult but ultimately fun challenge. Alongside the code cubes, players also collect stickers throughout each level. Most common stickers act on a seemingly RNG mechanic and certain levels will contain hard to find gold stickers which are usually rarer designs. Ultimately, all the stickers did was change the look of your robot suit and did nothing in the way of stats, making them seemingly useless. However, for the true collector, it gives a solid incentive to go back through levels and collect more stickers. The developers out-did themselves on level and enemy design in this game. Each level felt different and dynamic. There were times where most of the level I would run through using the robot to smash enemies and other times I would be using it to carefully solve puzzles. Most times, the levels were split between a foreground and a background area that you could jump between to progress or collect items and it really busted up the monotony of typical side scrolling games. Some of the more memorable levels had Kirby transform into a car to traverse the level or flying areas where Kirby would change into a plane and fight flying enemies and bosses. Bosses and sub-bosses were even dynamically fresh with multiple phases, attack patterns and arena changes. At one point you could be fighting a boss in a flat 2D environment and the next phase you could be dodging projectiles in a 3D circle while the boss tries to stomp on you. It made for a great use of the 3DS mechanics while still keeping the style of Kirby intact. Of course, many of Kirby’s old pals and enemies are back for the ride like Meta Knight and King Dedede but it also brought in some pretty cool antagonists and frenemies The antagonists were interesting though sparsely used. After beating the game, there are several different endings depending on the amount of code cubes you’ve collected, all culminating in some truly epic boss battles. Even after beating the fairly lengthy main story, there are a good chunk of mini-games and side missions including a boss arena, a time-attack mode, a 3D puzzler and a 4-player Monster Hunter styled adventure game, pitting you and 3 other Kirby's against bosses with huge health bars. Players can level up in this mode and use different Kirby forms such as Swords, Hammer, Healing and Magic to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible, making this one of my favorite mini-games in ANY Kirby game to date. Overall, the new Kirby: Planet Robobot is a fantastic title for Nintendo and their 3DS system. I found hours and hours of new things to do or collect without ever really feeling any kind of repetitive gameplay. With the addition of robot suits, new abilities, engaging boss battles and levels, the game really shows its strength in versatility. I haven’t played a Kirby game in some time due to stale gameplay but Planet Robobot showed me that Kirby and friends are still just as awesome as they ever were. ________________________________________ Score: 9/10 + Robot Suit + Fresh new Skills and developed abilities + Dynamic Boss fights and Level design + Great blend of platforming and puzzles + Fun collection elements - Sticker collection felt useless Recommended for Kirby fans of every age or for fans of platforming/puzzle games and collection mechanics.

In Nathan Drake's final chapter in the Uncharted series, Naughty Dog says goodbye to its protagonist of 10 years in a beautiful display of technical mastery. The swan song that the franchise deserves, Uncharted 4 wraps up Nathan's story as well as answers questions that long time fans have been asking over the years. A bitter-sweet end to one of my favorite action adventure games, but one that left me satisfied with an ending that I'm grateful for. In Uncharted 4 we find an aging Nathan who has retired from his treasure hunting day job along with now wife: Elaina Fisher. Since the events from Uncharted 3, the two have given up on the danger and adventure for a life of legitimacy. It quickly becomes clear that Nate's "adventures" working in salvage can't quite replace uncovering the riches of the world's most legendary treasures. So when Nate's brother Sam shows up after being presumably dead for the last 15 years, and explains that he can only regain his freedom with the treasure of 17th century pirate, Henry Avery, the two set out for one final adventure. The attention to detail and mastery of lighting here is ridiculous Everything in this game is in real time. Uncharted 4 is a masterpiece in that it's currently the best looking game I have seen on the Playstation 4 thus far. Much like my initial reaction to Naughty Dog's The Last of Us from a few years back, Uncharted 4 is now the game to beat in terms of graphic fidelity on the Playstation 4. From its minute details in vegetation; the effect that wind and water have on hair-and-clothing; to the pores on Nate's face, the attention to detail in this game is phenomenal. As expected, there are still plenty of set pieces to show off here with dynamic backdrops, living environments, and elaborate level designs. With a cast of cautious and matured characters, the game is grounded in a more realistic aesthetic. This shifts the game to a more serious tone rather than the lighthearted feel of the series's first three games. With a more serious approach, I felt it easier to empathize with Nate and the predicament he finds himself in. Nate is at a crossroads, and must make some very difficult choices concerning his life and the people he cares about. Variety seems to be the theme among Uncharted 4's mechanics. You are encouraged to switch between play styles in not only combat but while making your way through the chapter as well. For many players in previous installments, melee combat became mashing square to attack followed by mashing triangle to counter-attack. Rinse and repeat to clear virtually any area of enemies (difficulty willing of course) creating a stagnant experience. Instead, you are told to roll out of attacks DarkSouls style, mashing triangle only when grabbed. This change alone opens up combat for a more varied play-style, encouraging quick changes between melee attacks, gunfire, and now more opportunity for stealth maneuvers. New items are introduced to Nate's arsenal as well, adding depth and variety not only to combat, but to traversal. Combined with seamless transitions between animations, the result is fluid and fast paced gameplay with your choice of how to approach your target. With the addition of the grappling hook and the piton, or pick, comes new ways to get around through the game's many environments. This often results in multiple routes to the end goal depending on your play-style. These items also add a new layer of depth to the game's puzzles and trials. Stealth is now a valid option for clearing large portions of chapters if you choose. Nate has no problem sneaking around or diving behind crates and walls to quietly take out foes with refined controls reminiscent from The Last of Us. Your partner's AI capability is also carried over here aiding you in combat, they will even take out a foe or two quietly if it means they are close to blowing your cover. To further aid in stealth, tall patches of grass were added, allowing Nate to keep low and quickly sneak past groups of enemies unseen. This doesn't slow Nate down or break the pace of combat as much as you may think as this mechanic was clearly designed with Nate's speed and agility in mind. What would Drake say? What would Drake say in this situation? Despite its deserved praise, unfortunately no game is without flaws. A feature that I was looking forward to was the idea of player choice within dialogue. The feature is used four times: three times in the beginning of the game; with the fourth within an optional conversation and then seemingly abandoned with no difference in outcome, story, or gameplay. The addition of player choice or even multiple endings would have been a nice break from the familiar linear progression we are used to in the Uncharted franchise. Without Many will find the game slow to start and cut scene heavy until gameplay picks up around the second act. This isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on what kind of gamer you are. Those that are playing for U

Final Fantasy Explorers brings together two iconic series by smashing the Monster Hunter formula with the whole catalog of Final Fantasy fan-favorite characters, beasts, baddies, iconic weapons and items; and mixing it until we get an enjoyable experience with excellent variety and solid gameplay. Ultimately, Square-Enix takes what made the Monster Hunter formula successful: defeating large boss monsters and creating stronger weapons/equipment from their materials, but made it into a much more player-friendly experience. If not the best part, the Final Fantasy nostalgia-fest was a huge plus for this game. While questing, you would unlock blueprints to make your favorite character’s armor or weapon. While Explorers did combat and customization well, it missed the mark on other dynamics of the game. First and foremost, the story was unimaginative and boring. Generic NPC’s would push the quest-line forward with meaningless, flat background story. One of the worst problems Explorers had was that it was mindlessly repetitive. Most quests were of the same theme: kill a boss, kill the next boss and then kill that other boss. There were some stand-out quests like “kill 10 dragons at once” but they were few and far between. And lastly, Explorers featured a streetpass style mini-game that would allow you to collect materials by registering your friends and sending them out on missions. So it meant that you could gather certain materials even when you weren’t playing. It was a nice mini-game overall as it was fairly helpful, but I found it to be a boring way of utilizing streetpasses. Overall, Final Fantasy Explorers was a fun but repetitive nostalgia-fest. I really enjoyed the massive amount of combat customization while simultaneously being able to cosplay my favorite FF characters. With a rework on the repetitive quest system and a well-written story-line, I would love to see a sequel to this game.