He_Never_Helps

Be warned that some of these user reviews are fakes. You can tell which if you read them, or if you compare the reviews and the reviewer names across all the platforms. It's a good game. It's not a flawless all time classic masterpiece, but it's a good survival game. 7.5 maybe 8. Mechanics work. Challenging. Sound is great. Prolly better platforms to play it on, but having it portable makes the compromise viable. It mashes me kinda sick to see such cynical marketing tactics. I'm sure the dev had nothing to do with it, cuz devs respect games and gamers, but whatever pr firm sunk to this level needs to know that they are disgusting and these tactics hurt gaming and sales long term. A solid review with sensible criticism will sell more games than an obviously fake nihilistic h*ndj*b, and when we get what we expect from a purchase, we're more likely to trust that dev/publisher again. Don't treat us like we're stupid.

It's hella sus that the same users posted ten out of ten reviews across all platforms, and that there are copy pasted reviews. Metacritic used to be a good place to go to see what people thought, but it seems pr firms have figured out that you can post a dozen obviously fake 10 of 10 reviews for a solid and competent game and down or what actually makes people buy games. You can prolly trust the metascore, but don't trust the user reviews. This game is perfectly functional if you like tough survival games (with great sound) but no way is it an absolutely perfect, flawless, all time classic. And that's what 10 of 10 means. I'm sure the dev had nothing to do with it, as devs respect games and gaming, but i wouldn't put it post a publisher to fake reviews to boost sales. This is one of the good ones. I will say that much. It's not the game's fault that sick cynical methods are being used to promote it.

The first thing a discerning gamer will notice about these reviews, both pro and pro-am, is that the people who reviewed it poorly were not disappointed fans of WH40K. They were just norm people, who for whatever reason, thought it was important for a non fan of that world to write a review. If you're disinterested in that world, or have never heard of it, to stands to reason you'll get a lot less from this game than a fan. And that's fine. That said, (and no offense meant to the kids at the bottom of this column, but) calling this "the worst game ever made" is juvenile and stupid. It's decent. It's basically a REALLY cool looking wave murder game set in an equally cool, if slightly over the top, dark sci-fi universe. Not the best of it's kind in that genre, but def one of the better WH40k fps shooting games. The second thing you'll notice is that the truly slavering fans of this world absolutely love this game. Because it offers a window into that world that, really, no other game offers. So the question is, why are YOU here? I'm not a huge fan of any warhammer, there's something vaguely socially weird about the whole "exterminate the filth" thing, but i love the aesthetic and my primary memory of this game is that i liked it until i got bored with it. The sound and music was a little...bleh in places, but i wasn't playing in headphones and i don't have a big bass sound setup, so maybe that'd help. I will say that i saw a very insightful review of this game that managed to tie basically all it's major (non-technical) faults back to the board game it's emulating. Basically, the conclusion was that it would be a better game if it was a worse Spacehulk game. And, having heard that, i now totally agree and i can't really see it any other way anymore. If you're familiar with the board game, or the video-board game it's based on, you'll notice it too. Especially around the doors and other functional elements that seem....a little over wrought or just unnecessarily involved and/or simple. It's a bunch of little things and i wouldn't bother listing them even if i could remember it all. You'll see. It's nothing huge or game breaking. Just...stuff. But for a day or three of cool looking alien killing, on sale or in a bundle, omg, my **** could hella do worse. But if you want a spacehulk based deathtastic alien megamurder game? You can't really do better. But what can i say? It's small market. But that doesn't make this game any less cool, IF that's what you're looking for. The selling point for me was the studio who made it. They have SO much potential and i want them to succeed, and i'll buy everything they make until they have enough money to make a AAA E.Y.E 2 (or even a polished remake. Hell of daring game, for it's time). And why not. They're awesome. They have something new coming out soon, too, and I can't wait.

What the hell is wrong with this company? I start the game and the first thing I notice is that for some pointless gimmicky reason they added highly extensive touch controls (and they list those all clearly) but they literally don't list the actual controls you'll use to play the game. Anywhere. All their games are like this. They seem to prioritize flash and cash and and good press over the finer points of the actual experience. I'm so sick of this design philosophy. I'll probably never buy another Rockstar game. The game is fine by the way. It's fun-ish and all, the writing is good except for the massive white washing masquerading as gritty realism, all the while aggressively diluting the pervasiveness of the racism and sexual violence of the original setting (again, all their games do this, which would be fine, but they pretend at an ultra realistic experience while teaching kids false history), but I just can't see clear to give any more cash to a company who thinks so little of us. Not when there are so many devs who actually like gamers and really want to make the world smarter and better. Red dead frustrated me in the same exact way. For example, did you know that probably a full 50% of cowboys were black or Hispanic? And what about the cast of red dead? Now, I'm Not at all blaming them for using white cowboys, but rather for congratulating themselves for adding a black guy and a racist and trying to act like that's realism worth applauding. They weren't doing cowboys in that game, they were doing honkey cowboy movies. That's fine, but that's not how they sell the franchise. At least they called this game "noire" while selling it as super realistic. Different specifics, but the same frustrating feeling of adding features that make for good ads and ignoring features that make for good accessibility and ownership. I mean, FromSoft is notorious for making hard, elitist games, but I always feel like they really care about my experience when i play them. It would take so little to make their games accessible to everyone, most importantly, to actually disabled gamers. Especially for such an incredibly rich dev. To me this is a much bigger sin than putting out a game that needs patching. I mean, Really? Touch controls for driving but no colorblind or dyslexic options? Just saying, it really seems to show some poor priorities.

Freaking. AWESOME. Once it was fully patched, I just... honestly do not understand the rating. It's gorgeous, takes chances to do new things, plays great, has an interesting story, and it has a good loop. Plus it's both scifi and has the Souls horror vibe, which most scifi Souls games dont even attempt for some reason. I have it on three platforms.

I don't always agree with reviews, but I generally understand why someone might disagree with my take. Hellpoint reviews... confuse the hell out of me. This is one of my favorite junior soulslikes and I think the people who didn't like it aren't really looking for a Souls"like". I think maybe (just maybe, as I really don't get the complaints) they're either looking for something for children, or they're looking for an exact copy of dark Souls. I highly recommend it. It's got tons of interesting gameplay innovations, It's utterly beautiful, the level design is unlike any other Souls game, and it has a horror vibe that most other scifi Souls games don't even attempt. Controls are great, i just adore it. My only complaint is that the omnicube BADLY NEEDS A BETTER EXPLANATION FOR NOOBS. My first play through i was so frustrated with just equipping it and trying to make it work predictably. Maybe I merely missed something, cuz I couldn't even find one online. Which must mean others didn't have that problem. Anyway, killer game.

I'm especially vulnerable to excellent sound design (far more than gore or spooky graphics) and this game, in headphones on a halcyon Saturday morning), scared the living **** out of me. Seriously, it made my skin feel weird. It wasn't the jump scares or the somewhat familiar haunted house (tho i do absolutely love a classic ghost story, as they have such a romance to them), it was the perversion of otherwise familiar sounds. The same way that amnesia used sounds more than graphics to work it's magic. I also tend to prefer a slow burn over ridiculous gore. If you're similar in your tastes and not jaded by a constant influx of blood and parts horror, give this a try. You'll likely be pleasantly surprised.

It was fun for the first few hours, but at a certain point they add instant death mechanic to the puzzle section of the game and it instantly became the single most Boring game I have ever played. Imagine a puzzle game that you can't stop to think about. It degenerates into just trying a couple combinations before being forced to run around in circles to avoid death. Completely stupid design decision.

i do NOT understand these reviews. Best combat engine freaking EVER. Imagine a Matrix rpg, a freez frame tactics kungfu movie. i liked it so much that i was level 19 before i finished the first dungeon... The writing is awesome. the story is wonderful, and more P5 than P5. The characters are solid HS anime kids with intense psychic pain drama. The graphics are solid PSV. I did get stuck in a wall once during a SICK intense hour long battle with an enemy twice my eye, but that was once in a dozen hours of turn based psychic powered brawling in an detailed, compact engine where you can time yr moves down the second, layering combos and juggles and psychic shields and counters. god i love these frkn fights. its tactics, but so cool looking (finally) and in a wide open 3d emvironment where u cn go where ever, in fight. so cool. My sole compliaint Is that the terciary npc students could be a little more human. theres a neat power up engine where u sovle the trauma drama of other chtacters, and its quite deep with the primary and secondary charcters, but the normies, of whom there are just hundreds and hundreds And while theyre neat enough, the conversations are a little mechanical and minimalist.. but still i love this sht. seriously, if u think u migt like it, if u liie tactics or psychological anime, you WILL like it. its a brilliantly written cinemtic tactics crawler with the story P5 should have had. cant wait for the inevitable big money sequel with the HUGE dev team this game deserves (and occasionally needs, but its a crawler, its gonna have moments where u say "**** done this before" and thats why u need that fkn killer fight engine and awesome compelling writing) cuz this was clearly made by a small team. of super brain mutants who must have my baby. cuz im in love with the guys. THE NERD LOBBY SUPOORTS YOUR EFFORTS. Keep up the hard work, sensei tachi. 10/10 would check page 26 again

Nobody can agree on anything about this game, but i'll try explaining it's appeal like this: If you're genuinely open-minded about other cultures and not some coffee shop liberal, try playing the whole game before making snap judgements about someone else's sense of humor. The Witch is deeper than i expected, and i expected a JRPG, which are not notoriously shallow as a class of experiences. It get a little slow in places, gameplay wise, despite offering a lot to do in the meta game, but i enjoyed the characters and the plot so much i kept coming back (ahem, Drakengrad 3, ahem). For once in my life i believe it's probably pretty fair to judge this one by it's cover. If it looks good, and you want it to be, it probably will be, but if you go in expecting to be disappointed, you'll undoubtedly find stuff to complain about. It might win over a skeptical first-time gamer, but there are none of those here, just whiny/effusive otaku. Just like me. Holla. :D

Absolutely one of the best games of it's type, and probably the only game of it's type on the xb1 platform. It just feels awesome to play. Tashikani, it is reminiscent of muramasa rebirth and odin's sphere and Dragon's Crown, but c'mon...that's probably the highest compliment that can be given to a 2-D devil may cry. Beyond that, the art design is gorgeous. It's just beautiful to look at. I love the segmented 2D look of this and Odin's and i hope we see more of it.

I'm sort of shocked there are no outraged user reviews here. I'm not really surprised the reviewers on a deadline didn't like this as much as the gamers, so if you're looking for some user reviews, check out the xbox store. Generally speaking, it's a pretty excellent little hack and slash rougelike. Customization and loot is done well enough to propel the game. Online is entertaining. The biggest complaint i have is that i'd like more of what it already is. Another class, a social meta game, stuff like that. If you like permadeath and that souls type gameplay, odds are you'll fall in love with this one for 30 bucks. And if you see it on sale, it's a no brainer. Honestly not sure what more the review community wants from it, but it's definitely not the sort of game one plays with a goal in mind, so if the idea is to amass enough in game time to write a functional review, i doubt it'd be as much fun as it is to play aimlessly. That's all i can think of.

It's as though a bunch of gamers found a way to program games using gameplay alone... The brilliance of all three HN RPGs, beyond the unbelievable good localization and charming character design, is the way their comic/critical approach to gaming carries over into the actual game. Sounds simple, but if that were true, Neptunia wouldn't be as remarkable as it is. As just one small example: Lots of games poke fun at the numerous gaming traditions that exist more for nostalgia or familiarity's sake than for the game's sake, and many break through the 4th wall to do it. Neptunia is so bloody cool because it doesn't just complain or joke about it, it addresses the problems in the gameplay itself, and fixes them in style. This game fills SO many JRPG potholes, like the uselessness of characters who aren't in your frontline (not useless anymore), the empty time traveling with nothing in particular to do except walk (find that secret chest with yer chest...finder), difficulty spikes and valleys (adjustable through gameplay, NOT the options menu, in real time), slogging through places with weak enemies and having to kill tons of weakling-enemies and getting nothing in return (use symbol attacks to hear them without a fight, or make them stronger, or replace them with powerful enemies, &c. Up to you), grinding to adjust the difficulty (grinding is not for experience in this game. it's for fun and profit, and almost completely optional. :), &c, &c, &c. I could go on, but it would become spoilery... Neptunia fixes all these problems (and many more) effortlessly, as well as letting u customize not only your appearance and skills and the immediate experience, but the entire game world. And i don't mean colors or textures, i mean specific, practical, gameplay details. (For example, if halfway through the game you decide you aren't really gamer, but rather a casual game-adjacent type. No problemo. Go pick up a few Mysterious Glow Whatevers, and lower the difficulty of the enemies. If it's too easy, make make them stronger. You can also apply this just to a dungeon, add powerful enemies, change the items available, and so on. And once these options are open, you they stay open.) Through a hunt & gather type crafting system, where you acquire plans then use them to make stuff from dungeons and physics modifications (jumping higher, for example) you can basically adjust, change, flip, remove, add, make and improve basically everything of relevance. If you like to grind, you can, if you don't, you can check you Nepedia for the location of the item or enemy yer hunting, and have it done in a couple minutes. And if you don't want to grind at all, you basically don't have to. For example, if you want a spiffy new sword, you can get a slightly more spiffy one by checking your plans, and making a spiffy new sword, which will then be added to the store (you also do this for healing items, accessories, armor, outfits, &c.). But you can also sell all the ingredients needed to make that sword and but a manufactured sword in the store. Basically, if Bioware and Telltale are the inevitable future of Choose Your Own Adventure books, Nep is more like "Make your own adventure". If it wasn't all girls and vaguely sci-fi, the amount of goofing and laughter and metaphysical awareness would remind me of playing p&p rpgs in my room as an 8yr old. Combat it strealined and colorful, (and neptune sings the FF victory song when she wins a battle sometimes). If you've ever played BoF: Dragon Quarter (a truly wonderful little ps2 rpg), and xenosaga 1-3 (arguably the best sci-fi story in gaming history), HN's fighting is like a perfect mix of these two. It's streamlined and strategic, and works perfectly well, all the time. I can't wait to see what's new in HNRb2... There's so much in these games that i'm leaving critical features out, but...take that as more praise from someone who's just spent 80 hrs with Nep and Compa and Iffy. (And it's totally, subtly yuri, which i personally appreciate as a fan of the genre. I mean, c'mon, Who doesn't love chaste teenage lesbians falling into melodramatic secret romances in elaborate convent schools? Maria-sama is watching you panic, strawberry. :) I'm just finishing pt1 and i'm downloading pt2 to my vita right now. It's been a while since i spent 80 hrs on a game and immediately started the sequel when i finished it. And to be honest, i usually don't much like funny games (or music). I think comedy is almost always dated, whereas tragedy and suspense are passion are usually timeless. Somehow, NepNep puts them all in one place, and keeps it compelling. i.e.: I really hope gay marriage is legal in Leanbox, cuz Iffy and Lady Vert would be the BEST moms. (That kind of thing.) Work that lily rank, Otome-chant

First, urgently, this is Tactics. The negative reviews below were written by gamers for whom Trillion is likely their first exposure to this sweet, turn-based, chess-like, story-heavy, brain-intensive, tactical-logistical strategy-role playing genre. Not a dating sim, dungeon crawler, combat action, or RTS. Aside from the Spectral games, T:GoD is a mild departure for IF away from JRTS into a true TacticsTeam Grid+Chess style. It creates a varied atmosphere that suggest other genres by being damn well made. :) But it's ok, everyone tries things for the first tim once & the rest of us ought not poke fun or take incomplete feedback seriously. We've all heard the quote about repeating a strategy and expecting different results.Theory in action! Tthe rest of the complaints focus on required features of the genre, like reading & taking turns. The primary reason Trillion requires an experience hand is Trillion's awesome perspective. What we have here is the world's first OTC japanese tactical strategy game.. And it's fan-freaking-tastic. However, if you can't extrapolate the entire game board and execute tactics and strategy from the quarterback position, you'll run into amusing trouble. Amusing for bystanders. The moral is, if you're also unfamiliar with the genre, it's probably a good idea to familiarize yourself before buying Trillion. While it is an innovative, even intimate approach to my favorite genre, it does expect you to have a familiarity with Tactics games. (Thankfully, not to the extent of Natural Doctrine, who's tutorial STARTS w/turn-jumping and linked attacks. Great game, but...hard. :) Trillion's compact & fully-featured tutorial begins w/movement and combat, w/o explaining how the genre works at it's rudiments. But, contrary to complaints, you probably won't often die on your 1st turn. There's is somewhat more emphasis placed on Logistics in Trillion as compared to FFT (tho less than the first two Generations of Chaos pop games. In trillion, your logistics & tactics must work together towards supporting a strategic approach, effectively extending the battle into a sort of meta pre-engagement wherein, well before the fight, you're already acting in support of the moves you plan to make, the way a football coach or chess player will plan out the first set of downs or the first 20 moves to the 3rd or 4th cognitive layer. If you like playing invisible chess (chess with no pieces. U just remember the game. It's easier than it sounds) you'll find this a pleasantly easy going, but still thrilling ****'s endlessly satisfying to watch a plan come to fruition. A good rule of thumb for Trillion? You must know and work the difference between a tactic and a strategy. If your strategy and tactics are the same thing, and decided during the battle, perhaps start with a less demanding Tactics game. Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea are both great entry points into the genre for people who are interested in "Chess Pieces with Personalities" but are intimidated by Trillion's quirk and 'zen brutality' (there's a certain sand painting vibe, which is often found in games with branching paths that demand you sacrifice allies, like Tactics Ogre or Ragnarok Tactics or-- every Bioware game ever). But unlike trillion, FFT and TO will actually hold your hand for the 2 or 3 hours required to understand what's happening behind the scenes when you press "attack", and how to create an effective strategy and wisely cull a character from the many different skills, characteristics, classes, and stats that are common in any strategy rpg. Looking at the actual, official score distribution (which is currently 2/3rds positive, specifically 15 positive, 3 mixed, and 4 negative, which is actually pretty similar the Fallout 4's ratio) it would just be funny that people bought this game, played, and wrote a review before figuring out how to **** we weren't reading them as though they had a relationship w/reality. It's reminiscent of the way people will give slightly below average games a 0 or slightly above average games a 10 to make some kind of point, rather than to actually rate the game. The reminiscence arrives astride my considered opinion that this Metacritic Thing is ostensibly an incredible resource as a gamer sourced experience/review wiki, but it only works when we all act responsibly. In pursuant effort towards this glorious future, 8 is where i rate this game based on it's features and relative to other games in the genre. It is fantastically innovative, just a step from perfect, damn charming, w/surprising depth. For a scoring reference, the Tactics Ogres & the PSP FFT are flawless. 10s, IMO. For 15yrs, my favourite game and #1 on my otaku-kami list was FF Tactics. (2day, WItcher3. Onward, to commie gamer awesomeness, brothers and sisters and holy, holy, zombie hermaphrodites.

Somewhat addictive, not terrible to look at, and a bit shallow, but one does get the sense that the dev team was making a game, and not simply labouring towards a goal and a paycheck. To be honest, it's one of those games that deserves a sequel not because we need more of this, but because there's a path between this decisively average little train-ride brawler and a truly awesome game. I just wish this was it. (As a sidenote for mia peeples, if u don't play many rpgs and can't get used to the X/O configuration, you can change it. Via the vita system software.)

It's...freaking AMAZING. Even if i wasn't an astrophysics dork, or a sci-fi dork, or a gamer, or the trillion other random qualities that predispose me to something like this, none of this contributes to the score. It's something more. Something i thought i'd experienced for the last time when i discovered Morrowind 900,000yrs ago: A genuine sense of awe.

I'm neither as generous & forgving as my american peer, nor as desperately bitter as my british peer, but as this is the only game of it's kind on the vita (indeed, it's almost completely alone on consoles in general), i'm comfortable going so far as to call Starlight "functional". Not glowing, i admit, but if u gotta have it, u gotta have it. Sometimes it's okay to settle. I guess... Frankly, i'm a little surprised this game has absolutely no competition. A deep space sandbox seems very well suited to the Vita. Given the available niche in Space-Simcade gaming across the console map, it's safe to say that most every single space-geek in 'verse would snap up a decent modern version of Wing Commander. I surely would. Hell, even knowing how overly ambitious Starlight is, i couldn't help myself. There's just something about deep space and alien worlds. Well, if yer reading this, i'm sure you can relate. And tangentially, there's a fairly hardcore new game that fits the bill on the XB1. If u go in with your eyes open and your expectations elsewhere, there **** to be had here. or time to be spent, at the very least. Speaking of the old guard, if u don't care about graphics (or suspension of disbelief or controls or plot, &c.), you can always just DL an ancient console version of Wing commander for the vita. It's not hateful, it just hasn't aged as well as the very impressive stable of PS1 RPGs. It's a little...mode seven is all.

Wildly, inexplicably addictive. I had to force myself to engage with Damascus Gear, but after a few hours, as the customization options opened to include play style and approch, i got hooked in a bad way. I'll update this once i finish the game, but right now, 5 or 6 hours in, i'm very pleased i spent the $15 bucks.

It's impossible not to compare any 2-d fighting game to the ever expanding library of Arc fighters, and this doesn't stand up. It's not bad, it just lacks...everything that makes Blazblue special. Personality, depth, customization and evolution. It's not a 3-d fighter, it just looks like one. it's damn pretty, i'll give you that, but if yer after mechanics alone, yer still better off with virtua fighter or any Arc fighter.

Insanely overrated. A decent shooter, if a decidedly average side-scroller. The first game i ever purchased was Life Force (nes), and i'm a huge 2-d Metroid fan. This game doesn't live up to either legacy. There are a few interesting gimmicks, speed control, trendy graphics, and it does handle very well, but none of this makes this game worth a perfect score. There are better shooters, and MUCH better side scrollers. I didn't hate it, i just found it kinda...dull.

Please don't be mad, but i think you guys might be expecting too much from Codemasters. Their racers always provide accessibility over realism. They always have. I wouldn't expect that to change anytime soon. Put simply, they tend to make racing games, not driving games. If u want a hyper-real, exclusively open-wheel driving sim, you probably need to look into a desktop computer. That's just how it goes, i'm afraid. When it comes to videogames, open wheel racing just isn't as popular as Touring Car racing. Open wheel cars tend to be an addition, even an afterthought, rather than a focus on consoles. I'm not saying it's right, just that it's true. Even rally is bigger draw on consoles than open-wheel. Personally, i'd love an Indycar & F[n] console sim, but they just don't exist. However, if you just want a hardcore driving sim (and if you can give up on the F1 fanboy stuff) Simbin's Racepro is available on the 360, it features a fair amount of open wheel racing, and it genuinely expects the player to have some real-world experience lapping real cars on real tracks. Best of all, it works pretty well with a controller, so you can have that "Track-Day-On-The-Couch: experience without buying a $200 wheel/pedal/sequential shifter setup, or a $10,000 computer. For me personally, Forza Motorsport does the best job of capturing the feel of driving the actual cars offered in the game. I run an '00 S2000 and i test drive cars for fun, (cuz i'm a giant fkn lame-ass and am lucky enough to have very supportive, extremely understanding women in my life) so you can take my word for it, if you're so inclined. The whips all feel like they should in FM. The weight is in the right places, the engine and transmission quirks are what and where they should be, the suspension reacts just right, (ie: old 911s shuffle erratically, newer elises' understeer a bit if u don't know how to drive the, the original S2000s are as agile and as twitchy and as telepathic as they are IRL, the acceleration in an M5 feels...almost bizarre in contrast to the weight and size, &c), and even the grip gives out in the right places at the right speeds...provided your tires are comprable to the tires you have equipped in the game. You can actually buy a tuner mag and apply the setup, down to the numbers, to yer forza motorsport car and you'll achieve whatever it is yer trying to achieve with your tuning. And the AI is the best in the business. It adapts to you. If you have problems with the AI in FM, it's cuz you don't understand track racing. No offense intended. I'll explain what u mean. For example, if you play bumpercars to win, expect Forza's AI to PIT you right back. But if you respect racing rules and etiquette, giving way when yer line is lost, not brake checking at every corner &c, the AI will treat you with the same respect. In fact, choosing one driver to hassle is a fun way to create a heated rivalry over time. Simply, the Drivatar system is damn amazing. (Note that all this is NOT true for Forza Horizon, which is really good fun, but feels more like a Gran Tourismo or Grid Autosport or NFS Shift, in so much as the cars feel like they OUGHT to, based on the setup and balance and power, but NOT what they actually feel like IRL.) But Forza Motorsport is also a very forgiving driving game. Lift-off in a front drive automatic isn't an automatic trip to the wall, for example. Now, I don't have the credit score to test drive a Gumpert (if that's even possible...) but as far as a console game that requires you to really understand and be constantly aware of the physics and engineering behind driving a purpose built track car, RacePro is as good as it gets on any console, and you don't even need a wheel, which is amazing, frankly. Plus, as i mentioned previously, you get open wheel racing. Not the full on hump-the-leg F1 experience, but...honestly, all the fanboy stuff, (like complaining that the game is balanced just because mercedes had a great year) reminds me a lot of cosplay. Probably best to just go get an SCCA license or some tickets if it's really that important to you. No stay at home experience will ever satisfy that type of obsession. When it's that serious, it's the real deal or medication. (Really, not trying to be mean, just realistic. Give RacePro a shot. It has the F3000 license, among others, and that's as close as normal humans can get.) If there's a better true sim for consoles, please tell me. I'll buy it tonight. In the meantime, this is a cartoon of F1. It's good fun, and i even have the Vita version, but it's not really good enough to make me wanna buy it instead of one of the many other options. It's only because i already have all the other options that this game appeared on my radar at all. But i don't dress up as Zombie Senna for Halloween. (Best driver ever. Before you make hate-face and say Schumacher, he also thinks Senna is the best driver ever.)

Deeply, tragically underrated. It plays a bit like Muramasa Rebirth on the Vita, in that you can't button-mash your way though the game, and is one of the most atmospheric, and beautiful side-scrolling adventure games i've ever played. Some games are a labor of love, some are a concept brought to life to life by pad professionals, and some are a callous attempt to profit off of a recycled idea. This game is a labor of love, and that shows. It makes the experience feel... special, somehow. Intimate. I'm no graphics ****, but this game is freakin' beautiful. And it's fun, once you get used to it's little quirks. As a side scroller, it doesn't hold up to the fluidity of a Shadow Complex or Mark of the Ninja, but by the same token, one could say that DMC4 isn't as fluid as ninja theory's DMC reboot, or that Virtua Fighter isn't as smooth as Blazblue, or that FFTactics isn't as smooth as XCom. In reality, they're just different. And "different", my beloved colleagues, is a good thing. If nothing else, it's definitely worth DLing the demo and spending some time learning and experiencing the game. If you enjoy it, buy it. Even if it's only to support this design team. I'm very excited to see what this gang of developers comes up with next. I sincerely hope enough of us take a chance on Abyss Odyssey to warrant another ACE Team US release. C'mon. Give ACE a chance. :)

Surprisingly (sometimes even shockingly) awesome, much like the PS2 Magna Carta. The similarities between MC1 and MC2 are relatively few, apart from both games having quick and addictive combat engines & a well known Korean character designer who's really, REALLY into scoliosis inducing breasts. I bought MC2 on release day, 500,000 years ago, and i'm playing through it again as we type. It still looks good and it still plays good. I'd quite like to kick a man-chicken in the face, but otherwise score one for staying power. The classics are classic for a reason. Calling MC2 the 360's best RPG is-- kinda like saying, psychopathic business practices aside, that Thomas Edison was a smarter man than Nikola Tesla. There's a...passable theorhetical argument to be made in a room full of high school sophmores or at a conference on shock & awe marketing techniques, but in a world where Hironobu "Gooch" Sakaguchi, Tri-Ace, Square Enix, Aksys, & NIS (among many others) all make games for the 360, a declaration like that goes beyond simple preference or opinion and ultimately requires the declarator to personally dislike or ignore far too much objective information. In the case of XBox360 JRPGs, that information comprises a dozen or more frkn amazing games. I'll spare u a full list of JRPGs that can drop kick MC2 across the DMZ, but for those of you who are collector/gamers swimming the end-of-gen waters for future classics to pass on to your grandkids (for when they need a retro-break from Lobe-Projection Goggles and Direct-to-Amygdala survival horror pornography) i'll briefly say this: Lost Odyssey's story is far superior, and actively heart-rending. I've even heard that Gooch's epic tearjerker is notorious in Japan for driving grown men to tears. It's okay to cry, big man. *sniffle* Tri-Ace's Resonance of Fate has the coolest turn based combat engine since Gooch brought us ATB in the late renaissance. (Helpful hint: if yer having trouble consistently nailing yer attacks, equip the uto-trigger on everyone till you get yer timing down.) Namco's Tales of Vesperia is one of my favorite examples of the "Tales of [insert apparently random **** word here]" series of games. I especially love the 'press-select-for-mini-cutscene' feature. Every RPG with wandering in it should have that. And in much the same way that Shadow Hearts 1 & 2 or Xenosaga1-3 are basically looong single JRPGs released in installments (in case you thought TellTale invented episodic gaming), FF13-2 & FF13-3 not only makes up for the tutorial pace and confined feel of FF13 pt.1, they show FF13-1 for what it truly is. A lengthy prologue to two of the best RPGs since the word "Playstation" meant "videogames" to the shrinking population of people who believe that children make up a meaningful percentage of gamers. They do not. Gamers grew up and videogames have grown with us. (Moreover, if you're obsessive enough to have immediately recognized the reference responsible for my username, you'll likely adore FF13-2. I sure do. In fact, the relative time travel relationships in FF13-2 are more mathematically accurate than one normally sees in mass media entertainment. Presumably because "sense" and "common sense" rarely have much in common, re: (On paper, acceleration and deceleration are the same force, just as addition and subtraction are the same function. (Simply put, if changing the past effects the future, changing the future must also change the past. This can be a difficult thing to manage in a narrative, and time consuming to explain at the top of every episode of a television show, so i'm not complaining. I'm simply praising one of the many accomplishments of the FF13 trilogy. Just add bowties. Bowties are cool.) To conclude, if you're looking for a very solid, engaging, and most importantly fun JRPG with a nice comfortable learning curve for Xbox360, and you already have the big ones (most all of which can be recognized by their availability for DL on XBL), this is yer game. It should have been paid more respect and attention on release, by gamers and media alike. Now, i must return "into the digital fever".

Tons of cool ideas. Good execution. Frankly, not a lot to complain about, unless it makes u feel good to complain. The story is quite good. Not "As written by JRR Tolkein" good, or Xenosaga 1-3 good, but solid and pretty compelling. Depending on the ending (i'll let u know) i might even say it's Witcher good (although the witcher's story is far more expansive and emotional, and the only game i've ever seen where the romance and eros isn't...just frkn ridiculous) and that's high praise. If i HAD to make a complaint, it would be that they didn't take their lore from the Silmarillion. No one has ever made the Sil' palatable to a mass media market, probably because it's not so much a collection of stories as it is a collection of grand historical essays about a fictional world, but that's precisely why it's absolutely perfect for an action/rpg videogame. Hell, a well executed Silmarillion game might even make hordes of new gamers, the way The Legend of Zelda, FF7, or Oblivion did. Some experiences are just...medium transcendent. They show non-gamers, in a clear and unimpeachable way that video games have grown WAY past whatever they previously believed games to be. Kinda like the first time your mom saw a back-up parking camera in a car. :) "zOMFGBs, i don't hafta turn around!" Tolkeinian scholars and hXc Middle Earth fans, even those without a passing interest in videogames, would be absolutely floored to see that a full-blood Silmarillion game is even possible. Granted, where Shadow of Mordor is one game, the Silmarillion would probably have to be a trilogy, at minimum. But hey, many of gaming's best stories come in 3's. (Or dozens's, if yer final fantasy or MegaTen or Street Fighter, &c.)

I'm a 30yr gamer (shut up, i started young), a dedicated boy-racer ('00 Honda S2k), and a vetran of 3 seperate sides of the gaming industry (post, QA, and art design), and i promse you, w/the relase of autosprt, there is no longer any reason whatsoever to consider Grid 2. To be clear, if faced with the choice between DLing G1 & G2 for $5, or paying full price for Autosport, get Autosport. It's $5 dollars more game and $50 better.

Valkyria Chronicles went to Oxford. While mildly intimidating at first, the interface is solid, and no where near as time-consuming as Frozen Synapse Prime's (another excellent recent tactics release for the Vita). I have a theory as to why some some describe ND as too difficult (even confusing) and others, such as myself (and apparently almost everyone who's not on a deadline) find it a challenge, but fun and very playable. It's the in-game tutorial. Almost every modern game uses a system of tutorials & help menus designed to replace a manual. Natural Doctrine takes a familiar, last-gen approach. It has a comprehensive instruction manual (it's that book-y lookin' thing/icon with the instructions inside) and a supplimental tutorial designed to augment the manual and put the information in a live context. Natural Doctrine IS challenging, but no more so than Nintendo's fantastic Fire Emblem games which, unlike ND, demand some trial and error; later levels are nigh half-puzzler. Natural Doctrine is solidly outside of the "trial & error" camp, and in the "plan 4 moves ahead" camp, where you'll find FFT, disgaea, and the aforementioned Valkyria games. Luckily, the game gives u all u need, at a glance, to plan ahead w/o having to memorize anyone's stats or constantly check sub-screens. The camera can be a ****. It's not bad, just quirky. It's an innovative interface for a platform strategy game and it all feels a bit new. But it all works, and that's the point. That said, i'm excited by the idea of a sequel, in part cuz i'd love to see more of this format for tactics games, but also in part cuz another few months of polish makes this the squad friendly MG:Acid i've been hoping for since someone yoinked the only existing copy of the (shockingly awesome) D&D Tactics [psp] in the entire frkn world. I miss that game. So, you like Tactics? Can u read? Do you enjoy using your brain meats? If u answered yes to these questions, enjoy the game. It rules.

Really cool, really playable, and really beautiful. Just prepare yourself for quirk and keep an open mind and you'll have a blast. You'll either like the story or you won't (and apparently there's a miniscule possibility that you won't even understand it. I'm not rightfully sure what the confusing parts are, but the complaint has been registered by other contributors, **** aware? I guess?) I found it engaging and brutally charming. It kind of forces itself on you, but following in the narrative energy of the game, you don't really mind. ;) As far as misogyny goes, it's ostensibly very masculine, but it's also pretty wildly and obviously tongue-in-cheek. I personally find the early DMCs, and even bits of Metal Gear (before your brow-crinkle, remember the live action 3-d stripteases in Metal Gear Acid 2. Those were funny as hell, but not on purpose) to be far more subversively insulting to the 51%. That's the women-folk, for anyone who's still trying to find the ending in Assassin's Creed 1. And velcro shoes, presumably. I realy don't mean to be a total, superscillious **** but if this engaging little short story is too complicated for you... (or Nier's, for that matter. Nier story is absolutely brilliant. Pacing aside, it's one of the 25 best game stories ever. Go watch the opening trailer on youtube if you don't believe it. It hooked me before the game started and had me all the way through) ...and if you'd like to understand things with a little more instinctive ease, i highly recommend-- a picture book. It'll teach you comprehension, linear cognition, character recognition, and focus. Hey, it's how they taught me in pre-school. You could even make yer own flash cards! Reading is so cool, it even makes video games more fun. -_-' !%@#& (Please, don't let someone else's lack of cognitive prowress keep you away from this game, which i gleefully give a solid 7.5 overall. An 8.5 if you really love Suda-sama. (Tho if i had to choose, i'd probably end up buying Nier again, just so i could lend it w/o ever losing it. It's honestly that good.)

@APerspectivist - That's not the game, my friend. The way you describe the problem as spanning both the original software and software generated saves makes it sound like your 360 hard drive is fragged. The frustration in your syntax leads me to believe you've experience this before. Since november 2005, i have not experienced or seen of a single corrupted 360 save file. If this has happened to you more than once or twice before, you may wanna call M$ and see what they can do. Do you keep yer 360 on or right next to speakers, or other large magnets? If it's not a black 360, do u ever travel w/the detachable HD? Maybe you've uploaded a sickly file or used an infected usb drive? Good luck.

First off, there are so many potential drinking games in Syndicate that i'm shocked it's not the all time favorite 1player FPS on college campuses. Especially since a college education makes the real-world parallels and references in this, and most modern games, so much more entertaining. Also, because i dearly love you grammar-challenged freaks of mine, i also feel obliged to mention that this is not the same Starbreeze that made the Riddick games or the first Darkness. Same brand name, different people. if i've got the story straight, the majority of the original swedish Riddick/Darkness team left to form MachineGames (which now belongs to Bethesda, which is promising, A riddick/fallout meld could be very special indeed), who most recently made the most recent Wolfenstein. The New Order. I also heard that some of the team took a cashhat from 505 and are since responsible for the remarkable (and very swedish) Brothers. (Now, a very quick Darkness tip for Halo-Fan and everyone else who's ever complained about the controls in the darkness: Having trouble eating hearts on the fly? Here's the trick. Don't aim at the victim. just rock on over him while giving w/a few quick taps of the *NOM Nom nom* button and your toothiest phallic appendages will auto-nom those hearts. Darkness is one of my favorite games (and i'm really not into FPS unless the story absolutely owns me), and the only complaints i've ever heard are either about quirky control things, all of which prove easily adapted to once u suss out the trick to it (which is usually super-instinctive, suggesting that the problem run & Gunners are having is an hyper-familiarity w/the controls of other shooter which mostly require that you point your gun at everything to interact w/anything) and some furrow-yer-brow & roll-yer-eyes complaints like "there's too much reading/talking/walking and not enough aimless murdering of anonymous bipeds"...) The impotant thing to note is that starbreeze has always done something rather akin to what Ninja Theory does. They take action games and give them the story of a well-paced RPG, In that sense, Syndicate is true to the Riddick vision. And if you enjoy a well executed codex, the story is deep and broad. If you don't like reading (wether u ignore the codex or not) you'll likely find the story confusing or, at best, thin. But it's not. Not really. it rather reminds me of the initial media response to the ending of Assassin's Creed one. If you hack(ed) all the computers and stole all the keycards and enjoy an old fashioned pen and paper word/math puzzle (or have the presence of mind to look up the answers and translations on YouGooglPedia), and have a basic working knowledge of human history, AC1 has one of the most satisfying cliffhanger endings...ever, really. Even better than Back to the Future 2. -_-' But if you're reviewing on a deadline, or just not terribly curious or clever, it can appear to have no ending at all, beyond some gibberish written in meta-magical subject 16 blood. That's IF u think to hit Y after the credits. It's not gibberish. It's fkn COOL. Several games worth of foreshadowing, and a mention of Yona Guni. Look that up if u wanna get excited about the future of AC. Eventually they gotta go far east, right? Ninja v. Samurai anyone? OK. I digress, and wildly. I like Synidicate. I really do. Normally, an FPS won't keep my attention past the first 90min unless it goes the way of Deus Ex or FarCry3 or The Darkness; Lots of story, lots of atmosphere, and at least some exploration and interaction. Syndicate circumvents my prerequisites by giving me as much backstory as i want to read, being really satisfying, and being perfectly visceral. It's just...nice to play. There's a tale being told in a very Starbreeze sorta way (for which i commend them, not actually being Starbreeze). People compare it to Deus Ex, and that similarity is there. It also shares some visual cues w/watchdogs. In a way, it reminds me of FEAR. Not for any specific tangible reason, it's mostly a feeling, based on good AI and how the pacing of the story gives me that possessed, "One more checkpoint" and then "okay, one more and then i'll..." and then "my eyes hurt. This is the last checkpoint." and then "Ohh, pretty new scenery...i'll just have a peek"... ...and then u look up and the game is cleared and it's 3pm two days later. Plus, Cyber-Punk is just...groovy, man. Like, "I totally smoked a doob w/William Gibson & Neal Stephenson" groovy. But If you think Crysis3 and Halo3 are the be all and end all of gaming perfection, you're probaly better off w/something else. The draft, for example, Highly recommended for the FPS averse who want some striking, playable, clever FPS action in between replays Resonance of Fate (along w/Nier, the most underrated JRPG of the generation) and Assassin's Creed...19, this game should entertain, Especially @ $10 on XBL. Gotta love them one-day XBL sales. I hope this is useful.

A quality title who's most remarkable feature is the incredible number of experienced Marathon & halo-familiar gamers who expected bungie to make a game requiring more than running in circles and killing strangers. Pretend you've never heard of Destiny then ask yourself if you want Bungie's new game. You'll know exactly what to expect.

Hands down, the best vita exclusive available. If P4G wasn't reason enough to own a sony's shiny new handheld, here's your excuse. I have nothing else to say.

For the love of Sakaguchi-sensei, if you don't have something constructive to say, stay homeg. Such bitterness over a simple piece of software... It's just shameful. We are gamers. We use our minds to solve problems more often than encyclopedia brown. Frkn act like it. Going bat-pile over the casual trivializing and glamorization of war i'd fully understand. I think the more contemporary war games have an obligation to touch on the horror and brutality of warfare as more than just a set piece. It breaks my heart that so few developers truly take this obligation seriously. Now, on the flip side, NOBODY CARES how you feel about Sony, the Vita, how CoD compares to MoH, or if you had dinner for breakfast and pounded the cat while yer mom watched, all the while shouting encouragement in perfect aramaic. Frankly, it just comes off as petty and small. Review the game or stay home. Please? Seriously, for the love of Carl Sagan, if you must act the viturpative child, at least keep the spiritual anemia and whining ON topic. I digress. On to business: CoD:BOD is a well made, if comparatively basic, kill 'em all shooter. I haven't bothered with online multi-player, but even if it was comparable to cleopatra in a hot tub with helen of troy, I still wouldn't buy it with my own money. Not right now, anyway. It just costs way too much. As of today, it's still a $49.99 download. Far too expensive for what it is. On the other hand, at $24.99, i'd prolly scoop it right up. But as is, spend the money on 3 or 4 other games. Love and Battlefield Infections, the Doctor.

A brilliant game that deserves a the same reversioning being given to the equally brilliant Final Fantasy series. A fresh translation and an HD update would likely lead to the dozen sequels Trigger and Cross fans imagine every time a new FF spin-off (or cash-cow, as the case often is) is announced. Which is to say, 'was Dirge of Cerebus really a more vital project than a shiny new Chrono?' or 'How many Dissidias's did we really need?' Not that i didn't enjoy Duodecim or Duodenum or-- whatever the hockey-sticks. i absolutely did. It was what Tobal no. 1 might have been if we were up to Tobal no. 947. Exceptionally good fun, with lots of smashing and fan setvice. But it's not likely to end up in the Smithsonian 100 years from now alongside FFVII and Metroid and the Xenosaga trilogy. (Hey, don't knock it till you've played it all, including reading every codex entry and understanding every reference. While it's not strictly necessary to speak french, german, japanese, english and to study the more "eccentric" edges of Judaism to play and enjoy Xenosaga, it does help. It's a game for eager, curious, smart people, and in that context, it is arguably the finest science fiction ever conceived in any medium. It's a bold declaration, but also one that only those who didn't finish the trilogy with a full understanding of the story ever argue with. It's a favorite among sociology and theology majors. i digress.) While i wouldn't go quite so far as to give Chrono Cross a 10, as doing so would confidently declare it in every way equal to the greatest games in the entire history of video gaming, a solid 9 is by no means an exaggeration. Chrono cross is a rockstar ****, and JRPG royalty. "Magnificent" is a good adjective. "Perfect" is a stretch, but i understand the impulse. There are better RPGs in the world, but bet'cha by golly **** many. Tangentially, dropping a 0 on a game of this caliber (while simultaneously misspelling every third word and displaying a complete inability to utilize even the most basic tenants of english grammar) because you couldn't follow the fairly straightforward story is admitting you didn't finish the game and tantamount to saying "Don't play this game if you're slow in the head, recovering from a severe concussion, or have difficulty with polysyllabic words and understanding the concept of zero as the absence of a number." Zero is the Dark Matter of mathematics. We can't see it, but we know it exists because without it, the rest of math doesn't function properly. That's what zero is. An absence of numbers. And, as this game clearly exists, and for all intents and purposes does precisely what it sets out to do, giving Chrono Cross, (or any functioning game) a zero is rather silly. I'm sure many a halo-fan would find this game slow and wordy, but wasting your own time in an effort to accomplish god-only-knows-what achieves very little beyond making you look terrifically stupid and astonishingly petty. By all means, write a negative review if that's how you feel. Such editorial balance is crucial to painting a picture of any product, but throw in a reason or two. something beyond "i can't read good", and please, please (i simply cannot stress this enough) play the whole game first. Indeed, i myself, as a god-like master of using words that make me appear far smarter than i really am, find that it can be awfully difficult to grasp the full scope of a tale before i've...heard the tale. It's just a thought. Also, good grammar is sexy as hell. Don't let anyone tell you different. love and textbook-length game manuals, the Doctor

You people are acting like mentalist children. Honestly. Just review the damn game, give it an honest score, and trust that We The Gamers are clever enough to recognize a petty, spiteful, or outright **** review. Honestly, if we're not smart enough to mange that, nothing you do or say will help. That kinda stupid is best put to sleep. (Before it can breed, obviously.) Really? Inflating your score to compensate? Stop and think. You're doing what you're complaining about. You're giving a false score. When all else fails, just be honest. Protesting a bs review by posting a bs score is... ****'t breed. We'll call it even. I digress. Dark is poorly executed, but it's a really great idea. With more time and a LOT more money, a vampire stealth game could ROCK THE GAME WORLD AS WE KNOW IT. Or, you know, be fun. If it had, say, the assassin's creed control engine, for example, being-a-vampire could give being-a-ninja and being-a-pirate a run for most satisfying vicarious stereotype. The Moral? Don't buy it, but try it, Why the hell not, right? There, i reviewed the silly game and gave it an honest (if slightly generous on account of the kick*ss concept) score. If we all do that, the site really works. If we act like over-medicated children, it kinda falls apart and this middling piece of crap game gets frkn 8s and 10s. Your vote is not a weapon. It's a responsibility. Grow up or go home.