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extintor

don't let the little fuckers generation gap you

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All games played in 2016 - with thoughts on each (and scores out of 5)

Stand out great games of the year:

Titanfall 2, Doom, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Superhot VR, Dark Souls 3, Stardew Valley, Stellaris, Dead Rising 4, Gears of War 4

TitleRelease YearPre-2016 status and score2016 status2016 Score
Destiny (XO) 2013 content completed (2/5) Still playing 4/5
The Witness (PC) 2016 --- n/a --- Abandoned (20 hrs) 3/5
XCOM 2 (PC) 2016 --- n/a --- Completed 3/5
Fallout 4 (XO/PC) (Automaton, Far Harbour) 2015 (XO) Completed 2015 (5/5) (PC) DLC Completed 4/5
Firewatch (PC) 2016 --- n/a --- Completed 4/5
Syndicate (PC) 2012 Completed 2012 (4/5) Completed 3/5
The Fire in the Flood (XO) 2016 --- n/a --- Abandoned (2 hrs) 1/5
The Division (XO) 2016 --- n/a --- Content completed 4/5
Quantum Break (XO) 2016 --- n/a --- Completed 3/5

Shadowrun: Hong Kong (PC)
Caldecott Caper (UCC)

 2015 Completed 2015 (5/5) to be played */5
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (XO) 2014 --- n/a --- Finished playing (5hrs) 3/5
Grim Dawn (PC) 2016 --- n/a --- Abandoned (7hrs) 1/5
Stardew Valley (PC) 2016 --- n/a --- Completed 5/5
Dark Souls 3 (PC) 2016 --- n/a --- Completed 4/5
Aliens Colonial Marines 2013 --- n/a --- Abandoned (1hr) 1/5
Stellaris (PC) 2016 --- n/a --- Completed 4/5
Doom (PC) 2016 --- n/a --- Completed 5/5
Alpha Protocol (PC) 2010 Completed 2011 (4/5) Abandoned (after 5 hours) 3/5

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC)

 2011 Completed 2011 (5/5) Completed 5/5

Technomancer (PC)

 2016 n/a Completed 2/5

Earth Defence Force (PC)

 2015 n/a Abandoned (after 30 hours) 3/5

Apollo 11 VR

 2016 n/a Completed 3/5

No Man's Sky (PC)

 2016 n/a Abandoned (after 30 hrs) 3/5

Livelock (XO)

 2016 n/a Abandoned (after 5 hours) 2/5

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (PC)

 2016 n/a Completed 5/5

Destiny: Rise of Iron (XO)

 2016 n/a Completed 4/5

Fallout 4: Nuka World (PC)

 2016 n/a Completed 4/5

The Bunker (PC)

 2016 n/a Completed 3/5

Edge of Nowhere (PC)

 2016 n/a In progress

Mafia 3 (PC)

 2016 n/a Completed 3/5
Gears of War 4 (PC) 2016 n/a Completed 4/5
Oxenfree (PC) 2016 n/a Completed 3/5
Titanfall 2 (XO) 2016 n/a Completed 5/5
Steins; Gate 2016(*) n/a Completed 3/5
Tyranny 2016 n/a In progress */5
Final Fantasy 15 2016 n/a Completed 4/5
Dead Rising 4 2016 n/a Completed 4/5
Superhot VR 2016 n/a Completed 5/5

CURRENT TOP 10 (as of 23rd Dec)

RankGameScore
1 Titanfall 2 5/5
2 Doom 5/5
3 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 5/5
4 Stardew Valley 5/5
5 Superhot VR 5/5
6 Stellaris 4/5
7 Gears of War 4 4/5
8 Destiny: Rise of Iron 4/5
9 Firewatch 4/5
10 Dead Rising 4 4/5

Notable others

Final Fantasy XV 4/5

Fallout 4: Nuka World 4/5

The Division 4/5

Oxenfree - 3/5

Mafia 3 - 3/5

XCOM 2 - 3/5

Apollo 11 VR - 3/5

No Man's Sky - 3/5

The Witness - 3/5

Earth Defense Force 4.1 - 3/5

Quantum Break - 3/5

Steins; Gate - 3/5

The Technomancer - 2/5

List items

  • Original Release Year: 2013

    2016 seems to be the year that this game finally clicked for me. Granted that I'm playing the 'all bells and whistles' version this time, and there's plenty of content now. That makes a difference for sure. The biggest thing is that there's an actual story structure that makes some kind of sense. There's NPCs (after a fashion) that deliver it, and all the game systems are, at last, synchronized and in service of each-other in a way that is both fun and interesting.

    Destiny is still not the finished article, but if it was only half a game at launch it is definitely almost a complete one now (and a very good one at that).

    The late game incentive structure is very much centred around making meters go up, to make other meters go up, to make other meters go up.

    I think that if future destiny DLC or full releases can improve on this then it could be genuinely great.

    (after a lot more hours) I should probably take my head out of my ass about this game. I have *plenty* of criticism for but I am STILL playing it semi-regularly and and I am STILL enjoying it. I will be buying the September expansion because this game is a good game. A good, recommendable game that wasn't the game I hoped it would be but is still excellent. 4/5

    Rise of Iron: 4/5

  • Original Release Year: 2016

    20 hours in (2xfilled notebooks). The Witness is an old school video game of the lineage of myst. It is far better than myst and is equal parts intriguing and maddening to play.

    After getting into the mountain (with 9 lasers), I've somewhat run out of steam on this game. I hear that the 'story' payoff is right at the end of the game but I'm not altogether sure I'll persist with the time and effort to get there.

    EDIT 28 Feb> A few weeks have now passed since I put this down. I don't feel any urge to pick it back up so I've drawn a line under my experience and I'm going to leave it there. Ultimately I don't think I enjoyed this game as much as many seemed to. It is a clever puzzle game and I respect it immensely and enjoyed the 'ah-ha!' moments I had with it... but... that wasn't enough in terms of motivation to grind to the end. Completion didn't seem to bring revelation (or enlightenment) in the way that motivates (me at least) to continue. Learning the mechanism and the rules didn't seem to be in service of any narrative carrot.

    I hesitate to say it but I would not recommend this game so it gets 3/5 from me.

  • Original Release Year: 2016

    At first viewing it feels as if there's something new, better, and different here. As was the case with its predecessors, it is brutally hard and unforgiving, but it is also dramatic and addictive.

    There's no hand-holding about the importance of your choices and the only way to learn the significance of your choices (both in combat and out of it) is through losing again and again. 'Normal' feels really tough to the point of definitely being unfairly so.

    I started and re-started the campaign on Normal three times (by which point my total time played was 60 hours). At this point I decided that even though I'd put 100 hours into EU and EW, my strategy for XCOM 2 wasn't going to be as precise as I needed it to be (within a reasonable timeframe) in order to complete the game.

    There are too many ways that you can make a choice that starts a cascade of bad outcomes that in turn lead to an unavoidable death spiral. That isn't good design and does not respect the player's available time. It should not take me 60 hours to learn a game, and for the primary lesson to then be "normal setting is unfair, bump it down to easy".

    But that is what I had to do.. I bumped it down to easy and beat the game in 25 hours (easy, by the way, was still no walk in the park). All in all I played this game for 85-90 hours and my overwhelming feeling toward the experience is relief. Relief that I completed it and can now move on.

    I had some excellent fun with this game, but I also spent a lot of time being confused, irritated, and demoralized by the hours spent understanding that I'd made decisions that had led to bad outcomes and that I could keep playing but ultimately it'd be futile and winning was impossible.

    The fun parts were sometimes more fun than EU and EW, but the frustrating parts (difficulty mostly) were often more frustrating. The bugs that the game has (hitching, freezing, long wait times etc.) are a minor thing really but they also shouldn't be there (especially on a single-platform release).

    I'm not sure I'd recommend this game, but I'd also have to say I had some genuine fun with it at times... to call it a bad game would be wrong. To call it a great game would be equally wrong.

    In short, 3/5.

  • Original Release Year: 2016

    A short but fascinating game that really shines with the character conversation between the two main characters as it carries out an examination into self-imposed isolation as a means to avoid the reactions of the world to impossible situations in their lives.

    I related to this and loved this for what it was and the experience will stay with me. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone but that isn't to say that the game is a perfect experience. It's just too short and too focused in its scope to be thought of like that for me.

    Firewatch is a hugely worthwhile 4 hour game that examines the kinds of anti-heroic characters and human situations that aren't often the focus of video games. It has elements of mystery and adventure but at its core it isn't exactly either of these things. 4/5

  • Original Release Year: 2016

    (5 hours) my opening thoughts on this game are that there's potential for it to be good. I really hope that there's an interesting story to support the gameplay loop but time will tell.

    (10 hours) the world detail is really impressive and at the moment there seems to be just enough variety to the mission structure to stave off boredom. The game is moving toward a viral post-apocalypse take on heart of darkness (similar-ish to spec ops the line). I do hope that there's a bit more to it than that though. Time will tell.

    (15 hours) The Dark Zone is tense - and hugely enjoyable

    (40 hours) Well ok then, I guess I've done what the game gives me to do. All in all, I quite liked it and will be looking forward with moderate interest to what comes next.

    Vanilla Division has been a better experience than vanilla Destiny was, but it doesn't feel content 'complete' and its hard not to conclude that this because of the business model requirements of DLC and how that will all fit in. This isn't inherently an awful thing but it always feels a bit unsatisfactory when a full price game ends in a deliberately open ended way that only more paid content will flesh out.

    Still, this has been some excellent fun and one of the better games this year.

  • Original Release Year: 2016

    http://www.giantbomb.com/quantum-break/3030-42696/user-reviews/2200-29248/

    Quantum Break is slightly broken. It isn’t a mess. It isn’t unplayable. The gameplay is entirely serviceable and it functions without bugs. When I say is ‘slightly’ broken, I mean that Quantum Break is not a synchronized product. The various parts that have been put together to make ‘Quantum Break’ the video game/tv experience individually range between below average and good but collectively they do not fulfil the potential or ambition that is otherwise clearly evident.

    I say that Quantum Break has potential because was obviously made with a great deal of love. There are some excellent ideas and some of them have been executed well (some of the time) but the game's systems and components don't mesh together properly. It all works, just about, but you get the feeling that it doesn't work in the way that might have originally been conceived.

    There are a not-insignificant amount of graphical issues that do not create a good first impression, but the game also has some beautiful effects, and it does look great in certain scenes while looking sub-par in others. Environments are also re-used, with areas often being played through at least twice. However, given the time travel nature of the story that's probably not an unreasonable thing in this case.

    The sound design during combat sequences is noteworthy, and adds to the intensity. However, this is let down somewhat by loose gun combat with a limited variety of poorly differentiated weapons. The use of powers, while pretty cool in and of themselves, only begin to mesh well with the gun play once you realize and embrace the fact that this game is not an archetypal cover shooter. There is a dynamism and flow to the combat that emerges once key powers are acquired. By the end of the game, everything is rather samey though.

    The story set up is intriguing but the narrative delivery is very disjointed. The characters, and subsequent attempts at their development are poorly fleshed out and one dimensional. Much has been made of the cinematic sequences to this game but there are only four possible 20-minute segments that intersperse the game play chapters. 80 minutes would be enough to tell a film-length story... but it is also not enough to tell one that is set up in the style of an episodic cable tv-show. Quantum Break's FMV falls into the cable tv category of presentation and so suffers from a feeling of being overly rushed. So rushed in fact that is hard to follow the primary thread of what is going on within each episode (although reading collectibles helps). Correspondingly, it is even harder to see how the footage is influenced in any meaningful way by player actions and choice. After one full play through it seems probable that it isn't.

    There's something genuinely intriguing about the idea of Quantum Break, but there's just too much disappointment with certain components of it for me to recommend it to anyone. The disappointment is further compounded by how poorly the components come together. With all said and done, it might just about be fair to conclude that it is a bad game, but in spite of it all, I had some fun playing it at times so I’m not going to go that far. In short, 3/5.

  • Original Release Year: 2015

    Re-playing on PC after completing on Xbox One last year.

    This game didn't deserve all the negativity it received (it did deserve some of it but the internet has a tendency to pile on once there's blood in the water and it wasn't proportionate).

    Yes, this game is a continuation in the modern-era Fallout lineage more than it is a dramatic jump forward. No, that isn't a terrible thing. On PC Ultra settings it looks and plays beautifully. In many ways it looks phenomenal (albeit not the best in class).

    I thoroughly enjoyed the primary experience here and the DLC so far has been a nice addition.

    (after completing DLC).

    DLC 1. Automatron.

    Automatron is a fairly narrow-scope DLC. It introduces a cartoon antagonist and a new raider type to the existing Wasteland map. It's acceptable and just about worth playing through but it isn't anything new and other than adding a few weapons, armour, and mods it doesn't do a great deal to flesh out the world. 2/5

    DLC 2. Wasteland Workshop. I haven't dug too deeply into this yet but it seems to be new workshop objects and new AI subroutines for settlers.

    DLC 3. Far Harbor. This is the first piece of add-on content that has a significant story element and what is there on that front isn't too bad. The basic premise is that there are three factions on a geographically distinct island location called Far Harbor. They are each motivated by distinct and incompatible ideologies and conflict between them appears inevitable. Meanwhile, there are a band of raider-style characters called Trappers that exist almost entirely to generate firefights while your character roams around the radiation-stricken island.

    Basically on the gameplay front it is more fallout (with one minor hacking-game exception). Narratively (and ideologically), after a positive start, it falls a little flat. As is almost always the case with Bethesda games, the reason this is the case is because the characters just aren't relatable enough. They aren't subtle enough. They aren't developed enough. In the end this makes the no-win decisions you'll need to take feel as if they offer calculable trade offs that don't actually matter; and more importantly don't reflect the type of character you have been role playing. 3/5

    Nuka World: After 10 hours of play so far, I can confidently say that this is the best DLC offered to date. The game is sort of a cross over between Westworld the movie and Fallout New Vegas so far. Its just dumb enough to work.

  • Original Release Year 2015:

    There are free, new, and officially made missions to be played. I do like this game quite a bit so hopefully there will be a good time to revisit it at some point?

    The Caldecott Caper

    Official post-game DLC

  • Original Release Year: 2012

    I first played this on release on Xbox 360 back in 2012. I remember thinking it was a solid four star kind of game but as I'd also recently played Deus Ex: Human Revolution my expectations going into Syndicate were influenced by that title and not fully met as a result.

    That wasn't completely fair perhaps, and with the passing of four years since release, I am now replaying the title on PC.

    As before, there's a lot about this game that I really like. There's some really cool systems in the single player and I really appreciate the mix of gunplay and tactically altering the battlefield with the 'hack' options.

    Thematically this is one cyberpunk ass video game and there's much about the game that succeeds in generating the uneasy feeling that is associated with that genre's fiction. An early game example of this is your partner, a stone cold psychopath, who knocks on a door pretending to be 'security' and gives the 'all clear' to a civilian that he then summarily executes once the door is opened... just because why not? Another example would be the upgrade system which requires the player to kill opponents, then extract the chip from their brain in order to acquire new abilities. It is gross and effective and underscores the creepy message that the value of life is lower than the value of the chips that people are carrying inside them.

    The gameworld and its detail has a very clear and well realised dystopic style. It definitely does the job in terms of establishing context but doesn't distinguish itself or provide any novelty. Neon slums: check. High tech corporate towers: check... etc. etc.

    There's some very decent writing, pacing, and VO but overall there isn't enough of it and too much of what is there is hidden in notes and looping audio-logs that trigger when you're near.

    Four years have passed since this game was released, and nearly five since Deus Ex: HR, yet in spite of the gap, I'm still inclined to compare Syndicate with it and to hold Syndicate in lower comparative regard.

    Syndicate is actually still a very pretty game (and holds up excellently still in 2016) but Deus Ex:HR made better use of the interesting world setting that both games created.

    There is potential to make a sequel here that could be fantastic. Alas, I think it is a sequel that will never get made.

    3/5 (original playthrough back in 2012 4/5)

  • Original Release year: 2016

    I had a very poor first hour reaction to this game in spite of the interesting art style and intriguing setting. It didn't grab me at all and I uninstalled it.

    1/5

  • Original Release year: 2014

    This is quite a slow paced but intriguing walking simulator puzzle mystery game. I've enjoyed the first few hours playing it. I've completed the first of the mysteries.

    Enjoyable 3/5

  • Original Release year: 2016

    (after 2 hours) First impressions are that I'm not keen on the control scheme and I think that the controller support needs to be fully implemented in order for the game to work correctly. Basically it needs to be like Diablo 3. At the moment, things are interesting but I don't like the mouse and keyboard option, I don't like the controller option, and I don't like the hybrid option. One or all of them needs to be fixed.

    (after 7 hours) no... this isn't for me. The control scheme doesn't fit the gameplay (in my opinion). I'm bailing on this one.

    1/5

  • Original Release year: 2016

    (after 4 hours) I am fascinated by Dan's reaction to this game. It has to have something good going on with it but so far I've bounced off it two or three times. I'll keep coming back a couple more times to see if it starts to stick.

    (after 5 hours). I've bounced off it a couple more times but I still haven't abandoned it.

    (after 10 hours). This game is starting to grab me a little. I enjoy the mechanic of playing, the collecting, the planning, and the execution. It is all really very charming. I will probably continue to play it on and off.

    (after 20 hours) I have found this a fun distraction to come back to for 20 mins here and there and I think it will likely continue to be that kind of a game for me indefinitely. It's a good game.

    (after 30 hours). Well hmm... I didn't expect to keep returning to this but I am on a semi-regular basis still playing it. I guess I'm going to have to conclude at this point that this is a really solid game even though it took me a long time to get into it and I would have likely bounced off and stayed away had it not been for Dan's enthused advocacy for it. Changing my score from 3 to 4 out of 5.

    4/5

  • Original Release year: 2016

    (after 30 hours) As has been the case with those that have come before in the souls series, this is an excellent game. The challenge level is slightly lessened relative to previous titles. This is partly due to bonfire placement being slightly more generous, and partly due the very existence of those prior titles. This is a game that finesses the previous games and it is the very fact that it does so that makes so much of Dark Souls (pleasantly) familiar. There are still challenges a plenty though and there's nothing 'easy' about it!

    This is the best game I've played so far this year. It could end up being a 5-star game by the time I've finished up with it.

    (after 55 hours) This was an excellent Dark Souls game that embodied perfectly the best aspects of all previous Dark Souls games (sometimes literally). I put in 55 hours and enjoyed them all even though I've played hundreds of Dark Souls game previously.

    Weirdly though, it is this last fact that makes the overall experience a 4 star one for me rather than 5 star. This might be the best Dark Souls game but I've played so much of it previously, I can't really speak to the experience being exceptional (which is the criteria I apply to give 5 stars). Thoroughly recommended though and after five months of the year, the best game I've played so far.

    4/5

  • Original Release year: 2013

    This was going for £2 on Steam AND there's been a user-made re-balancing mod that has been getting some attention as being worth looking at recently. I'll check this out (with appropriately low expectations)

  • Original Release year: 2016

    (after 5 hours) There's a highly addictive ramp up into this game once the initial confusion of the first couple of hours has passed. This is the strongest first impression I've had about a game this year so far.

    (after 15 hours) some of that positive first impression has been dulled slightly by some confusing mid-game feedback and the uncertainty that arises from it. Specifically, I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. Consequences and payoff's arent' signposted. That is probably something I will need to play through the game several times to get a full understanding of. I will certainly return to this game later in the year. It has some really cool positive things going for it.

    (after 35 hours) so I finally finished the game and I have more good things to say about it than bad. The positives to the early game give way to a confusing and under-developed middle game and the end game events are overwhelmingly easy to deal with. The joy is in the journey with this one though.

    Score 4/5

  • Original Release year: 2016

    (after 3 hours)

    OK. Ok. ok.

    This is actually pretty good fun. I don't know what the longevity or replay-ability is going to be but clearly the game is setting me up to want to replay it and I've only cleared three or four levels. I probably will re-play it on a harder setting because there's definitely something unique about the flow of gameplay and it is very reminiscent of the flow of the circle strafe, no head-bob, no-reload 3-D corridor shooters from the end of last century. I like this game for what it is and what it has done with this old formula. Thematically and artistically it is also exceptional. Narratively it is simple, clear, and achieves exactly what it needs to with a very small number of characters. The story and dialogue is all very thematically consistent and the game walks the line perfectly between making the story interesting enough to pay attention to, while at the same time keeping it simple enough that you don't actually really need to pay attention to it.

    Sound design is superb. The music is excellent.

    (after 6 hours) This is a good game. It is commendable and enjoyable. It feels a little short of something... I don't know what though so perhaps that's not fair? Perhaps it is simply doing an excellent job within the scope it sets for itself? I'll definitely be finishing this.

    (after 11 hours) Well well well. This game really ups the intensity towards the end and thoroughly examines you on the gameplay it has been teaching you throughout the first two thirds of the game. Some of these firefights are spectacular and feel so fundamentally true to the spirit of the original doom while actually being much more fun to play than original Doom is (or was). I've really warmed on this game in the last few hours. This is a 5 star game when the single player is fully considered.

    5/5

  • Original release year: 2010

    I've played this to conclusion once before on the 360 and I remember having an OK experience with it. Coming back to it in 2016 has made me appreciate the craft and the (for want of a better word) attempt they made at making a mission impossible sort of spy game. It was a little too rough to stick with and I put it down after 5hrs and won't pick it back up again. I would still recommend it to people who have never played it... as long as you go into this game with appropriate expectations, there's fun to be had with it.

    3/5

  • Original release year: 2016

    (3hrs) I started the first few hours of this game outside of VR and have been having a fairly mixed (edging towards bad) time with it. I'll continue it in VR once my Oculus arrives.

  • Original release year: 2011

    Replaying this title for the 5th time now. This'll be the first time I've done so on PC which is a high end machine and more than good enough to run this game on the highest settings. It's still really fun to play and its still impressive as hell on so many fronts. Listening to the dev commentary has left me feeling a little sad though. They clearly wanted to do so much more than they actually did. What the did do with this game is make a 5-star self-serious and adult video game that I have hugely appreciated and am still impressed by.

    5/5

  • Original release year: 2012

    To be played

  • Original release year: 2016

    (after 1 hr) This seems excellent and I'm really looking forward to having a block of time to throw at it. I'm going to have to put it on the back burner for now as my Oculus is here but I will definitely re-visit.

  • Original release year: 2015

  • Original release year: 2016

    (after 2 hours) First game in VR that actually feels like a game. Not an especially novel game but quite an intriguing one nonetheless.

  • Original release year: 2016

    (after 15 hours)

    This is a wonderfully well designed game with some high grade components to it across the board. I'm really enjoying my time with it so far and am already looking forward to a replay.

    (after 30 hours) Finished my first playthough. Loved it. Will play through again soon.

    New Game +

    This game is almost more fun the second time around. Knowing the scenarios enables you to get a sense of how to stretch the game.

    5/5

    Jensen stories

    1. 3.5

    2. System Rift 4/5

  • Original release year: 2016

    http://www.giantbomb.com/the-technomancer/3030-49405/user-reviews/2200-29487/

    Imagine KOTOR with its third person view and three party member group dynamic (except with a bigger game world and without the Star Wars IP)

    Imagine the sci-fi styling of Mass Effect (except without the great Bioware characters and intricate storytelling).

    Imagine the Witcher 3 and its slightly sluggish and animation-prioritized brawling combat.

    Where the circles of this Venn diagram overlap, Technomancer exists.That doesn't mean that this game is as good as any of those titles.

    Categorically it isn't.

    In fact the problems with this sci-fi adventure RPG are numerous. Chief among them is the mismatch between the self-seriousness of the setting and the (poorly written) immature teen-angst dialogue of the characters (some of which feels as if it has been lifted wholesale from a 1980s cartoon). This is a pretty serious flaw and it really undermines the gritty epic sci fi adventure tone that Spiders otherwise appear to be pursuing.

    Following the introduction, the narrative setup of the Technomancer quickly becomes one of the protagonist and his rag tag group being perpetually on the run from the chief antagonist and his authoritarian forces. As such the good guys can't stay for long in any one location.

    And its this premise that brings us to the second big flaw with The Technomancer. Every place you are allegedly no longer welcome at along the way becomes re-visitable (at little to no risk). In fact the game actually sends you all-but immediately back to these places (presumably to re-use environments) after having categorically told you that you have no choice but to leave them on pain of death. As a narrative trope it is used in both of the major world hubs you visit. That's not all though...It also crops up again in an outdoor sequence where a timer is put on screen to indicate the impending sunrise, and thus obligation to find shelter from the supposedly lethal sun before the timer runs out. This sequence felt different and interesting and did a decent job of creating some tension. However, the game sends you back out into the same area once again for another objective almost immediately and there’s no consequence at all in choosing to do so during the daytime. Perhaps it was just a ‘really’ sunny day the first time around? Perhaps my character found and applied some Technomancer sunblock while I wasn't looking?

    Whereas the character dialogue and narrative pretexts are flimsy at best (and illogical at worst), The Technomancer really recovers quite a bit of ground with its visual style and solid (if unspectacular) combat mechanics. Combat is differentiated into three styles, with each style falling into a combat archetype (essentially rogue, sword and board, and two handed) and is complemented by magical skills that are unlocked relative to progression in each of these three styles. Inventory items can be leveled with damage modifiers that require correspondingly-leveled crafting skills to create and fully exploit. If companion loyalty quest-lines are completed, and good relationship status is correspondingly attained, then certain party characters will convey a stat bonus in this regard (or in terms of things like charisma and lock picking) to supplement your own stats and correspondingly enable higher level feats overall. Combat and character development overall are areas to this game that are never worse than acceptable but never any better than good.

    Spiders also created an architecturally imaginative and distinctive world that generally looks great (although the quality declines over time). Sadly they didn't capitalize on this effort by filling it with the kind of content that would have brought it to life. For instance, most of the hub NPCs have no dialogue and can't be interacted with in any way. Those that can be interacted with have very narrowly defined parameters of interaction. Party NPCs have plenty to say, and a small proportion of it is interesting, but most of it is both boring and inconsequential from either a gameplay or a character development perspective. The end result is a world that feels much less rich than it should be.

    One is left with the feeling that the concept artists in the development of this game must've been fantastic but that the character dialogue and/or translation teams must have been, by contrast, pretty awful.

    On that note, I think it’s fair to say that the story quality itself ranges from slightly south to slightly north of average while never making it all the way up the scale to a point where it could be definitively be called 'good'. The story beats themselves are largely predictable (when not falling prone to logical fallacies). By the end of the story I felt quite bored.

    Simply put, the story suffers from a dearth of originality and like so many other elements of this game it was under-cooked and lacks depth. None of the characters are interesting enough, well voiced enough, or well scripted enough to help stretch the weak origin material into something more substantial.

    This is one of those titles then that has very little going for it but that 'very little' is actually pretty good. Its occasionally fun but more often than not it isn't. I finished the game in 32 hours and while I don’t regret playing, I would still strongly advise others against the experience. There’s nothing about this game that hasn’t been done better elsewhere and while there's a limited degree of charm in this title it's probably not enough to warrant a purchase... and certainly not at full price.

    2/5

  • original relase year: 2016

    To be played

  • Original release year 2015

    (after 10 hours) EDF 4.1 doesn't make a strong first impression. With almost no preamble or exposition, the game flings you straight into an extremely bog-standard mission. There's really not much to the game when it begins and for the first hour or so of play I was really scratching my head, wondering if I was going to find motivation to continue playing.

    However, somewhere around mission 10 I understood the format of this game. Essentially it is a sequence of very loosely attached (narratively at least) battle scenarios in both urban and rural environments. As the player, the gameplay loop is to clear levels, get new and better guns and to level up your healthbar through collectible drops. Each mission can be replayed on various difficulties and with characters with different playstyles.

    Its all very simple, but its actually quite enjoyable. I'm at mission 30 now and I understand that there's upward of 80 in total. I don't know if I'll be sticking at this game all in one go but I'll probably off and on play it through to the end. Fun game

    3/5

  • Original release year 2016

    (after 10 hours) I'm 10 hours into this and I have some fairly strong feelings about part of NMS and am fairly undecided on others.

    The first, and perhaps unavoidable, feeling is that I'm disappointed by the scope of this game. I don't mean that in terms of the geographical scope, or in terms of the phenomenal way that Hello Games built a universe. That is absolutely astonishing as a technical achievement and the thought that almost every planet I visit I am also the discoverer of is incredible. There's just so much stuff in that universe they built and there have been many moments so far where I've just felt overwhelmed by how damn big everything is...

    And there's plenty of stuff to discover, and name, and catalog, and mess around with, and use as a crafting material, and then use to upgrade your suit or your ship... and that's all pretty sweet sure...

    but then...

    it hits me...

    why? why am I doing this? why do I want this gameplay loop? What is it in service of? What's my larger objective here? Is it just to fly to the centre of the galaxy because that's cool n'all but it's gonna take a while. A long while...

    and there's not a lot else to do in this game other than meander and explore. To be honest though, once I realized that this was the case I've been quite cool with it. NMS has become my podcast game, my second screen game. I don't have to think a lot and it feels quite pleasant to explore in hour-long bursts. Some of the artifacts and language stuff has promise and seems interesting. I don't know how it ties into any broader objectives thought because, well, I still don't actually know what the broader objectives are?

    Anyway, after 10 hours I'm a solid 3/5 on this game so far. Whether NMS is going to end up with a higher score is completely dependent on there being something more on the broader narrative front. Something more than just blasting sentinels because they're there. Something more pressing when it comes to interstellar travel than 'just because its there, we should go to it'.

    I'll keep playing to see where things go but right now this game is unfortunately a bit of a game play disappointment while at the same time being an undisputed technical wonder.

    (after 20 hours) I'm still putting some time into this game but it has become an experience that I only play while doing something else (i.e. second screen experience) as there's just not enough going on in this game to warrant full attention.

    It is still quite a relaxing and intriguing experience to fly around the galaxy, exploring, and collecting stuff... but it isn't enough to sustain my interest and unless this game rolls to a close soon I'll be putting it down. My gut feeling on this is still 3/5 but if anything I'm edging toward 2/5 rather than 4/5.

    (after 30 hours) Closing thoughts on this game (for now... I will check back in if the game is patched and improved). I've played for 30 hours and I've seen dozens of planets, encountered 100s of weird and interesting species, had a few mediocre space battles, a few mediocre on foot battles, met a few boring NPCs and answered a few meaningless and boring questions. I've gone from point A to point B, but really it would have made NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER if I had actually gone from point B to point A.

    Its a huge flaw. Endless exploration is great, but there is no significant personal progression along that journey. Sure I upgraded a few things, but all that did was make the thing I was already doing slightly easier than it was before.

    THAT'S IT!

    There's nothing to direct the meandering other than a vague suggestion of movement toward the galactic core. Everything prior to that point is approximately equivalent. Nothing really matters, because there's no measurable progress along a flowchart of this game. There is almost no flowchart, almost no design for the player experience throughout this game. I've no doubt that this gameworld and its systems were astonishingly hard to build and they are a triumph. However, there is not enough game in this experience to make that experience fully engaging.

    All in all NMS in its current state is a huge disappointment, and I say that as someone who did not buy into a drop of the hype. I am speaking as a player who started playing, understood the potential of what was in front of me, and then watched the developer squander it more and more the longer I played.

    A tentative 3/5 for this game. Such a shame.

  • Original release year 2016

    http://www.giantbomb.com/the-bunker/3030-54172/user-reviews/2200-29638/

    (Very) short game / short film experience set in an alternate version of 2016 where a nuclear strike destroyed the UK and only a few survivors made it to government-built bunkers back in 1984.

    You play John, the bunker's sole survivor and socially stunted 30 year old in his quest to make sense of his situation and to live his life (such as it is) in adherence to the strict routines of his recently deceased mother.

    This is a fascinating short film that has been adapted for video game format and while the game play elements aren't especially interesting the narrative is engaging enough to hold attention for the 2.5 hours it takes to finish.

    Intriguing, polished. Short. 3/5

  • Original release year 2016

    3/5 - review forthcoming

  • Original release year 2016

    Felt pretty fresh for a game that is in its fifth iteration (Judgement included). Great character banter. Great Tomato banter. Satisfying and challenging shooting.

    This is a character-driven story set within a much larger story that leaves things intentionally unfinished (setting up sequels).

    In short this is a very polished and very visually impressive (on PC) game. I had some solid fun with it.

    4/5

  • Original release year 2016

    80s teen horror film/ supernatural mash up game. Strong storytelling from both a narrative and character standpoint. Intriguing concepts and well worth the 4 hours it takes to complete. Enjoyable and extremely well made but ultimately I think I might be too old and not the target audience. 3/5

    Snappy character dialogue on a haunted island.

  • Original release year 2016

  • Original release year (on PC) 2016

    Steins; Gate's (the video game) is 95% visual novel (i.e. click to move to the next line of written dialogue) and 5% video game. Having already watched the full anime series, I can say that Steins; Gate the video game follows the narrative of the anime very very closely for the vast majority of the game.

    As was the case with the anime then, both the narrative and the characters that drive the story forward are generally excellent. The key difference in the video game format is to make the protagonist's mobile phone a mechanic by which future events can be influenced.

    The impact of this mechanic is minor in terms of making the player feel as if they are engaging in meaningful gameplay. The choices made via the phone do result in minor branches to the narrative but it isn't until the final chapter of the story (i.e. the ending options) that it becomes possible to deviate significantly from the corresponding final scenes of the anime.

    I loved the anime, and I enjoyed this game, but ultimately I didn't enjoy the game version any more than the anime and would strongly argue that the anime is the way to go for experiencing this story. In addition, the excellent English VO work for the anime isn't adapted to the game, meaning everything is spoken in Japanese and translated via subtitles.

    Steins; Gate the game is worth playing if you haven't seen the anime, and if you like the idea of clicking your way through an excellent visual novel. Otherwise, if you have seen the anime you really don't get much more from the game other than exploring a few 'what if?' ending scenarios that you'll need to sink dozens of hours into a story you already know in order to reach.

    3/5 (but only because the story is great... this isn't a fun game)

  • Original release year 2016

  • Original release year 2016

    An astonishing amount of work obviously went into making this game. From the world design, to the art style, to the loving attention paid to detail and character development (including NPCs) this game has clearly seen an awful lot of development.

    And its genuinely a very good game. I've really enjoyed playing it.

    I think that perhaps too much of the narrative exists in the prequel film 'Kingsglaive'. I watched that film and the context of the events in the game made a little more sense. In the end though, its still all fantastical (as it should be!) but it doesn't quite tie together in a neat and coherent way like it should (even with the context of the film).

    There's a lot to really like about FF XV and I certainly got involved with it for a good 50 hours. I don't regret the time put in but all in all this game didn't quite blow me away in the way it threatened to.

    There's something slightly missing. Perhaps a narrative through thread that binds the whole thing together? Something that generates a clearer and more engaging purpose? Collecting cool weapons at the end of dungeons is nothing new in video games, no matter how you dress it up.

    All in all, 4/5

  • Original release year 2016

    Amazing 5/5

  • Original release year 2016
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