There's not quite enough here to win me over completely, but there's more than enough to make the numerous trips I've made worthwhile, and part of the charm is in never knowing if there's anything left to discover.
Perception falls between two posts. It's premise is strong and the echolocation works well, but there simply isn't enough to do in that old house, other than knock on the walls and listen to tales of times gone by. It's a game that I wanted to like so much more than I do, partly because it's so visually appealing and partly because Cassie is such a likeable character. She deserves a better story for herself rather than to be an observer of other peoples' lives.
Shock tactics so persistently silly that they become the equivalent of a flaming bag of poo on a doorstep. I will always defend the right of horror fiction to be horrible, but never excuse it for being so dull in its depravity.
What elevates it from a fascinating and gorgeous experiment in presentation to an immediate contender for my game of the year is the way that the broader narrative informs the stories it contains, just as the house is home to its many rooms. Without casting judgement or becoming didactic, Edith Finch explores both the good and the harm that stories can do, and how folktale, imagination and superstition can lift us up and dash us down.
It's precisely the kind of horror game I love – grotesque but not gross, and interested in thoughtful pacing and escalation rather than jumpscares and shocks. Also, linear though it is, there are some collectibles I'd like to hunt for and the whole game is short enough that I'll happily play it again, or watch someone else playing.
At the beginning of the game, I'd hoped to solve a mystery and have a few laughs, but now I miss the company of this little crew. It's a smart game though and a thoughtful one, even if it sometimes hides those qualities behind its clown makeup and a beaglepuss.
It's rare to see such ambitious storytelling and open world roleplaying tied to such a stylish combat system, not to mention the (optional) Souls-like multiplayer elements, shooter tangents, mini-games that punctuate rather than interrupting, and that big ol' world to explore. You don't need to have played any of Yoko Taro's previous games to appreciate Automata, even though it has links to both Drakengard and (of course) the original Nier, but it'll probably make you keen to seek them out. Me? I'm hoping Platinum get a chance to work with these worlds and words again.
Unexplored is almost certainly going to be one of my favourite games of the year.
It starts ugly and ends ugly, without enough humour or horror in between to shock or surprise. I'm not convinced its mingling of arcane silliness and actual suffering quite works either; it's a bit like Martyrs with gross sex jokes.
This is a game that can scare you, startle you, shock you, draw a nervous laugh out of you and make you shake your head in disbelief, but mostly it’s just here to entertain. And the Bakers are right at the horrible heart of it all.
Pick through the shit and you’ll find the nuggets of gold, but if I hadn’t sucked every last drop out of Afterbirth, I’d rather be playing that than Afterbirth †. As it is, I’m just about won over by the promise of new things, many of which are solid additions, but there’s a lot of dreariness to tolerate.
[T]his is more than a triumphant return – it’s an improvement on the original in almost every way, and as close to a masterpiece as anything I’ve played this year.
After a few campaigns, it’s left me a little cold. Topical it may be, but the lack of engagement with issues and their effects makes it hard for me to see the theme (both animal and political) as much more than a lick of paint on a fairly well-worked but narrow game of numbers. Perhaps that’s what electioneering actually is but if I had to cast my vote, I’d be sticking with the push-and-pull policies of Democracy rather than Political Animals’ detatched campaigns of territorial control.
You probably already know whether you want a new Football Manager in your life right now. If you do, this is a better option than last year’s edition, particularly given its improvements for those playing long-term saves. It’s evolution not revolution, but that was needed given how much the match engine and transfer intelligence seemed to be creaking after years without a significant tune-up.
If you’re even mildly interested in buying a new multiplayer FPS, you won’t go wrong with this, and if you enjoy smart level design, the singleplayer is vital, though the pricetag is hard to justify given the short running time. None of those ideas I’m refusing to describe so as not to spoil them are going to add replay value either, unless, like me, you’re likely to replay just to show people the spectacle of it all.