Digimon Survive is one of the best visual novels to come out so far this year, with plenty of heart and tension to carry you through to the final act. Fans looking for an engaging story with well-written and presented characters that deal with life-and-death situations will enjoy the ride, while players focused on the combat will probably find that the game comes up short. Despite its sluggish, padded start, Digimon Survive is well worth the long wait.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is the strangest thing you'll play from Nintendo, bringing with it laughs and creativity in abundance. But even with improvements over the 3DS game, it follows a familiar structure that isn't always enthralling or hilarious.Tomodachi fans will certainly be living the dream with this new entry, but I'm not desperate to keep coming back to my island. A little more variety would've been welcome, but the customisation, and the thought of my cat being best friends with DMC's Dante, will have me peep in every so often for a little pick-me-up.
Tumblestone has thought of just about everything to create a fun and rewarding puzzle game experience. It spreads out a smorgasbord of options for one player or more, balancing sit-and-think challenges with drag racing action and spur-of-the-moment accessibility. The whole thing comes wrapped in a pretty package and with a nearly overwhelming amount of extra options. The eShop price for Tumblestone might be on the higher side, and it's a pity there's not much of an online scene at the time of writing, but this is a full game that deserves a place among Tetris Attack, Dr. Mario and other friendly puzzlers that have chiseled out a name for themselves.
Chroma Blast has an engaging "cycle-and-shoot" mechanic that can feel at first like rubbing your head and patting your stomach at the same time. It's still very learnable, however, and not frustrating to make the process of doing so. The power-ups and modifiers are also very welcome. Even so, there's still a certain level of intensity in the encompassing fight that seems to be lacking. It would be exciting to see what developer WizByte Games could add to this formula on a second attempt, and arcade-style score attackers who lean more toward tactics than twitch could certainly do worse than this.
If you're feeling daring, or perhaps enjoy breaking the law and driving on the wrong side of the road like a crazy person, Hot Rod Racer might just be the game for you. The music is so catchy that it makes the merciless nature of the title almost addictive. In all seriousness though, with such poor production values outside of the soundtrack, and archaic gameplay to boot, it's hard to recommend Hot Rod Racer to Wii U owners. For those of you fixated with speed, seek your thrills elsewhere.
There's very little reason to purchase SpaceRoads. There are plenty of better games on the eShop, with cheap and poor design at the forefront here; the repetitive freezing bug is also unacceptable. Wurd Industries has an interesting idea here - there's definitely room for quick-fix games like this - but it's simply not ready for primetime.
Dracula's Legacy for the Wii U eShop is a high quality hidden object game, and it feels right at home on the system thanks to the the GamePad. Ideally, this genre is still better suited on the PC platform, with the game already available on Steam for an affordable price. In saying this, Dracula's Legacy is likely to satisfy individuals who enjoy problem solving and puzzle games, regardless of the platform it is played on. For those who aren't as familiar with this genre our recommendation is naturally more tentative - the enjoyment comes if you truly sink your teeth into it.
Bit Dungeon+ is an absolute blast if you're in the mood for some single or cooperative dungeon crawling. The accessible modern touches makes the entire package that much more enjoyable, and much less punishing than the classic titles of this genre. If you're a fan of limitless playability and are willing to embrace what this game has to offer, you're sure to enjoy it.
Twin Robots provides an enjoyable experience primarily because of responsive controls and precise character movement. Despite the steady increase in difficulty and cruel design of certain levels, it's still a fun challenge.
The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 is an enjoyable game at its budget price, with a pleasing mix of adventure, humour and some head scratching puzzles. There are some negative points which stop the game from being a fully fledged win, but it is still an enjoyable and nostalgic experience for any gamer with a love of point-and-click styled experiences.
Mighty No. 9 is not a terrible game, nor is it even a bad one - it's just plain mediocre. From its downright disappointing visuals to its flat music and bland-at-best level design, everything about Mighty No. 9 screams of mediocrity. And let's be clear - if this were a fan game made by a small group of devoted Mega Man fans it'd be deemed more impressive. Yet this is a budget retail title developed by one of Mega Man's lead designers, which also had involvement from Inti Creates, a proven studio with hits like Mega Man 9 and Azure Striker Gunvolt among its credits. We're not sure where things went wrong, but Mighty No. 9's finished product is just a "mega" disappointment.
Dual Core is proof positive that a game should not be judged by its price tag. A satisfyingly long story mode, which takes about five or six hours to complete, coupled with an incredibly addictive arcade mode and a fun - if a bit underwhelming - versus mode make this one a must-have for Wii U owners.If you're a fan of twin-stick shooters you should absolutely give Dual Core a look.
Like most RPGs in the Kemco stables, Justice Chronicles does just what it sets out to: recreate the glory days of console JRPGs filtered through a modern, mobile-inspired lens. And while there's no masterful writing or great innovation at play here, an interesting battle system and tried-and-true gameplay loop means that Justice Chronicles succeeds as a slice of low-priced comfort gaming. It doesn't do much to stand out in the 3DS' library of JRPGs — already flooded with some of the finest examples of the genre in recent history — but if you've played the best and are still left with the need to save the world in a turn-based fashion, this is a thoroughly decent choice.
Run Run and Die may look deceptively cute, but with a title like that we suppose we've only got ourselves to blame for underestimating its difficulty. It doles out death by the bucket-load, but its major flaw is that it rarely makes it feel like the player's fault. The windows of timing are too narrow, the camera angles work against you, obstacles pop up out of nowhere and it all piles up into an extremely frustrating experience with little else to show for it. It's cheap, fast, and designed to make you angry. Sounds fun? Well, it's your funeral...
Although Color Symphony 2 introduces an original idea, it needs to work on some aspects in order to draw the player in. The story needs to be fleshed out more, and extra variation in graphics and audio would work wonders to stop the game feeling repetitive. Those who enjoy puzzle platformers will enjoy the premise (at least for a little while), but this could do much more to reel in a wider audience.
Sweetest Thing leaves a lot to be desired. Fans of the time management genre may find a modicum of enjoyment, but it just seems like 'My Kingdom for the Princess' reskinned to include candy. The game gives it all away upfront, so once you have played the first couple of levels there isn't much more to discover; it proves to be mundane after a while. Approach this one with caution.
