Hardcore Gamer

• PS4
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

• PC
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

• PC
• 2.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Those Who Remain deserves major points for creativity of ideas and premise. The title holds a lot of promise, but ultimately fails to deliver a memorable, cohesive performance. Because puzzles force players to run back and forth to find solutions which can take time away from immersion into this world. Those Who Remain is a title committed to psychological horror, but has self-sabotaged with mediocre gameplay. It lovingly sets up a thrilling ambiance, but doesn’t allow players to fully experience the title. The use of various ideas like alternate dimensions and ever-persistent shadow people are great, but aren’t executed well. Additionally, characters are not uniquely fleshed out and don’t support the flat story that held a lot of promise. Characters feel generic to the point where it’s difficult to even like them. Edward is truly an everyman but doesn’t have enough uniqueness to capture attention. Even the “choices” made don’t ultimately make drastic changes you may have been hoping for. I wanted to like Those Who Remain, but it failed to capture my attention as a standout indie horror.

• PC
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

• PC
• 2.5 / 5
• États-Unis

There have been plenty of outings over the past few years that take the basic template of golf, as a sport, and manage to transform into something else. Whether it’s deep in strategy or surreal in delivery, fans of golf have been well serviced. Golf With Your Friends, by contrast, comes across as the antithesis of this approach. A game that goes out of its way to antagonize, despite its variety and ridiculousness in course design. In some parts, that philosophy does find a way to delight and entertain, without descending into an unnecessary leap of faith or threading the needle-like situation that most of its holes unfortunately end up forcing players into. Those who can find joy in such random, unearned chaos may get a small ounce of fun here, but for everybody else, Golf With Your Friends‘ unpolished, finicky and messy delivery takes little time to put even the most patient of mini-golf enthusiasts off completely.

• SWITCH
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

With a few more tweaks in certain areas when it comes to the difficulty and improved farming controls, Atomicrops could easily be a terrific roguelike shooter. As is, though, it’s still enjoyable, with great action that easily keeps you wanting more, a lot of goods to hunt for and try out in order to come up with a good strategy, and eye-popping, vibrant visuals that make astounding use of pixel art. It may be a tricky crop to tackle, but there’s still a rewarding experience here that’s worth checking out.

• PS4
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Nearly ten years later, Saints Row: The Third remains an anomaly in the open-world genre as so many continue to embrace seriousness and realism. Saints Row: The Third Remastered arrives at just the right time to inject a dose of silliness and zaniness into the genre. The fully overhauled visuals give it a nice new sheen that’s pleasant to look at on current-gen consoles. There may be no new additions to the plot, but the base story remains just as entertaining to play through today as it did in 2011. That story remains buoyed by clever writing and strong voice acting. Though the sense of mayhem keeps things interesting, the repetitive enemies and some mind-numbing activities drag down the experience. Tweaks to the gameplay and more advanced AI would have been nice. Still, it’s easy to get lost in Saints Row: The Third Remastered thanks to the story missions, characters, weaponry and customization. Saints Row: The Third Remastered is a solid remaster of the 2011 original, cracks and all. The 3rd Street Saints are back to take Steelport and they’ve never looked better.

• PC
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Neversong took me about three hours to complete, but its message resonated with me for far longer. The title is short, sweet and gets to the heart of the matter without deviation. There’s a little something for everyone in the title — collectibles, intuitive gameplay and brilliant visuals. The use of the fairy tale narrative inspires a Brothers Grimm aesthetic that fits with the morals of Neversong‘s story. It’s also a title that has some good replay value as you receive permanent special items after beating the game at least once. While it’s a short game, length of time does not necessarily detract from the quality of the title. Instead, it takes the time needed to tell the story it wants to tell. Length of play-time is often associated with quality, but oftentimes developers take extra time just for the sake of it. And while there are some light gameplay missteps, the title recovers by being genuine in its storytelling. Neversong shows that even deep, emotional stories can come from small packages.

• SWITCH
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

• PS4
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

I haven’t had a VR experience in the past that equaled what The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners was able to accomplish. The intricate details for doing every little action will make you feel skilled once you get comfortable. While the controls can get wonky at times, the combat is fantastic yet primitive. I believe this comes down to how the tracking on the Move controllers work and it isn’t an issue with the game. The physics are fantastic and the visuals are sufficient enough. The world sucks you in and impacts you emotionally. The sense of accomplishment when successfully and confidently doing tasks is satisfying, a feeling which will have you strutting into areas only to bring you back down to earth. You can even cover yourself in guts to fit in with zombies. I do wish the overall guidance was better, but I also understand the desire for difficulty involved. Finding resources such as food and medicine is difficult. The game is a slow burn due to its pacing and you’ll lose track of time progressing through the story. Bottom line, Skydance Interactive has undoubtedly created the deepest VR experience to date with The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.

• SWITCH
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

• PS4
• 3 / 5
• États-Unis

• PS4
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

• PS4
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

At this point, the first three original Mana titles have all received remakes. Trials of Mana not only wipes the floor with the other two, but stands so far above them it's hard to believe the vast difference. It's a fantastic remake that captures the original story and characters with an amazing new way to enjoy it. The combat is ridiculous amounts of fun with brand new variety available that showcases the wonderful differences between each character and their play styles. The music and visuals are truly at the top of their game and make the experience all the more enjoyable with how wonderful they are at all times. Anyone who enjoys action RPGs should pick up Trials of Mana as it's a fantastic experience worth replaying time and time again.

• PS4
• 2.5 / 5
• États-Unis

What players might expect out of Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories and what it actually is are two entirely different things. It markets itself as a serious yarn centered around a catastrophe where player choice matters, but it’s actually an intentional comedy that uses the drama of the situations to heighten the absurdity of it all. It’s weird, but in a fantastic and enthralling way. Players with patience and a great sense of humor will come away extremely pleased. Those that can’t abide a laundry list of technical imperfections would be well served staying away. Disaster Report 4 is heavily flawed with too many irritating parts to suffer past, but it still comes recommended for anyone that believes Weird Al’s “Dare to be Stupid” should be the national anthem.

• SWITCH
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

One Step from Eden is an impressive feat of card-battling rogue-likes. It’s visually gorgeous and features strategic gameplay through its library of spells. This Mega-Man/Slay the Spire mashup provides an exhilarating challenge that’s constantly evolving. It’s a title with great replayability during a time when we may need it the most. It’s also another great addition to the couch-coop list with its cooperative and versus modes. The title fits great on the Nintendo Switch’s layout and makes for a great addition to the console, even if at times it felt as if gameplay controls would be smoother on a PC keyboard. Overall, the game does wonderfully in providing great spell variety with detailed abilities that synergize well across the board. Despite the balance issues, it’s still worth checking out for something to quickly get into. One Step from Eden is a flavorful, intuitive experience that’s hard to put down once you pick it up.

• XONE
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

• SWITCH
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis