Hardcore Gamer

• PC
• PS4
• XONE
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

There's few complex systems in place to either discover or manage and while that may feel like a misstep, Do My Best live up to their namesake by setting the scene and giving even the most basic of pixel graphics feel like something far more grandiose and important in the wider scheme of things. The Final Station does a remarkable job at leaving a mark with its chosen aesthetic and subtle narrative -- peaking one's interest with this particular post-apocalyptic not-zombie infested World, it'll be easily remembered above the mediocre allotment of survival titles out there at present. Overall, The Final Station is a welcome breath of fresh (if desolately murky) air and stands out through its interesting mix of platformer and survival mechanics -- carving out a game that's entertaining but cunning too.

• PC
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

• PC
• PS4
• XONE
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Despite a lackluster story that doesn’t stand out until it’s too late, the color-changing gameplay provides a considerable amount of enjoyably unique puzzle and platforming sections for fans of the genre, with simplistic enough controls for players of all skill levels to experience. In an age where many mainstream games offer countless distractions to constantly pull the player in all sorts of directions, Hue’s straightforward and relaxing presentation offers a nice, brief reprieve to play in between some of today’s lengthier titles. With a reasonable set of expectations, Hue can provide a pleasant adventure for players willing to give this unique game a shot; just don’t go in expecting it to stick with you beyond its playtime.

• 3DS
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

• VITA
• PS4
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Hatsune Miku games always excel thanks to their libraries of great musical tracks. The same is true in the latest release, though it would have been nice to see even more songs in the base package. Gameplay is easy enough for most to be able to succeed, but gating off tracks via a skill barrier is always unfortunate for the rhythmically-challenged among us. On the plus side, at least less grinding is required to snap up hot new costumes for your Vocaloid crew. In the end, what we’re left with is another enjoyable release in the Project Diva series even though this isn’t the game that will convert everyday folks into Miku diehards. To do that, you’d need a friendlier setup alongside a narrative that’s actually at least a little compelling. You still can’t knock Miku too much as her series of games always provides a fanciful, musical break from a stressful week.

• XONE
• PC
• PS4
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Grow Up is a worthy follow up to Grow Home. The controls are the weakest aspect, a critique shared with its predecessor, but don't ruin the game. The campaign mode is about as straightforward and stripped down as it can get; explore everywhere, collect everything and eventually all MOM's pieces are found and she is put back together and BUD succeeds where all the king's horses and all the king's men have failed. Despite the janky controls and short campaign, there is a great deal of fun to be had. During the review it took forever to make any progress in the actual main objectives because I was too busy getting distracted by just playing around and wasting time -- the examples given above are only a few of the distractions I created for myself. A four hour campaign is short, but during the review playthrough I got much more than four hours of enjoyment out of it. For the asking price of ten bucks, it would be difficult to find more enjoyment.

• PS4
• 3 / 5
• États-Unis

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the epitome of the phrase, one step forward, two steps back. I hate comparing it to Human Revolution as it was something special, but Mankind Divided feels like an underwhelming, repackaged experience. That’s not to say it’s a bad game as there’s a decently sized city to explore and the Breach mode is highly entertaining, but it’s a step down from a five-year-old game. Most of the supporting cast of characters never fully become developed, and it doesn’t help that there’s no stakes throughout the eight to twenty-five hour long campaign. No one is truly put in a situation of peril. Worst yet, the scenario layout for the main missions is easily described as uninspired, lazily slapping shortcuts all over the place. Granted, there are various ways to approach each area, but every single scenario is broken down in the exact same way where there’s far too many open grates to hide in and easily accessible security terminals to gain access to. Even the fantastic conversation system is less impressive due to it being underutilized this time around. Thankfully, the core stealth component is as exceptional as ever and even the gunplay is more of a viable option. This is aided with the additional abilities to Jensen’s already capable arsenal. Despite being a successor to Human Revolution, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided somehow ends up feeling more like a predecessor.

• WII
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

While the PC port is a little janky, the actual game of Little King’s Story is as instantly likeable as it’s ever been. The growing town is a lively place, and the reward for defeating an enemy is seeing it get bigger and livelier as it expands to fill the new space. As the game progresses more and more options open up to allow management of all the information, and while a few of them would have been more helpful if they showed up earlier (like the ability to use the town podium to view a menu of each citizen by job and health and assign them to your task force individually), they do show up eventually and are quite useful, so it all works out fine eventually. Running around with a trail of hand-picked citizens, taking on quests and searching for loot to afford new buildings and new jobs, and sending your followers into battle only to call everyone back again to avoid the enemy attacks makes for a cycle of explore-fight-expand that’s hard to put down. Little King’s Story is its own unique little hybrid genre combining simple strategy and town building with an irresistibly charming storybook presentation, and while it’s not quite a classic of the ages its elements come together to make a game whose flaws are completely forgotten while the warm fuzzy glow of the memory of its adventure remains strong.

• PS4
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Abzû is the type of wondrous palate cleanser that reminds us of the beauty of video games. When the art director of Flower and Journey, Matt Nava, left thatgamecompany to form a new studio, we could have gotten a knockoff, Mighty No. 9 version of Journey that left us shaking our heads. Instead, Abzû is exactly what fans of Nava's work were hoping for. A beautiful, emotional journey through some of the best looking environments on the PlayStation 4, Abzû was well worth the wait. It's insane to take a step back and think about how many incredible games from small teams have dropped in the first two-thirds of 2016. We've gotten to play The Witness, Firewatch, Superhot, Hyper Light Drifter, The Banner Saga 2, Inside and more. Adding Abzû to that list feels almost as wonderful as discovering the mysteries of its ocean of wisdom.

• PC
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Human: Fall Flat is weird and it embraces its oddity enough to make it worth a full playthrough. Sure, its puzzles can become cumbersome to the point where they fight against its goofiness and it’s a really a bummer that there aren’t more dumb things to interact with in each stage, but if you’re looking for a novel distraction in the midst of a summer lull, you could do a lot worse than Human: Fall Flat. It’s not the type of title that will keep you glued to your seat for hours on end and it’s probably going to fall short of being the YouTube sensation it had the potential to be, but for a few brief pick-up-and-play sessions, it’s a winner. Most intriguingly, Human: Fall Flat proves that this style of wonky physics can be used for more than just hilarious local co-op brawls over a few drinks.

• PS4
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force is an enjoyable, though not groundbreaking RPG. Its story is good and though not exactly the most original concept, it is told in a way that can maintain the player’s interest. Its lighthearted and comedic tone does compliment the mildly dark main story and while the characters make the Seinfeld cast seem like well-adjusted individuals, the characters’ likability increases as the game progresses. Instead of being great individuals put on a pedestal by the creators, they are entertaining in their idiosyncratic behavior. It clearly does not take itself seriously, which is part of its charm. It relies on traditional RPG elements to feel familiar to fans of the genre but brings enough new material to keep it from feeling generic. The character building system with WP was surprisingly engaging and the Fairize command does add a fun component to battle. It doesn’t reach the level of greatness of say Chrono Trigger or Persona 4, but there is enough going for it where it is worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.

• PC
• PS4
• XONE
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

The moment you begin Headlander and see the VHS-style lines show up along with the formation of the old-school title with a blast of colors and a jaunty tune, you know you're in for something good. And the moment you learn how to nail fifty headshots and earn a trophy called "The Gun is Good," you know you're in for a classic. The unique gimmick of being able to hijack enemy bodies builds upon the metrodvania standards quite beautifully and the over-the-top '70s sci-fi setting provides a lot of jaw-dropping sights and scenery to experience. This is easily one of the year's most enjoyable games and one you won't be forgetting anytime soon. As dementedly fun as one of its hedonistic trips to the Fondlarium, Headlander is an amazing metroidvania game that you really need to check out.

• PC
• 3 / 5
• États-Unis

Time Machine VR is the kind of game you tend to see at the start of a new technology. It shows off what VR can do and does it in an impressive way, but the game itself is only fairly decent. Getting close to these giant beasts in their own habitat is a fantastic experience, but I can’t help but wish there was more to do than look at them and follow the instructions of an AI companion. There’s a little hide and seek involved in finding hidden areas, but this devolves into dropping a probe in and looking for the red marker, which is the only way to find them. There’s some nicely bizarre rewards for finding these exits, but it’s still more “look at this neat thing” rather than any real interaction. On the plus side, “this neat thing” is a really impressive thing to look at, especially as it swims by and leaves you feeling like it wouldn’t even notice if it crushed you like a bug. There’s a real sense of wonder in observing the dinosaurs of Time Machine VR, but it needs a round of bug quashing and a better role for the player to rise above the crush of titles in the VR launch window.

• PS4
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

It should be confessed that I told my boss that I would play this game while rocking panties. This did not happen as my wife did not want to share and I was too cheap to buy some in my size. So I probably didn’t play this game the way I should have. Still, even failing to experience this game in the proper way, I have to confess to enjoying it quite a bit. It actually made me laugh out loud and manages to retain its charm even after the novelty of the weirdness wore off. Being a game that requires quick reflexes and a tolerance for sexually-charged humor sets it apart from the other titles that vie for gamer dollars. So, it is with great bravery I will stand up and say this loudly: my name is Alan Smithee and I like Gal*Gun: Double Peace.

• PS4
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Lifeless Planet is all about exploration and atmosphere (groan). The difficulty is not very high with the exception trophy completion, where completing a playthrough without dying or finishing the game in under four hours will present quite a challenge. Even though there is a linear progression, the feeling of exploring a vast new world is successfully recreated. Lifeless Planet is quite different from the majority of games I like, but playing it for this review was an enjoyable experience. This type of game that may not be of interest to everyone, but for anyone looking for something left of center and if the premise of wandering around an alien world sounds appealing, this is a good title to check out.

• PS4
• 2.5 / 5
• États-Unis

I Am Setsuna seems like the perfect game for those missing the Golden Age of Japanese RPGs, but unfortunately it has been painted with a shallow brush. The story moves at an uncontrolled pace, never truly developing any of the characters or their motives, and fails to establish the emotional connection the developers were aiming for. The combat, while brings back memories of the good ol’ days from classic RPGs, becomes dull at a rather quick rate thanks to the one-note encounter setup and unvaried dungeon layouts. From the presentation side of things, the soundtrack has a well-executed selection of piano melodies, but the visuals become overly monotonous. Who would have thought a game with a snowy setting such as this would look so dull? There’s some good to be discovered in I Am Setsuna, but it’s overshadowed by its sheer unoriginality and repetitiveness.

• PC
• 3 / 5
• États-Unis

There is a lot to dig while playing VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action. The writing, music and visuals create an awesome cyberpunk atmosphere which pulls you into this podunk bar. The problems crop up when players are forced to interact with the gameplay portions, brainlessly mixing drinks and hoping to avoid errors to progress the game to its conclusion. It’s safe to say that if more time had been spent fleshing out storylines rather than programming gameplay elements that the experience would have been greater for it. The concept is great, but in actuality things simply start to drag when you’re stuck brewing drinks all night. In any case, VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is still worth a look for the colorful characters it brings to the table and that’s something it gets just right.

• IOS
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

At its core, Pokémon GO is one of the first popular AR games and another Wii-like success for Nintendo, but it’s riddled with bugs and comes up short on some of the biggest tenants of the Pokémon franchise. Pokémon GO pushes people to go outside, explore their town and interact with others, and that’s what gives it its potential. After a couple updates, Pokémon GO might be one of the coolest, most socially constructive games ever. Mobile seems to be a good place for Nintendo, especially since this is only their second foray into the space. It’s exciting to think of what Pokémon GO could become and if you haven’t downloaded it already, do it. It’s free, there are no ads and even people who don’t know what Pokémon are have been having a good time with it.