South Park: The Stick of Truth

Obsidian/South Park Digital Studios - 2014 - PC/PS3/PS4/Xbox360/XboxOne

I think the best thing I could tell anyone about this game is not to play it unless you have at least some idea of what South Park is. South Park's patented "did they really just say that?" sense of humor is on display here - only dialed up to 11 because I assume the censorship guidelines for video games are much less strict than network television. So if you're easily offended by, well, anything really, you probably shouldn't play this game. However if you're a fan of South Park and know what you're getting yourself into, you're in for a treat

South Park: The Stick of Truth (TSOT), just like any episode of the television show, is a parody. Whereas the TV show picks a current topic or event or celebrity to parody, The Stick of Truth is a parody of video games while also obviously being one. Specifically, TSOT invokes The Elder Scolls: Skyrim quite a lot between making fart jokes out of dragonshouts and also emulating Skyrim's soundtrack surprisingly well. A few of the characters in the game, especially Cartman, are quite aware of the fact that they are characters in a video game and break the fourth wall frequently to point out that fact to humorous effect. There are several call outs to South Park's most popular episodes and reoccurring characters that will resonate for the fans of the TV show. Without spoiling anything, this game contains some of the most outrageous scenes I've ever played in a video game that may even surprise hardcore fans of the show.

The closest touchstone for the battle system is the Paper Mario series which requires you to perform short mini game-like quick time events to boost your attack power or partially block damage from an enemy. Just as in Paper Mario, I find this type of battle system compliments traditional turn based RPG combat very well as it keeps players a little more engaged since you have to play a little timing mini game while also making strategic decisions on which enemies to target with which attacks at the same time. Even if the mini games are mostly easy and trivial, it's one extra layer of interaction with the combat system that keeps the player engaged and creates the illusion of player skill. In addition to this, you still need to keep track of what enemies are weak to what attacks in the glorified game of rock paper scissors that is the same RPG combat tropes in TSOT as the games it's parodying. 

Summary

TSOT is fairly standard RPG faire with a pretty solid battle system. But the reason you'll play this game is for South Park's patented outrageous and irreverant sense of humor which is executed in TSOT just as good as any episode of the TV show. It's a must play for South Park fans. If you're not a South Park follower, I'd reccommend watching a few episodes of the show before playing TSOT to see if the game is your sort of thing

Inside

Playdead - 2016 - XboxOne/PC/PS4

Inside is the follow up to Playdead studio's 2010 critical success Limbo. Playing Inside will feel very familiar if you've played Limbo previously. Even though their gameplay is nearly identical, the two game's universes are not related in any way that is expressed explicitly by the game and you don't need to have played Limbo before Inside or anything like that. Inside begins, like its predecessor, with no narrative or explanation as you control a boy in a highly stylized world who runs to the right and tries to avoid the many dangers along the path of right-running. Inside never really deviates from the formula laid out by Limbo. Instead, Inside seems more interested in being the most highly polished version of what Limbo was.

Immediately noticeable is Inside's distinct art style. It's not strictly the same style as Limbo's, but I had the same response to gorgeous and striking visuals as I did when playing Playdead's first title. Not only is the art style highly polished, but the animations are noticeably very smooth. Every animation seamlessly flows into the next in a way that is both very impressive and also makes me wonder exactly how much time it took the animators and programmers to accomplish what they did.

If you haven't played Limbo, Inside is a puzzle platformer at its core. Most puzzles involve manipulating background physics objects or buttons or switches in such a way that will open a blocked path and allow you to progress. There is death in the game, but your character immediately respawns in nearly the same location you were before, except maybe the puzzle room is reset. Dying is included in the game for the most part to just serve the functional purpose of informing the player that they got the solution to the puzzle wrong. It's more about puzzles than platforming and I'd even say, especially in the case of Inside, it's more about experiencing the strange game world and the story than it is about solving puzzles

It's a little difficult to talk about the story and themes of Inside without spoiling anything, but there is absolutely no dialogue and no cutscenes. All of the story is communicated through the gameplay, the background elements and artwork and also through environmental storytelling. This is something I really appreciate since it's so much more difficult to tell an interesting story in a non-traditional fashion such as this one.

Summary

Just like Limbo, Inside is a short-ish puzzle platformer in a visually striking world. Your opinion of Inside will likely be the same as Limbo, but if you've never experienced a Playdead game before, I'd recommend giving Inside a shot. It's a dark and beautiful game world that's worth checking out

Dark Souls 3

From Software - 2016 - PC/PS4/XboxOne

When I finished Dark Souls II earlier this year, I criticized it for having lackluster level design and a dull story especially when compared to the amazing precedent that was set with the original Dark Souls. Hidetaka Miyazaki, who directed Demon's Souls and Dark Souls was busy making Bloodborne while Dark Souls 2 was in development and I think his presence was missed. DS2 wasn't terrible, but it didn't quite have the magic of the first game. Miyazaki's magic, while difficult to describe, was something I immediately felt when I started Dark Souls 3. I think it's most noticeable in the level and enemy design. From Software in general has an unrivaled expertise in 3D level design. If you ever want to see video game level design's version of the Mona Lisa, you need to check out some of From Software's offerings from DS1 and DS3

Not only are the environments created in a very mechanically and structurally pleasing way, but the visuals are top notch here as well. As much as DS3's world in concerned with killing you, it's also just as concerned with having you admire its beauty. DS3 has some of the most breathtaking mountains, valleys, lakes and castles I've ever seen in a video game. It can be hard to admire the scenery with the constant threat of death right in front of you, but if you have a chance to stop and take it in, Dark Souls 3 is quite a sight to behold. It's also quite proficient at one of my favorite things to see done well: environmental storytelling. Want to get an idea of how old DS3's Firelink Shrine is? Head below the shrine and see the massive crypt filled with the remains of past fire keepers. Stuff like that really helps with player immersion and bringing the game world to life

The game mechanics are mostly what you'd come to expect if you've played any of From Software's similar offerings. It does seem like the team made a decision to push the combat mechanics more in the direction of DS1 than DS2. Gone is DS2's health bar reduction on every death. Enemies now respawn indefinitely like DS1. Also "humanity", which is now called "ember" is a binary state, again just like DS1. The primary new mix up to the gameplay formula comes in the form of weapon arts. Weapon arts are unique skills that are tied to your left hand item and can range from temporary buffs to entirely new unique moves. Often times your left hand item will be a shield which may have a shield bash or shield parry as like the previous Dark Souls games, or your shield may even default to your right hand weapon's weapon art skill as is the case when you have nothing at all equipped in the left hand slot. Most weapon arts consume your magic meter as well which also gives non magic classes incentive to put points into leveling up their magic bar. I found weapon arts to be a welcome addition to the Souls formula that adds interesting and unique skills and abilities and makes experimenting around with different equipment load outs even more fun and interesting

The strange and alluring mystique of Dark Souls' lore is back in full force. As I wandered through the Dark Souls 3's various mysterious locations, I found myself reading the item descriptions of various weapons and armor I picked up for additional lore. I was even drawn to watching several YouTube videos explaining the backstories of several bosses and NPC and theorizing on their connections. There are also several tie ins and reoccurring characters from the first Dark Souls so veterans of the series are in for a few surprising pay-offs especially for those who are deeply invested in the lore.

Summary
If this truly is the last Souls game we get, it is certainly a worthy send off for the series. Level design, audiovisuals, gameplay and lore are all top notch here and in some cases arguably the best we've seen of the Dark Souls series. This is one of my favorite games of the year so far and a must play for fans of these games who are up for one more challenge.

Star Wars: Battlefront (2015)

DICE (EA) - 2015 - PC/PS4/XboxOne

My self imposed policy for writing about games here is that I've tried to complete or at least get close to completing every game I review. For the most part, I've attained that goal with most of the games I've written about here with just a handful of exceptions. Other than I think DOTA 2, this is the first multiplayer-only game I've reviewed so I really can't finish this game. Yes I know, Star Wars Battlefront 2015 has a few training missions you can play offline, but let's be honest. No one is playing them. Just like no one plays DOTA 2 offline. I'm not a huge multiplayer shooter guy, but I am a big Star Wars fan, so I feel obliged to discuss this game a bit but before we begin - Full disclosure - I haven't played THAT much of Star Wars Battlefront 2015 which I will now refer to as just Battlefront for convenience, even though that causes confusion since there is also another game called Star Wars Battlefront that came out in 2004 (I guess we have to call that Battlefront 1 now...?). Anyway, I've probably only played about 5 hours of this game but I still feel like that's enough time to talk about it and have an at least somewhat informed opinion.

First of all the good - this game is gorgeous. EA and Dice have nailed the audiovisual presentation here. I usually play most of my games on PC as I have a fairly high end rig, but even playing on console (Battlefront came bundled with my PS4), this game still looks amazing. The way the sparks fly out of surfaces when laser blasts hit them, the sound effects of the different vehicles, everything combines to make this probably the most accurate and high fidelity recreation of the Star Wars universe in any video game I've played to date. Until I heard the voice acting. Darth Vader sounds ridiculous. And the Emporer too. Like come on, EA couldn't find anyone who could do the voices better than this? I feel like every aspiring soundalike has a good pocket Vader or pocket Palpatine.

So as some people already know, this game was widely criticized at launch for not having enough content. Which I agree with. Not having a single player campaign was a big downer for me especially since I enjoyed the campaigns from the other two games in the series. I read recently that a decision was made to cut single player content from the game in order to ship the game alongside Star Wars Episode 7 - a decision that I think ultimately hurt the game. I believe most people, myself included, would have gladly waiting a few more months for a game with more content especially since Battlefront had almost nothing to do with Episode 7. But I'm not sure Battlefront's problem ends with lack of content. I don't think Battlefront did enough to set itself apart. Yes it has the Star Wars license and did a reasonably good job adapting it to the game, but it still just mostly felt like Battlefield, but model swapped with Star Wars characters, vehicles and guns. In a market that's already heavily saturated with multiplayer shooters, there's nothing that really makes Battlefront stand out from the crowd aside from the Star Wars license which is admittedly the only reason I played this game in the first place.

Summary

Star Wars Battlefront 2015 is a very pretty albeit somewhat vanilla multiplayer shooter that is somewhat light in content. I've heard several rumors recently about EA announcing a Battlefront 2 which hopefully isn't the real title of the game or else everyone will always have to qualify if they're talking about Battlefront 2 2005 or Battlefront 2 2017 (maybe). Hopefully EA and Dice have taken the criticism on Battlefront 2015 to heart and we'll get a more interesting and content heavy game this time around

The Jackbox Party Pack 2

Jackbox Games - 2015 - PS3/PS4/XboxOne/PC

As I did when I reviewed the original Jackbox Party Pack, I'm going to divide this review into several little mini-sections: one for each game in the pack. The Jackbox Party Pack 2 is at its core, the same concept as its predecessor - a bunch of multiplayer mini-games where your cell phones are the input devices. The novelty here is that because your phones are the input devices, no one knows who typed or drew what except for the author. So now on with the review:

Fibbage 2
This is exactly the same game as the first time around, but with new questions. The game presents you with a weird fact, and you have to fill in the blank to try to trick your opponents into guessing your answer. Still pretty much Balderdash if you've ever played that.

Earwax
In earwax, you're presented with a category or an event or some similar thing and you have to choose a sound effect to match what's presented.  Then two player's selections go head to head and a judge votes on which is the most appropriate sound effect. I thought this game was pretty weak and the selectable sound effects started to repeat with just two or three rounds of play. Disappointing.

Bidiots
This was the strangest game in the pack. It seemed like an attempt to evolve on Drawful, which I believe to be the strongest game in the previous pack. In Bidiots, each player draws several art pieces based on several prompts. The pieces are assigned random monetary values, then players bid on each piece. Sometimes you'll be given clues to what a piece is worth based on the prompt that was used to draw it, but it's not always clear what prompt matches with what piece. And sometimes, you're not given a prompt at all. It turns one of the best games in the previous pack into one of the most unsatisfying experiences in Jackbox Party Pack 2. The rules are unclear and the games take way too long. The fun and silliness of drawing and guessing other's drawings turns into a boring bidding game. Bidiots was also a huge disappointment.

Quiplash XL
This is pretty much Earwax but without the sound effects. Players type in responses to the game's prompts to fill in the blank, then a judge votes on the best one. Quiplash still seemed somewhat lazy to me but was slightly more enjoyable than Earwax, only because a freeform response seemed more creatively satisfying to me than picking from pre-defined sound effects.

Bomb Corp.
I'm not sure who worked on this game whether it be a different group internally or a secret different studio altogether or something, but this game is so different from the others in the pack, both in visual aesthetic and gameplay quality. This is definitely the highlight of Jackbox Party Pack 2. In Bomb Corp. , each player is given a crucial step to disarming a bomb on their phone, but all steps need to be followed in order to diffuse the bomb correctly. It's a really fun excersise in communication and cooperation as all players need to work together to diffuse the bomb properly. This game was pretty cool

Summary
Even with the inclusion of the excellent Bomb Corp., The Jackbox Party Pack 2 was still a disappointment to me. Other than Bomb Corp., the pack felt like a rushed package with incomplete or creatively dull ideas resulting in unsatisfying gameplay experiences. The absense of the well-known "You Don't Know Jack" mini-game was puzzling as well. I'm not sure if they tried to rush this package out in order to capitalize on the success of the first game or what, but that's what it felt like. If you haven't played the games from the first Jackbox Party Pack, I'd strongly reccommend giving those a look first. But if you have, prepare yourself for a disappointment

Firewatch

Campo Santo - 2016 - PC/PS4

Firewatch is a game made, in part, by some of the awesome folks over at the Idle Thumbs network who host a bunch of gaming podcasts that I frequently listen to. So being somewhat familiar with some of the folks who made this game had be very excited to see this game released. Director Jake Rodkin and writer Sean Vanaman previously worked at Telltale on The Walking Dead game, so that's the kind of high caliber writing I was expecting from Firewatch. And it delivers - kind of. Firewatch is a narrative heavy exploration game where you the player character take a summer job as a park ranger to escape and diconnect from your own life for a while.

For most intents and purposes, Firewatch is another Walking Simulator, except for when choosing dialogue responses when talking to Deliliah, a fellow park ranger who keeps in contact with you via radio. The dialogue interactions between Henry, the player character, and Delilah are very well written, charming and geniuine in a way that sells the evolution of the relationship between two middle aged people who don't know each other and whose relationship grows only through conversations over a radio. Picking up or looking at certain objects in the game will sometimes generate a prompt to question Delilah about what you're looking at which can be informative or humorous or reveal aspects of Henry or Delilah's characters. Firewatch can hit a range of emotions from quiet and metitative to tense and suspenseful. It's a game that has you pondering events of the plot, or mulling over things Deliliah is saying all while exploring the wilderness.

The excellent characters and writing had me hooked and this seemed like it would be a game I would fall in love with up until I got to the ending. The ending to the game comes rather abruptly and leaves a lot of plot threads unaddressed or explained unsatisfactorily. It appears as though Campo Santo ran out of time during development and possibly weren't able to include some of the content that would have neatly wrapped up these story threads. But as it stands, these threads don't end up connecting or leading anywhere and the ending of the game feels abrupt and unsatisfying. Still, the first two thirds of the game are engaging and well written, so if you're up for a walk in the woods that you know won't take you anywhere, check out Firewatch

Rocket League

Psyonix - 2015 - PC/PS4

As I've written before, I prefer my sports games to be fantastical as opposed to realistic. If I want to play a "realistic" sport, I'll just go outside and actually play it. But when I want to play a game of soccer with flying rocket powered RC cars, I'm coming to Rocket League

Really all you need to know about Rocket League is "soccer with flying rocket powered RC cars". And that's what's brilliant about Rocket League's design: simplicity. It's easy to grasp the mechanics and understand what you need to do to win the game. But there's still an incredible amount of depth and skill required in mastering these mechanics. Controlling your car is easy, but learning how to manipulate the ball can be difficult. The ball is essentially a large, low gravity physics object and learning how to strike the ball so it goes where you want it to can be a bit frustrating for new players. After learning how to strike the ball, the next challenge in the Rocket League meta game is learning where to position your car in different situations so you can be prepared when your teammate crosses the ball over to you and you can take that game winning shot on goal.

Learning when to use your rocket fuel is also crucial step on the way to becoming a Rocket League master. Newer players may be tempted to constantly burn through their fuel in order to get to the ball first - which in my experience can be a valid strategy. There are several glowing powerup pads scattered throughout the field that will refill your rocket fuel when you drive over them, so it's often tempting to use your fuel very aggressively. But I've also found having some spare fuel to intercept an opponent's shot on goal or to take a shot of your own when the ball bounces your way can be the difference between victory and defeat.

After playing several hours against the CPU just trying to get the hang of the game, playing against others online was initially a little intimidating. But the Rocket League matchmaking system seemed to work pretty well and I found that I was being pared with and against players of similar skill level pretty often. Playing online even supports local split screen, so you and a friend in the same room can join a team together and take on the internet. Rocket League supports 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 matches. I've mostly only palyed 2v2 and 3v3 and I think 3v3 is my favorite. 4v4 can feel crowded, 2v2 can feel empty, and although I haven't tried it, I'd imagine 1v1 would just feel gimmicky. Although it's not something I'm personally interested in, there's also a decent infrastructure with tiered rankings in place for those who want to play this game competitively as well

Rocket League Video Review

Summary
Rocket League is a great execution of an awesome idea. It reminds me what's great about my favorite competitive games: it's easy to pick up and play, anyone can learn it. But it takes time and practice to really master this game.

Dark Souls II

FromSoftware - 2014 - PS3\PS4\X360\XboxOne\PC

I started playing Dark Souls 2 immediately after completing the first Dark Souls game as I couldn't get enough of the first game. It's tough but fair action RPG combat system had taught me to pay attention to enemy attack patterns, be wary of traps and to frequently praise the sun. I needed more. On the surface, Dark Souls 2 appears to be a very safe "more of the same" sequel to the first game. However, there are some notable departures from the original formula once you dig in to the game.

Firstly humanity and hollowing are no longer a boolean "yes" or "no", you're either human or you're partially hollow. The more you die, the more hollow you become and the more your maximum health decreases. This can be reversed by using a consumable "human effigy", which are thankfully quite plentiful in this game. But if you're human or close to being human, the more susceptible to invasions you are. But you can still only summon a friendly companion to battle if you're 100% human.

I know Hidetaka Miyazaki, who directed both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls was busy making Bloodborne during Dark Souls 2's development. I think the lack of his presence is felt when examining some of the details of Dark Souls 2 up close. For example the level design of the first Dark Souls game was something I really loved. All of the levels looped back on each other so that as you progressed, you would unlock natural paths and shortcuts back to earlier levels in the game. Not so much with Dark Souls 2. The level design is much more linear and you'll need to just keep progressing in a certain direction until you can't progress any more, then warp back to another bonfire, which is an ability you have from the get-go in this game. Another really strange design decision is that you can only level up in one particular bonfire by talking to a nearby NPC as opposed to leveling up at any bonfire as was the case in the first game. In practice this becomes rather annoying as you have to warp back and forth to level up and suffer through loading screens each time which seems unnecessary.

Another place where Miyazaki's absence is felt is with the story. Yes, the first Dark Souls game had a sparse and cryptic story as is the case with the second game, but there were memorable characters and bosses and locations. They were made memorable through repeated mentions and given weight by the way they the characters referred to them. Even though the story was sparse and cryptic, it felt plausibly real. Dark Souls 2's story is just simply sparse and cryptic. New locations are discovered and conquered without fanfare or reaction by the game's story. Fighting a boss in Dark Souls 2 is not an epic clash with the legendary creature you've heard so much about. It's just another boss. Even the "greater soul" bosses seem unremarkable from both a story and gameplay perspective.

Speaking of gameplay, the combat is still pretty solid. It's a bit more balanced and polished, and there seems to be more a few more valid builds now. However, I will say that the difficulty curve does seem especially wonky. There are a few pain points in the beginning and middle of the game, but everything else including the end of the game is a relative cakewalk. I've talked with a few friends who have played this game about their experience with the difficulty curve and have had some conflicting reports, so which parts of the game you find challenging may partially depend on your character build and playstyle.

Summary
It may not have the brilliance of its predecessor, but Dark Souls 2 is still a solid game for those people looking for more masochistic fun. Story and level design aren't quite what they were in the first Dark Souls game, but this game is still solid enough to warrant a recommendation. I've now moved on to Bloodborne to satiate my love of these games and have so far been enjoying this same style of game with a fresh setting.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

Dennaton Games - 2015 - PC/PS3/PS4/Vita

I was waiting until after I finished this game to review it - which I had intended to be a few weeks or so after its release, but that obviously didn't happen. So I've been playing this game on and off trying to get past the part I'm stuck on and you know what? This game is really freaking hard and I don't think I can finish it. At least not right now. So disclaimer: I'm reviewing a game I didn't complete

I could probably be super lazy with this review and just say "It's more Hotline Miami" and in most ways, that's very true. But I'm going to try to be just a bit more insightful and try to highlight some of the differences between this game and its predecessor. First off, the gameplay. It plays largely very similarly to the first game, but you'll notice some differences in level design. Some of Hotline Miami 2's levels are a lot more wide open, which was something that was not really present in the first game. Because of this, I found it much more important to use the camera to look around to see if an enemy is lurking off screen. This becomes kind of annoying, especially when off-screen enemies start shooting you from unseen locations. Nearly every level in Hotline Miami 2 features a different playable character with slightly different abilities, similar to the mask system in the first game. But the player can't change out and experiment with abilities and playstyles when they want to, like in the first game. Levels in Hotline Miami 2 are also generally much longer than the first game. This makes an already hard game that much harder and that much more frustrating when you're killed near the end of the level and forced to start again. It wasn't that big of a deal in the first game, as it was more about the thrill of memorizing relatively short levels and then executing them perfectly. The longer levels in the second game greatly slow it down and make it feel like more of a chore.

(Mild spoilers in this paragraph) The narrative in the first Hotline Miami game was definitely a little open to interpretation. The first half of Hotline Miami saw the player character, "Jacket" slaughtering buildings full of people because a voice on his telephone told him to. The second half of the game (if you follow Jacket's storyline) saw Jacket killing with a purpose instead, tracking down and killing off the people who killed his girlfriend. Many people viewed the story as a commentary on violence in video games, and discussed how killing for no reason vs. the player character killing with a purpose felt the same/different. I admired how Hotline Miami's story could be viewed through many lenses and how the vagueness of the story left it open for the players' imaginations to fill in the gaps. Hotline Miami 2's story has a similar vagueness, but it's compounded by each level being played by a different character and then each level also being told chronologically out of order. I just couldn't even follow what was supposed to be happening. The story seemed like some crazy blur of violence, neon lights, pounding music and confusion. Maybe that's what the developers were going for?

The soundtrack in Hotline Miami 2 is still very much on point. It's still a collaboration of many different artists, even more than the first game, that have somehow banded together to make a unified sound. Most of the first game's musical authors have returned to contribute fresh tracks, but I loved contributions from new artists as well. A few of my favorites are "Divide" by Magna, "Blizzard" by Light Club, and "The Way Home" by Magic Sword. The entire soundtrack is solid from top to bottom and is worth a listen if you like this sort of electronic/techno music.

Summary
I didn't care for the minor changes in gameplay and story but despite all of my above griping, Hotline Miami 2 is still a solid game. Fans of the first game should still enjoy its sequel, but if you haven't played Hotline Miami before, start with the first one. It's the superior game

Rayman Legends

Ubisoft - 2013 - PC/PS3/PS4/Vita/WiiU/X360/XboxOne

If you're looking for excellent platformers, or great couch co-op experiences, the WiiU is the next-gen console you want. To me, what sets the WiiU apart from any of the other next gen consoles are its tablet and its first-party games. The first-party games for WiiIU are the high level of quality you'd expect from Nintendo. Mario Kart 8 and Smash 4 are great and Super Mario 3D world is the best Mario game I've played to date. But I've noticed Nintendo doesn't really know how to implement its own tablet into its own first-party games. Mario Kart 8 simply maps the touch screen to a horn, Smash 4 only uses it to duplicate what's on the TV screen while Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze opts to turn the tablet screen completely off. None of these are inherently bad designs, but it's curios to see Nintendo stumped about what to do with its own hardware. Sure, Mario 3D World does have some light uses of the tablet where occasionally the game will require you to touch some block or something. But nothing like Rayman Legends. I know this game is on a plethora of other platforms, but you NEED to play the WiiU version of this game that utilizes all of the functionality of the WiiU tablet. I'm sure the developers would agree. I also hope Nintendo developers have played this game and are taking notes on how to properly utilize the gamepad.

The beauty of playing this game with the WiiU gamepad comes into play when there's at least more than one player playing the game. One player can play with a Wii Remote or Pro controller and plays through the platforming in a traditional fashion while the other player plays with the tablet screen and is tasked with helping the platforming player progress through levels. This is accomplished by touching to move and slide walls or platforms on the tablet screen or by keeping the platforming player safe by tapping to tickle monsters or by deflecting projectiles away from hitting the platforming player. It seems like each level has a new and inventive use of the tablet's touch screen that made playing each level fun and fresh. Neither the tablet player nor the platforming player are performing the same set of actions either, but both sets of actions are necessary for the level to be completed. This type of asynchronous gameplay experience is especially well implemented in Rayman Legends and requires both the tablet player and the platforming player to work together as a team to solve puzzles and complete the level. This, to me, is also why the definitive version of Rayman Legends can only be played on the WiiU and is probably best played with a partner.

Another thing that sets Rayman Legends apart from other platformers is its use of music. I've seen it before in other games where some background elements will move or dance in time with the music, but Rayman Legends takes this to another level. A lot of Rayman Legends levels require you to actually do platforming actions in time with music. If what I'm describing doesn't make sense, check out this video. But if you do, it may detract from the joy of discovering Rayman Legend's musical levels for yourself for the first time. The musical levels were so cool and I'd love to see this concept implemented in other platformers or even other game genres

Rayman Legends Video Review

Summary
Rayman Legends is one of the best platformers I've played in a long time and I'm enjoying seeing this resurgence of platformers and couch co-op experiences on the WiiU. The WiiU version of Rayman Legends also makes great use of the WiiU gamepad to implement a fun asynchronous co-op experience for both players. The music levels are wonderful and the game does have a great soundtrack in its own right too. Oh and it even features some of the best levels taken from Rayman Origins too! This is a great game and a must-play if you like platformers, co-op play, excellent music and art direction, or creative implementation of asynchronous gameplay

The Jackbox Party Pack

 Jackbox Games - 2014 - PC/PS3/PS4/XboxOne

Being the giant trivia nerd that I am (I attend trivia at a local bar nearly every week), I was eager to try the video game version of the You Don't Know Jack party game. I had heard positive buzz about the game and that it combined good trivia questions with excellent writing and a silly sense of humor, which I found to be true. I saw the 2015 edition of the You Don't Know Jack game on a steep sale in the Steam store, but it came bundled with a bunch of other games from the You Don't Know Jack developers. I wanted to play You Don't Know Jack and figured the other games were probably just throw away titles that the developers shoved in with You Don't Know Jack, but I was pleasantly surprised to be mostly wrong. This will be a bit of an unusual review since I'll be covering five games at once, but I'll try to give my opinion on the package of games as a whole and then some quick thoughts on each game in the package.

Each of the games in the Jackbox Party Pack assumes that all players in the room have either a smartphone or tablet or laptop or some other internet-enabled device. Each player uses their internet device, usually a smartphone, to connect to a web app and enter a "room code" which links the game together with the other devices and players in the room. Depending on which game in the pack you're playing, each player will submit either answers to questions, or drawings or whatever data is required for the game through their smartphone. I was actually quite surprised and impressed with how responsive the web app was when submitting data from my phone. There was almost no delay at all. It's a kind of neat strategy of utilizing the smartphones people likely already have as input devices and displaying the other game information on the main TV screen. I hope to see more party games integrate with smartphones since it's often hard to play video games with really large groups of people since controllers are usually limited.

You Don't Know Jack 2015 Edition

Likely the most recognizable game in the pack, You Don't Know Jack 2015 edition was the first game I played. It was pretty much exactly what I was expecting: good trivia questions delivered with silly humor. I thought the humor was a little hit and miss. When the writing was funny, it was funny. But when the jokes didn't land, they definitely did not land. The trivia questions were difficult, but still fair. If you weren't too familiar with the question category, I found it kind of hard to contribute since the game penalizes you for wrong answers. But if you like trivia and enjoy questions delivered with a crude sense of humor, you'll enjoy You Don't Know Jack

Fibbage

If you've ever played the party game Balderdash, you'll find Fibbage very familiar. In Fibbage, you're presented an incomplete sentence about weird fact and it's up to you to fill in the blank. Then everyone's answers are displayed on screen and you have to guess which is the actual true answer. You usually want to try to be as tricky as possible answer submissions, since points are awarded if your opponents guess your false answer as the correct one.

Drawful

Probably my favorite game in the pack, Drawful is pretty much the same concept as Fibbage, but with drawings. You'll be given a wacky subject that you'll have to make a drawing of. Once your drawing is complete, it's displayed on screen for all to see. Your opponents have to come up with fake answers for the title of your drawing while also trying to figure out what your drawing is actually about. There's a lot of fun to be had with this one, since the names of the drawings given to you are often crazy. Then add in the fact that all players are drawing on their phones with their fingers. This results in the drawings usually ending up being totally ridiculous. Then guessing who made what with your friends and figuring out what the real titles are while sifting out the hilarious fake title submissions is a great recipe for fun.

Word Spud

This one's fun, but you'll probably only play it once or twice. You'll be given a starting word, then a randomly selected player has to make a compound word or phrase from the initial word by adding another word. For example, the starting word might be "Video", to which a player might add "Game". Then another random player would be given "Game" and be expected to add another word to it. After each submission, all players can vote on whether to accept or reject the new word. If the word is accepted, the chain continues, otherwise a new random word is generated. The fun here is thinking quickly to come up with words to complete a clever or funny phrase. At the end of the game, which usually lasts a few minutes or so, Word Spud will show you your entire word chain which when read out loud is usually worth a few laughs. 

Lie Swatter

Probably the weakest game in the pack, lie swatter presents a true/false trivia question and awards points for the most correct answers. This is probably the most simple and least creative game in the pack, but it's also playable by up to 100 people at a time, so this might be the way to go if you have a really large group of people. 

Summary

I've been having a really great time with the Jackbox Party Pack. It's great to put up on the TV when I have more people over than I do controllers for traditional video games. You Don't Know Jack is fun for when you want to show off your random knowledge while being amused with crude jokes. Drawful was the surprise hit of the pack for me, easily providing hours of hilarious entertainment. Fibbage and Word Spud are midly enteraining, while Lie Swatter felt like a shoe-in. But if you often host large-ish groups of people (5-8) and are looking for video games to play, I would still highly recommend the Jackbox Party Pack

Minecraft

Mojang - 2011 - PC/X360/XboxOne/PS3/PS4/Mobile/Vita

(On my Top 10 Favorite Games list)

Wooo 50 reviews! Wooo!! When selecting which games I'll write about each week, I give priority to the more obscure games that people may not have heard of. I think it's important to shine a spotlight on the smaller indie titles that may have slipped through the cracks. Games like To the Moon, The Swapper and The Stanley Parable all offer amazing unique experiences and are deserving of attention and discussion, but tend to run under the radar because they're not behind big publishers. I was thinking for my 50th review maybe I would review one of my all-time favorite video games. A game that I really love, like Ocarina of Time or Final Fantasy VII. But nah, people already know about those games. So I'm here this week to shine a spotlight on a game you may not have heard of. It's a little indie game I discovered called Minecraft.

If you didn't pick up on the heavy sarcasm at the end of that last paragraph and/or are otherwise oblivious to the video game world, Minecraft is hugely popular. Like HUGE. To date, it's sold nearly 50 million copies across all platforms making it one of the best selling video games of all time, according to Wikipedia. That's more than the original Super Mario Bros. A public beta of Minecraft was released in 2009 and it spread like wildfire across the internet, solely through word of mouth. It was officially released in 2011 and has now made it's creator, Markus Persson (a.ka. Notch), like 97 trillion dollars from sales and merchandise. Don't look that last number up, but it's probably true.

So what makes Minecraft so popular? First of all, it's mind blowing. The first time I played Pokemon Red/Blue? Mind blown. First time I played Ocarina of Time? Mind blown. If you've never had your mind blown by a video game, I don't really know how to quantify that for you. The first week I owned Minecraft, I played it obsessively. And when I wasn't playing it, I was thinking about playing it. It's a completely absorbing experience. The other reason I think Minecraft is so popular is that there are just so many ways you can play the game. You can play it like a survival game where you forage for resources and see how long you can stay alive. You can play it like an exploration game, just traversing the vast landscapes and seeing what you'll discover. You can play it like a traditional single player game where you upgrade your weapons and equipment and eventually get strong enough to take down the final boss. You can play it like a creative game because the game engine literally allows you to construct whatever you can dream up, as long as you have the materials. Or you can play with friends and blow each other's stuff up. And the best part is that none of these playstyles are mutually exclusive.

I was a huge fan of LEGOs as a kid. And I guess I still am as an adult. So the creative building block element of Minecraft is really appealing to me. The entire world of Minecraft is randomly and procedurally generated each time you start a new game or explore a new area. The terrain that is generated is essentially just made up of little blocks that the game engine will allow you to remove and replace however you see fit. There's quite a bit possible with just that game mechanic alone. But then you add in the fact that there are rare blocks that are generated like the gold ore block or the diamond ore block that can be used to make more complex objects or tools in the game... this really makes the exploration aspect of the game addicting and satisfying. Then there's the redstone ore. Oh man the redstone. Minecraft's redstone actually allows the player to create complex circuitry with logic gates in the game of Minecraft. People have made calculators and functioning CPUs in the game of Minecraft. That's CRAZY. I hope that helps you understand what a powerful creative tool the engine of Minecraft is. Then there's the people that have recreated famous structures or landmarks in Minecraft. There's the Minecraft Enterprise, the world of Game of Thrones in Minecraft, and Pharrell Williams' "Happy" recreated in game through the engine of Minecraft. That's just awesome.

Summary:
If you want to learn more about Minecraft, its developers, and the impact it's had on the games industry, check out this pretty cool documentary on youtube. If you somehow haven't played this game, you really should give it a try. If you know me personally and want to play on my server, give me a shout. And if you're one of those people who've stayed clear of this game because "eww the graphics are bad", I'm gonna come smack you. You're missing out on one of the most important and unique video game experiences ever created.

Hotline Miami

Dennaton Games - 2012 - PC/Vita/PS3/PS4

(On my Top 10 Game Soundtracks list)

Hotline Miami is a top-down fast paced action game set in Miami in the late 80s. You play as a delusional, mask wearing psychopath who receives cryptic voicemals on his answering machine instructing him to kill various groups of people. You'll use a combination of ranged and melee weapons to make a bloody pixelated mess of every single enemy on the screen before being allowed to proceed to the next stage.

First off, let me just say that this game's soundtrack is completely awesome. It's a collaboration between several different artists who each give their take on what the Miami neon nightlife of the 80s sounded like. Most of the tracks are kind of electronic/dance/techno of some sort, which isn't even my thing, but they all mesh perfectly together to give this game amazingly unique style. Just listen to tracks like Daisuke (El Huervo), Hotline (Jasper Byrne), Knock Knock (Scattle), Miami Disco (Perturbator), or Paris (M.O.O.N). All different artists, all amazing tracks. This is my favorite game soundtrack in recent memory for a few reasons. A: It's awesome. B: It's ****ing awesome C: It breaks the mold of having this fully orchestrated, symphonic sound that most modern games seem to be conforming to, especially the big budget ones. It's proof that modern games don't need or even shouldn't have that symphonic sound if they want to stand out and create a unique and memorable soundtrack. I really hope more developers/creative minds take note of the Hotline Miami soundtrack and we can start exploring new directions in game soundtracks. That's my rant on that. Anyway fun fact, Jasper Byrne, who contributed a few tracks to Hotline Miami's soundtrack, is also the same guy who developed Lone Survivor

So how does the game play? You'll need to switch up melee and ranged weapons to defeat each enemy in the level. Melee weapons are fast and silent, but if an enemy notices you approaching, you're probably toast. Ranged weapons allow you to combat enemies at a safer distance, but they usually makes a lot of noise which can attract other nearby enemies which is often more risky. Nearly every weapon in the game is a one hit kill though, so you have to constantly be on your toes. The game awards you on a point system for killing enemies more quickly or for killing several enemies in a row. Certain amounts of points can give you unlockable weapons and masks. Masks can enhance a certain playstyle or statistic. For example, there's a mask that increases your view distance, and there's also a mash that increases your running speed. Most of the masks I found didn't alter the gameplay too substantially though. The levels get progressively harder throughout the game and I died a ton, especially near the end. But dying evokes what I like to call "the good kind of frustration" in this game. It never feels unfair or like the game isn't playing by its own rules. If you die, it's probably your fault. You weren't careful enough, or you didn't pay attention to a certain enemy or you made a bad strategic decision. It's the kind of frustration that makes you want to replay the level over and over until you get it right.

In addition to the jammin' soundtrack, this game has a pretty unique art style as well. Everything is pixelated, which seems to be the indie game norm right now, but it still feels very unique to this game. During dialogue, all of the characters have ugly pixelated disembodied heads that hover eerily back and forth during conversation. This combined with the crazy psychedelic neon lights that constantly fade in and out in the background make the game feel just like a late 80s/early 90s PC game. But at the same time, it's still uniquely Hotline Miami. Later in the game, your character will start hallucinating and seeing visions of other people wearing animal masks, and also visions of mutilated bodies and dead corpses. It reminded me a bit of the hallucinations experienced by characters in Silent Hill, which I loved. The amount of violence in this game is also pretty high, but it's kind of offset by the game's pixelated art style. At the end of each level, you'll be standing on a mountain of bloody, pixelated corpses which gives a weird sense of awesomeness.

Summary:
If you can handle a bit of challenge, Hotline Miami is a good time. It's a bit short, a bit weird and a bit violent, but it has a lot of style. I'm looking forward to Hotline Mami 2 which should be out later this year.

Towerfall: Ascension

Matt Thorson - 2013 - Ouya/PC/PS4

(On my Top 10 Favorite Games list)

I can't remember the last game I played that was this much pure fun. And I don't think I've laughed and screamed at the TV with any game this much outside of Smash. Towerfall is a fast paced brawler/platformer/shooter game. It guess it kind of defies genre classification. I suppose you could file it under party game? It plays best multiplayer, that's for sure.

Towerfall is kind of like Smash, except every hit is a one hit kill. And the levels wrap around Pac-Man style. And every player has projectiles. So I guess not really like Smash then, but it's similarly as fun. It's easy to pick up and play, the only buttons are jump, shoot and dodge. Moving your character around and learning the game is quick and easy, but like any good game, there's a deceptive amount of depth. You don't always want to shoot when your opponent is expecting you to because then he will dodge and catch your arrow. You also don't want to mindlessly fire away arrows at your opponent because ammo is limited and your opponent can pick up any stray arrows that miss and fall on the ground. You also have to be mindful of opponents that get up close to you as jumping on an enemy's head is also a one hit kill.  You also have to be aware of the edges of the screen and remember that the level wraps around. It's possible to get easy kills on unaware opponents by shooting back across the screen at an enemy on the other half of the level or jump down the bottom of the stage to head stomp somebody on top

There are also powerups that appear throughout the match that can give you arrows that explode on impact, bounce off walls or cut through the stage. Matches are quick, usually averaging about 30 seconds per round, so you'll want to race to pick up powerups as you see them. There are also powerups that can grant you invisibility, flight or trigger arena traps to try to kill your opponents. There's usually a lot happening on screen all at once and matches can get a little hectic, but I mean that in the best way possible. At the end of each round, there's an instant replay system that shows the final kill of the game. This is actually a pretty cool feature because things often happen so quickly that you'll miss how someone died. There's also a good variety of levels that have different powerups, different layouts and different terrain. You can also randomize the rules of Towerfall each round for maximum ridiculousness. One of my favorites was playing under a rule that doesn't show you how many arrows you have left combined with another rule that instantly kills you if you try to fire an arrow when you have no ammo left. The amount of customization and variety in Towerfall is a huge plus

As stated before, Towerfall definitely plays best with friends. The single player is alright for what it is I suppose, but if you're buying Towerfall, you're getting it to play with other people. Towerfall supports up to 4 simultaneous players and I found that 4 seemed to maximize the fun, hilarity and craziness of the games. Towerfall doesn't support online play of any kind which is really unfortunate because I think a game like this could really be fun online. At the same time though, this game is really fun to share with other people in the same room, yelling, laughing and screaming at the TV and at each other. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that this game eventually gets some sort of online support though, I would imagine that's going to be an often-requested feature. The only other thing that might be limiting this game is the hardware. This game plays best with 4 people. I happen to have 4 USB controllers for my PC, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority. And I don't think a whole lot of other people have 4 Ouya controllers or 4 PS4 controllers lying around either.

Towerfall: Ascension Video Review

Summary:
If you've heard the positive buzz about this game, it's true. Believe the hype. This game is well designed, fun and fast paced. It's the early leading candidate for my 2014 game of the year. Yes, I know this technically came out last year on the Ouya. But now it's out on platforms that people actually widely own and use, so I hope this game gets lots of exposure in the near future. Check it out if you want a good, fun party game to share with friends