IGN Game Reviews – Spoken Edition

For a game about communication, Fe can often be unclear. Its wordless, visually striking journey is filled with charming creatures to sing with, but its 3D platforming world can sometimes feel aimless. And while I enjoyed learning its musical languages, the short trip it took me on left me with the impression that Fe missed most of its best opportunities.

When we first reviewed Bayonetta 2 in 2014 on Wii U, we gave it a 9.5. Here’s what we said about it then: “Every aspect of Bayonetta 2 feels polished and focused. At times, the writing feels ridiculous, but I still love how it plays. The superb pacing and combat are just that good. By the end I was convinced: This sequel builds on everything that made the original great, and delivers one of the most satisfying action games I've played.

Koei Tecmo and Omega Force’s 21-year-old Dynasty Warriors series has never been a series known to step outside its comfort zone, but Dynasty Warriors 9 is not your typical Dynasty Warriors game. For the first time, the developers have retired the tried-and-true segmented mission structure in favor of a large, open-world map with missions, points of interest, and random activities scattered sparsely about.

If you’re looking to put a new spin on a winning formula, you probably don’t want to leave out your secret ingredient. Monolith does deserve credit for trying to make the Blade of Galadriel DLC feel like something other than just more of the same Shadow of War gameplay, but wielding Galadriel’s Light can’t hold a candle to the domination and Nemesis systems it sidelines.

At launch, Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 was already packed with so many features I had to wonder where developer Firaxis would find room to meaningfully expand on. But find room it did, and Civilization 6: Rise and Fall’s additions are mostly positive changes that move the already feature-packed Civilization 6 a step or two toward a Golden Age of its own. At the same time, others have a tendency to slow down the pace more than I’d like.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a strange game. Like the 2009 PSP game that spawned it, it’s a battle royale between your favourite Final Fantasy characters from most of the games in the series (including Type-0 and Tactics!), but the reworked combat couldn’t be more different.

Call of Duty: WWII’s first major DLC pack is made up of five maps; three standard multiplayer maps (one remake), one War Mode map, and a Zombies chapter. While the latter is The Resistance’s heftiest addition, the new standard maps add needed variety to the multiplayer suite. Meanwhile, the new War Mode map is just more of the same – which is mostly a good thing. (Read the full Call of Duty: WWII review here.) Of the new standard maps, Valkyrie is the smallest.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a strange game. Like the 2009 PSP game that spawned it, it’s a battle royale between your favourite Final Fantasy characters from most of the games in the series (including Type-0 and Tactics!), but the reworked combat couldn’t be more different.

I’ve never played a puzzle game quite like Gorogoa. It’s quiet and reflective: four drag-and-droppable panels act as small windows into a beautiful and dreamlike hand-drawn universe. But as you scroll, stack, layer, and zoom in or out of each scene, you get the feeling that the world inside each box is too vast and magical to be contained.

Iconoclasts has one of gaming's most literal titles in quite some time. See, while it plays a lot like a contemporary 2D Metroid sequel, it breaks up its exploration and puzzle-platforming with a surprising amount of story. The plot involves an oppressive religious organization, a race for vanishing natural resources, and a small band of people who dare to defy the edicts of the figurehead who controls the word.

Shadow of the Colossus for PlayStation 4 is a stunning return to the classic that first wowed us on the PlayStation 2 in 2005. With completely redone art and spectacular lighting, it expertly captures the original’s unique beauty, awe-inspiring scope, and absolutely heartbreaking story while simultaneously fixing a handful of imperfections. The result is not only an incredible remaster, but one of the best and most beautiful games the PS4 has to offer.

The task of emulating the complexity of Mixed Martial Arts in video game form is not an easy one, and for the most part, the first two EA Sports UFC games have done a fairly admirable job of it. While it still has some substantial holes to fill in, UFC 3 is certainly the best game yet in the series, thanks to its fantastic overhaul of the striking system and the much improved, goal-oriented career mode.

[Note: as of the time this review was published, two days after AO Tennis went on sale in Australia and New Zealand, the Xbox One version of the game is yet to receive a critical day one patch that adds the career mode and a number of substantial gameplay tweaks. As such, the following review refers strictly to the PlayStation 4 version. We will update the review with Xbox One impressions if and when the patch is released.

Shadow of the Colossus for PlayStation 4 is a stunning return to the classic that first wowed us on the PlayStation 2 in 2005. With completely redone art and spectacular lighting, it expertly captures the original’s unique beauty, awe-inspiring scope, and absolutely heartbreaking story while simultaneously fixing a handful of imperfections. The result is not only an incredible remaster, but one of the best and most beautiful games the PS4 has to offer.

Occasionally, while playing Celeste, I’d get light-headed because I’d focus so hard on a sequence of jumps that demanded precise timing and perfect button presses that I’d forget oxygen was a thing my body needed. Trying and failing and trying again, getting a little closer each time, I let the beautiful art and adaptive music of the titular Celeste Mountain - alongside the passionate, relatable story told there - completely whisk me away.