Adventure

In the gaming days of yore, things like tutorials, objective markers, and pop-up hints were very uncommon. For some, these forms of guidance take away exploration, self-discovery, and challenge, and they yearn for more titles to be like those of old. The developer duo Kazuya Asano and Takemaru Abiko apparently agree, because that's the basis for Starship Damrey, their entry in Level-5's Guild02 compilation.

Gone Home is special. A creation designed to grasp the industry and its fans by their collar, and show them how a mature and painfully honest story should be told. While some games are set in fantastical worlds, such as a floating city or an apocalyptic world, Gone Home prides itself on its simplicity and intimacy. And like any good novel, Gone Home’s strength is the way it rewards people once they uncover and solve the game’s many metaphorical and clever puzzles. It isn’t fantastical by any means, nor is it complex mechanically, but it is immeasurably genuine.

Following the success of The Walking Dead, developer Telltale Games continues its trend of churning out compelling narrative experiences with the recent release of The Wolf Among Us. Based off of the Fables comic book series created by Bill Willingham, which follows recognizable fairy tale characters living in 80s New York, The Wolf Among Us is a delightful prequel that beautifully introduces the creative world Willingham was able to forge back in 2002.

The time has finally come for The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief to reach its conclusion. This Agatha Christie inspired mystery has had its ups and downs, but has been a relatively enjoyable experience thus far, flaws notwithstanding. The second chapter followed through with the solid writing featured during chapter one's final act, but does it continue here in the third chapter, A Murder of Ravens? Do the puzzles get better, or are they the same humdrum offerings? The answer: not really.

Disney and Final Fantasy characters fighting alongside each other, a story about hearts and key blades, real-time button mashing combat, and a main character with hair that defies gravity; Kingdom Hearts hit the industry with originality, bravery, and charm back in 2002. Fast-forward 11 years and we have a well made HD remastering of the original classic and its direct sequels.

I'm sure there was a lot of scoffing when they announced the original LEGO Star Wars. Taking a toy license that was based off of a movie license and digitizing it must have seemed like the worst idea in the world, spawning a shoddy mess for children who have no idea what a good game is. Funnily enough, the exact opposite occurred and a gaming phenomenon was born. Now there have been approximately a billion LEGO games since then, all as fun and addictive as the last, and LEGO Lord of the Rings is the latest game in Traveller's Tales quite literal blockbuster series.

Resident Evil: Revelations was a hit when it came to 3DS ahead of Resident Evil 6 and the controversy surrounding it. A handheld Resident Evil title that seemed to manage to successfully bridge that gap between the old and the new, the survival horror of our youths and the more action-based focus of today.

It’s hard to judge a sequel without comparing it to the original. Broken Sword: Director’s Cut set the standard for the series, which I praised in my review. Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror - Remastered is a decent game, however, it simply does not measure up to the original in most categories.

After playing through chapter one of The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief, I walked away with mixed feelings. The puzzles were a mess, and the story was a downright bore until Constable Zellner hopped aboard a ship headed to Cairo to continue his search for The Raven, who is hell bent on stealing the second Eye of the Sphinx. It was during this final act, with the murder on the ship, the detective work that followed, and the cliffhanger ending, where the game finally piqued my interest in the next episode, Chapter II: Ancestry of Lies.

There's a lot of mixed voices about Disney's Planes, the spin-off from Pixar's 2006 hit Cars. Whether disappointed with the quality of the actual film itself (Planes currently "boasts" a 39 on Metacritic, with a user score lower than that) or if you've got wrapped up in some of the other minor controversies that have come out over the past few months, it's unlikely you're in a rush to go out and by merchandise or games based on the IP.