2016 Video Games Recap: App Trigger Reviews Of 2016

September

• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice (8/10) – “Most importantly, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice is gripping. Even though I had five titles’ worth of experience with each of the tricks and tropes that make the series famous, the story kept stringing me along.”
• ReCore (6/10) – “ReCore is by no means a game that deserved to be buried, but it also isn’t an entirely successful start as a franchise hopeful for the Xbox One.”
• Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past (6.5/10) – “There’s nothing inherently bad about Dragon Quest VII, but I just couldn’t get as excited as I perhaps should have gotten about what is apparently a staple of the RPG genre.”
• NHL 17 (8.5/10) – “Aside from a few minor penalties, NHL 17 delivers on a nearly three-year-long promise of a true next-gen hockey experience.”
• Noitu Love Devolution (8/10) – “If you are a fan of action-heavy titles like Metal Slug or Gunstar Heroes, Noitu Love Devolution is exactly what you are looking for. It’s fast-paced and chaotic gameplay is rewarding and addicting.”
• Bioshock: The Collection (8.5/10) – “Bioshock: The Collection bundles three fantastic games into one alluring package, complete with superb pieces of story DLC that almost justify the price of entry alone, had you missed them the first time round.”
• NASCAR Heat Evolution (4/10) – “Somewhat challenging AI and a decent career mode are overshadowed by horrific graphics and gameplay. Combine that with a very bad online experience, and you get easily the worst NASCAR game made in several years.”
• Forza Horizon 3 (7/10) – “Forza Horizon 3 is a particularly intelligent video game. It recognizes that you’re coming here for the racing, and not a lot more.”
• FIFA 17 (9/10) – “The Journey capitalizes on an aspect that is often overlooked in most sports games — the emotion and personal stories — that make real life sports greater than the event itself.”
• World of Warcraft: Legion Update (9/10) – “Legion has the potential to be the best World of Warcraft expansion yet. It offers more than any expansion before it: a stellar questing experience, beautiful zones, well-realized class fantasies, dungeons for days, scaling difficulties, quality of life improvements, plenty of endgame content, a solid opening raid, and more.”
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – System Rift (6.5/10) – “System Rift is over far too quickly, and some odd design choices can dilute its sense of gratification as an integrated chapter in Jensen’s adventures, but there’s still fun to be had in this short, sci-fi heist tale.”
• Yo-Kai Watch 2 (8/10) – “With a wide array of features, over three hundred unique Yo-Kai to collect, and a huge town that was a delight to explore, it was easy for me to get excited about Yo-Kai Watch 2 in spite of never having played prior games in the series.”
• Hitman: Colorado (8/10) – “It may have taken until the penultimate episode for IO Interactive to really hit their stride with Hitman, but by raising the scope and scale of Colorado as a playground for assassination, the studio has demonstrated a keen understanding for what has always made the series so great.”
• XCOM 2 (8/10) – “There’s no getting past the fact that XCOM 2 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is an inferior beast to its PC counterpart, but that ultimately doesn’t work against the quality of this delayed console port for one of the best modern strategy games on the market right now.”

October

• Paper Mario: Color Splash (7/10) – “Aesthetically pleasing and chock full of laughs, the design and writing will keep you engaged long after the disorganized menuing of the card-based battle system has grown tiresome.”
• Mafia 3 (7/10) – “No matter how repetitive the general mission structure may be, there’s no denying that the combat in the game delivers an overall satisfying feel for the player.”
• Gears of War 4 (7/10) – “Gears of War 4 is wrought with both the best and worst of the shooter-action genre. Where other titles use sequel reboots as a way to tell a new story within an old universe, The Coalition spends too much time focusing on the heroes of old.”
• Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration (8/10) – “Rise of the Tomb Raider demonstrates that Lara Croft is just as relevant as she ever has been. Some minor mistakes hold back a game that otherwise has a compelling story, gritty survival-adventure gameplay and is a stunning graphical marvel.”
• Jackbox Party Pack 3 (9/10) – “Five unique games with improved social features and a family filter make it appropriate for everything from online streaming to Thanksgiving celebrations, and ensure that there’s always at least one game that everyone loves.”
• 100ft Robot Golf (6.5/10) – “If you can get past some of the gameplay slip-ups, minimal single-player content and depth as well as the absence of online matchmaking (at the moment), then this is a charming title that should please robot and golf fans alike.”
• Dark Souls 3: Ashes of Alandriel (7.5/10) – “Ashes of Ariandel is Dark Souls by the numbers. The gameplay is enjoyable enough because you’re playing a Dark Souls game, but it doesn’t take the risks necessary to push the player out of their comfort zone.”
• Titanfall 2 (8.5/10) – “Respawn has delivered what we wanted the first Titanfall to be. Titanfall 2 delivers a true single player campaign with extremely fluid and fun gameplay that gives the game a new breath of life.”
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (8/10) – “If you’re looking to turn a dragon into Thomas the Tank Engine or spawn in a ukulele-playing bear, you may have to wait and hope that Bethesda, Microsoft, and Sony can commit to expanding support further.”