Spring*

from Celeste developer MattMakesGames, Towerfall Ascension was originally released as simply Towerfall on the doomed platform Ouya, before being ported to the PS4, Steam, and other platforms with the new name. Known as one of the few games worth playing on the Ouya before its demise, Towerfall Ascension is the perfect local multiplayer game for your PC, with a focus on 4-player combat and a similar style of gameplay to the likes of Super Smash Bros. or Nidhogg. In Towerfall, you and the other players are each given a bow with several arrows, along with items, power-ups, and special arrows spread throughout the arena. Your goal is to kill off the other players using your arrows by jumping and dashing around the map, with the latter ability used to catch other players’ arrows in the air as they fire. The game is a blast, and though a single-player option exists, the game truly shines in multiplayer mode. Whether you’re playing with or without variants, Towerfall is a blast to play with your friends. Scoring a kill takes work since the arrows don’t move much faster than the characters, and can be snatched out of the air by alert players. Instead of fighting head-on, you are constantly thinking of new ways to outsmart the other players--either by tricking them with some new tactic or catching them with a surprise attack. You need a plan of attack, and when that plan comes together it feels very rewarding. If you don’t have any friends on hand, Towerfall’s appeal drops significantly. Quest mode is a fun distraction, but pales against the fierce competition of Versus, which requires at least two local players to use. Online play is completely absent as well, which further compounds this issue. With a few friends, Towerfall Ascension is a fantastic multiplayer game that offers a ton of variations on its enjoyable archery combat. Just make sure those friends can join you on the couch. Unfortunately, if you’re playing Towerfall alone your options are limited as this game is definitely designed for group play. When played solo, you can either hone your skills in Trials mode, or take on the AI in Quest mode. The trials are broken out into several time trials which test your ability to take down targets in the fastest time. Trials are also a great place to master the game’s many arrow variants--such as drill arrows and bomb arrows--since there are trials specifically tailored for different arrow types. In the Quest mode, you and up to one other player can take on waves of monsters cooperatively across 10 different stages. Not only will you encounter enemy archers in this mode, but slimes, ghosts, and grim reapers as well. These foes fight differently from the archers, which is good for breaking up the archer-on-archer combat that’s so prevalent in the game’s main mode: Versus.

For years, fans have asked Square Enix to rerelease Final Fantasy VIII on multiple platforms. Despite Square Enix recently releasing games like Final Fantasy VII, IX, X/X-2, and even Final Fantasy XII, VIII always seemed to get the short end of the stick. As a divisive game with both hardcore fans and detractors, the rumors surrounding Square’s silence on FFVIII mostly stated that many of the game’s original files had been lost. The story is more straightforward than the last several iterations as well, placing you in the role of Prince Noctis, a young man whose life takes a turn for the worst after his city is attacked by an enemy army. So when the game was finally announced for a modern remastering at E3 2019, it was a complete shock and delight. Final Fantasy VIII follows Squall, a young mercenary who leads a team of fighters in a fantasy land. Drawn into a conflict sparked by a sorceress looking to destroy the fabric of time, Squall must fight in a battle to save the world while simultaneously growing up along the way.

When No Man’s Sky launched in 2016, it was in a whirlwind of controversy. False promises and a sense that the game wasn’t complete made the launch a difficult sell for anyone looking to play a game that was set against some lofty goals. The game that was supposed to be endless felt like it came half-baked, leaving consumers and reviewers alike scratching their heads at what had happened. Two years later, No Man’s Sky is a different game. All this is made more enticing by the fact that Next fulfills the much-touted promise of true multiplayer, where up to four people can now party up and take on the universe together. It's not entirely seamless. Multiplayer tended to create random stutters and bugs more than anything else I did in game--even when playing the otherwise technically astounding Xbox One X port. That said, you can still wander around, help people farm resources, and have backup while breaking into a well-guarded facility. Portals and teleportation devices are now a staple in No Man's Sky, and showing off your new home has never been easier. Altogether, No Man's Sky's universe finally feels like, well, a universe. It feels like a fine place to live a digital life, while simultaneously being the least innovative or interesting thing the game could become. At its absolute best, No Man's Sky is a measured, gentle experience where you are rarely the agent of change, but a perpetual visitor who's constantly dwarfed by the magnitude of a universe neutral to your presence. It is not your job in these stories to colonize the universe. Your job is to comprehend it. Your job is to recognize the spirituality in it. The primary gimmick of No Man's Sky, since day one, has been awe. The best things about the Next update feed that gimmick. While features like multiplayer and base-building certainly put more proverbial asses in seats, they're also the least memorable additions to an otherwise thoughtful experience. All of this is in favor of the Artemis and Atlas Path storylines, introduced in the Atlas Rises update. The narrative beats of each story are largely unchanged, but they are both now far better integrated into the flow of the game as rewards for your curiosity rather than staunch waypoints impatiently waiting for your arrival. That said, players returning to old saves will find it's not as easy as just picking up where they left off, and much of what they already own gets shuffled around at random. It doesn't break pre-existing games, but it's a less-than-welcome relearning curve, to be sure. Both narratives still have their positives and negatives, though the original Atlas Path storyline is now a minor footnote in a journey much wider in scope, but what matters most is that both narratives encourage the things that distinguish No Man's Sky.

While some of the titles on this list might be games you’re familiar with, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky might make your eyes glaze over. From the overly-long title to the anime-esque thumbnail, we wouldn’t blame some players for skipping right over this entry. You’d be doing yourself an injustice, however; Trails in the Sky is one of the best RPGs of the 2000s. Originally released on the PSP, Trails in the Sky is the first chapter in the Sky series of Trails, part of a wider RPG series developed by Nihon Falcom, the dev team behind the Ys games. Trails in the Sky is a 50-hour epic that boasts plenty of side quests to undertake. There isn't much in the way of bonus content once you finish the adventure, but there is a new game-plus mode that lets you experience it all again after selecting which goods you want to carry over, including money and character levels. You can also unlock both hard and nightmare modes, boosting the difficulty level for an even greater challenge. Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky features a good strategic focus and a plethora of fierce opponents, but its riveting narrative is where it really shines. The transformation of a simple rescue mission into a vast conspiracy against the throne should put you on the edge of your seat, while Joshua and Estelle's budding romance steals the show. The result is a heartwarming adventure that marks a welcome North American debut for the series. An orbment system lets you strategically fine-tune characters to make up for their shortcomings. Orbments--mechanical devices that enable you to use magic--determine your spell variety, depending on the elemental quartz you pair with them. Inserting water quartz lets you cast heal magic; whereas activating wind quartz unleashes whirlwinds. The strength of these spells will depend on your quartz level, with advanced quartz unlocking your most devastating abilities. While collecting quartz and discovering new magic is fun, you can also take advantage of their stat bonuses and support abilities to strengthen your allies. If you want to increase Estelle's defense, for example, you can use an earth quartz to directly modify her defense stat while granting her access to a protective shield spell during battle.

I'd hate to be a Ken fan. Capcom can wedge new chapters into the Street Fighter timeline all it wants, but there can be no reversing the series' ultimate conclusion. When the subject of best character comes up among enthusiasts, and the Ken crowd starts in with legends of fire-laced uppercuts, the other side has a kill-all in their arsenal; a point of argument so strong that once this bomb has been unloaded, the Ken fans will have no choice but to be quiet. In the future, Ken Masters will sport Dale Earnhardt shades and a phase two mullet. The very structure of the game effects an urgent mood. Ken doesn't fight the bosses, the bosses fight HIM. Marvel-inspired space goons make their entrance as soon as the hero lands on their turf and then promptly set out to put a hole in his head. Don't count on the stage guardians to stand still and pathetically open up their weak spot, either - Ken must throw himself in the line of fire if he hopes to score a hit. Any attempt to back off and regroup will end with him getting coldly mowed down by the diminutive seeker drones or skeleton fish that infest the multi-screen boss arenas. Onslaughts are as aimless as reasonably possible, and the helpers spawn at random points, so only one approach will yield victory: kill, and quickly. Once the job is done, Ken better hurry his ass up and find the exit portal, or he'll be left behind to die. And if it thinks Ken has been hoarding powerups, the game says, "**** you kid", and removes the rest of them from his path. Even when a little more scenery is in order, stages scroll by on their own, keeping in line with the idea that players should have as few measures of comfort as the game can get away with. 2010 seeks to dominate all who challenge it, and nothing less. In the backdrop, caches of gelatinous bubbles assert themselves so weakly that one does not notice them until after several runs through the game. Even stage one's Statue of Liberty, standing dark against a red dusk sun, can be hard to spot among the technological waste of future Earth. Drab schemes of purple and black appropriately cloak such ruins, causing them to feel distant and lifeless against the action in the foreground.

Nick: SpRiNg* Real name: Ilyan How old are you?: 24 Which Games you play? and for how long?(each of them): CS.1.6 Where are you from?(country and city): Pakistan-Karachi Describe yourself(at least 50 words): I am Calm- Positive / CareFull And Respectfull Person ! Note some of your qualities: Repsectfull & Loyal Tell us some of your defects: I am Lazy Sometime On which category/categories have you been active lately?(describe your activity): World Of Games / Journalist Which category/project you want to care off?(choose from THIS LIST): Devil Club and Game Platform How well you speak english?(and other languages): (Hindi 100% - English not good but (70%) Do you use TS3? Do you have an active microphone?: Yes ,I Have Contact methods: Facebook / Ts3 / Forum Last request: It Is My First Time.

f there's one lesson to be learned from Sega's The Incredible Hulk movie-based game, it's that Hulk is a big bully. When tasked with containing a radioactive outbreak that could potentially eliminate all life within his city, he is just as likely to take a detour to destroy the Empire State Building or bat pedestrians into the Hudson River. It's far more enticing to see how many taxicabs you can blow up with one swing from a lamppost than to protect your pal Rick from a swarm of angry robots. The Incredible Hulk is at its best when you unleash the full destructive power of this terrifying giant to fulfill your own twisted desires. Ultimately, though, the repetition of mission structures, severe graphical glitches, and game-halting bugs wrestle this 1,000-pound monster to the ground. The sheer destructive joy of rampaging through New York is hard to ignore, but it's even harder to ignore the problems plaguing your every step. The Incredible Hulk plays in much the same way as Radical's The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, released three years ago. You are set loose in a re-creation of New York City--complete with landmarks from both real life and the Marvel universe--and you can choose exactly how you want to level this fine city you’re supposed to protect. You can turn any object you see lying around into a weapon of mass destruction, or unleash an array of charge-based super moves by metabolizing your rage. Though there isn't a lot of variety in either your combat moves or techniques to cause general chaos, being the biggest jerk in all of New York provides simple, though brutal fun. The Incredible Hulk does a good job of making you feel like a very angry monstrosity and, more importantly, it's quite satisfying to imitate Hulk on a very bad day. The graphics are startlingly incomplete. The character models outside of cutscenes are properly detailed, but the city itself is overflowing with texture pop-in and severe draw-in. You can see only a little way in front of you before buildings become hazy and dark blue. When you climb to the top of the Chrysler Building, you are treated with a foggy view more reminiscent of a posteruption Pompeii than modern-day New York City. This may be a clever homage to an unknown issue of Hulk in which he visited the eye doctor, but it makes for a suffocating video game. Even the lighting effects suffer from draw-in.

When you think of the supplies a soldier might need in a war, a gun would probably be the first thing that pops into your head. But if you're already infused with super serum, such a pedestrian trinket serves little purpose. In Captain America: Super Soldier, you rush headlong into battle carrying only your handy shield, though that's more than enough to get the job done. Of course, your versatile armament is no ordinary shield. Like an indestructible boomerang, it returns to your hands after it smashes someone in the face from 20 yards away, and those pesky bullets that vanilla commandos attempt to kill you with are effortlessly deflected by it. And it's in this fast-paced combat that Super Soldier thrives. Unfortunately, the other aspects are not nearly as well defined. Bland storytelling, drab visual design, and a dearth of thrilling moments extinguish the magic of your heroic forays. But Captain America: Super Soldier manages to rise above its problems to deliver an enjoyable though thoroughly predictable adventure. Your feet and fists both make quick work of the baddies that surround you, but it's the dynamic shield that brings much-needed diversity into the mix. Long-range attackers have no qualms peppering you with bullets while their melee-focused comrades close in around you, though their puny assassination attempts are laughable when you're holding your trusty shield. Easy-to-grasp visual cues clue you in on an imminent strike, and tapping block right before it pierces your flesh sends wayward bullets careening right back to the dastardly sniper. Outside of combat, there are paint-by-numbers platforming sections, which convey that you are, in fact, a super hero, though the fun Captain America must be having is far from contagious. These jumping challenges pay homage to the Uncharted series, replacing the skill of successful leaping with gravity-defying spectacle. You can only jump at specified points, and every subsequent leap ensures you grab directly onto the next hold without any fear of falling. The final pillar holding this adventure aloft is the exploration. Levels comprise interconnected corridors that form one giant whole. It's not quite an open world because you need to continue on a preset path most of the time, but there are opportunities to backtrack. Although the freedom of being able to explore is satisfying, it's too easy to get lost. You can call up a map at any time, but it's poorly detailed, which means you often have to rely on guesswork to get to your next objective. Along the way, there are plenty of collectibles to sniff out.

Have you ever been playing Splinter Cell or some other stealth game and wished that instead of snapping someone's fool neck after sneaking up behind him, you could give him a hot meal? OK, probably not, but hey, that's Sneak King. This game is one of three Xbox 360 games that have been made available by the po[CENSORED]r quick-service chain, Burger King, as part of a temporary offer. While this ingrained level of product placement might sound immediately disgusting to some, at least they're being totally up front about it. Going in, you know that this is one big ad for hamburgers...and various breakfast foods. It's a dumb game, but it's also $4 (provided you also purchase some food) and seems like the sort of thing that will be a collectable down the road. Sneak King comes from Blitz Games, the developer of Fuzion Frenzy on the Xbox, and it puts you in the role of the Burger King himself, from the tights to the creepy, smiling mask. The graphics are very simple, and that probably has a lot to do with the game's dual compatibility. The disc will run in either a 360 or an Xbox, but regardless of which system you put the disc in, you still get a barebones-looking world with limited animation at best. It's a $4 game, which makes you want to say "you get what you pay for." But if you consider there are some Xbox Live Arcade games that are better in every way and available for a dollar more, this game's especially filthy. To make a creepy character even creepier, you're practically playing a stalker in Sneak King. There are different missions and different locations to visit, but the goal remains the same: finding hungry people in desperate need of a "Whoppertunity," sneaking up on them, and surprising them with a fancy little dance and the presentation of Whoppers, hash browns, coffee, or some other Burger King menu item. There are also hiding spots around each one of the levels; if you jump out of a hiding spot and immediately present someone with food, you'll get bonus points. Plus, a rapidly rising meter appears whenever you attempt to present food. Each notch on the meter is a higher level of flourish. Stopping the golf-style meter on the level three flourish is the grandest of them all, resulting in much dancing and shuffling, and, of course, more points. Your enemy in Sneak King is the clock and the evil vision cones of the people in each level. You want to be fast, but you need to be quiet. And you need to stay out of sight, or else your bonus multiplier will be reset. This risk versus reward, "hide in a hurry" gameplay is extremely fun and rewarding; thus, Sneak King is one of the greatest games ever made.