January's normally a slow month, but it's been uncharacteristically awesome on the PlayStation 4 this year. With so many great games launching over the past 14 or so days, we figured that we'd put together a very special round up, pulling together all of our reviews into one easily accessible place. Without further ado, let's get to it.
Gravity Rush 2 - 7/10
Even though the core of Gravity Rush 2 remains largely unchanged, you'll be hard pushed to find a fresher open world title in a sea of Grand Theft Auto and Assassin's Creed clones. Kat's traversal mechanic is still among the most satisfying that the sandbox genre has to offer, and an endearing cast of characters means that you'll actively want to spend time in their world. The combat and mission structure may still be this series' biggest shortcoming, but colourful scenarios mean that you'll stick around long enough to see the sizeable story and its many side-quests through. So, while not everyone will be dazed by what this release has to offer, the sequel should at the very least ensure that existing fans continue singing Kat's chorus.
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Yakuza 0 - 8/10
At this point, the property's trademark formula is seriously starting to wear thin, but when it comes down to it, there's nothing quite like Yakuza 0. It combines unapologetically mature themes and violence with brilliantly dumb minigames and hysterical side quests, resulting in a thoroughly memorable experience. Bolstered by a gripping story that's packed with great characters, fans of Japanese games or even Japanese culture owe it to themselves to give this a prequel a shot. Yakuza 0 is fantastic place to start a love affair with Kamurocho's finest, and what's more, it's one of the best entries in the series to date.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - 8/10
At its very best, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a barnstorming survival horror with some truly brilliant boss fights. Granted, the game isn't always able to maintain its own high standards, but it eclipses its abysmal predecessor with ease. While it borrows ideas from a variety of different sources, it manages to feel both original and old-school all at the same time. And even though fans are likely to be divided by the release's direction, make no mistake: this is the change that the series has needed for quite some time.
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue - 7/10
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is a strong but unnecessarily pricey collection for die-hard fans, especially for those who don't intend to play Dream Drop Distance. For those who do, it most certainly is a wonderful game that has undergone an admirable transition between platforms. With a fair film and enticing episode in tow, there's only so much more our hearts can bear in anticipating Kingdom Hearts III.
Tales of Berseria - 8/10
Tales of Berseria takes a positive turn with a much darker theme, a great cast of characters, and perhaps the best storyline that the series has seen for quite some time. The fast and tactical battle system is also a definite step up, but the game is starting to look dated and needs to lose its last-gen shackles. For those disillusioned fans of recent Final Fantasy outings, however, Tales of Berseria might just be the game that they're looking for, with a more traditional Japanese RPG setup that sticks closely to what it knows, while offering a new and exciting narrative direction.
Which of these games have you been playing this month? Do you think that you'll be able to clear your backlog ahead of February's onslaught? Let us know in the comments section below.
Comments 19
The best January I can think of in quite some time.
January 24th broke the bank for PlayStation fans!
But of course PlayStation 4 still has no games according to some on other websites....
Brilliant month. Want all of these. Only have yakuza so far, but the others will be picked up at some point
Got gravity rush 2 and yakuza 0 this month, plan to get resident evil 7 in the future, and maybe kingdom heart 2.8 when it's discounted because I only plan to play 0.2 bbs fragmentary passage, skipping tales of berseria because the battle system is too chaotic.
@Rob_230 Wow seriously? There are websites that says that the PS4 has no games? They probably don't have a PS4 then and are probably jealous that the PS4 will get games like Persona 5, Nioh, Kingdom Hearts 1.5+2.5, Horizon and Ni No Kuni 2 while for XBO Scalebound gets cancelled lol (no offense XBO owners).
Nothing for me here, but I picked up Sleeping Dogs Definitive edition for 4 quid, and the Iron Banner has netted me some sweet loot on destiny, so not a bad January!
As an aside; I get way more annoyed about Kingdom Hearts than I should do. It's bad enough that they somehow managed to make JRPGs even MORE emo, but having entries in the series that aren't full games, and have titles like "Kingdom Hearts 3 episode 2.8 part 3; miracle of fly, huzzah!" Is just pretentious as word that Tasuki forbids. Just release content and call it a game, standalone, or demo! Quit over-complicating a game about Haircut bellends on a magical adventure with Donald Duck!
@THRILLHOU Haha, you're not the only one who feels that way about Kingdom Hearts, man.
It's not over yet!
Digimon World Next Order is out today in Europe, 31st North America. Picking up my copy tomorrow
Just RE7 for me, but I plan on getting all of those later on this year.
Gravity Rush 2 and Tales of Berseria are will be my first PS4 games!
As a new PS4 owner (my first PS console ever btw), this month has been overwhelming! Mainly because I've had many games to get through before I can even think about getting any others that interest me. I've managed to finish TLOU Remastered along with all of the Nathan Drake Collection. I've played bits of Ratchet & Clank here and there but trying to focus my time now on Uncharted 4. The Gravity Rush 2 demo got me super obsessed with wanting to play it but I would need to play GR1 first. KH 2.8 looks good but that has to wait until I get through the KH PS4 remasters coming in March. I've never played any KH game before. Oh and I'm still trying to chip away at Watch Dogs 2 on my XB1 when I can. π¨
When you think of Killing Floor 2 in November and The Last Guardian in December, that's a lot of games in a short span...with a lot more coming soon!
@SoulsBourne128 absolutely, people love to troll it seems. I mean take this article on Eurogamer from the beginning of the year:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-01-05-sonys-2017-steady-as-she-goes-as-ps4-goes-big-on-games
Granted they acknowledge games are coming. But they suggest its a poor line up for ps4 this year whichis absolute nonsense. Yet the next day they praised the xbox line up. Now im not trolling, but the two cant be compared in terms of breadth and quality of exclusives this year.
@ArkhamKnerd Haha, baptism of fire!
@Rob_230 With the greatest of respect to our friends at Eurogamer, that article was madness...
@Rob_230 You are not the only one. Have you checked the article's comment section? Even users agree that calling the lineup "weak" is just absurd. Remember: don't always trust journalists. I even like how Wes said this: "And then there's Knack 2. Knack 2."
I mean, I know Knack wasn't successfull and all but come on, the game isn't even out yet, and by the looks of it, it definitely looks more improved than the first game. Besides, I'm pretty sure if Ryse ever got a sequel, the journalist will either hate on it, or praise it as if there were no tomorrow because, well I don't know, graphics and swords and blood and simple QTEs I guess.
@get2sammyb
Now it was you ignoring Hatsune Miku. You guys never learn.
@sinalefa Didn't come out within the fortnight.
Its funny anyone else remember after xmas there used to be a downtime now we have this next month Horizon then march is mass effect its crazy
@Rob_230 @get2sammyb I remember reading that and it's one of the poorest articles I've read for a long time, calling the lineup uninspired? Compared to what? The One's constant stream of Dead Rising, Forza, Halo, Gears among its 9 exclusives for the year and pretty much nothing else. Oh and let's not forget the Switch with all of its Wii U ports and years old ports of other games before it finally gets a good one of its own in Mario Odyssey. I'm more than happy to be playing my poor line up of Yakuza 0, Resi 7, Persona 5, Horizon, South Park, Tales of Besseria, Nier, Ni No Kuni 2, Uncharted Lost Legacy, Gran Turismo sport, Wipeout, Hot Shots golf, Dreams, and many more whilst the tool which wrote the article and the random people he quoted to prive hia point can go play Ubisoft open world 17 and COD 24.
Rant over π
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