Shank was greeted with mixed reviews when it came out in 2010, but it sold well enough to warrant a sequel from Klei Entertainment. In Shank 2, you’ll find a shining example for other small studios of how to respond to criticism and improve on an idea. READ MORE
Square Enix took a risk creating a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, possibly the most polarizing game in the long-running series. Many felt that Square simply needed to pretend XIII never existed and go back to a more traditional style in XV. I feel like Square Enix made the right decision with XIII-2, as it corrects virtually every complaint leveled against XIII, successfully adds new mechanics and continues the intriguing story of Cocoon and Pulse. READ MORE
Konami’s series of licensed beat-’em-ups in the late ’80s and early ’90s were a huge success at the time, and those who played them then have desired to experience them again on modern consoles. Konami and Ubisoft were happy to oblige, bringing TMNT and X-Men games to downloadable services. Now we have The Simpsons Arcade, and if there’s anything we’ve learned at this point, it’s that only some of these hold up as well as we thought they would. READ MORE
What began as a simple school project has come further than any of its creators ever expected when Puddle was released on XBLA. It is the first game from new developers Neko Entertainment and, while it succeeds in many respects, it’s a frustrating in many others. READ MORE
Soul Calibur has had it rough lately. After a lackluster effort with the third game and odd showing with the fourth game, it seems like the series had fallen far from the graces that the first two games had given us. This series has received a lot of love from me over the years in the form of a lot of arcade time spent with II and III, but I was skeptical about how Soul Calibur V would play out.
Does the soul still burn strong for this series? Strongly enough for hope. READ MORE
