Today is the Xbox One's first birthday. It's already been a year since Microsoft graced us with its latest console, and haven't we all had a lot of fun with it? Sure, Microsoft may have broken a few hearts and a few promises, but isn't that part of their charm? Today let's relive that first year, and look at what did and didn't go wrong.
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Muramasa Rebirth is one of the nicest looking games on the PlayStation Vita. It's also a hell of a lot of fun to play, and with its additional DLC there's an awful lot to see and do. As well as the original, adapted from the 2009 Wii game 'Muramasa: The Demon Blade', Vita owners have been treated with four smaller stories that make up the Genroku Legends. After a slow release schedule the full package is finally here, and today I'll be reviewing the complete version of Muramasa Rebirth.
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With Halloween less than a week away I'm sure there's only one thing on everyone's mind; appropriate games for the occasion. This could be a terrifying horror game, an atmospheric Gothic adventure, or maybe just something with a giant pumpkin boss. Whatever you're into there's probably something for you in my list of Halloween recommendations.
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This week I purchased Bayonetta 2: First Print Edition for the Wii U, an item that has gained notoriety for its small production run and quick sell out time. In total 15,300 copies were produced, and whilst this wouldn't be too unusual for a more niche game, Bayonetta 2 is the most exciting title to grace the Wii U in quite a long time. I was fortunate enough to pick up a copy myself, and today I'm going to open it up and go through what's inside.
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I'm beginning to wonder if Playground Games have ever actually been to a music festival. In Forza Horizon 2 there's no tent to pitch, no bands to watch, and no drugs to take. Instead you drive supercars, smash up the streets of Southern France, and steal old wrecks from barns. That's not to say there's no chance to party hard however, and an early cutscene reveals that the drivers stay up till 4am before the first day of races. Obviously a night of drinking it totally safe and responsible before a day of street races, theft, and destruction.
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The Nintendo GameCube is one of my favourite consoles. It has an extensive library of great games, although the majority of these have admittedly received the recognition they deserve. Mario is awesome, Zelda is awesome and Metroid is awesome. You probably already know this. However, over the console's lifetime a small handful of great games went unnoticed, and today I've gathered together a list of my favourite underrated GameCube classics.
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I won't deny that I approached Persona 4 The Golden Animation with an initial air of scepticism. We do, after all, already have a perfectly enjoyably anime retelling of the game's story, and it's only three years old. What sets this new show apart is a focus on the extra content found in 2012's 'Golden' version of the game for PlayStation Vita. Because of this it exists comfortably alongside the original, and provides something that feels well tailored for existing fans of the series.
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This week I bought a Japanese Xbox 360 and a selection of import games. Most of these are made by CAVE, who specialise in manic shooters and have ported their arcade classics to the console. With few of their titles making their way out of Japan, and many enforcing a region lockout, their library is perhaps the main reason for purchasing a Japanese system. Today I will look at the advantages and disadvantages of importing, as well as some of the games doing so will give you access to.
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Not all good things have to come to an end. Black Butler is one such thing, and the latest anime to suffer from a divergence in plot with its manga counterpart after overtaking the source material. Whilst this third series disregards over half of the currently aired episodes as 'non-canon', this risky move somehow pays off and Book of Circus proves itself to be the most compelling Black Butler story arc yet.
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Time travel doesn't have to be used responsibly. This is the ethos of Super Time Force, and a sentiment felt across both its story and gameplay. Whilst a humorous and nonsensical narrative gives the game great character, the way the its unique mechanics mirror this chaos is only clever until it results in pure frustration. For better and for worse, time travel isn't the exact science it should be.
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