Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a isometric action-adventure puzzle game. The story involves Lara finding an ancient Mayan artifact, the Mirror of Smoke, which releases Xolotl, an evil spirit bent on destroying the world, as well as Totec, the titular Guardian of Light. Lara and Totec team up to track down Xolotl and save the world. The plot is pretty basic because the focus is on gameplay, where the game delivers on its promise of a fun co-op adventure.

Chaos;Head Noah / カオスヘッドノア

Takumi Nishijou is just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill reclusive socially anxious MMORPG-addicted anime-obsessed self-absorbed rude cowardly acerbic loner Japanese teenager that lives alone in a storage container on top of an apartment building. Y'know, the usual. One day weird things start to happen, and Takumi wants them to stop, and... that's pretty much the entire plot of Chaos;Head. (I'm not calling it "ChäoS;HEAd," sorry not sorry.)

Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock Infinite, in loving tribute to the first game, begins with a man at a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. But rather than descending leagues under the sea, the lighthouse launches the man into the sky, to the flying city of Columbia. He's there to find a girl and deliver her to his creditors to wipe away his debt. Naturally, things soon take a turn for the worse, and the man—Booker DeWitt—soon finds himself fighting the entire city to accomplish his mission.

This is a Bioshock game, but rather than continuing the story of Rapture, Bioshock Infinite takes us to new heights in Columbia. There are plenty of other differences to go along with the change in scenery, but the soul and many game systems remain the same. That being said, while Columbia is horrifyingly fascinating to explore and the plot is admittedly well-constructed, I just don't feel as charmed by Bioshock Infinite as I do by the original.

Deadly Premonition Origins

I knew Deadly Premonition Origins had a bit of a wonky reputation, but I thought I'd be able to look past its flaws, especially since it's a murder mystery. However, the graphics were dated, the story was nonsensical, the characters were bizarre, the atmosphere was oppressive, the controls were janky, the combat was clunky, and the survival elements were annoying. The game was a mediocre mish-mash that I just did not enjoy playing.

Steins;Gate / シュタインズ・ゲート

In my Raging Loop review, I said that one of the things that I thought made the game work so well was that the protagonist was intelligent and approached the situation in the same way the player would, creating a narrative flow that was engaging, natural, and aligned with what the actual player wanted to do even though there was very little direct control.

Steins;Gate is not like that.

Trine 2

Trine 2 is a puzzle-platforming game about the wizard Amadeus, the knight Pontius, and the thief entrepreneur Zoya, whose souls have been bound together by the Trine, a mysterious artifact. Each of the three characters has their own unique skillset, and you're free to switch characters at any point during the level.