Ignoring the fact that all of this week’s retail releases are also available in digital form, the week’s downloadable offerings stand proud above the titles heading to store shelves.
Ori and the Blind Forest (£15.99) on Xbox One leads the way. The luscious 2D adventure was originally due out towards the end of 2014 but was hit by a delay. The extra development time has seemingly been put to good use – it currently stands with a Metacritic of 89%, formed of 36 reviews. Amazingly, only of these is below 8/10. High rollers include 9.5s from both Game Informer and Destructoid. “From a mechanical standpoint, Ori and the Blind Forest isn’t an evolution of the genre, and you’ve seen most of what’s on offer here before. But aesthetically it’s in a league of its own, and everything it does, it does well. If you’re looking for a metroidvania, I’d consider this a new classic†said the latter.
The Xbox 360 version of Ori is still coming, promises Microsoft.
Over on PC and PSN Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (£10.99) is causing a stir. A few critics claim that it has a whiff of “difficult second album†about it but still recommend it regardless. “It’s the sequel that everyone expected, perhaps. But I’m not sure it’s the sequel the original truly deserved†said Eurogamer. More of the same, then, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Then we have a double whammy from Capcom – DmC: Definitive Edition, which we incorrectly reported was out last Friday because we’re idiots, and Resident Evil Revelations 2 – Episode Three: Judgment. General consensus has it that Judgment is the best episode yet, galloping along at a great pace (to quote IGN). As for DmC, many reviewers reported that it’s well worth a revisit. As we mentioned last week, it’s available for around the £20 mark online.
This leaves us with Sniper Elite III: Ultimate Edition, PS Vita ‘Roguelike’ firefighting sim Flame Over (£7.99 or £6.39 with PS Plus), JRPG Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea on PS3 and the intriguing PS3/PS Vita visual novel Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters. With news of a potential four new Ghostbusters movies planned, that last one strikes us as being aptly timed.
Next week: Battlefield Hardline (PS4, PS3, Xbox One, 360, PC), Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (PS4, Xbox One), Mario Party 10 (Wii U), Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PS4, PS3, Xbox One, 360, PC), Ride (PS4, PS3, Xbox One, 360, PC), Bladestorm: Nightmare (PS4, Xbox One) and The Awakened Fate Ultimatum (PS3)
