ICO
PS3
This is a game about a boy named Ico who is locked away in a castle because he was born with horns. Ico meets a girl called Yorda, the daughter of the castle’s evil queen. They try to escape the castle together. The game is a puzzle-platformer with some combat elements. The puzzle and platforming aspect of the game is done really well, while the combat is unfortunately clunky. Ico is a minimalistic game in the sense that it doesn’t rely on a lot of text, there aren’t many cut scenes and there aren’t any tutorials. It’s designed in an extremely intelligent manner so that it lets the player figure things out.
ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW LEAF
NINTENDO 3DS
The Nintendo 3DS is home to some wonderful and charming games. Animal Crossing: New Leaf is one of my favorite pick-up-and-play games. There’s no real goal or purpose in the game. It’s a great way to just kick back and relax. It’s a nice change of pace from other kinds of games. Before my wife and I were married, playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf was one of the ways we spent time together, especially when one of us was out of the country. We’d take care of our town, plant trees and flowers, go hunting for fossils, catch bugs or go fishing.
GONE HOME
PC
Gone Home is an interactive adventure that focuses on narrative and exploration. You control 21-year-old Kaitlin who has come back from a long trip abroad to discover the house her family has moved into is empty. You explore the house to find notes and items to help you piece together the story. The ambiance is fantastic, supported by top-notch sound and lighting effects. The game designers also did a great job creating a house that’s fun to explore and holds interesting secrets. Gone Home evoked emotions that the vast majority of big budget games fail to achieve.
PORTAL 2
PS3/Xbox 360/PC
Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle game where you use a device that shoots out portals to help you in traversing the terrain and obstacles, as well as solving puzzles that you come across. Solving puzzles on your own is great and all, but solving puzzles in co-op mode is incredibly satisfying. In co-op mode you take control of one of two robots: Atlas or P-Body. There are a total of five test chambers to get through and each test chamber focuses on a specific puzzle-solving technique so things don’t get repetitive.
DIABLO 3: ULTIMATE EVIL EDITION
PS4/Xbox One/PC
Diablo 3 is one of the best co-op games to hit consoles in a long time. The amount of content in the game is staggering. Diablo is a role-playing game where you can choose from six different character classes ranging from your typical barbarian to a witch doctor. The goal of the game is to defeat the Lord of Terror, Diablo. The game is beautiful, the cut scenes, the environments, the armor, weapons and magic you can use, all look wonderful. The music is brilliant as well and the gameplay is addictive.
SPELUNKY
PS4/PC
Exploring caves, dodging traps, killing enemies, collecting treasure, and dying…a lot. These are some of the things you’ll be doing in Spelunky. The best way to play Spelunky is with a partner. When you play with someone, you can either compete against each other in a death-match or you can do what I prefer – exploring caves together. The art style is deceivingly friendly and colorful while the music is terrific. The game controls are perfect – which they need to be in a game like this where mis-timing a ju
