Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana ~ The Verdict (PS4)

Nihon Falcom's Ys VIII is a grand adventure involving the capsized crew of a seafaring passenger vessel known as the Lombardia, and the mysterious island residents of Seiren that they run into. Through the joint tales of Adol Cristin, his comrade Dogi, and his lively duo of accompanying combatants Laxia & Sahad the story unfolds in true adventure fashion. You'll become the hunter, gatherer, and cartographer as Adol while the rest of the discovered crew either joins you, or stays at the base of operations offering goods, and services for your party. You'll map your progress, fight epic bosses, and loot Seiren for all it's worth. At your disposal is the gear, weaponry, and skills learned and earned through your continued combat efforts. Though the task before you is a tedious chore the adventure at hand is never dull, or too overbearing. All you have to be concerned with is helping Adol, and his shipmates deal with their shipwreck circumstances as they delve deeper into a lore that transitions from one man's dreams to reality on a fantastical island lost to time.

Let Them Come (PS4)

After having played through the entirety of 'Let Them Come' into a second playthrough, and having sampled it's two bonus modes I can honestly say this game is quite the unique indie adventure. From the trailers you've seen you've no doubt concluded it's a shooter with waves of enemies, but what you might not realize is this game is more akin to a tower defense style game than a shmup. The premise is quite simple, and the story fairly straightforward. As a mercenary for hire, and the only one left surviving after facing an alien infestation on a space freighter you are the only hope standing between a galactic takeover, and the death of the human species. At your disposal in your last stand you have a mounted rail gun with a variety of different ammo types as well as secondary throwing weapons, and add-ons that will help you withstand the seemingly endless barrage of creatures which will continuously advance towards you and your makeshift barricade. Much like the protagonist from Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy' films you also have a boombox which plays the several mixtapes you'll earn along the way. Through unavoidable death, and upgrades via score based currency you will upgrade your arsenal options, and face multiple waves of aliens before facing five intermittent epic bosses as you rock your 80's style tunes in style.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana ~ Review in Progress

Nihon Falcom's latest entry in the Ys series was met with mixed reactions. At base level it seemed to be accepted widely among the NISA RPG fan community as a decent action RPG experience, but was later revealed to have some localization flaws. NISA was quick to address this issue with an official apology which can be found on the official website. Since that apology the localization team has been working on making things right. I commend them for their efforts ...

.HACK//G.U. Last Recode (PS4)

The reemergence of ".HACK//G.U." on the PS4 is a welcome sight, especially for a guy like me who missed out the first time around. It is a complete reissue that holds up quite nicely to today's quality standards, and includes the entire series in upscaled graphics along with some bonus content for a less than retail pricing in an impressively polished package. The series as a whole does what anime and games like "Sword Art Online" do, but in a much more intelligent and mature manner. Dare I say a darker manner. The series as a whole encompasses an ever changing virtual world in which a protagonist known as Haseo faces moral dilemma, and real world threats that impact the lives of those engaged in the ongoing ordeal. The journey is one that harkens back to an earlier state of internet social media when forums and email interactions were in a more primitive state. Through a mock OS interface, and dives into the virtual world the game touches base on current world technological advances and the concerns therein. All while discussing the nature of online freedoms, the policing of online and offline social interactions as well the ramifications that something as seemingly harmless as an online video game can have on real world society.