Deadly Premonition is possibly one of the most critically polarizing games that has ever been released. IGN gave it 2/10, while Destructoid awarded it a strong 10/10. Who is right? Well, neither of them technically, but one more so than the other. Deadly Premonition, developed by Access Games and released in 2010, is both technically...

Developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix in 2010, Nier opens in the year 2049. Amidst what looks like a nuclear winter, is a father and daughter doing their best to survive. While the young girl is ill and rests inside a broken down convenient store, her father fights off creatures know as “Shades”. The Shades sprang up after the cataclysm that has left the fallout across the planet. The game then cuts to 1,312 years later, to a very different world; a more or less pre-industrial world that has risen from the ashes of the past. The player also seemingly finds the very same father and daughter from 2049 in this time. The girl is sick and the father, known as Nier, must find a cure for her terminal illness that has been caused by the Shades. Playing as Nier, the nature of the Shades, his daughters sickness, who is behind the Shade scourge itself, and the explanation behind the 2049 prologue, are all revealed over the course of the game. Nier presents one of the best, most intriguing tales I have ever encountered in gaming. It’s moving, thrilling, and absolutely captivating.

I’ll admit it, I prejudged Syndicate. They were taking a beloved tactical franchise, turning it into a FPS, and with EA attached to it, and their general stink around the downfall of numerous franchises, I didn’t think it was looking good. But I was wrong. Well, partly wrong. While Syndicate may not be a terrific game, it isn’t the mess that a huge chunk of the gaming press made it out to be. It’s actually quite fun. Rather than in the game play play itself, its major failures come in the form of its unwillingness to fully explore the ideas it presents. Syndicate is the younger, flashier, louder brother of Deus Ex:Human Revolution.