Joystiq's Scores

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For 768 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 51% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Lowest review score: 20 Conduit 2
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 421 out of 768
  2. Mixed: 279 out of 768
  3. Negative: 68 out of 768
768 game reviews
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    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Costume Quest 2
    Costume Quest 2 is a lot like the bags of candy Wren and her fellow Halloween heroes collect: often sweet, sometimes sour, and (for the most part) worth the occasional tummy ache.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Evil Within
    Evil Within just plain doesn't give you a fair chance to succeed. It doesn't provide enough information for you to make good decisions and it handicaps your ability to fight well. It requires so much repetition that it can't possibly maintain any sense of tension or unease, and its story is told so aimlessly that you'll likely forget the plot between scenes.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
    The Pre-Sequel is missing just a bit of soul, but it has plenty of heart – hearts exploded by laser rifles.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Bayonetta 2
    Bayonetta 2 is the perfect action game. It oozes style and boasts gameplay that's both refined and lacking in excess. The combat is so purely entertaining that it's easy to lose yourself in the almost-zen flow of dodging, countering and kicking enemies to death.
    • Joystiq
      • Posted Oct 13, 2014
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    FIFA 15
    A marvelous soccer game, and it's certainly better than FIFA 14, but the series' improvements felt even more marginal this year. The game captures the thrill of soccer unlike ever before, but the new, emotional player animations are only a small addition to what was already a great product.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Driveclub
    Driveclub is a well-made, sometimes irritating juxtaposition of the old and new.
    • Joystiq
      • Posted Oct 7, 2014
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Neverending Nightmares
    The illusion it maintains is easily broken by the lack of interactivity and a plot that doesn't always manage to keep its hooks in you. Where and when Neverending Nightmares fails, the effects are noticeable and jarring. Still, Neverending Nightmares is an atypical horror experience and, when it succeeds, it's one you won't soon forget.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
    A singular experience, at times strange, astonishing and even bewildering, but always captivating. The mystery will keep you going, but what the game does best is surprise. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter has a great story to tell, even if it's not the one you were expecting.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Alien: Isolation
    In the same way that Ash respected the alien for its brutality in the original film, though, maybe I also respect Alien: Isolation just for how long, grueling and relentless it ends up being. Instead of completing the game, it feels more like I've escaped it and the nightmare it put me through. I no longer have to hear the sickening slump of the alien being spewed out of a vent.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Skylanders Trap Team
    Despite its many worthy additions, Skylanders Trap Team is the first game in the series to disappoint me. The new villain characters are charming - seriously, who could hate a floating, magical vegetable named Broccoli Guy? - and the talking portal accessory puts a fun spin on traditional series elements, but the uninspired level design really drags down the overall experience.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
    Much as Persona 4 Arena was a great fighter in its day, Ultimax immediately renders it obsolete. Whether you're a fan of fighting games or just want another chance to hang out with the familiar faces of the Inaba region, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax has you covered and then some.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
    While there are definite areas where Nintendo could improve on Super Smash Bros. in an inevitable sequel, this is the most feature-complete, compelling Super Smash Bros. entry to date. It stands right alongside Fire Emblem: Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds as a game that every 3DS owner should play.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
    What would have otherwise been a competent sandbox game with solid combat mechanics and an interesting twist on a known fantasy world is elevated by the Nemesis System. Shadow of Mordor is the strategic person's action game.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Forza Horizon 2
    Forza Horizon 2's world isn't the most lively, beset as it is by roaming bands of automotive enthusiasts, but it leaves room for the living – for you. There's space enough to imprint your moods, whether you rocket into hairpins with a Ferrari or simply cruise around in a gaudy, gold Bentley. Forza Horizon 2 is a big, bouncy summer drive.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die
    D4 is utterly charming. It's also thought-provoking and very, very silly.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    NHL 15
    With NHL 15, EA Canada has taken its secret weapon and buried it under a thick sheet of beautiful, glistening ice...Though there's some enjoyment to be had on the ice, NHL 15 feels like the first major misstep the series has made in years.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Disney Infinity 2.0 Edition
    Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes features more variety than its predecessor, but the campaign content included in the base set is still quite repetitive.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Wasteland 2
    Wasteland 2 is so packed with stuff to do and things to see that the game demands multiple plays, yet its story options are so intricate that replaying the plot never seems like a chore. But all of that is overshadowed by omnipresent bugs.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Murasaki Baby
    The game works as a limited experience, something novel and adorable and emotional, and it knows not to be anything more. For what it is, it's perfect(ly morbid).
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
    Curtain Call outclasses its predecessor to such an extreme degree that it makes the original Theatrhythm obsolete. It's a solid purchase for Final Fantasy fans and rhythm game veterans alike, and it explores the Theatrhythm concept to its fullest.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hyrule Warriors
    Like another delicious mashup, the Cadbury Creme Egg, Hyrule Warriors is superficially dead simple, but for those willing to unwrap its foil lining and bite through the chocolate shell, there lies a wealth of cleverly designed gameplay mechanics, charming references to fan-favorite characters and locations and a whole lot of tasty, sugary goo.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Destiny
    If you just want to shoot things with friends, you'll enjoy your time with Destiny, even when you're mocking the lame story. If, on the other hand, you love the loop – town, dungeon, loot – you'll be more likely to stick around after the story's over.
    • Joystiq
      • Posted Sep 16, 2014
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
    Danganronpa 2 is wildly uneven, with an engaging story and disjointed action elements, but solving its mysteries provides more than enough satisfaction to make putting up with the bad bits worth your while. It's weird, aggravating and gruesome, but it's also undeniably charming.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Sims 4
    I like The Sims 4, although I fully recognize that it's not nearly robust enough yet for series fans. If you're new to the franchise, it's a great place to start and explore the possibilities. The Sims 4 certainly feels like more of the same game we've known for over a decade.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Hatoful Boyfriend
    Hatoful Boyfriend is great at setting a tone and building a strange bird universe pockmarked with bits of broken, human-constructed items. These objects are eerie in such a happy-go-lucky world, though the creep factor is welcome in a game as ridiculous as a pigeon dating simulator. We'll call it the peep factor.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Madden NFL 15
    Even with the infrequent hiccup, unavoidable video segment or occasionally tiresome menu, Madden 15 has taken major strides in defining its place in the series. Hammering QBs after slipping past a blocker is all the more invigorating thanks to a flattering, defense-minded camera.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    inFamous: First Light
    Infamous: First Light is everything Infamous: Second Son should have been, it's just too bad it only arrives now, in this anemic form.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 5 - No Going Back
    The ending, and therefore the episode, may please many players. However, from a storytelling standpoint, No Going Back falls flat.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Professor Layton VS Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
    Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright drags on too long, but even towards the end it's enjoyable at its basest of levels.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    CounterSpy
    The core gameplay of sneaking, assessing the situation, downing enemies, disabling cameras, pilfering plans and occasionally snapping necks is great fun. Setting up a string of sticky bombs for a connect-the-dots series of explosions is especially satisfying, but delights like these are weighed down by CounterSpy's random structure and, in particular, its "more more more" approach to difficulty.
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