When Street Fighter V originally released in the spring of 2016 it quite literally broke my heart as a fan of the series and of fighting games. It was an incomplete, half arsed insult to the series that had been pushed to market way before it was ready and long before it should have done. It had a new business model that alienated an entire platform in Xbox but also drip fed original characters back to the roster as DLC and just overall was the low point in the series from someone who happily spent their lunch money just to have a go on the Street Fighter II arcade near my school. Now almost two years later and we have the Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, an almost GOTY version that brings new balance changes and presentation style but also adds a whole bunch of new features which for many should have been in the original release. Has Street Fighter V finally achieved the greatness it promised to have?

I have been keeping an eagle eye on all things to do with this Arcade Edition for months now with the hope and expectations that finally, Street Fighter V could reclaim some dignity for the series. To be clear, I was not just heart broken with how it originally launched but I was absolutely pissed off with how it did. This past year has see a jump in the number of fighting games available with Injustice 2, Capcom Vs Marvel (which you should really avoid) and this week alone will see the release of Dragon Ball FighterZ. I am pleased to say that lessons have very much been learned with Street Fighter V, and for this Arcade Edition they have not only focused on improving the gameplay from the feedback of players but there is a clear and evident  reflection on the changes in the Fighting game genre. Finally the team behind Street Fighter V are showing true shelf awareness of the genre and have looked to part SFV a part of the genre instead of the arrogance of believing having Street Fighter in the title is enough.

The best way to look at this is to quickly highlight exactly what the Arcade Edition brings to the SFV mix:

• Arcade Mode
• Second V-Triggers for all characters
• Team Battle Mode
• Extra Battle Mode
• Special Challenges

Now for me the addition of a genuine Arcade Mode is huge for SFV considering it launched without one. The pitiful amount of offline modes at the start was something that really bothered me so to finally see it return and in such a well thought out way is a great thing. Arcade mode includes six different story paths with each representing a Street Fighter series throughout the years such as the original Street Fighter game but also Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter III, Street Fighter IV and finally Street Fighter V. Each path includes those from the SFV roster which are faithful to that game in the series or best representative of it and features recreated stages as well as remixed backing tracks for each stage. This is just huge fun and was something the original was very much lacking but it just makes so much sense to include as a fighting game without an arcade mode is just wrong…very very wrong.

One of the more natural additions has to be the new Battle Mode which allows players to put together a team of up to five characters to tackle other player team in either elimination or a Best of series of matches that can be further customised in the settings to edit how health is recovered for example. So many games now use the team battle style that by adding it into the mix here it just adds another arrow to the quiver for what experience SFV can finally offer fans and players. The extra battle mode now provides special limited time based challenges but will give out special rewards for completion such as unique costumes, Fight Money and experience points. These are logical additions and just by adding them to the game does show the awareness SFV originally lacked about what natural expectations fans had for this game.

Gameplay has also been looked at with performance enhancements for everyone on the roster based on player feedback since release. The training system has been further improved now to include frame data for learning the pros and cons of moves and combinations of moves and is a great starting point to get familiar with the controls for each fighter. SFV added the V Trigger system to the series and now Arcade Edition gives every member of the roster a second V Trigger option to help players customise how they play and adds a nice twist to fights depending on which is selected and then how it is implemented in the fighting. For me this has made certain characters that I did not originally get on with more open and inviting to use and it does feel like a Street Fighter game that wants me to tuck in and try it all out.

There is just a real sense of finally getting it right with this version of SFV, and it is a gratifying feeling to have. For those who own the original SFV then the Arcade Edition will be a free upgrade to it, bringing it up to date with all the new modes, features and improvements. If you purchase the Arcade Edition it then you will also get access to all the fighters from the Fighter Seasons 1 and 2 giving you the most up to date roster possible as Fighter Season 3 kicks off in 2018. Now sadly, if you are simply upgrading the original game to Arcade Edition that the free update does not include the Season packs which can still be purchased as DLC or individual fighters can be bought using the in game Fight Money currency. By allowing original owners to upgrade for free instead of the previous standard method of just releasing a new version of the SF game in question, it continues to keep the playerbase engaged and inclusive. Another lesson learned by the good folks at CAPCOM.

I am therefore really happy to be able to say that finally Street Fighter V is a must have title for fans of the series at last thanks to the Arcade Edition. The improvements and balance updates are most welcome and the new presentation style has brought it kicking and screaming in line with more recent fighting games. The roster is massive and new secondary V Triggers adds a welcome spin to each fighter and extra choice is always a good thing to have. But more than anything else, Street Fighter V is finally fun for me to play now I can sink my teeth into the arcade mode to help fine tune my use and knowledge of the fighters plus it is just a nice bit of nostalgic fun the original version was sorely lacking.

With so many fighting games now out there, this is the best time to really get involved in them and up till this point, Street Fighter V would be the least likely to get a recommendation from me but with Arcade Edition righting so many wrongs and adding so much to the original game, it really is a fun fighting game and just puts Street Fighter back on track as a series after losing its way due to crazy decisions made the higher ups which just now feels as though common sense thinking has thankfully returned to the planning of this series going forward. I am really enjoying my time with this game and whilst the online side is still very much a place for the hardcore over the casual player, it has so many features now to give a much more complete experience that it is a shame it took nearly two years to get it!

It has taken me a while to finally sit down to play the finale to Life is Strange: Before the Storm thanks a long Christmas break. Episode 3 ‘Into Hell’ has quite a lot to do to wrap up all the story-lines for this prequel mini series and going into it, I was not sure if it could succeed in doing so. Up to now this has been a series that has failed to fully grab me as the original Life is Strange so effortlessly did, but with a dramatic ending to Episode 2, there is a lot still left for Chloe and Rachel to battle through.

*Warning: Results of choices in previous episodes will be naturally discussed during review*

To say that the relationship between Chloe and Rachel has been an intense one so far is a major understatement with so many big emotions influencing player choices. One was the choice to have Chloe and Rachel run away after both their situations becoming as they saw it untenable. For Chloe, being expelled from Blackwell Academy and the further intrusion of David into her home life with her mother, pushing her to the limit whilst at the same time Rachel is full of rage with the belief that her father is having an affair leading to a confrontation that would change everything for both her and Chloe. Episode 3 continues right where episode 2 had left off, with Rachel and Chloe learning the truth about the mysterious woman they believed was having an affair with her dad and that she was actually her birth mother, someone who her father was trying to protect her from due to her drug addiction but she had returned to make contact with Rachel which her father did not want to happen.

Episode 3 is the big emotional hitting chapter of this mini series which manages to bring all the themes for both Chloe and Rachel together but suffers yet again from a pace to cram the story into just three episodes meaning the focus still remains on Rachel, whilst what Chloe is going through, is pushed to the side far too often for my taste. That said, the main themes of devotion, love, pain and sacrifice are used really well to start the process of setting the scene for events in the first Life is Strange game. For a relationship that is only really a few days old in this story, the pressure on Chloe is massive as she is still dealing with the loss of her father, the chaotic mess her life is currently in all compounded by her feelings for Rachel which are raw and driving all her decisions good or bad. Her devotion to keeping Rachel safe does force her to put her own issues aside as she tries to support Rachel who we already know, has a tendency to burn things down when her temper gets the best of her emotions.

The writing and voice acting performance of the cast again also stood out in this episode with so much asked of Chloe from both Rachel and her father. The father actively asks Chloe to dissuade Rachel from reaching out to her mother only for Rachel to both need and ask Chloe to find her mother so they can make contact. This more than anything else in Before the Storm really shows Chloe at her best as she is willing to go to any length to help Rachel which leads to the discovery of some horrible truths about just how far her Father was and is willing to go to protect her. Through this Chloe herself begins to look into her own life and is able to reconnect to her own mother and begin the process of separating her grief for her father and what must do to help her mum start to move on. But it also brings out the rebellious side which know Chloe to have in the first game and in dealing with the harshest of situations throughout Before the Storm, she is taking ownership of who she really is.

But some of the issues I have had with the previous episodes do return here such as the pacing which at times can move so fast that it feels in a hurry to bring together all the characters met along the way back into Chloe’s path to have a form of closure to end the game on. This means the “Chat back” mini game makes a return and feels just as out of place now in the finale as it did in the first episode. I still feel that the limitations of only being made up of three episodes has meant that this finale episode has to fit in so many aspects in order to tie it off as well as set everything in position for the original Life is Strange Story. It is also hard to get your head around that this is literally just a handful of days in the relationship for Chloe and Rachel, but with all that has happened and included the most important player decision in this mini series at the end, it goes a long way to show just why Rachel’s disappearance in Life is Strange is so impactful on Chloe.

Which is why ultimately for me, Before the Storm ended up being rather underwhelming. Whilst the story of how Chloe and Rachel came to be together was indeed interesting, this prequel story still leaves so many questions left unanswered for me as a fan of the first game. We know from the original game that Rachel ended up having certain connections with other characters that Chloe herself did not know about but is never hinted at or addressed here. Other than a short mid credit cutscene which gives a shocking glimpse into what happens to Rachel, this story leaves a big gap in the events of Before the Storm and how Chloe is when Max returns to her life in Life is Strange.

Though I did not feel as connected or immersed in this story as I was with the original Life is Strange story, episode 3 does complete this prequel tale well enough to give the mini series some purpose. There are some missteps throughout the three episodes and the attempts to recreate some of the energy and special moments of the original game can fall flat and the least said about the chat back skill and graffiti the better, but we do get to see where the feisty and rebellious Chloe began and playing this after playing the original does enhance both stories to a degree even though I would have preferred to see events lead more into those of the first Life is Strange.

If you have purchased the Deluxe version of Before the Storm then there is one final bonus episode to go which will focus on Chloe and Max as children which could be a nice little emotional tale for fans. Though this prequel never quite lived up to the impact of the first game, it is certainly a story worth experiencing for fans of Life is Strange.

It is often the case when a ground breaking or popular game arrives on the scene, often it does not take very long for a line of ‘inspired’ and similar games to arrive on the scene. Now some are just straight off clones of the original big hitter but in some cases a few can actually take the original and add something different to create another masterpiece. Albert & Otto is a game very much inspired by Limbo, but can it do enough to make its own mark or just another clone to be forgotten?

Albert & Otto is set in 1939 Germany with Albert the main playable character in the game. Albert’s sister Anna has been taken and so Albert goes in search of her through a harsh journey filled with peril, traps and dangerous hazards but with an interesting twist to the gameplay I actually came to enjoy but will come to that a bit later. The art style is completely inspired or more to say ‘lifted’ right from Limbo with the colour pallet using Black, white and grey to create the environments that Albert must navigate. It is striking as it was in Limbo but it does lack the finesse that Limbo had with it.

So it also uses the same environmental hazards as limbo with Albert having to jump gaps often to progress or just to avoid spikes and traps, failing to do so will result in Albert brutal death and subsequent respawn. Objects can be moved to help solve puzzles or to reach high platforms with the puzzles increasing in scale the further into the game you go. Where it does differ from Limbo is that Albert is not completely defenseless thanks to the bolt action rifle he has instead of a right arm, which is aimed using the right stick with RT to fire. This is very handy when dealing with the nasty over-sized crows which at times like to swoop down and grab Albert if the player fails to shoot them first. Further in the rifle can also be used to shoot down new platforms or objects to help solve a puzzle.

Perhaps the real interesting mechanic whom I eluded too earlier comes in the form of Otto, the bright red bunny eared soft toy which belonged to Anna but was somehow lost during her capture. Once Otto is collected it begins to enhance what Albert is capable of doing by immediately giving him the ability to double jump which will come in very handy for puzzle solving and exploring. Otto is linked to the left bumper button which allows Albert to drop Otto to be used as a counter weight for the many pressure plate switches that make up the majority of puzzle solutions in the game. Now once Otto has been dropped it will mean that Albert loses the ability to double jump, something to bear in mind when he is not with you but pressing LB again nearby will call Otto back to him. Later a second special ability will be given to Albert which allows him to ‘force lift’ objects for the more advanced puzzle solving and again, dropping Otto will remove this ability for that time.

Now sadly I do have quite a few problems with this title, some found during play and some discovered after completing it. First off it must be said that this can be completed in just 2 hours even with struggling at points. For the asking price of £9.59 that is still quite a lot of money for what boils down to an imperfect clone of Limbo which suffers from a clumsy control system and in game bugs. Looking at the replay value, once you have solved the puzzles and know how to complete the boss sequences, this can be finished in just an hour. That for me is very little for that price. Now this is supposed to be a three part episodic game with this serving as the first game, something I noticed from the insanely quick single second on screen ‘To Be Continued’ at the end of the game. But sadly the next episodes have no release date due to depending on the success of this episode to confirm their development which this price only gives you this one episode, so a tenner for just 2 maybe 3 hours at most is very off putting.

Then you have the bugs that at times can cripple the gameplay such as the aiming for the rifle on the right stick getting stuck in an up angle or the pressure plates not responding to the weight placed on them. The only way to resolve this was to head to the main menu then selecting resume to reload the game which can be very frustrating if you have spent some time solving a puzzle section. The input lag for jumping can be the biggest headache though, with many cheap deaths coming as a result of my inputs not being registered by the game which became even more annoying in the later stages when you have to do cm perfect jumping as well as positioning Otto onto a switch mid jump. It just cheapens the overall experience which when combined with the shortness of the game and potential lack of future for it just puts this on the ‘good idea but poorly executed’ list to start the year.

The above is a real shame because Albert & Otto has some true potential if it gets the chance to continue with the planned next episodes to continue the story. I do like the art style and really like the idea of how Otto adds to Albert’s abilities and the imagery conjured up via the photographs left behind by Anna which tell a bleak story of what is happening to her does push the player to get to the end to try and find her. But there is just not enough here to really make you play it more than once or perhaps twice if you want to collect all the achievements, which can be done in a single or two at most runs through the game.

Sadly potential is just not enough to make this a must have and certainly not at the asking price or lack of future for it meaning after investing in this you may not actually get to see how it all ends. The bugs and issues can be addressed going forward but even if they are and it becomes more polished to play, two hours of gameplay for £10 is not something I can sit comfortably with. I hope there is a future for Albert & Otto but it is looking rather bleak just as it is for Anna!