A Portal to Mystery has solid pacing and a fun mystery angle, but the clumsy use of its cameos and shallower than usual gameplay make it one of the weaker installments of Minecraft: Story Mode.
Square Enix originally announced World of Final Fantasy at Sony's last E3 conference, but that reveal was quickly overshadowed by the long-awaited Final Fantasy VII remake's confirmation immediately afterwards. However, Square Enix has remained hard at work on the quirky spinoff title, and it looks like fans of the series will have more to look forward to this fall than just Final Fantasy XV, as World has been confirmed for a global release on PlayStation 4 and PS Vita.
Although it's held back by a lack of variety in its presentation and some other clumsy elements, Kick & Fennick still boasts a clever gimmick with its recoil-based traversal, and does enough right to make itself worthy of a playthrough for platformer enthusiasts.
With developer Volition having primarily worked on Saints Row games for the past five years, many thought that their next title would be a new entry in the frenetic open-world series. As it turns out, the studio has chosen to try something new, and has just announced Agents of Mayhem, an open-world action adventure game with a sci-fi, comic book-influenced world.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, the fourth entry in developer WayForward's flagship franchise and the first to debut on home consoles, was successfully crowdfunded via Kickstarter in late 2013, with the company releasing the acclaimed Shantae and the Pirate's Curse the following year to make the wait easier. While continuing to provide small details, and even letting backers vote on character designs, WayForward has remained relatively vague about when they hoped for the game to release.
Disney Infinity is on its way out, and there's no word on another Lego Dimensions yet, but Activision shows no signs of slowing the Skylanders brand. Just after the release of the mobile spinoff Skylanders Battlecast, the publisher has officially unveiled the sixth major entry in the series, and Skylanders Imaginators looks to offer one of the most intriguing premises yet for the series.
Minecraft: Story Mode has done well enough for Telltale to expand its original five-episode roster to eight, and the developer has just announced details and a release date for the sixth installment, which will offer some unique guest stars likely to please many Minecraft fans.
Fans of Microsoft and Lionhead Studios' popular Fable franchise are likely still smarting from the sudden closure of the developer, as well as the simultaneous cancellation of the nearly-completed Fable Legends. However, the series may not be completely finished yet. Indie developer Flaming Fowl Studios, primarily made up of former Lionhead employees, has revealed the existence of Fable Fortune, another spinoff game that has secretly been in development since 2014.
Square Enix's iconic Dragon Quest RPG series is no stranger to spinoffs, with titles like Rocket Slime, Dragon Quest Swords, and last year's Dragon Quest Heroes deviating from the series' traditional JRPG roots. This year will see another experimental title for the series in the form of Dragon Quest Builders, a sandbox-style adventure with a heavy emphasis on collecting and crafting.
Disney Infinity may be done, but Activision doesn't seem to have plans to put their competing toys-to-life Skylanders franchise on the backburner any time soon. Besides a new main entry confirmed for release this fall and an animated series planned to air on Cartoon Network sometime this year, fans of the series now have a new way to play with favorite characters on mobile devices, with today's launch of Skylanders Battlecast on iOS, Android, and Kindle devices.