TheGamer's Reviews
Overall, it’s difficult to give a score for Throne and Liberty based on what I’ve seen so far. I’ve been a bit too quick in the past to judge MMOs based on their leveling experience, where the real game begins when you’ve already invested dozens - potentially hundreds - of hours into the game. As it stands though, I can say that this is a game that I’m excited to play. There’s a real promise in what stands to be a modern successor to one of the all-time greats of the genre, NCSoft’s Lineage 2.
Despite how much joy I mined conquering its temples and delving into its many rifts, at times it doesn’t push its ambition far enough. That never stops Echoes from being a warm hug of a video game that enraptured me from start to finish, but it does leave me infinitely more curious about what the future holds. Now Zelda has helmed her first epic outing, it’s only a matter of time until she goes onto bigger and better things.
Roads To Power is more than just the next in a long line of DLC. It’s a true expansion, one that promises all-nighters to die-hard fans, and could be the missing something that brings hesitant newcomers to finally try on the crown.
I’m not sure that anything can ever capture the lightning in a bottle that was Epic Mickey’s original concept, but Rebrushed is the closest thing we’ll ever get to that dark magic, even if one of its core pillars is something that still drags it down. If you’re a diehard fan, you’ll love all of the small changes Rebrushed makes to cut down on the grind and monotony the original suffered from, and if you’re a newcomer you’ll experience Disney’s weirdest venture at its absolute best.
It’s always difficult to score EA FC games in a traditional sense, because the game has remained ultimately unchanged from previous iterations. Will I play this game a lot? Yes. Will I enjoy every minute of it? Most definitely not. But there will be moments that I enjoy, like packing a really good player, or clutching a win in FUT Champions. It’s an FC game, through and through. You’ll either love it or hate it, or, like me, you’ll fall probably somewhere in the middle.
It was always hard to imagine how Prince of Persia could fit into the new world carved out by Assassin’s Creed all those years ago, a sentiment Ubisoft clearly shared when it shelved the series for over a decade. But The Lost Crown finally found its place, standing tall as one of, if not the best Prince of Persia game — a GOTY contender and a Metroidvania all-timer. The expansion takes all of those elements and brings them up to the next level, making one of Ubisoft’s strongest outings even stronger.
Still, even if Street Rumble doesn’t do much to stand out from the crowd, it’s a decent brawler in its own right and worth checking out for fans of The Karate Kid. It’s not going to win at the All-Valley Tournament, but at least it put up more of a fight than Cobra Kai: Dojo’s Rising.
I'm not sure what happened with Reynatis. Yoko Shimomura and Kazushige Nojima are legends. It feels like FuRyu had everything they needed to deliver a great JRPG. However, game development is difficult, and some projects are bound to miss the mark. That happened here in a big way. Reynatis is one of the most miserable experiences I have had with a game in decades. It is an ugly, repetitive mess that houses some of the worst writing the medium has to offer. Outside of the OST, there is almost nothing of value here. If this is, in fact, anything like what Final Fantasy Versus 13 was supposed to be, then I can comfortably say that Final Fantasy fans dodged a bullet.
Reforged has raised the bar to breathe new life into the game, reworking the original assets to maintain authenticity, addressing small plot holes, and most importantly, it sets a new standard for how to make point-and-clicks more accessible in this modern day when players are less forgiving with their time and patience. Not to mention, all these years later, making George show everyone his dirty greasepaint tissue is still just as funny as ever. With that, I only have one thing left to say. Does this tissue mean anything to you?
Even if Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster tones down the diamond-sharp edges of the original game a little too much, every single change ultimately works towards making it unarguably the best way to experience Dead Rising, especially for a long-time fan who wants to revisit Willamette in a more approachable game.
While it could serve to offer more of a challenge and some quests feel a little rote, the times when The Plucky Squire twists genre convention and blends 2D and 3D puzzles are a sparkle of imagination in the genre.
Frostpunk 2 has shaped up to be a hefty sequel that built intelligently on the bones of its already excellent predecessor, capturing all the most compelling parts of the first game while exploring human nature and morality with deftness.
Sitting down with this collection is stepping into an alternate timeline, and having 50 timeless 8-bit gems dumped into your lap. The level of variety, and the incredible quality of each game, make UFO 50 an absurd value. For anyone looking to experience the magic of video games, I can’t stress enough how excellent UFO 50 is. It is an out-of-this-world collection.
In all, every group of friends will have their favorite games in the Jackbox Naughty Pack, like all the other Jackbox packs. We probably won’t go back to Let Me Finish, but Fakin’ It and Dirty Drawful both got lots of belly laughs. Some of the people in our group were meeting for the first time, and nothing bonds new friends together quite like having to justify why you picked a trumpet emoji when Fakin’ It asks about your sex life. The game will go over well with some folks, and I did enjoy my time with it, but if you’re friends with people who already find ways to make every Jackbox pack into a ‘naughty’ pack, then being forced to do so may sometimes feel a little constricting.
Mexico 1921. A Deep Slumber is a picture-perfect snapshot of Mexican political turmoil in the early 20th century. With mechanics as satisfying as the world is beautiful, it's a joy to watch this political thriller through Juan's viewfinder. If you have any interest in history, Mexican culture, photography, or good video games, this isn't one to be missed.
If you loved the story of Persona 3 Reload and you’re hungry for a little more time with the members of SEES, the Episode Aigis - The Answer - DLC is more than worth it, providing about 30 hours of additional gameplay that shakes up the formula you perfected back in February. The characters feel like faithful progressions of themselves, and as long as you can forgive Metis prattling on about doing anything for her sister, I can’t recommend the DLC enough. I never got to play it back in the PlayStation 2 days, coming into the series far later with Persona 5, but with P3 fast becoming my favorite since then, I feel like it’s the most natural conclusion we could have asked for to the bittersweet story of Persona 3 Reload.
Marvel Vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is a complete package that delivers a wonderful collection of games while adding modern niceties such as a feature-rich training mode, and high-quality online play. It’s great to see Capcom learn from its mistakes to dial things in with its most recent collections. While it is a fairly priced product, the value is considerably worse if you only buy it to play Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. So, I do encourage everyone who picks up this collection to at least try the other games included. Odds are you’ll have a marvelous time.
You tend to start writing lines in your head when compiling a review, and one that stuck with me early was to call Astro Bot 'the best platformer since Super Mario Odyssey'. Then I played a little more and started to think 'maybe it's better'.
Space Marine 2 doesn’t seek to reinvent the third-person shooter or hack-n-slash genres, but it’s a competent addition to both. That said, it’s a great game for Warhammer fans, and nails the feeling of being a Space Marine better than any other game. The combat is crunchy and satisfying, executions are beautifully brutal, and the thunder hammer is one of the best weapons in gaming. But issues with linear levels, ally AI, and the unknown future of multiplayer mar the experience a little. Warhammer fans will pick this up, everyone else is probably better off waiting for a sale.
The Casting of Frank Stone is among Supermassive’s best work yet, with one of its strongest casts, a story that emboldens Dead by Daylight’s world while standing on its own two feet, and so much thought and care behind every single interaction. Not only is Frank Stone its best since Until Dawn, it even surpasses that seminal modern classic.