Luke Addison 's Reviews
Sand Land has a lot to offer everyone, even those (like myself) that didn’t know the source material before hand. The standard RPG fare of unlocking new skills is there, as is the general structure of a good RPG, but what Sand Land does differently is the world it inhabits, the combat present (slow and sluggish at first, but a joy once you unlock everything for Beezlebub and the vehicles) and the atmosphere it allows. There’s always room for improvement, but as an Manga adaptation goes, I can now add Sand Land to Pokemon and Dragon Ball as games I’ll be keeping an eye out for.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden oozes class, with a 20 to 30-hour story and plenty of off-the-beaten paths to explore – most with a reward at the end. You’ll be pitted with some disgusting and distressful story moments, some out-of-the-book thinking, and some genuinely hard decisions. The combat and accompanying skill trees will keep you invested and satisfied, whilst allowing enough different combinations you’ll feel each playthrough is different enough to warrant another one, and at the center of it all is a love story between two lovers who want nothing more than to be together forever, but the forces at play seem intent on stopping that. My only hope is that the game sells as well as the lasting memories it has left me with deserve, and we get a new, genuinely unique franchise from this.
The amount of content, time, and thought that has been put into Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is staggering, and it's inarguable that it is worth every penny for both fans of the franchise, but also those wanting to try it out for the first time. Even though I was lucky enough to have my copy of the game three weeks before this review went live, I can say there are still huge amounts of gameplay left for me to play, with the multiple mini-games, substories, and activities keeping me entertained. If I had to put a number on it, there are easily triple-digit hours worth of game here, and nearly all of it is incredible. There are a few bugbears to put up with, with the odd bug here and there, some character models do look poor - reserved for the infrequently seen side-characters or the NPCs on the streets -, and some parts of the city do feel empty, and not lived in. That said, not only are these all relatively minimal and inconsequential to the larger experience, but you'll quickly realize that the good way outweighs the small amounts of bad, and you'll have an absolute blast in what could be the studio's best game yet.
I loved every single second of my time with Fort Solis, and as well as piecing together everything and exploring the site, I spent too much time nosing around through my co-workers emails and private effects under the guise of uncovering the story, but it was as much fun finding out snippets of my co-workers lives outside their work. It’s a fantastically weird amalgamation of Total Recall, Sunshine and the walking simulator Death Stranding, but all packaged in a sometimes-claustrophobic, always-atmospheric package.
Gangs of Sherwood certainly isn't the deepest or most convoluted game on the planet, but it never pretends to be anything more than it is; a game made to be enjoyed with friends with a simplistic premise. It is genuinely good, surface level fun with friends, and it has all the basics of what a game like this should have, but it also comes with plenty of room for improvement in future DLC or future instalments.
For a smaller entry, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name offers a lot, both with content in the short term, but also influence on the larger Yakuza storyline at play. It harkens back to previous installments regularly, and connects to the future ones too, filling in gaps in Kiryu’s story and rounding him out even further. The reused and revisited locations are a mixture of familiar and overused, but they don’t overstay their welcome in this installment, and the new additions of The Castle help alleviate any potential boredom, whilst the combat introduces a new side to Kiryu, with new abilities and moves, it can feel repetitive after a while. As a whole, fans of the franchise will not be disappointed, and it will prove an easy jumping-on-point for newcomers alike with the constant recaps of the story so far, but for those looking for a longer, more in-depth entry to the franchise, you’ll be a little disappointed and may have to wait for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth next year.
Whereas the first Alan Wake was more of an action-adventure game with a few horror elements thrown in, Alan Wake 2 flips the script. This is a horror game, heavy on the horror, heavy on the graphic, adult themes, interspersed with moments of brutal combat that'll leave you sweating and your heart pounding. It holds nothing back. It makes the hard choices. It is immersive, incredible, and a technical achievement. It's what we fans have deserved after all these years of waiting, and Remedy has done themselves proud, and that's the biggest compliment this Alan Wake 2 review can give.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was a lot of people's most anticipated Game of the Year, and for good reason with the quality of the two previous entries. and I'm glad to say that it doesn't disappoint. A few pacing issues, some - at times - confusing combat options and the occasional bug does not detract from the overall experience. The performances of the cast as a whole are fantastic, but a special shout for Yuri Lowenthal as Peter needs to happen. The path Peter goes on throughout the story is a hard and harrowing one, but every single sentence and every single syllable is performed with such conviction you'll feel every emotion Peter does. From sad and full of loss to anger and desperate addiction, Lowenthal absolutely smashed it. I spent the majority of my time with a gigantic smile on my face, followed by a slew of emotions that left me emotionally exhausted. If you're a Spider-Man fan, be it film, comics, animated TV shows or early video game adaptations, this is absolutely something you should experience yourself.
Sonic Superstars is fun, there is no denying that. But for every part that relies on the nostalgia of the original games, there are modes or mechanics implemented that seem to forget we’re in the modern day. Give us more of a fleshed-out Battle Mode. Online co-op. A variety of end-of-level bosses. Either way, even with the drawbacks, this is closer to Sonic than the attempted deviation that was Sonic Frontiers. A little more polish, content, and depth would have made this one of the better modern Sonic games, but we got a reminder of how great the franchise used to and perhaps could be again.