Joonatan Itkonen
- Disco Elysium
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Joonatan Itkonen's Reviews
Flintlock might be overtly familiar, but it's also an honest God of War clone with imagination and ideas to spare. For the price, it's a welcome addition to the genre, one that should tide you over until the next big thing comes along.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Nobody Wants to Die, the new game from developer Critical Hit Games is a stylistic triumph. It's a moody, atmospheric, and thoroughly captivating experience that's one of the most gorgeously rendered and conceived titles in years.
Warhammer 40k: Boltgun is the kind of title that’s easy to recommend to everyone. It’s an accessible, supremely fun blast from the past that does nearly everything right. In its price range, there’s very little competition that can offer an experience as smooth and polished as this. Do yourself a favor and give it a go.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is yet another gem from Nintendo’s remastered library. One that reminds us how many great games are still waiting to be rediscovered in their backlog. It’s true that the third Luigi’s Mansion is the better, more refined game, and that asking for a full price for a remaster is steep. But there’s so much to love and play here that maybe, just maybe, it’s fine this time around.
The Final Shape has several staggeringly annoying design choices and raid encounters, and solo adventurers rarely feel welcome. But it's also full of welcome fanservice, tender goodbyes, and a sense of scale this long story has seen before. If it's a farewell, it's well worth it.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
It might stumble with balancing issues, but everything else overshadows any minor complaints I might have. This is a gorgeously rendered dark fantasy, same as its predecessor; a vast and mythic nightmare I love to get lost in.
At its best, it’s the kind of action adventure game that you can point to as a high point of the genre. The kind of game that in the future others will use as an influence for their own projects. A work of art that emerges from the shadow of its predecessors and takes its place alongside as if it always belonged there.
Eiyuden Chronicles is the spiritual successor to the Suikoden series, and a heartbreaking farewell to Yoshitaka Murayama, who passed away unexpectedly earlier this year. As such, it's a bittersweet experience: one that thrills and excites, only to remind us that we'll never see something like it again.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
With gorgeous visuals that have aged gracefully, a stellar soundtrack, and a solid, perfectly playable experience right on the card, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is an easy recommendation. It’s yet another home run from Nintendo and their Switch console.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Endless Ocean Luminous, warts and all. It’s not a game that would be my first recommendation for most, but it is something that I wish everyone gave a chance. There’s a lot to love in any project that has this kind of purity of vision. Even if it’s vision to a fault.
Sand Land is a traditional action-adventure made better by the iconic style and wit of Akira Toriyama. It's also a sorrowful farewell to the maestro who helped revolutionize how the West viewed anime. We're lucky his final outing is this much fun and provides a fitting conclusion to his career.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Stellar Blade is exactly what it says on the tin. It isn't big, original, or even novel, and the experience turns tedious well before the 20-hour campaign draws to a close. The aggressive fanservice is equally dour and does nothing to hide the lazy shortcuts the narrative takes.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
For under 15 euros, it’s one of the more solid dungeon crawlers out there, and a perfect pick-up-and-play experience for fans of the genre. It’s the kind of indie gem that you can recommend for just about anyone, thanks to a low barrier of entry and a solid difficulty curve that makes repetition a joy.
Mixing Wallace & Gromit with Terry Gilliam, the delightful Harold Halibut has charm and artistry to spare. It's just a shame the gameplay gets in the way of a good thing, and often left me wondering whether this would have been better as an animated special instead.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Two years after its console debut, Forbidden West arrives on the PC with a respectable and often breathtakingly gorgeous port. The game still struggles with its linear story spread over a massive open world, but Aloy's post-apocalyptic adventure is still a wild and intoxicating vision worth experiencing.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Played with friends, Operation Galuga delivers exactly what it promises. A frenetic and over-the-top run-and-gun experience that is perfect for couch co-op sessions. In an era of 100 hour epics and online games-as-a-service sludge, Operation Galuga feels like a breath of fresh air. It’s simple, direct, and precisely what we need right now.
Princess Peach: Showtime! is an easy game to recommend. If you’re a fan of platformers, you’ll enjoy it. (Though, let’s face it, you’re not going to grit your teeth with this like you would with Super Meat Boy or something.) If this is your introduction to the genre, you’re in for a treat. It’s a deft balancing act between familiar and innovative that is consistently engaging and, above all, fun.
Put together, and Rise of the Ronin is a happy and welcome surprise in the genre. Whatever limitations it has, mostly due to its budget, are really ignored thanks to a well written story, beautiful open world, and fantastic action.
Dragon's Dogma 2 does plenty of things right, especially when it lets players immerse themselves in the superlative open world. But the stupid save mechanics and numerous performance issues eat away at that enjoyment to the point the gameplay feels like a chore. It's still fun, but it could be so much more.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Berserk Boy is a rare gem of an indie title. The kind that overcomes any comparison with its competitors, and stands proudly alongside them as an addition to a vast and storied genre. It reminded me why I love side-scrolling action games in the first place, and reignited a passion I had feared lost. It’s one of the best games of the year, and easily among the best additions to the genre.