Niko Lähteenmäki's Reviews
Despite its flaws, Local News with Cliff Rockslide is worth experiencing purely for its unique theme and clever writing. While playing, you can also tell that the studio clearly had fun working on the project. It certainly doesn’t come with a steep price tag either, which makes it even easier to push the purchase button.
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All in all, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is great action RPG for fans of soulslike games and especially for the fans of the Nioh series. Despite the many comparisons in the review, it firmly stands on its own feet. While Team Ninja has once again crafted an excellent experience, it's worth remembering that soulslikes are not for everyone, and Wo Long doesn’t actively try to attract newcomers to the genre, even though its difficulty level is quite fair—at least for the most part.
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Despite its thin plot and small nitpicks, playing Hogwarts Legacy is truly enjoyable. In addition to the main adventure, activities like interacting with fantastic beasts, broom flying and wand combat are all incredibly fun. There’s also plenty of side content – like Merlin’s Trial puzzle challenges, which are quite clever. Although Hogwarts and its surroundings are vast and full of details, I didn’t experience the usual open-world fatigue, because the experience feels so unique. The audiovisual execution is also second to none, with both sound effects and the soundtrack successfully mimicking the atmosphere of the Potter films.
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Although Forspoken has more points of criticism than the average game and there are definitely better RPGs, the "DON'T BUY THIS" campaign by certain YouTube personalities feels a bit over the top. There are some good elements after all, and the gameplay itself is quite enjoyable. The fantasy adventure that blends the present and the past strongly reminds me of the '90s, when similar "ordinary person in a magical world" setups were seen more frequently. Too bad, that the main character is quite unlikeable.
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When I got to test Sonic Frontiers at Gamescom 2022, I already had a feeling that something truly unique might be at hand. When reviewing the final product, it was a joy to realize that my initial positive impressions didn’t fade—in fact, quite the opposite. At this time of year and in this state of mind, the new Sonic fits incredibly well. And best of all: if this is the direction Sonic Team wants to take the series, fans can finally be hopeful about the future of the blue blur.
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Bayonetta 3 isn’t the best entry in the series, but it’s still an incredibly powerful action spectacle that easily outshines games like Soulstice, which I reviewed recently. Rumor has it that PlatinumGames’ top boss, Hideki Kamiya, is already hard at work on the fourth installment, so we definitely haven’t heard the last from the universe’s toughest witch.
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The difficulty in Atari Mania often feels downright unfair, making retries more frustrating than fun. Mediocre instructions, unclear hitboxes, input lag issues, and occasionally odd control mechanics ruin the experience far too often. There are some good microgames — plenty, in fact — but progress is halted far too frequently for all the wrong reasons. This is a true shame: Atari Mania has a fun and interesting concept, and I really wanted to like it more.
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Visually, Splatoon 3 has a childlike aesthetic, but its vibrant worlds are charming and pleasing to the eye. As a big bonus, matches run at a silky-smooth 60 frames per second, proving that Nintendo truly knows how to squeeze every drop of power from aging hardware. The sound effects are fairly standard, while the music hits the player with a full blast of speed metal, disco, trance, polka, and just pure chaotic madness. Surprisingly, all these elements come together seamlessly, creating a truly unique experience. So: now is the perfect time to dive into the world of Splatoon!
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Unfortunately, Soulstice is a forgettable hack-and-slash that also overstays its welcome. This is a shame, because at its best, it can be quite stylish and mechanically competent, especially during boss battles. The challenge level feels well-balanced, but a completely uninteresting story, bland characters, repetitive environments, occasional camera problems and ultimately shallow combat drag the experience down into an abyss from which it never recovers. Even its overall vibe seems primarily aimed at underage goths. That said, Soulstice does have some solid foundations, and the hack-and-slash genre is far from outdated. Perhaps in a sequel, the pieces will fall into place more effectively?
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Pac-Man World Re-PAC reveals that old 3D platformers have aged worse than their 2D counterparts. Throughout the playthrough, it became clear that what was cool and original in 2000, no longer feels that way in 2022 unfortunately. Unlike Super Mario 64, Pac-Man World simply doesn’t have quite the same timeless magic. But then again, Pac-Man World Re-PAC is a solid remake and in a nutshell: If you’re familiar with the original and want the same experience with updated graphics — just like on the original PlayStation — then go ahead and grab it. If you have kids in the family, I’d still recommend Pac-Man’s adventure, as the levels aren’t too large, and there’s an easier difficulty mode available if needed. However, if you’re an adult and completely new to the game, keep my earlier warnings in mind.
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Stray is a stunning work of art. While it’s primarily an atmospheric journey, it offers enough meaningful activities, intriguing characters, and beautiful locations to explore, making it stand out clearly from the crowd. Additionally, the adventure as a whole is so cohesive, beautiful, and memorable that it can be recommended to just about anyone — even those who aren’t particularly fond of cats.
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Despite being quite bad as a remaster, Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition is not a completely hopeless case, as it is still a stylish adventure that makes great use of its source material and will surely entertain those returning for another playthrough. However, it deserves a much better framework, as many mechanics have inevitably aged over the past 25 years, and the new technical issues certainly don’t make the experience any easier for point-and-click enthusiasts. Therefore, dear friends, I highly recommend buying the bug-free GOG release on PC. Or, at least wait for an update fix.
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Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series is incredibly difficult to review, because I have to admit that nostalgia is buzzing strongly in the back of my mind. However, returning to these old classics was an absolute joy, and I feel that the adventures have aged remarkably well. I'm simply happy that Klonoa can finally be played easily on modern hardware. At the same time, the collection doesn’t offer anything new content-wise, nor does it particularly try to win over new fans, as the market is full of more feature-rich platformers. However, what it lacks in modern features, it makes up for in personality. That’s why I encourage especially the platformer fans to give Klonoa a shot, at the very least on discount. You might even be pleasantly surprised!
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Sonic Origins is a very mixed bag. The collection proves that the Sonic games have stood the test of time quite well — especially CD, which after this revisit might have become my personal favorite. The series’ art style is still pleasing to the eye, the music rocks, and the Retro Engine conversions are mostly high quality. However, in terms of content, the execution feels incomplete. This could have been the ultimate Sonic collection — the one that puts older compilations to shame. However, the wasted potential is frustrating and it’s almost unbelievable that Sonic Mega Collection Plus, released 18 years ago on the PlayStation 2, still outshines Sonic Origins in terms of content. Think about that.
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Trek to Yomi is a memorable experience, but its gameplay merits are somewhat lacking. If you're a fan of Kurosawa-style storytelling, this five-hour adventure is worth recommending, but others might want to approach it with caution — perhaps even knock one star off the rating. Despite all my complaints, the game still held my attention from start to finish, largely thanks to its stunning aesthetics and striking story.
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