Justin Celani's Reviews
The reason this is such a hard title to review is because it's by and large the exact same game as the original 2005 release. It's not exactly the easiest game to get into, and it still retains all the faults and issues it had upon release. Someone jumping into this game now and expecting something more refined or suitable to today's standards will be disappointed. Yet for players familiar with the game or those willing to explore the dark world it presents, there is plenty of story and interesting moments to appreciate. Just go in knowing that it's a relic of the past, and that it plays as such. Those ok with that will find that an interesting world awaits.
Visual novels are not exactly my forte. This is the first time I've played one, and while I'm still not one hundred percent sold on the idea, even being an avid reader in the past, I can appreciate what these games do for the genre. I think I'd love to see more unique visual novels, as of now most seem to cater to similar themes and ideas. This is where Sound of Drop hooked me. It's horror, it's interesting in premise, and it's easy enough to get into because I was digging the core story. Perhaps that's all it really takes sometimes.
It's great to see some new areas and bosses for Bloodborne, but as it stands I don't find it necessary. Most that love Bloodborne will eat this new content up with a silver spoon wanting more. I'm content with what the base game offered, and find it almost unnecessary, but I do appreciate what is offered for those wanting more reasons to jump back into the world of monsters and hunters.
Hard West does a ton of things right in my book. It offers quite a few of what I would call mini campaigns that not only keep the player engaged, but constantly add new elements to gameplay while progressing the storyline. It's a pro and a con, as every time a new story section is introduced, each lasting a few hours, the next is almost as if starting anew, which might rub players the wrong way. At the same time the player is constantly engaged with something new to do or way to play, even if it only feels minor at times. It's not the longest or the most in depth RPG, but for the price, the theme, and unique style, Hard West is clearly worth your time in gold and offers a fairly authentic western experience, well besides the demon and supernatural overtones that is. Saddle up partner, the west might be hard, but it's also a worthy, fun time.
Devils Third has some ambitious and unique online gameplay, and at its core the campaign feels like an old brawler and shooting game from years ago, but it's games like these that make me appreciate the smaller titles or the underdogs that sit next to all the big budget titles. Devils Third is the embodiment of schlocky B action movies, and if players can associate with that style or old-school games, there is something of value to be found here. If everything read up until this point has you nodding in agreement or wanting to check this out, forget the numerical score, the $60 price tag might just be worth it. Otherwise wait for a price drop…if it ever happens.
I had high hopes for this entire episodic series and I still do, but let's hope chapter 2 is the worst out of them all because, it's a fall from grace in almost every way.
The idea behind Albedo is a cool one, but it's one that doesn't feel like the idea fully panned out. I appreciate everything the game does offer, especially as I hear it was created by a one man team. I just wish it had more polish and felt better to player.
Players that love a good story, some nice reveals, and lots of character driven dialog will eat up Oxenfree. It personally reminded me at times of Goonies, Donnie Darko, and X-files, all thrown in a blender together and spat out. It's a game with a great amount of heart, and one scene in particular, while it didn't have me in tears, I couldn't help feel touched by that moment.
Clockwork Tales of Glass and Ink will last players around 3 or 4 hours depending on how fast puzzles are figured out or how much abuse the hint system gets. It's best to just get absorbed into the world they created and figure it out as best players can. It's not the best looking game or the most elaborate of titles to keep you occupied for hours, but it's charming and aside from the shorter length the only other issue I had with it was the silly animation for talking. Characters come off looking goofy the way they move, and I found myself laughing out loud when I shouldn't have. That aside, if more hidden objects games are like Clockwork Tales of Glass and Ink, I'd be more inclined to give them a try.
I loved my time with the original release and I soon found myself loving it all over again on PC. Rise of the Tomb Raider continues improving upon the new formula that was created in the last game, but here we feel that Lara really is becoming a tomb raider.
The DLC isn't the best I've played but it's not the worst, it got me really excited, but then was over before I knew it.
Firewatch left me both disappointed but also pleased. The system performance on PS4 is a bummer and I can overlook it, as this is a game about its story and choices in dialog, so performance never affected my input to the gameplay. It just simply feels rough around the edges and it shows. Meanwhile, as hyped as I was for this and I can't really explain this as doing so would spoil elements of the story, but things were not as I expected, and while it's refreshing, sometimes elements feel like a cop out or as I said earlier, a red herring and that doesn't always rub me personally the right way. I enjoyed my time with Firewatch and I really cared about both of these people… or characters I should say.
Arslan is a warrior's game and its roots are obvious. The fact that it is extremely story driven though, really gives me a sense to keep moving forward and I constantly found myself playing "just one more battle". It's not changing up the formula that much and that's fine in my opinion, but the story hook was there.
Dying Light The Following is a decent length expansion that will last players around ten hours and adds a nice little chunk to the core gameplay that can extend the overall package of Dying Light, even with newer features in the be the zombie mode also.
Sometimes a game comes along that sees a team of people coming together to create something unique and scary all the same. That's Layers of Fear in a nutshell and it scared the living hell out of me.
From missions involving finding totems, to investigating why a river is causing sickness, investigating dark caverns, or climbing a great cliff for rare feathers, there is plenty of variation between all the killings. If the idea and theme don't resonate with players and pull them in, I'd probably rate this game a point or two lower then my personal score as I feel it's rather crucial to get the most enjoyment out of this title. That said, I absolutely loved my time with Primal though and to see a game set in this time period, with no guns, and with high production values just seems completely experimental and bold. I can't help but commend Ubisoft in attempting this.
The Flame in the Flood was a fantastic experience for me.
Hitman GO is a unique spin to a franchise and feels like the perfect combination of puzzle and strategy game, especially in quick bursts. I can only handle so much in one sitting, but every time I do play, I find myself sucked in just a little bit more.
The core campaign and multiplayer segments are all here, and if players don’t own an Xbox One it’s definitely worth checking out, especially if having never played a Gears of War game. This is the start of it all, and better than it originally released in most aspects.
This won't create any new fans of the series or bring anything extremely different to the foray, but it's still a solid first start to a 3 part miniseries. I do hope the other two episode play out just a little longer than the 90 minutes this lasted, but otherwise, I'm definitely down for the next episodes.