Justin Celani's Reviews
Rev 1 is better than it was on the 3DS
Outcast Second Contact is a neat idea and one that I wish brought Outcast updated mechanics and controls. Instead of being something that can bring in new fans, it feels like an attempt to just update the visuals and that’s it. New updates to all these features, new voice acting, and perhaps some more ease of use and quality of life improvements could have gone a long way to making this more than it is. As it stands, it’s a fascinating look at an old game with new visuals and that’s about it. The game hugely impacted and helped shape and mold what we have known to become open world games, but it’s not caught up yet with all the new improvements in today’s standards for this release. If a sequel does ever see the light of day, I’d love to see how they can actually refine and perhaps mold new open world games into become something more. If the first game could help start a genre, let’s see if a second one could improve and rejuvenate it. Outcast Second Contact is an experience most will likely want to leave in the past, new visual upgrades or not.
If Skyrim has grown stale or doesn't hold interest to certain players anymore, the Switch version most likely won't do anything to win players back. Though for newcomers and fans that want to return, Skyrim is here, as a great as remembered, and grand scale adventure now in the palm of your hands.
I hate to be overtly negative about any videogame, but Road Rage is a classic example of a game that just disappoints on almost every level.
It's one of the best Assassin's Creeds games I've played, and probably one of my all-time favorites right after Black Flag and the controversial AC III. This one was worth the wait. Now time to get back to exploring another ancient tomb!
If playing Doom on the go is a huge factor, it gets no better than this. It doesn't look the clearest or run the smoothest, but 90% of the time players can still enjoy one hell of a game.
The Frozen Wild is a great DLC that takes the core game, makes some new additions, and gives player a reason to return to the world in great form.
This might be the first time I think the license here might actually be doing the game harm then the game itself.
Echo truly surprised me in ways I didn't expect.
An extremely well done story crafted inside a psychological horror game that nails its terrifying atmosphere. It might not be the longest game or even the best horror game, but it truly got under my skin at times, and that's one of the highest accolades I can give any title in the genre.
Wulverblade is a blast to play, it looks and runs well, and it has rolling heads and slow motion death kills. It's colorful yet dark, it's a game yet it offers an educational aspect. It can feel hard at times, but the checkpoint system helped elevate that most moments. Grab a friend, a joycon, and do some split screen skull bashing because Wulverblade is a fun nostalgia romp and worth the price of admission.
Elex is a game that I like on a core and fundamental level.
When One Piece originally debuted it wasn’t to a huge reception and bringing it to the Switch seems like it was a simple enough of an idea to provide a portable version on Nintendo latest console. That could have been a selling point but it having debuted portable on Vita and 3DS, maybe not. Which really just makes this release seem all the more weird. It’s a mildly entertaining game for players looking for something anime like to play, ad a bit more for those who are actually fans of the franchise, yet were still looking at a bare bones port that most likely no one was really asking for. Only the most diehard of fans will most likely grab it again.
It might come from a small development team, it might be rough around the edges, but it's could be one of 2017 most unexpected RPG hits that more people should be aware of.
Runic Games has something special here and every facet of the game reeks of quality aside from one element. System performance on PS4 has a ton of stuttering or slow down moments. They have already updated the game a few times since it launched and the post support seems great, but this issue is literally my biggest and only issue. In an otherwise fantastic experience, captivating in its grandeur, this always took me right out of the experience. That blemish aside, every time I played Hob, I just got lost in its world, exciting to see everything the game would throw at me next. Exploration, combat, and the world all merge together in such a cohesive thought with almost no frustration, it’s just a sublime experience even with its performance issues.. Hob wasn’t on my list of must play games, or even known games for 2017. Don’t make the same mistake I did, Hob is definitely worth playing and a huge surprise.
I love what the developers are going for here, but it feels like a huge squandered opportunity.
Hidden Dragon Legend is the classic example of a game trying to be bigger than it's potential budget or development. There is a great idea here marred by too many issues for me to really recommend this to anyone except the hardcore action or indie supporters. There is fun to be had, but it comes with serious caveats.
The theme of wet t-shirts, water guns, and silly antics is something that I could overlook regardless of how much it just made me uncomfortable at times, but the core gameplay mechanics here just didn't do it for me.
Shortly after the intro moments, when I realized that The Last Day of June wasn't a title about the end of summer but the last day of a person's life, the reality set in that this was going to be an emotional rollercoaster, and it surely is.
This was a solid first episode and if the quality keeps up, the entire prequel will be a nice companion pieces to the original game. Hopefully not taken anything away from it, but only adding more.