Steve Farrelly
This is both a true sequel and a hoisted flagpole on what this series is and where it’s going into the future.
If you’re not Force compliant, but love videogames and especially those of the open-worldish kind (it’s more expanded path and sandboxey than truly OW), then there’s still something here for you. But you might find it hard to move past, no pun intended, some of the game’s traversal which has only been mildly updated from the first game. It’s better, but it could be *better*. And if none of the above sits with you, I’ll leave you with this: Star War Jedi: Survivor is slightly outlier in its foundational universe and in its pedigree and influences. It’s a mish-mash that somehow makes a whole, but for anyone keen on what that means, I can only say saddle up and enjoy the ride, because for its shortcomings and intimidation in size, scope and IP density, Survivor is one heck of a frontier game.
Delayed a bunch and certainly long-in-the-tooth in terms of its heritage, Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp is still worth signing up and serving for.
com/features/read/3646015" target="_blank">From Depths Unknown - Talking and Playing Dredge with Black Salt Games </a></h3>.
It is still the benchmark, untopped here, albeit close, in spite of its tapped self.
I could have written an essay on its brilliant design, but instead I let it take me on a trip down memory lane while also feeling lucky to be playing a game in 2023 with such gravity, that it sinks everything else around it. Metroid Prime Remastered is perfection.
Enrol yourself today in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This might be one of the year’s best courses.
At this point you could make it a true Daily Double and just guess your way to the game's eventual kick off point, and you'd probably pull ahead of all the other contestants.
And from here your journey begins.
From the initial prison sequences through to deep underground spaces where you'll be navigating an old, abandoned colony to the surface of Callisto itself, the game serves up a terrifying feast for the eyes.
Tassing, however, has other plans for our young penman.
We wanted to experience a different saga, and God of War Ragnarök feels like the expansion of one we’ve already heard around the hearth, seen in a beautiful tapestry and heard on the high seas venturing towards more loot. Though it’s still a very, very good saga. One worthy of the Edda.
Hellena turned down the role in the end, and that public dispute is still bubbling along in the background in Twitter's cauldron, and while it hasn't affected the product before you today, the spat has certainly soured the behind-the-scenes of it all.
If themes exist across these games -- the first being Mushroom Kingdom focused, and the second Donkey Kong, then Sparks of Hope is a riff on the Super Mario Galaxy games as it features the Lumas of those games, only they're now Rabbidified and called Sparks, as well as some planet-hopping for differential fun and a broad spectrum of environments to play within.
Unfortunately not much has changed where that sentiment is concerned. And if we’re looking solely at the studio’s technical and artistic strengths, it doesn’t need to prove this aspect of its game anymore, but looking at things purely from a gameplay perspective, Asobo might need to come out of the Dark Ages.
There's just so much to learn and find and unlock in your first playthrough, and I'm not sure I even want to get into the prospect of follow-on sessions, armed with the knowledge that wood is your earliest friend and that you really shouldn't build with a hodgepodge sense of <i>whatever</i>, <i>wherever</i>, because I guarantee you it'll come back to bite you in your cute little lamb ass later.
In short, because it’s short, you get a more bite-sized piece of the whole Cuphead experience, but its upped challenge sort of makes up for that. I definitely found myself banging my head against the wall, which was to be expected, I just hadn’t wanted to be getting that headache so early on in the piece. It didn’t stop me from keeping on going though, which should give you an idea of the draw and pull here. Part tantalisation, part revenge, all in good fun. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course has certainly sated my hunger and I only hope that while this is meant to be the last service here, that the kitchen isn’t closed for good.
In this way, familiarity and the sense of game-universe expansion is a draw I can see tugging at the sleeve of only the most ardent of uniformed Fire Emblem devotees, but so much so they will be rewarded for going all in here.
) The studio has even gone to length to include not just a film grain overlay, but things like audio crackling, film burn and scratches as well as oddities in editing and the like.
In gaming, it's often touted at specific genres, such as the <i>Metroidvanias</i> or <i>Roguelikes</i> of the space; pixel-powered knockoffs or homages to our favourites of yesteryear dotting the proverbial Indie landscape, servicing a wistful bit of throwback while also cashing in on its powerful pull.