Drew Hurley's Reviews
So utterly disappointing and flawed in every possible way… The first few hours, most of it can be ignored, and occasionally the flaws can be forgotten, but only briefly before they come storming back to the forefront. An awful, boring, empty, pointless experience. There is, however, a glimmer of hope. It's worth mentioning that there has already been a Bethesda title that was equally as unimpressive: The Elder Scrolls Online - but looking at it now, it has transformed into one of the best MMOs out there. There's always the hope the Fallout 76 develops the same way and becomes something special, but for now, that seems impossible. It's a world away from that.
Fallen Legion: Rise to Glory is the type of game that requires playing first before purchasing. It looks great, with some gorgeous hand-drawn art, and some cool looking combat. That combat system looks like a fresh take on the classic Valkyrie Profile, but once getting hands-on, it's quickly evident it doesn't live up to its promises. The premise is solid on both the action and the gameplay, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The story is horrendous, hugely convoluted, lacking any sort of pivotal moments, or interesting characters. The combat system is too manic and messy to master, leaving it as a real disappointment, overall.
Fans of Little Witch Academia will find something to do here in Chamber of Time. There's an original story from TRIGGER that is genuinely enjoyable and the interactions between the likeable cast are all great. It's just a shame that every element of gameplay is so massively flawed in so many ways. The groundhog day style repeating story was so promising and yet it has been produced in such a terrible fashion. There are plenty of good elements to the dungeon crawling, yet the levels themselves are dull and frustrating. A big disappointment.
It's always good to try something new but, conversely, it doesn't always work. Here, it really doesn't work. Scribblenauts' charm was always in challenging the players to use their imagination and their diction to come up with fun and original solutions over the obvious or the mundane. While there's still some of that in Scribblenaut Showdown's Sandbox mode, it's too little to truly enjoy and too much focus has been placed on the mediocre party games instead. Even for the low cost, this is a considerably disappointing entry into the series.
As the era of remakes continues on and on, with the recent confirmation of the original Shenmue games finally receiving their long-awaited remaster later this year, this is not a good example to look to for what's in store. If this is indicative of what to expect, the Final Fantasy VII faithful are right to be concerned for what their upcoming drastically different remake has in store. Somehow, it manages to take the original and, honestly, it makes it worse… The same story and the same game are still here at its heart, but it's hidden away under so many layers of imperfections and issues that it's almost indistinguishable. Frankly, it's a better idea to grab a SNES mini and enjoy the original instead. Horribly disappointing.
Nintendo Switch is becoming the go-to home for indie titles, and that's become something of a double-edged sword. It has meant that Switch is becoming the new Vita, stuffed to bursting with indie darling ports from PC, giving a whole new audience the chance to experience them. However, it's also meant an influx of mobile ports that are not quite as memorable. Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops XL falls somewhere in the middle. There's a ton of content here for the low price of £9.99, but these games are sadly artificially inflated with repetitive, boring gameplay that really shows its age.
As a finale, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series - Episode Five: Don't Stop Believin' is a complete failure. The big action sequence lacks any real punch, and the final moments are not joyous or victorious, instead being boring and feeling like a fan-fiction written by a teenage supporter. Telltale recently announced the lay-offs of 25% of its workforce, so it could produce higher quality stories. Hopefully, this trimming of the fat will return it to the halcyon days that now seem so long ago.
Those who have played through each iteration of Sword Art Online titles will enjoy this, although it does little new in the gameplay section, and just feels more of the same, just with a new story for Kirito and his team, along with the introduction of what is actually a fun franchise, with the inclusion of Accel World. The problem is that the core mechanics are horribly flawed, and the gameplay quickly becomes dull and repetitive. One for the hardcore fans only this time.
Root Letter was on the radar of every visual novel fan out there when it was announced to be getting a release in the West, but it does not live up to the hype. The story starts strong and then peters out into a mess and the writing is simply awful, the fun characters being the only real saving grace. The gameplay mechanics feel like shallow approximations of better titles, and, ultimately, this quickly becomes a considerable let-down.
There are some elements of Sadame that are done well, but they are completely overwhelmed by the fundamental aspects just being so poor. Monotonous combat, inconsistent difficulty levels, and terrible AI all make for a truly frustrating and disappointing experience. Rising Star have delivered some real gems in the past, but sadly, this isn't one of them. While briefly enjoyable in the short term, it's hard to find a reason to return.
Series fans will find something to enjoy, yet those simply looking a fighting experience with friends will find this to be frustrating.
Samurai Warriors 5 is a game of reductions. In its move to reboot the series it seemingly has gone back to providing as much content as the first entry. A cynic may say they'll likely slowly start to reintroduce these established features like they're new innovations. Innovation… It's insane that while Omega Force continues to do just that. To innovate. To deliver. But only with titles it produced for other people's franchises. When it comes to its own franchises, frankly, the developer is going backwards. Following the disappointment of what Dynasty Warriors became, Samurai Warriors has now joined the club as a shadow of its former self.
For the Monster Truck fanatics in attendance, those that know the difference between "Hook Up" and "Hooking Clay" or between a "Slap Wheelie" and a "Sky Wheelie", there's going to be something to enjoy in Monster Hunt Championship. But, while there's some fun to be had, the game just feels lacking. The experience is more fitting with arcade-style mechanics compared to the sim-style elements, and by delivering these sim elements it makes the game feel as slow and clunky as the vehicles.
Oceanhorn 2 has the odd moment which is really enjoyable, mostly limited to the puzzles and bosses within the dungeons. But there could be so much more here, there are glimpses of a game that could be really special, but it regularly loses the attention of its audience due to the barren open world. The presentation feels low quality and dated, the combat clunky, the world empty. This looked so promising, but is quite the disappointment.
Early glimpses of the puzzles and dungeons showed just how great Ary and the Secret of Seasons could be, and while those are realised here, it's just not enough to make up for the numerous issues and missteps. Many players won't be able to even see those best moments unless they have the considerable patience needed to be able to get over halfway through. A true disappointment; there is an awful lot to like here, but ultimately it's hard to recommend this. Strangely, considering how many times it's been delayed, this just feels unfinished, like a preview build.
A perfect example of nostalgia glasses. In short, this may be a hidden gem, but it is completely representative of its time. 2D Platformers have long moved on, and this deserved some overhaul to the core gameplay, instead of just a graphical improvement and a tacked-on multiplayer experience. The soundtrack is a perfect encapsulation of the game as a whole. Utterly charming for the first few moments, but then each track repeats again. And again. And again. One note. Those who enjoyed the first may find themselves questioning why they did, should they dive into the murky waters here.
Nostalgia and an 8-bit classic simply aren't worth the price of admission
This is kind of fun, but there are many other games already that do what it tries to do so much better.
The developers will likely not appreciate the comparison, but this is like a stylish drum and bass-centric Flappy Bird. That alone should establish just who the audience is. It's a frustrating, maddening experience that will find a niche audience that just loves punishment, but is certainly not for everyone - or even for many.
Shelter Generations is a considerable disappointment. This whole package seemed filled with promise but each and every element is terribly flawed in its execution. Shelter 2 feels like an empty world, meaning it regularly begins to feel dull, and even when the world has enough content, there isn't enough development in the story or the core gameplay to keep things interesting. Paws improves things by adding a story, some puzzles to keep things interesting, and a whole bunch of charm. There are some lovely and genuinely moving moments. It's good, but just too short, and it's not enough to save this collection.