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Adam Riley

AdamCubed3
AdamCubed3
Adam-Cubed3.com

Favorite Games:
  • Chrono Trigger
  • Secret of Mana
  • Final Fantasy VI

127 games reviewed
72.9 average score
80 median score
56.7% of games recommended

Adam Riley's Reviews

As Cubed3's Operations Director, Adam delves into the business side of the site, but still finds time to dabble in the odd bit of gaming here and there, in-between doing voice acting and producing a weekly radio show on the side. He's a busy chap, you know!

République Episode 4: God's Acre may not quite hits the highest of highs set in Episode 2: Metamorphosis, but it does attempt to freshen up the core concept, as well as bring in some more puzzle elements, as well as heap on plenty of extra layers for those already engrossed in the story. Ditching the multiple guards approach for one where there is just a solitary big monster with lots of surrounding noise hazards was a risky move, but it has been pulled off very well indeed.

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Even after such a long wait, and with a hazy memory of the past titles, Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn proves to be a major success, working just as well, in fact, as a standalone product thanks to the Story Recap option filling some blanks for newcomers and the writing being clever enough to not leave fresh faces bewildered. Smooth controls, stunning visuals, and fantastic audio direction all make for a special adventure, albeit one with one or two fetch-quests too many included. Conversation threads may prove too wordy for some, yet others that are eager to get lost in the lore, and learn more about the world they are stepping into, will be exhilarated. This is definitely not for those wanting to rush through to the end; taking the time to savour the overall excellence of the package is ideal - feel the love that has been poured into it, and get ready for Book Two: Rebels.

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Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn was a revelation, tickling every nostalgic bone in the body, as well as introducing gripping new story elements and a thoroughly well thought-out decision making system. Book Two: Rebels starts off strong, but peters out somewhat due to too much backtracking and tiresome fetch quests. With enough likeable characters, intrigue regarding the overarching tale, and the lure of seeing how decisions already made will continue to affect future proceedings, however, this latest Dreamfall Chapters edition is well worth grinding through before diving into Book Three: Realms for more juicy revelations.

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Dreamfall Chapters Book Three: Realms manages to blow the previous two chapters completely out of the water, upping the ante in the story stakes, building more of a connection between players and the characters within, whilst also introducing some highly engaging new puzzles across both new and familiar settings, fixing any of the niggling issues found in Book One: Reborn and Book Two: Rebels. This is what fans were waiting for - and it can only get better from this point onwards.

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Dreamfall Chapters Book Four: Revelations continues where Book Three: Realms left off, keeping the action flowing quickly to prevent boredom creeping in, and upping the ante in the puzzle stakes. Locations change regularly, the mix of conundrum types is more varied than before, and the dialogue feels fresher than it ever did, with witty banter causing raucous laugh-out-loud moments, adjusting the tone appropriately to avoid the seriousness of some of the subject matter from becoming too sombre in the long run. There is talk of the 'Balance' throughout the game's story… Well, Red Thread Games has certainly achieved the perfect balance with this fourth book.

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Feb 11, 2016

Without a doubt, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. is just as solid an RPG adventure as its predecessors, avoiding the pit that Partners in Time fell into with its multi-character approach. Paper Mario slots into this new romp perfectly well, although there are times where the 'Paper' world is not exploited as much as fans may have wanted. Nevertheless, the laughs are still there, as are the innovative 'Bros.' moves for battles, more than making up for the incessant mandatory 'Toad Hunt' mini-games included. This may not be Mario & Luigi at its best, but it still rises high above the recent Paper Mario entries and will keep fans of the series entertained until the end of the impressively lengthy adventure.

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6 / 10 - Heaven's Hope
Feb 24, 2016

For all the niggling little flaws faced throughout, Heaven's Hope still retains more than enough oomph to keep the adventure from grinding to a complete halt. Sadly, it is lacking the promised humour, yet the smart puzzles, and variety included, make for an intriguing journey, albeit a frustrating one at times as the order things must be completed can be too restrictive.

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7 / 10 - Shardlight
Mar 8, 2016

It may start off slow, but Shardlight quickly develops into a truly gripping adventure, filled with high levels of intrigue on the story side, complete with some thoroughly inventive puzzles, and the trademark touch of class that WadjetEye Games brings to the genre, making best use of the Adventure Game Studio engine. There can be a bit too much back-tracking early on, but the balance is right, overall, preventing frustration from creeping in, especially thanks to the areas to visit being so close together and the intelligent map system in place, meaning that it is not too tough to revisit places to find things that were initially missed. All-in-all, this is another strong addition to WadjetEye Games' line-up.

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Highly amusing throughout, with a heavy dose of fantastically dry British humour and plenty of loveable characters, Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet is a joy to play through from start to finish. Combined with cavalcade of smart puzzles that hardly ever get too frustrating, as well as gorgeous presentation values and very impressive voice acting, this is easily one of the most enjoyable adventures of 2016.

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République Episode 5: Terminus is absolutely fantastic from start to near enough the end, and then cripples everything with a horrendous ending that does not wrap anything up, in fact throwing up even more questions than before. After being led along by the intrigue and mystery across the previous four episodes, building up the tension levels as high as possible, no matter how strong the core gameplay is here after the previous episode's dip in quality, the actual lack of direction in its story is so shockingly poor that it leaves a foul taste in the mouth and spoils everything. Ultimately, it is total dissatisfaction, smacking of a team unsure of how to tie up its loose story threads. What a sad way to see out a game with such promise…

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6 / 10 - Star Fox Zero
Apr 20, 2016

As much as there is to love in Star Fox Zero, sadly the awkward controls of various vehicles, and the horrendous forced second viewpoint and gyroscope targeting of regular Arwing and Landmaster stages almost ruin the entire experience. There are tremendous highs when the core Star Fox controls kick back in, but moments of frustration are present that simply wouldn't have been if feedback from early hands-on reports had been taken on-board.

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Dreamfall Chapters Book Five: Redux may well be the fitting conclusion to this episodic series for many in story terms, and leaves it open enough to see a return in the (hopefully not too distant) future, but it is not anywhere near as enjoyable on the gameplay front as its predecessors. Looking at all five books together would mean that Dreamfall would shine bright, but on its own, Book Five: Redux is nothing more than a lengthy interactive movie sequence to try and wrap up loose plot threads. Highly pleasing on one level, it sadly leaves a big question lingering: why did it take so long to release this given the lack of actual puzzles and adventuring included? Poor integration of past characters and confusion over how everything actually fits together during the final sequences only add to the already mudded waters.

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Jul 1, 2016

What an absolute joy to play through. With Kirby: Planet Robobot, Nintendo and HAL have delivered not only a standard Kirby platform outing for Nintendo 3DS that matches the usual high quality levels found throughout the series, but have managed to bring many new elements into the mix to ensure that this the freshest Kirby to date, merging clever ideas from other genre stable-mates with the traditional qualities everyone knows and loves.

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8 / 10 - Goetia
Jul 31, 2016

Even from its early demo, it was apparent that Goetia was going to be something special, and it simply has not disappointed in its final build. Sure, there are a few typographical errors and unusual animations for carrying objects around Blackwood Manor that should have been tidied up, and some of the puzzles can be a bit too obtuse, but it can all be forgiven because of the mystique surrounding the whole adventure and overall high quality throughout. The development team had something special on its hands that caught people's imagination, and has now given birth to a very special project indeed. Goetia takes the point-and-click adventure mould and re-shapes it into something remarkably exciting and fresh.

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Aug 29, 2016

Sadly, despite an attempt to include in-depth story threads and bring in intriguing puzzles, Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma falls down on too many occasions. Be it the convoluted yarns that do not tie things together well enough, puzzles that fluctuate in difficulty and interest levels far too much, as well as a poorly thought out flowchart system that leads players into numerous dead ends, either requiring sheer guesswork and random replaying of certain scenarios, or caving in and using online guides.

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Sep 4, 2016

Bear With Me: Episode 1 is a very intriguing concept wrapped up in a wonderfully dark world, with great narrative throughout and loveable characters. This first episode sets the stage for an adventure that is sure to get better as times goes by, but currently one that is held back by the bear's slightly off voice acting, and a few puzzles that are not solved in the most logical of ways, instead forcing certain triggers to occur before progress is made - a trap many games of this ilk fall into, sadly. So far this is enjoyable, but it has unfulfilled potential for the time being that hopefully forthcoming episodes will fulfil.

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The Secret Monster Society - Chapter 1: Monsters, Fires and Forbidden Forests is a great precursor to the fully-fledged point-and-click adventure, filled with a pleasing selection of puzzle styles, some wonderful visual presentation, and great voice acting along the way. What it lacks in terms of overall length and taxing puzzles, it makes up for in the aesthetic stakes, with some really loveable characters introduced, leaving a strong desire for Chapter 2 to arrive quickly.

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Duke Grabowski, Mighty Swashbuckler starts off in the shadow of games it has clearly been inspired by, not quite living up to their high standards. However, it quickly shakes this off thanks to the abundance of charm exuding from every pore helping to alleviate the issue, leaving gamers with an excellent -albeit bite-sized - pirate-filled point-and-click romp that fans of the genre will lap up with joy. Roll on episode two…

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4 / 10 - The Bunker
Oct 4, 2016

Do not be sucked in by the intrigue of Full-motion video 'making a comeback,' as despite good intentions, The Bunker is a bland story with an over-reliance on button mashing that never engages those…well, not really 'in control,' more 'viewing' the interactive video sequences. The concept is indeed a good one, but so poorly executed, leaving an overall feeling of emptiness when all is said and done.

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Bringing together the key players from recent Ace Attorney outings, whilst developing some of the newer characters to flesh out their stories for future entries, is a very difficult balancing act, yet with Spirit of Justice Capcom expertly navigates any pitfalls to deliver the most in-depth, enthralling episode of Phoenix Wright's adventures so far. It might, for better or worse, feel like Apollo Justice 2 to some, but the way the story unfolds over the five cases is magnificent and leaves players - new and old, alike - hungry for much more.

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