Adam Riley's Reviews
1954 Alcatraz has its own level of charm that helps it to just about keep its head above water. However, it also lacks any punch throughout. None of the characters are particularly beguiling, the puzzles faced are not especially memorable or even taxing, and the story itself only just holds the attention long enough to finish the approximately eight-hour journey. Thankfully, there are multiple junctures during the tale that are just about intriguing enough to warrant keeping multiple saves to see how things play out differently - but only the most perseverant will likely do so, with the majority just switching off post-credits. Those sticking around to see the ending variations, though, will find that 1954 will forever be resigned to the past, with no strong memories remaining at all, neither negative, nor positive.
There are not enough adjectives to describe what a pleasure it is to experience Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure. From the smart acting and intriguing story, to the clever puzzles included and great locations to explore, everything in Big Finish Games' project is a resounding success. Adventure fans have been waiting a long time for this, and it is pleasing to see that the wait was indeed more than worth it. Tex Murphy is back, and hopefully there is much more to come, especially with the officially-supported fan remake of Overseer, The Poisoned Pawn well underway.
Despite a soft start through the first half of the adventure, the thoroughly impressive time-switching mechanic used for puzzles, as well as the engrossing story and stellar final run to the end credits, all help to make The Silent Age something very special indeed. Given how impressive the journey develops, it can only be hoped that more is on the way. The time-jumping aspect for puzzle solving is fantastic, but starts to wear thin slightly, at which point the developer, thankfully, eases off to a degree, and brings in more traditional style point-and-click adventuring that spices up matters considerably. The Silent Age has a good start, then has a really strong race to the finish line, and leaves with massive potential for the future.
The price of Death Ray Manta had already been placed at £1.99, and at the time of writing it is now on offer for a mere £0.59! It would be complete madness to overlook this even at that ~£2 mark, let alone its super bargain price now. Death Ray Manta SE is a must for anyone shmup fan out there, especially those that adored the Geometry Wars releases. This is high octane, nerve-racking fun, and truly exhilarating with each and every play - twin-stick shooting at its very best. To quote something a wise man once said, "Absolutely brilliant!"
What an intriguing game! Soulless: Ray of Hope mixes all sorts of clever puzzles with some fine platform antics, keeping players on their toes in terms of the difficulty throughout. Sure, there are times where it may seem too tough to the point of having to almost memorise a certain pattern to progress past specific hazards, and the camera's slow movement does not always help matters at all, but there is so much charm here that simply cannot be overlooked, complemented by a gorgeous soundtrack full of emotion and a wonderful art approach. Ray of Hope impresses at every turn, taking a now well known formula and polishing it to reveal new beauty within.
Without a doubt the best Rhythm Paradise game so far, Rhythm Paradise Megamix is the ultimate package - almost like Nintendo's own NOW That's What I Call Music compilation. Rather than some half-baked bundling of past releases together, the team has taken the most loved rhythm mini-games from the past, spruced them up, pieced them together nicely on 3DS, covered them with comical storylines, and then whipped up a fresh batch of mini-game goodness to add in, just for good measure. Rhythm Paradise Megamix is just what the doctor ordered, and the perfect early Christmas present for Nintendo 3DS owners of all ages.
Paper Mario: Color Splash is a complete joy aesthetically, looking and sounding fantastic, complemented by some very amusing script work. At its core, though, whilst attempting to mix things up as much as it can in order to keep the action fresh, its battle system grows tiresome very quickly, dragging the enjoyment factor down several notches. When tied in with its unnecessary - and awkward - reliance on the GamePad, it makes for somewhat of a rollercoaster ride, with fun elements followed by lots of frustrating experiences during the battling sections. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems should pick one route and stick with it: either go for straight-up platform action or make it the true RPG successor to the original Paper Mario and The Thousand Year Door that fans keep asking for. This current mish-mash of styles just drags down the series' reputation. For now, stick with the Mario & Luigi titles…
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.