Scott Ellison II's Reviews
The simulation aspects of Bounty Train were really cool, and while I appreciate having a market that is constantly changing – unless you're going to be busting open an Excel spreadsheet to track market prices from one town to the next, then there's too many things going on here. Bounty Train has a wide array of gameplay mechanics and variety I liked, like its turn-based combat and challenges while riding the rails and managing fuel and speed to not derail. Bounty Train has some really interesting and deep systems, that are gated by its harsh difficulty and randomization. There are ways around it, thanks to Freemode, if only minimally.
Saber Interactive plays homage to NBA Jam and even a little bit of NBA Street with NBA Playgrounds, and does so with enough changes to the formula to make it interesting, even if the attitude and enthusiasm is a bit subdued. NBA Playgrounds has some erratic difficulty swings during exhibition and tournament modes, but the arcade basketball is fun and easy to pick-up-and-play solo, local, or even online.
Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels is the best Forza has been, and that's saying something coming off of Blizzard Mountain and the equally amazing Forza Horizon 3, this game and its other expansion is unrivaled. Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels is a fever-dream of childhood fantasies come to life in the biggest and best ways
STRAFE doesn’t quite do everything you expect, but being able to go into a game that looks like Quake that is infinitely replayable keeps the challenge up where memorization wouldn’t. I was never able to finish STRAFE, but that’s all well and good for its mindless and nostalgic return to classic-feeling FPS in the modern day era. STRAFE feels like a game that would have existing alongside Quake and Doom, but was accidentally sent forward in time and has learned the ways of 2017 gaming.
Three Fields Entertainment has made a highly enjoyable game about smashing and destroying cars by utilizing the environment to the fullest to maximize your score. While they can’t call the game Burnout or “Crash Mode” they did make good one what made that game and mode such a huge success many years ago. The leaderboards encourage retrying to best that stranger, friend, or even yourself ad infinitum. Danger Zone re-creates that magic in a small, digestible way that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Like Geometry Wars if it were made of flesh and bone, Tormentor X Punisher is an excruciatingly difficult, yet highly satisfying top-down shooter. It begs to be replayed but will beat you down for doing so. Yet like a masochist, you come back for more still thanks to the fast, frenetic, and fun gameplay loop. Tormentor X Punisher‘s vulgarity and brutality might not be for everyone, but it is one of the most clever and chaotic top-down shooters I’ve played.
Tekken 7 never ceased to amaze. For a “fighting game”, it has a deep list of features and characters that will have you busy for hours. Thankfully, the fight money comes quick and often to have you customizing your characters the way you want. The story mode is engaging and dramatic in ways it hasn’t been for years, and is almost sad to see this saga end. Tekken 7 embraces its history with humor, seriousness, and respect for all to enjoy.
DiRT 4 has all the modes you expect to be present in a numbered DiRT game, but somewhere along the way, Codemasters didn’t give DiRT 4 a personality befitting for the series. Gone is the Instagram-filtered look and Mountain Dew spewing words from famous extreme sports celebrities of DiRT 2, and also gone are the slick and splashy menu transitions and career navigation of DiRT 3. Where DiRT 4 falls a bit short in presentation, it makes it up where it counts, in gameplay. DiRT 4 is without a doubt the best-feeling and playing game of the series.
Nex Machina makes the leaderboard high-score chase fun again. It does so by providing incentives of earning currency to unlock new things, player profile rankings, and encourages trying out new areas out based on your performance. Grab a another controller, and Nex Machina is a neon-filled explosionfest in co-op. Nex Machina caters to solo and co-op players in exciting ways, and near-endless replay. It is all the reason to stick around and play more after the credits have ended. Eugene Jarvis and Housemarque have made something incredibly fun and exciting, making Nex Machina the best twin-stick shooter today.
The Necromancer is a great character, and a wholly exciting class for those who’ve been waiting 6 years for it to come out. I wish it was priced a bit more modestly, but given the fun I’ve had playing this character, I can soon seeing this long forgotten with the countless hours to be played going forward. Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer brings back a classic class to Diablo III, but does so at a high expense, but not at the cost of being an excellent character to start playing.
Serial Cleaner is a stealth game where you play a character whose sole purpose is to discretely clean up messes from murders and deals gone bad. And in doing so, must never get caught in the process. You wouldn’t think a stealth game where you have no offensive capabilities or weapons would work, but it totally does. And Serial Cleaner is a reverse Hotline Miami, which is an awesome thing to be.
The game I played a few years ago is largely in-tact here. But Iron Crypticle is refined, enhanced, and more enjoyable than before. It is a game that begs to be played in co-op, and is now available on systems to allow for that to be done with ease. Playing it solo, it is challenging and rewarding each time you play. I still don’t know what a “Fisticle” is, and I have an idea what a “Crypticle” is, but I do know that Iron Crypticle is a solid game that reminds you of games from your childhood, but freshens up the roguelike genre in exciting ways.
Solstice Chronicles: MIA encourages using tactics and forward thinking in a genre that wouldn't normally have it, and the drone is a really neat addition, but it isn't a compelling enough reason to play. The lack of online co-op which made The Red Solstice a standout is curiously absent and supremely disappointing. Solstice Chronicles: MIA is a twin-stick shooter that doesn't leave a lasting impression, either due to its writing or ho-hum gameplay. While it plays better than its predecessor and offers a unique gameplay hooks, Solstice Chronicles: MIA doesn't do enough, and there's better offerings out there that are more fun to play.
Redeemer is a brawler in the vein of Hotline Miami because of its gore, brutality, and top-down view, but has a melee focus in a 3D space. The story is the least interesting as it is cliché and tacky with its unfolding plot. The gameplay loop of Redeemer stays fresh enough for the six hours it takes to complete the game. It is unfortunate though, that the gameplay suffers from random and frequent framerate dips. With that said, Redeemer is a modern romp through some old-school style stages that doesn’t quite redeem its shortcomings, but satisfies throughout to be a violent brawler worth playing.
If not for Overcooked Special Edition's performance issues when solo or in co-op, the game would get a score to that of its original review. Surely the framerate issues are going to be patched out, and as previously mentioned aren't too much of a bother, but they are frequent and can cause missteps in the kitchen. The performance issues are only a word of caution, but not meant to deter you from what this delightfully chaotic game has to offer. The Nintendo Switch is the perfect platform for this game, but needs patching before it gets fully recommended. Once it is, the Switch lets you can bring it anywhere and start cooking up some fun with anyone.
Kingsway is ingenious, simply put. It has a brilliant attention to detail that is well-thought out. I implore you to play Kingsway to see it for yourself. It doesn’t entirely rely on its nostalgia for it to work. There’s a bit of repetition in its encounters and quests, but that’s really a small issue in what’s a largely enjoyable and highly replayable game. You’ve not played anything like Kingsway before, and it is a game demanding a place on your hard drive that will stay for the foreseeable future.
Sine Mora EX is still a strong shmup, and standout title in the genre. It does new and exciting things, and is now released on platforms that handle this game more elegantly and still has a great presentation. It has a few minor bugs and those who’ve already played the game won’t get much out of the new re-release, but it absolutely worth playing even if you’re not a fan of bullet hell style games. Sine Mora EX remains one of my favorite shmups with its complex story and deep gameplay and robust modes.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find anything like The Shrouded Isle. It’s not meant to question your faith, but be satirical. You can see the three years pass by in about forty-five minutes to an hour if you’re deeply thinking about things, or thirty minutes if you’re hasty. All in all, each successive replay is different that you’ll need to think how you Inquiry, Appoint, Sacrifice, Repeat. I do wish there was more event variety and more to do, but all-in-all, is a carefully devious game where you truly are the monster.
Drifting Lands combines some really great genres into its own thing that works really well. Alkemi does this in an all-around clean and crisp presentation. The game embodies the “one more level” mentality as you try to make another run in an attempt to get better loot to outfit yourself for higher difficulties. This is a game you shouldn’t miss.
Phantom Trigger has some faults, such as some random slowdowns during combat – though it is well worth the time it takes to complete the game and subsequent plays will let you see the multiple endings. The level up system is somewhat misleading and disappointing as it introduces depth, but not damage into its systems. Phantom Trigger has a great story underneath it, it just doesn’t go far enough to tell something more compelling. That said, I still recommend playing Phantom Trigger, because there’s something fascinating in exploring and engaging in combat through this beautiful looking game.