Jonathan White's Reviews
EA, this ain’t how you move units. This series need to take a cue from the unique styling of the visuals and either needs to revamp the feeling of playing NFS in the next one, or someone needs to put this damn thing down behind the barn like Old Yeller and let Criterion get back to making Burnout games (which is really what we all want anyway.)
Then it was just released without any time spent on expanding the basics, and that’s the worst part about Gotham Knights. The potential is there but it constantly seems to stop itself from delivering on literally anything, getting in its own way, and ultimately poisoning its own well by refusing to be more than what it is.
I really wanted to love Soulstice. Briar and Lute have an interesting story to tell and most of the voice work is really well done here. The memory parts drag on for way too long and Briar is for some reason both huge and naked in them? I guess that’s a plus for people who have an undying desire to see drawn nipples in games, but it felt completely unnecessary.
At the end of the day, Triple Take is a charming yet somewhat spooky platformer that’s pretty good for what it is, it encourages you to think outside the box (literally), and definitely easy on the wallet.
Despite my initial hesitations, I actually have been having quite a bit of fun with TFH, but there’s still a lot left to do to get this game to where it feels more complete.
In the end, the thing I love the most about Thymesia is that it doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is. It doesn’t ask you to spend more time than you should have to in order to fully complete it, while being just long enough to not only leave you wanting more but carefully not overstaying its welcome. It’s not a perfect game by any means, but this is a terrific first attempt from a new developer, and I’m going to be watching OverBorder Studio to see what they’ve got coming down the pipeline next.
Overall, while it feels a little steep at $40, there’s a terrific collection of games included in this pack. The only way this would be any better would be if these games could somehow all interface together so you could launch any of them from within the same game. I’m hopeful that this trend of keeping older games alive keeps going and Capcom finally gives me Cadillacs and Dinosaurs in the next iteration.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a love letter to both of the previous arcade titles, but also brings the Turtles into a more mechanically relevant beat-em-up, ensuring that all new generations of Turtles fans can have a great time with this newest entry from Dotemu.
Dolmen isn’t a terrible game, but it definitely wasn’t ready to be released yet. Perhaps it can be improved by future patches, but as it stands, there’s no way this game is worth $20 in its current state, let alone $40. Pick up Dolmen if it shows up free on PS+ or Xbox Game Pass, but otherwise, go play Hellpoint or The Surge games if you want a futuristic Souls clone.
At the end of the day, I’d argue that Gran Turismo 7 is the most accessible entry in the series so far. There are a considerable amounts of driving assist that help newcomers get acclimated with how driving works in Gran Turismo, but it’s never going to be Ridge Racer so unless you’re passionate about cars, this series still might be a little too deep for the average racing game fan.
A successor to Horizon Forbidden West would need a refined story with a little less depth for unimportant secondary characters, less weapons with better focus so they’re used more, and improved mount controls (and hopefully flying access from the start). I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll love her next episode as much as I’ve loved the previous two.
If you’re a fan of classic Castlevania, you’re gonna like Infernax – and it’s so refreshing to play something that isn’t a soulslike or a roguelike and instead offers a true return to the days of old.
All and all, it’s about what I’d expect from a game built in Unity. Blackwind feels like it was originally designed to be a mobile game and changed at the last minute when they realized there were too many commands for a touch screen. It’s not a great game, but it was kind of fun to play once I figured out how to work around the kinks. Adding some camera controls could easily bump this score up a solid point, but time will tell on any post-release support that Blackwind receives.
All and all, Chorus isn’t typically my kind of game but it was a pretty fun little romp. The biggest problem I had with it was how repetitive it was – most of the side missions are pretty much the same kind of thing and the biggest boss battles are repeated with a few slight twists to make them a bit harder. Chorus is the perfect game to jump into and dink around for an hour or two before you zone out and move on to something with a little more substance.
If you liked Windjammers, you’ll probably like Windjammers 2 even more – but there’s not really enough here to rope in new fans. Windjammers 2 is very much a more of the same type of sequel, but that’s alright by me.
At it’s core, Klang 2 is a pretty cool idea with the heavy visual inspiration from Tron and the alternating basic blue, pink, and orange color schemes that helped games like Audica and Just Beats and Shapes stand out so well. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Nintendo Switch is the best way to experience this game. Combos are often dropped due to a lack of response from pressing the analog stick in the right direction while also trying to time your shots. Most of the time it’s fine, but no matter how many times I replay a stage, I couldn’t seem to score better than a 92%. A score I’d venture to guess I could have easily crushed had I been playing this on a touch screen only interface like VOEZ.
New World might be the first ever MMORPG in my two decades of playing these titles that made me hit a wall and go “Yeah – this isn’t fun, I’m out.” That’s saying something, considering I’ve reviewed both TERA and Bless Unleashed.
Whatever Far Cry 6 is supposed to be feels like they made a cake and forgot the butter, flour, eggs, or to actually bake it. The more I played, the less I wanted to, and that’s not a good sign for a FarCry fan.
I’m still adamant that the best usage of Hot Wheels was the DLC pack in Forza Horizon 3, but that success only came because it was built into an already excellent racing game. This is a passable at-best racer, but it damn sure ain’t anywhere near Forza.
Diablo II: Resurrected seemingly accomplishes what it set out to do. It’s a terrific way to introduce one of the best video games ever made to a whole new generation of audiences. The music, the locations, the builds, the memories, they all came flooding back as I put more and more time into this game. It reminded me a lot of when times were simpler in life. Diablo II: Resurrected may not quite be exactly like the original, but it’s so damn close you’ll hardly notice the difference. It’s like a getting warm hug from an old friend you haven’t seen in a long long time.