Jonathan White's Reviews
Absolutely TERAble.
Dynasty Warriors 9 is basically the $60 equivalent of a Steam Early Access title, and it’s a slap in the face and the reproductive organs, to fans of the series.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is probably the most appropriately named game in the series because you thought you were getting a full story, but really all you’re getting is another standalone Assassin’s Creed Valhalla DLC pack with a $50 price tag.
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 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.
It’s really a shame that Robot Entertainment created Orcs Must Die so many years ago, cause that would have been the perfect name for Extinction.
Bomberman Live on the Xbox 360 was a far better Bomberman game than Super Bomberman R is, and that game is almost 10 years old at this point.
WWE literally puts on a show that is mostly about presentation, yet somehow WWE games are always lesser in presentation quality than NBA 2K.
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.
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.
In its current state, Panzer Paladin is more of a chore to play than it is a joy, and as someone who enjoys challenging games, that’s really a shame.
All the pretty visuals and melancholy music might make this one a fun game to look at and hear, but that’s where the charm stops.
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.
As a game, NWO Wars is incredibly easy with only the final level being even remotely challenging, so it’s pretty simple to blow through. There’s no way the game is worth the $17.76 price tag though.
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.)
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.
Creature in the Well is an interesting take on a familiar set of genres, but it's ultimately unsure of itself and the gimmicks wear off very quickly.
With just a few small changes in design, Strange Brigade could have been a sleeper hit that people were talking about for years to come. Unfortunately, no matter how pretty the game looks, the flaws in gameplay keep it from being little more than passable and ultimately forgettable as the bigger games release across the holiday season.
It's truly a shame because the parts where the storytelling really shines in this game are the parts most people won't ever see because of the technical issues that plague it.
Bringing together some of Tecmo Koei’s biggest stars in a convoluted furry cloud of deja vu.