Brett Claxton's Reviews
Graphically Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations is fairly poor but there's a certain charm to it, with the script definitely helping to boost up its score a tiny bit. It's far from a great game but it's an interesting base that will hopefully be built upon. The target audience is definitely younger gamers but there's enough of a challenge over the 6-10 hours of play time there for older gamers if they fancy giving it a go.
There's replayability in going for high scores and playing through harder difficulties, but most will play this once and probably not want to go back. When a price drop occurs and you have a craving for a 3D hack and slash adventure maybe give it a shot, but until then it's hard to recommend the game to anyone that isn't already a fan of the series.
If you’re a fan of Risk or classic board games, then you might enjoy Risk Urban Assault and its new take on a well-known formula. It’s a perfectly passable interpretation of the game,
Fated: The Silent Oath may be a fairly clunky game, but there's a lot of nice elements that sequels could easily build upon. Let's just hope they get the chance to.
During the times Has-Been Heroes clicks you’ll find yourself having fun with it. If you can stick with it through at least one complete run then the game does open a bit and begin to add some much needed variety. Unfortunately the game also has too many hindrances in its gameplay that will put many gamers off getting that far.
If you are willing to spend some time experimenting with the menus and characters then you’ll enjoy Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness a lot more. The issue is the game has so many flaws and fails to take the series to the next level. It lacks basic things expected of a JRPG, whilst failing to include anything that ever feels remarkable.
If you're a fan of games with senseless violence, then Party Hard could be for you. The pixel art style is nice and the music is quite catchy. The gameplay however, gets repetitive quickly and the story is full of clichés, which would be easier to accept if there was a decent delivery of lines. It is a cool idea for a game, it's just a shame it fails to do much more than be a cool idea.
I wanted to love Rain World. It’s an admirable game that tries many interesting things, but it also puts up too many barriers that deter gamers from truly enjoying it. There’s an interesting world to explore, but most will lack the patience to do so.
The Silver Case is an intriguing package that provides an insight in to the early works of Suda51, one of gaming’s more interesting personalities. The game might’ve aged but its quality still shines through.
Deadlight: Director’s Cut is the best version of a decent game. It’s sorted some of the technical issues the original had, but fails to improve upon the base as much as you’d like. It’s an uneven experience, with the opening act being far superior to the rest of the game. Although its additions don’t do much more than fix some cosmetic problems the survival mode does add a level of replayability that some may find addictive.
Dungeons 2 is a game with some nice ideas, some of them borrowed and some of them original, but for the most part it can't quite put them together cohesively. There are also issues with the PlayStation 4 version that are likely not there in the PC version, such as the controls.
Despite the problems Descenders has it’s an extreme sports game that, at it’s best, does a great job at getting your heart racing. It’s fun to play, easy to pick up and difficult to master. It turns downhill biking into something accessible for far more people. At its worst, it’s just a bit bland, but it’s never completely flavourless.
If you’re a football fan that also loves anime then Captain Tsubasa is a must. There’s no denying it’s a fun game. The visual novel style story modes have some great moments and if you enjoy that style of storytelling you’re in for a treat. Hopefully, this is the start of a renaissance for Captain Tsubasa video games because Rise of New Champions is a great foundation for future instalments.
It’s not without its flaws, and hopefully some of them will be ironed out in the future, but even without a patch there’s still a charm to Mr. Shifty.
The shining beacon of SportsBarVR is the social opportunities it brings. It’s a fun hang out spot for you and your friends in VR. You may decide you don’t like any of the games within it, but you’ll find ways to entertain yourselves. Even if it is just throwing bottles around whilst watching your friends fail to hit a ball in to the pocket for the 11th time.
The animation may be far from the slickest and the game is definitely more fun when against others, but there’s plenty that 100ft Robot Golf does right. The fact it allows you to play it on PlayStation VR or on a normal screen is great and there’s a charm to its goofy style.
There are a few animation quirks, but for the most part the 2D style looks great and the games simple control scheme means almost anyone can pick it up. It’s just unfortunate that the momentum Manual Samuel builds in its earlier levels can’t be maintained for the entire course of the game.
Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star doesn't do much wrong, but plays itself maybe a bit too safe, whilst failing to correct the issues that were in the first game.
If you’re a fan of strategy and management games then, at its core, This is the Police delivers an experience that should satisfy you. The story is dark and broody with some nice voice-acting moments in parts and some great beats, even if they are cliché. The way it deals with serious political issues in its late 1980’s fake American setting is often a little too on the nose, but it gives the player the freedom to tackle the issue as they see fit. It has a unique art-style that helps it stand out and, even if you don’t stick around until the very end, there are still hours of entertainment to be had.
If you’re a fan of story driven adventure games with a focus on dialogue and problem solving, then Dreamfall Chapters is a gem even if you’ve not played the series before. If you’re not though, it’s unlikely to be the game that will make you change your mind.