Ryan Esler's Reviews
Aheartfulofgames have created something special with Heart & Slash, it’s unrefined and could do with tweaking, but all of that can be forgiven if you are a fan of the genre.
Electronic Super Joy is the epitome of background colour and unique artsyle with lots of variety in the fast paced gameplay. But, even with its short runtime, the sound design is so bad that it's enough to put you off entirely.
The Surge, although an enjoyable experience, really fails to capitalise on the world it is set in. It's a step in the right direction for Deck13, but it's a baby step.
Mad Max is another generic open world game tossed on the ever-growing pile of open world games. Even with its unique setting and stunning visuals, Mad Max is very much a game of fetch quests and tall towers.
With a campaign that forces you in to the boots of 343I's poster boy rather than allowing you to play as the enigmatic Master Chief, it's hard to really enjoy what guardian's has to offer. With tragic AI and a very underwhelming campaign it's a hard pill to swallow for those who relish in the magnificence of the original trilogy.
République is an experience like no other, one that I struggle to retrospectively place on a mobile device because of its excellence in design and story it tells - its just that good. Even with a lot of frequent loading screens the experience is still more than worth the price of entry.
Batman: Arkham Knight fails to live up to the expectations of its predecessors and focuses on the Batmobile far too much. With the addition of even more moves in combat, it loses touch with what made Arkham Asylum feel so punctual.
Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate adds to an already massive roster and doubles down on what makes the series so special. It does, however, suffer some framerate issues on splitscreen, but it's a worthwhile addition to any Musuo fan's colelction
Evolve is a content light asymmetrical multiplayer game that asks far too much from its players, often requiring an organised group to get the full experience. Without any singleplayer content, it is a hard sell to anyone individual.
Q*Bert rebooted is an unfortunate product of its time, even with the adjustments made to bring it kicking and screaming in to 2016 it still feels like a shallow experience that's short on modes. It also has one of the worst names for a game in existence, ever.
Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers manages to break its mould slightly with the introduction of a tactical RPG combat system and is ultimately strong enough to tide fans over until the next inevitable instalment.
uyo Puyo Tetris is clearly a targeted game. If you don’t like Tetris/Puyo Puyo, there’s little to no reason to pick it up. But, for those that do love Tetris, it’s a delight and more than makes up for the lack of a good Tetris game on modern consoles.
Since release I have been on Destiny 2 every night, be it to complete a few quick challenges or play the strikes until the light of our world faded so that my Guardian would earn that little bit more in his. It’s a wonderful experience and I get to share it with friends who share the same feeling of revitalised hope. Destiny 2 is far from perfect, but I am happy to consider myself at home alongside those blemishes on such a polished product.
Injustice 2 sinks its claws in deep and the story makes sure that you don’t want to go anywhere, even if you did try and pry them out.
Jotun gives an easily digestible and wonderfully paced journey that is let down by shallow combat. Playing the story itself it deeply satisfying and to see this world come to life is magnificent, I just wish there was more.
It’s not the greatest RTS and it’s by far from the greatest Halo game, but in a world where Microsoft IPs are dropping harder and faster than bloated flies it’s just what I needed. A little MAG blast of hope to combat the monotony. For Halo fans it’s just another fix to an ongoing story; for RTS fans it’s probably on the lower scale of their expectations; and for me it’s an odd beast the bridges the gap.
Gears of War 4 just falls short of hitting the peak of the series, but as a start to a new trilogy its pretty damn good.
Every facet of Fortified is riddled with charisma, from the witty one liners at the start of rounds to it's unique take on the tower defence genre.
A glorious return to form for Agent 47 and the Hitman series. Even the constant server issues can't stand in the way of just how rewarding the gameplay is and the multitudes of approaches to the mission.
The return of Gears of War is a bittersweet one. The updated graphics detract from the original artstyle, but the improved netcode and online features drag Marcus and the gang kicking and screaming in to the next generation. Putting aside the issues with frame rate, it is a smut have for any lancer enthusiast.