Justin Oneil's Reviews
Bounty Battle is a game that I was very excited which is why I’m that much more saddened to give it the bad score that I am. A game that brought together so many fantastic indie game characters to fight it out has no business being as rough as this is. The characters all feel the same, the stages are too basic, and the technical issues ruin the rest. If this game gets patched to run better it would still only be an average brawler but for now you should avoid this battle.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster takes on some heavy subject matter but doesn’t quite nail the execution with all of it. Despite that, I did enjoy the story and the game’s great visuals and audio design made the hotel a very immersive setting for me to explore. If the subject material here doesn’t bother you then I do think it is worth a playthrough.
Tony Hawk games have been pretty poor over the last decade or so but Vicarious Visions has finally restored the franchise to the greatness that it was known for in the 90’s. It looks like a modern game visually, the controls feel as they should, the iconic soundtrack is back with some new hits included, and there is a ton of content here to indulge in. If you’re a skateboarding fan then Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a must buy.
MX vs. ATV All Out can be fun but I’m not sure anyone should be racing out to buy it. It doesn’t look great and it misfires at times when it comes to load times, framerate, and AI difficulty. It’s got a lot of content but even there I had issues with there being a ton of DLC that isn’t included. If you’re desperate for an off-road racer on your Switch give it a go but otherwise you may want to keep looking.
Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series was a great experience for a Star Wars fan like myself but you should know what you’re getting into beforehand. This isn’t a very long experience so whether the price right now is worth it to you will be up to you to decide. If you have the choice to play it on PlayStation VR or Oculus I’d have to recommend to go with the Oculus due to there being no smooth movement on PlayStation VR. It doesn’t ruin the experience but it doesn’t feel as immersive when you have to teleport around. With all that said, the few hours I spent with this game is the closest I’ve ever come to feeling like an actual Jedi and that to me made this whole experience worth it.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim manages to not only tell one character’s story well but thirteen of them. It takes its time to get going but once it did, I found myself wanting to just keep going to see what was going to happen next with these characters. I also think this is not only the best game visually that Vanillaware has done but one of the best-looking games period.
Hotshot Racing is a stylish, fast, fluid, arcade racing game that brought back memories of some classic titles. The sense of speed it delivers is satisfying and sliding around corners to build up my boost never got old. Some things need to be done about the rubberbanding AI and some more variety in the track layouts will be welcome. Fans of Daytona USA, Outrun, and similar games should have no doubts about giving Hotshot Racing some gas.
OkunoKA Madness is a beautiful, brutal platformer that any fan of games like Super Meat Boy will enjoy. With dozens of levels, hidden collectibles, different modes, and online leaderboards there is plenty of content here and reasons to keep playing.
Out of all the indie games I’ve played this year Gleamlight is one of the most disappointing. It isn’t broken or anything but it just doesn’t present much to make playing it worth it. It’s got a great art style but it tells you nothing about what is going on and the combat and level design is too basic and boring. Fans of Hollow Knight who are looking for a similar experience won’t find it in this cheap imitation.
Outbreak: The New Nightmare is only something that I think the most dedicated survival horror fans will enjoy and even then they should approach it with caution.
The Last Campfire may not have a lot of innovative puzzles in it but it makes up for that with a emotional, thoughtful story, solid mechanics, and a beautiful art style.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning isn’t the most impressive remaster out there but for those who missed out on this grand action-RPG the first time I can’t recommend it enough. The graphics and camera system show their age but the rich world, smooth combat system, and huge amount of content within make this trip to save Amalur worth it for any RPG lover out there.
Giraffe and Annika is clearly meant for gamers much younger than I but there were still some enjoyable parts to it for me.
Windbound blends gorgeous visuals, an effective soundtrack, and survival mechanics together to create a fun, mostly relaxing experience.
Death end re;Quest 2 is a safe JRPG sequel but one I very much enjoyed when I finished it. The gameplay isn’t vastly different from the first game and the difficulty is a bit all over the place at times. The story though is once again dark and full of terrors and was the main driver for me to play this through. I like the characters within it a lot and was shocked at some of the story beats. If a dark and twisted JRPG is what you are seeking this fall then Death end re;Quest 2 should be on your playlist.
No Straight Roads is a good first effort for the Malaysian based Metronomic. It’s got a beautiful art style, catchy soundtrack, varied boss fights, and great voice acting. Some of the other parts of the gameplay like the exploration and regular combat fights feel a little underbaked.
Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time honestly surprised me with just how good it was.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker – Definitive Edition is a deep isometric CRPG that any D&D fan will most likely enjoy.
My overall impression of Spitlings is that if you play solo you should probably skip it but if you have friends, either locally or online, you can have some fun with it. The art style is simple but effective and there is a good amount of levels to play with some fun modifiers to enable to help change things up.
Among all of the PlayStation VR titles available today Pistol Whip would rank near the top of the must-play titles.