Angelo D'Argenio's Reviews
Lost Dimension is a fun and deep tactics RPG with interesting mechanics and a horrible story with horrible endings.
Five Nights at Freddy's 4 answers our lingering questions about the franchise while providing a tense and frightening gameplay experience.
Still, this is once again a second-to-last episode that ends up being the weakest episode. No matter how accomplished I feel, I know that I'm not actually doing anything. I know nothing is changing. I know next episode I'm going to feel powerless again, and everything I did in this previous episode will barely be addressed. I have to admit, Game of Thrones has been hard to get through. So much horrible tragedy befell my characters and I was powerless to do anything about it. I wanted to quit. I still want to quit. But there's one episode left, and coming this far means I absolutely have to ride the story of house Forrester to the end. Just don't expect this episode to feel rewarding. Look at it as something you have to do for the inevitable finale.
I feel conflicted about Game of Thrones by Telltale. I enjoy it at points, when it's happening. The voice acting is great, the graphics are fine, there are fewer bugs this time around, and if I were watching someone else play the game, I think I would enjoy it quite a bit. But the fact that everything I do just seems to be unwritten at the end of every episode, and not in any way that ever makes me triumph, takes me straight out of the action. I can't get invested in this game, because I feel like I'm not doing anything. It might be fine watching Tyrion get put in shackles and carried off as a prisoner, but when the same thing happens to me, I keep wondering why I can't fight back.
Giving a final rating for Episode 3 is a bit difficult. Honestly, the game started to slog at various points. I hated every single puzzle it threw my way, and couldn't stand how I had to brute force my way through most of it. But the story was still so good and the ending was superb. At this point, I'd say the episodes would be better off sticking to Telltale style choose your own adventure formats. DontNod simply isn't up to the task of designing puzzles. I swear to god, if I have to find one more bottle… but I digress. If you can deal with the frustration of the puzzles, then Life is Strange: Episode 3 is a fantastic game. If not, then I wouldn't blame you if you simply watched this on a Let's Play.
In short, Project CARS is a racing game that has everything, but doesn't necessarily appeal to everybody. It's hard to fault the game in any particular way. It runs well, looks gorgeous, and does exactly what it advertises, which is a lot, but nothing more. I wouldn't call it a breakthrough in racing design, but rather a refinement of the racing sim formula. It knows what it is, and knows what its audience is. If you are part of that audience, definitely give it a look. It's probably the best racing sim on the market right now. Just know that it's meant to appeal to hardcore gear heads first and foremost, and people looking for a more casual racing experience should probably look elsewhere.
Broken Age: Act 2 may stumble a bit trying to be something it isn't, but what it is, is still gorgeous and enthralling, and I'll put up with some frustrating puzzles and backtracking for that.
In short, GTA V is still a great game, that hasn't changed, but the PC version doesn't add a lot and introduces plenty of new problems that you have to contend with. If you are graphics-obsessed or are a fan of machinima, then pick it up. Otherwise, the last-gen versions will do you fine.
I've had a lot of fun with Mortal Kombat X so far, but as I said, my experience with the game is limited. The longevity of the game will largely be based on its online modes and new content, which as I said before was locked out at time of writing. But I can say that Mortal Kombat X is built on a very good base. It's easily better than Mortal Kombat 9 and Injustice: Gods Among Us. I expect that we will be seeing this game in many fighting game tournaments to come.
While Episode 3 of Telltale's A Game of Thrones still has some problems, it's certainly learning more about how the Game of Thrones narrative progresses. Its low points are still kind of disappointing and boring, but its high points are truly phenomenal. It's these set pieces like the fight with the dragon, the standoff against an invading house, and the fated confrontation atop the wall, that make Episode 3 a treat to play and make me very excited to see what Telltale has in store for Episode 4.
Episode Two of Life is Strange really hooked me. I still want to know more about this world. I want to know why Max has her powers. I want to know why teenage girls are mysteriously disappearing. I want to know how the rich kids' families destroyed the town. I want to know how Max could possibly save the town from the impending tornado she keeps having visions of. I want to know more, because the game tugged at my heart strings, even though it simultaneously pressed my anger buttons. I supposed I could deal with a couple more hours of Bottle Finder 3000 if it means I get to see what happens next.
So don't let this weak conclusion turn you off. If you already got to Episode 3, you might as well pick up this episode just to play through the ending and unlock all of Raid mode. Just be aware that Resident Evil Revelations 2 Episode 4 is probably the weakest episode the game has to offer.
But all of these are really just minor annoyances. They may have ruined the experience in any other game, but to be honest the story is just so good I would sit through a million bugs to see it through to the end. 2K and Telltale are a narrative dream team that crafts a story unlike anything else you have seen on the market. Even if you haven't picked up Episode 1, even if you've never played Borderlands before, pick up Tales from the Borderlands. You won't regret it.
I think, oddly enough, that Battlefield: Hardline appeals to you the most if you aren't a traditional Battlefield fan. To be honest, I have long been over Battlefield's traditional military shooter roots, and since Hardline breaks from that formula, I enjoyed it far more than I have any other Battlefield title yet. If you are looking for something different and experimental, and you enjoy single-player more than multiplayer, then Battlefield: Hardline is a pretty good recommendation for you.
In the end, Resident Evil Revelations 2: Episode 2 is another "of course" purchase. If you liked Episode 1, picking this episode up will be a no brainer, and frankly the game is only getting better. If you didn't, Episode 2 isn't going to turn heads and convert naysayers. It's just more of the same with a welcome tweak to difficulty, and honestly, that' s exactly what I wanted.
Five Nights at Freddy's 3 is a fantastic game, and since it doesn't look like there's going to be a Five Nights at Freddy's 4, I'd say this is a welcome end to the franchise. I couldn't ask for a more terrifying game. I wouldn't call FNAF 3 fun. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite of fun. It's tense and stressful and sometimes makes you want to cry when it's not wrecking you with just the right amount of gore to put horrible thoughts in your head. But that's the point. You play the FNAF series to scare whatever humanity you have left out of your hollow endoskeleton, and FNAF 3 does a superb job of that. I just wish its "true" ending was a bit more substantial because it falls short of a satisfying conclusion to the story we have been mulling over in the past two games. Oh, well. I guess it's just more speculation fodder for years to come.
You'll get about 12-15 good hours out of Dragon Ball XenoVerse's single-player and co-op missions, but you probably won't touch it much after that. But hey, 15 hours is pretty good for a full price game these days. If you are a fan of DBZ, especially if you have ever written a piece of DBZ fanfiction or made a piece of DBZ fanart, you should probably give Dragon Ball XenoVerse a try.
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is a hard game to review, because honestly it's a good game. However, it's only a good game because of everything that Dead or Alive 5, Dead or Alive 5: Plus, and Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate did. If you want to upgrade to a next-generation version of this fun fighter, go ahead. If you really really want two new characters, go for it. But if you are looking for something truly new and different, you are unfortunately looking in the wrong place. I would like to say that Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is the definitive version of the game, and if it were the last version of the game to come out it would be, but there's nothing to say that Koei Tecmo won't release Dead or Alive 5: Super Mega Ultra Deluxe Edition a year from now, no matter how many times we hear this is the last one.
Overall, I've had fun with Evolve for the time I've had it so far, and I'll probably have a lot more fun as time goes on, as much or more fun than I had with the Left 4 Dead series. If you are looking for a new shooter that is like nothing else on the market right now, it's definitely worth giving Evolve a shot.
For now, I care about this story enough to keep playing, and I would recommend Episode Two to anyone who played Episode One. However, this is definitely one of Telltale's weaker episodes overall. Here's hoping that Episode Three will really plunge us deep into each character's story.