James Berich's Reviews
Nobody Wants To Die is a strong detective thriller that does great work in immersing players in its dystopic-as-ever vision of near-future New York. While the gameplay loop is ambitious, a lacking protagonist and a gameplay concept that spreads itself too thin ultimately keeps Nobody Wants To Die from realising the full extent of it's potential. Regardless, it's an incredible-looking, amazingly atmospheric debut from a studio whom I can't wait to see more from.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess succesfully brings together elements of the tried-and-true strategy and action genres to offer up something truly unique. While there will be debate about how worthwhile the replay value is here, Path of the Goddess leverages some incredible enemy and objective variety to keep things fresh from beginning to end.
Luigi's Mansion 2 HD is exactly as it sounds. It's the second game in the series with a very fresh coat of paint. Unfortunately, while the visual upgrade is a decent effort, it ultimately still harbours the same design quirks that made the original game so controversial. While it falls flat in the face of the games that came before and after it, it's a great grab if you're looking to experience some more Luigi's Mansion.
Falling short of its potential, Still Wakes The Deep's linearity and simplicity of gameplay does disservice to a great concept. Despite this, it's still well worth a look, owing to its stellar art direction, well-written characters and strong atmosphere. The result is an inviting and alluring world that's a joy to take in, even if it doesn't quite scare the player in ways it intended.
While the changes to the ending and some quality-of-life improvements do great work in improving this remake, System Shock still brings with it the thirty years of baggage that the original game did. Despite its resounding influence and its impact on a genre it arguably helped to carve out, the System Shock remake does best with what it has to offer an experience that's authentic to the original game, for better or for worse.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year-Door is a masterful remake that improves on the original in practically every way while keeping everything that made it a mainstay in the Nintendo canon. While its timelessness is reflected in the strength of its humour, wit and story, a major visual overhaul and much needed quality of life improvements make The Thousand-Year Door an adventure that can't be skipped.
Dragon's Dogma II embodies the essence of what the original should have been. With its expansive open world teeming with dangerous but delightful encounters, enjoyable combat, and versatile vocations, it's an enchanting experience from beginning to end.
Alone In The Dark is an ambitious reimagining that does little to differentiate itself from the games it's inspired by. While it's clearly taking inspiration from both Resident Evil and The Evil Within to be a survival horror powerhouse, the flat feeling combat and timid horror elements stop it from standing above the games that inspired it. Despite this, a unique take on the story and the strong setting makes it well worth a look for horror fans.
The Outlast Trials successfully co-opts the Outlast formula into a multiplayer experience. It does a great job at offering what Outlast does best – macabre gore and tense horror with some genuinely gruesome objectives. But while it's fun to experience with friends, the solo players will find little reason to continue playing after the first program, and reusing some of the stalkers feels like a missed opportunity.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a great remake – implementing a strong shift in artistic direction, engaging co-op options and well-crafted puzzle and platforming elements. Co-op is an especially clever inclusion, and combined with difficulty options, broadens the appeal of an otherwise niche experience to a wider audience. While hardcore players might be let down by the lack of difficulty, Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a sensational update that fans of the series and even newcomers will enjoy.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is well beyond anything Don't Nod has ever done. It successfully merges their renowned knack for solid characters and great stories, engaging and enjoyable combat and a unique setting to create an experience like no other. It's a incredible fun and easily the studios most ambitious game so far. It doesn't get much better than this.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is a serviceable action game bogged down by an insistence on being a live service title. While the characters are well written and the comedy is on point, a handful of repetitive objective types betray the intentions of an otherwise strong combat system. There is potential here – perhaps over time, Suicide Squad can evolve into something better – but for now, it's something that only absolute diehards will enjoy, and even then, that's not a guarantee.
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy completes the goal of bringing all Ace Attorney games to modern platforms with great ardour. While the three games included are more contentious favourites amongst fans, there's no doubt that Capcom has put in some great effort in bringing these games up to scratch for modern audiences. So, while the writing is still witty and the narrative mostly enthralling, this collection is also easily the best the series has ever looked and a collection many fans will appreciate.
Another Code: Recollection breathes new life into a dormant series by creating a cohesive narrative in a remake with updated visuals. While some great effort has gone into modernising the games from a presentation standpoint, some of the creative liberties taken and frustrating motion-controlled puzzles will no doubt leave fans longing for a more faithful recreation.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora successfully brings the world of Pandora to video games in a big way. It's lush and vibrant and without a doubt one of the most luxuriant open worlds that Ubisoft has ever created. Its gameplay, on the other hand, is lacking the spark that makes great open worlds sing. Fans of the franchise will absolutely adore exploring everything this previously unexplored side of Pandora has to offer, just don't expect it to reinvent the wheel.
Super Mario RPG is a strong remake of an already stellar game. It successfully focuses on improving the original in all the right places: a faster and snappier battle system, strong quality-of-life improvements and more difficult optional content. These improvements combine with the game's already quirky charm to offer an experience that easily eclipses the original. While it's overly simplistic compared to other RPGs, that's ostensibly the point. Super Mario RPG is an oddball piece of Nintendo's history like no other, and that alone makes it worth experiencing.
WarioWare: Move It! is a return to form (pun intended) for the WarioWare series that feels long overdue. It cleverly utilises the unique capabilities of the Joy-Con in ways that haven't been done before, all while remaining both endearing and funny. While the simplicity of Party Mode is both its greatest strength and weakness, WarioWare: Move It! is easily WarioWare at its best and the most fun you'll have looking goofy.
Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a tremendous remake. It gives the original game a visual overhaul that is simultaneously modern and nostalgic. But it doesn't stop there. It breaks open the mechanics to offer much more depth without destroying the spirit of the original. It's far and away the best way to experience one of the best Star Ocean games and one of the best RPGs ever made. If you're a fan of the genre, you owe it to yourself to check out The Second Story R. It's an absolute gem of a game that's endlessly playable and effortlessly stylish.
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 does precisely what it claims to do - bring the first three Metal Gear Solid games to all major platforms after a much-felt absence. While the technical updates given to each game are scarce, this still represents a great way to get into one of the most important and prolific series in video games. Could there be some more touch-ups to modernise these games? Absolutely. But it's hard to ignore the quality of the games included in this package, and it's a testament to their strengths that, even with slight improvement, they're still as compelling as ever.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is just that. A wonder. It leverages tight and concise platforming with a robust set of power-ups and skills to offer a degree of flexibility to players like never before. While it's still slightly easier than I'd like, Super Mario Bros. Wonder is an incredibly engaging Mario game and one of the best platformers available on the Switch, if not ever.