Joe Gribble's Reviews
[Nuka World is] ...a dent on the already dented DLC experience of Fallout 4...And to be perfectly honest, it doesn't make me feel like I've earned my worth by purchasing the Season Pass when I first bought Fallout 4. Sure all the settlement additions and extra quests are nice, but overall all these experiences, barring the Robotics side of the Mechanist DLC, Far Harbour, and maybe the entertainments of the Nuka World DLC, I hardly feel that £30-40 I spent on the Season Pass was a good purchase. However, these are just my first impressions, and my opinion may change as I put more hours into the DLC, so be sure to let us know your opinions in the comments below! Do you agree with this opinion? Do you feel satisfied by the Season Pass? What has been your favourite DLC so far? Let us know!
Overall, what’re my thoughts of Culdcept Revolt? All in all, Culdcept Revolt is a confusing blend of Monopoly, Fire Emblem, Mario Party, Hearthstone, and Yu-Gi-Oh…But that pot gets far too muddled far too quickly – The beginning tutorial is confusing, characters are often bland, with little to no motivation and reasoning behind them, and overall, the game looks and plays like a budget DS title. If you’re interested in this sort of game, and inside of this ‘extreme niche’, then you’d probably be better off just playing the less serious and more mechanically sound “100% Orange Juice”, which follows the same sort of mechanics and gameplay.
So, all things considered, what do I think of SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy? Quite honestly, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is about as enjoyable as the sticky, faded, musky magazines (Possibly) under your bed. It smells off, controls a bit weird, and probably should have been thrown out a while ago; there may be some sort of value in keeping it for sentimental reason, but in the end of the day, it’s just another ‘sexy’ fighting game for fans to gush over, even if, at it’s core, it’s nothing more than a subpar offering of cobbled together content.
All in all, Dark Rose Valkyrie is a flawed game. It’s a disappointing game. It’s a game that falls prey to every single issue Idea Factory is known for…However if you like Idea Factory’s games (Unlike me), then this may very well be your new favourite IP from them…It’s certainly for a niche market, having not sold well even over in Japan shipping only 12,000 copies at retail on the first week of release back in 2016, however if you’re in that niche market, you could find more positives than I could.
When a game slaps you with a hugely overpowered enemy that just demolishes you, and robotically says to your face "That'll £0.50.", I find it insulting. I wanted to love Let it Die, with it's amazing soundtrack, sound design, and signature Suda51 goodness, but cheeky business practices, clunky combat and unfair difficulty spikes hold back what could've been Suda51's graceful explosion back into the modern gaming scene.
I wanted to love Exile's End, but the hard, honest truth is that I've played so many other titles like it that are so much better. Exile's End's main issue is that it doesn't do enough to stand out, to shake up the formula, or to be different. It tries too hard to say it's different to Metroid...But in the end all they did was make it into the same thing they wanted to drift away from.
Given this, however, I wanted to love Dungeon Bros; disregarding the annoying voice acting, audio issues, lag, boring story and finicky controls, there was still something that drew me to the game - Maybe it was the trap design? The gameplay? Maybe it was just some mindless fun? Regardless, I do feel that this game was seriously created for mobile devices, and I feel that if it was ported to these platforms, I might play it a bit more, but as a console game, Super Dungeon Bros unfortunately falls flat on it's face...Quite embarrassingly. Overall, with my time in Super Dungeon Bros, I would rate the game a 5 / 10 - I certainly wouldn't pay £15 for it, but if it was on sale for like £3, I may've given it a shot had I not gotten it for free.
All in all, Manticore: Galaxy on Fire is a very traditional arcade-like space battle title that often tries too hard to stick to conventions rather than to push the galactic boat out – Missions feel repetitive, enemies offer little variety, and locations feel samey, however when taken in short bursts, this game is a delight – Marathoning Manticore is probably the biggest disservice you can give it, as you will most likely get bored after an hour. Manticore: Galaxy on Fire isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, rather it’s not amazingly good either – It’s almost stuck in the middle, in the endless void of ‘just better than average’, much like the ships you’ll spend hours piloting.
When I break down Oh My Godheads! to its core components, there’s not really much to talk about. That doesn’t mean the game is bad by any merit, but rather that it’s rather… simple in nature? It fits right at home with traditional party minigames such as those featured in the Mario Party franchise, however as a standalone game there’s just not much here unless you’re totally engrossed with the gameplay – especially considering an asking price of £11 currently on Steam, and a suggested price increase upon the game’s final release, I can’t honestly say for certain that Godheads! is worth the asking price based on the content on offer in the current build of the game. I like the gameplay in Godheads!; I like the level variety and Godhead variety; I even like the soundtrack! However the slippery and somewhat limiting controls, minor bugs and current price for minimal content holds back what could be another great addition to the party game scene.
I wanted to love this title, having a Mystery Dungeon game on my PS4, however I’ve come to the stern realisation that, maybe, Mystery Dungeon games should just stay on handhelds, for now. Tohou Gensou Wanderer gets a 6 / 10 for me. The asking price of £40 is FAR too high for something like this, but if you like Mystery Dungeon games, or the Touhou franchise, give it a shot!
A mixture of bad design choices, minimal testing, persistent and worrying issues, and a disappointing conclusion and lack of content is what has put an end to The Binding of Issac - What was a swan song to the Rougelike genre has now instead fizzled out, not with a glorious finale, but instead with a disappointing, flat note. I would rate The Binding of Issac Afterbirth + a 6 / 10. If it's on sale, then by all means pick this up, but for the asking price of £10 for new adopters, it certainly isn't worth the price, and is something I'd see Maxis or EA employing. Not Nicalis. Here's hoping that Mod Tools can save us.
All in all, Lego Worlds is an amazing Lego game...But as an exploration / sandbox game...It's nothing more than flat, boring and short-lasting. Definitley worth the money if you have a kid who loves Lego, but not if you have two or more children that'll be wanting to clamber around the controller. All you'll get are tears due to the bad optimisation (On console) and lack of +2 player co-op. It's fun, but in short bursts.
Overall, Tohou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet is a fun, but repetitive, and sadly shallow bullet-hell battler, which aims to catch the eye of Touhou fans; if you're a fan that has yet to pick up the game, you're more than likely to love the combat, humour and visual style of the game – However, if you're an outsider looking into this game, I would wait for a sale or price drop before seeking this game – For fans, I'm sure the game is worth the £30 price tag alone, but for newcomers and people only hearing of the franchise now… I would have to say that the game isn't worth £30 for the amount of content provided. Given that, however, I can't help but find myself returning to the game over and over again; it's like a drug, hooking it's claws in - I don't think it's the greatest game ever, but I can't help but continue to come crawling back for more.
Nights of Azure looks pretty. It feels pretty. It sounds pretty, but it's heart is ugly. Bland, samey and generic - Sure, perhaps if you haven't played a JRPG Hack'n'Slash before, then give this a shot, otherwise you'd most likely find better for your money elsewhere.
I want to love Shiness, I really do, however little things here and there keep pushing me back more and more; it annoys me, since this game has the sort of charm and love that I look for in games, just graphical and battle-system based issues keep it locked behind a low score. Shiness gets a 6.5 / 10. I REALLY want to give this title a 7 / 10, but for the reasons above, I feel like it needs a little more work to achieve this vision.
All in all, as a newcomer, Middle-earth: Shadow of War brings somewhat clunky controls, unnecessary loot boxes and an ending effectively locked behind either paying or grinding leads to a sour first impression. The game looks brilliant, sounds brilliant and really grips you with it’s updated rendition of the Nemesis System… But I can’t help but feel that there’s better out there. It’s a fun walk through Mordor, but a fun game…? Perhaps not entirely.
All in all, Alwa's Awakening is an enjoyable retro romp built from the ground up for nothing other than retro-junkies. If you grew up on the old Amiga, NES, SNES, or even Mega Drive titles, then I'd certainly say for you to give this title a fair chance...However if you're just looking for a way to get into the subgenre...Then I'd look elsewhere.
Regardless, Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance HD is an enjoyable romp that'll last you a good number of hours. If this is your first Kingdom Hearts game, then for the love of God almighty PLAY ALL THE OTHERS PREVIOUSLY. You won't understand a single thing otherwise! The combat can be clunky at times, and can be a bit annoying to control, but once you get a knack for it, you'll be hooked.
All in all, The Silver Case is a long, enjoyable visual novel that is feeling the aches of time – The controls haven’t aged well, nor has some of the dialogue…But if you can fight through it, and battle against the urge to fall asleep during some of the lesser parts of the game and understand what the bloody hell is happening, you’ll possibly find yourself with a new gem courtesy of Suda51…
once you get used to the way the game wants you to play, get used to the framerate, and the camera, and start to understand more and more of the game, the more you grow to enjoy it - I loved getting new skills to see the flashy new costumes and animations, and love the feeling of slaughtering my foes, and, whilst I didn't find any sort of boss battle in the few hours I had with the game, I'd love to see where the game goes nearing it's middle, and ending chapters. With loveable characters, comical writing, enthusiastic voice acting, addicting gameplay and easy-to-pick-up nature of the game, Megadimension Neptune VS Sega Hard Girls is a different type of game than what you may be accustomed to, and might help you to shake up the mix, to try and get you to play something new.