Doctor Who: Edge of Reality had the potential to be a really good game. The actual actors behind the doctors were on board to do the voice work. The story had a strong premise and there are 100s if not 1000s of episodes of Doctor Who to draw inspiration from. What we ended up with was a massively rushed, half baked experience that tried to cram as many classic Doctor Who references into a game that has no mechanics to make any use of it. The story is strung together so incoherently where you save the universe by solving a few puzzles and things just happen to work out in your favour.
There is very little on offer here. Multiple missions that reuse the exact same level over and over. While it does give us a good taste of what is to come in the full game, it feels like I was cheated out of my money by even paying for this. Ground Zeroes is a large demo and is not worth the crazy price they are charging for it. I am a big fan of MGS, but this was a cheap move to squeeze money out of fans who were desperately waiting for the release of MGS5. My advice would be to wait for 5 to come out, or at least wait until you see this game in the bargain bin.
Manual Samuel has some enjoyable moments and for the first hour or so, you will really enjoy it. The combat ultimately becomes the games downfall. The great humor, clean visual style or the madness of having to control body functions manually can’t be saved by how terrible the combat is. The game quickly goes from fantastic to frustrating. Although I had a lot of fun at first, I really couldn't recommend this game to anyone.
Pokemon Scarlet/Violet has delivered the large open-world Pokemon experience we have always wanted but not at the quality level we would expect from a Pokemon game or Nintendo in general. Sloppy textures, countless bugs and a frame rate that rarely runs above the 20s show how rushed and unfinished this game is. The franchise has a ways to go before it catches up with modern gaming standards. Pokemon Scarlet/Violet may have been the best-selling Pokemon game of all time but this is in no way a suggestion that it is the best quality.
For an early access game, we cant expect The Anacrusis to be perfect. The Jetsons themed retro-futuristic setting is brimming with potential, none of which is used effectively. The bland characters fit right in with the bland soundtrack and story. It feels as though the strength came from the theme and when it came to designing the rest of the game, everyone ran out of ideas. It's a swing and a miss, quite a shame when the potential was there but could not be realised.
Sparklite has several aspects that are quite enjoyable and well made. The soundtrack is delightfully happy and well composed, the world can be a pleasure to explore and the gadget crafting system in the workshop provides you with so many cool things. All of these are held back by an endless grind for money. The 2 hours of content are padded with hours upon hours of painful grinding that will poison the experience resulting in a game you will loathe rather than enjoy.
The first Lift is Strange game set the bar quite high. Before the Storm just did not have enough to live up to the first. The story was lacking any interesting plot elements to reel you in. The gameplay lacked...pretty much anything. The puzzles were slow and boring. Chloe's behavior was so frustrating at times. For the most part it felt like all of this stuff was there to serve as a distraction from a story that is mediocre at best.
Surge deluxe is fun to play In bursts when you have a short amount of time to kill. After a while the game becomes quite redundant and looses a lot of excitement. There are no real goals to keep you playing. You play for the high score and nothing more. A leveling system that unlocks weapons or powers that you can use in game would give you a better incentive to keep playing, but unfortunately this doesn’t exist. There is very little to keep you playing once you loose interest in getting the high score. This would be a good game to pick up in a sale for cheap. It’s nice to have a game that you can quickly play and not have to commit large amounts of time to. I enjoyed the game and I will probably keep it on my Vita as a handy game to play now and then, but don’t buy this game expecting to burn large amounts of game time.
Hardware: Rivals is a good game, but it feels more like a beta than a finished product. There isn’t nearly enough content in this game to keep you going. I’m sure this will change over the next few months with some new DLC, but you shouldn’t have to pay for DLC on top of the cost of the game just to get a “complete game”. The fact is that right now, there Hardware: Rivals is an incomplete game without much of a replay factor and any reason to continue to playing after a few hours of playing.
Beyond: Two Souls starts off incredibly well. Realistic visuals, great voice acting and a plot that really sinks a hook into you. Unfortunately, the story takes various tangents that constantly distract from the main plot. Even the tangents have tangents. By the end of the game the story has gotten so convoluted that you can barely make sense of what any of this stuff had to do with the supernatural stuff. Even if you enjoy the tangents, the controls are really difficult to work with. For a game that is based on the ability to make decisions, the controls take a lot of this away from you.
Doki-Doki Universe is a fun and happy game to play, but I got bored of it very quickly. After a while the quests became more of a chore. If you have the object you summon it, if you don’t you go to the next world to do whatever quests you can and just keep looping around. This isn’t really exciting to begin with and since it is the foundation of the game you don’t have anything else to keep you interested. While Doki-Doki Universe might not be a fun game for adults to play it is definitely a game that children can enjoy. It’s simple, light hearted and relatively long. There are plenty of worlds to visit and plenty of quests to keep a child occupied for a long time. The game is well made with sharp visuals and a fun story. If you are looking a game to keep a kid occupied, Doki-Doki Universe will be a good choice.
The Walking Zombie 2 almost comes close to being a really fun game. The biggest mistake was to taking itself too seriously. The game is unintentionally funny and often seems like it is a game for children. While there is still some fun to be had with this game, the absolutely horrendous UI design combined with all of the microtransactions make any interaction with the character menu a dreaded chore.
It is rather disappointing how Monster Harvest introduces an interesting concept but gives such a watered-down implementation of everything it tries to do. The combat couldn't possibly be any more basic. Farming is pretty much a one-click task that you eventually automate. The tiny stamina bar forces you to go to bed or waste money to restore stamina if you want to really get the most out of a day. With the two core gameplay mechanics of this game feeling half-finished, there isn't much else for you to really do that brings any entertainment. This game desperately needs a long term goal that players need to really invest in the game in order to reach. In its current state Monster Harvest feels more like an early access game that isn't quite finished yet.
Soda Crisis has all the makings of an epic, modern tribute to some classic action side scrollers like Metal Slug. Instead of building a bigger, badder experience, you will get some slick controls and high octane combat smushed into tiny levels that never work together to build a larger picture. Soda crisis is just a series of mini levels, no better than the likes of Angry Birds but is presented with the guise of a fully fleshed-out action-adventure. Once you get stuck into the meat, you will find there is very little on offer here after the first 30 minutes.
Deadcraft is not a bad game but because it tries to do so much and does it all to a bare minimum, there is very little that is going to impress you. Everything just feels so basic and many mechanics feel like they are implemented just enough to tick a box but not enough to provide the player with anything new and exciting. At its core, Deadcraft is just a grind fest from start to finish with nothing noteworthy to entertain you along the way.
Ghost of Tsushima is an artistically creative game that often feels like a realistic Zelda game. The minimal UI, clever use of wind and beautiful environmental details make exploration rewarding on its own. When it comes to combat, the game falls short. With a huge number of combat games to draw inspiration from, it is a shame this game is more like button mashy Dynasty Warriors game than it is a precision, high speed action game like Ninja Gaiden. You never feel like the powerful warrior the story tries to make you believe you are.
The Blackout Club has a lot to offer, but gives you very little. The game feels like an incomplete early access game. The missions are repetitive, the character loadouts and gear are very limited. You need to have a group of friends to play with. You can’t progress with the story by just joining in with random people. With all of the potential of the story and setting, it is a shame to see it all wasted with a poorly executed finish.
Stories: Path of Destiny has a lot of good ideas and tries to implement them as best it can. Ultimately, most of the best ideas fall a little short of the mark. The combat is ambitious but ends up being sloppy. The story is large but ends up being repetitive. The RPG elements are fun, but most of it is maxed out very early in the game making it sort of pointless. Everything that this game does, starts out well, but always falls short. In most cases, these drawbacks are enough to ruin the experience. The end result is a game that tries to do a lot, but doesn't try hard enough.
Arizona Sunshine is a fun game with some redeeming qualities. While the story is not original, it is fun and enjoyable. The warm desert setting keeps you feeling warm and blowing the heads of every zombie in sight is also a lot of fun. The clunky controls and poor visuals do let this game down quite a bit and make it feel a little more rushed than it should. Issues aside, I still enjoyed playing this game, simply because shooting things in VR is a lot of fun, no matter the quality of the game.
Atlas Fallen is a mixed bag. It has classic elements that resonate with fans of open world RPGs, clever combat mechanics, and some unique exploration elements. BUT, the repetitive, hopeless world, lacklustre narrative, and often frustrating UX pitfalls temper this potential. Atlas Fallen feels more like a well-made mod than it does a standalone release.