Paul Broussard's Reviews
As far as what a remake/remaster should accomplish, it's hard to view Brilliant Diamond as anything short of an absolute failure.
It likely won’t win any awards, but if you’re in the mood for a competent movement shooter and don’t feel like replaying Titanfall 2’s campaign for the 30th time, this is an acceptable choice.
In the midst of a number of popular open world games that seek to reinvent the wheel, Horizon has instead chosen to polish and refine the typical open world format. And that’s not a bad thing at all; while innovation is important, I’d argue iterative improvement is just as important.
If you want something to play almost exclusively as a standard person vs. person fighter, particularly if you’re focused on doing so online, then KoF XV is one of the better options available today. If you’re more interested in a title with a variety of options and gameplay modes, then this isn’t it.
There are very few original ideas on display in Project_Hel, outside of the new meter management system, and too many poor decisions that undermine the core ideas of the original, so it fails to reach the highs of the base game.
For what it’s worth, Babylon’s Fall is not the worst AAA game to ever release... it runs properly, doesn’t have any major glitches, and is functional without having to spend any extra cash. It’s just a very boring, uninteresting game that doesn’t work or engage without such a substantial time commitment that I don’t think it would be worthwhile to even the most diehard of Platinum Games’ fans.
There’s no question in my mind that Elden Ring is a great game, and an early leading contender for game of the year. The pertinent question may be "how great?", and that’s a little tougher to answer.
If you come at it looking for a strategy game first and foremost, I suspect you’ll be disappointed. However, if you’re willing to view it more as an experience rather than a real test of your decision making chops, you’ll likely find yourself very engrossed.
If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the road to a boring video game is lined with safe design choices, and that really is FixFox’s problem.
It’s a perfectly functional game, if nothing else, and for only $12 you’re certainly not risking a lot by purchasing it.
Citizen Sleeper is a very compelling experience, with an enticing story supported by some solid strategy gameplay and barebones but still competent RPG mechanics. If you’re open to a Disco Elysium-esque visual novel that’s a bit lighter in tone (despite the dystopian setting) and emphasizes resource management more, it’s safe to say you’ll enjoy this.
The price point is unreasonable, the games on display don't have nearly enough new content, and what is new has some charm but ultimately lacks staying power.
The Salt games are in an awkward spot now, having mish-mashed several wildly successful ideas from other titles, but being unable to make them fit together into an identity of their own. Hopefully, if we get a third entry, Ska Studios will be able to make it all coalesce.
For most of its runtime Neon White is a real treat to play, and the unique tradeoff of gunplay and movement choices is a fun gimmick that holds the title together quite well.
Everything that Fobia does has been done both worse and better by other titles. There’s potential in the concept, providing some of the rougher edges are smoothed off, however as it stands Fobia is the horror game equivalent of a plain bagel.
Ultimately, Kirby’s Dream Buffet consists of a lot of good ideas unfortunately hampered by Nintendo’s continued online bugaboo and what I suspect are technical limitations.
Ultimately, a combat game has to be judged by how good its combat is, and in that respect Soulstice passes with flying colors.
This probably isn’t a bad game if you approach it as its own thing, independent of any of the expectations created by previous entries. But as a Saints Row title it leaves a very bitter taste.
I certainly can’t claim Prodeus is a bad game, it just left me thoroughly underwhelmed. Perhaps this encapsulates the underlying issue with the desire to create a game whose primary ambition is to recreate the feeling of playing older titles.
I'm left walking away with a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth for what was one of my most anticipated games coming into 2022, even if I still largely enjoyed most of my time with it. Bayonetta 3 ultimately feels like a solid action game, but not one that was worth waiting eight years for.