Russell Archey


174 games reviewed
82.6 average score
85 median score
79.9% of games recommended
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8 / 10.0 - Rezrog
May 31, 2017

Rezrog is essentially the "miniatures on a grid" portion of Dungeons & Dragons so to speak and I enjoy that.  However, the early going can be tedious as you learn the game's mechanics and some frustration may set in until you start to get your characters leveled up.  This is definitely a game where strategy must be employed to survive without getting your heroes captured, but if you stick with it long enough you'll find an enjoyable experience that tabletop RPG fans will likely enjoy.

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May 17, 2017

Urban Trial Freestyle 2 makes a few improvements over the original, but it's not quite there in terms of network functionality.  The connection issues I kept having as well as needing to type in a code just to download a track made that a bit of a hassle, but at least you can now share your tracks online.  If you enjoyed the original game, you should enjoy the second outing with twice as many stages to dominate and more obstacles to trip up players with in the track builder.

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8 / 10.0 - Rise & Shine
Feb 22, 2017

Rise & Shine is a good action-platformer though its main shortcoming is how short the game can be.  Once you get the hang of things the game can be finished in a few hours, but if you’re looking for a challenge the game’s difficulty spikes about a third of the way in and it just gets harder from there.  If you're up for a challenge, this is one to check out.

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Dec 13, 2016

Super Mario Maker for the 3DS is enjoyable but it has its drawbacks.  While the 100 Mario Challenge and Super Mario Challenge are both fun to play through, the lackluster search function of the Recommended Courses, having to go through the Super Mario Challenge to unlock most of the stuff for stage creation, and the quizzical lack of ability to upload courses and share them with the world outside of locally and via StreetPass make this a hard game to recommend at $40 for a lot of people.

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8 / 10.0 - Xanadu Next
Nov 7, 2016

Despite looking a bit dated and not quite as good as Xseed’s recent Ys games, Xanadu Next is still an enjoyable dungeon crawler.  It’s not without its faults such as some known bugs and the constant increase in key prices, but once you get around those quirks you’ll find a fun game that’ll keep you coming back to the ruins to explore some more.

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Oct 11, 2016

Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary is a great way to celebrate Rockford’s thirty year trek through the caves.  While the game looks like it belongs on a mobile device (which makes sense given this was originally released on iOS and Android) and the controls could be a bit tighter, the game offers up plenty of challenge even within the early worlds.  Fans of arcade-style puzzle games will definitely want to dig into this one.

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8 / 10.0 - Silence
Apr 29, 2019

Silence is a great game with some quirks.  The artwork is beautiful and the animation is pretty good for the most part, and the story definitely takes center stage for me.  However, the puzzles are rather simple, most of the dialogue (and puzzles for that matter) have no real consequence for choosing a wrong option, and the forty dollar price tag might be off-putting to some, especially since you can find it for half of that on other platforms.  Silence is definitely worth checking out and it makes me want to play through The Whispered World, but I'd recommend waiting for it to go on sale.

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8 / 10.0 - Yo-Kai Watch 2
Sep 30, 2016

Coming from a series newbie, Yo-kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls/Bony Spirits is an enjoyable game, but there were a couple of things that surprised me.  The mostly-automated battles confused me at first as I wasn’t expecting it, but I did get the hang of it over time.  I just wish the user had more input during them other than healing and Soultimate moves, but other than that and the tedium of befriending Yo-kai, fans of the original game should enjoy the second outing as well.

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8 / 10.0 - Rive
Sep 26, 2016

RIVE is a fun, albeit really challenging blend of space shooter and platformer. The intense challenge early on might turn off less experienced players, but those who want a great challenge should enjoy it. Just get used to having blue-colored drones explode in your face quite a bit.

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Oct 17, 2017

While not a huge fan of Dragon Ball in general, I can say that I'm a fan of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 on the Switch. It does have its flaws. Namely with the camera and some of the training. Plus the combat can get repetitive as you mash out the same combos, at least in the early going. But I can definitely say that I found a Dragon Ball game that I can enjoy coming back to from time to time.

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Aug 18, 2016

Metroid Prime: Federation Force is enjoyable once you learn the controls, but it feels like it was more geared towards multiplayer.  The ammo capacity and mod restrictions force you to think strategically about what to take on each mission which can be both good and bad depending on how you look at it.  As long as you don’t mind the exploration aspect of the series removed and replaced with linear missions, fans of the series should enjoy Federation Force.

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8 / 10.0 - Boxboy
Apr 1, 2015

BoxBoy is a fun game with some pretty creative puzzles.  However, the easier difficulty might turn off some more experienced players as there isn't too much of a challenge until much later in the game.  While a good game, it would have been nice to see some more complex puzzles around the mid-way point to up the challenge a bit more.

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Jan 7, 2016

Minecraft Wii U Edition is a fun game, but I feel that the additional $10 over its other console counterparts isn't quite justified.  Sadly the game pad isn't put to much more use other than just being another controller to use and I don't feel that additional textures and skins warrants another $10.  It's still a fun game but if you already have another console version, this might be one to skip unless you have friends who also pick up this version.

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8 / 10.0 - Full Bore
May 27, 2014

Full Bore is an enjoyable game if you don't mind puzzles that range from simple to difficult within a few minutes of each other. While it's nice to play in short bursts thanks to the auto-save system, it would have been nice if the puzzles in the main areas were a bit more challenging, as that's where you'll spend most of your time if you don't go after every gem. Beyond that, though, Full Bore is a pretty solid game.

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Jun 18, 2015

Swords and Soldiers II is an entertaining RTS game that doesn't take itself too seriously.  That being said hardcore RTS players might find this one a bit too "silly" for their tastes, though players new to RTS games might find it enjoyable, especially with the option to go through any stage on Easy Mode.  Either way, while not the best RTS game out there, it is an enjoyable one.

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8 / 10.0 - Life Goes On
May 8, 2014

Life Goes On is an ingenious puzzle game that puts a whole new spin on dying in video games.  Sadly its' biggest downfall is the fact that the game is on the short and easy side, but if you're trying to get every achievement and medal in the game, you can squeeze out a few more hours from this one.  If you don't mind all of that, I definitely recommend picking this one up.

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8 / 10.0 - Concursion
Sep 19, 2014

All in all, Concursion is a fairly solid game, but there are some issues here and there.  The graphics and animation are so-so, the difficulty curve can be steep and times, and the bosses can be pretty tedious.  Overall though, if you're into classic gaming genres I'd at least give the demo a shot before picking up the full game.

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8 / 10.0 - Fenix Rage
Nov 9, 2014

Fenix Rage is a pretty good game, but can also be a frustrating experience.  If you don't mind the fact that it could almost pass for a sequel to Super Meat Boy and that the difficulty curve is all over the place and can easily make you frustrated, it is an enjoyable experience.  If any game needs Nintendo's reminder to take a break now and then, this would be the one.

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8 / 10.0 - Sportsball
Dec 10, 2014

Sportsball is a fun and fast paced game…when played with friends.  Sadly there's very little single-player content to be worth the ten dollars if you rarely have other people to play with, and there's also no online play at all, but beyond that Sportsball can make for a fun afternoon of soccer with a bit of Joust thrown in.

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Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars is enjoyable but rather easy, even in later stages.  The main attraction here is the stage builder where after unlocking everything you can build practically any kind of stage you wish.  While some people tend to make stages simply to give easy stars in the hopes of getting easy stars in return, there are stages where a lot of thought was put into them and are challenging.  If you like the series, you'll enjoy Tipping Stars, but you might find it a bit too easy.

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