Jason Rodriguez's Reviews
Assassin's Creed Valhalla's mission structure can be a little tedious at times. However, it still manages to exhilarate and excite thanks to its wonderful visuals, vivid landscapes, side activities, and brilliant combat mechanics.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope provides wonderful scares, a tense and foreboding atmosphere, and some thought-provoking moments thanks to a memorable cast of characters. It's a worthy addition to Supermassive Games' series. However, the inability to skip scenes remains the most tedious aspect as was the case in past titles.
With wonderful voice acting and atmospheric presentation that keeps you immersed and on the edge of your seat, Amnesia: Rebirth manages to provide an exciting experience. Of course, there are a few downsides. It's not as scary as previous offerings, the AI can be a little clumsy, and the weak conclusion to the story will leave you wanting more.
Torchlight III still suffers from many issues that have been present since its Early Access stage, including a middling endgame and bland core gameplay loop. Worse, its restrictions on character builds and relic usage lead to a lack of experimentation and customization.
Crown Trick offers turn-based tactical depth as you battle your foes on numerous dungeon floors. You'll chain the effects from traps, items, spells, and the elements, all while hoping you're lucky with the RNG. It's rogue-lite goodness wrapped in a challenging, engaging, and highly enjoyable package. Just be ready to restart manually often if you want to have an ideal run.
Vigil: The Longest Night aims high and almost hits the mark thanks to its amazing level design, epic boss fights, uncanny visuals, and Lovecraftian and gothic horror themes. Sadly, it's bogged down by its muddled story, confusing map layout, and perplexing campaign progression.
Interesting and charming in its own way, The Survivalists will keep you entertained in short bursts as you try to complete the main objective and craft items to stay alive. Unfortunately, the AI system of your monkey companions is quite cumbersome and clunky. You'll often find yourself more annoyed than delighted due to all the monkeying around.
Port Royale 4 might have quirks that are interesting at a glance such as automated trade routes and a vast map. Looking closer, you'll realize that its core mechanics are cumbersome and unintuitive, its naval battles are plainly uninteresting, and there's not a whole lot that would seem enticing. It lacks all the dynamism despite a time period known for swashbuckling excitement.
Over-the-top action, ridiculous animations and attacks, and a cartoony reimagining of your favorite superstars aside, WWE 2K Battlegrounds is hampered by its lackluster class-based movesets, as well as a system that requires you to grind for a vast majority of superstars that still need to be unlocked. With limited customization options and game modes, it's best played in short bursts, and you'll hardly feel engaged from a single-player standpoint.
Hades is an absolutely phenomenal game. Its characters are brilliantly written, and the worldbuilding and lore are top-notch. The combat mechanics are refreshing, intricate, and unbelievably deep. Its replayability and fun factor will keep you continuing onward with Zagreus' adventure well after the true ending and epilogue. This is one title you wouldn't want to miss out on.
The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos has zany humor and tactical depth. Its characters feel unique and memorable too. Sadly, it's bogged down by a nasty bug that can occur during battles, a particular issue that became problematic towards the end of the game, and a lack of replayability.
Necromunda: Underhive Wars has an engaging sandbox filled with a trove of missions and operations, as well as gang customization. Unfortunately, its linear campaign leaves a lot to be desired, and its own combat mechanics remain egregiously flawed and underwhelming no matter the content you attempt to tackle.
Total War: Three Kingdoms - The Furious Wild lets you run amok with the Nanman led by Meng Huo and others. The downside is that the campaign can turn into a slog and then a long waiting game. Replayability also suffers due to all leaders starting from the same region and having similar objectives and progression paths. Still, the unique perks, mechanics, and units offer refreshing dynamics in tactical battles.
While Crusader Kings III has shortcomings and flaws, these are overshadowed by the sheer number of options and content thanks to its gigantic map and features. Greater emphasis is placed on a character's or dynasty's growth, a level of detail not seen in any previous grand strategy title, allowing you to experience trials and tribulations like never before.
There are a few misgivings related to Wasteland 3's technical aspects, mechanics, and overall challenge. However, its cast of characters (both old and new), the switch to a traditional turn-based combat system, and branching paths filled with decisions and dire consequences make for a superb journey with the Desert Rangers.
Mortal Shell boasts refreshing mechanics that eschew the Souls-like subgenre's tried-and-tested methods. Though a bit on the short side, it oozes bone-crunching, stylish combat, and its performance is superbly optimized. Simply put, Mortal Shell manages to exceed all expectations.
A Total War Saga: Troy is limited in scope and unit variety. Similarly, its middle-ground approach between a purely historical title and one that's filled to the brim with mythological elements might not please everyone. Still, it manages to entertain owing to unique faction leader mechanics and Divine Will strategies. Grab it while it's free, but wait for a few fixes and balancing tweaks if you're planning on buying it separately.
With hardly any flaws or shortcomings, Risk of Rain 2 more than delivers. Its pulse-pounding, off-the-wall, challenging rogue-lite action, combined with countless secrets and unlockables, are sure to entertain and excite you. Play in short bursts or an hour until you scream, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" -- you're bound to enjoy every minute of it.
Othercide has a number of interesting quirks and its art design, with gothic and noir elements, creates a uniquely forboding atmosphere. Unfortunately, it's also got a ridiculous degree of difficulty that you normally don't associate with the turn-based strategy genre. The game's roguelite concepts are more than welcome, though repetition and restarts, combined with the genre's slower progression and mission system, will make playthroughs feel like time-consuming affairs.
A poorly structured first half, questionable gameplay design, and ill-conceived introduction of mechanics aside, Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris also suffers from numerous technical issues and performance drops. There are moments that will entertain you, but these are few and far between and you're left to contend with bothersome frustrations time and again.