Leonardo Faria's Reviews
Speed Freeks will live or die based on its developer and publisher’s ability to maintain a sizeable player count for the foreseeable future. I really like the core gameplay loop, sense of humor, and presentation. It’s a totally dumb and over-the-top multiplayer funhouse, just the way I like it. If you’re even moderately into vehicular combat games, even if you don’t know a damn thing about Warhammer, Speed Freeks is an easy recommendation, despite its flaws and limitations. Make sure this game will last for a while, as it’s quite fun with the right mindset.
Deliver At All Costs is filled with creative mission ideas, an awesome physics engine and an emphasis on an above-average story, but it’s also marred by technical and design issues, as well as an overall repetitive nature. Its presentation is also a mixed bag, but then again, I don’t think the game is that bad. In fact, there’s a lot to enjoy in it. It is a very unique experience, and it’s so devoid of urgency, it almost feels relaxing at times. You can’t say no to driving through entire houses, destroying them in the process, whilst listening to some good old surf rock from the 50’s.
I kept playing The Midnight Walk, and enjoying my time with it, because it was just a blessing for my eyes (and occasionally for my ears). By featuring the bare minimum of gameplay to make it stand out from other walking simulators, it’s vastly more enjoyable than most of its peers. That being said, it’s a one-and-done experience at best.
I would have legitimately given JDM: Japanese Drift Master an even higher score if it wasn’t for the somewhat lacklustre amount of content it offers as of now. The foundation for a truly spectacular love letter to Need for Speed Underground 2 can be clearly seen when you’re cruising around Japan with your pimped out ride. It’s an amazing game technically-speaking, it just needs more meat, some extra cars and modes. It actually feels original, and you can obviously notice the amount of love and effort put into every single corner of its map. Just add more sushi to this platter and it will become one hell of a feast.
This is a pretty small and underwhelming indie racer. I guess I should say it’s a competent game devoid of glitches and issues, but I was also not having a lot of fun playing it. I played Super Engine GT Turbo SPEC for about an hour and half, whilst thinking I could have stopped after just 45 minutes, considering how repetitive and devoid of content it is.
Ignoring one or two slightly dated titles, plus a truly terrible one, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 goes to show that no one is doing arcade gaming preservation as well as Capcom right now. Just the inclusion of Capcom vs. SNK 2 by itself, in such a pristine, rollback-supported stated, is enough of a reason for you to purchase it, but add in games like two Power Stones and the best version of the best Street Fighter, and what you have here is more than a lot of bang for your buck. What we have here is an infinitely enjoyable collection of fighting works of art.
If it wasn’t for the excessive emphasis on a story I simply couldn’t care about, Doom: The Dark Ages would have easily, without a shadow of a Cacodemon-shredding doubt, been my favorite title in the modern Doom games. It perfected combat and exploration in ways I never thought would ever be able. By ditching platforming puzzles in favor of just letting you rip like a madman onto dozens of demons at a time, iD Software managed to create something truly spectacular.
I just wasn’t amused. Grandma No! goes for cheap humor, almost expecting further comment and dialogue from a Twitch streamer showcasing it to their followers. It’s short, uninteresting, and somewhat devoid of replayability. I’m not saying you can’t laugh a bit with some of its sections (I certainly did, like twice), but there are better comedic and slapstick-focused titles out there. It’s just a forgettable novelty.
All in all, you will only have a crack with this game if it’s literally the only kart racer at your disposal. And I highly doubt that will ever happen to literally anyone out there.
I really tried to enjoy my time with Memoriapolis, especially with how good-looking it is, but constant soft locking scenarios and a lack of map variety resulted in me losing my interest with it fairly quickly. It’s out of Early Access now, so I truly expected it to have just a bit more content, maybe some randomly generated maps, and a less punishing lack of resources.
I have to commend the development team at Foreign Gnomes for coming up with a sequel to such a unique game like Everhood, without making it feel like more of the same. In some regards, sure, Everhood 2 retains what made the original so fun and weird, whilst trying to be a bit more action-focused and a bit more combat-oriented.
I guess that what made me feel so disappointed about Shotgun Cop Man was the fact that I had just played a vastly superior game with the same gimmick, but no control issues whatsoever. In Sacre Bleu, I could perform small jumps before blasting myself with the recoil of my bunderbluss. Combat was fun there. It wasn’t here. Shotgun Cop Man ended up being a torturous patience test, with a control scheme that just didn’t fit in with the level design, really poor presentation, and a level of difficulty that never felt like I was being tested; I felt I was being made fun of.
I had a fun time with Captain Blood even if it’s clearly dated. For a forgotten game that should have been released back during the end of the Bush administration, the idea still feels fresh to this day. A pirate-themed God of War clone was appealing back then, and still is now. Just bear in mind the quality of life enhancements you’d expect from the 2020s aren’t featured in this game, and that it wouldn’t have even been a masterpiece for its intended generation of consoles.
My summarised answer as to whether or not you should pick up Haste is: “yeah, duh”. Do it right away. It stands out from a sea of generic roguelites by being completely focused on just a few core concepts, namely momentum, speed, and platforming. Thankfully, Haste delivers in all of these aspects, so what we have here is an incredibly charming game that is easy to pick up, hard to master, and even harder for you to stop playing.
I think this is the best way to sum up KIBORG: a neat premise that just ended up feeling like a mixed bag. For every admittedly interesting aspect, such as its visuals, ultraviolence and combat, there’s something else that brings it down a handful of notches, such as the awful voice acting, difficulty spikes, and bugs.
Despelote is not awful… it’s just very confusing. I appreciate the interesting premise and presentation, but it’s just somewhat devoid of elements that make it a proper “game”. Even the football-related gameplay (or what little of it is present) feels clunky and shallow. I also think the story could have been more focused on the innocence and lack of urgency in the life of a child – it would have made it a lot more relatable.
I still fail to understand the idea behind dropping these terrible Neptunia spinoffs every six months or so. Is this Idea Factory’s plan to keep the franchise under the spotlight at all times? Because I don’t think we are constantly being reminded of them for the good reasons. Neptunia Riders Vs. Dogoos is yet another example of an unfunny, uninteresting, short and lazy spinoff that relies way too much on fanservice to mask how shallow it really is. I don’t get who this is for, and I really struggled to have any kind of fun with it.
Both Lunar and Lunar 2 are utterly adorable JRPGs with lovable characters and great plots you can’t help but want to experience as much as possible. To have them available in an accessible and polished remastered package is more than just a lot of bang for you buck, but also a great way to preserve two cult hits from the 90s, finally making them easily accessible to a wider audience. It’s a good thing they are charming as hell, as their gameplay is grindy and dated. If you can put up with the clichés and limitations of old-school JRPGs, then Lunar Remastered Collection is a very easy recommendation.
It is still janky, occasionally ugly, and featuring some inexcusable bugs, but the core game is so good, so damn immersive and entertaining, you will keep on playing it for hours on end. It’s an updated and (ever so slightly) improved way to experience a classic RPG that doesn’t feel like it’s already 19 years old. Grab an axe, improve your charisma stats, completely ignore the plot and the urgency behind the main critical path, and immerse yourself in the land of Cyrodiil.
Sacre Bleu is a silly but lighthearted adventure with some inventive platforming and level design. I loved how the game managed to progressively teach me all of its mechanics through some organic difficulty growth, and also gave me reasons to replay each level by adding little secrets and unlockables here and there. It’s just occasionally hampered by some less than spectacular combat sections, but the puzzle-solving more than makes up for it. At the end of the day, even if it’s not spectacular, it’s a pretty fun game, of très bonne qualité.