Leonardo Faria's Reviews
I would absolutely score it a “Bill & Ted air guitar riff out of ten” if I could.
F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch came from out of nowhere and captivated me with its fantastic controls and map design. Even if its story and voice acting can be a bit dull at times, its presentation and gameplay more than make up for any budgetary setbacks found along the way. If this is what we should expect from metroidvanias in this upcoming generation of games, then F.I.S.T. has already set the bar very high and for that I’m thankful.
I really want to believe that the same studio that helped deliver Mass Effect: Legendary Edition and Bioshock: The Collection needed a bit more time to fix the tons of bugs present in this underwhelming “remaster”. As it stands, Sonic Colors: Ultimate might possibly be one of the most embarrassing releases in Sonic‘s already uneven history, and one depressing way to celebrate the mascot’s 30th anniversary.
Even if playing as a bipedal snail with a laser gun is different from anything else I’ve played, I can’t say I was having the time of my life with it.
Lake feels almost intentionally designed to be boring and mundane, and it did get on my nerves at times. But unlike other similarly-themed art games out there, its premise is so humble and sweet, being so devoid of pretentiousness and arrogance, that it actually manages to deliver its message of making a fresh start and having a better life far away from the chaos of civilization.
It is a well-designed retro throwback, with an interesting ability management system and some well-hidden collectibles, as well as a decent enough presentation. Considering the minuscule price tag the publisher is asking for it, you should totally grab it. It’s not amazing, but it’s well worth it nonetheless.
I can’t help but love witnessing the noticeable improvements in each yearly iteration of WRC, going from a mediocre rally title to what’s possibly the best franchise of the genre in the market nowadays. WRC 10 is its crown achievement, especially on next-gen consoles.
Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is not exactly a very good fighting game, but it does have a bit of charm. It can be quite appealing to a very specific niche: those who are really into the Rocky and Creed movies, and those within this demographic who don’t own a PSVR, since Creed: Rise to Glory is superior in every single way. If anything, I can safely say this is the best non-VR Rocky game ever made. Only because the franchise’s history in gaming is as bad as Rocky’s face after getting beaten up by Apollo in the first movie…
Recompile is a great idea in concept. It surely is unique when it comes to its setting, visuals, and its “blink and you’ll miss it” story (in more ways than one when it comes to the latter), but as a game itself, it suffers from a myriad of issues that ended up hampering my enjoyment with it.
Some aspects related to Spelunky‘s gameplay loop and the quality of its RNG features have aged poorly when compared to more modern and feature-rich roguelikes. Yet considering this was basically the progenitor of half of the indie games in the market, I have to commend it for still being visually appealing and tons of fun after all these years.
The Magnificent Trufflepigs is the weird case of the walking simulator which would have been a lot more enjoyable had the developers decided to include LESS gameplay. Even if its story isn’t anything to write home about, I was way more invested in it than looking for nappy pins and bottles with the slowest metal detector in human history.
The fact I had a lot of fun with Murder Mystery Machine despite its myriad of issues is a testament to how strong its gameplay loop and core concept are.
Considering its very small price tag, I was beyond delighted with Skydrift Infinity. It is a robust racing game with great visuals, controls, and which offers a ton of replayability, considering its average-at-best amount of content. I may not have heard about it when it first came out ten years ago (let’s be honest, did anyone?), but I’m glad I got to finally play it years later on a portable that feels much more suited for its arcade gameplay loop than any other system in the market.
I can’t believe this is the first time Quake has ever been officially released on a portable. Playing this on the Switch feels downright perfect. Its fast-paced gameplay, ludicrous speed, bite-sized levels, and utterly ridiculous amount of content are a fantastic fit for the system.
I don’t even think that technical issues and poor level design are Yuoni‘s biggest issues. It’s just not scary at all. It doesn’t have a bad story, but the way it’s told neuters it potential potency. It’s less of a horror game and more of an underwhelming stealth adventure through dark corridors, where you have to occasionally get past a few shiny children and unkillable enemies.
RiMS Racing has enough qualities to stand out from the rest of the motorcycle racing crowd, but be aware that you have to be a fan of tuning and physics in order to fully enjoy everything the game has to offer. You can still ignore these sections and enjoy its pretty decent racing mechanics without an issue, but you might be a bit disappointed with its lack of content. It’s good for what it tried to achieve though, laying a nice foundation for a more polished and content-rich sequel.
We need more games like Zool Redimensioned. The original wasn’t exactly that great and was quickly forgotten during the mascot platfomer craze of the early 90’s, but thanks to this pretty robust remaster, what was once a somewhat niche and clunky game has turned into a solid (albeit still flawed) platformer that doesn’t feel out of place, nor inferior to most indie releases out there.
Space Invaders Invincible Collection is exactly what we should have gotten last year instead of Space Invaders Forever. It has its weird B-tier spinoffs and modern takes on the original, but it also features the plain obvious: a bunch of classic Space Invaders titles in a package that pays homage to such an important franchise in the history of gaming.
Just like its predecessor, Paw Patrol The Movie: Adventure City Calls is not a game for us grumpy adults, but that doesn’t mean we should overlook its issues. Especially when the previous Paw Patrol game, released less than a year ago, looked and felt more polished as a comparison.
It looks a bit better and it does feature a few new modes that vastly improve its overall replayability. However, it is still infested with questionable design choices and intentionally clunky controls tailor-made to irritate players in the most frustrating of ways. I get what it was supposed to do, but there are countless difficult platformers out there that will provide you with the same level of anger and frustration, but with much better controls and physics.