Leonardo Faria's Reviews
As a cynical adult, I obviously find Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay to be one of the most basic gaming experiences I’ve had in years. But I am not its core audience. When you assess it through the eyes of a toddler, this is actually a pretty decent game.
Give it up to Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for actually making the impossible work like a charm. Yakuza: Like a Dragon is more than just a great transition to a brand new JRPG environment. It might as well be one of the best Yakuza games ever made, and one of the best JRPGs I’ve played in years. Once you get rid of an admittedly slow start, you’ll be greeted a fantastic story, great combat system, relatable characters, and a ludicrous, borderline insane amount of content.
The XIII remake is best described as absolutely incompetent. A game from 2020 shouldn’t look, play, sound, and perform worse than a 2003 title that wasn’t even that hardware demanding back in the day to begin with. I am baffled with how unfinished and unpolished this game is. I may have played worse games this year, but I seriously doubt any of them, be it Fast & Furious or Road Bustle, infuriated me as much as this remake. The more I play it, the more I loathe it.
Sackboy isn’t as big or complex as other Sony exclusives, and that’s great. After playing countless of serious and mature titles, a smaller, less serious, and more family friendly platformer is exactly what I wanted from them. A palate cleanser of sorts in order to get ready for the next generation of consoles.
Dustoff Z is pretty simple and straightforward. It’s a short but fun arcade experience that isn’t going to make a lasting impact, but still manages to be entertaining in short bursts. I don’t exactly think I would have enjoyed this game at all had I played anywhere else but on the Switch, but that portable system ended up being a perfect fit for a title like this.
Is there any silver lining in here? Well, the soundtrack doesn’t fit at with the game’s overall vibe, but it isn’t terrible, and there are some unlockable vehicles in here. But that would mean playing the game for a longer period of time just to get something definitely not worth the hassle. Speed 3: Grand Prix is a disaster. It’s ugly, its controls feel unfinished, it lacks content, and most importantly of all, it’s just not fun.
No More Heroes 2 is definitely much better than its predecessor in pretty much every single conceivable way. It looks nicer, its gameplay is more fluid, its soundtrack is more iconic, its voice acting is nowhere near as irritating as before, and the lack of pointless filler makes the game feel a lot more fluid as a result. I’m finally starting to understand why people love this franchise so much, even if I still think No More Heroes and Travis Strikes Again are massively overrated.
This is a truly impressive 2.5D action platformer that boasts some of the best production values on the entire Switch’s library, with gorgeous visuals and a great soundtrack. Its gameplay is fast-paced and addictive, and its slice of life mechanics, while far from being the best thing about it, are still interesting and not very intrusive.
Foregone is an all-around great game. It’s gorgeous, its combat is slick and entertaining, and its level design is excellent. Besides the aforementioned unfair boss fights, its main issue is the fact that, while competent, it simply does not bring anything new to the table. It pays tribute to tons of previously released games without ever standing out on its own. With that being said, that’s not a dealbreaker by any means.
I don’t think anybody was expecting for Tropico 6‘s Switch port to be superior to any other previously released version of the game, and it shows. It’s clearly the ugliest and clunkiest version of the game released so far. That being said, Tropico 6 is still one hell of a fun game on the Switch. If you can put up with the ugly visuals and initially weird controls, and decide to play it almost exclusively in portable mode, then you can still have a blast creating your totally democratic states on-the-go.
I used to think that I wasn’t getting No More Heroes‘ appeal because my only previous experience with the franchise had been its mediocre spinoff from 2018. Sadly, after playing this remaster of the original game, I have to say that my point stands. No More Heroes is shallow as a puddle, dated in terms of gameplay, and really not funny for a game that’s supposed to be comedic.
DIRT 5 might have some small issues, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love it. I really liked its arcade-friendly approach and overall goofier vibe. It is loud, colorful, in-your-face, and accessible, without ever forgetting about its skill-focused roots, letting veterans tinker the gameplay to their liking.
I knew Watch Dogs: Legion was going to be interesting and entertaining, but even though I already had really high expectations, Ubisoft still managed to surpass them. It’s one of their few sandbox games in which fooling around is a legit fun activity. It’s a game with a bold premise that actually delivers.
Is it better than F-Zero or Wipeout? No, nor it was intended to be. Is it a great alternative to PS4 and Xbox owners who don’t have access to Fast RMX? Absofreakinglutely. This one will most certainly satiate any futuristic racing fan’s hunger for a while.
There are simply way too many good roguelikes out there, games that are way better than GoNNER2 in every single aspect. This game isn’t as polished as Hades, relatable as Going Under, or revolutionary as The Crown Tundra‘s Max Lair mode. Simply put, it might be interesting for those who enjoyed the first GoNNER a few years ago, but if you’re new to the franchise, this definitely won’t impress you that much.
The Crown Tundra is more than just a small expansion with a slightly expanded pokédex and a brand new legendary to catch. This is one hell of a meaty campaign with some interesting puzzle-solving mechanics, a labyrinthine map to explore, tons of returning legendaries, and a roguelike mode that is way more addictive than it should have ever been. Whereas The Isle of Armor felt too short and undercooked, The Crown Tundra is absolutely worth buying if you own Sword or Shield.
I truly question Airplane Mode‘s existence, but I have to praise its developers for being upfront and honest with it. It’s incredibly boring, but so is being stuck inside an airplane for six hours in real life. This game can be called lots of things, such as a waste of time and an act of hubris, but it’s definitely not false advertising. This is a very accurate portrayal of what you can (and cannot) do while traveling in economy class, for better or for worse.
Pumpkin Jack is janky, but still very enjoyable. It’s the kind of simple and straightforward 3D platformer that’s missing in today’s world. It was a lot better than last year’s MediEvil remake, that’s for damn sure.
It’s by no means the most polished hack n’ slash out there, paling in comparison to Platinum and Capcom’s works, but it still managed to offer some mindless, cathartic fun. Shut down your brain, and you’ll easily look past its issues.
Disc Room features such a stupidly simple gameplay loop, yet the developers managed to come up with so many kinds of challenges and so many room layouts, it’s absolutely bonkers. It is a stupidly hard game, but it never felt unfair. Not even when I was stuck in room where the amount of saw blades trying to turn me into a sashimi defied the laws of physics.