Leonardo Faria's Reviews
There are some really good things in This Is The Zodiac Speaking. It nails its setting, being shockingly faithful to its source material. The developers did a great job researching the subject matter, that’s for certain. Sadly, I can’t say the same about the game as a whole. Its graphics are cheap, its sound design is a mixed bag, and what’s worse, it’s just not very exciting to play.
The developers behind Ben 10: Power Trip sure tried coming up with an ambitious open world adventure for the young ones to enjoy, but they sadly missed the mark. Be it due to budget issues or time constraints, everything in this game feels rushed and half-baked.
More than just a unique roguelike with a nice combat system and tons of customization options, Going Under is also a great piece of satire.
Issues aside, Powertris is not exactly bad. Sure, its presentation is beyond lazy, and it does suffer from an annoying amount of input lag, but as a puzzle game, it’s quite decent.
Despite being a bit janky in its sound and gameplay departments, I have to say I’m very impressed with how fun Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2 is. It’s a complete carbon copy of Mario Kart, without a doubt, but that’s not a bad thing. The Nickelodeon setting is a perfect fit for a cartoonish kart racer, after all. It features great visuals, an immense roster of playable characters, and tons of unlockables.
Ride 4 is the motorcycle equivalent to Gran Turismo, for better or worse. It features a lot of content, every single kind of motorbike you can imagine, from Harleys to Ducatis, tons of racetracks, and lots of different events to partake in. When it comes to bang for your buck, it sure delivers. But when it comes to being actually fun to play, it misses the mark.
I still cannot believe this game was developed and published by EA. Star Wars Squadrons is downright amazing. It’s a phenomenal VR experience, an addictive multiplayer title, and most importantly, a freaking fantastic Star Wars game. It’s something that could easily rival Lucasarts’ best titles from back in the day.
Ys Origin is a phenomenal fit for a system like the Switch. I loved its deliciously rewarding gameplay and metroidvania-esque gameplay loop. It might be the most underwhelming game in the franchise when it comes to plot and characters, but I didn’t mind that at all. For a game released in 2006, it’s amazing how well it has aged in pretty much every single aspect.
Feather is alright when it comes to its presentation, but I’m still trying to understand what the hell is its purpose. I’ve been flying around, looking at some cute low-poly sights, and wondering if there was some objective to complete, if I should flying through all rings and amass some collectibles. It’s just pointless. I’m not saying the game is bad due to its nonviolent and relaxing approach, on the contrary. But please, give us something to do in it.
Port Royale 4 is not a bad game by any means, as it does what it advertises with honors, but maybe I expected a bit more from a game centered around the golden age of piracy. This is actually a relaxing experience, but you can clearly notice it wasn’t created with consoles in mind. It is a PC game, first and foremost.
Despite the involvement of WayForward in its development, Trollhunters: Defenders of Arcadia is, at the very best, just an average platformer. It doesn’t offer anything new in terms of gameplay and definitely doesn’t impress when it comes to its visuals.
As long as you understand that you’re about to play a game that has aged significantly (it was originally released in 2004, after all), then you’ll have a great time with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Complete Edition. Yes, it doesn’t look that great nowadays. Yes, its UI is janky and confusing. That doesn’t mean you won’t have tons of fun coming up with the stupidest, most gravity-defying rides in history.
Pardon the cliché, but Art of Rally is exactly that. It’s art. Not only is it one hell of an entertaining racing game, but it’s also a visual delight, a musical masterpiece, and a love letter to cars and racing in general. The developers took inspiration from lots of different gaming and non-gaming sources in order to create something unique and truly memorable.
I’m pleased with how robust Tennis World Tour 2 is. It looks decent, its framerate is great, its controls have been completely revamped, and it’s chock-full of content. I may not have cared that much for its card system, nor have I enjoyed what they have done to its serve mechanics, but as a whole, this is a fantastic improvement over its predecessor. Right now, this is easily the best option if you want a tennis game on your current-gen console.
In many ways, you may think that Breakpoint is probably the most generic title in gaming history. It doesn’t look very appealing and its gameplay is as shallow as a puddle. Yet somehow, it works. It’s so simplistic and carefree to the point of becoming freeing. There’s just something about slashing tons of colorful enemies onscreen that makes me feel entertained.
Metamorphosis has a great premise and a very intelligent story. I’m not gonna lie, playing as a bug in a first-person perspective was impressive at first. Too bad this one of the most unpolished games I have ever played in my life.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact this collection exists. I love that I can play these classic Mario games on-the-go. They are still ridiculously fun. But I can’t help but feel annoyed with the lack of effort put into this collection. It just feels lazy. We are paying sixty dollars for emulated ROMs, available for a limited time only, with little to no quality of life improvements. This sets a very bad precedent for the future.
No Straight Roads‘ premise is fantastic. I loved its setting, its soundtrack, and I really enjoyed its cast of characters, despite how freakishly weird Mayday looks. A game all about saving the world with the power of rock should be an easy win for me. If it wasn’t for its clunky combat and controls, as well as its tendency to bite way more than it can actually chew, No Straight Roads would have been one of the best surprises of the year.
If anything, eFootball PES 2021 Season Update is very upfront and very honest. It offers almost nothing new when compared to last year’s PES 2020, besides some very minute (but still welcome) gameplay tweaks and some roster updates. However, it does feature a much more honest price tag as a means to compensate for that.
You’ll spend about fifteen minutes between downloading Road Bustle, getting all of its trophies, and uninstalling it. It actually took longer for me to write this review than it took me to 100% the freaking thing. Technically speaking, it’s not a completely broken game, as it does what it advertises, but it’s so pathetic and uninspiring.