Leonardo Faria's Reviews
Finally, I do appreciate how the artists tried to promote their (bad, but funny) music with a video game. A terrible video game, granted, but that’s still somewhat commendable. Don’t get me wrong, Whiteboyz Wit Attitude: The Pursuit of Money is awful, but I still think you should give it a try. I’ve played worse games and had to pay for them.
Missile Command: Recharged didn’t try to revamp the franchise’s formula with revolutionary gameplay changes, but honestly, I think that worked for the best. It’s just a fairly good attempt to bring the franchise to modern consoles, being best enjoyed on the Switch due to its portability.
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is an excellent return to form for the belly-dancing indie heroine. It’s a game that looked back to its previous iterations, took notes of what people liked the most about each one of them, and added everything to a blender together with some new gameplay features and quality of life improvements.
Maneater is a game made by people who knew the limitations imposed by their budget, the current gen of consoles, and the overall nature of open world games. They managed to craft an incredibly polished murderfest experience that makes you want to kill everything in sight due to how fun its gameplay is.
I don’t think I would have enjoyed Red Wings: Aces of the Sky if I had played anywhere else but the Switch. Its arcade-like controls inspired by Rogue Squadron, short missions, and excellent survival mode are a perfect fit for a portable system.
I think this is the perfect case of a game in which its themes and message were crafted with a higher degree of priority than its gameplay loop. Arrest of a Stone Buddha tries to provide players with moments of reflection in between bouts of ultraviolent gunplay, but its actual gameplay loop is so clunky and frustrating that the only thing you’ll want to think once a level is over is “who the hell designed that level”.
Songs For a Hero is the kind of game that might not impress you with its gameplay and visuals, but will certainly win you over with its funny lyrics and overall cute sense of humor.
You may look at Gorn gameplay footage and think it’s nothing special, but this is one of the most entertaining VR games I’ve played in a long time. Killing these intentionally janky barbarians is not only a cathartic way to have fun in VR, but also a great way to burn some calories without ever thinking that you’re working out.
All in all, SuperMash succeeds because, even though it might have some flaws in its technical department, it’s still a fantastic idea that leaves a lot of room for experimentation and replayability. I have already played more than fifty mishmashes and I feel I have only scratched the surface of what this game has to offer.
Antigraviator is a fine futuristic racing game that might fill in a momentary gap while we wait for the eventual release of Pacer. This is a game that’s best enjoyed on an Xbox One, not because it plays better on that console, but because it’s where it faces the least competition.
Ministry of Broadcast ended up being an enjoyable throwback to the heyday of cinematic platformers, but its weighty gameplay wasn’t what I enjoyed the most about it. Even though it played and felt like something the developers of Flashback would have developed twenty-five years ago, the best thing about it is its dreary atmosphere and dark sense of humor.
I’ll admit I expected little from Task Force Kampas other than a quick and unenthusiastic pastime. It ended up being a lot better than I could have expected. It’s ugly and limited, that’s for sure, but it’s tons of fun. It’s a perfect “pick up and play” experience that’s stupidly challenging, but not enough to be considered frustrating.
Streets of Rage 4 is exactly how the franchise should have been handled in the 21st century. It features brand new visual upgrades, gameplay improvements, online multiplayer, and a killer modern soundtrack, but it still retains the charm and soul of the Mega Drive classics.
Grimvalor is a delightful surprise. Not exactly the most innovative metroidvania out there, nor the most challenge game with gameplay elements derived from Dark Souls, but it manages to provide a satisfactory level of challenge and a lot of secrets to unfold in one inexpensive package.
Snowrunner might only be thoroughly enjoyed by a small niche audience, but they will have the time of their life with it. It is bigger, prettier, and a bit more fun than its predecessor, even if the camera controls are exponentially more annoying to deal with this time around.
I know I might sound like a scratched record with this verdict, but MotoGP 20 is basically like the other recent motorcycling racers that have been released on modern consoles: extremely competent when it comes to graphics, sound and content, with more than enough to keep you invested for months, but you’ll need to get used to its very realistic and newcomer-unfriendly controls first.
ITTA features all the key ingredients to be an indie darling, such as a strong art style and soundtrack, a gameplay loop reminiscent of classic games from back in the day, and a story that will hit close to home to anyone who decides to pick it up. Thankfully, in no moment these elements felt like just “game award bait”.
I never thought a mix between PONG and a dungeon crawler would work, but PONG Quest proved me wrong. It’s a fun and accessible little game with a fun gameplay loop and lots of unlockables, but this is definitely best enjoyed in smaller doses.
Deep Sky Derelicts is a flawed roguelike dungeon crawler, but its positives still manage to slightly outweigh its negatives. With a bit of patience, you’ll be eventually greeted to complex yet enjoyable combat and progression systems, as well as a lot of replayability due to the randomly generated dungeons.
I have to admit that Sharknado VR: Eye of the Storm ended up being much better than expected. Granted, it’s still a terrible game, with absymal visuals, sound effects, and a grand total of half an hour of content, but considering its source material isn’t exactly Lord of the Rings, I expected a lot worse.