Leonardo Faria's Reviews
Ever heard of the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none”? That’s Giraffe and Annika in a nutshell. It tries to be a Zelda clone, a rhythm game, an exploratory 3D platformer, and even a mini slice of life game all at the same time, without ever truly focusing on one aspect to make it truly stand out.
While I’m glad that some publishers are still keeping the licensed title flame alive (an Achilles’ heel of mine), a source of inspiration like Peaky Blinders deserved a much better product than what we ended up getting.
I really wanted to like Post Void, as in theory it features so many elements I love. It’s fast-paced, arcadey, and completely over-the-top. With that being said, I just can’t stand playing it for more than a minute or two at a time due to its horrendous flashing effects, as well as some of its gameplay design choices. It’s just an unpleasant experience. But they, at least the soundtrack is quite good…
Zero Strain is an absolute mess of a game, with its metric ton of particle effects and initially confusing control scheme. But don’t get me wrong, it’s the fun kind of absolute mess. It nails the most important aspect of a bullet hell shooter: the great feeling of mowing down hundreds of enemy ships with overpowered weapons, as if you were a god of destruction.
This is far from being the worst game I’ve played in recent memory and I respect the hardships of having to develop a game by yourself, but Prehistoric Dude really needed more time in the oven.
“Forgettable” is the word I’d use to describe The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines as a whole. It’s not a bad game, but it’s absolutely uninteresting. Its time manipulation mechanic alone does not make up for how bland and generic its visuals, sound, and overall gameplay are. There are just way better twin stick shooters out there with better graphics, performance, and gameplay gimmicks.
It’s a masterpiece of incompetence, a game so devoid of redeeming qualities to the point that its ineptitude ends up being its greatest selling point. You can have a blast with this game, not by actually having fun with its mechanics or set pieces, but by laughing at how bad it is.
Hellbound is a very fun game, but I can’t see it being appealing to anyone other than hardcore old-school shooter fans. It succeeds at providing players with a Doom-esque experience that is a bit more faithful to the 90’s originals than Id Software’s more modern iterations, all while featuring more modern graphics and physics. However, it’s short, unpolished, and frankly, not very innovative.
Relicta is a good game with some really clever and thought-provoking puzzles, but it overstays its welcome with its extended length. Not to mention the absence of additions of new features throughout its campaign and an overall uninteresting story filled with uninteresting characters and unskippable cutscenes.
I loved Fall Guys. It is exactly what I expected from it: a brand new, family-friendly take on the battle royale genre that is really easy to pick up and play, and almost impossible to master. This is a game that will please any kind of gamer, regardless of age, gender, or skill level. It’s simply impossible not to smile while playing it.
Cubers: Arena is fun and functional, with some interesting ideas and an acceptable level of replayability, but at the end of the day, it’s an uneventful game. You’ve seen the same boring art style on countless games before, you’ve heard the game Banjo-inspired gibberish on countless games before, and you’ve played dozens of similar hack ‘n’ slash games before.
It’s poorly designed in some areas and it’s stupidly unfair at first, but its bite-sized length and engaging score system make it a very replayable game that ended up being a perfect fit for a portable like the Switch. It becomes a lot more enjoyable once you finally start unlocking new levels and ships in order to add some extra variety to your runs.
Crysis actually works on the Switch. This is a commendable effort, a port I would have never imagined I’d ever play on a Nintendo platform, let alone a portable. It’s nowhere near as close to the PC original in terms of visual fidelity and performance, but it’s still a massive improvement over the underwhelming console ports from the past generation.
It is a decent early 2000’s collectathon, back when this word wasn’t considered an insult among non-nostalgic gamers like it is nowadays. It still has some severe camera issues and it does look a bit dated, but it’s chock-full of content and charisma.
It’s a relic of its time with a brand new coat of paint and an unapologetically dumb parody of B-movies and Cold War hysteria. Even though it’s riddled with issues that are mostly likely caused by its low budget, I think that THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games’ decision to remake the game as a simpler AA title was a smart move.
If this ends up being the Vita’s swan song, then I definitely won’t mind. Ultraforce ended up being a fantastic fit for the system and I doubt I would have enjoyed it as much as I did on the Switch or the PS4.
Not exactly a terrible game, but far from being decent either, #Funtime is a game destined to linger in perpetual mediocrity. It has some good ideas, namely the color changing mechanics, but they are poorly explained and make little sense whatsoever. The visual and camera issues also drag the game down quite a lot.
I loved three quarters of what Rock of Ages 3 had to offer and fell in love with its silly, Monty Python-esque presentation, especially its soundtrack. I enjoyed its challenging boulder-focused levels and I had a blast creating the stupidest obstacle courses I could think of with its excellent level creator mode. I can’t say I had the same feelings towards its undercooked tower defense mode, but I still have to recommend Rock of Ages 3 for the sheer amount of crazy content it has to offer.
I’m just glad I have more SUPERHOT at my disposal. It still looks, sounds and plays largely the same, and it goes on for what it seems like forever, so it will keep you busy for a while. If you were craving for more SUPERHOT in your life, don’t even think twice, especially since you can get it for free if you still own the original game.
Rocket Arena is a delightful breath of fresh air in the increasingly saturated hero shooter genre, mixing elements from old-school shooters, 3D platformers, and even freaking Super Smash Bros of all games.