Leonardo Faria's Reviews
This is the third time in a row that Rayark Games releases a game with little to no fanfare or prior promotion, and that game ends up being a surprising, well-crafted gem. MO: Astray is a fantastic little indie platformer that manages to be really engaging and creepy with its storytelling, while also managing to entertain with a very unique and intuitive control scheme.
Inmost is the rare case of a really good game that intentionally tries to be discomforting and uneasy due to its themes. I liked its visuals, level structure, and sound design, but it’s hard for me to actively recommend it. It’s just way too downtrodden and depressing in a way that it almost demotivates you to play it for long.
This is getting more and more frustrating with each new iteration. NBA 2K21 is not a bad basketball game. It’s robust. It’s realistic. It’s really fun if all you want is a quick match with a friend or the CPU. The problem is that very few additions were included when comparing this game to NBA 2K20, with its additional monetization practices getting even more absurd with each new iteration. When will enough be enough?
Hotshot Racing is a nice throwback to the heyday of stimulating and cheerful arcade racers of the early 90’s. It’s as challenging as your average Ridge Racer or Virtua Racing, but sadly, nowhere near as charming.
Considering previous reviews for other platforms, I was expecting for MX vs. ATV All Out to be way worse than what it ended up being. It’s by no means a great game, as it’s quite boring and performs poorly. However, I still managed to have my fair share of fun with it, mostly by wasting my time looking for collectibles in its interesting open world mode.
I just feel happy playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. After feeling disappointed with the re-release of another childhood gem of mine, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, I was worried this game was going to be another case of a poorly aged title that relied more on nostalgia than its actual quality. I’m so glad I was wrong.
Mask of Mists is just fine. I’ve played much better games, but I’ve also played a ton of games that were a lot worse. For a seemingly lower budget title, it gets the job done if you’re looking for a short and straightforward Skyrim lookalike. It even has some inventive puzzles, which surprised me. It might be very janky, unpolished, and a bit uninventive, but you can notice the developers gave their best shot when making this project.
Not a lot has been added in WRC 9 when compared to its predecessor, but what’s new in here is still very welcome. Its online interface is a bit better than before, its graphics have been improved by a significant degree, its framerate is more stable, and its controls, while still punitive towards newcomers, feature some new assists to make the adaptation process a little bit less traumatizing to the uninitiated.
Witcheye feels right at home on the Switch. By no means a revolutionary game, much less a lengthy one, it still features a wide assortment of enemies, sceneries, and secrets to unfold. It would have certainly been a bonafide hit, had it been released back in the SNES days.
The premise had so much potential. Kwaidan: Azuma Manor Story is a survival horror game set in feudal Japan, full of yokai and oni to deal with. This could have been, nay, SHOULD have been great. However, it completely misses the mark due to its absolute mess of a gameplay loop. It tries to be old school Resident Evil, Onimusha, and a point-and-click adventure all at the same time.
I wasn’t expecting a lot from Nexomon: Extinction, given its mobile origins and overall “pre-Gen III Pokémon clone” vibe, but it ended up being quite decent. Sure, it forces you to grind so much that it becomes a hassle pretty quickly, and it does feel way too derivative, but you can still have quite a bit of fun with it.
Behind a questionable amount of fanservice and forgettable anime plotlines, lies a surprisingly decent mix between Wave Race and Mario Kart: Double Dash. Kandagawa Jet Girls is a legit fun title with interesting strategy mechanics in its gameplay loop, some colorful graphics, and passable soundtrack.
If anything, it’s a very unique concept, mixing downhill cycling, a Skate-inspired dual-stick trick system and some roguelike elements. Sure, it’s a bit ugly and a bit janky, but considering the disappointing lack of extreme sports games being released over the past few years, this is a very welcome breath of fresh air. You don’t even need to be a cycling enthusiast in order to enjoy it. I sure as hell am not one of those.
Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time feels like a relic from a bygone era. It’s almost like I’ve just unearthed a previously unreleased licensed title from the Gamecube and PS2 era. Don’t get me wrong, if this had been released back in the day, it would have been considered a classic. This is a surprisingly well-put licensed title that won’t simply just please fans of the source material, but anyone who’s into a good old hack n’ slash title.
Sure, it’s just an above average beat ’em up when you analyze it technically, but it won me over with its animations, soundtrack, and sense of humor. It knows the franchise has never been that good to begin with, resulting in a neverending barrage of self-aware jokes and meta humoristic situations that made me smile at all times.
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.