Leonardo Faria's Reviews
As previously mentioned, I’m still in shock it took this long for Koei Tecmo to publish a Musou roguelike. Warriors: Abyss might possibly be the most fun I’ve had with a Musou game at least since Hyrule Warriors. It’s just a phenomenal fit, perfectly mixing the franchise’s “braindead-but-enjoyable” combat system with the replayability and arcadey vibes of a roguelike.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection is a collection of games that appeals to a very specific niche of millennials longing for the good old days, but I can’t deny, I am that target audience, and I have been playing it non-stop for the past days. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop anytime soon. There’s no way to defend a lack of extras or some tutorials to help newcomers out, but when it comes to preserving a specific niche in Konami’s catalogue, as well as providing us with a near-endless amount of nostalgic fun, this collection is just outright magnificent.
It can be annoying, frustrating, rage-inducing, but as far as titles in the microcosm of “rage-bait meme games” go, I honestly think that Driving is Hard is the best of the bunch. It features fine production values, but above all else, good controls; the game feels like an actual challenge, and not just a test to see how much you can stomach it. Would I call it amazing and a must-have? Absolutely not. Still, I had a fun time with it, especially on the ROG Ally, and that’s way more than I could say about some of its peers…
I don’t remember the last time I was so engrossed in an RPG like Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Calling it as good as Baldur’s Gate 3 or The Witcher 3 is not an overexaggerated take: I legitimately loved it more than I could have ever predicted. The story is sublime, the writing is magnificent, exploration feels rewarding, and the game truly lets you build your character the way you want.
In a way, this is easily the best version of Virtua Fighter 5 ever made. I love the crisp visuals, rock-solid performance, and I appreciate the brand new rollback netcode. I am, however, disappointed at how paultry the single player content is.
What we have here is a completely functional, somewhat well-remastered and feature-filled collection of sports titles that, sadly, just haven’t aged well at all. Between the ultra dated controls, poor framerate on the ones aiming for a faux-3D effect, or lack of appealing licenses, Accolade Sports Collection is more of an interesting novelty and a way to preserve some lesser-known games to a future generation, than an actual digital sports library worth your time.
If you can put up with the minor issue regarding the long loading times, you’re in for an absolute treat. Is Guilty Gear Strive the best traditional fighting game available on the Nintendo Switch? I think it’s one of the biggest contenders. Featuring fantastic visuals, great performance, and all previously released content, it might be out at the end of the system’s lifecycle, but I’m glad Arc System Works took its time to ensure this port would look, run and feel as amazing as its beefier console counterparts.
As previously mentioned, I don’t even think this is Aspyr’s fault. Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is just a terrible game at its core, so all the polishing treatment in the world wouldn’t have fixed its many, MANY problems. It’s a clunky, hilariously ugly, and poorly designed beat ’em up which, at times, feels so janky and unpolished, it almost becomes a funny experience.
I really enjoyed Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders‘ core premise, and I honestly think this game has a lot of potential… as long as it is able to maintain its servers filled up for the foreseeable future. It’s a really fun racing game, set in a unique locale for today’s standards, but considering its paultry amount of content and dangerously barren single player campaign, it will live or die based on its multiplayer population.
It’s still a good game. It did not wow me, and I honestly think there are much better games in a similar vein out there (and for a fraction of the price), but Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a decent remaster of a well-put platformer. I just don’t think that, just like many other recent Switch outings, it justifies its really steep pricetag.
I really tried to appreciate the fact another classic gaming franchise from the earlier days of the medium was finally making a comeback, cementing its legacy, but I had a miserable time playing Montezuma’s Revenge: The 40th Anniversary Edition. It’s buggy, confusing, and uninspired. It’s easy to forgive the clunkiness of the original, since it was released more than 40 years ago, but we expect quality of life enhancements from a fully-fledged remake. There are none.
Rally Arcade Classics features a neat premise that’s a perfect fit for portable gaming PCs and, hopefully at a later date, the Nintendo Switch, but bear in mind that, despite its name, I don’t think it’s particularly “arcadey”. Sure, the physics and controls are more easygoing than any WRC game out there, but the reality is that its campaign is really long and repetitive, demanding way too much dedication from people who were just expecting to grab a little racing game to play a few arcadey rounds. It’s more of an entry-level racing simulator.
No multiplayer and an underwhelming (and voiceless) protagonist make Dynasty Warriors: Origins feel a bit less content-heavy than its predecessors, but it retains the core aspects that make a Musou game so much fun in the first place. Do I think that some of the new features Omega Force has decided to focus on are pointless? Sure, I personally wouldn’t have tried to make the progression and pacing feel as glacial as one from a JRPG, but I won’t say I didn’t have my fair share of dumb fun with Origins. Unlike its disastrous predecessor, it is a really fun experience, putting the franchise back in the spotlight in a good way.
In some aspects, it’s probably the best 2D Zelda ever made. It has some of the best dungeons in the series, and it’s full of creative ideas. I just feel like some of its main gameplay features actively hinder it more than make it stand out. It’s just a flawed game, something you rarely see coming from this franchise. Still, if you can put up with an admittedly disappointing combat system, I wholeheartedly recommend giving Echoes of Wisdom a go. It’s the return to a traditional formula you’ve been asking for, and it’s one of the most charming Zelda adventures to date.
Ys X: Nordics is, hands down, one of my favorite entries in the franchise thus far. I really enjoyed the “Vikings meets pirates” theme, the characters, the naval encounters, and without a shadow of a doubt, the fast-paced and cathartic combat system.
As far as free-to-play practices go, UFL never fully tried to convince me that it was necessary to spend additional money on it in order to fully enjoy it. In fact, I didn’t expect to play it as much as I did; it’s grindy as hell, but skill-based matchmaking and the fact you need to actually learn how to play the damn game in order to succeed made it a very fair and engrossing football experience, even if it’s lacking in modes and a bit of polish. There’s a lot that needs to be improved, but as it stands, I’m quite pleased with UFL.
Is it fair to say that the best aspect about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is its fanservicey appeal? It’s nostalgic, it made me feel like a kid in the 90s once again, but there’s more to it than just a gratuitous shot of retro-tinged dopamine. It’s still a fantastic beat ’em up with great production values and fluid controls, as well as vehicular combat sections which truly make it stand out. It’s the right balance between being pure nostalgic fun and a high-quality party brawler.
I wish this collection had retained other Legacy of Kain titles, as jumping straight onto the second game in the series can be quite confusing for newcomers. But even then, I can’t complain much about Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered. Both games in this collection have aged quite a bit, but still feel shockingly modern in some regards. They look just a tad bit better, control and perform just a tad bit better, and are wrapped in a neat little package full of extras and bonus features.
Again, I will commend the team behind Premier League Player for, at the very least, trying. They were able to come up with actually fun goalkeeping and heading minigames. The game might be ugly as sin, but I loved being inside my favorite Premier League stadium. Sadly, anything related to kicking a ball, with this bizarre makeshift “use your arms as legs” solution, was nothing short of disastrous. It is barely responsive, never intuitive, devoid of immersion, and completely lacklustre.
It might not be as charming, stylish, or memorable as Persona, but Metaphor: ReFantazio plays better than any other JRPG made by Atlus I can remember. In terms of writing, I can safely say that this is one of the most interesting and engaging plots in any JRPG, ever, even if, at first, it feels like its premise won’t ever make sense. It’s a bit shorter and its pacing is a tad bit more concise, making it more accessible and replayable. Finally, add in a fantastic combat system, and what you have here is a bonafide hit.