Leonardo Faria's Reviews
There’s a lot of variety in the minigame selection, and a few extra modes, but there’s no denying that 34 Sports Games: World Edition is just a painfully mediocre collection of sports-themed minigames meant to cash in on the lack of an official Olympic Games title. Whilst far from the worst minigame compilation I have ever played, this is a completely forgettable and uninteresting piece of shovelware that simply doesn’t have enough redeeming qualities to warrant its hefty pricetag.
Hot Blood is a game with no charm, no appeal, and no redeeming technical or design qualities. It’s hideous to look at, and it plays as awfully as it looks. When a game tries to be a love letter to Dead Rising, but all I could think of while playing it was that it reminded me way too much of the Charlie’s Angels game for Gamecube, considered to be one of the worst games of all time, you know this one is a gigantic failure.
Sure, the juvenile sense of humor never landed, and the level design basically forces you to die over and over again, with little time for you to plan or react, but it’s addictive. The gameplay loop just works. It’s arcadey as all hell, it’s replayable, full of secrets, and there’s no better feeling than being able to complete a level with 100% of enemies being beaten, without ever being touched by a bullet. Anger Foot is flawed, and quite arrogant at times, but it was well worth the wait.
Even if it does feature some technical and design issues, namely the wonky framerate, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble‘s core gameplay loop is still really fun. There’s tons of content, the Sega crossover characters are actually worth checking out, and the quickly beatable levels are perfect for a portable like the Switch. It doesn’t exactly push the franchise forward in any meaningful direction, aside from its multiplayer, but as a quick pasttime to play on your Switch for a few minutes at a time, it’s ain’t half bad.
This is still a really fun game, and I appreciate it being available on a more modern system that doesn’t give me hand cramps like the Nintendo 3DS. I am not a big fan of the mission-based structure, forcing me to revisit mansions, and hindering exploration. That being said, the core gameplay is still really solid. It’s a wacky and light-hearted take on survival horror that simply works, all thanks to Nintendo’s trademark charm. I just think that Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD isn’t worth the AAA pricetag. If, by any absolute miracle, you can find it for a discount, grab it. Or maybe use one of the eShop’s coupons.
I have to commend Exo One for giving me a control scheme and a physics system which were entertaining enough to keep me engaged, despite its pretentious nature and boring plot. Can’t say I cared about its plot, characters, or twists. I was having a lot of fun with its gameplay, and was also constantly wowed by its absolutely gorgeous visuals. Recommending it is a completely different story, though.
I liked the fact that Fabledom didn’t demand a lot from me. It’s an easygoing citybuilder which gives you a bit of variety on how to develop your town. The extra activities your heroes can partake one were beyond basic, but a nice addition, regardless. I wish there were more building options, especially when it comes to bigger buildings, however.
Monster Hunter Stories is not a complex or demanding game, far from being as challenging as its mainline counterparts. If you want to dive deep into the franchise’s actually detailed and amazing lore, with a much simpler and easygoing gameplay loop, this game is for you. It featured some likeable characters, colorful visuals, Pokémon-esque monster collecting, a combat system that did not get on my nerves.
I really don’t get the existence of this Willy’s Wonderland game, and I’m all up for some licensed shovelware every now and then. Why release it three years after the movie’s debut? You thought you had a Goldeneye in your hands? Why release it in such a poor state, performance wise? Finally, if the damn movie was all about Nicolas Cage, why make a game without him, in any way, shape or form? The man accepts every single role you throw at him, even the cheap ones. Even with my sky-high tolerance for licensed shovelware, just stay away from Willy’s Wonderland.
Are there any redeeming factors? Well, the sound department isn’t half-bad (it’s a Star Wars game after all), and the combination of quick rounds and a lack of memorable characters make the game harmless when it comes to its monetization practices; it might be egregious, but there’s no reason for you to spend money on random carbon copies you won’t ever care about. Star Wars: Hunters is not the worst F2P shooter in the world, but at the same time, I think that the 90 minutes spent playing it were more than enough.
I may have one or two complaints about the $60 pricetag, but at the end of the day, this is the ultimate version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. A magnificent gem half a dozen people played back on the Gamecube is now widely available on a more successful machine, with a handful of audiovisual improvements, whilst keeping that pristine combat system and gameplay loop intact. Whilst I wish there were more additions to this pricey remake/remaster (hell if I know how to label it), it’s exactly what I wanted.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is a tricky beast. On one hand, I was impressed by the realistic visuals, the voice acting, the music, and Senua’s growth as a character. On the other hand, its pacing was awkward, even though it was short. It suffered from a lackluster third act. It’s pretentious, to an arrogant degree. It was also quite devoid of gameplay, focusing more on spectacle than substance.
Is there a reason to pick Samurai Warriors 4 DX up if its sequel has been readily available on PC for the past couple of years? Yes. That is, if you’re into Musou-style catharsis. It might not be as pretty or polished as its sequel, but it makes up for it with a lot (and boy, do I mean a LOT) of content.
I still think it’s not the single greatest indie of all time, but there’s no denying there’s a lot to like about Braid, especially if you decide to pick up this Anniversary edition. Having this on the Switch, with downright gorgeous visuals, a neat screen resolution, and so many additional levels, is just a no-brainer. Even if you don’t consider it to be the big daddy of the indie scene, it’s an important title, and it’s worth checking out, at the very least, for you to learn a bit more about the history of gaming, and how this little piece of software changed the world without even trying that hard.
Reviewing PO’ed: Definitive Edition is weird because, sure, the game is actually terrible, but it’s not Nightdive’s fault at all. On the contrary, they have done quite a lot of work remastering its visuals and improving its controls. Sadly, the core ideas, the original level design, those haven’t changed at all, and Nightdive wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.
It’s impeccably well-designed, with a ton of secrets to unfold, but I also feel it wasn’t that much fun at all times. I’m all for a game not holding my hand throughout its entire runtime, but it didn’t need to feel so cryptic, and so focused on trial-and-error, especially when its checkpoints were way too far away from each other. At times, I loved exploring its many secrets. Other times, I felt so frustrated I wanted to throw my Switch across the room. All in all, it’s still worth checking out if you’re into a deceptively complex metroidvania, but be aware of some truly obnoxious design choices and roadblocks.
Awesome. This is Mullet MadJack in a nutshell. It could have easily been just another first-person shooter with a neat visual gimmick, but its developers went above and beyond with a lot of style and a fantastic gameplay loop, which is equally enjoyable in either Easy or Hard difficulties, for completely different reasons. It doesn’t matter if you just want to feel overpowered against an army of robots, or if you’re looking for a challenge: Mullet MadJack delivers in spades.
The gameplay loop became repetitive after a while, as there is just so much you can do in terms of trading, loot, and exploring. The combat was an utter joke. I appreciate the effort, but this just didn’t land with me at all…
You need the proper mindset to enjoy it properly. If what you want is a relaxing, exploratory game, and if you’re into collectionism and task-completion, without having to actually resort to any complex mechanics or hardships, this will be a perfect fit. If not, you may find this game to be quite boring, possibly a bit pretentious. Thankfully, I sided with the former.
Of course, there’s the everlasting conundrum regarding 2K’s monetization practices, but this game did not feel as grindy or egregious as its basketball counterparts. If you are not into online play, you won’t have a lot of options; you will most likely spending many hours grinding for experience points to upgrade your avatar. Thankfully, the gameplay is downright impeccable.