Leonardo Faria's Reviews
I don’t remember the last time I had this much fun with a fighting game. Tekken 8 wowed me in basically every aspect. It basically set a monstrously high, borderline impossible standard for any future Unreal Engine 5 fighting games, not only with its outstanding visuals, but also tight performance, near-nonexistent input lag, and sheer amount of content.
In terms of atmosphere and creativity, this game is going places. The mixture of retro first-person shooting and RPG elements is excellent, and the presentation was pretty good. When the combat clicked, it made for a fun time. Sadly, the game was also hampered by a ton of framerate issues, random freezes, a completely pointless and forgettable plot, and a lot of questionable design choices.
Destroyer: The U-Boat Hunter is excessively detailed and specific to the point that it feels less like a pasttime or a piece of entertainment, and more like something which should only be recommended or played by people who actually want to join the Navy.
Those games, just like other Ace Attorney titles, are more than simply excellent visual novels. They are absolutely ridiculous stories, almost always engaging, and often times thought-provoking. They are still the best examples of what the genre can achieve, and how easily accessible and entertaining they can be, even for people who aren’t exactly into static, story-based games with little in terms of interactivity.
Sadly, even though there was some potential in its premise, Witch Rise is the kind of the game that will attract players based on how easy it is to get some trophies, not its actual features.
Bem Feito tries to be one of those games that want to subvert your notions on following rules and whatnot, but it’s not subtle at all, nor scary, and even less thought-provoking. I appreciate the attempt, but this game needed some extra time in the oven, as well as more meat in its bones in order to actually become memorable and engaging.
Nephenthesys is a painfully by-the-books bullet hell shooter that might not do anything wrong, but fails spectacularly to innovate in any single front, to the point that any memories of playing it would immediately vanish upon turning the PS5 off, the game’s name included.
Whilst some setpieces were still pretty enjoyable, and the game as a whole is still pretty good, I can’t help but think that Bulletstorm is still best enjoyed elsewhere, be it on PC or console, with or without Duke Nukem’s nonsensical presence, or on a more powerful VR headset.
I had high hopes for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, but it still managed to surpass them. More than just a risky, experimental revival of a dormant franchise, it basically showcases that Prince of Persia works magnificently well as a metroidvania, almost in a "why haven't you done this before" kind of way.
The addition of touchscreen functionality doesn’t exactly mitigate all of the various setbacks and issues which needed to occur in order to make such a game run on such underpowered hardware. With that being said, it’s a lot less worse than anticipated. If you can put up with the reduced visual fidelity and long loading times, this is a neat companion piece for the beefier current-gen ports, but only truly worth it if you’re a massive Harry Potter fan, and if you can find this at a discount.
The Spy Who Shot Me is an unpolished and unfunny take on Nintendo 64 shooters, but behind its boring puns and ultra-limited gameplay ideas, lies a cheap and harmless little game which can be enjoyed for a few hours on a single evening to satiate our never-ending hunger for retro-styled shooting action. Just make sure not to expect a lot from its level design or any revolutionary take on the source material.
The biggest problem with Micro Machines: Mini Challenge Mayhem is that, despite featuring some interesting ideas, it feels incredibly tame, limited, and dated. It could have been the VR equivalent to Hot Wheels Unleashed or Re-Volt, but it ended up being nothing more than a slot car racing simulator with simplistic visuals and an overall lack of excitement.
House Flipper 2 still has flaws, but it’s a massive improvement over its predecessor, and one of the most relaxing titles I’ve played in a while.
For as much as I want to believe there were good intentions behind Bootlegger’s Racing Story, nothing about it works. It’s not fun, it crashes constantly, and it’s devoid of any kind of excitement. If you want to drive like crazy as a bootlegger, just play Mafia instead.
I wouldn’t consider The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to be the best asymmetrical multiplayer game I have ever played, but the sheer fact it has managed to carve a somewhat entertaining gameplay loop, whilst maintaining a steady playerbase for nearly a third of a year, is already very impressive. Playing as the cannibals is obviously more fun than being a victim, and the progression system is a bit unnecessary, but it could have been a lot worse.
Super Crazy Rhythm Castle has its fair share of issues, namely on how its strongest selling point, having to deal with a tyrant with a childish tantrum, can also be one of its most frustrating aspects. It’s a fun rhythm game if you’re in the same mental vibes as itself. If so, you’ll be able to enjoy a very unique mixture between Guitar Hero and Overcooked, covered in some cute visuals and random sense of humor. It might not be the best party game out there, but it certainly is one of the more unique titles to be released in recent times.
Yeah, this one is impossible to defend. The Walking Dead: Destinies is just truly bad. Granted, it might not be the worst game I’ve played in 2023, by a mile, but it’s a borderline charming exercise in incompetence. With poor combat mechanics, uninspired level design, and an enemy AI so (fittingly) brain-dead you can literally complete levels by simply walking by a horde of zombies, this game fails at being scary, tense, or even a great companion piece to The Walking Dead franchise.
As a whole, I did enjoy my time with Sniper Elite VR: Winter Warrior, but I can’t stop thinking this was probably supposed to have been released as an expansion to its predecessor rather than a standalone title, due to its short duration, identical graphical style, and very specific winter-themed setting.
As a game to dedicate hours of your life at a time, Strike Force Heroes isn’t very interesting. For as much as its gameplay loop is decent enough, it lacks a bit of depth and substance. Now, as an arcade-like distraction, this game shines. It’s great to pick up and play, to simply join a match and proceed to blast everyone near you with your carefully crafted character build.
To say that LEGO Bricktales impressed me is an understatement. The idea of playing with LEGO bricks in a VR environment was already great in my head, but I was completely taken over by how ClockStone Studio managed to mix diorama-like adventure segments with building puzzles in such a natural and addictive manner. I can’t even believe this wasn’t developed first and foremost with VR in mind; the transition was absolutely perfect.