Nirav Gandhi's Reviews
There are strokes of a masterpiece in here, with excellent music, whimsical characters, starkly themed visuals, just enough narrative push, and management tools that allow for the player to really experience their own story. If you don't optimize the fun out of Cult of the Lamb, there's an incredible amount of it to be had.
Sonic Frontiers is a mess of ideas from other, better games. But when the music swells and Sleeping with Sirens is blasting your eardrums with a guttural scream while you plunge a 300 ft sword into a titan the size of a skyscraper, none of that will matter. The heights of Frontiers are the highest highs Sonic has ever seen, and i had more fun in this mediocre game than i had in all the many, many better games i played this year.
The frame rate is constantly dropping, the visuals are abysmal, and there is no excuse for the unfinished state of the game. But underneath the hood are the best characters the franchise has ever had, an adventure you can tackle your own way, and the best mainline Pokemon game in decades.
Overall, if you’re looking for a solid 3D platformer with next gen graphics and great performance, you found it. The humor is similar to the humor found in the show in the last few years, which is to say not nearly as good as the first few seasons of the show, but there are some great jokes here and there. It’s always nice to see Spongebob and Patrick on another adventure, and I really had a blast with all that positive energy. While it didn’t recapture the magic of its predecessor, I think the $40 price tag is right, and if you’ve been looking forward to it I heartily recommend it!
You can’t see rhythm. No one can. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Whether you can read music or not, whether you’ve mastered an instrument or can’t manage to play Hot Cross Buns, you are a rock star. You may not know it, you probably don’t believe it. But you’ll tightly navigate those progressions, finesse those pull-offs, and slice through those harmonies until you do believe it. Hi Fi Rush is going to make you believe you are a rock star.
The beautiful art and relaxing music of Outlanders can't save it from totally busted systems, constant softlocking, and exceedingly poor UI design choices.
While very well written and highlighted by some excellent fourth-wall breaking horror, Paranormasight far outstays its welcome with hours of unskippable rehashed and replayed text.
Road 96 Mile 0 is a wildly disappointing follow-up to one of my favorite indie games of all time. Unless you love poor writing, acting, animation, dialogue, controls, and gameplay, pick another route.
While some truly brilliant player dungeon designs shine through, Meet Your Maker needlessly over-complicates a simple and fun concept to the point of exasperation.
Cassette Beasts manages to iterate on Pokemon in a meaningful way. The fantastic music, A+ monsters designs, and fun characters are only slightly held back by the overly-complex combat.
After Us beats you over the head with paper-thin themes, but between the truly awful platforming and the frustrating level design, it'll be the least of your worries.
Harmony shows off DONTNOD's narrative chops with unconvential storytelling, unique deicison mechanics, and stellar character designs.
While it doesn't offer much new to management games, Nova Lands perfects and streamlines automation in a variety of clever ways.
Crime O'Clock is boring, tedious, and infuriating all at once: I recommend an I Spy book for a much better time.
GYLT is packed with great atmosphere, music, and spooks galore, but the juvenile theming leaves the narrative wanting.
Oxenfree II didn't knock my socks off like the first game, but it's a smartly written and thrilling sequel to one of my favorite adventure games ever.
Exoprimal could have been an exceptionally fun Overwatch successor, but its disgusting monetization and pay-to-win structure have doomed it to extinction.
While I wish it allowed for more freedom, Shadow Gambit is an admirable meeting of stealth and strategy with just a drop of immersive sim.
Starfield is the culmination of Bethesda's 25 years of excellent RPGs and makes me feel the insignificance, humility, and thrill of exploring space. Every time I think I understand Starfield, it finds a new way to surprise me.
Mirage delivers what I've wanted from Assassin's Creed better than it has in over a decade. In a fantastically recreated 9th century Baghdad, finally I feel like an assassin again.