Each of the missions ends with a ranking system and various unlocks. Some of these things will only be usable in Code Fairy, while some suits will be unlocked for players in it’s older brother Battle Operation 2. I enjoyed the single player and slower pace of Code Fairy. I was finally able to get a handle on the combat and movement system that Battle Operation uses. But really the true cherry here was the fantastic story of the Noisy Fairy Squadron, watching this team start off on shaky ground but ultimately coming together and meshing as all good teams do was just the feel-good story that I needed to see. Its one that really resonates with people, and the fact that its so well done and is an all-female team is a nice chef’s kiss.
While not without its glitches, there was multiple times my minions stood around when I raised the base alarm due to an agent being detected. Or when I gave my henchman a kill command to an agent and instead, he ran to the 3rd floor and back down again which allowed said agent to escape. These things happen but don’t destroy the sheer delight of ‘trying to take over the world’. I am extremely happy that Evil Genius was brought back, and I hope that we can see more and more entries into this zany world of evil scientist and crazy dictators.
Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All ends up being a game full of wonderfully hand-drawn visuals and extremely repetitive combat. It makes it hard to really recommend this game to anyone other than those that are fans of the duo. While yes, some young kids may enjoy the overly simplistic nature of the game; anyone who is an older gamer will become quickly bored with the easy combat, and lack of new moves or attacks.
Serious Sam 4 is just fun, and in a time where real life is so very serious its nice to have a game just be fun again.
I wanted Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards to be great, as I said I absolutely love the lore and mythology presented here. The cutscenes are also worth noting as they employ a graphic novel – panel approach which as everyone knows I’m a sucker for comic – well anything. Everything else about this game though, from the graphics to the voice acting just feels very uninspired and lazy. It’s really a shame because the content is so interesting, the Incans deserve more time in the spotlight and despite this misstep, I hope they get it.
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a pretty good game overall, while its story is simple and its gameplay not terribly difficult most experienced gamers can knock it out in 7 hours or so. The game boasts some great graphics due to the awesome sprite work, and it has an extremely catchy soundtrack; which is always a nice bonus. I think Team Ladybug managed to put out a game that has something for quite a varied audience. Those that are fans of the novels or anime series will surely find something to love, but those of us who enjoy ‘metoridvania’ type games will find a lot to appreciate as well; and who knows maybe even turn the next generation of fans onto Record of Lodoss War as a whole.
And while the story wasn’t the best, it was entertaining and that’s all I require from my media. Also, it should be noted that the controls have been updated from their old school versions which is a plus, all and all if you are looking for a creepy action adventure game with a cool main character (who is a brotha!!) and some interesting otherworldly mechanics then you should give Shadow Man Remastered a whirl.. or do it so we get a proper current gen sequel.
I enjoyed playing Extinction, even with the randoms who were just trying to be agents of Chaos. But I don’t think I would spend a lot of time with it, these days with so many great games as choices it has become harder and harder to want to comment to one that requires a large amount of grinding. And that is what Extraction would require, as players need to level up to unlock gear, weapons and even levels. Unless it’s telling me an epic story like God of War, Persona or Halo Infinite anymore I just wanna get in, have some fun and get out. Which you can do with Extraction, again with the right group of friends. Other than that, with difficulty spikes as a solo player, and the unstable randos players will be bound to run into online, I don’t see this being much more…which is a shame because Rainbow deserves better. Pray for Sam Fisher.
However, the fantastic gameplay, the beautiful graphics, and the amazing soundtrack just to name a few things make this an enjoyable experience. That being said, if you are not a fan of difficult games, I’d recommend renting this one first if possible because it is an extremely difficult game at the outset and will require a grind to be successful. But if that doesn’t bother you in the slightest, then come on in; the dojo is all set up.
Like I said at the outset, After the Fall is a fun game albeit a very short one. Yes, there is an extra PvP Team-Deathmatch mode that is moderately fun if you like VR multiplayer shooters. I found it very passable, no real issue other than I just want a fan; but if you like the VR shooters like Pavlov among many others then you may have some fun in the deathmatch. The story for the game is really just an excuse to team up with friends, and that’s ok because whether you play with friends or random folks like me After the Fall does enough to make your time spent with it feel enjoyable; and really isn’t that all we really want from our video games?
As I said the future seems bright for the Pokémon franchise, I just hope Game Freak can avoid what many studios do and end up taking ‘two steps back’ after moving their game forward; but time will tell.
As for me, I’ll give this a few patches and come back and see if the game has improved because right now, I most assuredly did not get caught up in CrossfireX.
Sadly, as it is, I can’t really recommend this to anyone because whatever little good it may do, the bad outweighs it by quite a bit.
Conan Chop Chop pleasantly surprised me, while I was drawn to it solely based on the Conan brand it really turned out to be a quite enjoyable, co-op romp through the lands of Hyboria. I mean for $20 this is a game that is complete, offers lots of replay ability and has tons of unlockables to chase by way of completing the collection of weapons, armor and runes. The family friendly approach is another great move in my opinion as it will surely help to attract a new audience, in fact after playing it my daughter has asked questions about Conan. I smiled at her and told her we can talk about when she’s older, but for now we can play some more Conan Chop Chop.
Babylon’s Fall is not an awful game, its just not a very good one and while I would never tell anyone what to do with their money, I will strongly suggest you avoid this one as it’s fate will surely be the same as the tower for which its named.
Shadow Warrior 3 for is just dumb fun. It doesn’t do anything to make you think that its going to be anything other than it is. Running around with a varied array of weapons AND a sword, killing monsters while dashing and swinging around is right up there with the fun to be had in Doom Eternal. But for me it’s the humor that sets Shadow Warrior 3 apart, while not for everyone those that find comfort and chuckles in ‘derp’ type comedy will have a ball playing with Wang.
Like most RPG’s Jax will not save the world alone, Elex 2 does offer some companions to take along on the journey. Only one at a time can accompany the player but because the AI is so laughably bad in this game, they really only serve a purpose as a ‘meat shield’. Honestly, my companions were getting dropped more than they were hitting enemies in almost every instance. It was about this time that I really began to wonder what people were talking about when they praised the original game so much. Maybe it is that much better than this one, but Elex 2 is pretty bad. Worse than that I personally didn’t find it fun, no disrespect to those that love it. As I said at the outset, I don’t mind ‘janky’ games, but Elex 2 was just ‘bridge too far’ for me.
I gotta say that Tentacular is vastly different from what I thought it was going to be based on the trailers I’d seen. And this is very much a wonderful thing, because like I said I’ve played lots of games focused on destruction; which I initially thought this was. But much to my delight and surprise, Tentacular turned out to be a wonderful, heartfelt game that touches on things like being adopted, and being different and how those differences can really be a boon to those around us. Developer Firepunchd Games did a wonderful job with creating Tentacular. I very much enjoyed the gameplay but most of all the story was so touching and the sense of discovery as you peel back the mystery of the kaiju’s origins is very well done. If you need a break from constant destruction, Tentacular might be the fresh sea breeze for you.
The only issue I had with Gunborg was the games length, being able to be cleared in just over 2 hours; just when I felt like everything was coming together and all the systems clicked the game ended.
Minor issues aside, I loved my time with Weird West on PS5 so much so that I plan to double dip and play it again on Xbox since it’s on Game Pass when it releases. The story, characters and even the very world that Wolfeye Studios have created for their freshman outing is so very unique and dare I say ‘weird’ that you can’t help but become wrapped up in them. I haven’t enjoyed a mash up of supernatural and westerns since Darkwatch and if you played that game, you know that’s high praise.