Timothy Nunes's Reviews
The Artful Escape takes you on a trip with Francis into the cosmos, marrying music and visuals into a beautiful gameplay experience. Small things pop up a time or two, but absolutely nothing keeps The Artful Escape from being entertainment brilliance. Place this among the top indie titles on the PlayStation platform.
Gunborg: Dark Matters excels with engaging gameplay, approachable difficulty buildup, and a wonderful visual style. The game is unfortunately all too brief and doesn't get the kind of time it deserves to truly bloom. Equally so, Gunborg places itself well high in the chaff of the side-scrolling genre, even though it doesn't quite reach the same full excellence as the greats.
Shinju Mikami does it again, this time in a new genre. Ghostwire: Tokyo brings inspirations from the horror genre into the open world, finding great success with this combination. Despite its hiccups, Ghostwire: Tokyo is another compelling experience from the mastermind behind Resident Evil.
Not everything is perfect in this current-gen upgrade, but the additions, new choices, and improvements make this version of the game feel complete. Despite the oddities that come with the new camera option, the presentation across the board just feels superb. It even lets those who missed the expansions jump right into that content from the jump. Such a great update to a beloved game comes free with the PS4 version, leaving this as almost a requirement for everyone who even remotely has an interest in playing it again or experiencing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for the first time.
As far as visual novels go, Witch On The Holy Night stands among the best in the genre. Strong writing, great characters, and stellar world-building make this a memorable experience. While chapter length is all over the place and some plot points feel a bit forced, Witch on The Holy Night keeps you well-invested and rewards you with a strong body of work from beginning to end.
You can't go wrong with Like A Dragon Ishin. The game includes what makes the Yakuza franchise so special and combines it with samurais and Edo Period politics. A handful of oddities aside, it leans into its strengths and irons out several of the franchise peculiarities. Every gamer, either invested in the franchise or still uninitiated, needs Ishin in their console.
Any roguelike fan needs to get their hands on Post Void. Quite frankly, if you have any remote curiosity in trying out the game, just do it. Apart from floor jumping not as refined as the rest of the game, the complete package offers up something special, hectic, and engaging. Take it from someone who hates roguelikes: Post Void is a fun roguelike, complete with fever dream.
Square-Enix put together a fine collection of its first Final Fantasies, adding in some features that bring a bit of a modern touch without losing too much of the original varnish. Not all games work perfectly with these features, and the games still show they were made 30 years ago, but the final package delivered a nostalgic burst worthy of the franchise namesake.
There's no better way to play this series than the PS5 release of Layers of Fear, combining both stories under one cohesive umbrella. It also shows fantastic early potential in Unreal Engine 5, showcasing exactly what it can offer the rest of the gaming industry.
Honkai Star Rail offers a palpable universe full of possibilities on top of an accessible turn-based combat system that you can dig as deeply into as you want. There's a grind involved with any gacha game, and Honkai Star Rail is no exception. Strong writing, intriguing characters, and engrossing combat make Honkai Star Rail a must-play game that's also relatively friendly to free-to-play players.
NBA 2K15 brings a milestone performance with enhanced presentation across the board. Only server lag and long loading screens keep 2K15 from a spot on the sports-game dream team.
Madden 15 gives veteran and rookie players something to take with them, as the overall package reaches a balance point worthy of the annual cost.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel has an old-timey feel to it while not getting lost in the novelty of that. Trails channels inspirations from the entire RPG timeline in subtle ways and brings it into a modern and progressive light. The PS3 and PS Vita are lucky to have this gem of an RPG in their library, even if it doesn’t push the hardware as it could.
Forget about graphic fidelity, and find a strong narrative and character development alongside a universal combat system that Tales of Hearts R can only deliver to the PlayStation Vita.
Ghost 1.0 has the heart of a beloved project and the soul of the best Metroidvania games in the industry. Despite its few quirks, the balance between accessibility and challenge, coupled with intriguing writing makes Ghost 1.0 a worthy pickup for even those with some curiosity about the game.
NHL 17 has everything in place to separate itself from the other sports titles with only a few cracks in the ice keeping it from a perfect slick.
In a class by itself, San Diego Studios continues to wow audiences with an authentic baseball sim with its newly released MLB The Show 17. It’s visually astounding, and all games modes have that extra something to keep you playing long into the night with only a few significant things keeping it from statistical perfection.
Giga Wrecker Alt marries puzzling with Metroidvania beautifully, offering up just enough challenge without getting in its own way. Despite its few stumbles, Giga Wrecker Alt is one of those out-of-nowhere games that's well worth your time.
The Ringed City is a fine ending to a memorable franchise, making the Fire Fades Edition a must-buy for anyone looking to jump into it head first.
It's brilliant to see WipEout back. It looked great back in the day, but thanks to the power of PS4 it now looks incredible, and captures with style the adrenaline-pumping action that we so fondly remember.