Joseph Whitfield's Reviews
Thanks to its focus on the new powers, rather than progressing the story in any meaningful way, Lightfall ends up being a flat experience that leaves you wanting more. It doesn’t help that the Light vs Dark story, which has been building for the best part of a decade, is in its endgame. It also doesn’t help that the expansion has to live up to the incredible add-on that was released the year prior. There are good points to be found in Lightfall like the setting and the new Strand ability but as far as it being essential to the story, I’m not so sure.
The Kao the Kangaroo: Oh! Well DLC is both a trick and a treat. The new levels may be short in length, but they certainly pack a punch, as they are both frustrating and irritating, but overall simply brilliant. I didn’t expect five of the hardest platforming levels I’ve played all year to be found in Kao the Kangaroo and I absolutely loved it. These extra levels are pound-for-pound worth it, just for the sheer delight I got for finishing a level after multiple restarts, and while the additional costumes are purely cosmetic, they round out the package nicely.
Shadowkeep is already a relic of the past and while the new areas are quite lengthy, the story can be blasted through in a few hours thanks to the repetitive “Go to the table and then speak to Eris” schtick. Bungie’s foray into seasonal content does mean the year-long season arc, which is no longer accessible, leaves players to fill in the gaps by reading copious amounts of lore books. Shadowkeep is the black sheep of the Destiny 2 experience and while it doesn’t exactly enhance the Light vs Dark story, it is a nice break from the traditional gameplay and is worth exploring, even if you’re only in it for the gear.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light is certainly a worthy expansion in the operatic space war. At this point it is given that there is a wealth of exotic weapons and armour to get to grips with, but the new Stasis powers are worth the investment alone. Throwing freezing walls at enemies adds a layer of defence that was sorely missing. These new powers change the tide of battle in such a way that just has to be experienced to be believed.
I cannot overstate how much I’m looking forward to playing the next three seasons to complete The Witch Queen Expansion. It started off with a bang and the story brings changes to Destiny 2 that were needed. There are a couple of negatives to The Witch Queen, particularly with the smaller map, which is severely limited compared to other areas. I’d have also liked to have seen the Hive Guardians utilised more often, as they only seem to be trotted out sporadically, but these are just minor points on a well-put-together expansion. If the remainder of the year continues in this vein, it’ll be hard for me to leave The Witch Queen alone long enough to play other games. Even as it stands, The Witch Queen Expansion is a thoroughly recommended addition to Destiny 2.
I desperately wanted to like The Dead Tree of Ranchiuna; from the opening of the game my senses were firing from the visual treat on my eyes, and when the narrator started telling the story, I could feel the beginnings of an exciting tale. But it wasn’t long before the sheen from such a powerful first impression began to fade. The story tries to be cohesive, but it quickly descends into a dark tale revolving ostracisation and finally slides into something so far-fetched it completely ruins the experience.
0 Degrees is more half baked rather than Baked Alaska, a standard left to right platform game that is not only easy, but woefully short. There is so much promise; the art style is rather joyful and later levels add a little challenge but the game needs fleshing out.
Although my time with Tron Identity was brief, it was nice to return to the virtual landscape that makes up The Grid. The world inside has undoubtedly moved on since the events of Tron Legacy, but the world is as recognisable as ever. Much like how Disney have approached Star Wars by expanding from the small cast of Skywalker family, was a welcome touch that proves there is a real depth to what is essentially the inner workings of an ageing arcade machine. The trouble is that just as Identity was working towards a bigger story and finding its rhythm, I suddenly had the rug pulled and it just ended.
I wanted to like Kraken Academy!! more than I did. It’s a game that’s wonderfully strange, full of great ideas and has an engaging main story. While I was at the school, I was thoroughly absorbed into the rotting world, obsessed with cleaning it up and building out my friendships. The problem is that outside of the main story there was nothing to keep me past Wednesday, sure a few side quests are present, but they can easily be ignored. In fact the amount of time logged in our ‘At A Glance’ table is predominantly me collecting bottles, even though it was a pointless endeavour. Don’t get me wrong, I recognise this is an indie game and Happy Broccoli Games have done wonders with what they have created, but if the game had just a few additional classes, or something to work towards such as an alternate ending, it’d be a game I’d recommend in a snap. For the price, it is worth a look, so long as expectations are set accordingly.
Sadly Clockwork Aquario offers little challenge and can be completed in next to no time at all. Once the game has been beaten for the first time everything is unlocked and the only thing left to do is look at a rather nice gallery or try to beat your own high scores. If there is one element that saves Clockwork from being forgotten for another thirty years, it is it’s co-op mode. While the levels stay the same, save for a few extra baddies, the frantic experience of simultaneously playing with and against Player Two is the genuine highlight of the game.
It is a shame that Rift Racoon’s levels weren’t a tad longer and the controller issues prevented a more balanced outcome. Just tweaking the control scheme slightly and spending a few more seconds clearing one extra obstacle, or even having something more to unlock with the gems would’ve elevated the game from “OK” to “Pretty Great”.
Of Bird And Cage is a great concept for a videogame; real care and attention has been taken to produce a quality metal album that tells a story that provokes an emotional response. With a two hour run time and multiple endings, there is scope for replayability, but as the focus has been squarely put against the soundtrack, other areas suffer. Visually Of Bird And Cage does the job, but the gameplay elements felt rushed, and the lack of direction severely hampered my enjoyment.
Just Die Already sounds amazing on paper; old people foregoing common sense and wanting to end their lives in the most over the top way imaginable. The overall look of the game is hilarious and there is some fun to be found in short bursts. It’s just a shame that the controls, as deliberately janky as they appeared to be, are so unforgiving to the point that they spoil the experience and sapped all of the energy from the game.
Wanted: Dead looks back at the last twenty years of game design and manages to combine shooter and hack ‘n’ slash elements rather cohesively into one of the tightest melee/shooters I’ve played in a long while. Unfortunately, while I will scoop praise on the gameplay until the end of time, there are issues that can’t be ignored. When I wasn’t shooting things with gleeful abandon, everything else was trying to make me put down the controller. The wooden plot and lifeless characters are a given, but the strange minigames, awful level pacing and difficulty spikes left a bitter taste in the mouth. There’s no doubt this is a fun game and I can see a small section of players absolutely loving it to death, but outside a tight knit niche of fans, I’m certain that Wanted: Dead will sadly be quickly forgotten.
I know I’m not the target audience for Kao the Kangaroo, it is clearly aimed at younger players, but there is a fun time to be had. It is a shame that Kao suffers from all of the technical drawbacks. The save states simply don’t work and the graphical slowdowns make the game unplayable. Putting the bugs aside, Kao is an easy-breezy platformer that is fun to play. It might not be the most inspiring platformer out there but it is fun.
Cake Invaders was a rather fun time, and in the couple of hours I’ve put into it so far, blasting wave after wave of enemies didn’t get as stale as I thought it would. The graphics are cute, the music is just repetitive enough to be annoying, yet forgettable, and the price point is absolutely spot on for the amount of game you are getting. A multiplayer mode would have been nice, but the charm, accessibility, and simplicity of Cake Invaders meant I just wanted to try to beat my own score and is a true guilty pleasure in the making.
Despite all of the shortcomings, Nexomon is a fun video game to play, especially factoring in the cost of the game. Even at it's full price, there is a compact RPG that you can play and enjoy the visuals and story. There is a tough grind that feels like a slog early on, but this isn’t a game that offers more than 30 hours of gameplay, nor does it pretend to. The simplicity of the gameplay means that even after an extended break away from playing, which is probably caused by using the stock of twenty Nexotraps, you’re always able to pick up where you left off with relative ease.
Neptunia ReVerse feels more of a test of how the PS5 hardware works for Idea Factory & Compile Heart rather than providing players with a new experience, and after ten years the game is starting to show its age. References to the bygone era of PS3 & Wii, cut scenes being given a spit and polish rather than recreated, and the issues with a sub-one second load between battles just gives the impression this is an aging port and not a modern day enhancement. The game is very self aware and the core game is still pretty fun to play albeit with repetitive sections and a little bit of a grind to cope with. Arrange Mode offers up a challenge and remixes the dungeons and items found within but overall Neptunia ReVerse suffers from typical “first game in the series-itis”; there’s a lot of good building blocks which have since been fleshed out and better implemented in the newer titles.
SkateBIRD might sound like one of those joke titles that is played for around five minutes before being forgotten about, but what is actually here is a well thought out skating game that’s full of charm and humour. While the skate mechanics are a little rough around the edges, once I got over trying to execute each move perfectly and relaxed into the game’s casual nature, my time with it was rather fun. All things considered, if you’re after a wholesome, silly skating game, SkateBIRD does fit the bill, albeit in a rough "seagull-fighting-you-for-a-chip" kind of way.
The best way to sum up Post Void in any meaningful way would be ‘if Quentin Tarantino had somehow developed Doom instead of directing films’. The game has all the hallmarks of the director’s early works; it’s ultra-violent, hyper visceral and littered with barefoot baddies in sharp suits. The arcade style of short, sweet and brutal gameplay, rather than producing a lengthy campaign is a bold choice, and while your mileage may vary, I felt Post Void was the perfect bite-sized shooter that offered up a lot of fun despite its short runtime. The gameplay is engaging and snappy enough to the point I didn’t care about the game only being an hour long, or the repetitive soundtrack pumping in my ears like a German discotech. All I wanted to do was run through the myriad of creatures with a shotgun and make it as far as possible before being sent back to the beginning. Even now I can feel myself being drawn back for just one more hop through Post Void’s grotesque world…