Samuel Incze's Reviews
Starfield is a fun adventure that may just lack a bit of direction. The narrative is not exactly intriguing. However, Starfield throws a metric tonne of interesting side quests which will easily distract you from the meagre main plot. Combat is very reminiscent of the fallout series, with the gunplay in particular feeling pretty satisfying. The ship battles are also quite simple and avoid unnecessary systems which is ideal for this style of game. Whilst there are a few bugs, because after all this is a Bethesda game, thankfully they are minor and non intrusive, and often quite hilarious. Overall, Starfield is an entertaining sandbox that will give you hours upon hours of fun. I just hope you don’t mind sitting through (or skipping) the generic dialogue throughout the main quests.
AEW Fight Forever struggles to find its place with its first entry into the world of video games! Whilst it tries to set itself apart from WWE’s flagship series, with a lack of creativity and variety, it just ends up becoming a bit monotonous. There may be something here for die hard fans, but unfortunately beyond a few matches in exhibition and a lacklustre career mode, AEW Fight Forever does not do enough to be an enticing wrestling game! Unfortunately, unlike the actual AEW brand, the game just can’t compete with its WWE counterpart!
Minecraft Legends is a bland strategy title that fails to impress. The core tactical systems are shallow and have been implemented quite poorly and the third person combat and traversal is underwhelming at best. As you are locked to controlling your hero, constructing defenses and ordering troops can also feel quite awkward meaning this experience quickly becomes very tedious. This is really unfortunate, because the story is decent, and has some clever humour. However, this is not enough of a reason to be worth investing time into Minecraft Legends.
Tchia does initially give players a decent narrative to latch on to. Unfortunately, after a couple hours of play, it becomes quite dry. Tchia’s setting, which is heavily based on New Caledonia, does look stunning, especially with its simple art style. However, the world does feel quite empty, and with traversal often feeling quite slow, there is little reason left for players to take on the chore of seeing the sights.
WWE 2K23 is a fun, and exciting wrestling sim. It boasts a decent variety of game modes, most of which have seen a few improvements. By far the standout is the Showcase mode, putting you in the boots of some of John Cena’s most significant opponents. 2K23 definitely does enough to be worth picking up, even if some more big improvements could have been made!
Scars above is a fascinating third-person sci-fi adventure. It features an intriguing narrative that starts out a little slow, but it does quickly pick up and becomes one of its biggest strengths. The gameplay is a lot of fun, but doesn’t do anything particularly innovative to stand out from other similar titles. The game features some aesthetically pleasing environments, as well some really uniquely creature designs but the characters lack polish with the mouth movements in particular making them look a little like puppets at times.
Wanted: Dead is a fun, but challenging adventure. It brings together brutal swordsmanship and deadly third person shooting in one uniquely packaged experience. The combat is easy to understand and it does feel great, and its difficulty is definitely the drawcard here. Unfortunately, the combat can feel a little too simple at times and the level design can seem slightly same-y. The story feels tacked on, and most of the voice acting is B movie levels of terrible. Overall, Wanted: Dead is quite entertaining and will give you a good few hours of challenging gameplay.
SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake is a really bland affair! It’s disappointing and uninspired level design, that often feels like it drags on way too long, mixed with its really dated gameplay mechanics makes for quite a generic platforming adventure with stiff controls. Whilst the narrative is entertaining and does its absolute best to be a redeeming factor, it just isn’t enough to be a selling point for The Cosmic Shake. I am honestly saddened to say that SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is quite a dull experience and is not worth picking up.
Mahokenshi is a surprisingly good adventure strategy deck builder. The gameplay systems are simple and easy to understand, yet still provide a significant amount of challenge. The narrative is a bit of a disappointment, providing you with merely a very short blurb before throwing you into each level. However, this can largely be overlooked, because the gameplay is honestly quite addictive at times. The board game style level design is really charming, and works perfectly for Mahokenshi. Overall, it is a good game that is worth giving a go, even for just a few hours.
Overall, Wavetale is definitely a fun adventure game that is really relaxing. With its simple narrative and relatively short playtime, roughly 3-4 hours, as well as its interesting surfing gameplay style, Wavetale achieves almost everything it sets out to do. It is a charming game that will entertain you for a few hours. Nothing more, nothing less.
Whilst Pentiment promises to give players a fascinating narrative that takes all choices and actions into account, whilst exploring the themes of Politics and Religion in Europe in the 1500s, the uninteresting introduction, as well as the countless meaningless interactions throughout the title, makes itfeel much too long for what it is trying to achieve. There is an interesting plot to uncover here, but you will have to sift through quite a few hours worth of tedious dialogue with the occasional unnecessary minigame thrown in for ‘good’ measure.
God of War Ragnarok is a perfect example of how a video game sequel should be done. Featuring a narrative that faithfully continues the story from 2018’s reboot, Ragnarok has many surprises hidden away in its stunning realms. Each realm looks breath-taking and takes full advantage of the PS5’s hardware. The gameplay is exactly what you would expect, with various touch ups and upgrades to make this feel like a true next gen experience. If you own a PS5, this belongs on your shelf!
Gotham Knights successfully gives players a great new Batman title, without a heavy reliance on the Caped Crusader himself. The gameplay is fun, with combat feeling excellent, and the co-op really adds a whole new layer to the game. With an intriguing narrative that sees the Dark Knight’s understudies take up the mantle, Gotham Knights provides an exciting and emotional experience that is definitely worth picking up!
LEGO Bricktales fails to live up to its potential. The game’s building mechanic is really tedious and annoying. The LEGO pieces are often difficult to maneuver into specific positions and the controls are quite awkward. The level exploration is bland and the narrative is simplistic and uninteresting. Overall LEGO Bricktails is a real disappointment and not worth the time investment.
Foretales is a great entry into the deckbuilding genre. Featuring a very simple gameplay style, this title is really easy to get into, but can still be challenging at times. The narrative is intriguing and the visual design is gorgeous. Foretales is definitely worth giving a go, whether you have played deck builders before or not.
Destroy All Humans! 2 does a great job of faithfully recreating the world that captivated so many fans back in 2006! The gameplay mechanics have been refined to make some aspects, particularly the psychokinesis, feel a lot more natural and slick to execute. The massive overhaul to the visuals makes the game look fantastic on modern hardware, whilst still keeping the semi-cartoony art style that was present in the original.
Deep Silver Volition took a bold step in setting Saints Row around a whole new crew, and it absolutely paid off. Featuring a cast of interesting and entertaining characters, this narrative reverts back to the more serious nature of Saints Row 1 & 2. Add to this some really slick combat and driving mechanics, as well as a world filled to the brim with fun side quests and areas to explore, and you have an absolutely stellar entry into the Saints Row series!
Cult of the Lamb is a rare gem that combines a roguelike experience with base building mechanics. This wacky narrative will have you in stitches time and time again, whilst you enjoy adventuring through these beautiful 2.5D landscapes. Managing your own cult is as crazy as it sounds and is very entertaining! This is definitely one to add to your game collection.
OlliOlli World: VOID Riders features the most bizarre narrative in the OlliOlli series! Not only is it as strange as it is hilarious, but it is also the greatest one yet! Add to this some entertaining new mechanics and chaotic new levels, and you have the best of what OlliOlli World has to offer!
Card Shark features a surprisingly deep story with much mystery surrounding its fascinating, and somewhat dubious characters. The simple game mechanics and stunning art style really makes for a title that is really unique. The minimalist approach to the gameplay is welcomed and the 8 hour play time ensures that no part of Card Shark feels overused or repetitive! This is definitely one for your Nintendo Switch library!