ReCore Reviews
ReCore is the perfect example of a title with great ideas that simply did not find a safe path within its execution, because despite all its virtues, we could never see its true potential put into operation.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Recore is a game constantly looking for a balance between its many souls. Developers had obviously aimed high but were forced to downsize along the way. The result is a title still enjoyable , an obvious homage to an old way of creating action-adventure games, with all the pros and cons of the case. Here and there one can see touches of modernity, but the adventure is a basic old school structure which draws liberally from the tradition, not always with satisfactory results.
Review in Italian | Read full review
ReCore is a solid action-adventure platformer with fun, interesting ideas established at the forefront. However, those ideas wither over time because of the game's repetition and weak story.
While there are glimmers of hope throughout the adventure, the majority of ReCore is neither remarkable nor technically sound.
ReCore has an enjoyable first few hours, but quickly hits an impassible wall of unending item collection, laboriously slow loading screens, and puzzles that are more focused on wasting the player's time than providing a challenge.
ReCore has a lot of great things going for it. Joule is a likable protagonist and her robotic companions are outright adorable. The platforming exploration is an absolute blast.
Ultimately, I'm left in two minds with ReCore. While its platforming and shooting gameplay was fun, if not a tad basic, the story is there to do little more than drive things forward, and the environment it all comes in is dull and not enjoyable to explore.
Some of ReCore's ideas show promise, but its repetitive combat and cumbersome platforming will prove too much for most players.
These are moments of impressive beauty and joy, moments blessedly unsullied by ReCore's technical lethargy.
There's a lot to love about ReCore. It's charming, has character and a spark of creativity that hasn't been seen in decades. But the more you play it, the more you'll despise it when yet another technical blunder ruins the experience. After all, you only hurt the ones you love.
Victories in ReCore, whether they were rooted in platforming or combat skill always felt satisfyingly earned, and that for me was enough to balance all the frustration along the way. But if I hadn't enjoyed the Disney-like tone of ReCore's story and had not genuinely liked the game's characters, my patience for ReCore's shortcomings would probably have strained to the breaking point.
ReCore is an interesting robotic Frankenstein of various game parts. They don't always work well together, but when they do the collective whole is a rather wonderful creation. However as not all parts were created equal expect some frustration and the occasional fumble.
Despite all of its flaws, ReCore isn't inherently bad, it's just not gripping or polished. The combat, while dull, is enjoyable in that you can zone out and still succeed. You're not going to get frustrated by not being able to perform, or annoyed if you lack a certain level of skill. Any area you're struggling with will quickly become easy after your Corebot levels up enough to drag you through. Overall, the narrative is predictable while set in an interesting world, and the movement is slick and enjoyable, but the constant back-tracking to collect more keys weighs down the experience. It's unfortunate that the game couldn't be tightened up under Microsoft's tutelage, because ReCore has nuggets of good ideas buried beneath the monotony and tedium of its primary activities.
There's a good game buried somewhere in ReCore, but it's lost in the massive inconveniences the game throws at you. From constantly refusing to let the player move on until they complete side content (even in the middle of dungeons) to loading times that put Sonic 2006 to shame. This ensures that ReCore starts off interestingly and ends up horrid.
Yet despite its issues, I'm still playing ReCore. Its narrative, while no great work of prose, is intriguing enough to draw me through. Combat is varied enough to keep me coming back — even when I'm forced to replay the same encounter on occasion due to gang-up attacks. The ability to craft upgrades and collect loot throughout the world scratches that Metroid-style itch that Nintendo itself refuses to do anything about. Hopefully loading dramas will be addressed via-post launch optimisation patches, but for now it's solid enough to draw me through a little while longer.
When I first sat down with ReCore there was one burning question that I wanted to answer. Was it a budget game? Was the $49.95AU price point indicative of the game’s quality? For the most part, I’m inclined to answer no.
If I were to sum up ReCore in one word it would be 'fun' -- it's absolutely worth playing, especially at the low MSRP of $40.
A smart action game with bags of personality and a few unique twists of its own, ReCore is most definitely worth investing in. It's big, sometimes difficult, fairly engrossing, and fun while it lasts.
ReCore is a game that has two great strengths, solid insights behind the game mechanics and captivating art-design, which together hold the bar of interest high throughout the course of the adventure. That Keiji Inafune and his Comcept are recovering the hand after a really subdued Mighty N9 is evident, but unfortunately, even this time they are not enough to really raise the fortunes of this game.
Review in Italian | Read full review