Cubed3's Reviews
Easily the best Assassin's Creed title to date, Assassin's Creed Odyssey takes everything Origins overhauled and improving on it, adding in fan favourite gameplay elements, introducing an amazing, huge world, and, most importantly it's a heck of a good time… but… the shadow that hangs over it cannot be ignored. Ubisoft has purposefully handicapped the gameplay, tuning it to be slow and, at points, making the grind horrendous, all to try and sell a micro-transaction, and that is absolutely revolting.
There's some cross-country joy to be found in Dakar 18, but it could have been much more rewarding and successful considering the unique brand of rallying it represents. It is fun endlessly launching over sand dunes, hopping out of the car to be sporting by towing a competitor out of a jam, and finding one's way back on track after getting lost. Unfortunately, the fundamentals are out of whack. Vehicle classes are not distinct, terrain all feels the same to drive on, and both the handling and physics are more arcade than they are simulation, dampening what could have been a very visceral experience. The co-driver is infuriatingly annoying, his instructions often being confusing and ill-timed, whilst the graphics are not up to the standards of the genre. Many technical issues are also present, which reduces the sense of polish. There's fantastic potential here, but Dakar 18 as it stands is just average.
Overall, Overcooked! 2 - Surf 'n' Turf is a fantastic dessert for players already full on the core experience. Its island theme is a refreshing aesthetic contrast to the main game, with brighter and more vibrant visuals and a soothing island resort soundtrack. Not only this, it conjures some interesting new mechanics. The managing of barbeques with bellows creates even more time management chaos. Also, the addition of the water pistol, used to extinguish fires and spray the dishes clean from afar, adds a new layer of freedom, teamwork, and versatility. At a meagre price, Surf 'n' Turf brings a lot more to the table than might be expected. It may only be a handful of stages, but they are well-crafted and provide a challenge that fans will salivate over. This sets very high standards for the future inbound DLC of Overcooked 2. Get your island gear on!
While Race Arcade does a good job of recreating the arcade racing style of old, with the top-down fixed camera and basic vehicle and track set-ups, as well as featuring time trials and local multiplayer, it is otherwise an uninspiring experience. Three of the six vehicles are worth racing due to their ease of use, especially against the AI, while the other three, being the sportscar, tractor, and UFO, are not worth bothering with at all because of how clunky and poor-functioning they are on the track. Race Arcade will also fail to set a party alight due to how one-dimensional the mechanic of racing seems to be. While the simple gameplay lends itself well to allowing for newcomers to jump in and adapt quickly, it also robs it of an immersive experience.
An odd combination of automatons and a reflexive sport turns out to make for a pretty fun and addictive experience, overall. Disco Dodgeball Remix on Nintendo Switch doesn't quite have the player count necessary for a truly chaotic time online, but more than makes up for it with competent AI foes, a boundless list of modes and parameters to choose from, and sufficient offline options to enjoy.
What Adventure of a Lifetime lacks in excitement, it makes up for in a well-paced plot framed through a rather introspective lens. Hiroki isn't a particularly engaging protagonist, but he's not so bland as to detract from the story or lacks in an arc, and both Chisa and Emily, the visual novel's co-leads, feature plenty of characterisation to move the story along. Where Adventure of a Lifetime really shines, however, is in its sound design. The entire read is scored by a nautical sound that genuinely brings the Ogasawara Islands to life. Adventure of a Lifetime could have done with a tighter script, but it nonetheless makes for a solid, if a bit light, read with just enough to take away.
A mediocre remaster of a great game, it is critically important to recognise that Final Remix is in no way whatsoever the definitive release of The World Ends with You. Presentation wise, the Switch remaster both looks and sounds great, improving upon the original mobile remaster wherever it can, but the gameplay is severely neutered when compared to the original Nintendo DS release. Combat will never be as smooth with the Joy-Con setup as it is with touch controls, and the modifications made to the partner system in order to make gameplay work on one single screen remove a great deal of the original battle system's charm. Final Remix is a good game as it is still, at its core, The World Ends with You, but it is a deeply flawed, deeply disappointing reimagining of the DS classic.
Although quite rough around the edges, the sheer amount of love and care present in Detective Gallo warrants at least one playthrough. With a surprisingly strong voice cast, coupled with an appropriately moody atmosphere, with a jazzy soundtrack and cartoony visuals, the point-and-click adventure is able to craft an identity all of its own, even if it isn't particularly unique in regards to its genre. The adventure does fall on the short side with puzzles that are not always particularly engaging, but Detective Gallo nonetheless makes for an interesting playthrough even if it does ultimately fail to live up to its potential.
Without the problems that stem from the, evidently, rushed production, The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is a mediocre-to-good dungeon crawling RPG that's reminiscent of the genre's humble beginnings. With those problems added, however, this is downright annoying, and even unplayable.
The Low Road is an incredibly standard point-and-click adventure that only manages to stand out thanks to some interesting visuals and its variety of splash screen style puzzles. The automobile corporate espionage plot begins with promise, but unfolds into an incoherent farce that fails to keep any emotional investment. Unappealing character designs and laughable animation give a very amateurish and childish impression, clashing with a mature plot. The Low Road would have made for a more interesting movie than a videogame.
If looking for a simple port, as well as a bundle of the Shenmue duology, you are in for a treat, despite the fact that the enhancements of this version are underwhelming. Those expecting an action-adventure that is as good as it is popular, though, get ready for a rude awakening, because, nostalgia, and pioneering innovations aside, this just isn't fun anymore.
NHL 19 is somehow both great and a bit disappointing. Sure, this is the best hockey game yet, with an almost impossible amount of depth. This is the kind of game you can play all year and still not feel like having even really scratched the surface. It is good sit down and play for a couple of hours or just jump in for one game and then head out to do something else, but at the same time, this barely feels like an upgrade over last year's version or the year before that. It's the same iteration of game over and over again, each slightly superior to the one before it. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but at the same time this might be a hard purchase to justify for new rosters and a couple different modes. It is still a great title, but one that has definitely been seen before.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is another enjoyable and unique experience added for the Switch's already swollen library. It's a little short, with only four campaigns, but it's a great title to whip out with friends - sitting around the console, or on the big screen, yelling out orders to each other. Good old, couch co-op fun. Being a Super Rare Games production, this also comes with a few special little extras; the usual trading cards, and stickers. It's a nice little extra on top of the opportunity to get a physical copy of a usually digital only product.
Overall, V-Rally 4 is quite a decent experience that is no blemish on the legacy of the old series. It's pleasing on the eye, features a good amount of discipline contrast, and the split-screen multiplayer is great fun. Fans of the series will feel at home with the handling model, which recaptures the feel and behaviour of the original in a new modern context with surprising success. It's not a sim-heavy experience, but it is an appropriate challenge that asks more of the player than the average arcade rally affair does. The car list is lacking in terms of modern options, but existing fans will have a soft spot for the classics on offer. It's just a shame that the career mode fails to distinguish itself, and the online multiplayer is sparsely populated. Any future iterations will need to be more inventive, but V-Rally 4 is a surprisingly fun throwback.
Mega Man 11 not only marks a return to form for the franchise, it serves as a natural evolution of Mega Man's foundation, finally allowing the series to progress into the next generation. On an aesthetic and gameplay level, the series has taken some much needed, and welcome, steps. The art style has an appropriate level of charm and polish, while still evoking a more old school aesthetic, while the new Double Gear system pairs wonderfully with the platformer's tight level design. Mega Man 11 is a magnificent blend of old and new, honouring what came before, while never forgetting to look towards the future.
The old adage of "less is more" cannot be applied in this scenario as Nintendo Switch users are emphatically getting less bang for their buck.
Dragon Ball FighterZ is a marvellous work of love from the developer to bring to life in the HD world a massively fun game to play for fans and non-fans of the franchise alike. The fact that it ties in with a resurgence in popularity of the franchise after Dragon Ball Super aired around the globe shows it is probably no coincidence but it's no mere cash-in, either, but one of the best fighting games to be played on the Nintendo Switch so far and arguably the one that plays online the best to date. It is a complete success on a pure technical level in terms of performance on the hybrid console but the user experience could have been slightly better thought out when it comes to the implementation of the always-online functionality. Finally, the lack of more fighters to choose from, with much of the roster relegated to being paid DLC, will leave people with an impression that the publisher felt a bit too greedy.
Super Mario Party is an eclectic celebration of twenty years of star collecting and coin hoarding; bringing together the best bits into one show-stopping, mini-game cake. Paul Hollywood would grab a Joy-Con and give it a thoroughly good handshake. The addition of "Super" to the title is thoroughly deserved - with streamlined, refined mechanics, classic game design, smart mini-games and brilliant extras to tuck into. Whilst the sense of competition and unpredictable antics is still very much in play, there's also a greater feeling of teamwork within mini-games that hasn't been seen since the original Mario Party. The series has found its encore, and it's ready to keep dancing deep into the night. Super Mario Party is the essential Nintendo Switch release, a true return to form for a franchise that was at risk of going stale.
The roguelike procedural generation in Touhou: Genso Wanderer Reloaded often generates terrible flaws, horrible stages, and difficulty levels all over the shop - when the difficulty spikes, the challenging nature often just results in repetitive and frustrating grinding. There is far too much dialogue to read through, meaning huge gaps between actually being able to play… It's hard to find much to like here. It will certainly interest Touhou fans who get to enjoy some of their favourite characters, but for casual fans and those new to the series, all they are getting is a rather monotonous dungeon crawler.
Senran Kagura games have always revelled in the fan-service, but they have weaved it into titles that are fun to play. An element of the game… Sometimes a large element… but, not the focus. Senran Kagura Reflexions feels like the extra features bundled into one of the full Senran Kagura entries. At £8.99, this feels massively overpriced, too, even for those who can see value in it. There's certainly not that much value, though, as it's basically a pervy tech demo.