Cubed3's Reviews
If there was ever a bullet-hell shooter that was also a cure for insomnia, Earth Atlantis would be it. Ugly, droning, and tedious to play; it is hard to find anything worse than this on the Xbox Store. While it is a functioning game, it is another example of poor design and miscalculated art direction that undoes any technical know-how the programmers implemented. It is always sad when the talent portion of a poor game is on the side where there is no artistry. After how far game development has come, having to compliment Earth Atlantis's code is the most depressing accolade to give.
For casual players there is not much beyond childish delight but in the scenario sandbox of destruction and design Cities Skylines - Natural Disasters makes a gameplay experience that is tense, trying and terrifically satisfying.
If there was more attention given towards improving what was already a great game, Dark Souls Remastered could have been perfect. Instead, it falls somewhere in this half-hearted limbo. Finally, it has a very stable and high frame-rate, but the collision and hit-detection is still unfairly off. This is one of the defining classics of the seventh generation consoles. It spawned its own sub-genre of action RPGs and gave From Software an unfathomable amount of credibility. It deserves better than this. If Scholar of the First Sin gets extra polish and refinement, it is tragic that the first entry in the trilogy does not get the same effort. When the inevitable day comes when Demon's Souls gets a remake or remaster, hopefully it gets more care than Dark Souls.
Even when taking into account that some of these games are not very different from one another, the content on offer in Street Fighter II 30th Anniversary Collection presents arguably the best value for money in that specific genre on Nintendo Switch and the bonus features, like museum and sprite viewer, are actually well worth checking out for lovers of the series. However, one of the main components, the online mode, is not really enjoyable in its current state so, unless a fix is on the way, this removes some of the fun that there would otherwise be in playing this on Nintendo Switch. What remains, however, is the only version that can easily be enjoyed wherever, whenever, and with whomever and that should never suffer from disc rot due to the sturdy cartridge format, and which won't look any worse here than anywhere else due to these games not being exactly very recent.
Where Disco Dodgeball Remix lacks in creative map design, it more than makes up for in just how engaging its core gameplay is. Lobbing around dodgeballs at the opposition is incredibly addictive as balls fly all around the screen. Matches are encouraged to be fast-paced and respawning occurs relatively quickly. It's easy to jump into any match and have fun while losing thanks to just how quickly everything moves. The alternate game modes do a fantastic job of adding some much needed variety, but the main goal of throwing dodgeballs around is never lost. Disco Dodgeball Remix could have benefitted from some more thoughtful maps, but it's nonetheless an addictive take on the first-person shooter.
Colossal Order might be asking a little much for what some would consider a small DLC, but there's no denying that it has created something pretty special here. Focusing the DLC on zooming down to street level and getting into the nitty-gritty of placement of pretty much everything in the park was a stroke of genius, and something it will hopefully implement into future DLC releases. In a genre about building a city, it's interesting to get players to come down from the clouds every now and then and really set up something unique to their town, and serves as just another reason why this game is special among others of its ilk.
As far as throwbacks go, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is a worthwhile venture. It captures the essence of yesteryear's classics, while offering numerous options to comfort an audience that might be unfamiliar with that time period. The game is also quite entertaining, and the replay-value is quite high. Still, it is not possible to shake the feeling that something is missing. It's as if the developer decided the safe choice was the right one, and left all of the risk-taking up to the player. Will this game be remembered in thirty years? Only time will tell.
Voxel Shot VR provides some splendid scenarios in this wave-based VR zombie shooter. Meanwhile, the bright colour palette and voxel visuals are charming, the frantic shooting, discarding of weapons, and environmental storytelling is immersive, and it culminates in a fun and exciting experience. However, it's all over with far too quickly.
Both in terms of storytelling, as well as gameplay, Tower of Time sits right there in the middle of the quality scale. A handful of interesting ideas do exist, and, as a whole, this isn't bad or broken, but, from the first to the fortieth hour, nothing in this dungeon crawling "RPG" will turn out to be exciting, either.
Stellaris: Distant Stars is an example of DLC done right.
For everyone out there who has been beaten down by the relentless pursuit of thrills and high scores, Yoku's Island Express is going to feel very refreshing. It's a charming vacation filled with beautiful locales. Taking the time to explore everything is highly recommended. The emphasis on pinball lends the game a superbly-realised identity. Utilising an array of bumpers and flippers to get around is somehow more fulfilling than tapping a jump button repeatedly. Altogether, this is a worthwhile venture for anyone who needs a break.
The Thin Silence hits all the right notes when it comes to the puzzling situations faced, with extremely smart ways of working through the various stages faced, continuously crafting new objects to aid with progress. Sadly, it does hold itself back too much with a painfully slow walking pace for the lead character, and some weighty prose that misses the mark, too often proving to actually be boring and/or confusing. A sequel more focused on the puzzle adventure element would be welcomed with open arms; just ditch the convoluted story-telling aspect, please.
NEKO-NIN exHeart 2 isn't notably awful, but it's unmemorable and bland nonetheless.
Azure Reflections is a fine entry in the Touhou franchise, one that compares favourably to even the mainline games. The various unique systems blend together quite nicely and help to take the traditional danmaku action in a slightly different direction. There are times, though, where this STG could have been a little more creative and really embraced the fact that it's a spin-off.
Dillon and his adorable little hamster friend Russ roll back into the Tower Defence scene with fresh and futuristic tale of Western adventure. Dillon's Dead-Heat Breakers builds on the previous games, heightening the action with intense races and expands the universe with an intriguing cast of characters/recruits. There is a steep learning curve and a lot of investment needed into the main tower defence gameplay, but it is worth rolling into in order to save those adorable Scrog critters.
Even accounting for its tough AI and problematic online mode, Fast Beat Loop Racer GT is still quite impressive. Races are just as intense and fun as fans of the genre could ask for.
STAY starts as an nail-biting adventure that's hard to let go of - literally and figuratively. Soon enough, however, it will become an exercise in frustration, partly because of the slow pace of it all, but mainly due to some bad design choices, with the aggravatingly cryptic, and speed-bumpy puzzles taking the biscuit.
While the Enhanced Edition does make for a more tolerable experience, Space Hulk: Deathwing is still held back by an incredibly under-designed campaign, along with clunky mechanics that ooze into the multiplayer. The aesthetic, and overall tone, does shine, but the core gameplay loop feels severely lacking. While it's by no means bad, the combat simply isn't engaging enough to justify long playthroughs and the improved performance does nothing to fix the fundamentally inconsistent level design. Space Hulk: Deathwing might resonate with fans of Warhammer releases, but casual gamers are better off looking elsewhere for co-op first-person shooters.
Little Nightmares: Complete Edition manages to do what it couldn't do when it wasn't complete: it satisfies the hunger for adventure. It is still not a game for everyone because of Tarsier Studios' complete devotion to telling a story in the most vague and dreamlike way imaginable, with no dialogue at all. It may be a bit obtuse for some people, but the intent of the developer has always been to allow the player to take what they will from the imagery and to consider it on a deeper level. Some subtle jabs at sardonic humour prevent this from ever feeling pretentious, but the bleak tone may still make this kind of hard to enjoy for some. Anyone with a passing interest in horror or those who like the idea of things that are cute and scary will love this. Most will be able to play it since it has very simple controls and even though it is much longer than when it first came out, it still does not overstay its welcome. Doing the core with the new chapters incorporated as one long story finally feels like every possibility has been seen and done with Little Nightmares.
As a jumping in point, it would be difficult to recommend Assassin's Creed Rogue. However, as a product in and of itself, it is a cohesive experience with hidden levels of depth and progression possibilities, backed by exceptional presentation values and fun fighting and seafaring mechanics. Completionists looking for an irresistible challenge and franchise fans who missed out the first time around will find a lot to love here.