Cubed3's Reviews
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is an orchestra for the sense, yet a bully to the mind. While it's a delight to look at and listen to, much of the gameplay feels like it should have been left in the path. Fortunately, clever boss fights that manage to fuse simplicity with depth save this from being an otherwise tiresome affair. If difficulty is a turn-off, though, steer clear. Other than that one could do a lot worse than this little game.
Birthdays the Beginning is highly recommendable as both edutainment and a god game. There are little issues that crop up that are annoying, but all in all, it's a great experience. There's a breadth of life to be created here, as long as you're going for what the game wants.
Voodoo Vince Remastered is what some would call a "working man's 3D platformer." It isn't ground-breaking or breath-taking, but it delivers on all of its promises. Each stage offers something new, but it never detracts from the core elements. The amazing soundtrack can't be praised enough. Above all, this game has aged quite gracefully. Even somebody who has never played it before - such as this reviewer - will find it to be thoroughly impressive.
Forts' multiplayer is enjoyable, as trying to scramble to design the best tower and destroy your friends is every gamer's truest of dreams. The single-player is pretty fun, too, if not for the sometimes stupid, sometimes brilliant AI, and the wonky physics. By all means, buy it for the single-player. Just make sure you have friends, because you're going to need them to truly appreciate this game.
In the end, The Caligula Effect has some cool ideas and a cool battle system that is often weighed down by other areas of the game lacking. There is simply far too much fluff that gets in the way of enjoying the good parts, keeping it from being truly great. Gamers with a high tolerance for grind will find this a really enjoyable game, but JRPG fans looking for a smoother ride will be put off by how often the pace slows to a near-glacial crawl.
The plot is not as epic as some other LucasArts adventure games, but it really doesn't need it. At the end of the day, it's a story about a guy who is on the run and wouldn't give up his wheels... Somewhere there is an heir to a major company, too. Full Throttle Remastered gets the highest compliment an adventure game from 1995 could get: it did not need to be remastered. It is a pretty short game, which wraps itself up at breakneck speeds at the climax, but it is definitely a ride worth taking at least once. Best to play it in the classic mode and take in the atmosphere from a bygone era. Some parts are a bit of a pain, but it is all worth it for the ending.
With a high-throttle ending leading to a satisfying conclusion for Thicker Than Water, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier finally heads back on track when it comes to finishing up the job. While another cliff-hanger, it's one that feels like it'll actually lead somewhere instead of predictability lingering at the forefront. Things are set up beautifully for the finale, and players will see if all the risks going into this season end up being worth it.
The shame of it all rests in that Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers isn't broken. It functions perfectly fine. This means that it was developed in such a way that it was left a bland, emotionless husk of what it was trying to imitate. For a game without microtransactions, it manages to feel like a tremendous cash grab. While it's easy to say any game was made with love in it, this feels like it was terribly misplaced.
For $19.99, The Disney Afternoon Collection is a tad steep, but these games tend to fetch much higher prices individually on a NES cart. Capcom did go through the effort of boss rush and time attack modes to make them somewhat more enticing for people who might just emulate these, so there is some effort here. The real draw of this compilation is the nostalgia they exude to transport the user to a simpler time, or for gamer parents to share something from their childhood with their own children. It is very likely that one day when the license expires, Capcom and Disney will have to remove The Disney Afternoon Collection from PSN and Xbox Live, so anyone with even a passing interest with these games really should consider downloading them. With the exception of TailSpin, the games here have aged pretty well and show why Capcom has been around for so long.
Little Nightmares goes for about $19.99 (digital) and for that much the game is pretty much worth it. Once the game begins, it is easy to be hooked and enthralled all the way to its conclusion. From an artistic and design standpoint, it is one of the most creative looking games around, and pulls off the whole demented doll house look perfectly. On Xbox One it may not be the smoothest running game, but it is still perfectly playable. Not a long or challenging game by any means, but Little Nightmares does manage to make a lasting impression.
Kamiko costs about $4.99 and can be beaten in under an hour. Visually, it is nothing impressive or interesting... There are far better looking pixel art games out there on the Switch, such as Blaster Master Zero. The core mechanics aren't broken or anything, it is completely serviceable, but it just lacks anything of interest to make Kamiko worth any time at all.
All the time bending clichés could have easily applied to The Sexy Brutale, but instead of riding on the shoulders of other titles that have gone before it, this is a game that shows that a flashy mechanic is more than the sum of its parts. With a narrative that is driven by discovery and an overall theme that oozes style and panache, The Sexy Brutale takes the player through a streamlined and perfectly paced investigative adventure that is genuinely witty and profound.
The problems with Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 are manifold. Although some players might be able to stomach the long load times and poor framerate, it's unlikely they'll endure the countless bugs. The three regions that the game takes place in are sufficiently large. They're also filled with the appropriate amount of secrets and general busywork. Unfortunately, Georgia feels static and lifeless. Enemy troops don't have a purpose beyond shooting it out with the protagonist. While putting an end to these hapless goons is entertaining, it doesn't justify suffering through all of the other setbacks.
LEGO City Undercover is a fantastic addition to any LEGO fans' Steam library. It's a ball of endearing charm and comes with familiar gameplay that ought to keep people busy well past its monetary value. Co-operative play is a great addition to the game and it really helps to breathe life into the adventure, maybe even for those who played it through on Wii U already several years back. It's a thoroughly entertaining experience that is wholly recommendable.
Tangled Up in Blue is an excellent pilot that does a superb job in introducing each of the Guardians to new players, while remaining very faithful to their source material.
Prepare to become addicted once again as the mother of all time sinks is back and bigger than ever. Puyo Puyo Tetris is an absolute delight that will scratch that puzzling itch and plug the Tetrimino-shaped gap that's been left unfilled this generation so far. SEGA has competently engineered a mash-up that feels like the definitive version of not one but two timeless classics and packed enough variety into its plethora of modes to make it a somewhat essential purchase for both solo and social blockheads.
Mr. Shifty's shifting is one of the most satisfying and enjoyable combat mechanics ever conceived. Teleporting through offices, smashing furniture and enemies in a flurry of kicks and punches is a wonderful visual spectacle, as well as an adrenaline-fuelled treat. Allowing the story to take a back seat so the action leads the way certainly feels like the best move in this case, but there's certainly some room for a more thought-out and quirky narrative. Meanwhile, some frustrating checkpoints can make the more frustrating fights that bit more annoying.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII: Fame and Strategy Expansion Pack is a great release, both in terms of its base, but also when it comes to the expansion element, which is where all too often other games can go off the rails. They either don't offer enough change to be justified, or they change things too dramatically when it was neither necessary, nor called for. The Fame and Strategy Expansion Pack manages to find a nice spot in the middle. Any fan of the original would be remiss to overlook it, and any newcomers should pick it up with the base game for a fantastic experience.
The real issue for Expeditions: Viking is simply whether or not someone is a fan of this older style WRPG experience. This offers very little to stand out from the crowd in this regard and modern gamers may be put off by various UI issues, or the heavy stat dependence. However, for those who liked these kinds of games, it sticks true to the recipe and the different resolution of quests is interesting to see. Trying different builds or dialogue options gives the potential for replay. One of the major things currently weighing it down is the various issues outstanding, matters that seem like more rigorous testing was required or something that comments from players would fix in a future update. The potential for a pretty fun game is present, but at this stage is still at least a patch or two away from being great.
The wait was worth it for this puzzle mashup, as Puyo Puyo Tetris embodies everything great about its namesakes, and compliments the host hardware perfectly. Concerns arise about the lack of Japanese voice work as an option, but as an overall package of content and pure replayability there are few better crossovers than this one.