Cubed3's Reviews
"Games as an art form" is still a touchy topic. Little Inferno, however, is very obviously more art than game - an experimental meta piece that is a commentary on the mindless time waster games and consumerism in general around games... and it's both interesting and well put together.
While Senran Kagura: Estival Versus has some content that will be repellent towards many potential consumers, the game is so honest about it that it would be unfair to hold it against them. Yes, this is a title that focuses mainly on Yuri fanservice, but it does it in a sometimes elegant and really nuanced way, offering some really solid gameplay and entertaining enough characters to keep the game entertaining, instead of just offering pure naughtiness.
Unholy Heights is a perfectly fine tower defense and management title, but it never manages to feel like an accomplishment. Instead, it feels like an experience the player participates in, like the game itself is garnering a lot of the glory due to being about setting things up and waiting. While it's nice to watch the slum hovel turn into a real swanky complex, and the battle system is just deep enough to feel manageable, the experience just feels a bit too out of control to be truly engaging.
DiRT Rally was already a great rally simulator, but the PSVR update enhances what was already there by making it that much more immersive and real. That it also makes the racing slightly easier due to depth perception, and that the entire game is compatible with VR and transitions so smoothly, is a testament to the care and attention by Codemasters to implement this technology.
It seems cramming five games into one has resulted in rather stripped back versions of each main sport when compared to Mario's previous standalone offerings. Most of the charm and range of options to extend the life outside of a few multiplayer sessions is absent, so Mario Sports Superstars ironically ends up as a pretty boring affair, despite the number of events to play. Fine for a few online bouts, especially if lamenting the lack of football or baseball main series games, but don't expect this to occupy the 3DS for long.
Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King is not the most innovative, nor is it the most challenging action-adventure, but it has plenty of heart. More importantly, it's finely-tuned and constructed in a manner that respects the player. There aren't any cheap hits, let alone cheap deaths, and progress is never halted by a poorly designed puzzle. Almost every aspect is balanced, and there's enough incentive to see and do as much as possible. All in all, this game is a quality throwback.
Four Last Things takes a really unique approach to its visual and audio presentation, relying solely on old paintings for backdrops and carefully crafted character animations, and public domain classic music to add even more class to this already classy point-and-click adventure. Those fearing that this is a case of 'style over substance,' though, should worry not as one-man-band Joe Richardson has delivered a witty and comical script, complete with some very smart logic conundrums for players to crack on their road to redemption.
Styx: Shards of Darkness sometimes feels like it's the purposely edgy teenager who doesn't want you to like it. It's, by all means, a game any stealth fan should try, but it's not going to grab and keep you coming back for more. Instead, it feels like wading through mud, and the payoff you're receiving is too small to really gloat about. There's potential here, but behind buggy AI, clumsy controls and a lead character who is more annoying than likable, it all feels for naught.
Whilst not a lot happens on-screen during tracks, the presentation is still lovely and vibrant, with colours and panels changing and shifting in time with the great range of music on offer. Although VOEZ doesn't really lend itself well to long periods of play, many of the tracks are short enough that it can be played in quick bursts now and then, perhaps unlocking the generic light-hearted visual novel in the process. Comfort is a point of contention, but the concept is so incredibly simple and appealing that just about anybody will be able to pick up and enjoy tapping away to these beats. A welcome addition to the genre and the Switch library.
While Touhou Genso Wanderer is not a game with wide mass appeal, it is exactly everything its fan base wants from a dungeon crawler.
Journey is a masterpiece, one that still holds up well years after it came out. It's indicative of the industry that there still doesn't feel like there's anything else like it. Many could call it the original walking simulator, but in reality, it was a game that proved that what we perceive as a game or not may be wildly wrong. It's hard to find an experience that can make being wrong so enjoyable.
Activision and Toys for Bob have once more delivered a highly entertaining adventure, filled with hidden goodies galore, and an amusing script, on top of an extremely solid platforming escapade. Newcomers may grow frustrated at the amount of content locked behind 'pay walls' ('toy' walls?) but the core story has enough meat to keep early Nintendo Switch adopters satiated; as for long-term fans with a large toy collection, this is superb.
There are exclusive titles on every console that epitomise the system; titles that are indelibly linked with that hardware through future generations. Adventures like The Last of Us, like Kingdom Hearts, like GoldenEye and Super Mario 64. Horizon: Zero Dawn stands worthily alongside these iconic releases. The story is enthralling, the open world is lush and inviting, the gameplay extremely addictive, and the sheer scale of it all is amazingly vast. Simply put, this is a phenomenal game.
The freedom imbued in the gargantuan and beautiful world of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands' Bolivia sure makes this a worthwhile purchase, but only if you plan to enjoy it with a couple of friends, and only if willing to put up with the standard issues of most sandbox titles, like repetition, repetition, and, most importantly, repetition.
A wasted opportunity. Some decent graphics and a couple of engaging puzzles aren't enough to save Dying: Reborn. The overreliance on safes, keypads and combinations highlight the developer's lack of imagination. This feels like a step backwards from the older low-fi titles from Konami and Capcom, who figured out how to make interesting and fun puzzles in horror games. While this version of Dying: Reborn is a better buy than the PSVR edition, it is not better by much.
The main problem with Switch - Or Die Trying is that it has clever ideas, but doesn't take advantage of them. Game mechanics, when they're not fully explored, are just gimmicks. If switching is integral, then it needs to have a presence in the entirety of the game, not just a portion. Maybe the switch could have more abilities, such as powering fans that push the hero where he needs to go. Ghosts could chase him, depending on whether he's a big I or a little i. This puzzle-platformer has a lot of untapped potential, and that's a shame.
Like many others of its ilk, New Frontier Days - Founding Pioneers is full of the types of mechanics that make for very addictive gameplay - the type that have that "just one more minute" gameplay. Despite how it makes the hours fly by, though, this is ultimately a boring grind with no real depth, no heart, and nothing special here. With the superb Stardew Valley on the horizon for Nintendo Switch, fans of these types of games should try holding out until then and give this one a pass. Heck, you would even be better off with Farmville to tide you over…
2Dark is mostly a triumph for Gloomywood. It is impressive and refreshing that a skilled user could play a survival horror stealth game that can be completed without killing anyone. Sure, sometimes accidents happen and a kid dies a horrible bloody death, which can lead to both horrific shock and bemused laughter... at the same time no less, but that is the weird and wonderful tone of 2Dark. Inane inventory system and difficulty spike aside, this is a very interesting and free-form survival horror that dares to be a little different. A humble little game that really tries its best to get people to invest in saving children and be heroic with no shred of irony.
Over the past several years, DRPG developer Experience has become one of the leaders of the genre. With titles like Stranger of Sword City Revisited it's easy to see why. The original game was already quite good, so Experience took all of the feedback to heart to craft a thoroughly enhanced version. The changes make the adventure more accessible, yet at the same time they don't push away fans of the original; in fact, there are now more options to consider and new challenges to overcome. All in all, while Escario is a pretty lousy vacation destination for working on that tan, it's still a thoroughly fantastic city to spend a lot of time in.
Death Squared needs to be congratulated for bringing much needed diversity to the couch co-op market. While there is a lot to like about how it approaches co-operative design, the player is often left, though, with the feeling that it would be a lot easier and simpler if they were to just solve the puzzles on their own. Although co-operative play is tense, fun, and rewarding for the most part, the temptation for one player to dictate the play and take control hampers any chance for that cheer to spread across all the people involved. What should be a test of mind and logic instead is a test of patience and will, which for some will be a delight but for others an arduous task.