Cubed3's Reviews
Sceal is, in term of narrative driven games, a must-have. It comes with considerable baggage, but at the end, it's clearly worth the time spent. Again, if too much story and very little gameplay sounds like a big flaw, steer clear. As for everyone else, there's something incredibly unique to be found here.
One of the best just got even better! RIVE: Wreck, Hack, Die, Retry! was an exhilarating ride for fans of all styles of space shooters to start with, but now even more genre enthusiasts can enjoy this stunning effort thanks to the extra difficulty mode offered. As for those who signed up for the initial release, they also have some fantastic reasons to come back and enjoy the excellence that Two Tribes has delivered. Will this superb shooter be transferred to Nintendo Switch now, rather than staying on the near enough finished Wii U? Given how amazing this update was, the only thing that could possibly better it would be the promise of further tweaks, and maybe even a multiplayer element, all in time for a Switch release! For now, PC and PlayStation 4 gamers are in for a massive treat with this sublime update…
The New Order is a far superior game in many ways, but take Wolfenstein: The Old Blood as a companion piece to its predecessor, and there is still the same great arcade FPS and stealth gameplay here that will satisfy fans of MachineGames' previous entry. It isn't as fleshed-out or exciting as the 2014 title, but it holds up well as its own standalone Wolfenstein game.
For horror fans, this is definitely a title worth checking out, even if adventure games aren't your favourite. The writing is incredibly paced and well timed, and the setting is on point. It manages to be chilling and unsettling without resorting to unnecessary jump scares, and even manages to be a great adventure game on top. It's still got its fair share of frustrations, but it's a solid experience, and it's easily one of the best written horror games out there right now.
Yakuza 0's focus on refinement over ambition proved to be the right decision. This game features a very well-told story that's filled with an assortment of great characters and memorable moments. It's also a breakout moment for Goro Majima. He tends to get the short end of the stick when it comes to characterisation, but here, Majima really comes into his own. The style select sub-system is a fantastic addition, because it allows for a level of flexibility that hasn't been seen in any of the previous entries. The expected massive amount of side content also benefits from an increased level of interdependency. Pursuing the multitude of amenities around town is rewarding in so many ways. This entry raises the bar for both the Yakuza series and action RPGs.
Aqua Moto Racing Utopia is an uninspired experience, and everything the game offers has been done better in plenty of other titles. It is playable and can offer some thrills every once in a while, but the tedious nature of events can put a snag on whatever fun one might be having. Lacking in excitement and depth, this is one island getaway not worth travelling to.
Alekhine's Gun proves that ambition can only get a game so far. There are good ideas from both a gameplay and narrative perspective, but Maximum Games' implementation of all those features stops at the inclusion. The stealth aspect is never fully developed or utilised, while the gunplay has had the bare minimum of effort put into it. The story jumps between World War II and the Cold War, a genuinely novel idea, but mediocre writing and spastic pacing disallow the plot from actually developing any of its themes or characters. With no polish or direction to speak of, Alekhine's Gun is little more than a broken third-person shooter that believes it's so much better than it is.
Gone in November manages to be a nice insight into someone's final days, but it never really justifies being a game. It's confusing, often directionless, and its poor decisions involving text make it hard to follow the small grains of plot you're supposed to be finding. Perhaps in another life, it could have been a book or short film. Unfortunately, in this life, it is a game—and one that doesn't really work very well.
Snow Place Like Home doesn't do much for King's Quest in the gameplay department, but anyone who has played it this far is probably past caring much on that front. This story and these characters have cemented their place in our hearts, and the game feels like a good book that can't be put down. Lack of per-episode scenery or gameplay variety aside, King's Quest is everything an episodic title should be, as well as a pinnacle of storytelling all game developers should aspire to compete with.
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star is something of a mixed bag. This style of game works well with the Fate backdrop, and the actual Area Supremacy Battle makes for fun and addictive gameplay, but the presentation of it leaves a lot to be desired, with battles that feel too brief with far too much story interjected in between them. Not to mention that this story is terrible. Even the side stories for the supporting cast are heavily uninspired.
The real trick of making a game work in this style is to ground it in some sense of normality. Where the Musou series excels, and indeed how it has survived for such a long time, is that for all the Japanese humour and charm, the core story is a simple one of warring kingdoms fighting battles. It is awesome when a story doesn't hold back on its vision and complexity and does not abandon its world. However, Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star gets lost in this vision at the expense of its Western audience. With that said, where it does succeed is in making a fun, if forgettable, action title that has plenty of content to work through, even if it does tend to get a little predictable and stale after the first few hours. There is definitely something to work on here for future titles, though, and it is great to see the Warriors style reimagined by another developer.
Anyone with forty minutes to spare can enjoy the entirety of Gathering Sky. They might find it difficult to come up with positive words to say about it, though. Aside from an incredible soundtrack, this game doesn't have any particularly memorable elements. At the same time, it's not all that unpleasant either, thanks to the quaint graphics and solid control scheme. Perhaps this is reason enough to give it a look.
What it all comes down to is that 99Vidas simply isn't as fun as it could be. A good beat 'em up is more than just hitting bad guys until they fall over. There has to be enough nuance and depth for skilful players to develop their own style, while using very little, if any, resources, such as health restoring food or lives. There also have to be enough leniencies to make the game appealing to someone who just wants a "mindless" yet still entertaining button masher. This game deserves top marks for its aesthetics and charm, but its mechanics and overall design leave something to be desired. If the difficulty was better balanced and the heroes had more viable attack options, this would be a title deserving of a spot in any brawler fan's library.
For anyone out there who has ever wished that Astro Port would make a shmup about schoolgirl witches instead of mechs and explosions, Witch-Bot Meglilo is the game for them. Like all of their other titles, this shooter is well-crafted and highly entertaining. Don't like cute stuff? That's fine, too. In fact, it might even be preferable, considering just how zany and sometimes dark the story and characters are. This game is well worth a look.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is a game hardcore puzzle types will enjoy, despite what any screenshot looks like, but any fan of RTS or even stealth games will be annoyed by the very narrow path of figuring out the current "stealth puzzle" facing them. If it is any indication of the slog that will be faced, a warning appears if you have not saved in over a minute. For the very narrow niche of puzzle gamers, they will enjoy figuring it out, but for everyone else, it is simply far too much guess-and-check, and the pure repetition grinds the player down.
Make no mistake about it, Zero Time Dilemma is a disappointment, but it's mainly because fans of the franchise are such devoted ones. Taken on its own merits, without looking back to how the series was, it is certainly not a bad game, and has some excellent qualities that leave it an overall good experience, and definitely not a bad one.
A strong case can be made for Rise & Shine. It boasts fantastic visuals, tons of references that appeal to the older crowd, and a more thoughtful approach to running and gunning. Unfortunately, it never realises its full potential. There are numerous intriguing elements, such as destructible cover or contending with adversaries while platforming. Simply put: they don't get enough attention. If a few of the less interesting segments were excised or moved to optional modes, and in their place were stages designed with a more advanced skillset in mind, then the campaign could be tighter and more complex. All told, it's still a worthwhile venture for shoot 'em up fans seeking a change of pace.
This latest trilogy pack from Zen Studios is a blast to play, and is a worthy addition for pinball enthusiasts.
Xenoraid is just not very much fun. It has some interesting ideas, and some that are just confusing, but for the most part it's the same space shooter that has been seen time and time again. It's like the Expert mode of an old shooter, where things have been tweaked, but it largely feels like the exact same game. While the upgrade system and loadouts are pretty interesting, they feel like an exciting game leading into something much less appealing.
Even with its handful of changes, or regretful omissions, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on 3DS is a grandiose adventure that manages to evolve the series in terms of technical achievement and presentation, story-telling and overall convenience. It takes advantage of the enhancements of technology to help make this adventure a joy to work through, unlike some older RPGs can be nowadays. It is a definite pleasure, while still delivering the classic feel of a Dragon Quest title that most of its devoted fans, more so in Japan than anywhere else, expect to find with every new release that the series has seen to this day. Lack of orchestrated soundtrack or minimal censorship should definitely not put anyone off this historical masterpiece, even on the humble and ageing 3DS hardware. This, along with perhaps Ever Oasis, might be the last major RPG release for the system, as it probably sees its last year of relevance in 2017, and it could not hope to go out with a bigger bang than with this impressive port.