Cubed3's Reviews
Graphically, some of the areas look great, and the story is interesting at points. The biggest problem that really drags down the experience is that combat is basic, repetitive, and ultimately uninspiring. The slot system is far more annoying than anything, and for how often players are in combat, it burns out quickly. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion feels more like a game that would be better to watch for the story, while skipping the gameplay. Zack deserved better than this.
Do not buy this game and avoid the extra DLC at all costs.
Freshly Frosted provides a relaxing puzzle experience that is perfect for winding down with at the end of the day, enjoying as part of a lunch break, or even as a gentle way to wake up in the mornings. No matter the time, what is guaranteed is a calm break from life, and probably an unavoidable donut craving!
Stray is an awesome looking game, with a neon-cyberpunk world that feels like it is alive. The run-time is short enough that the gameplay loop of solving puzzles via finding random items scattered throughout the world is well complemented from sequences that require running from area to area without getting caught by local mutated predators. While Stray is pretty to look at and is fun while it lasts the limitations of movement and rather simplistic puzzles hold this back from being greater than it could have been.
Elden Ring serves as a testament to open world video game design. There is a true sense of accomplishment once that rock-hard enemy has been slain, and something that compels a player to relentlessly do it over and over again until they succeed is truly rewarding. The world is humongous and an epitome of how exploration should be encouraged by intriguing players to see what is over the hill. Elden Ring is an unmissable, must-play gaming experience with surprises galore.
The Quarry is a good piece of cinematography and storytelling, lost in its medium of choice. The gameplay elements aren't particularly fun, nor worthwhile replaying. The cutscenes are good the first time around, but certainly get a bit grating the longer the game goes on. Standout performances from the actors certainly carry The Quarry, and it is worthwhile playing through the story at least once, but the second time around feels too much of a chore. The Quarry is the definition of a weekend rental.
FIFA 23 is perfectly serviceable - the gluttony of FIFA fans won't find much to complain about. Truth be told, the formula is so one-dimensional that it is hard to get wrong after iterating on the same product year after year. Subtle tweaks to gameplay do mix things up, but not enough has been done to refresh the modes on offer. Either EA is out of ideas, or they are storing them up for the next game in their new franchise. Anyone looking for a football game in 2023, though, should certainly stick with the tried and tested FIFA.
Small bugbear aside, inbento is so charming and simple that it is hard to put down once it gets going. It's a solid puzzle title that starts out super easy and accessible, but ramps up far enough to challenge players who want more. It's a great little package full of heart that deserves a pickup from puzzle fans.
Street Fighter 6 in it's simplest form remains a fantastic, fun experience, retaining the same gameplay that has been tweaked and improved throughout the years to ensure it remains top of the pile.
Like The Orange Box before it, Portal: Companion Collection is one of the greatest compilations assembled. It is the complete Portal experience, with all the fixings and extras one would hope for and then some. Both titles are excellent, and still hold up better than one would think. They always felt like they belonged on a Nintendo console. They embody its spirit of innovation and creativity, while being wrapped in a comfy sardonic blanket, which feels right at home on Switch, be it on the big screen or on-the-go.
By the time A Plague Tale: Requiem concludes, it will feel like being dragged by a pick-up truck across miles of concrete. The world depicted is a bleak and cruel one with no light at the end of the tunnel. Players will be getting their money's worth, as this is a very long game that is punctuated with lots of gimmicky sequences that add value to the package. The story does have a lot for fans to discuss, and the visuals are amazing, even if they came at the cost of a high frame rate. The gameplay is technically better than the first, but it was never amazing to begin with. The over-reliance on prebaked contextual actions and the rigidness of simplistic stealth is something most could expect from a seventh gen console title, not a ninth gen console release.
The Gunvolt series was one of the better, and cooler, platformer series in recent history; unfortunately, the most recent games have just been entirely mediocre. Much like the previous Luminous Avenger, all the pieces are there for an absolutely fantastic game, but it never comes together. Regrettably, the story in Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 is the weakest in the series, and the two main characters are far more annoying than entertaining.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero is a very beefy RPG that is way longer if the speed-up functions are never used. The imaginative premise and complex battle system are what makes it stand out. The text can be really long-winded, even for RPG fans, but it all pays off for the diligent reader with patience to parse it all. Regretfully, there is no English voice acting - a first for The Legend of Heroes. While that is initially disappointing, the realization of the voice acting padding out an already very long RPG quells the desire.
Not being content with being one of the most soulless products released under the Warner Bros. label, it is also extremely underwhelming from a technical point of view. Gotham Knights was originally developed as a multi-gen title, but PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions got cancelled. Despite this, the visuals underwhelm and fail to impress and manage to look worse than the last major Batman instalment released seven years prior. Capping at a mere 30fps might be excusable if this boasted the most cutting edge visuals on the market, but it manages to look cheap and dated. For a AAA production from Warner Bros., this should have been a visual tour de force, with top writing talent, and have evolved the gameplay to compete with its contemporaries. Maybe it can be salvaged over time with updates, but currently it's one of the most droll and sloppily designed triple-A products of 2022.
There is far more to Moero Crystal H than its mature and perhaps more widely advertised aspects initially indicate. Fans of both the genre and cute graphics style will easily take over forty hours to complete the main story, and then collect all the adorable monster girls, maxing out their friendships and making their rooms at the inn luxurious. This humour-filled, slightly niche title is certainly at home on Nintendo Switch and has next to no gripes apart from the mini games being outside some players' personal comfort zones. Hopefully the series will get expanded one day.
Series fans will find something to enjoy, yet those simply looking a fighting experience with friends will find this to be frustrating.
The relatively short nature of the races within Kirby's Dream Buffet, the way everyone, even those who come last, gain points in a race, and the ease to join in multiplayer online or team up with friends makes this latest Kirby game a real treat to play on Nintendo Switch.
Highly addictive and impressively expansive, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is exactly what a sequel should be: bigger, better and more ambitious. Whether or not you liked Fallen Order, this is worth your time if you're a die-hard Star Wars fan or if you enjoy action-fuelled adventures that keep you on the edge of your seat. It's not perfect, but even if you assess it for its ambition alone, it's one of the standout titles of this generation so far and a really, really good Star Wars title.
Under the Warehouse has a nice, surreal, "is it all a dream?" vibe, but that's all it has, to be honest, because gameplay-wise it's nothing more than a two hour-long chore of fetching items for NPCs again, and again, and again… and occasionally solving a simplistic puzzle or two.
This is the best new Star Ocean game in a good while. Star Ocean: The Divine Force makes great use of the power of current gen consoles to create a visually great world and incredibly pretty, almost doll-like characters. The story is a nice short-ish length and is compelling enough to drive the player forward.