Cubed3's Reviews
Do not be fooled by this one. All the Delicate Duplicates merely attempts to disguise a run-of-the-mill storyline by wrapping it up in pretty a first-person exploration dressing that has clearly been designed for future VR support. Sadly, the lack of interaction with the actual surroundings hurts it badly, luring players in with the promise of more to come, only to end succinctly without any effort required on the player's part, and then expecting them to do lots of background reading to get the full picture. On paper, the initial concept may have seemed like an intriguing new way to deliver a story. In reality, though, it proves to be an overly short and mundane chore of an experience that misses so many opportunities to be so much more than it actually is. An experience it may be, but it is an empty and lacklustre one, overall.
A Pixel Story is as close to perfect as a game can get, but it falls a bit short. It highlights a lot of the issues other Metroidvania games have, and can feel like an aimless walk from time to time. Rest assured, though, every annoyance you stumble across will be paid back in kind, and with a game so fun and enticing, you may find yourself lost in the System, as well.
Clever use of traps and abilities, polished and presented well, this is an example of a great budget strategy affair, and, overall, good work from NeocoreGames.
Kill the Bad Guy never succeeds in the task it's setting out to do. Like a botched assassination, it's messy, clumsy, and insensitive. There was an interesting idea here once, yet it feels like a wasted opportunity for some genuine moments of humour and puzzle craft. With muddled controls, and even murkier morals, this game automatically lost any respect people may have had for it the moment it lost respect for its own design and direction.
There are lots of bad things that can be said for Ubisoft's newest idea, with the most annoying one being its poor single-player portion. For those looking for the best medieval-themed PvP melee fighting game, however, it just can't get any better than this. For Honor is not flawless, but it's the current King of the Hill.
A Magical High School Girl is an amusing endeavour with a lot of creativity and charm. The dungeons won't impress, but its inhabitants are handled in a manner that is both clever and challenging. The post-game content also does a good job of forcing veterans to rely solely on their wits and spells for long stretches of time, rather than hoarding and gorging on snacks. If a coming of age story with witches and junk food sounds appealing, then don't hesitate to give this rogue-lite a look.
Bit Dungeon+ is a dungeon crawler playing on nostalgia to a fault. It has completely neglected the modern touches to the genre that gave birth to its renaissance. Each run feels painfully similar, and towards the end it is possible to run several levels without receiving any upgrades at all. Thankfully, it has multiplayer, which can be entertaining in the right company. That is not enough to make it more than just another dungeon crawler, though.
8DAYS tries to replicate the thrill and aggressive nature of a twin-stick shooter and apply it to a mercenary gunning down enemies, but forgets about the part where an endless supply of ammo would've been useful. Having to rely on using stealth to traverse the chapters out of fear of wasting ammo kind of defeats the purpose of calling it a "shooter." While the cheap enemies and finite supply of health packs mixed with the extremely reflexive gameplay further dampens the product, 8DAYS leaves a lot to be desired, as it is a constant reminder of what could've been a really fun game.
Redout could be a far better futuristic racer, with just a liiitle bit better controls, just a liiitle bit of variety, and just a liiitle bit of originality. It presents arms to the genre's big ones in a pretty decent way for an indie production… but it could do more than that.
Where does Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition sit on the visual novel scale? The answer is: perfectly in the middle. Enjoyable plot? Yes, but nothing to die for. Well-written? Sure, but also way too long. Has an innovative choice mechanic? Yes… but then again, no.
This is very good… when it's not annoying; it has fantastic pacing… when the fun doesn't take a backseat; battles and puzzles are quite enjoyable… when they are not boring. Darksiders: Warmastered Edition is the perfectly average video game. It does so many things great, but, as a whole, it just feels as if there's something missing.
While the opening sequences plays out quite forced, with Max awkwardly needing a reason to begin exploring, the game gets a lot better once it gets going. With no real gameplay required, this is, at the end of the day, a visual novel that works well at times, though some head scratching moments disrupts the flow of the game.
As cute and appealing as Plantera's presentation is, there's very little 'game' here. Instead, this is an idle game, a click game, one meant to be played between other tasks, and therefore one not well suited to the Wii U. There's still fun to be had, but only in short play sessions that will inevitably become shorter and shorter until, very quickly, there's nothing left to entice you back.
Though not without faults and a little too easy, Brut@l is still a fairly amusing game. It's fun exploring the dungeon while crushing its many denizens. The gear system is clever and works quite well. Anyone seeking a greater challenge should probably refrain from exploiting the special attacks and vampire curse potions. This rogue-like arguably won't go down as the classic that it's inspired by, but it isn't a bad way to pass the time.
Cayne is a fairly short adventure. However, it's also completely free, so anyone who can afford to spend the time should give it a look. The puzzles can be overly obtuse and annoying, but the game delivers in most other respects. The art direction is disturbingly good. It's memorable, perhaps a bit too memorable. One might find themselves suffering a sleepless night after witnessing everything that occurs in this game. That's a credit to the art direction. Although, one has to wonder how they came up with some of this stuff. Well… Some questions are probably better left unanswered.
Flywrench may be hard to explain, but it's not hard at all to recommend. The difficulty manages to be mostly fair and wildly satisfying. While it may take some getting used to, it would be a disservice to yourself not to at least try out this indie underground legend, now that it's finally coming to the mainstream.
Bear with Me: Episode 2 is a definite step in the right direction, with the world opening up more and a great selection of new characters and puzzles being introduced, accompanying the already impressive dark atmosphere. Sometimes it leans towards being slightly too easy, but there is more challenge than before, and it ends on the perfect cliff-hanger, ready for Episode 3. Hopefully the wait between episodes is not quite as long this time.
For such a story-heavy RPG, Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force gives little incentive to invest in its rather unoriginal plot. It would be one thing if the story acted as an homage to the RPG narrative of yore, but it simply follows the tired "good god/bad god" routine without bringing anything new to the table. Battles themselves are too easy to take advantage of a potentially good battle system, and poor, underdesigned dungeons rip away any possible depth the gameplay could have had. Newcomers to the genre might be able find something to appreciate about Advent Dark Force despite its flaws, but diehard fans are hard-pressed to find much exciting about a port of an already unimpressive 2013 JRPG.
Sniper Elite 4 is a solid entry to the series that's stuck to its guns (pun intended) by not tampering with the formula laid out by its predecessor, but has instead built upon and improved everything that made it so great. Rebellion has delivered a true next gen sandbox shooter that looks fantastic, plays well and should keep fans of the long-distance kill entertained for some time to come.
It's almost shocking that Nioh turned out as well as it did. While Team Ninja is an exceptional talent, they took a pretty huge risk in crafting this game. It takes a lot effort to develop a polished 3D action game, let alone one that relies heavily on RPG elements such as levelling and equipment. Thankfully, they managed to put out a winner. Every single one of the game's multitude of sub-systems co-exists with one another in perfect harmony. There is a consistent feeling of joy thanks to the phenomenal combat and acquisition of sweet gear. Popping open a demon to see colour-coded weapons and armour pour out of its lifeless body like candy from a piñata is actually fun again.