Cubed3's Reviews
Everything about Blue Revolver is well done. It nails the most important aspects, while looking and sounding fantastic. There's enough depth to the various sub-systems to keep experts entertained, but at the same time it doesn't put off or condescend newcomers. Within minutes, anyone can understand how it all works. The levels are thrilling, the bosses are tough, and the variety of weapons offers many different ways to play. This is a superb pick-up for STG fans, and there is even a demo available on the official website for those that want to try before they buy. It's well worth checking out.
Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo is a well-made rally game that builds wisely and extensively on top of a rich heritage of rally games. While it ultimately fails to make up its mind about whether it's a sim or more of an arcade racer, which does hold it back in some senses, there's still no question that it's a highly worthwhile package. It's crammed with content and offers hours of driving joy without quite the same amount of grief one gets from a DiRT Rally or Assetto Corsa. Milestone has impressed massively with their latest rally offering, benefiting exponentially from the insight and presence of Sebastien Loeb. Let's hope there's a sequel!
Paper Mario: Color Splash is a complete joy aesthetically, looking and sounding fantastic, complemented by some very amusing script work. At its core, though, whilst attempting to mix things up as much as it can in order to keep the action fresh, its battle system grows tiresome very quickly, dragging the enjoyment factor down several notches. When tied in with its unnecessary - and awkward - reliance on the GamePad, it makes for somewhat of a rollercoaster ride, with fun elements followed by lots of frustrating experiences during the battling sections. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems should pick one route and stick with it: either go for straight-up platform action or make it the true RPG successor to the original Paper Mario and The Thousand Year Door that fans keep asking for. This current mish-mash of styles just drags down the series' reputation. For now, stick with the Mario & Luigi titles…
The phrase "all spark, no flare" fits like a glove for Quantum Break. It doesn't do anything wrong, but there's also nothing special about it. It looks cool, the time machine-induced apocalypse starts in a promising way, and some of the characters are quite interesting, but it doesn't take much time to realise that hidden behind the flashy shootouts, famous faces, and ambitious storytelling, is a boring and generic sci-fi tale that never really goes anywhere.
Bringing together the key players from recent Ace Attorney outings, whilst developing some of the newer characters to flesh out their stories for future entries, is a very difficult balancing act, yet with Spirit of Justice Capcom expertly navigates any pitfalls to deliver the most in-depth, enthralling episode of Phoenix Wright's adventures so far. It might, for better or worse, feel like Apollo Justice 2 to some, but the way the story unfolds over the five cases is magnificent and leaves players - new and old, alike - hungry for much more.
From a non-footballer, here is the verdict. Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 is a great football game and it deserves to get as much spotlight as the new FIFA. The unlicensed teams are hilariously close to puns, the customisation of players and the team management aspects are fantastic, if a little complex, and the pitch play is amazingly fun. With the multitude of modes and options available, it's worthy of this year's football game crown, and it's a must-have for those who like a bit of realism and meat to their sports games.
Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 6: A Portal to Mystery is certainly one of the better games in this fairly mediocre series; however, by the standards that we've came to expect from Telltale, it's nothing special. Fans of the YouTubers involved will absolutely love this episode and the references they make, but if you don't follow it, chances are a lot of the jokes will be missed.
Dear Esther has always challenged the definition of what it means to be a game, but the way that it controls the placement of the narrative with the player's advancement through the world creates an experience that can only exist within a game. The environments and the score create a world that's a little more like experiencing a classical art museum rather than a traditional game world. The audio commentary from the developers provides a nice little addition that really cements this as the ultimate release of Dear Esther.
King's Quest is shaping up to be one of the stronger examples of storytelling in modern gaming, and gives episodic titles a good name. Criticisms are taken into account and polished with each episode, but the writing and presentation aren't suffering at all. Characters are memorable and fun, brought to life by a strong cast and solid writing. The wait between episodes feels long, but The Odd Gentlemen and Sierra have shown that it's well worth it, with each episode improving in quality over the last.
The oft-overused phrase "It's not for everyone" can be applied to Assault Suit Leynos. While this game has been made more accessible, it hasn't been given a massive re-envisioning. Aside from some relatively minor tweaks and additions, this is still the same game as it was back in 1990. Some people might be put off by its "bland" mission structure, the lack of a complex scoring system, and controls that simply aren't designed for "Kickin' Rad!" combos. It's an ugly game in more ways than one, but its unique and well-constructed qualities have helped it endure all these years.
Crimson Room Decade is an interesting little experiment, but it lacks content. Granted, an alternate version of the game that has hundreds of puzzles wouldn't be ideal, either. Still, it really feels like more could have been done with the concept. A few clever ideas just aren't enough for this game to receive a recommendation.
Given the imminent release of Infinite Warfare, with its lofty ambitions of taking the franchise to a fresh new territory, Treyarch's steady DLC output over the past year provides plenty of reasons to schedule regular return sorties to the Black Ops III killing fields. Salvation rounds off the collection nicely by providing a conclusion (of sorts) to the chaotic Zombie narrative, as well as four well-varied arenas to peacock and flex those e-muscles in. Those considering a PS4 Pro purchase will also get to enjoy upgraded visuals via a day-one patch, which, if nothing else, goes to show that there will still be plenty of life in the old girl going forward.
The biggest frustrations with Rogue Wizards come from the incredibly steep grind that exists right from the outset. While the movement controls are a bit sticky and choppy, the weapon and spell variety is a lot of fun to experiment with, and the changing nature of the dungeons really allows for a lot of variety, even while grinding. Unfortunately, the tedious nature of the combat and the immense number of dungeons that will need to be cleared simply to advance makes it a tough sell for those not devoted to the climb. There's a lot of good ideas here, but the execution is just a bit lacking.
Chapter 4 of King's Quest has some great standout moments, and fantastic characterisation and script, with an almost unpredictable plot twist, which keeps players in suspense until just before the very end. Due to the slightly repetitive nature of the puzzles, it's likely some people will get bogged down, but the payoff at the end is definitely worth it, especially back in the present with its "subtle" foreshadowing. There is a lot of fun to be had with this, and it can be thoroughly recommended to those who are playing through the series.
Most games focus on the fun, but that really seems secondary to 3Souls - Episode I: Nelesa. While much is done to show off the different ways the GamePad can work, that's pretty much the only good thing there is to say about the experience. It would work wonderfully well if this was marketed as a tech demo for the hardware, but it is presumably supposed to be more than just that. As a whole, it is short, easy, uninteresting, and lacking any sort of major selling factor that would make anyone want to play it. Even at its bargain basement price on the eShop, it is hard to recommend this to anyone who isn't directly related to the people that worked on it. Its name might be 3Souls, but the games itself feels entirely soulless.
Space Run Galaxy isn't a bad game, just a confusing one. The ideas are all there, but the execution of those ideas feels both cumbersome and vapid. Controlling the ship is both simple and ferociously misleading. Enemies treat you like you are in training wheels. For anyone looking to get into the genre, this is a good jumping point, but hardcore fans will probably find this an attempt that will not satiate their long term hunger.
Do not be sucked in by the intrigue of Full-motion video 'making a comeback,' as despite good intentions, The Bunker is a bland story with an over-reliance on button mashing that never engages those…well, not really 'in control,' more 'viewing' the interactive video sequences. The concept is indeed a good one, but so poorly executed, leaving an overall feeling of emptiness when all is said and done.
Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander presents a tough game to rate: its composite elements set it up to be an awesome experience but it fails to meet the bar it raised. The mix of so many great franchises easily could set itself up to be a great game with crazy replayability; the problem is as it currently is, the novelty wears off quickly and the grind becomes real with no end in sight. The resource gathering is far too bland and repetitious, the battles start cool but devolve into similar, repetitive outcomes. There is nothing new as it is just more of the same, which was grindy to begin with. All the elements present come close to being this awesome game, but in the end the repetition of the core elements and the endless grind make it hard to recommend at this point, which is very unfortunate.
In conclusion, ignoring the stat glitches, lack of private lobbies and the somewhat questionable way the game is packaged, what's underneath the hood is seriously impressive. Any dedicated racing nuts who feel like testing themselves at the wheel on console should look no further. While there are other console games, such as Project CARS, with more cars and more courses, claiming also to be serious racers, Assetto Corsa undeniably owns the genre on console now, due to its uncompromising and unwavering dedication to realism. For now, there's nothing better for that on console. It's just a shame that it lacks the polish and omits some major draws, such as private online lobbies, which stop it from being considered a classic.
There's nothing in KARAKARA resembling actual 'gameplay,' therefore, there is not much that can really be done for those who aren't exactly interested in experiencing a kinetic visual novel. In conclusion, it all boils down to the story, which is… well, it's nothing special.