Cubed3's Reviews
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.
Xenoraid may well be in a well-worn genre set in an overused scenario, but it features several welcome departures from the current state of the genre that have been implemented to a high level of technical excellence and design, delivering a very enjoyable game that becomes more enjoyable the more it is played. It is definitely one that can get its hooks into you. The genre and setting might put some off, but this is recommended to fans of the genre who are perhaps becoming a bit jaded, and to those who haven't yet tried this type of game and are looking for an interesting introduction to old-school space shooting.
Duke Grabowski, Mighty Swashbuckler starts off in the shadow of games it has clearly been inspired by, not quite living up to their high standards. However, it quickly shakes this off thanks to the abundance of charm exuding from every pore helping to alleviate the issue, leaving gamers with an excellent -albeit bite-sized - pirate-filled point-and-click romp that fans of the genre will lap up with joy. Roll on episode two…
Developer League of Geeks has succeeded in crafting a solid board game experience in video game form, albeit one that lacks environment diversity and player company. Armello ticks all the right boxes for a keen strategist, and whilst not being the group gathering experience some might hope for, does give a tightly woven system and narrative that is satisfying to conquer.
This may be a bit harsh, but, at the end of the day, positives in favour of Anno 2205 are hard to come by, while shortcomings are abundant. Everything about it feels like a sleazy, cheap, cash-in title made by a company seeking to wring the final few coins out of a franchise it doesn't care about than a legitimate attempt at a game. It feels like the developers simply slapped on some pretty graphics in the hopes of fooling people, marked the price up to off-set the lack of an online shop, then kicked it out the door to sucker people into paying far more than they would have otherwise for such a boring and underwhelming title.
Poly Bridge is another typical example of these titles that don't really have any issues, but, at the same time, don't really have anything else to give but casual fun for a few minutes per day… and that's mainly through its Sandbox mode, where one can freely experiment with level creation.
Boring as it is strange, ugly as it is atmospheric, and with a storyline that is simply a mess although it has some nice ideas going for it, Cyber City 2157: The Visual Novel is not a good, or, at least, comprehensible read. While the concepts it delves in are intriguing, the final outcome is a heavily flawed written piece of pseudo-intellectual science fiction.
F1 2016 is not perfect. Those who believe that are either too happy from the fact that this is a breath of fresh air after F1 2015, or because they've watched too many videos involving pit stop girls. Anyhow, the few improvements are very good, and the few existing flaws (especially the subpar AI), will not be enough to stop most virtual drivers' imaginary champagne showers… pit stop girls included.
Oh, how great it would be if this had been thought out a little better. Unfortunately, the concept of mixing multiple genres into one is not enough to make the end result fun. The main reason why Champions of Anteria failed in doing so is probably because, although it offers city building, campaign map strategy, and tactical ARPG gameplay, it does it without adding any spices to make the dish tastier, and thus, worthy of seconds.