Cubed3's Reviews
Players looking for a wholly original experience will not find it here. Syndrome doesn't do much to hide its influences. However, anyone that wants an excellent example of level design, some really scary enemies, and tension building, this should be a must-have. A few minor flaws aside, Syndrome is as much a love letter to the retro classics as it is to the modern ones. As for those modern titles, it can stand tall next to them as a survival horror juggernaut.
Disney Magical World 2 on Nintendo 3DS is a fantastic game aimed at a younger demographic who would appreciate the work put into bringing each of the worlds to life. There is no greater thrill than interacting with the characters from some of Disney's greatest properties, and assisting them in defeating the evil ghosts is an enticing prospect. Decorating their own house with furnishings while running a café, while crafting new costumes to wear and planting seeds to grow new crops in the Hundred Acre Wood are just some of the ways that the game can be played. With lots to do, and daily missions that are constantly changing, this is one game that is sure to be a favourite for quite some time.
DoDonPachi Resurrection is a thoroughly fascinating 2D shooter. Its various systems compound onto one another to create a unique and very addictive experience. However, it takes a long time just to make sense of everything, let alone make it work to the player's advantage. At any moment, there's just so much that can go wrong, and even the best strategies are undone by the tiniest movements. Getting the most out of this game's many flavours will take a seemingly endless number of retries. It's a vicious cycle, but some gamers wouldn't have it any other way.
This is easily the best Skylanders title to date, although Crash alone makes it that! There is some fantastically entertaining stages and solid gameplay, along with plenty of originality to keep the series fresh. It's always a risk with toys-to-life titles that it will rely too much on extra purchases, but that is not the case here, as Skylanders Imaginators contains enough content and replayability to make it feel value for money without having to resort to buying more toys. Hopefully, the adventure packs will prove to be just as good value.
Fundamentally, Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky is playable, and diehard JRPG fans desperate for action will find something here. Given its spiritual successor status of a great game, it only serves to remind how much is missing here in any sort of comparison. The platforming is uninspired, the story descends into childish tropes rapidly, and the entire game crawls at a glacial pace of endless combat.
Mantis Burn Racing is a decent racing game, albeit rather lean on content. On the bright side, there are plans for a few major updates, which will include more tracks, vehicles, and a greatly expanded career mode. The controls are approachable for anyone with even a casual grasp of racing games. This makes it a good title for pick-up-and-play groups. Just hand someone a controller, and they're ready to go. Although, they might complain that there aren't any blue shells or flaming hoops to jump through. This is a pure arcade-style racer, which is kind of a lost art in this day and age.
Manual Samuel is a fun little diversion. The control scheme perfectly reflects the absurdity of the premise, and the various objectives keep the game from becoming redundant. Not everything clicks as much as it could, but it's endearing in its own way. This is also the kind of game that's probably at its best when played with friends. If there were more levels, better written characters, and funnier dialogue, this would be a much easier recommendation.
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.