Cubed3's Reviews
Game of Thrones' plot would have been interesting to play in an RPG, but the way Telltale Games handled it led to something that is mostly dialogue trees and quick-time events. There are a couple of moments where the game lets people hold the control stick up to move forward, but this is not a game with substantial gameplay at all.
In the words of Sadie: "I hurt you, I heal you, I hurt you again. That's the pattern." That is the best summary of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Generation. It's following the pattern, and both the things that used to hurt and be wonderful remain the same. Those who were not already fans won't likely be charmed in by this one. Those who loved it will remain enthralled. It knows its strength, which is in its humour and characters, and doesn't even attempt to deviate from that path, for both the better and worse. It's a great title on the whole - just don't expect it to stray from the pattern.
There's a lot of charm in Lovely Planet, so much that it almost feels wrong to not recommend it fully. The initial presentation sets a fantastic mood and atmosphere, and there's a childlike wonder to the whole experience, but it sadly goes away as stages get increasingly longer and more frustrating. It's sad, really. Lovely Planet has such a strong identity, meshing actual platforming with FPS-style gameplay, but it all clashes so poorly by the end that it can't help but feel like a huge missed opportunity for something really great.
Basketball gamers have never had a better simulator than 2K16. It is a complete improvement in every way over the games that came before it, and has addressed most of the issues that its predecessor suffered from. That being said, there are still plenty of new issues, the main problems being the story mode and the severe issues with online play. The game even used the tagline "Story is everything" in regards to Spike Lee's creation, so the question has to be asked, if the story is very poor and "Story is everything", what does that say about everything else?
The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited tries to do many things, yet it is good at none of them.
While it's great to see Bandai Namco continue to support Otaku fans in the West, Sword Art Online: Lost Song is a lost cause for anyone who isn't a die-hard SAO fan. With a weak story, recycled areas, and a short length on the whole, even long-term fans won't find much here to keep them entertained. There is one title left to come in the series, Hollow Realisation, returning to the fan favourite setting of Aincrad next year. Hopefully, it can learn from the many mistakes of its predecessors.
If basing it on the combat alone, Rebel Galaxy fares high. Story and the like need consideration, though, and they are lacking. It's like having a fancy car with a low tank; fun while it lasts until it sputters down and out (due to the grind), and it takes a tediously and pointlessly long time to get up and going again, by which point the fun may have worn off.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited has taken significant strides to correct the wrongs that plagued its initial release and although there are still a number of issues, they don't massively impact the end product. Admittedly, it has a huge lineage to live up to and when compared to the legendary Skyrim it comes up slightly lacking, but it is still a game that deserves experiencing.
While it's more disappointing than bad, Coast Guard's overall quality doesn't justify its current £14.00 price. It tries mixing the replication of real life scenarios dealing with maritime law enforcement, along with a lot of detective work, but it fails both ways in doing so. The simulation part is almost non-existent, and the detective one an uninteresting and slow-paced fetch quest - and if that wasn't enough, the various bugs, almost broken controls, and badly implemented game mechanics are more than enough reasons to throw this back to where it belongs: the digital ocean of shoddy video games.
Mordheim: City of the Damned is stacked with every odd against those who live in its ruined streets. While a fun, challenging, and sometimes all too dehumanising experience, a steep learning curve and tricky management systems can make for a meaty dish locked behind a very tough shell. Still, it's definitely more than worth the time it takes to learn its systems, and strategy and tabletop gaming fans should definitely take the time to look at this excellent adaptation.
What an absolutely fantastic game. Bethesda has nailed Fallout 4; the world, the graphics, the perk system, the story - almost everything about this game demands coming back to over and over again, where players can happily sink hundreds of hours into exploring the harsh wasteland. However, it's disappointing to see problems that have plagued other Bethesda titles are still showing their gruesome face.
Grab that nuclear-fuelled Power Armor, then, step into the acid rain, and get ready to enter a world that might not be perfect, but is certainly hard to avoid coming back to again, and again, and again.
The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure does a great job of capturing the world of Peanuts and its characters. Well-themed stages based on each character is a driving force to explore and play the game from start to finish, and is sure to bring many smiles to the faces of Peanuts fans. Besides nostalgia, there is sadly not much else to get in The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure, though. Between backtracking and stages that hardly stand a second playthrough, it ends up being just another decent platformer. It is by no means a bad title, just underwhelming. More actual challenge would be a plus to the title, if only for the hunt for the collectibles, as, currently, nothing in the game is even remotely dangerous or challenging to bypass, which adds to the overall low replay value of the stages. For Peanuts fans, young and old, a charming reunion with the characters is to be had, but everyone else might not find many redeemable qualities to get this over other platformers on the market.
Treyarch has shoehorned an almost overwhelming amount of content into Black Ops III, with two sizable co-op capable campaigns, a gothic horror-flavoured zombie mode and an e-sports-driven multiplayer component that should keep fans of the franchise occupied for quite some time. Constantly getting humiliated at the hands of superior players has never been so much fun (note to self: get good!).
Poncho needs work before anybody should consider purchasing it. There is a strong attempt with this title, since the designers do not arbitrarily drag the user by the nose and let them freely explore the world. The whole game is just completely undermined by the bugs, which can be fixed. Gamers who are curious about Poncho should approach with caution and be ready to restart their sessions frequently. When it works, it's a solid game; it is just a question of if it will work or not.
For all its crooked edges, Albert & Otto is still worth venturing into, if not for the great atmosphere alone. It is a rewarding romp, as many difficult platformers are, but the lacklustre puzzles and cumbersome shooting, both of which are definitely a priority in this game, drag it away from greatness, and leave it grasping for any semblance of stability. Hopefully, further down the line, Albert & Otto will come into its own, but this is a rocky beginning for the episodic puzzle-platformer.
The Ice Dragon feels like a great setup for a sequel, but lacking as a finale. Although it manages to wrap up some storylines, there's not enough closure and certainly not enough cathartic moments. There's plenty of building for the sequel, however, and with the numerous possible endings, it will be interesting to see how Telltale can incorporate them all into a second season. Although there have been flaws throughout, it's evident that Game of Thrones and Telltale are a good fit. Hopefully, the second season won't be as far away as the sixth book...
Animal Gods is highly representative of a major flaw in the crowd-funding model: namedropping a classic series is practically a shortcut to financial success. Still Games sold its product almost exclusively on its superficial similarity to The Legend of Zelda and the works of Team Ico, so it's not much of a surprise that it doesn't follow through with its ambitions. However, even the most cynical observer would expect more from it than this. This is a vacuous mockery of the titles that inspired it, a boring art project at best, and a $10 insult to the customer's intelligence at worst.
While SkyScrappers is a fun arcade fighter, the enjoyment only lasts a little while, due to the easy AI and the lack of an online mode. The campaign can be completed in less than three hours with all of the characters, leaving the offline couch-multiplayer as the only mode with potential to aid the longevity of the adventure. A lack of variety in the way the characters are played also hurts its durability. While it isn't a long journey, playing in short bursts is a great way to pass the time and get some enjoyment out of battering opponents with falling debris from a collapsing skyscraper. To sum it up, as Kichirou states, "I'm exactly as one dimensional as I appear and have no hidden depths. Next!"
Knight Squad may bore many who want a solid standalone game to experience, but certainly stands on its own merits by being an enjoyable multiplayer title. The mechanics work well and don't require too much reflex, as the hit-box of other players is very large, making it so any player has a fair chance at winning. Ultimately, Knight Squad is a decent arcade multiplayer game that will be amusing for a while, but quickly becomes boring after a short amount of time. King and royalty, however, should look elsewhere for a more entertaining tournament.