Cubed3's Reviews
Beautiful Desolation is a very unique and different kind of adventure game. It has a tremendous amount of respect for the player to figure things out, but also has little respect for their time too. The writing is very engaging, and the acting is surprisingly exceptional. The South African flavour of the cast adds a ton of personality to the experience; Mark and Don's chemistry feels very real, and their slang and colloquialisms make them very unlikely video game characters. They're both schlubby guys in their '40s, and even POOCH manages to have a great deal of humanity to her character, despite being a robot dog.xploring a post apocalyptic cyber-nightmare South Africa, while solving puzzles and talking to religious robots and using diplomacy to diffuse warring factions without any combat sounds like a fun time, then Beautiful Desolation is that kind of game. The experience is held together with amazing looking backdrops, freakish cyborgs to converse with and movie quality CGI cutscenes. This is not an RPG, but it is a highly creative and imaginative adventure game that has some spotty controls and overly cryptic puzzles.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 on the Nintendo Switch is a fantastic port. Sure, it's graphically inferior and not as pretty to look at, but that's the only noticeable concession made to get it to run on Nintendo's beloved hybrid console. That's not to say it's being rendered in "potato mode," by the way - it still looks great for what it is, with each real-life skater clearly distinguishable despite the lower pixel count. With the outrageously impressive amount of content and extremely rewarding gameplay loop, there's nothing to stop this port being a solid recommendation for Switch owners.
Despite Harold himself being the most enchanting creature that has ever graced your monitors, Harold's Harem: The Neckoning doesn't do him justice. It's a decent-to-good visual novel, which makes fun of Date Sim tropes, and it will give you about an hour and a half of laughs. It's a unique specimen for sure, with a pretty quirky sense of humor and overall design, but in all honesty it's nothing special.
RPG Maker MV has everything it takes to make an RPG. However, the complexity makes it unenjoyable and often frustrating, especially for players that are not well-versed in the ways of creating RPGs. It is simply too much effort to create a single map, not because of the work needed to design it, but because of endlessly trying to figure out how to achieve certain goals. While the simple portability of this title, due to the nature of the Nintendo Switch, is definitely a positive, this title cannot easily be recommended to newcomers in RPG creation.
It's hard to think of a better example of what VR does so well than Pistol Whip. An immensely enjoyable soundtrack that directly feeds into the core gameplay loop and some wonderfully vibrant visuals all add together with addictive gameplay to make this a fantastic experience. For a great workout it's perfect but with the modifiers allowing more relaxed gameplay, it also can appeal to those who just want some escapism. 2089 adds a new layer on top with an actual narrative tying together the gameplay, adding to what is already a pretty great package. The fact that all the content was added as free updates also goes to show not all VR games need to be extortionately priced.
In Death: Unchained might not be one of the fanciest or idea-rich experiences in VR, but this is definitely one of the most fun to step into and play. An addictive gaming loop of meaty and satisfying bow-play, mixed with the rogue-lite incentive to keep playing, makes this title one that is easy to just keep coming back and playing time and time again. With a really impressive visual style, some fantastically scary moments, and some great AI, as well as developer being so committed to adding ever more content, In Death: Unchained is one that comes highly recommended to Oculus Quest users.
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is a fundamental shift in how this operates - literally. From space to the ground. Taking those first steps on a planet's surface after having landed there is simply awesome, and is decades in the making for fans of the Frontier franchise. The unfortunate reality however is that the performance is currently letting it down. Serious optimisation work is a necessity to iron out a multitude of issues - albeit it's probably not as bad as some are portraying in the immediate aftermath of release. While the new gameplay mechanics come with some variety for those bored of simple space combat, the shooting on the ground also needs a good deal of attention, with AI, and the general standard of combat, alongside the amount of different locations generated on planets, all in need of work. The thing is, this is a journey; a road map, and this is just the first staging post. Hopefully there's a lot more to come down the line.
AVORE has knocked it out of the park again with YUKI Their titles have quickly become the only reason to break out the VR and its still astonishing that a team so small can produce such great titles. The only criticism would be a difficulty spike that can be off-putting however if prepared and willing to immerse yourself as much as a VR game would expect, a fantastic figure-based time will be found here.
There is no reason why anyone would ever play this on any console. Even if it were played on its intended platform, Rip Them Off is barely a game. It is a strategy based, tower-defence where there is no strategy, as it revolves around failing to understand the conditions. No con-artist would ever accept failure, and yet this insists that gamers should learn to enjoy losing.
'90s PC gaming was full of dark fantasy titles, with many of them being timeless classics. Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is definitely great when it comes to the dark fantasy aspect, but in terms of gameplay it's mediocre-to-decent. It's strong gothic atmosphere won't be enough for most to keep on playing till the end, and even fans of the series will find it hard to enjoy this first step into the, otherwise fascinating, world of Nosgoth. A collector's only piece of software.
Good, fun games are good, fun games, and even with glitches and the numerous issues this trilogy brings, that's what these still are. However, seeing the state of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, there just isn't any way to let Rockstar off lightly here. This is one of the most successful video game companies in the world, with goodness knows how much raked in from GTA Online, so there can be no excuses to have loaned out these iconic games to a small team with a poor track record and showing absolutely no respect for their own creations. Fifty pounds is a big ask for such old games that have been what one might say "demastered", and even with numerous future patches, these may never be the upgrades they should have been, but Switch owners new to this trilogy can find plenty of entertainment - and not just because of the glitches. This is still a hard sell, though, with the advice being to hold off for a major sale.
Resident Evil Village feels like such a culmination. Bringing together elements from the franchise all the way up to now and crafting what looks to be the next step of survival horror, it embraces every aspect of the franchise. While the insidious dread of Resident Evil VII is missing, there are still plenty of scares. The monster designs are fantastic, from the generations undead, the fury of the Lupine beasts, to the towering monstrosities. It's well worth delving into the concept art and 3D models to enjoy them fully. The story is just the right amount of silly with the terrifying, and the odd dash of the surreal. The combat is smooth and fluid, best evidenced in the addictive Mercenaries mode. All of these elements added together make quite possibly the best Resident Evil to date, and a foundation for a fresh new generation of terror.
Pretty Girls Panic! PLUS is basically Pretty Girls Panic! v1.5 or Pretty Girls Panic! Remastered. It's the same exact game, with improved visuals, and better gameplay. Not a big recommendation for those who already have Zoo Corporation's previous Qix clone, as the changes aren't that big, but the rest can safely try this out, as it's actually very good if it's your cup of sake.
This probably one of the best Wolfenstein games, but that's not saying much, as not a single one can be considered a true classic. Pretty much like all instalments, the "failure" here is that it didn't realise its true potential. Right next to the things that make this so fun, like the undead enemies, Nazi experiments, sexy soldiers, and so on, Return to Castle Wolfenstein also adds lots of elements that belong in a generic CoD wannabe, rather than a - pleasantly - cheesy, run-and-gun FPS. Not exactly a big recommendation, but genre fans will have two or three evenings of fun with it.
Make no mistake. Just Dance 2022 is Just Dance 2021 (and 2020, and 2019) all over again. Also, make no mistake, this remains tons of fun. Sure, nothing has really changed, but if it ain't broke, why fix it. Sadly, while there has been a pretty strong improvement on the visual front, with the people behind this experimenting way more with the videos and the choreography, the soundtrack is one of the least impressive in the franchise.
Tough game to rate overall, as there was some care and time that went into this; it just went to all the wrong places. Players looking for a strategy/tactical experience are going to be absolutely repulsed by the mix of "walking sim"/WRPG that leaves much of the core experience behind absolutely. The battles are simplistic, and the few redeeming features are buried beneath too many complaints and issues. There is simply very little strategy in this game that occurs, or is interesting to think about.
Those in love with the history of the era will love the detail within Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV: Diplomacy and Strategy Expansion Pack Bundle, but to those that the history is meaningless the absolute volume of names and relationships is a waste of time. Furthermore, while this has some interesting concepts, it is just too bogged down with minutia and lost in its own stats. The series could really need an overhaul on how to make things more streamlined.
There is next to nothing good to say about Dustwind: The Last Resort. From an abysmal UI that is nearly impossible to see due the tiny text, to chronic controller problems, to the egregious issue of large maps without the ability to run, this gets in its own way so frequently that players will come away angry about just how bad of an experience it is.
Lost Judgment is a bittersweet event. The story aims for a mature tone but is too often a macabre, morbid misfire that strays too far from the balance between silly and serious that the series is famed for. It's not a poorly developed title, though; the outrageously brilliant combat and sandbox distractions are clear evidence of that. It just struggles to tell the sort of meaningful, believable and sensitively weighted story that players have come to expect from this talented team.
Kathy Rain, the original creation of Clifftop Games, isn't just a "very good indie point-and-click that captures the magic of the classics." This IS a classic. From the great puzzles, and how you are "guided" towards solving them, feeling like an investigator while at it, to the deeply engrossing story, strong atmosphere, and even stronger main character, it's easy to see that this is one of the best of its kind - and now it's even better. Kathy Rain: Director's Cut improves it in all sorts of ways, making it the clear choice between the two versions, even for those who have already played the first instalment.