Cubed3's Reviews
Leaping in Travis Strikes Again has a bit of stickiness to it which is not the best way to negotiate narrow platforms with bottomless pits. Thankfully these do not occur frequently enough and they are still not the worst platforming found in the indie scene. They just stick out because everything else is just so enjoyable.
No. Agent A isn't the next big adventure classic. The puzzles aren't as imaginative or challenging, the world not as captivating, and the journey not exactly that long or replayable. Classic or not, though, this is undoubtedly a very entertaining ride; a series of puzzles that are quite fun, especially if in search for something that is casual friendly, but also respects your intellect - and is cheap. As the cherry on top, it features a flawless and very pretty, '60s spy film style, with plenty of areas being wallpaper-worthy.
It's hard to recommend this to any but the most hard-core and starved puzzle lovers. Despite its 'fun' graphics, the game does not have much charm, and the levels are repetitive and rely far too much on just trying random things until something finally works. Despite how fun older games like this once were, it does not stack up to modern puzzlers in the slightest.
A curious example of a title being both more refined, but also less good than its predecessor. The action is smoother, better, and overall much more engaging. Purely as a platformer it is great fun, can be picked up cheap, and is only marred by simplistic, one-way levels and its short length. As an entry it is inferior to its predecessor with the removal of various gear, crafting, and challenges, making it a one-trick pony.
Lucky himself might be unlucky to be such a boring character, but he is fun to play as, and gets to run around in charming worlds.
More than just being really easy, Terminator: Resistance is also very short. Even when completing most of the side-quests, expect to negotiate the entire experience in less than 10 hours.
Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Editions on Switch is incredibly dense. These are enormous and very long journeys to experience, and they have a substantial initial barrier to them that might put off newcomers.
The Eyes of Ara is a fascinating journey through a haunting castle, that hides many secrets within its walls. The meat of this experience is to explore the various rooms and interact with every object or journal entry to decipher clues for solutions to the puzzles.
Charming, original, and terrifically paced, Tangle Tower is a strong contender for the best point-and-click adventure of 2019. Puzzles require real wit without bogging readers down with irrelevant information. Each screen is filled to the brim with detail, blending colour and lighting into a living, breathing tower. Only a few hours long with a gripping mystery at the centre of its plot, Tangle Tower is a must play for fans of the genre.
It's not often a racing game comes along and hits the sweet spot between simulation and arcade, and yet that is exactly the balance that the developer haσ hit with GRID. Fantastic, speedy chaotic, gameplay, supported by some great visual and sound design, giving racing fans of all levels and abilities another great title this year worth diving into with gusto. Totally recommended to genre aficionados, especially after the inevitable split-screen update.
Little Big Workshop's biggest flaws are its generic character designs and a few control issues, but these are greatly overshadowed by how fun this is.
With developer Gust's unexpended expansion to their most favoured sub-series, comes what can be considered the best in the Atelier set to date. Casting away previous conventions to introduce new, more enriching characters, and world-building structures, Atelier Lulua's challenge spikes and lack of English dub does little to take the shine off the gem beneath.
While the experience is not an entirely negative one, it leaves little to enjoy when problems start coming up. The charming atmosphere and stylization lends itself well to being a sort of survival-lite adventure for a younger audience; the quests are straightforward; and, finally, the difficulty is forgiving. Those looking for an exploration game will find frustrations abound in this title, and unfortunately the design choices lead to a rather disappointing experience as a whole.
It is usually easy to make comparisons with other games. Something along the lines of "if you liked this or this, then you'll like this as well." That isn't so easy for Superliminal, because there are simply no others like this. That's what makes this such an easy recommendation.
It's certainly not a game for those that love fast-paced action, but for anyone wanting to take the time to appreciate the world around them, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a good choice.
This is a contemplative odyssey that is ultimately a story about the triumph of the human spirit in spite of entropy.
They Are Billions does a lot of things great. The survival twist of a city-builder is unique, and lots of fun. Dealing with the huge waves is always as fun as it is stressful, including the huge final waves. Things that hold the game back are difficulty playing a computer game on console controls, and various UI and graphics issues as well as slowdown. This being said, it's a solid and unique RTS title.
Death's Gambit is a substantial entry into the souls-like genre, even if it is very derivative. Some of the ways it was "inspired" by Dark Souls feel a bit dangerously too close at times. It does enough to make itself unique, and it does bring some new ideas to the table that will absolutely tickle fans of this genre. Don't expect Hollow Knight levels of polish or content; this is more closer to Salt and Sanctuary in terms of quality, but with a more refined art style.
The Switch's catalogue of Metroidvania titles was already impressive - though ironically it's still lacking an actual Metroid - and now its ranks have been bolstered by one of the best in recent memory. Ori and the Blind Forest is an absolute masterpiece, a beautiful story polished to perfection in both its artistic design and core gameplay mechanics. The utterly beautiful presentation and soundtrack crafts a charming and memorable world and there are more stories in that world to come as Ori and the Will of the Wisps landing on Xbox One in a few months. Hopefully, the Switch version comes shortly after.
WRC 8 is a fantastic leap forward from WRC 7, with a revamped career mode for aspiring drivers to sign a team, manage crew members and level up skill trees to become the best team in the dirt-rallies.