Cubed3's Reviews
It's hard to stick with Legend of the Skyfish. Even clocking in at only around 2-3 hours for the 45 stages, it's easy to get bored with the game around the halfway point when it becomes clear that it has already shown all it has to offer and just repeats the same types of puzzles and gameplay.
A carefully crafted farewell letter to DJ Tim Bergling, AVICII Invector is a perfect way to immerse yourself in his music, as players travel across a colourful futuristic setting to a high energy soundtrack. It can be difficult to find and master the button pressing rhythm on the harder difficulty settings but, eventually, over time, it becomes more manageable and like second nature.
Forget the fact that Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York is a visual novel, as it really knows what the setting is all about. From the world, to the characters, to the absolutely fantastic setting and handling of the franchises deep lore, this is really a Vampire: The Masquerade game done right, and one that's highly replayable. There are a few flaws here and there, like how forgettable the plot at hand is, or how the paths don't diverge as much as one would want them to, but this is such an engrossing, and deeply atmospheric experience that it doesn't really matter.
It looks good (mostly), and has all the qualities that seem like it would make a great game. Not only does it fail to come together coherently, yet it also it lacks a sense of magic or "heart" that the art style would suggest it possesses. While nothing is largely technically wrong with Indivisible, it fails to be engaging as a RPG, its platforming fails to recommend it on this front, and the story never goes anywhere significant to offer this up either. This isn't bad, but it just isn't that good either.
Nearly flawless, Planet Zoo is a masterpiece of tycoon simulation, and is one of the most relaxing, engaging, and fantastical pieces of entertainment of 2019. It's a showcase of fun mechanics, and it really draws from the wealth of experience in Frontier Developments as a developer. It's impossible not to recommend this to anyone who has even a passing notion about the genre. Get this!
Fractured Minds is a beautiful experience, and by no means should any complaints from this end diminish that. While it won't be everyone's kind of game, it is something anyone looking for something a little different should try out. Furthermore, if you suffer from anxiety, or even more important perhaps, know someone who does, this is a gorgeous realization of what it's like to suffer. In short, Emily Mitchell, keep making games, cause if this is any indication of what you can do, the industry definitely needs your voice.
Legend of the Skyfish is a good game that's hanging out with a bad crowd. Sure, there's the cute art style, the level design is mostly passable, and the gameplay itself does its job most of the time. It's like it knows what it wants to do, and it knows how to get there. Still, every once in a while, presumably on cold, rainy nights, it likes to play dress up. It's cosplay of choice being a much less enjoyable game.
It has its issues, like how annoyingly precise you have to be with your moves, or how it's sometimes hard to understand why you failed, leading to plenty of trial-and-error, and, yes, this is a niche title that won't appeal to just about anyone. Having said that, it's a very good interrogation sim, features a great noir art style, and is deeply immersive.
While there is a lack of guidance and some confusion about the story, Doraemon Story of Seasons is a beautiful game in a beautiful setting. Its relaxing music and easy gameplay make for a pleasant and calming game experience. It feels as though a lot of love has been poured into making this game, and little details like the seasons changing in the menu according to where in the game the player last saved makes it rather adorable. A wonderful title to relax with, over a longer period of time.
Those used to the genre will be thrilled by the challenge presented here, yet newcomers will easily become frustrated at the difficulty spikes, and the feeling that no real progression is being made. Thankfully, the great narration and story-driven sections between the gameplay will hold the interest of even the most uninitiated dungeon crawlers.
Ghost Games has delivered a great new addition to the Need for Speed franchise, with Heat certainly bringing the 'heat' with its relentless cop pursuits that play out against a beautifully-looking Palm City.
The amount of fun to be had traversing the excellently designed levels with almost telepathic control intuition would be more than enough to recommend this, but ARVORE has gone above and beyond to ensure this one sticks in the memory long after completion.
Without any of the technical issues that plagued it on other systems it got released on, Alien: Isolation was, and remains, one of the best survival horror games ever made.
[i]The Touryst[i] may sport minimalistic visual designs, but make no mistake, it truly is a technical showcase for the Nintendo Switch with all the effects it throws around at the same time, all at a locked 1080p60 while docked. Shin'en strikes again then, and the adventure itself is pleasing and gripping throughout. Its only shortcoming is that, in the hands of capable riddle solvers, it is on the short side of things and feels like it is over a bit too quickly.
A new hope is here, as Star Wars video games finally get the long-awaited return to form they deserve. The creators clearly care about the source material, and have produced a story and a setting that will hopefully continue being explored. There are some teething issues here, but there is much more promise. Respawn has created the first step on what could be a very bright future.
Stay Cool, Kobayashi-san!: A River City Ransom Story is a mundane beat 'em up that's held aloft by a couple clever ideas. The combat is fun at first, but the doldrums set in long before completing the first of potentially many play-throughs. Some fights, particularly the finale, definitely could've used a few tweaks. Still, figuring out the fastest route to the end is really cool. It gives the adventure a tinge of replay-value. However, unless you "have" to play every game in the River City Ransom canon, then this won't catch your interest.
Endless grind, very slow progression, and an abysmal battle system, are the major knocks against what would otherwise be an average experience. The story itself is unique, but hardly goes into depth instead relying far more on shock-value of events occurring rather than actual meaning. Unfortunate, really, as the plot serves up a huge potential for some interesting questions, or dialogue - things that are completely missing.
Nostalgia and an 8-bit classic simply aren't worth the price of admission
One Night Stand is proof that Ratalaika can find talented developers and bring them to the masses. While this isn't some Triple-A juggernaut, for what it is, it's a great addition to the genre. If you like these kinds of titles, you owe it to yourself to see everything that One Night Stand has to offer. For such a short runtime, there's a lot to love here.
The main story feels shorter overall due to it being a less grindy affair than ever before, but storytelling benefits greatly from this, because the main game ends up being a more focused and packed experience.