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When the game opens up a bit, the combat is a lot of fun and there are plenty of scenarios to experience that keep the action varied. Don’t come for a story, but do expect some high-energy spectacle and wild action.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will please fans of the films and gamers who enjoyed the likes of Crysis and Far Cry. The action is solid and the visuals will blow you away, but don’t expect to get invested in the story or characters. It still falls victim to the same flaws as the source material and the games that inspired it, but for a movie tie-in game, Frontiers of Pandora is a pretty epic 25 hours and is otherwise safe and harmless.
For the King II has the potential to be a great tabletop-like RPG. At the moment, the biggest things holding the game back are its bugs, matchmaking, and lack of game difficulties. The game’s biggest positives are the ability to have each character flex into a different playstyle, four-play co-op, and the story. With the different bugs we have encountered, we think that For the King II would have benefited from Steam’s Early Access program. Thankfully, it seems that the developers are actively working on bug fixes so it has improved over the last month.
Astlibra Revision is an epic that would make Tolkien blush. At the tail end of the marathon, it throws a curveball that’d leave a Major League pitcher whimpering. It’s like Astlibra has got an infinite well of weirdness, constantly bubbling up with fresh insanity just when you think you’ve seen it all.
Armikrog is a very short game, its price reflecting its brevity. However, the repeated puzzles are a regrettable misstep, and the spartan sound design woefully undercuts the impressive claymation visuals. The most impactful visuals are frontloaded, leaving no sense of narrative crescendo. Sadly, the game feels like it loses steam much too quickly.
It’s a game that will stay with you long after you’ve put down the controller, a haunting reminder of the fragility of life and the encroaching darkness that lurks just beyond the edge of our perception.
Ghostrunner 2‘s action is an acquired taste. It is extremely risky since players have to be both reckless and careful at the same time. The battles are cruel, yet retrying is painless. It may resemble most first-person action games you may have seen before, but it has more in common with the heedless gameplay in Katana Zero or Hotline Miami.
Star Ocean: The Second Story R stands out as one of Square Enix’s most accomplished remakes. While the original game had its shortcomings, this remake effectively addresses those issues and elevates the overall experience to new heights. Gemdrops has transformed a solid RPG into an exceptional one, establishing a new benchmark for remakes in the gaming industry.
Super Mario RPG was never a deep RPG and it still isn’t, but it is a very entertaining one that manages to have some striking imagery and plenty of funny moments. The gameplay and scenarios are varied to never have a dull moment. Despite what the 3D graphics suggest, this is still an SNES RPG.
Despite all the limitations of 2000s-era specs, Max Payne is still a righteous action game that is enjoyable for its pacing and entertaining scenarios. Some parts late in the game are a bit cheap with how enemies are placed around corners, but retrying is painless. At worst, the lack of nuance in the movement may turn off some modern gamers.
Disney Illusion Island is a great game to pick up this holiday season for families that want to be able to play together. At the moment, there are no sales on it, but it is worth checking out. Hopefully, one day it will come to other platforms so gamers on other platforms can enjoy it.
Prison City is a very solid retro throwback action platformer. It lacks originality and the main character is boring because he barely says anything more complex than one-word sentences. The challenge is hearty and gamers will find the references endearing… if they can survive long enough to see them.
The heavier, stiffer controls hinder some aspects of the experience for Sonic veterans seeking an old-school feel. Nevertheless, Sonic Superstars still captures enough of Sonic’s essence – high-speed platforming and explorative gameplay – for both veterans and newcomers to have a decent time. It serves as a valuable addition to the franchise, even if it doesn’t quite reach the peak of classic 90s gameplay.
Air Twister is a very engrossing rail shooter that keeps luring gamers back for more. The steady stream of bonus content is a satisfying beckoning mechanism that makes replays rewarding. On top of the intrinsic rewards, it is gratifying to improve and master the levels with Valensia’s soaring music as the backdrop.
The best and most notable Jurassic Park games tend to be management sims since they lean heavily on the core ideas of films and novels. Adapting the movie as generic action platformers was limiting since there was no shortage of them in the 90s. Gamers who are interested in more enjoyable dinosaur-themed retro action games would be better off with Dino Crisis or the Turok titles.
At the end of the day, Modern Warfare 3 (2023) is just an over-glorified DLC for Modern Warfare 2. With a lackluster campaign, recycled multiplayer maps, and a buggy Zombies mode, MW3 2023 is definitely a skippable game. Hopefully, with Microsoft purchasing Activision, future Call of Duty games will have a proper development cycle and feel like a standalone game that you can’t miss rather than an overpriced DLC.
This game has the potential to become an enjoyable video game for kids, with substantial updates such as adding offline modes for a more casual experience and dropping the battle pass scam, like how Chocobo Racing GP did less than a year after it came out. As it stands now, it is merely streamer bait.
There is no shortage of metroidvania games with cute anime girl protagonists. Inti Creates has made a few good ones, but Yohane the Parhelion: BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE is not among them. It is a joyless and mediocre effort on their part.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is probably the most appropriately named game in the series because you thought you were getting a full story, but really all you’re getting is another standalone Assassin’s Creed Valhalla DLC pack with a $50 price tag.
With a bit more time, perhaps a better translation will get patched in and maybe a port for the more powerful consoles will iron out its technical shortcomings. Anyone who desires a demanding and complex strategy mecha game with political intrigue and a plot that predicts the dangers of globalism will get their money’s worth with Front Mission 2: Remake.