Wccftech's Reviews
Rumbleverse occasionally delivers the type of bruising highlights that look good on livestreams, but is held back by a lack of content and unbalanced mechanics that actually discourage the brawling that’s supposed to be the game’s bread and butter. You may want to go a few rounds with Rumbleverse given its nonexistent entry fee, but don’t expect it to go the distance.
Rollerdrome produces some badass moments with its combination of X Games action and bullet-time violence, but it doesn’t replicate what made the OlliOlli games such Zenlike fun. Those looking for a challenge will find it here, but given Rollerdrome’s bland presentation, imperfect controls, and grueling approach to level design, many players will quickly skate on to something else.
A welcome change of scenery to the faster strain of Soulslikes, Thymesia gets straight to the point of sword and claw without lasting any longer than necessary.
Two Point Campus follows the track laid by Two Point Hospital, keeping the same comedic look and tone, the same humour in its courses and curses. Like their first title, this combines strong simulation and management mechanics with accessibility that works well with the aforementioned tone and aesthetic. Two Point Studios know their work, and they're no doubt leading the class in more ways than one.
With its interesting setting that combines the Old West with supernatural and occult elements and solid tactical turn-based combat with excellent pacing, Hard West 2 is a worthy purchase for fans of the genre. However, balancing issues, limited character customization, which force players to play in specific ways, and a general streamlining of the tactical combat experience make the game more shallow than expected, inevitably turning off some veterans of the genre.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins - Trials of the Dragon King is a DLC aimed at those who have played the base game beyond its ending, providing new customization options, a new difficulty setting, new difficulty modifiers and more. Beyond this, the expansion doesn't provide a lot of new story and gameplay content, making it a worthy purchase only for those who have found Chaos mode too tame, and are ready to get challenged again by the base game's foes and a few new ones.
The Riftbreaker: Metal Terror is a decent DLC expansion that, while it doesn't change much regarding the main gameplay loop, more than makes up for it with its vast array of new weapons, buildings, and an intriguing story surrounding an ancient civilization. The game has also upped its enemy variety, allowing players to be more creative with their arsenal while putting their management skills to the test. Unfortunately, it also won't really change your mind if you weren't attracted to the game the first time.
Live A Live is a fascinating lost piece of gaming history that offers up an impressively-varied cinematic saga well ahead of its time, although a slide into more traditional JRPG tropes in its third act diminishes some of what makes the game special. Live A Live is an unpredictable journey worth experiencing, but like life itself, it may leave you feeling a bit worn down by the end.
Stray may be small and scrappy, but it’s also beautiful, lovingly crafted, and bounds from one genre and play style to the next with impressive grace. Even cat skeptics ought to be won over by the game, so don’t be afraid to invite this Stray in from the cold.
As Dusk Falls is a fantastic game that puts your attention where it rightly deserves to be, on the winding choices and tough decisions of desperate people caught in a desperate situation.
Overall, the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie series is an excellent remaster of two fantastic games that manage to subvert your expectations. Both games are awesome platformers that have a lot of ambition in their level design attached to them. The only real detriment is that both games are very short in length, clocking in at around 3-4 hours each for the initial completion.
While quite different from the previous single-player GWENT experience, GWENT: Rogue Mage is an extremely solid title that masterfully combines mechanics from the card game introduced in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with roguelike mechanics. With tons of different cards and different strategies, Alzur's search for the mutagens that will create The Witcher is an extremely engaging one, despite the smaller focus on story, compared to other games belonging to the popular series.
Rune Factory 5's combination of features from simulation games and action role-playing games works as well as it did in previous entries in the series, but the lack of innovation, underwhelming exploration mechanics and a certain disconnect between the urgency of the main quest and living a calm farm life do damage the experience a little. The endearing cast and improved action combat, however, make for an enjoyable experience, so those who venture into Rigbarth without expecting to find a revolutionary title will find plenty to like in the game.
DNF Duel is a broken fighting game that lives by the philosophy of "Everyone's busted, so it's balanced." The game is going to push the right buttons for a lot of fighting game enthusiasts. At the same time, its mechanics are easily approachable for casual audiences who want to see cool moves executed easily. I believe that the game will be in the same category as games like Fantasy Strike in terms of accessibility (it will also be better than Fantasy Strike overall).
Cuphead: The Delicious Course is excellent fan service and the perfect continuation of a game that felt almost impossible to replicate. From the new boss designs to the addition of Miss Chalice, there is so much for everyone to enjoy, whether they just want to beat the new challenges or conquer them entirely.
With its huge number of new and returning monsters, new gameplay mechanics, and great refinements to the formula, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is the massive expansion that the latest entry in the series deserved to get. While the jump from High Rank to Master Rank doesn't feel as big as it was in previous entries in the series, Sunbreak does so many things well that most of the hunters traveling to Elgado and the Citadel will hardly be bothered by it.
While RedOut 2 is a fun experience for the single player, it definitely lacks in a lot of areas and can become overwhelming to a lot of players for a myriad of reasons. The game's AI is also very incompetently designed with incredibly slingshot-like rubberbanding that makes competitors look like absolute klutzes when you're falling behind them or like they have hyperspeed devices on the slightest advantage. Everything is locked behind stages while most of the unlockables are just cosmetics rather than any substantial upgrades.
Outriders: Worldslayer provides an exceedingly brief albeit intense story campaign, though its meat is clearly in the vastly improved endgame experience. The Trial of Tarya Gratar, the Apocalypse gear, and Ascension and PAX systems all contribute to a better, deeper endgame. Ultimately, though, the game plays exactly the same as the original Outriders and is unlikely to win over any new fans.
Starship Troopers: Terran Command is most certainly the game of the film. It gives off the same feel like the film and sticks very close to the source material with the use of bugs, the actions of the empire and the tactics of the Mobile Infantry; all that is an unequivocal positive. However, there are a few issues in gameplay. It feels like an older strategy game than it is, lacking some modern sensibilities, limited game modes, and featuring poor pathfinding. Still, despite these issues, it is a genuinely fun and strategic title that fans of the franchise will thoroughly enjoy, and general strategy fans should also enjoy.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a great game that offers loads for the hours you'll spend on it. While it doesn't feel revolutionary, it's still a lot of fun to play especially for fans of the two series.