gameranx's Reviews
That's the irony of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter in a nutshell. When you first start up the game, it declares that it "is a narrative experience that does not hold your hand," but that's true only of its mechanics. Narratively it holds your hand so tightly that once it was over I had to wait a few minutes for feeling to return.
However, those other elements do keep Alien: Isolation from ascending to heaven to stand at the right hand of God. It is merely the regular type of excellent.
But when it's working correctly, Wasteland 2 is stellar. The tactical combat is pretty standard, but challenging and only occasionally overwhelming (those are essential moments, to me). Learning to deal with everything that goes wrong as you wander the wastes is a thrill that makes it all the more satisfying when a plan actually does come together. Wasteland 2 is a Real Game, bro.
Gauntlet is good and fun, but I don't think about it much between sessions. And that's about it. I feel like I've said more than is necessary at this point, really. It's competently made and enjoyable and you might forget you have it if you don't play it for a week.
If all of this wasn't enough to suck me in, they've also included the ability to create custom factions. Throw this on top of a multiplayer component with up to eight players, and I can see myself dumping endless hours into this incredibly fun game.
With all of it's AI and UI flaws the game is still extremely difficult and requires considerable mental dexterity along with repeated attempts to truly master and it's a definite pickup for anyone looking for a challenge.
As an introduction to the Dynasty Warriors template, Hyrule Warriors has gotten me deeply interested in the rest of Koei Tecmo's output. As a Zelda game, it honors all the little series details that players have found so endearing through the decades. As an action game, it is distilled fun.
If you loved Age of Wonders 3, the Golden Realms expansion is a no-brainer, especially for its low asking price. Some of the what's been added doesn't completely come together, but the Halfing race, Wild Magic specialization and new objectives make it a more exciting and purposeful package.
Overfall, Hatoful Boyfriend is a joke game that's elevated above its peers thanks mostly to its writing. It will certainly elicit some laughs, especially when played with other people, and while play sessions are usually short it has enough unique endings to both warrant many visits to the academy and justify its relatively low price. Those who decide to get all endings should prepare to use the fast-forward button quite a bit, since many events repeat in every plathrough.
But, like, it's fun and the view from the social hub is pretty.
At the end of the day, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call is about the music. It delivers the most comprehensive package of Final Fantasy jams short of something outrageous like a 50-disc box set containing every soundtrack in the series. For that alone, it's a must-have for any Final Fantasy fan or videogame music fan in general.
The Sims 4 isn't the greatest, but it's not terrible either. As a long-time fan of the franchise, I'm disappointed by how much they stripped down the game. However, the new additions ranging from emotion states to relationship complexities sets up an interesting foundation for future expansion packs. The Sims 4 might just be warming up for another long ride.
In all, I really enjoyed my experience with Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, and plan to spend even more time with it.
The bottom line is that Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Ultimate Evil Edition is a fantastic console game that plays, in my opinion, better than the original PC version it's based upon. It's how Diablo III was always meant to be.
I have a love-hate relationship with Sword Art Online, and yet despite its faults I find it difficult to stop consuming. It's a light but fun franchise, which is the best way I can describe Hollow Fragment. If you're already a fan of the show, dungeon crawling and perfecting damage numbers, it's easy to forgive the game's sins for its vast, addicting content. If not, the moderately high asking price may be worth a pause.
I love it. Unrest is another indie that exposes the lie of AAA that says games need some physical skill element to be worthwhile. It gives us many layers to ponder with its narrative, wrapped in a package that feels culturally relevant even as it's firmly rooted in a past and culture that is not my own. That, my friends, is something worth experiencing.
Risen 3 is a large role-playing game you can pay money for, and it is functional and will occupy your time.
The Last of Us Remastered is the same game it was a year ago but it is worth playing again and if you never have experienced it before, you're in for something special. Perhaps it was the game of a generation, or perhaps that was merely marketing overhype, but either way, Naughty Dog created something mesmerising and brutal, amazing and grim, personal and grand in scope.
If the sort of effort that went into the visual and audio design of Sacred 3, went into the story and the characters, this is a game that could have been a game of the year contender. Unfortunately, these two areas were not enough to save Sacred 3 from mediocrity.
However, it's by no means a terrible game. There's a ridiculous amount of fun to be had with combat alone if you can look past these issues. There's even a co-op mode that will add some re-playability. Nonetheless, Larian Studios had plenty of ambition with this game, but just couldn't live up to the hype.