KeenGamer's Reviews
If you're not a fan of JRPGs, or really Japanese entertainment in general, this game isn't going to sell you on it. For us, this game was a great starting point for the Tales series, and we are honestly thinking about giving Tales of Zestiria another go around. A fun cast of characters, a story with an intriguingly dark premise, and an interesting take on the real-time battle system. There's really not much more to be said. Game's good. Get it.
Overall, Halo Wars 2 feels like a fantastic entry into both the Halo franchise and as a sequel to the original. The gameplay is spot on, as it takes the mechanics that were already there and expands on them by adding a new resource to balance and making leader powers more varied, allowing for more strategies to thrive. It looks great and runs well on both Xbox One and PC, which is good to know because of the cross-play allowed in certain modes so users from both platforms can benefit from each other. The single player is long enough for anyone to get their feet wet and move into the multiplayer, which features its own wealth of content in various modes. The soundtrack is good enough for what it needs to be, the story is much better than the more recent Halo titles, if a bit lacking in certain aspects, and the whole package comes together to really elevate the title above others. Anyone who enjoys RTS games, and especially fans of the original title should be taking a look and giving it a chance. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn good.
Her Majesty's SPIFFING could be viewed as a success just as easily as it could be viewed as sub-par (based almost entirely on what is to come in the future). We had fun with its extensive humor and not so subtle jabs at real world occurrences, stereotypes, and issues, but its incredibly short gameplay and story had no closure about them, and won't unless we are fortunate enough for the developers to make the next installments and provide us with such conclusions. For us, the game feels up in the air in terms of being a worthy purchase or not; if you take the chance on it, we are sure you'll enjoy much of what it has to offer but don't forget that the rest of the story is still to come (maybe).
Laser Disco Defenders is no doubt fun. The gimmick of constant laser chaos and its skill-based focus will be fresh to many players jumping into this genre, or to those tired of the pain caused by RNG based titles. However, the truth here is that far better titles exist and have greater variety and depth within their levels and upgrades, which are the essence of any game built for replayability.
How to Survive 2 is a quality zombie survival game, and the fact that you can enjoy with a bunch of friends is even better. It improves many things in comparison to the first one but could have used a little bit more in order to make it all even better. The maps feel a little repetitive in the sense that, for example, one small section such as a parking lot is almost completely copied and pasted just down the street. If you look at your world map, everything feels like a strictly structured environment, which is understandable in the city, but not in the swamps. The other struggles are from a lack of explanations you get in regards to what you can craft and when. There's a lot of menus and items, so you'll have to invest a little time in perfecting your inventory searching. Those are the negatives, however, and if those sound bearable to you, then there's a lot to love. The camp building and defending is incredibly fun (and chaotic at times), and even better, there's always something to do regardless of where you're at in your overall progress. Day and night cycles, along with weather, make for a world living on its own, and the possibilities of crafting items and structures are wide open for you to sink hours of your life into exploring. The game isn't perfect, but it has a pretty good idea how to be enjoyable (but consider bringing a friend, or a couple of them, to get the most enjoyment).
The Turing Test is a fantastic casual game with a lot of characters. It fits a very specific style and genre, though, and may understandably be hard for some to find fun if they don't already have a kind of preference or admiration for them. A single playthrough will take roughly 4-5 hours to complete, and replay value depends mostly on personal preference, long-term memory, and the time in-between plays. There's little in terms of negativity; only some small graphical aspects (in an otherwise beautiful yet simple environment), and a story that you have to receive in portions. If it sounds like your style and/or genre, then it's a must play, sooner or later.
Battalion commander is a modern take on the classic, quarter munching arcade shoot 'em ups. Though the game does little to innovate the genre, it plays the conventions effectively. The real draw here is a large amount of unlocks, which can incentivize the player to come back over and over. However, the game's lack of levels leaves something to be desired. We can't help but feel that the game could use another level or two. The game integrates well into PSN, offering a few trophies. This may be an incentive for trophy hunters looking for a quick game to score some awards. As mentioned above, there is also online leaderboards for competitive players, but they only track laps and total score. Consider the game's low price point, at only $5.49, the number of unlockables is actually pretty admirable. However, we feel that only having one level gives the player little incentive to experiment too much. This is unfortunate, as the enemy variety and simple cartoon art style would lend itself well to a multi-level campaign. All in all, the game is ambitious but ultimately forgettable.
Dishonored 2 takes what was good about the first game and attempts to build more around it; the core mechanics haven't changed; it's an action-adventure stealth game, whose non-linearity and replayability will easily absorb tens of hours of your life. The AI has been improved, and the addition of Emily adds new possibilities and powers for returning players to sink their teeth into. The story is easily investable in, and those who crave 100% completion will have a heart attack over just how much there is to find in this game; a medal should be awarded to anyone who finds all the coins in the game without using any guides; I guarantee it's nigh on impossible. Arkane has crafted another good title; while it's not compulsory to play its predecessor, it's advisable. If anything, it'll save you money should you decide you don't like the style; it's not for everyone; especially the cartoon-esque graphic style. Those who enjoy games of the action--adventure and stealth genres could find worse than Dishonored 2. It's by no means a perfect game, but it's pretty damn good.
We came into this with low expectations, and if this review didn't clue you in on it, our expectations were met. This game fails at almost every turn, with poor map design, easy to complete challenges, touchy controls, and useless towers. We were more surprised with how much we disliked this game. We don't recommend purchasing this title despite it being only $20. Spend your money on something more deserving.
Hive Jump is a solid game and is very enjoyable even after multiple hours of playing through it. Most people will skip over this game and will miss out; if you love space games and especially run-and-gun games, then we highly suggest you buy this game on Steam. It is well worth your $20!
All in all, Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers isn’t explicitly a bad game, it just seems a bit misguided. It started off on the right foot by having it’s own unique combat system that compliments the individual characters that the developers have built up over time, and continued by actually looking like a proper console game whereas the Fire Emblem titles have been using great, stylised sprites mixed with poorly textured 3D environments during the action scenes, but proceeds to drop the ball a bit with uninspired music and easy gameplay. That said, there’s fun to be had even in the low difficulty, as mowing down an army only to have the enemy generals taunt you on death’s door is amusing and the morale/synchro systems are still enjoyable to play with. It’s just unfortunate that more wasn’t expanded on in the game to give it some more depth and challenge.
The most important thing to keep in mind when you're considering whether to buy this game is to know what you're getting yourself in for. If you don't play this kind of games normally, then we can say with a strong degree of confidence that you will not enjoy this. If, however, you're a seasoned veteran of these 'hardcore' platformers and have a spare hundred hours or so, then we encourage you to try it out after vetting it on YouTube to see for yourself the level of difficulty this one manages to bestow upon itself.
STANDBY is, in the technical sense, a platformer through and through. Personally, we would classify it more as a rhythm game, considering the precision and memorization required to best many of the stages. The game is rather short (around 3-4 hours depending on your skill level), but the replay value lies in replaying levels over and over again, trying to beat the best time and get your name to the top of the leaderboards. All in all, this is a game that does its job. It comes with a few irritating quirks here and there, but the job is done to the best of its ability. It wasn't our cup of tea, but if you're a looking for a hardcore platformer to scratch that competitive itch, you really can't go wrong with STANDBY. And for $7.99, there's no reason not to give a try.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a fantastic entry in the Resident Evil franchise. Despite some gameplay issues, the ambiance and well-written characters and story push you through these problems. We say this is the best entry in the franchise ever since Resident Evil 4. If you’re a fan of survival horror and have been wanting to get into the franchise, RE7 is a must buy. And if you’re a long time fan that is angry with the changes that Capcom has made, we implore you to give this game a chance. You will not be disappointed.
There hasn't been a better time to get into this underrated crime franchise than now. Yakuza 0 is both a game made for the longtime fans and for newcomers alike. While it isn't a perfect game, it's compelling narrative and characters, along with the entertaining combat and plethora of side content, make this an experience that no fan of the series should miss. If you haven't played any games in the Yakuza franchise and you're wondering what all the hubbub is about, this is where you should start.
Dead Effect 2 is rough around the edges, but anyone can see the potential in it just by playing a few of the missions. The gameplay felt like a first person shooter game made for the PS2 or early PS3 (when in actuality it was originally made for mobile devices), with stiff controls and predictable enemy actions. We never felt as though the older style of gameplay was a lack of development or creativity, but rather its own style that felt closer to a sense of nostalgia for us. It was developed by a small team, so its comparison to AAA titles should be nonexistent and is immediately noticeable by the price point of $11.99 across all platforms. Co-op is a major concern to some players (including ourselves), so it was disappointing, to say the least, that, on consoles, the game lacked the option to play in such a way when it was included on Steam.
All in all, Dungeon Souls is the sort of game that fans of the genre will enjoy. It offers a very solid amount of heroes, items, and levels to explore, as well as the novel inclusion of crafting, which helps replay-ability. The game greatly shines with its 'pick up and play', straightforward gameplay that rewards the player each time they come back. The retro style graphics and sound nostalgia juxtapose nicely with the modern style progression system and RPG elements. The game is worth a buy at its budget price and is an absolute must for fans of rogue-likes.
Disgaea 2 is definitely an enjoyable experience if you're into story-driven games or JRPGs in general. However, there is very little (if any) in the way of open-world exploration, so if you're expecting something along the lines of Final Fantasy, you'll be disappointed. Equally, if you're not into combat or turn-based strategies, you should probably give it a miss; it's essentially all that the gameplay consists of. While we seem to be ruling out a lot of people and insinuating that the game is niche, we actually think it's just the opposite; the story is much more interesting than many Western titles, and it's sprinkled with humour which will connect with both anime/JRPG fans and the uninitiated alike. Often, we found ourselves wanting to speed through the combat as quickly as possible (to the detriment of strategy and progress), just so that we could see what happens next. Disgaea 2 PC has a perfectly acceptable reduced price tag of £14.99; had it been a full-price game, we would have found its appearance, personally, unacceptable, but its retail price places it amongst numerous indie titles and older games. It's definitely worth a purchase if you like JRPGs and even turn-based strategies, and obviously, if you've liked other titles in the series, then it's a no-brainer. As a port, it's very good and runs smoothly (though for us, every time we quit the game, it decided to stop responding; whilst irritating, that's the point of quitting anyway). However, if you've played Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories or Dark Hero Days, and still own it, we suggest waiting until you find this version cheap, perhaps in the Steam Summer Sale; as far as we can tell, there's no brand-new content added exclusively for the PC version, which means that buying it again would simply be a nostalgia trip. In the meantime, we advise you dust down your old PS2 or PSP and play that instead; but If you no longer own those and miss playing it, then Nippon Ichi have produced the perfect solution, for new and returning gamers alike.
"2D retro-inspired platformer" is something we hear a lot nowadays, this game falls into that category. We can't be the only group sick of this type of graphical style. But regardless of that, Bard's Tale doesn't really amount to anything. We've seen all of this done before and done better, so without anything unique then what's the point in playing? There isn't an end goal to the game as far as we are aware, the game just pads itself out for as long as possible, upping the difficulty instead of throwing something unique at us. Those that are much more acquainted with dungeon crawlers and platformers may enjoy this game a lot more than us, but judging from what we played, we can't say we would want to go back to it unless to wrap up the rest of the easy gamerscore. But even for those more experienced platform players, the nonsensical platforming may be far too easy.
We desperately wanted to love Super Dungeon Bros. The characters are phenomenal, and the game's design is something to remember. Unfortunately, the rest of the game is let down by sub-par gameplay mechanics, unbalanced weapons and a complete lack of variety. Playing the solo campaign starts out too easy and quickly becomes way too difficult for one person to handle which means you'll need to play with your friends to get the most out of this game. Unfortunately, there have been numerous reports of issues with the multiplayer mode such as no players being available to join a game or the game itself constantly freezing up. It does seem like the developers have cleared most of these up but even when running smoothly, the multiplayer mode does little to excite.