The Cube's Reviews
Anima: Gate of Memories is a somewhat memorable, competent action platformer. It’s best strengths are pulled down by some noticeable flaws, but it’s nothing to criminal to bring the whole game toppling down. So as it stands, when you got some money in your digital wallet and have bustled through every AAA role player with general fatigue, you can do a lot worse than Anima to alleviate these feelings.
Mech Land Assault is an acceptable, but not substantial addition to Just Cause 3’s DLC vault. It goes nicely with the previous chunks, but time will have to tell if it completely changes the landscape compared to what else the game will provide in the future. Otherwise, the mechs are the true and only standout.
Resident Evil 5 is an acceptable, compelling, but not immediately outstanding addition to the franchise. The remaster certainly doesn’t give it that underrated feel, but if you happen to come across it in a sale or packed with another RE game, it’s definitely worth a shot. And if you’re bored during the summer, why not give zombie-killing another shot?
Hawken is a competent mech shooter, and not much else. If you put enough downtime on it, there will be room to grow. However, with more engaging mech titles already entering the market, I’m worried that not much will last. The lack at something truly new at the heart of Hawken is it’s biggest downside.
In terms of retro re-releases, you can do a lot worse than Assault Suit Leynos. I would recommend it to any gamers wanting a change of pace from their normal library, and especially if they’ve been getting a little bit nostalgic lately. It’s not perfectly suited, but it’s hard to think that a better homage wouldn’t come straight off the source.
A well-crafted yet predictable experience that invokes its inspiration with poise, Prey ultimately fails to carve out a meaningful identify of its own.
Things like these, along with easter eggs, and voice acting that makes Randal's Monday a uniquely hilarious play. I do feel the game targets an older 20s and above audience for they would understand the references. I am not too sure how much more of the game I have left, but I look forward to each new monday it throws at me.
There are some really cool things about Rainbow Moon that continue to draw me back. The world map seems huge, and dungeons are designed so amazingly they loop back onto themselves (sometimes causing me to wander in circles). Plus game started me off with a few simple tutorials, and has continued to supply me with quick new tutorials as new mechanics come about. You may say "Yeah that is normal for most games", but I've been playing this game for over 12 hours and have only unlocked 28/37 tutorials. With that in mind Rainbow Moon is an adventure I wont put down any time soon.
Looking back on the Leon campaign there were a lot of action button sequences that I felt were a little uncharacteristic for a Resident Evil game, but most of these took place during long boss battles. I’ve been hesitant on divulging information about Resident Evil 6’s story line. I feel many die hard fans will be disappointed with the interweaving of so many characters into one game. Usually a Resident Evil game has you controlling the same duo of characters for most the game, giving plenty of time to establish a well thought out story and connection between characters. However cool the idea of having our heroes together in one game seems, it isn’t well executed.
Promising and frustrating in equal measure, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice ultimately disappoints with rote puzzling, unexciting combat, and storytelling that fails to connect emotionally with its audience.
Coming from someone who followed it for so long, Adr1ft is massively dis-encouraging. However, I feel it might be worth it to a couple of folks who are looking for a more minimal and ambitious gameplay experience. Just keep in mind that it's far from perfect, and that most would be suited elsewhere.
The Sun and The Moon isn't a bad game, but it's far from spectacular. It's an example of how one design aspect can simply not carry a game to new heights, as imaginative or entertaining it might be. Other problems will always arise, and without a proper panacea, everything can quickly seem shortsighted.
I can feel Siralim striving to find its own identity in the old school RPG realm. Siralim puts you into a world where your father died, and as new king you must grow to fill his shoes. In the time I played there didn't seem to be much more to the story line, but new mechanics like Construction Rituals that allow me to expand my castle led me to believe more was out there. Even though game play was a grind, the game allows you to design realms to challenge yourself. With mystery mechanics like Nether Eggs and gem creation, and cool in game items like Arena Invitations, Exalted Emblems, Tickets, and Pandemonium tokens still awaiting my discovery, Siralim is a game I'll continue to play.
Dead Island barely faded away from it’s initial reveal in 2011 with good marketing and a clear-cut emphasis on zombie killing, but all Definitive Edition does is stall the franchise from becoming infected into obscurity. It’s a game that’s partly pleasant with a companion, but not attentively tenacious alone, leading to a strong disconnect if you’re buddies are away. An added game Retro Revenge could have helped matters, but it’s just as half-baked and soulless as what’s come before it.
Hitman’s third episode would have been barely acceptable in non-episodic fashion, but the value both in replay-ability and price starts to diminish when placed elsewhere. I still appreciate the detail in all the locales, but it’s clear the game needs to mature beyond another point.
Fallout 4: Contraptions Workshop could have been an acceptable DLC if the work wasn’t so strenuous. It’s great to see everything in motion, but simply not worth the effort. I understand that Bethesda can’t crack out great story DLC every second and have to cater to every players needs, but this is an insignificant step in making settlements great again.
Headlander isn’t a lost cause, yet Double Fine should have done a couple more reinventions on the drawing board before they let this one loose. The main idea is intriguing and might convince some dedicated players to go all the way through, but to anyone else it will be a drag with some laughter, but mostly tedium.
Coming off of Ziggurat, it seemed like Milkstone Studios could rule the world, but with every studio, there’s some missteps along the way to the next lauded achievement. Pharaonic is unexciting as it is uninspired, and doesn’t give a good future to the space it’s so willingly trying to occupy. In other words, Egypt fell.
Adam’s Venture Origins is a game that fails to have restraint with it's constant puzzles. Although, a fair amount of these puzzles are actually decent and engages the player fairly well. Adam also has a humorous personality at times, but the overwhelming amount of poorly written dialogue and forgettable voice acting makes an annoying combination. At the point in time where decent graphics for a game like this is imperative it fails on that goal with ease. This is a game that is boring and forgettable, that is annoying and really has many problems that need to addressed if there is going to be another addition to this series.
It is most grievous for me to label my first 3DS review with such a low score, but it is imperative that players understand: I don’t even think most fans of the series will like this game, and if fans won’t like it, newcomers will definitely not.