Stevivor's Reviews
This is a solid, Creative Assembly-driven RTS, well-suited for those who love the genre and also for those who are into science fiction; if you're a fan of both, even better. Simple to understand, fun to play and challenging on higher difficulties, it's hard to go wrong with Halo Wars 2.
For Honor is a refreshing new take on combat, and one that everyone should experience.
The jump to current-gen consoles (and increased power and draw distances) tackled last iteration, Rebellion truly shines in this new release.
While veteran Souls players may find this somewhat Mickey Mouse, the differences between the franchises will still find enough to keep all players engaged. Nioh borrows – and quite liberally, at that — from a number of different franchises, but that combination makes it quite unique. The Dark Souls for those of us who hate Dark Souls, it’s certainly one to give a try. You won’t be an expert instantly, but you’ll certainly want to come back for more.
Most of Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World feels sameish. Uninspired.
At the end of the day, this does feel like a Star Wars experience.
On top of its stellar narrative, Berseria boasts an incredible cast of characters. They may seem cliché at first but as they come out of their shells they become well-rounded and relatable. In fact, every character — well, except one — is easy to relate to whether they are perceived as good or bad.
Capcom has delivered a refreshing return to horror, saving face and the franchise by focusing on a tight single-player experience
Yakuza 0 is simultaneously the best and worst starting point for newcomers like myself.
There’s a lot of good within Gravity Rush 2, but you’ll have to wade through the muck to get to it. A meandering story, repetitive open world and menial fetch quests steer players away from the things that makes the franchise great: goofing around and never knowing which way is up. Franchise fans will get a kick out of the continuation of Kat’s story – if they understand it – but those with a love of action or experiences like Jet Set Radio will also enjoy this different take on a beat ‘em up.
Those of us a bit on in years will still enjoy the slang and the platforming, but don’t expect a challenge.
Up Multimedia delivers a quality point-and-click adventure with same-sex attracted characters and gay culture in a way that doesn’t alienate players of any sexuality, religion or creed. While its very nature clearly targets those in the LGBTI community, fans of point-and-click adventures will have a splendid time exploring Arcadia alongside Minogue and his motley crew.
Don Bradman Cricket 17 expands on its pioneering predecessor with the fundamentals of cricket translating to fun, challenging gameplay. Batting and bowling are similar, but better rounded, and the introduction of female cricketers has been given the utmost care. The career mode is much deeper, and the customisation options are off the chart — it’s a cricket game that gives you back what you put in.
Overall, “Calling All Units” is a neat expansion to add to The Crew, but unless you’ve got a sufficient in-game credits you’ll either need to buy crew points with actual money or grind through events to afford the vehicles you’ll need to complete the additional missions. Gameplay-wise the upgraded pursuits are fun to play and the delivery events are enjoyable too, although they do get repetitive. The new police vehicles look great and handle well too, and for those gamers who haven’t finished the base storyline yet, the expansion adds some additional flavour to the game.
A solid ending and the ability to get up close and personal with dinosaurs is Robinson’s saving grace, but it’s a bit of a slog to get to those bits. Robinson showed a great deal of promise, but ended up much like any other VR game in this launch window. You’ll be amazed by the sights until they become commonplace. Then, you’ll get frustrated by controls and ultimately, start to count down the minutes until you’re finished with it.
There’s a quote by Aristotle that says, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” I can’t think of a better description for this Bethesda table pack. Individually, these are three fantastic franchises, taken as a whole this is a fantastic pack of tables that should appeal to both pinball players as well as gamers who have never picked up a virtual pinball game.
Ultimately, Super Mario Maker is paired down on 3DS, but not to ridiculous levels. Editing is as easy on a 3DS touchscreen as a Wii U touchpad — though decidedly easier on a 3DS XL than a 3DS — and gameplay is largely the same. If you own a copy on Wii U, it’s probably better to stick with that. For most of us — who either don’t own a Wii U or who mothballed it a while ago — this entry’s a great little package to pick up for Christmas.
While some parts of its narrative had me emotionally invested in the relationship between boy and beast, constantly fighting against the game's broken mechanics left me unimpressed. My frustrations with Trico often ignoring my commands made interacting with the world more difficult and time-consuming than I wanted it to be. There are moments in The Last Guardian with potential, but ultimately, it's more flawed than the authentic experience I was hoping for.
All in all, 7th Drgaon III Code: VFD is a fun dungeon-crawling experience with enough bells and whistles to set it apart from the pack. The base-building gives you a fun reason to grind dragons beyond simply levelling up your party, and the reward loop of loot and levelling keeps you interested at just the right pace. Barring the absence of a quick-save option for short burst play on public transport, it’s a great way to while away time as needed, and tells a goofy fun story along the way. But dang, someone get a swear jar for Nodens HQ. That little demon rabbit needs to calm the heck down before Nintendo NOTICES.
At launch, Eagle Flight doesn’t offer enough for the near-full price it charges. Single player isn’t enough to justify a purchase and multiplayer isn’t populous enough to get regular matches. Eagle Flight gets the basics right, flight is great and combat can be full of excitement, the game just doesn’t build much on that strong foundation.