Gamer Escape
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Little nitpicks aside, I love this game. It juggles a bunch of interconnected systems well, combined with a light-hearted sense of humor and plenty of little bits of polish here and there that really show the love the developers put into the game.
At $14.99 it’s priced about right (although it’s a bit short at three hours to complete), and the game isn’t offensive, it’s just that there’s so much better available now in virtual reality, and things in Eclipse that would have been impressive at the time are fairly standard now.
M2 has proven time and again that they know what they’re doing with the games that they rework, and this port of Shinobi is no different. This is a solid version of the game that is appropriately priced and fits right in with the Switch’s library and on-the-go nature.
Its weaknesses are there, but they didn’t change the genuine joy and energy that the game oozes – and when one of my big complaints about a game is “I want freedom to play more of it,” it usually means the core game is pretty fun.
On the whole, this game is a case study for how the small details truly make the game. It hits all the broad strokes well, and it has a solid foundation. With more polish, I would genuinely call this a good game. Unfortunately, as it is, it just comes across as a jumbled mess that slingshots between unfair and trivial, without enough fluff to make up for it.
Orangeblood is a game of half measures. It feels like it’s afraid of taking its bold style all the way, and the game suffers for it. While it did catch my attention at PAX West last year, actually sitting down with the full release was a disappointing experience.
Darksiders: Genesis is every bit a Darksiders game as the ones that came before it. The addition of Strife is employed in such a way that it feels natural, rather than forced, and showcases the developer’s ability to build upon the series’ lore instead of ret-conning any of it.
Despite all of those couple-thousand-words up there, I think on some level that I kind of hit this one right when I started out. It’s a Touhou kart racer. For the people who dearly want a Touhou kart racer, this provides exactly that, and the reality is that the only really big criticism that’s actually crippling is the game’s length. Everything else winds up landing at the point that this is a game without Mario Kart money or polish trying to be Mario Kart.
Despite those issues, though, Virgo Vs The Zodiac is still a solid experience, and a great JRPG that just popped up out of nowhere at the end of the year. If you’re looking for something to play through during the holidays, this is a title definitely worth considering.
Overall, I can see why this game continues to receive updates and ports even eight years after its original release. Jamestown+ is an incredibly well-polished and engaging experience, offering up both a great entry point to the bullet hell genre and a satisfying challenge to veterans.
There’s a bit of polish it can use here and there, but it’s certainly one of the better visual novels I’ve played this year.
It may not offer the twitchest of gameplay, but getting past some antiquated aspects will yield an enjoyable time.
Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, bugs or shoddy graphics be damned. But not this time. SGWC is a mess from top to bottom, and even its moments of enjoyment are not worth the head-spinning number of missteps.
Barring some bugs that will hopefully get patched soon, I really enjoyed my time with Interrogation – You Will Be Deceived. The interconnected systems that give consequences even to your “kind” options really make me want to dig in and figure out just what effects all my actions have.
This is a game that both looks gorgeous and hits its target in terms of straightforward play that keeps bringing you back for another round of diving and slashing to the surface of the Earth. If you’re keen on losing yourself in that dream-like trance, it’s going to do a good job of that.
[...]I cannot recommend playing the Switch port, especially if you have any vision issues that may prevent your ability to read the screen properly. Do yourself a favor and download this mysterious story on your phone instead.
So what does all this mean for Shenmue? Well, I think fans are going to enjoy this one, but I don’t think this is going to introduce a new generation of gamers to the series.
Overall, Tokyo Dark was an interesting title that was worth the experience. It definitely has some faults that are hard to overlook, from the scattershot presentation to the lull in the story, but pushing through these reveals a relatively well-told horror mystery tale.
Unfortunately in the end I just can’t recommend this. It’s beautiful, and with a bit more polish I would call it a fine way to experience a classic tale. As it stands at the moment, though, the bugs are an active detriment and the actual gameplay, the stuff that differentiates this from just reading a book or watching a movie, feel like they detract from the story more than add to it.
I hate to speak for a community but I’m sure this game may meet the demands they ask for in Need For Speed. For anyone else looking to get into racing but don’t want the difficulty associated with Forza or Asetto Corsa, I would still recommend picking up the recent remaster of Burnout Paradise. If you’re not already a Need For Speed fan, I say skip Heat and wait for EA to remember Burnout exists.