SmashPad's Reviews
The game’s saving grace is that aside from the clunky sailing, I never felt like I was wasting time in this game’s 30-or-so-hour adventure. I may be down on a lot of the changes, but I had a lot of fun playing it, especially since Karja was such a cool character.
Sadly, not even quality world-building and a solid soundtrack can save this one. It tries to tell a semi-serious story about what a world of wizards and witches would actually look like, except the world is shows is as wooden as its frequent excursions into the woods.
The Plucky Squire are what will keep the indie game scene alive for years to come.
With everything it has going for it, Astro Bot is easily one of the best games of the year.
At the end of the day, the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection is an easy recommendation for people that enjoy the Ace Attorney series, especially if the Miles Edgeworth character from the original trilogy was intriguing to you. If visuals novels or tons of reading aren’t your thing, you’d be wise to stay far away. Either way you look at it, it’s a great set, and Ace Attorney Investigations 2 is worth the price of admission on its own.
Just Crow Things is a fun little title that masterfully marries the enjoyment people have with both cozy games and games that are more on the chaotic side.
College Football 25 is a lot of fun to play from moment to moment, and so much else about this game seems hellbent to sour the experience because it feels like an unfinished game.
You won’t find a complete game changer with this overhaul, but you’ll have a chance to play the game with far better graphics and a much larger screen. For some, that just might be worth it enough. For others, at a $60 price tag, that might be a little too steep for a fairly straightforward adaptation.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! is undoubtedly one of the weirdest and most unique games I’ve ever played, and it’s also quite clear that it goes for the jugular with its humor, but it just didn’t work out like that for me. I can definitely see a lot of people enjoying the experience and enjoying the humor way more than I did, so I’ll understand if people think I’m being harsh.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is one of the biggest surprises and best games of the year.
For my first foray into Super Monkey Ball, I had an enjoyable time. It’s goofy but needs to be taken just seriously enough or else you’ll find yourself flying off the courses time and time again. There’s a great challenge to the later levels that keeps you really engaged. That said, it’s a pretty straightforward game, too, so with a $50 price tag, this may be more for the Super Monkey Ball fans.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak stands tall as one of the best games in the series and one of the best games of the year, despite the dearth of great JRPGs we've gotten this year.
I’ve wanted this game ever since I heard about it, and it seems like I waited forever, but it was absolutely worth the wait and I’m so glad I was able to play this game to its fullest extent. Polychroma Games made something special, and I believe they’ll be a studio to look out for.
Little Kitty, Big City is the very definition of a cozy game. It’s about being a cat doing cat things and finding your way home after eating all the yummy fish and making friends with all the animals in the city. If you’re set on getting all the fish and getting the cat home, the game shouldn’t take more than two hours to finish. If you want to do everything there is to do, it’ll probably be closer to five hours.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is simply stunning. It looks amazing on every platform, it features some of the best platforming I’ve played in any game, the combat is fun, and the story makes you feel. Even with all this, I think my favorite part about the game is that it’s short and sweet. I Platinum’d the game in about six hours, and I loved the vast majority of time I spent playing.
Polish issues notwithstanding, I had an amazing time with Princess Peach: Showtime, but it’s hard to recommend at the full price of $60. The levels are fun, Princess Peach’s transformations are amazing and I’ll be surprised if I don’t see a bunch of different kinds of Peach cosplay during convention season. Also, the game is much more enjoyable when you’re playing it with people watching–it’s one heck of a streaming game. But having loading issues that too frequently occur, taking you out of “the zone,” can lead to frustration and feeling like I didn’t get what I paid full price for.
It brings me back to a time where I bought games by judging it by its cover, and this really feels like a gem.
By no means a bad game, there are some design decisions that left me my scratching my head. With so many anticipated AAA titles coming in 2024, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden doesn’t stand out too well amongst the pack, but is a must-try when things slow down.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth still finds a way to stand out during a release window that includes other top-notch JRPGs including Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. If you were a fan of the Yakuza: Like a Dragon, you’ll find Infinite Wealth more engaging in pretty much every way, easily making it one of the best games of the year.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink features a really short story that you can finish in a few days, and the post-game could potentially keep people playing for a while especially when taking its superb combat system online. The lack of real depth and effort explaining the lore is a real problem though, so I’d be wary of that before committing to whatever investment you put into this one.