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Even as a relatively distant fan of Dragon ball, I was totally invested in Dragon Ball FighterZ. Dangerously so. Hours dropped off the clock as I perfected my team.
As a soft-reboot, Origins establishes what this reviewer hopes to be a precedent for the series. A stronger focus on the historical settings impact on gameplay is a definite step in the right direction, but Ubisoft still continue to bog their title down with unnecessary elements intended to provide longevity to their game. There's still a need to break away from the remaining restraints of the franchise. Without the resource grinding and MMO level progression, Assassin’s Creed Origins could have been the best in the series yet.
'Thought provoking' may be the best way to describe my overall experience with SOMA. With the story being expertly delivered through eloquent voice acting and dialogue, environmental design, and questionable moral choices. SOMA stands out as a deft lesson in storytelling, which many developers should learn from. I'd highly recommend trying SOMA for anyone and everyone.
It's an uphill battle to recommend the game to anyone but the most committed fan of adventure games, and Gothic horror, and even then, there's a scant 5 hours of gameplay there.
I was so desperate for Hello Neighbor to end that I regularly sought out ways to try and bypass the intended game. There could be something buried deep down, but the general execution of this steal-horror blend holds it back drastically. Even the quaint colourful world is hampered by the general sluggish feel and poor controls.
I never took any interest in Titan Quest when it hit the market and honestly, it doesn't particularly grab me now. However, I can recognise that it does a lot of things right within its genre, and for that I applaud it even more than a decade after the fact. The idea that it got this brand new expansion so long after release is a testament to the dedication of the staff involved. Even if it doesn't make me ragna-rock hard.
It’s Quiz Time is a great way to spend some time with family and mates with plenty of questions and categories that will keep it fresh for a long while with the bonus of it being highly accessible for younger players thanks to the family friendly option.
Let Them Come offered a surprising amount of variety for what essentially is a glorified shooting range. Weapons and upgrades feel unimpactful at first but quickly build momentum into some more fierce and powerful. Monsters are offered up on a platter for the player to blissfully murder then contorts the players elated murder spree into one of strategy and wit, continually mixing things up. But all this weighs heavy on how much players enjoy tower defence style games.
Nights of Azure 2 is undercooked despite asking for 50 of my precious Queens faces. More fleshed out experiences can be bought elsewhere but I can’t get over the simple charm of the game and it’s fun, if lacking, gameplay.
It was clear that Star Wars Battlefront II had some issues prior to release, but I’d never have guessed that they were this big. It’s a bitter disappointment to see a game with such promise turn to the dark side.
Outcast: Second Contact looks like a completely new game. And that’s its problem. Outcast: Second Contact only has re-texturing to its advantage, with mechanics and audio left untouched. Its glossy coat promising more than it had. A few tweaks to the audio presentation and how Slade handles could’ve gone a long way to bettering the experience. Those who have dabbled with Outcast in the past may find naught but nostalgic memories to power them through, other than that, there's nothing to be had here. This is re-texturing at its finest, but it’s not a remaster.
Ashes Cricket is a bit of a mixed bag. While I found myself enjoying great swathes of time playing through The Ashes with England, scoring centuries left and right with the excellent and tight batting controls, the sheer number of glitches upsetting the difficulty balancing for bowling and fielding meant that it truly was a game of two halves. Whilst the game is undoubtedly Big Ant’s best outing to date, the lack of polish meant that the game was slightly too frustrating to recommend to absolute newcomers to the genre.
Need for Speed Payback is a travesty of a game. Between 9 minute cycles of waiting at a vendor refreshing so I could buy better parts for my car, flying about a map populated with enough meaningless activities acting as filler, and the atrocious ending, it’s hard to pick out a point where I could say genuinely say the experience was fun.
As an entry to dungeon crawling, Demon Gaze II certainly does improve upon its predecessors accessibility. It’s more polished and is clearly more direct in approaching its goal. While broadening the appeal for fans of Japanese RPGs, this new focus has come at a cost. It feels a little generic.
Sonic Forces is by no means a career-killing disaster like Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric or Shadow the Hedgehog were, but it still a disappointment after all the wonderous hours of fun Mania offered.
Elex has extremely limited appeal thanks to the horrendous combat and seemingly mindless balancing issues. Even habitual RPG players will be put off by these problems, and that spells doom for almost anyone outside that little niché.
Wolfenstein: The New Colossus is a mixed bag of ideas that could work well but somehow don’t. I felt forced to sit behind cover for large sections of the game instead indulging in gun toting, dual-wielding promises. And even when I successfully managed to reach cover, the slightest movement would alert those around me and compromise any semblance of a stealthy approach. I was stuck in a parasitic loop that left me pining for the days of Wolfenstein 3D or even Wolfenstein: The New Order.
Maybe those well versed in RTS games will kick the Romans aside in their stride, but I personally struggled more than I would have liked to. Thankfully Numantia has a lot more to offer that just a difficulty spike. Its historical accuracy and decision system were more than enough to keep me coming back time and time again.
If you’re a fan of horror/action films you’ll have a good time playing through the various films to find your favourite character and kill scene paying homage to that magic film scene. Slayaway Camp is a game you’ll want to play if you fancy a change of pace from constant on the go action as it pays to take your time and plan your every move.
The Stick of Truth managed to salvage my love of the series. Now, 3 years later, I feel that South Park: The Fractured but Whole has sought to destroy the bridges its predecessor rebuilt. The funny moments are sporadic, lost amongst a series of tired gags and namechecks, but the gameplay goes someway to saving the overall experience.