Shacknews
HomepageShacknews's Reviews
If there is a piece of good news here, I feel confident that Asobo will continue to resolve these issues, and, given enough time, we'll end up with a Microsoft Flight Simulator that is as stable as 2020 was and benefits from all the additional technical improvements. We're not there now though, and now is when folks have spent their money on this product. The '2024' title feels premature; this game needed another 6-12 months of development and testing. It's apparent that it's simply not ready and much more work is required before it is. Flight simmers now have to decide if they want to go back to 2020, like many have, or be the beta testers for 2024 and accept that it'll take time before things are better.
It’s tough to recommend Flint, though. While I did enjoy combat well enough, there was no real payoff for it. I didn’t care for why I’d win in battle or what that meant for the characters and the overall story. If you’re looking for a deep narrative adventure, this is probably not the game for you right now, but if you’re really itching for more strategic turn-based combat, or just really love the pirate setting, maybe consider giving Flint a try.
As it stands, fans of Mashima’s fantasy epic will still probably have a good time seeing this version of the story through (and checking out the new epilogue!), but Fairy Tail 2 doesn’t get any closer to must-play status than the previous game, and oddly enough for different reasons.
With a few little tweaks and perhaps some additional content over time, Rita’s Rewind could really be a badge of honor. And even as it is now, it’s miles ahead of that Space Jam game.
For now, Marvel Rivals is a fine foray into the realm of hero shooters. It's tough to imagine making a splash in such saturated waters, but NetEase has managed to do it with its diverse hero roster, its monetization model, and its usage of destructible worlds. This will be a fun game to watch develop over time, and I'm excited to see where it is at this time next year, but for what it is now, this is a stellar debut.
But it does offer a fresh perspective, a strange and captivating world to explore, bucketloads of silliness, and hours of breezy fun. If you can put up with the free-to-play trappings and some hopefully temporary technical instability at launch time, and if you can have a good time without needing to kill stuff, you can have a blast without needing to know a single thing about fashion.
The Thing, by its very concepts and mechanics, is well worth the price of admission for historians and enthusiasts. There really isn’t much quite like it, and perhaps that’s because it would be difficult to pull off well. For what it’s worth, The Thing was never perfect. It has some weird speed in its overall gameplay and cringy dialogue that detract from its scarier elements, but those elements are still fun, and with the improvements that address a sore spot in its strength, The Thing: Remastered makes an interesting outlier of the horror genre that much more valuable.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle may have broken just about every expectation I had for MachineGames, short of the fact that I expected a great game. It's definitely that, but the reasons for that greatness are that it’s an impactful brawler, a stylish action-platformer, and a clever puzzle game, with a solid cast to deliver its movie-like performances, exciting environments to explore, and an excellent score to punctuate the mood. MachineGames goes above and beyond to deliver a thrilling adventure akin to the movies, and they succeed nearly across the board. Just don’t call him Junior.
Taking the time to farm elemental resistant accessories, equipment upgrades, and stronger skills, setting up your party loadout just so at a save point, then watching your team get ragdolled anyway all while you’re several levels above what the game says you need completely overshadows the effort put into the careful, puzzle-like design of each boss. Which is a shame, because if those fights weren’t so egregiously overtuned in such an unproductive way, the stuff actually holding up Fantasian’s systems would’ve really shined. The criticism from before clearly had an impact, but even with the adjustments there’s still moments where this game isn’t fun at all to engage with on its given terms. Even everything else, from Uematsu’s thematically apt soundtrack to the super neat diorama visuals, is hard to enjoy when your brain is bogged down by constant dread. Fantasian Neo Dimension has a distinct vibe and a lot of cool ideas, but over-commits to its idea of challenge such that it buries its own nuances under a pile of big numbers.
While the best fitness games are designed for people who play video games, Fitness Boxing 3 feels like it was made for non-gamers who may happen to have a Switch in their home. Sure, it gets you moving, but there’s not much there to make the idea of exercising first thing in the morning remotely appealing.
So, where do we end up with this game? Rage of the Dragons NEO is a niche within a niche, an odd game with an odd history that appeals to an extremely specific kind of audience. That’s tough for any game, but especially a fighting game that has to compete with the likes of Street Fighter and Guilty Gear. Not having cross-platform play is an additional barrier that seems to already be making online an actual ghost town. That’s unfortunate. But if you’re interested in gaming history, fighting games, and the weird intersections thereof, Rage of the Dragons NEO is really cool. I can see it coming out in-between sets of the bigger titles, a fun side game at local tournaments, or just a cool thing for enthusiasts to satisfy their own curiosity with. The Bleem! IP is also involved somehow, making perhaps even this new version a novel relic of its own.
Fortunately, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is still on its path to greatness. It's just going to need a little more love to get it to its destination. I just hope the rest of the journey is a bit faster than Skif's walking speed.
I do think the overall shallowness is a shame, and a game that looks this interesting was begging for a photo mode. It is also great to see Sony release this title on PC and Nintendo Switch on day one, even if the console war gods still demand that Xbox be sacrificed on the altar of platform partisanship. Ultimately, Lego Horizon Adventures is a solid title for kids, or to play with kids, but it’s hard to escape the idea that those same kids are likely a little bit smarter than the challenges that are on offer here.
Thankfully, Sorry We’re Closed only ran around six hours before I saw one of the endings. Those moments of anguish were not massive parts of the game, although they were gnarly roadblocks. Everything else, from the vibes to the storytelling, and even the combat when it was reasonable, were compelling to the end. I’m still curious about the other endings, but the trauma from that generator setpiece has me wanting to wait for possible adjustments or new settings in the future. Horror enthusiasts, especially those who revel in the weird, who are also secret gaming gunslingers and are cool with sudden spikes in difficulty will find a lot to like here.
Rise of the Golden Idol is one of the most captivating mystery games around, one that makes clever use of every tool available to it and expands the possibilities of what a logical deduction game can achieve.
I admit, as fun as it looked with its shiny, new coat of paint and new features to play with, I approached Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake with some cynicism. How couldn’t I with a title like that? Seriously, it sounds more like I bought a used car than played a video game. But the charm and timelessness of Dragon Quest 3 will shine through anything, and having it on a big screen and operating like a modern game was admittedly exciting. For all the bells, whistles, and flourishes, this is still the classic adventure that inspired millions of players over thirty years ago. A polish job like this just makes it shine brighter.
Luma Island is an epic, cozy adventure game bursting at the seams with RPG content.
Petit Island is an adorable and cozy experience, and I’m pawsitively sure I’ll find myself booting this game up to work on my collectibles again. There are also a few mysteries around the volcano I’d like to uncover. However, while cozy games and cute kittens go paw-in-paw, there isn’t quite enough here to make it a fancy feast. Nevertheless, this was a fun little tail. Whisker me away to Petit Island, cause I’m feline like a getaway. Okay, that’s all the puns I’ve got.
If you’ve read the biographical comic book from Box Brown, watched YouTube documentaries or the recent movie and think you’ve seen the best parts of the Tetris story, turns out there was plenty of compelling ground left to cover. Tetris Forever tells a complete story, from the origins to the current Tetris Company, 40 years later. The new interview footage, filmic editing, curated game placement, and supplemental materials are arranged with tremendous skill and care. I can’t gush enough about how Tetris Forever takes the concept and structure of Gold Master and nails it, showing that weaving the “museum” content and gameplay together to tell a singular story leads to something that’s fun and intellectually gratifying at the same time.
Death Note Killer Within is truly fascinating, even to look at from a distance. It’s a smart adaptation of a Shonen Jump manga that is famous for challenging what “Shonen Jump manga” could be at its moment in time. Seeing the characters pop up in games like Jump Ultimate Stars or Jump Force was always awkward, and the other games based on the series remain obscure. So it’s cool to see the folks who made this identify a trend and realize the IP is a good fit, then execute it in a way that both adapts Death Note and have fun with it at the same time. I think it has a pretty limited audience though, as you have to cross several barriers of entry to get what feels like the only way to have a good time. If the gameplay gave more time for its nuances to breathe and shine, was more adaptable to the inherent instability of online play, and was more approachable, there’d be something really special here.