TheSixthAxis
HomepageTheSixthAxis's Reviews
Enter the Gungeon naturally won't be for everyone, especially with its high difficulty and the pixel art graphics, regardless of how well crafted they are. It is, however, an excellent blend of roguelike and satisfying bullet hell gunplay that's easy to dip into time and again.
I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a game as much as Ratchet & Clank.
Stranger of Sword City excels at one thing, and really flounders at the others. It’s a rewarding experience if you’re a fan of challenging RPGs and gameplay depth. If you’re a fan of well-written dialogue, engaging music or proper difficulty curves though…well….there are a lot of other video games out there that may suit you better.
Blues and Bullets is shaping up to be an intriguing game, but it may be worth waiting for the complete package.
Though Minecraft: Story Mode really hasn’t pushed the graphic adventure genre to new heights, it’s another example of just how adaptable Telltale are when it comes to creating stories for other properties. Though Minecraft really doesn’t have a story, that fact simply gave them free reign to create a world and characters of their own, and the fifth episode’s standalone adventure is just another example of that, with more adventures yet to come.
With much of the game centred around matches and how they play out, Lacrosse 16 leaves much to be desired. Clearly, a lot of dedication has gone into making this the most polished adaptation of the sport you’ll ever get your hands on. However, that’s not enough to gloss over its two largest oversights: frustrating controls and an almost nonexistent learning aide.
Rod Moye has created a decent platformer with Candlelight. Though it can be challenging, it remains accessible, but there are some issues that prevent Candlelight from being a truly magnificent game. Platformers need to establish their fundamental rules quite early on and not keep adding things right until the final moments, which Candlelight is guilty of. As a solo effort, Candlelight is a fantastic achievement and kudos must be given for that.
Dark Souls III offers more of the same intensely difficult combat, ambiguous overarching story, and some striking locales and bosses in the franchises' history. The only real objective criticism on the PS4 version is that the combat doesn't feel responsive enough thanks to the 30FPS cap and frame drops. Dying in Dark Souls III is part of the territory and if that doesn't faze you, then this is an easy recommendation for those with the patience of a saint.
Quantum Break is an engaging and enjoyable narrative experience, and it makes the most of its stellar cast, pushing the boundaries of storytelling in games and presentation. However, it won't be for everyone, particularly those who don't like to be led by the hand or don't want to spend an extended amount of time watching content rather than interacting with it. It also falsely makes you feel like you have a choice, but then, that's much of its point, and despite a few missteps this is a story well worth experiencing.
At its heart, Stikbold’s a fairly simple game of hitting people with balls, but it has a bunch of fun and silly ideas alongside that which turn it into a manic little party game to while away a few hours.
All through my time with République I felt it would make an excellent book, thriller movie, or even a TV show. It makes a good mobile game but not a great console game, where it's let down by the poor opposition AI, and it's a shame that the actual gameplay drags it down so much. Fans of dystopian fiction, or good stories in general, would absolutely adore Hope's journey. The execution leaves a lot to be desired.
It's a shame because Kholat has one of the best horror game set-ups we've seen for quite some time. Not only that, the team at IMGN.PRO has clearly put effort into sculpting an spooky collection of vistas each dripping in atmosphere. Sadly, wedged between these tense moments is way too much filler. The mind-numbing map reading and navigation would have been easy to overlook if that only made up a small portion of the game. Instead, it forms this drab and unappealing bedrock that threatens to drag Kholat down whenever there isn't something scripted happening on-screen.
Dirt Rally gets Codemasters back to their roots, with a game that focuses on rallying through and through. It's tough and unforgiving of your mistakes, but that's what rallying is about and it makes getting to grips with the car's handling, measuring your approach to a stage and coming out on top all the more satisfying.
Nights of Azure feels like a guilty pleasure, but it's the gameplay that's the star here. The boring story is filled with forgettable, two dimensional characters, and while there is passion between the main characters, it feels forced rather than natural. The gameplay isn't ground-breaking either, but it is at least competent at delivering a mindless hack 'n' slash that is fun to play and worth a look.
Salt and Sanctuary is about as far from original as you could possibly imagine. It apes the Souls series almost beat-for-beat, from its core design down to very minor things like the health and stamina bars in the HUD.
Sheltered is a well crafted game that is quite tough at first to make progress in, but once you’re used to its systems there can be a rewarding experience. Just be prepared to lose people along the way.
As a 3D action game, Estival Versus manages to tick most boxes, but it fails to deliver anything which could be labelled as ground-breaking. While in no way poor or unenjoyable, it does little to put this franchise on the map. Still, for fans of previous entries, there's plenty of meat on the bone, bundled together in a respectably polished brawler.
Some parts of the TrackMania Turbo's structure feel restrictive or poorly thought out, but there's little to detract from the compulsive time attacks, the outlandish track design and the gorgeously vibrant graphics.
While nowhere near as ambitious an undertaking as Grim Fandango Remastered, there is obviously a lot of love and care that has gone into Day of the Tentacle Remastered. There are most certainly still the same old gameplay warts that came from that era of gaming that don’t really translate well and some minor rough edges to the remaster, but it’s well preserved and the updates to presentation are marvellous. This is definitely a revamped classic worth a look.
Hyrule Warriors: Legends may be not be of the same calibre as most Zelda games yet there’s something to be said about way it draws from both the gaming properties it looks to fuse together. Although not entirely successful, it’s an interesting amalgam and one that fans from both camps will now be able to appreciate while on the go.