WayTooManyGames
HomepageWayTooManyGames's Reviews
These issues were minute, however. I still wholeheartedly recommend picking NeverAwake up, even if you’re just moderately acquainted to bullet hell shooters. Its gameplay is actually innovative, in a genre known for rarely experimenting with new control schemes or gameplay loops, and its visuals are just amazing, being the perfect blend of something from Tim Burton and old-school Sega. Even if its story was forgettable and its duration wasn’t that impressive, its core mechanics more than made up for any setbacks found along the way.
There’s no denying the love and passion that went into recreating Colossal Cave into a 3D experience. The fact that the Williams’ came out of retirement to undertake this project, just proves how special the game is. However, I can see it being divisive among gamers. Older players (like myself) and veterans of the early adventure game genre, will more than likely revel in its faithfulness to its source material. I was completely hooked by its mysteries, and have gone back several times to try to discover everything Colossal Cave has to offer. Younger players, on the other hand, might be put off by its lack of narrative, complex puzzles, and very minimal hand-holding. I hope I’m wrong, and that Roberta Williams gets the appreciation she deserves from a whole new generation.
This game was just the greatest cup of coffee for me to help start the new year. Last year started with a bang when I had the pleasure of playing Infernax, and 2023 got off to a great start as well with Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider. It’s not terribly involved, the storyline is a bit heavy handed, and you need to figure out how it handles, but it’s exactly what it needs to be.
To Codemasters’ credit, it is the full version of GRID Legends, but now available in VR. It’s not a simple “VR experience” either: there’s a truckload of content in this game, making it one of the beefiest titles available on the Quest 2. However, the horrendous visuals, disappointing controls, and lack of immersion make this one a tough sell to all but the most die-hard VR enthusiasts, those who were eagerly waiting for a full-fledged racing sim on the system.
It feels like a product of its time, with newer games doing the same things, but better. Especially Triangle Strategy, a game I now recognize takes a lot of cues from this title. It’s still a good game, and worth playing for people curious about the history of the genre. Beyond that however, I just don’t see the hype.
Choo-Choo Charles is a hard one to review since everything but Charles is lacking that polish in design, animation, and certain mechanics. However, it is still done well enough to stay engaging to get you to the fun moments. There aren’t any performance issues or glitches I ran into either. With its bad character models and some silly side missions, Choo-Choo Charles is simultaneously silly and scary. At one point you’ll be collecting pickles, and the next you’ll be in a heart pounding fight with a demon train engine with spider legs.
All in all, Dusk ’82 is really short and as simplistic as it gets, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a little side project meant to pay homage to Castle Wolfenstein. Limited and clunky by nature, sure, but it gets the job done. It’s not particularly memorable (you can beat it in one sitting and then delete it from your Switch’s memory), but quite fun while it lasts.
Burrow of the Fallen Bear: A Gay Furry Visual Novel really stressed the point that people who enjoy this game also enjoy multiple sexual encounters with multiple partners with zero connection other than physical. That all beliefs, ideas and personal codes can be thrown out the window if arousal is observed. If this is just meant to be erotica, put that in the title.
Let me remind you once more that calling Breakers Collection a collection is an exaggeration. It’s one Neo Geo fighter and an updated version of it, with barely any changes whatsoever. The game itself isn’t bad at all, just pretty generic not only for today’s standards, but even the standards of the Neo Geo system as a whole. There’s little in here that would make Breakers stand out even from the B-tier fighting franchises of the time, like World Heroes or Waku Waku 7.
I knew I was going to in for an interesting ride when I started Norco, but I had no idea just how insane it would get. I do honestly mean insane, but in the best of ways. I’ve never had a game make me ask “what the hell is going on?” quite as much as Norco.
Children of Silentown is a dark and beautiful tale, that went in directions I wasn’t expecting. It gets surprisingly deep, especially in its final moments. It left me with some unanswered questions, but since there are multiple endings, I’m sure the others will touch upon certain aspects more than the ending I got. I guess I’ll just have to pay it again to find out! For now, I can’t help but sing the praises of Children of Silentown enough to everyone.
River City Girls 2 is one of those titles that’ll solidify itself as a comfort playthrough. Despite the problems I’ve noted, the core foundation is stronger than ever. It retains that fun loop the brawler genre has, with great RPG elements to throw an intriguing wrench into proceedings. With its short duration from start to finish, this is a romp that positions itself to be one that you can knock out in a weekend.
What a disappointing way to dive in head first into a new series. Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a stain on the history of a franchise that has a pretty solid cult following. While it does feature some decent combat, that alone doesn’t make up for its myriad of issues, such as the lacklustre story, bland world and incredibly poor visuals that look like they are from the PS2 era at the very best. It could have been great if more care had been put into it. As it stands, I just simply cannot recommend it.
If I had to settle on a single qualm, it’s that I wasn’t able to cover the game on Nintendo Switch. Take that as a hell of an endorsement since, despite a loss of 60fps, I reckon it’s carried by mouth-watering gameplay. Honestly, words can’t even begin to describe the glee I feel.
All in all, The Entropy Centre is a charming and inventive puzzle platformer. It’s nowhere near as memorable or innovative as its main cake-smelling source of inspiration, nor is it particularly replayable, but as a one-off, mind-bending puzzle adventure, yup, this gets the job done with honors for the extention of its runtime, more than making up for what little issues I’ve found in its voice acting and presentation departments as well.
That is essentially the ups and downs of Sonority. It’s not a super long game by any means, but it’s a nice little game for anyone that is into puzzlers, especially if you’re particularly into music and its theory. Sonority isn’t revolutionising the genre, but the usage of music and understanding of notes and scales could be good for anyone younger who is into or looking to have a better understanding of it.
It’s a bizarre moment to look at a game that I should, fundamentally, love from top to bottom, and just walk away feeling a bit disappointed and bored. Romancing SaGa: Minstrel’s Song has so much about it that is engaging and exciting, and then so much that is schlocky, aimless and visually unappealing.
At its core, this is still the excellent Mortal Shell we all fell in love with two years ago, but do bear in mind that the setbacks caused by this game being ported to the Switch largely outweigh the pros. The novelty value of playing yet another “impossible port” on the Switch is fantastic, but you will have to deal with unbelievably long loading times and some really poor framerate issues.
There’s a real good reason that Nintendo’s House of Indies featured Melatonin, and that it reeks of everything that makes a Nintendo game a Nintendo game. It’s taken a simple idea and sharpened it till it can split atoms, and then put it in a visually noticeable package. You could take Melatonin and port it to every platform imaginable, but I’m thrilled that it exists on PC and Switch alone, the sweetest pairing of choice and accessibility.
Even though I know it won’t be to everyone’s liking, I still highly recommend High on Life. It’s a fairly accessible first-person shooter for those who aren’t die-hard fans of the genre, while still offering enough variety to make veterans feel satisfied. While on its surface it’s a raunchy, outrageous first-person shooter, at its core there’s a surprisingly emotional heart. There’s a ton of fun to be had in simply exploring the various planets, and even more joy when you discover something as unexpected as Tammy and the T-Rex playing in your living room.