WayTooManyGames
HomepageWayTooManyGames's Reviews
For fans of the franchise, it’s a purchase. Either at launch or the minute it gets to a “too good to pass up” sale. Especially when it’s such a popular series, and in this case a very popular arc that’s been adapted. For people who aren’t already in the know, nothing about the game is designed to bring people in. Little marketing, gameplay trailers unashamedly show off all the flaws, and the Japanese only voice acting is a huge deal-breaker for many in the west. For me personally though, I fall into the former category.
No More Heroes III could have been great. Its visuals, performance, and combat system are all a massive improvement over its predecessors. This game had all the ingredients to become a hack ‘n’ slash classic, but Suda51 had to shove it, nay, drown it with arrogance, self-indulgence, and some of the unfunniest “humor” I’ve witnessed since, well, the original No More Heroes, I suppose. The return of the pointless open world is further proof that player feedback, as well as trend analysis, haven’t been taken into account.
Super Jagger Bomb is just Bomb Jack with an average-at-best polygonal coat of paint. It plays just like a nearly forty year old game, with little to no interesting gameplay elements added to the mix. You might want to grab it if you have some sort of nostalgic feelings towards that Tecmo cult classic, but at the same time, if you do, the original Bomb Jack is available on the Switch eShop. You probably own it already.
I wanted to like The Outbound Ghost, I really did. There’s clearly a ton of love behind its development, especially in the art and sound departments. Unfortunately, its story is completely underdeveloped and ends without much of it being resolved or explained. The combat is fun at first, and encourages creative combinations of Figments and their Aspects, but it does start to feel repetitive after a while.
While things like Amnesia: Later x Crowd aren’t for everyone, it’s a really, really great treat for certain people, and I love that they can access this without needing to import and learn Japanese. I hope this sets a pace and a tone for even more Japan exclusives to finally cross the ocean as the Nintendo Switch juggernauts onward.
Prodeus would have been great if it was only a mere shooter heavily inspired by 2016’s DOOM, but its developers went above and beyond. What an amazing game. It’s both a love letter to old and modern shooters, embracing the best elements from both eras. Its levels are amazing, its gameplay is fast-paced and punchy, its soundtrack is insane… and it’s got a freaking phenomenal level editor that will basically ensure that players will have an endless supply of brand new levels to tackle for the foreseeable future.
Taiko No Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival is another welcome addition to the drum hero series. With so many different styles of songs to pick from, and not just having to play song after song with no variety, it’s one of the easiest versions of the series to pick up and play.
Even though it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, I still highly recommend Little Orpheus. If you go in knowing it’s a laid-back adventure that’s more focused on its story than on providing a challenge, then you won’t be disappointed. Especially if you’re looking for a fun, silly, casual experience to enjoy over a few hours. Much how Lost in Play feels like playing a Saturday morning cartoon, Little Orpheus feels like a playable old school adventure film, like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
If you have a VR headset and are itching for something to play, Red Matter 2 is a must-play. It’s a clever little puzzle adventure game that continued to surprise me throughout, thanks to its intelligent puzzle design that keeps things interesting and varied. Not to mention the occasionally gorgeous visuals that must be pushing the Quest 2 to its limits.
I think Amnesia: Memories is just a tad cold, a bit too mean, and left me feeling restless and unresolved. It hits the notes, but it hits them in the wrong key. A classic, certainly, and I’m glad Switch owners have the option to play it. I just don’t know if it’s one I’d pick up if given the choice.
It’s seriously not as if BPM is a bad game. Since its release, so many other games have come out doing roughly the same thing, but building upon it. It runs well on Switch, but definitely is hindered by the limitations of the system, especially in handheld mode. That definitely doesn’t mean don’t play it, because it is easy to pick up and play for one or two runs, and pick up to play on a daily basis. It’s the perfect style game for the Switch, it just needs a little bit of tweaking in order to be fully enjoyed.
NIS Classics Collection Vol. 3 continues revisiting the vault, but this time, it fails to grab hold of a pair of winners.
Even if the gameplay loop outstays its welcome after a few rounds, and you can play all of its songs in about two hours, I can’t help but love the fact that Trombone Champ exists. It’s just… weird. Weird in the most adorable of ways.
Circus Electrique has so much promise. It’s gameplay foundation is incredibly solid, the theme unique and well executed, and there’s plenty of variety in everything. And while it’s definitely inherently flawed, there’s nothing here that can’t be fixed. Right off the bat, a store or resource exchange system would go far in improving your dealings with RNG. A way to leave current districts and replay previous ones to grind would as well. Balance changes are as always the easiest to pull off, and I’m sure some are on the way even now. The point is, while these issues are critical to actually playing and enjoying the game, they’re all easily fixable and I’m really hoping the developers realize this. Because this really is a fun and unique game, and I’d really really love to actually be able to enjoy it.
Shovel Knight Dig is a great Downwell-esque roguelike adaptation of the franchise’s formula, though its somewhat unfair steep difficulty curve can be a bit irritating at times.
It’s hard to recommend PBA Pro Bowling 2023, even though there’s nothing inherently bad about it. Sure, its presentation is really subpar, but as a bowling experience, it does offer more than I was expecting. That’s the problem, though: it’s a bowling video game. It’s very limited in terms of scope and gameplay, despite featuring a career mode and licensed players. You can’t help but feel like you could get similar experiences in other games that just so happen to feature bowling as one of their side activities.
It’s a feeling that can only come from this particular idea playing out as a video game, to be something that combines the best elements of a choose-your-own-adventure book, a 1980s coming of age movie and the moment-to-moment tension of Oxenfree. I cannot and will not stop praising this game, and I earnestly believe this is one of my favorite gaming moments in the past decade. Thank you.
Soulstice is a love letter to the PlayStation 2 era of the action genre, with frantic fast-paced combat and its own spin on things. However, it does bring some of that baggage with it and there are some glaring issues with pacing and repetition, especially in the opening hours. Thankfully, Soulstice does recover in the end and for fans of the genre it is absolutely worth checking out.
Some unnecessary design choices hindered my overall enjoyment with Hardspace: Shipbreaker, namely the monstrously uninteresting story and short work shifts, but I still spent a shocking amount of time with this curiously relaxing mix between a pasttime simulator, a puzzle game, and a survival title. It featured one of the most enjoyable, innovative and relaxing gameplay loops from any game I’ve played this year.
Its online modes are bland, and its gameplay is really sluggish for modern fighting game standards, but the sheer amount of content and fan service make JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R a must-have for fans of this utterly ludicrous but endearing franchise.