Entertainium's Reviews
It’s a longstanding truism that annual games are not well-suited to innovation. They tend to make only small, incremental changes but even these can thrill or displease the loyal year-on-year purchasers. Vanguard is exactly that kind of game in exactly that kind of series. What it does have is the extremely high production standards and level of polish that Call of Duty is known for these days. This looks and plays every bit like a game which cost many, many millions of dollars to develop. If you have ever enjoyed a Call of Duty game you will enjoy this one, too, and can expect to be kept busy until the next edition. 18 games in, that is about all we can expect.
If there’s ever an RPG you should own for the Switch, Shin Megami Tensei V is definitely it. Yeah, there’s plenty of competition vying for your attention on the eShop or on store shelves for sure, but if you’re after a traditional J-RPG experience with a flair of more modern features, Atlus has done a terrific job making Shin Megami Tensei V a no-brainer addition to your Switch library.
It’s fantastic that we’re now getting to play this game on even more platforms, which similarly to some of the games I have recently reviewed, can fetch outrageous prices online. Now they’re readily available and fairly priced, and in all cases they’re very much worth getting. Mr Driller Drill Land is ever so charming and a blast to play rather you’re by your lonesome or with a buddy or three.
Gynoug is yet another excellent addition to the quickly growing library of shoot ’em up treasures that are being brought back from the depths of expensive online marketplaces and into the hands of players looking to have a fun time with quality shooters such as this. I honestly can’t wait to see what’s next in line.
If you happen to not own Knights of the Old Republic on any other easily reachable systems or are looking to play it portably and comfortably, this Switch port is definitely the way to go. Aspyr has done an admirable job carrying it over and it’s a nice distraction while they hopefully do the original game justice in the upcoming remake. Worst case, we can always dive back into this and relive the glory days of Darth Revan while riding the bus or heck, on the can.
Sherlock Holmes: Chapter One is an attempt by Frogwares to kick off a new more action-focused franchise with much younger protagonist, but if they hope to keep a captive audience around Frogwares ought to make the experience of stepping into Holmes’ shoes much more engaging and enjoyable than what’s presented in this game.
Technical issues aside, I had a good time playing Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water. It’s comforting to see the effort that Koei Tecmo put in to make this otherwise practically impossible to get game to a much wider audience, considering that used copies can go for hundreds of dollars online due to the limited nature of its original release. If you have yet to try one of these games, this new release makes Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water the most easily accessible of the bunch and worth giving a shot.
Even with the handicap that’s inherent when playing with a controller when compared to keyboard and mouse, Iron Harvest‘s overall rhythm isn’t impacted when playing this on console. It’s no secret that a controller can’t hold a candle when it comes to precision, but it could be a whole lot worse than this turned out to be. Yeah, this doesn’t exactly sound like a ringing endorsement for this port, but considering how badly RTS usually do in consoles, Iron Harvest Complete Edition is a big BIG win.
Senna’s name truly is forever if videogames are concerned, as the Senna Forever DLC for Horizon Chase Turbo can attest.
Games such as Gleylancer deserve to be brought back into the limelight. This revised version, for the lack of other alternatives outside of importing the original or taking the illegal route of acquiring a ROM, is an excellent way of legally discovering a true gem that time forgot.
Jett: The Far Shore has an interesting and deep world, but it takes far too long to actually get around to telling you about it. It’s also sadly just boring to play thanks to the glacial pacing, which leaves your enjoyment purely hinging on your engagement with the characters and story. If you’ve got the patience to enjoy Jett’s deliberately slow approach, you’ll certainly find an interesting world to learn about and explore, filled with unique alien lifeforms.
Eastward is a remarkable achievement in a number of ways. Those for whom the world, story and characters really click will likely regard it as a minor masterpiece. A more general audience can revel in the visuals and music, and also get a lot out of the combat, exploration and puzzles, but may find the game frustratingly talky and slow-moving. Ultimately, it is the prospect of the game’s script that will help players determine if a trip Eastward is one worth taking.
Madden 22 is a ridiculously safe bet for EA. We’re hopefully on the cusp of getting fully dedicated next gen games that leave behind PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in favor of having a truly superior product, at least in the sports genre. Even though companies like Sony are betting on releasing crossgen AAA’s like Horizon: Forbidden West, it’s truly to fans’ best interest getting an evolutionary step when in comes to EA’s sports catalog, which as it stands in a unique position of being literally the only game in town and in result, is stagnant and tired. Will Madden 23 get over this hump? We’ll find out in twelve months from now.
Undeniably, Far Cry 6 has enough to keep you busy for hours, not including the post-release DLC that still has yet to be unlocked. Now, whether or not these will be quality hours will depend on if you don’t mind to the (let’s say ‘unique’) brand of humor that has always been a part of the franchise and the bafflingly hands off approach Ubisoft has with the themes that they most certainly knowingly injects into their games. It’s yet another Far Cry, for better or for worse.
Industria doesn’t outstay its welcome, but it could have done with more narrative meat on its bones, especially for the ending. It sets up a fascinating world I was interested to learn about, and left me eager for more. The shooting is nicely satisfying and the robot design is appropriately unnerving, meaning the dark hallways of the buildings of Hakavik always felt atmospheric and spooky. It needs some more patches to make the performance adequate, but I will be very interested to see what Bleakmill does next. I hope we’ll return to the world of Industria in the future.
Yeah, it might be mean to say that Hot Wheels Unleashed is better than it has any right to be, I admit. It’s incredibly competently put together and it’s clear a lot of care has gone into its making. This isn’t a hastily developed cash grab in any way, and as far as licensed games go, it’s among the better ones you can buy right now.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is truly a unique game, and despite its bland gameplay, feels like a genuine cult classic.
I’m a huge fan of games like this, that are respectable to what came before them and don’t try to merely ape them, but add something tasty to the formula. While Steel Assault stumbles somewhat along the way in its delivery, it’s still very playable and is a pleasurable challenging romp that is very much possible to succeed at if you stick with it.
Concept games like Lake are great for what they are and for how long they last you. You shouldn’t come to them expecting to be blown away, but for what they aim to present. Lake is especially good at delivering a satisfyingly light and encapsulated experience, but not much else.
When it’s at its best, Humankind represents a fascinating look at the strategy genre through the historical lens of tribal society through the space age. Amplitude’s focus on cultures and cultural affinity sets Humankind apart from games like Civilization and commitment to supporting the game with early and numerous patches and bug fixes mean that your empires will be racing towards the stars for a long time to come.