Entertainium's Reviews
With a sprawling catalog of excellent soundtracks, and charming visuals that capture the feel of each game and a constant drip of in-game rewards, Final Bar Line succeeds as a rhythm game and a showcase of some of the best music that the industry has given us. If this is to be the last entry in the Theatrhythm series, as per the developer, then this truly is a bittersweet symphony. Some of the best music in Square’s catalog is up on display and even casual fans of rhythm games or Square’s titles will undoubtedly find something to like here.
For those that have finished Trails from Zero and are looking to continue with its overarching story, Trails to Azure is a must-play. For those just coming into the series, I’d recommend playing the previous one first before embarking into this one since you’d miss a lot of the passing references to previous events and character development. And of course, Trails from Zero is a fantastic game in its own right, you should damn well play it.
Return to Castlevania fits in perfectly with the rest of Dead Cells, and it’s easily the best crossover you’ll get to experience this year. You can stake your bet at that!
Company of Heroes 3 is a game that wrestles with how to improve on the brilliance of its predecessors. Relic should be applauded for trying new things with the Italian campaign, even if there are a number of issues still to be ironed out. In skirmish and multiplayer, its modest but welcome improvements to a fantastic formula should give the game a long life. This sequel may not single-handedly return RTS games to prominence, but it is a gripping experience and a very welcome contribution to that effort.
It does speak to where Rhythm Sprout‘s interests in difficulty tend to lie, though. It’s a game that has a clear interest in providing challenge wherever possible, and it’s very good at doing that. It thankfully doesn’t forget approachability in that pursuit, but your mileage may vary on its effectiveness. If you’re able to put up with some of the more demanding levels, though, Rhythm Sprout is worth your time.
It's been said that Atomic Heart presents the Soviet system uncritically but that is certainly not the case; in much the same way that Rapture and Columbia collapsed, so too does Facility 3826. The same hubris of those supposed utopias is also on display here, and the same human weaknesses. Provided you play the game in Russian and ignore the awful “dude-bro” attitude which comes across in much of the writing, Atomic Heart is an engaging and atmospheric shooter. It’s best when P-3 shuts up and you’re just left exploring this fantastically extravagant Soviet world, shooting and slicing the variety of impressively designed robots. If this had a far better script and voice-acting, it could have been something very special.
I’m ecstatic for the chance of playing Returnal further after the five or so hours I spend with the PlayStation 5 version. It’s a great port, and it didn’t take me long at all to get back to exactly the same spot I was when I stopped playing it before, proving that the muscle memory and skill built in by the game’s difficulty is indeed there. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me further on and for the journey to get there.
It’s clear that The Settlers: New Allies has promise. It is lovely to look at, has a good soundtrack, and provides an often satisfying city-building experience. But its inclusion of real-time strategy elements reignites a thorny old tension which Ubisoft Düsseldorf have been unable to resolve. Despite its warm and friendly appearance, New Allies also struggles with its lack of any kind of narrative hook. Patches may well resolve the lingering technical issues, but will not fix these fundamental problems. The first major strategy release of what may be a landmark year for the genre, New Allies largely fails to live up to its name. It is hard not to wonder what might have been.
EA Motive's remake of Dead Space is a fantastic update to a bonafide horror classic.
Tails wonderfully brings more context and depth to the world of Backbone, while telling some interesting stories in its own right.
With the right execution, Wanted Dead could have found a ready-made audience for its old-fashioned approach. But what the developers of Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood and particularly Evil West did so well, Soleil has done very badly. A game built so totally on combat simply cannot afford to have combat which is implemented in such a tiresome, frustrating way. Wanted Dead is a confusing, disappointing miss which will likely fall far below the quality of forthcoming action games in 2023.
If you haven’t experienced Metroid Prime before, my friend, do yourself a favor and get started with this at your earliest convenience. You’re in for a treat. It’s a cliché because it’s true: there’s no better way to get into it than now, with the remaster. Metroid Prime Remastered makes one of the best games ever, which was previously somewhat expensive to obtain, readily available on the Switch for a fraction of the price that’s very much worth it regardless of the level of experience you might have with the original game.
The ease with which A Space for the Unbound can bounce between tonal shifts – the goofy and sincere, the difficult and moving, the supernatural and the grounded – without feeling at odds with itself speaks to the strength of both the story and the writing as a whole. It’s a carefully crafted game, one that succeeds at almost every turn, spinning a deeply moving and touching story all the while. After last year’s cavalcade of strong stories in games, with any luck, A Space for the Unbound will herald another coming of incredible stories in games this year.
It will take awhile to complete the main story, acquire the best cards, solve all the mysteries surrounding The Abbey, hunt down all the collectibles, unlock all the outfits, and increase your friendship with all the various heroes. You may well find yourself burning the midnight oil or watching the daylight slowly disappear as you hunt down the minions of Chthon. Like a flickering candle, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a bright spot among strategy games, yet it is also a slow burn that will melt the hours away.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider certainly isn’t the most unique or downright original game that ever was. But it’s just so well conceived and fun to play that it would be a crime for you not to give it a go. It’s readily available on just about every single modern platform, so I would urge you to give it a shot. It’s also not terribly long – if you know what you’re doing, you can finish it in a couple of hours leisurely, so it’s a fantastic pick up and play in short bursts. I had my eye on this game ever since it was announced and I’m overjoyed it turned out so well.
With elements of Pokemon, The 7th Saga, Super Mario Bros and even a little Dark Souls thrown in for good measure, Dragon Quest Treasures is an island hopping, booty finding good time.
It seems clear that Need for Speed is in safe hands now that it has been passed back to Criterion Games. The British studio has taken what Ghost Games achieved with Heat, and improved on it in numerous ways. The refined handling model and tighter economy make for some of the most tense and exciting racing around, and it helps that the game is rock-solid on the technical side. Need for Speed Unbound is a surprisingly excellent racer, and one which will hopefully continue to improve in the months to come.
Chained Echoes is a must-play both for fans of old school JRPGs as well as story-centric role-playing games.
River City Girls 2 is an awesome way to close out 2022, which has been a very good year for beat ’em up games. Alongside June’s brilliant Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, this is proof that the genre still has plenty of punch left when dedicated and passionate developers such as DotEmu and WayForward have any say in regards to the matter. If you have even an inkling of enjoying brawlers, you’ll definitely won’t want to miss River City Girls 2.
Romancing Saga: Minstrel Song Remastered is a lost niche JRPG from the past that makes a most welcome return to modern platforms.