Entertainium's Reviews
It’s a little baffling to me why it took publisher GungHo this long to bring Grandia HD Collection to more consoles, nearly five years after its initial run. There’s likely a perfectly good reason for that, but still, it’s kind of silly when you think about it. Nonetheless, they are finally out on just about every single current console and on PC now, so this is your best bet at getting two of the finest RPGs – easy the highlights of the franchise too – in honestly their best form they’re likely to ever be.
Kingdom Come Deliverance is an incredibly ambitious game for sure. It is not for everyone and its quirks surely will get under some players’ skins, especially those who are looking for more fantastical adventuring such as The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim – which is also on Switch, I’ll be damned! Then again, if your expectations are in check, and they should be at this point nearly 7 years after the fact, you’ll find a nifty little gem with this one.
Classified: France ‘44 transplants familiar turn-based tactics to World War II, to merely adequate effect.
Star Wars had never been as down in the dirt as it was in the Battlefront games, and it’s now time to do it all over again. Will you heed the call of duty?!
The Legend of Steel Empire isn’t a shooter that will blow you away or anything, nor is it going to be a terribly long game to finish, but for what it is, it’s serviceable, not to mention its approach in terms of theme which sets it somewhat apart from the rest. I’d maybe draw a comparison to something like Jamestown in regards to that, yet another great little gem that happens to be on Switch too. Either way, you’ll be well served if you do decide to pick this one up, but keep your expectations in check as it lacks any form of extra materials or game modes. It is what it is.
Alone in the Dark is a slightly more campy form of horror compared to Resident Evil, with its focus on occult magic and otherworldly monsters over evil megacorporations unleashing deadly bioweapons. The performances and story of this remake kept me engaged, but weren’t groundbreaking. That said the atmosphere was strong throughout and included a number of moments which felt genuinely unnerving, although nothing as terrifying as Resident Evil Village for example. As a tribute to its original namesake, Alone in the Dark certainly lives up to being the best game in the franchise since The New Nightmare in 2001.
I’m positively surprised at just how well Contra Operation Galuga turned out. After their previous game in the series, I was worried that Konami would just phone it in and have this be just another cash-in for nostalgia’s sake: it is in fact a shockingly good entry. It won’t blow you away or anything, but what it does it does well and there’s a decent amount of different ways to play and keep you busy for a little while. Don’t pass this up. Fight aggressively!
Balatro is in equal measures a sensational and maddening roguelike deck-building experience that will keep you going for that all-so-close high score for hours upon hours.
The sequel to the excellent Lucah: Born of a Dream is a stylish action game that’s as heartfelt as it is intense.
Nightdive’s treatment of Star Wars Dark Forces, one of the greatest first-person shooters ever, sets the bar even higher for future retro re-releases.
Wrath: Aeon of Ruin is not the most imaginative retro FPS, but is elevated by its solid fundamentals and often stunning levels.
Avast ye landlubbers! There’s enough pirate booty in Skull and Bones to fill the coffers of the entire Spanish Armada.
Nostalgia is the fuel that powers Top Racer Collection, and in that regard, it succeeds at providing a lot for your retro buck if you’re looking to take a trip down memory lane and enjoy the best that there was in 16-bit wheel to wheel racing. Frankly, I would’ve loved to see more bonus material in the form of design docs and other knick knacks and emulation options, as they would make this more historically valid as some other compilations.
As it stands, Expeditions is pretty much what I expected out of a new entry in this very niched franchise that I was lucky to run into years ago with Spintires. It’s something that those looking for a quirky but immersive open-world experience are bound to eat up. There’s nothing quite like these games anywhere else, and even though others like Alaskan Road Truckers might’ve tried, there’s something to be said about Saber’s knack for steadily improving on and adding to the mix with each new edition, while keeping what makes them so damn addictive in the process.
With Banishers, Don’t Nod have elevated their craft to a new level. They combine elements from numerous previous games, but always with a new spin on them. They have combined them into a gripping story of life, death, guilt, and responsibility in a novel fantasy setting. Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a notably accomplished action game that should not be overlooked.
I’m positively surprised by the end product after such a short window between its announcement and release, less than a week apart from each other. Zen and Nightdive have done a terrific job keeping it all hush-hush and I couldn’t be happier with how System Shock Pinball has turned out. So much so that I’m anxious to see what’s next on their plate for both Pinball FX and Pinball M.
Arrowhead’s newest multiplayer slaughterfest Helldivers 2 is a blast to play thanks to its over-the-top presentation, hilariously chaotic moment-to-moment gameplay and excellent team mechanics.
Having those extras would have upped the historical value of having such a compilation at the ready, but even so, at is it, Tomb Raider Remastered is still very much worth picking up, regardless of your experience with these games. It’s fun to think of an entirely new generation getting to pick what we had to play when these were new. Surely, they do take some getting used to, but the overall enjoyment comes from the challenge, and these three sure do have plenty of that.
Slick and stylish, Persona 3 Reloaded is the definitive way to experience Persona 3.
There’s no denying that Half Mermaid Productions and Barlow have a knack for serving truly unique gameplay experiences, but they go beyond merely having their quirky style serve as a gimmick and crunch on which a game like Immortality can lean on. There’s actually an incredible amount of obvious care that has gone into making it something that folks will want to get through by providing a narrative that in all of its nonlinearity is shocking, but most importantly, very compelling, for as overused as that adjective is in gaming.