DayOne's Reviews
Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania is the dream DLC I never knew I wanted for one of my favorite games of the past decade. It’s full of content that is all of supremely high quality. Whether you own the game outright or play it on Game Pass if any of this sounds the least bit appealing then spend $10 on this expansion. It is phenomenal.
Dragon Blaze is a nice-looking, decently fun 23-year-old arcade port. It’s overpriced and the achievements are a real p.i.t.a. to get. If you have a co-op partner and a vertical monitor though there are worse ways to spend your money.
For $6 the ratio of time to earning all 17 achievements isn’t bad at all, and while it’s not fun per se it isn’t the pure torture that some recent titles I’ve reviewed have been.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is an epic ass-kicking time. Featuring ridiculously cool characters, stunning music, and a deeply engaging combat system this one is an easy recommendation for purchase or downloading on Game Pass like.
Accident doesn’t look good, runs poorly, controls even worse, and feels like it’s in bad taste more often than not. The basic premise makes little sense, but it does have an excellent soundtrack of all things. If you’re feeling morbid and want to rescue breath a 13-year-old whose mom is dead in the front seat then get help and still avoid this game.
The Redress of Mira is an oddly titled, terrible experience. It never plays well, and never looks good. It will, however, get you a lot of achievement points in a relatively short period of time.
Mad Head Games' first foray into the cinematic third person games doesn't try to reinvent the formula, yet offers an engaging, memorable and atmospheric adventure that I can wholeheartedly recommend to any fan of the genre who's able to appreciate the game's relatively limited scope.
Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is an awesome rhythm game. There’s plenty of content to unlock, tonnes of songs to listen and play along to, and the option combat system adds onto the core gameplay mechanics in such a way that doesn’t hinder it but enhances the experience. I love it.
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator is the best kind of laidback experience you could ask for. Being able to cook meals at your own pace as well as making the restaurant your own space feels cathartic and you could spend hours unlocking and upgrading meals. Not to mention how you decorate your restaurant to appeal to certain crowds, building your own wardrobe, etcetera. A Michelin-star worthy game.
It frustrates me that I have to leave Blood Bowl 3 with a middling review, but despite the solid core gameplay, everything around it frustrates me too much for me to continue playing. These issues may be fixed in the future, but at the moment I struggle to recommend this game to fans of Warhammer, strategy, or possibly even the more hardcore Blood Bowl fan.
Grim Guardians: Demon Purge is a good action platformer that comes together remarkably well. Another score for Inti Creates’ catalogue of fun 2D platformers.
There is a lot in Remoteness that could have worked out well on paper, but the game’s good ideas clash with a disastrous execution where even the basic controls are nearly unusable and almost all elements of the game are severely unfinished and often straight up not working, making it near impossible to even aim and shoot at enemies.
Atomic Heart is an excellent game, and it’s an incredible debut title from Mundfish. Clever storytelling, massive set pieces, fun combat, and more make this one easy to recommend. Hell, it’s on Game Pass Day One, so go pre-install it already and enjoy this ridiculous ride.
For fans and newcomers alike, this game is a triumph and needs to be experienced. PLAY THIS GAME.
Wild Hearts was low on my list for 2023. After spending 30 or so hours with it I’m stunned. It is an incredible first effort from the team at Omega Force. Mixing Monster Hunting with Green Lantern crafting works beautifully. I hope this series is around for a very long time, because this game is excellent.
After spending 12 or so hours with review code, I’ve come to the conclusion that frankly, this game just isn’t very good
It may overstay its welcome in the end, but fans of the first game will have a lot of fun playing this. Are Twenty Dates on the horizon? Only time will tell.
It plays ok, looks decent, and is an easy 1000 gamerscore for a couple of bucks.
This feels like it’s a cheap Gamerscore game, but it’s neither cheap enough or easy enough to get the full 1000 achievement points. If you can get this for a couple of bucks on sale it might be worth frilling away your time, but even then I’d say give this game a pass.
Hogwarts Legacy borrows a lot of design choices and ideas from other open-world titles, and yet, it creates a truly unique product, unlike any title in the genre, with a true focus on world-building rather than non-stop combat encounters. It’s a game that should be experienced, even by those who aren’t Potter fans at all.