DayOne's Reviews
Should you play it? That’s the big question, isn’t it? I think, now that the dust has settled, and most of the bugs have been resolved, it’s still worth a go – especially if you’re a fan of either franchise. But beneath the lovingly crafted veneer, the longstanding issues that have plagued Sea of Thieves since it’s launch are still prevalent. Average combat and poor signposting for new players, if this was your introduction to Sea of Thieves, you may be left scratching your head and wondering what all the fuss was about.
Dodgeball and RPG is an odd combination that works surprisingly well in Dodgeball Academia — all thanks to its fast-paced combat and entertaining writing. You will find yourself giggling at times right before sweating your way through a chaotic match, while the games’ accessibility settings let you play it exactly the way you want to. To top things off, Dodgeball Academia offers a rare local versus mode, becoming a good candidate for those good old LAN parties.
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - The Official Video Game, like most titles focusing on so many completely different gameplay loops and styles, falls short on truly delivering in any of them. The sheer variety of the twenty different sports presented, the rush of adrenaline of some of the shorter modes, solid online performance, and good presentation makes it a pleasant enough title for fans of the world's most famous torch.
At $30 US it is a steal, but it’s also available day one on Game Pass. Stunning graphics, excellent music, innovative gameplay, and so many other factors come together to not only make one of the best releases of the year but one of my favorite games of all time. (score updated after launch, console version is far behind/buggier than the Steam version)
Eldest Souls incorporates two of the best traits from a Souls game: challenging boss-fights and a minimalist storytelling approach. You will die a lot, but at the same time you will never feel cheated by the game — au contraire, you will find yourself on that “one more try” loop, unable to put the controller down until you find out a nice build combination to defeat a boss. And when you do, the satisfaction is near-instant.
In conclusion, Omno is a very calming experience of exploration and wonder. Anyone with an interest in platforming, puzzle solving and losing themselves in a make believe world should play it as soon as they can. It appears to this reviewer that the gamble taken by Jonas Manke in giving up his day job to create this masterpiece was the right thing to do. Hopefully, as it is available right now on Xbox Game Pass a lot of people will take the time to experience it.
While I was not keen on the narrative function of the time travel, it worked as a good gameplay mechanic and added to the individual stories of the people within the secluded Roman city. The action was unnecessary, but the horror was welcome. But even in the face of that, The Forgotten City is easy to recommend for story-centric players. “Caveat emptor” does not apply here.
Overall Last Stop is a well crafted game by very talented independent developers which will keep players engaged for a couple of hours. A polished and well built experience. Sadly, the journey is definitely more interesting than the destination with this one.
Scarlet Nexus hits a lot of high notes in its lengthy double-story, spanning almost 50 hours of content. An exciting futuristic world, a surprising and great story, excellent combat, lovely artstyle. What’s not to love? Bandai Namco’s new IP is one of the most interesting JRPGs to come out in a long while, and while it’s certainly not perfect, we’re really looking forward to seeing more of this intriguing franchise in the future.
Cris Tales sets a high bar when describing itself as a love letter to some of the best JRPGs of all time, but indie studio Dreams Uncorporated manages to exceed expectations by delivering a charming game with unique and challenging combat mechanics and a gorgeous artstyle. The characters are interesting, and the ability to peer into their past and future makes you care even more for them – especially the protagonist and its allies, which will travel alongside you during the game’s 20-30 hours of gameplay.
This is a fast and (in a cartoon style) gloriously violent game. It looks great and has numerous levels of complexity and depth making it a challenging yet ultimately very satisfying experience. Newly available on Xbox Game Pass, I recommend that you give this gem a try.
I know on the Xbox platform at least there is always a “well I’ll wait for Game Pass” mentality for many, but this game deserves success. It is a remarkable achievement by a very small team, and I simply loved it.
With a solid combat system, pretty visuals, and good level design makes ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights a game I can suggest to just about anyone.
When I played through Streets of Rage 4 just over a year ago, I noticed something almost immediately. There were some Boss characters that felt just a little too...fleshed out to simply remain Bosses you fight in a scrolling beat 'em up. Not to mention two of them had been playable characters in previous entries of the series. Needless to say, when the Mr. X Nightmare DLC was announced a few months ago, my suspicions were confirmed and my excitement took over. Now it's finally here and I got to spend some time going through it all and I must say, I'm very impressed with what's on offer here, particularly at this price point.
‘Arise: A Simple Story’ is a well-designed Platform Puzzler with a very clever time manipulation mechanic. The game is very striking visually and the musical score picks you up and carries you along the way with it. The puzzles are not over-taxing but are challenging enough to keep you interested and create a nice, chill gaming experience. If you are looking for a platformer game that will take you on a bit of an emotional journey, you should check this out.
F1 2021 is not the game that will convince those unsatisfied of Codemasters’ approach to the pinnacle of motorsport, as most of the changes seen in this title are iterative. Braking Point, however, is almost worth the price of admission alone, despite feeling slightly undercooked in some aspects: the narrative, the presentation and tension are truly great, and Codemasters’ first attempt at delivering an actual story mode is worthy of praise. Also, a long list of quality-of-life changes and further customizations offered to players makes F1 2021 perhaps the most accessible and complete Formula 1 experience by Codemasters thus far. The jump to the new generation of consoles isn’t particularly noticeable, aside from the 120fps mode, but Electronic Arts’ long-running expertize in sports games is starting to show its fruits on Codemasters’ 13th attempt to bring Formula 1 to consoles, after the British studio’s acquisition by the American colossus. It’s an exciting Formula 1 season, and the future of the videogame version of the sport is in excellent hands.
The story is fantastic in this game. Do not investigate it beforehand and you will have one HELL of a time. Developer Team Salvato made something truly special. A game that elevates a genre in a way nothing really had before it, at least for me.
The Last Campfire is relatively easy to complete, and while the story is fairly surface-level when it comes to exploring meaning, loss, and frustration, it is easy for everyone to understand and that is good enough. The visuals are dark and the sun rarely strikes through, but its art style and music are cohesive in that they are pleasing to the eye and kept me interested until the end.
But ultimately, King of Seas succeeds in most of its goals. It offers an enjoyable top-down pirate ship experience, with an engaging battle system, pleasant worlds, an interesting RPG skilltree and a pleasant story. On paper, it doesn’t do anything innovative or new, and yet the end result is an original and fun experience with a clear identity, one that we hope the developers can expand upon with updates or a sequel.
As this is on Game Pass the only thing you’re spending extra is your time. If you have a few friends to play with there are worse ways to go about it, but if you’re looking at this game solo then I’d say it’s a hard pass, free or not.