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Whilst I believe that The Last of Us Part II Remastered might have been unnecessary, it does offer a variety of new features for you to enjoy. The cosmetic additions are welcomed and having the option to strum a guitar endlessly may be a bit of fun. However, I believe it will come down to whether or not you want to experience the extra dual sense features or if you are interested in a Last of Us Part II themed roguelike mode, that’ll determine if you play it or not.
Even though I physically could not finish the game, from what I experienced, The Cosmic Wheel Sister featured a fairly compelling story and characters. However, it would often forgo the age-old show don’t tell technique, leaving the audience feeling like its biggest scenes are happening in another castle.
Winter Survival is honestly a complete waste of time. The story might give you some initial intrigue. However, the stiff gameplay mixed with unreasonable survival mechanics leads to a frustrating experience that will deter you from being able to make significant progress. Do yourself a favour and pass on this one!
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an absolute mess. Gollum’s movements are very inconsistent. Almost every jump feels like a leap of faith! Though some of the world may be interesting to explore, it quickly becomes undesirable because of just how clunky these basic controls are! The Lord of the Rings: Gollum struggles to make an impact in Tolkien’s beloved universe and stands as an outsider when compared to the franchise’s other games. There might be some interesting ideas here, but it is not fun! Whilst parts of the narrative are interesting, it all falls apart very quickly.
Fort Solis is a major disappointment, missing almost all of the aspects that make for an enjoyable horror/thriller experience.
Minecraft Legends is a bland strategy title that fails to impress. The core tactical systems are shallow and have been implemented quite poorly and the third person combat and traversal is underwhelming at best. As you are locked to controlling your hero, constructing defenses and ordering troops can also feel quite awkward meaning this experience quickly becomes very tedious. This is really unfortunate, because the story is decent, and has some clever humour. However, this is not enough of a reason to be worth investing time into Minecraft Legends.
LEGO Bricktales fails to live up to its potential. The game’s building mechanic is really tedious and annoying. The LEGO pieces are often difficult to maneuver into specific positions and the controls are quite awkward. The level exploration is bland and the narrative is simplistic and uninteresting. Overall LEGO Bricktails is a real disappointment and not worth the time investment.
Kamiwaza: Way of the Thief should have stayed a Japanese exclusive. Multiple mechanics fall flat and the tedium of go-fetch quests quickly starts to stack up several hours in. Constantly spamming one button for a full minute to steal valuable items isn’t fun. Neither is repeating the same generic mission setup with extremely vague target instructions. Doesn’t help that the branching storylines and characters aren’t particularly interesting either, apart from a few interesting designs here and there. So if the wacky, over-the-top silliness can’t grab your attention, it’s hard to say what else will.
SkateBIRD’s attempt to create a Tony Hawk-esque style skateboarding game with birds, is largely underwhelming and struggles to impress. With unresponsive controls and a camera that seems to flip all over the place, SkateBIRD fails to provide any reasons to be worth picking up.
WarioWare: Move It! inflicts more pain than it does joy. Arms will become tired, motion controls will frustrate, and then the experience will end well before it should. There are some fun microgames packed in here, but it’s such a shame that the execution really lets this entry down.
AEW Fight Forever struggles to find its place with its first entry into the world of video games! Whilst it tries to set itself apart from WWE’s flagship series, with a lack of creativity and variety, it just ends up becoming a bit monotonous. There may be something here for die hard fans, but unfortunately beyond a few matches in exhibition and a lacklustre career mode, AEW Fight Forever does not do enough to be an enticing wrestling game! Unfortunately, unlike the actual AEW brand, the game just can’t compete with its WWE counterpart!
Redfall turned out almost exactly as you thought. Not only is the usual Bethesda jank on full display, but the game is just straight-up lacking in quality.
What starts out as a calming restoration simulator, quickly devolves into mundanity: the video game.
Tchia does initially give players a decent narrative to latch on to. Unfortunately, after a couple hours of play, it becomes quite dry. Tchia’s setting, which is heavily based on New Caledonia, does look stunning, especially with its simple art style. However, the world does feel quite empty, and with traversal often feeling quite slow, there is little reason left for players to take on the chore of seeing the sights.
I can’t remember the last time I played a game that was as linear and repetitive as this, but Gungrave G.O.R.E really takes the boredom cake. Yes, there are some cool mechanics like reflecting rockets and using soldiers as meat shields, but unless you enjoy mindlessly shooting thugs for days, it’s best to steer clear.
With a lackluster narrative, and gameplay mechanics that are basic and largely unenjoyable, Lake ends up being a monotonous experience that is really not worth the time investment.
Though Sable may have a fantastic art style and a large open world, with a variety of environments, its lack of a strong narrative and underwhelming gameplay fail to impress. The game may seem intriguing at first, but ultimately, it will leave players disappointed.
Babylon’s Fall bears the shell of a Platinum Games release, however, it doesn’t go anywhere beyond that. The combat is dull and colourless, the story and graphical presentation are weak, and the micro-transactions it tries to shove down your throat feel like blatant predatory practices. There are some enjoyable moments of co-op gameplay, although they are few and far between.
Gunhead is a FPS roguelike that promises a level of challenge with its procedurally generated levels and unique gunplay system. However, it can't escape the monotonous rinse and repeat formula of the gameplay, and the samey level design. The inclusion of a sporadic half-baked narrative in this style of game just leaves a lot to be desired.
While it does contain some satisfying combat and runs remarkably well online for PC, Exoprimal’s repetitive gameplay loop starts to lose steam quicker than green grass through a goose.