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Sand Land has a lot to offer everyone, even those (like myself) that didn’t know the source material before hand. The standard RPG fare of unlocking new skills is there, as is the general structure of a good RPG, but what Sand Land does differently is the world it inhabits, the combat present (slow and sluggish at first, but a joy once you unlock everything for Beezlebub and the vehicles) and the atmosphere it allows. There’s always room for improvement, but as an Manga adaptation goes, I can now add Sand Land to Pokemon and Dragon Ball as games I’ll be keeping an eye out for.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden oozes class, with a 20 to 30-hour story and plenty of off-the-beaten paths to explore – most with a reward at the end. You’ll be pitted with some disgusting and distressful story moments, some out-of-the-book thinking, and some genuinely hard decisions. The combat and accompanying skill trees will keep you invested and satisfied, whilst allowing enough different combinations you’ll feel each playthrough is different enough to warrant another one, and at the center of it all is a love story between two lovers who want nothing more than to be together forever, but the forces at play seem intent on stopping that. My only hope is that the game sells as well as the lasting memories it has left me with deserve, and we get a new, genuinely unique franchise from this.
Persona 3 Reload takes the concept of remaking a beloved title and goes all the way through with it, especially when it comes to the visual finesse and the excellent presentation. The social simulation, interactions, and activities are some of the best ever put into a video game, making it feel immersive from the very first day at Gekkoukan High School. There is always something to do in this wonderful city, ranging from the grand reopening of an old bookstore at the mall to heading to numerous restaurants to spend time with friends. While the social links stand out as the undisputed highlight in Persona 3 Reload, it is the monotonous Tartarus and generic enemy designs that ironically slow things down and make the combat feel a bit dull compared to the other aspects of the game. The storyline is gripping and intriguing at the beginning and stays that way later on too, but because of the more serious elements that are never fully realized, it starts to lose its hold as time goes on. However, the stunning animation, fluid gameplay, wide palette of character types, great soundtrack, and bustling setting make Persona 3 Reload a highly enjoyable remake.
Compared to previous entries, Online Mode is a huge improvement. The net code has been improved a lot since Tekken 7, and that was already evident in the previous tests that the game had. Ultimately, the greatest thing about Tekken 8 is that I can picture myself playing this game for years to come. Whether that be by myself, with my friends, family, or even a complete stranger, the fight will always keep bringing me back. Tekken 8 is a fighting game masterpiece and could even be a frontrunner for the best fighting game of all time.
The amount of content, time, and thought that has been put into Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is staggering, and it's inarguable that it is worth every penny for both fans of the franchise, but also those wanting to try it out for the first time. Even though I was lucky enough to have my copy of the game three weeks before this review went live, I can say there are still huge amounts of gameplay left for me to play, with the multiple mini-games, substories, and activities keeping me entertained. If I had to put a number on it, there are easily triple-digit hours worth of game here, and nearly all of it is incredible. There are a few bugbears to put up with, with the odd bug here and there, some character models do look poor - reserved for the infrequently seen side-characters or the NPCs on the streets -, and some parts of the city do feel empty, and not lived in. That said, not only are these all relatively minimal and inconsequential to the larger experience, but you'll quickly realize that the good way outweighs the small amounts of bad, and you'll have an absolute blast in what could be the studio's best game yet.
The stunning visuals and superb animations elevate the entire experience. This game emanates style from every corner, with each of its vastly unique biomes coming to life with awe-inspiring visuals. From eerie sewers and lush forests to opulent palaces and icy mountains, each biome is an entirely different world with a distinctive atmosphere. Bombastic soundtracks set the vibe in each level and rev up during boss battles, while the overall sound design allows you to be fully immersed in the world. Gorgeous and detailed cinematics to boot, continuously had me staring at the screen in awe. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a stylish and challenging action platformer that nails every aspect that makes a great Metroidvania and pushes the genre forward with its clever Memory Shard feature. and while I encountered a particularly disappointing bug, the game’s excellent platforming, tough, rhythmic combat, and stunning visuals more than made up for it. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown isn’t just a powerful new contender in the Metroidvania genre, it’s also a worthy entry in the series that adds new flavor to the franchise. Even if you’re disappointed that this isn’t The Sands of Time Remake you’ve been waiting for, The Lost Crown is a jewel of a game that you shouldn’t let slip through your fingers.
I loved every single second of my time with Fort Solis, and as well as piecing together everything and exploring the site, I spent too much time nosing around through my co-workers emails and private effects under the guise of uncovering the story, but it was as much fun finding out snippets of my co-workers lives outside their work. It’s a fantastically weird amalgamation of Total Recall, Sunshine and the walking simulator Death Stranding, but all packaged in a sometimes-claustrophobic, always-atmospheric package.
Ultimately, I get what VOID Interactive was going for with Ready or Not, it just isn’t the game for me. I’m sure that this title will have its fans, and I genuinely hope that they get what they want from it. Lord knows that they have been waiting long enough for the game’s full release. For me though, I lost interest in proceedings very quickly due to a barebones single player story, disappointing visuals, and painfully slow gameplay.
It really depends on what the consumer is looking to get out of the experience. If you are a huge fan of the source material and this particular fictional universe, then you will likely love Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. If you are someone who adores the Far Cry series and just loves gobbling up as many open-world games as Ubisoft will feed you, ticking off the same old checklist of tasks as you do, then Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will give you exactly what you are looking for. However, if you are looking for something boundary-pushing to move the needle and break some new ground within a tired genre, then Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will leave you feeling deflated and disappointed. If you are in this boat, the best advice I can give you is to wait until this game is on sale, and even then, the best way to play through it is probably on mute while listening to a podcast, especially if you are not invested in the lore.
Gangs of Sherwood certainly isn't the deepest or most convoluted game on the planet, but it never pretends to be anything more than it is; a game made to be enjoyed with friends with a simplistic premise. It is genuinely good, surface level fun with friends, and it has all the basics of what a game like this should have, but it also comes with plenty of room for improvement in future DLC or future instalments.
Overall, The Invincible likely isn’t going to be a late contender for GOTY 2023, but there is serious value in playing through it. This game is certainly far more worth the $30 price tag than something like Stray Souls. Also, if you are looking for a break from the constant fast pace of something like Spider-Man 2, then The Invincible may just be exactly what you are after.
Persona 5 Tactica succeeds on various fronts, from being the perfect gateway to the tactical role-playing genre or the Persona franchise for newcomers to putting a uniquely stylish spin on strategic games and making it a layered experience for strategy or series veterans. It moves fast and flows smoothly, all thanks to the top-tier, aesthetically stunning animation and exciting gameplay elements. In addition, the way Persona 5 Tactica presents its relatively simple story is also applaudable, with masterful use of numerous types of cutscenes and naturally written dialogue. But the heart and soul of Persona 5 Tactica lie in its colorful roster of characters, each with its own varied personality that brings a certain charm to the game.
Teardown looks and feels unreal, even though the engine used isn’t what you may think. The game uses a proprietary game engine developed by Tuxedo Labs founder Dennis Gustafsson, and it clearly utilizes that engine down to every last voxel. If you’re feeling creative, you can enter Teardown‘s Sandbox mode. You take the wheel when it comes to the game’s pre-made levels. And if you want to make your own levels, the game’s intuitive Creative mode will do just that. You can even access some of the top mods made by the PC community on console via Mod Pack 1. It’s an excellent idea because for games like, the hype can be kept alive by simply letting your community run wild. When it comes to content, you’ll never find yourself looking with Teardown. In fact, multiple DLCs are in the works, and Time Campers launches alongside the Teardown next-gen console version.
For a smaller entry, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name offers a lot, both with content in the short term, but also influence on the larger Yakuza storyline at play. It harkens back to previous installments regularly, and connects to the future ones too, filling in gaps in Kiryu’s story and rounding him out even further. The reused and revisited locations are a mixture of familiar and overused, but they don’t overstay their welcome in this installment, and the new additions of The Castle help alleviate any potential boredom, whilst the combat introduces a new side to Kiryu, with new abilities and moves, it can feel repetitive after a while. As a whole, fans of the franchise will not be disappointed, and it will prove an easy jumping-on-point for newcomers alike with the constant recaps of the story so far, but for those looking for a longer, more in-depth entry to the franchise, you’ll be a little disappointed and may have to wait for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth next year.
As a nostalgic multiversal adventure, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 does not completely work due to a lack of proper cinematic cutscenes, simultaneous multiple-character interactions, and a repetitive and lazy single-player campaign. The game obviously has all the right ingredients, which include iconic characters, clever meta-humor, and excellent brawls, but it is never able to fully realize its own potential. But the inclusion of Supers, easy-to-understand move sets, fast-paced fights, and dynamic stages end up making Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 an enjoyable time with a group of friends, with everything else just feeling half-baked.
Overall, I am just happy that we finally have a worthy sequel to that iconic 1987 movie that I fell in love with as a kid. For all of its faults, Robocop: Rogue City is fun to play and feels faithful to the source material it is adapting. As a lifelong Robocop fan, there isn’t really much more that I could ask for.
There aren’t many times when this job feels like work, but playing through Stray Souls was one of them. And before you complain with the retort that this is only a $30 game made by a small team, one just has to take a look at something like The Invincible to see how it should be done properly.
There is a lot to do in EA SPORTS UFC 5, ranging from a highly rewarding and fast-paced Career Mode to a clever Fight Week mode. Moreover, the inclusion of Alter Egos and icons like Muhammad Ali and Fedor Emelianenko is the cherry on top of an already stacked fighter roster, and the soundtrack is absolutely amazing. Aside from some awkward cutscenes and a couple of bugs, Electronic Arts has truly created a great MMA fighting game that requires players to strategize for each match differently, making every fight feel fresh and more intense than the last.
Whereas the first Alan Wake was more of an action-adventure game with a few horror elements thrown in, Alan Wake 2 flips the script. This is a horror game, heavy on the horror, heavy on the graphic, adult themes, interspersed with moments of brutal combat that'll leave you sweating and your heart pounding. It holds nothing back. It makes the hard choices. It is immersive, incredible, and a technical achievement. It's what we fans have deserved after all these years of waiting, and Remedy has done themselves proud, and that's the biggest compliment this Alan Wake 2 review can give.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was a lot of people's most anticipated Game of the Year, and for good reason with the quality of the two previous entries. and I'm glad to say that it doesn't disappoint. A few pacing issues, some - at times - confusing combat options and the occasional bug does not detract from the overall experience. The performances of the cast as a whole are fantastic, but a special shout for Yuri Lowenthal as Peter needs to happen. The path Peter goes on throughout the story is a hard and harrowing one, but every single sentence and every single syllable is performed with such conviction you'll feel every emotion Peter does. From sad and full of loss to anger and desperate addiction, Lowenthal absolutely smashed it. I spent the majority of my time with a gigantic smile on my face, followed by a slew of emotions that left me emotionally exhausted. If you're a Spider-Man fan, be it film, comics, animated TV shows or early video game adaptations, this is absolutely something you should experience yourself.