Digital Chumps
HomepageDigital Chumps's Reviews
Horizon Chase Turbo is simple fun that doesn't offer up an overbearing challenge for its racers. It contains some good rewards, which help keep the player motivated, but needs to be just a bit deeper in the physics department. All in all, though, it's a fun arcade racer.
The Nintendo Switch version of L.A. Noire maintains everything good about the original release, while adding a few new tricks to the mix to make the game a little bit more interesting, including 'touch'. Beyond the Switch tricks, L.A. Noire is still a game I enjoy playing, especially in a portable form. It's like a violent Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego mixed with the open world structure of a Grand Theft Auto, both intelligent and dumb fun.
Berzerk Recharged from SneakyBox and Atari gives a tip of the hat to a wonderful 80s arcade experience, even at times when the hat tip means carrying some of the original frustrations.
Sairento VR is a fun experience and one that is far more complete than most VR gaming experiences out there. With it you get a good story, fantastic gameplay mechanic design and a good set of multi-tiered levels to use those mechanics in. This is more than just a gimmicky, short experience, which most VR games slip under these days, as it is a bright spot in a sea of VR shipwrecks.
Battlefield V is full of a lot more content than people might be expecting. War Stories contains meaningful experiences in short spurts, the maps in the game are huge and well designed, the modes of play raise the entertainment bar when compared to Battlefield I, and the customization/progression system will keep people occupied for a while, as well as provide motivation to keep playing. This feels like a Battlefield game, which should tame concerns of lack of launch content.
Diablo 3: Eternal Collection on the Nintendo Switch is a great game for old and new fans alike. Having the full Diablo 3 experience on the go is so very enticing, and is now my new preferred way to play the game. It's not the best looking Switch game out there; but with gameplay as satisfying as Diablo 3's, visuals be damned.
In spite of its rough edges and games as a service trappings, Marvel's Avengers triumphs against most overwhelming odds by allowing players to live out a multi-faceted superhero fantasy with friends.
The gameplay design of Torchlight III is fun and motivating, but it has some deeper flaws that need to be addressed. Players must have a balance of difficulty and challenge. Giving players too much advantage at the beginning and overpowering them will not benefit the longevity of the game. If you need proof, go look at Bungie's Destiny 2, which is struggling to maintain challenging content, while believing that making players 'grind' for shoddy rewards is the right solution for the issue. Finding that balance of building up a character properly and delivering difficulty and challenging enemies along the way is what other action RPGs, like Diablo, classics. Echtra Games did a great job with the initial groundwork of Torchlight III's gameplay design, but it needs a bit more balance in some backend areas.
Destiny 2 is what we hoped Destiny would be. While it still may not be what everyone wanted it to be but it is, to me, a fantastic and entertaining FPS MMO with plenty of content to keep you entertained.
Though it doesn't reinvent the rogeulike genre, Fury Unleashed makes a name for itself through its comic book style and action-heavy combo system that relies on agile shooting and swift thinking.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons enriches the feel of classic beat 'em ups. The basics are supplemented with modern sensibilities that sprinkle in some variety but perhaps not enough longevity for players drawn in by its "roguelite" branding.
The gameplay certainly isn't perfect, as the younger audience that Tose and Square Enix are trying to reach rears its head in the gameplay structure once in awhile through the game's flow and simplicity, but World of Final Fantasy is diverse and deep enough to keep the excitement going from beginning to end. Just come prepared with a good GPU to push it on the PC. [Nathaniel Stevens separately reviewed the PC (8.3) and PS4 (8.6) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]
Dragon Ball FighterZ is fantastically animated and one of the more interesting fighting games that I've ever come across. It's an epic game to play by yourself or head-to-head with some friends.
Frantics is a fun four-player party game that does its beset imitation of being a Mario Party lite. It's engaging, fun, at times frustrating, but nonetheless a good addition to the PlayLink game family.
Unforeseen Incidents checks all the boxes for what constitutes a great point and click adventure game. Solid characters, a good story, good puzzles that are balanced, and an impressive presentation thanks to well-drawn art/animations and a good aural package.
Overall, this is the best version of Hitman you can get, as it is the complete version. This is especially nice, if you don't own any of the prior content.
The majority of my experience with Destiny 2: Forsaken over the last two weeks has been overwhelmingly positive. I think the addition of Gambit, the change up of gameplay design and leveling, the raid, and the sense of scale with the two additional maps has really notched the entertainment value for this series up quite a bit. Forsaken truly is the best thing that has happened to the series. They do need to get crucible cleaned up, though, and sooner rather than later.
They're all worth experiencing if you've never done so before, and with the terrific presentation, true-to-form gameplay, and extensive bonus content, Legacy Collection is certainly the best way to go about it.
As far as presentation, Unavowed has twice the resolution of a typical Wadjet Eye title (640×360), but more importantly the art work looks great. Voice-acting and dialog is nicely done, and you can also enable a commentary track as you play to learn more about the development. In sum, if you enjoy the genre, you're sure to enjoy Unavowed.
Overall, if you liked Patapon 2 back in the day, you're going to enjoy this release on the PlayStation 4. It doesn't do anything particularly special other than giving you the game you might have loved in 2009 on a bigger screen.