ZTGD's Reviews
Bright Memory: Infinite is a shooter that accepts what it is. It feels great, the shooting is sublime, and it is impressive considering the development team behind it. There is a lot here to love and it feels like a shooter from the golden era of the genre. I had a ton of fun and with a low price point entry this is a game that screams to be played. Don’t sleep on this game, it is fast, fun, and truly a technical marvel. Don’t sleep on Shelia’s adventure, just maybe stick to the default outfits.
Generally though this game only has so much to offer. If replaying stages doesn’t sound fun, then I would likely say skip Ground Divers! because there are only seven stages and that does seem a bit small. I personally think Ground Divers! would work better as a mobile game where pins are put down via the touch screen and other actions can be done via on screen buttons because while intense, most levels are done fairly quickly because of the built in time limit the enemies place on the player. It’s fun. I will pick it up again from time to time and for the price point I think it’s priced perfectly but I can definitely understand if a strategy game about gently guiding a robot to where he needs to be underground isn’t everyone’s interest. I think it successfully pulls off what it sets out to do.
PowerWash Simulator is just a comfort game for me and I can see myself playing this for months to come. There is something extremely satisfying about its progression. Playing with friends is a blast and I just love zoning out and making slow progress. These simulation games are getting wild and this is by far the one to click with me. It had me searching prices of power washers in real life, so mission accomplished I supposed developers.
Capcom Fighting Collection is a wonderful package with some truly great features and only a couple missed opportunities. It feels great to see Darkstalkers once again getting some air time, I just wish we would get a new game after nearly 30 years. The series was one of the best Capcom ever put out, and it shows with how many times that Morrigan sprite has been recycled. It is also cool to see rare games like Cyberbots and Red Earth discussed again. This collection is easy to recommend and I hope Capcom continues to recognize their legacy games going forward.
Mario Strikers: Battle League is a great game that suffers the same fate as its Switch sports brethren. It plays great, looks outstanding, but simply lacks content. I truly hope we see more characters, stadiums, and modes as the game goes on. There is a lot here to love, but it feels shallow in the content department for sure. Still if you love the arcade mentality of Mario sports this game is a no-brainer and yet another exclusive gem for Nintendo’s aging platform.
The Shadowrun Trilogy may be dated, but it is a worthy game to check out for people who enjoy turn-based combat. The fact that it is available on Game Pass also makes the barrier to entry much easier. This is also a beefy combination of games to get through with each one offering up their own unique setting and narrative. I am not the biggest fan of these types of games but Shadowrun Returns delivers on all fronts on what it sets out to do making it easy to recommend to just about anyone.
Save big collector’s editions to Strictly Limited and let ININ handle the complete versions for release. Change the cover art or something between the two releases but maintain the same game on both carts. Even a full removal of the ININ physical release for a digital only release outside of Strictly Limited’s physical release would be welcomed if it meant I got to experience the full collection. Just be upfront too: explain that you’re the same company handling different release methods. If certain games come with a limited licensing deal be upfront with that information. Mistakes are going to happen, so why choose to make them.
Aside from the small issues I had, one of which made me upset, I still enjoyed my time with the game. So much that I played halfway through it, stopped, convinced my wife to join me since she liked Until Dawn, and then played through it again. Oh, and my wife and I are wanting to play through it again to try out the opposite decisions. I still find Until Dawn an overall better experience, but The Quarry is a fun time especially with some friends arguing what we need to do in a situation.
Sniper Elite 5 is a solid follow-up. It won’t change the formula or anyone’s mind who finds these games boring or shallow. Still being available on Game Pass day one is a huge bonus. It is more than worth playing and I recommend at least checking it out. It is unapologetic violence and the design is high quality. This is the definition of gaming fast food, a treat for all the senses.
With added quality of life features and improved pacing, AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative is an impressive follow up to an underrated gem and one that should be on the radar of anyone who appreciates compelling stories in their video games.
Vampire the Masquerade – Swansong is a great introduction to the lore of this world, and despite the issues I had with the facial animations I enjoyed my time here.
The small issues aside, Shredder’s Revenge was the fan service I needed. The music feels like it came straight out of a 1994 arcade machine, the visuals look like it too, but with some great design choices, and the gameplay is just as smooth and fun as it always was all those years ago. If you’re a fan of TMNT, this is a no-brainer. If you enjoy a good beat ’em up or have had the itch to try out something like Streets of Rage 4 after beating it, you won’t find a better game to dive into. This is one for the books, guys.
Kao the Kangaroo is a lot better than I expected considering it was a revival of a game that was even lesser know when it originally launched. I miss these types of platform games and we truly still don’t get enough of them. While the difficulty is nearly non-existent it is still worth checking out for gamers that grew up with the likes of Ty, Tomba, and the Jersey Devil. A simple time when mascot platform games were a dime a dozen, now they are few and far between.
There is multiplayer for those finding the game too hard, but I found it harder to find a partner to play with than the game itself so that is likely off the table for most players. Dolmen just feels like scraps when a four course meal is literally right there. It was a bad time to release a game of this type when it falls so short of the mark set by the best in the genre and even falls below the current imitators. I am all for expanding on a game idea, but there has to be something there to make it feel special and unique and Dolmen just doesn’t have anything setting it apart on any level.
Salt and Sacrifice is a greatly ambitious title, melding a number of gameplay elements from other popular series but it comes at the cost of overall polish and focus, leaving a frustrating experience that feels like a step back from its predecessor.
Rogue Legacy 2 is a fantastic game. It takes everything I loved about the first game, refines it, adds way more content, and keeps the gameplay just as tight and smooth. It’s a rogue-like that even non-fans of rogue-likes can warm up to. If you played the first game, this is a no-brainer. Even if you haven’t, you’ll have a great time here with a game jam-packed with content. I cannot suggest this one enough.
Trek to Yomi is not an overly long adventure either. Outside of the standard combat there is some light exploration and puzzle solving with a few boss battles tossed in for good measure. The story is what kept me chugging through to the end. It is boilerplate but interesting. I wanted to know how things concluded so I pushed through the repetitive combat. Trek to Yomi is a game that on the surface seems way more interesting than it actually is. It feels like a good Game Pass title that occupied me for a weekend, I just wish it was a bit more in-depth when it comes to the combat itself.
Evil Dead: The Game is just fun. Even when the game is invoking ‘jump scares’ (of which there are a ton) heck, even when losing I still had a ball and was excited to try and take down evil again. And with a promised new map based on Castle Kandar from ‘Army of Darkness and a noticeably absent Ruby from the Ash vs Evil Dead show; I think its safe to say that the team has Saber is going to keep us battling the Evil Dead for quite some time.
While my friends and I loved playing RiffTrax: The Game; I don’t think its going to appeal to the masses like the movie clip, trivia game Scene it once did. (Please bring Scene It back) The lack of a real single player mode is going to hurt the appeal to some people out the gate, but then also this is a very niche game. Unless you are the type of person or surround yourself with the type of people who are quick witted when something ridiculous happens or just enjoys making fun of bad movies in a group; there won’t be much here that players will find interesting. But for those that fit the bill, and are fans of RiffTrax; you will have a ball, all for the low price of $9.99.
Loot River is not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination; it, like many new IP’s just needs some tweaking to iron out some of its technical issues and I have no doubt that with its truly unique blend of traditional roguelikes with a dash of a block puzzler, that Loot River will quickly carve out a place for it on the ever-growing roguelike mountain.