ZTGD's Reviews
As a brand new IP, Ghostwire: Tokyo shows a lot of promise with its strong animation work, solid combat and interesting world design, but it falters along the path to the finish line with a story arc that feels rushed along with an excessive use of typical and tired open world game design tropes.
Most importantly I expected some big improvements, and while some of the items here definitely meet that qualification the game is still stuck in a rut with respect to AI and physics/clipping issues. There’s talk that WWE may look to partner with EA on future games, so this may be the last go around for the team at 2K, but if it’s not I hope that their focus for WWE 2k23 will be on fixing some of these issues so that the solid base they’ve built can actually live up to its potential. Hopefully I’m not revisiting that sentence again next year.
Shadow Warrior 3 for is just dumb fun. It doesn’t do anything to make you think that its going to be anything other than it is. Running around with a varied array of weapons AND a sword, killing monsters while dashing and swinging around is right up there with the fun to be had in Doom Eternal. But for me it’s the humor that sets Shadow Warrior 3 apart, while not for everyone those that find comfort and chuckles in ‘derp’ type comedy will have a ball playing with Wang.
Babylon’s Fall is not an awful game, its just not a very good one and while I would never tell anyone what to do with their money, I will strongly suggest you avoid this one as it’s fate will surely be the same as the tower for which its named.
Windjammers 2 is a really great game. There’s a nice community of players still going strong online and this game could be a great controller passing time for local play. Sure, the tutorial is a bit rough, but just playing and experimenting with the game allowed me to get better and have a fun time with it. Anyone who is into arcadey sports titles and to a lesser extent, fighting games should give this one a try.
Grid Legends is a great game that was simply released at the wrong time. PlayStation owners are more likely to jump on Gran Turismo 7, and Xbox owners are most likely still satisfied with Forza Horizon 5. It is hard to slide between these two franchises and achieve much success. Still there is a trial on EA Play so give it a shot. I had a great time with it, but quickly forgot about it after a week. I do wish the game felt more like a successor as opposed to an upgrade to Grid 2019.
Monster Rancher was a product of its time and it has aged better than some. For those wanting a Pokemon equivalent, this game is not for you. This is more aimed at hardcore simulation fans who carry a nostalgia from that era of gaming. It is cool to have these games available again, but without the CD functionality it feels like a hollow gesture. I wish we could have used QR codes or something to that effect, that is what made Monster Rancher unique, and now it is just a really deep simulation with a nostalgic wrapper.
Conan Chop Chop pleasantly surprised me, while I was drawn to it solely based on the Conan brand it really turned out to be a quite enjoyable, co-op romp through the lands of Hyboria. I mean for $20 this is a game that is complete, offers lots of replay ability and has tons of unlockables to chase by way of completing the collection of weapons, armor and runes. The family friendly approach is another great move in my opinion as it will surely help to attract a new audience, in fact after playing it my daughter has asked questions about Conan. I smiled at her and told her we can talk about when she’s older, but for now we can play some more Conan Chop Chop.
Sadly, as it is, I can’t really recommend this to anyone because whatever little good it may do, the bad outweighs it by quite a bit.
As for me, I’ll give this a few patches and come back and see if the game has improved because right now, I most assuredly did not get caught up in CrossfireX.
Infernax is a can’t-miss game. I had never heard of it, but as soon as I booted it up it immediately shot to the top of my favorite games of the year. Do not sleep on this title. There is so much to love and it even has a unique mode that unlocks when entering the Konami code. Yeah it leans way into nostalgia, but it does it right. This game looks and feels great and is easily one title that will set the bar going forward.
King of Fighters XV is a wonderful addition to the series. If you are like me and are hoping for an expansion of the single player modes though, you are going to be disappointed. Still the roster and game play are excellent and the online modes are robust. This is an outstanding entry to the series and I cannot wait for more characters to be added. Now if we could just get SNK to add in some proper single player modes I really feel like KoF could extend past its niche audience.
While the technical issues of the barebones PC port and the familiar trappings of the open world formula substantially soured my experience, Elden Ring is still an impressive achievement of fusing compelling world design, exploration and combat.
As I said the future seems bright for the Pokémon franchise, I just hope Game Freak can avoid what many studios do and end up taking ‘two steps back’ after moving their game forward; but time will tell.
There’s plenty of little life improvements but to me, and I realize this is extremely biased, is where PokéMon peaked and to remake PokéMon Diamond and Pearl this well is quite something. I think it’s hard to find complaints with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl outside of simply not liking the formula of PokéMon. There’s so much to discover and do that it comes very close to feeling like living in the world of PokéMon and I suppose that’s all I ever wanted. Let me compete with friends on whose PokéMon is the cutest, see who is the toughest, and then let us hang out in the dingy underground digging up fancy gems together. Maybe when we’re done I’ll save the world from some evil group and catch some legendary PokéMon too. It brings me back not just to my teens, but to the feeling I had when I borrowed my friend’s copy of PokéMon Red and for a game to continue this long and still hook me after all this time is more praise than I can necessarily articulate.
Monster Hunter Rise on PC is the definitive version of an excellent entry in this long running franchise and whether you are a veteran of the series or a rookie, looking to jump in for the first time, it’s the perfect opportunity to grab a weapon and start hunting some monsters.
There’s a lot to do here, but I feel like the mechanics of the game itself gets in the way of really letting the player explore what’s around, and in the end, the rewards just may not be enough to bother with a lot of them. That’s not to say I didn’t have a fun time with the game. I did. There are some great shining moments here and when the story ramped up, I was in it until the end. If you have the patience to get to it, you too can have a good time, but don’t say I didn’t warn you that it will take some time to finally get to it.
There is a ton to love here and I really loved coming back to this world. This is a must own for PlayStation owners.
Like I said at the outset, After the Fall is a fun game albeit a very short one. Yes, there is an extra PvP Team-Deathmatch mode that is moderately fun if you like VR multiplayer shooters. I found it very passable, no real issue other than I just want a fan; but if you like the VR shooters like Pavlov among many others then you may have some fun in the deathmatch. The story for the game is really just an excuse to team up with friends, and that’s ok because whether you play with friends or random folks like me After the Fall does enough to make your time spent with it feel enjoyable; and really isn’t that all we really want from our video games?
However, the fantastic gameplay, the beautiful graphics, and the amazing soundtrack just to name a few things make this an enjoyable experience. That being said, if you are not a fan of difficult games, I’d recommend renting this one first if possible because it is an extremely difficult game at the outset and will require a grind to be successful. But if that doesn’t bother you in the slightest, then come on in; the dojo is all set up.