ZTGD's Reviews
As for everything else, Rebirth is by far one of the best RPGs of this generation.
Monster Hunter Stories 3 is an amazing upgrade for the series. Between improvements to the narrative and all the new mechanics this finally feels like a series that has come into its own.
Ariana and the Elder Codex is a decent metroidvania and one fans of the genre who are desperate for another game to play might enjoy.
Bubsy 4D had my attention and when it hits, it is fun to play. Sadly, most of the time it just isn’t.
Developer Cococucumber continues their studio love of using voxel tech to deliver a richly, detailed world in Echo Generation 2. Everything has a crisp and colorful look to it, the monsters, with all their mouths and moving parts were genuinely unsettling to look upon but at the same time I thought it had a strange beauty to it.
Vampire Crawlers is a fun and somewhat addicting game that is easy to get into and challenging enough to keep you playing even if the content seems a little on the slim side
But when it comes to translating Indy to an interactive medium, that’s a tough nut to crack, especially when your game is more about trying to recreate the movie experience than game-ifying the essence of what an Indiana Jones story is.
Invincible VS is a great addition to the growing media empire for its source material. The arcade type endings for each character are hit-and-miss, but the story mode ends up being solid; if a tad short.
The Forza Horizon series is still my favorite current racing game series, but the formula is starting to wear out its welcome.
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes is a phenomenal experience for newcomers as well as long time fans of the show.
Overall, I did enjoy the game even though it seemed to be geared towards a younger audience with the visuals and simplistic story and characters.
Crimson Desert is an odd game for me to place, I enjoyed it for the freedom I had to make my own story and for all the combat and systems but I wasn’t a huge fan of the narrative; even though it did get better.
Directive 8020’s over reliance on stealth segments, cheap jump scares and jarring story transitions prevents it from being one of the best in the series.
Call of the Elder Gods is a worthy successor to Call of the Sea in almost every way. Combining exploration with some stellar puzzles and gameplay the game manages to tell a wonderful story with a Lovecraftian twist.
Between the cost of the games separately on original DS hardware and all the changes Capcom has made to make the experience more enjoyable, there is zero reason to return to the DS originals. I won’t be and I own them. It’s another great collection in the Mega Man series and from one of their most overlooked renditions of the blue bomber himself.
Despite some hiccups here and there, People of Note deliver’s a rockin’ performance. There is a fun and engaging combat system here and a story that has no shortage of musical style puns. But I feel like the game is held back by the performance and rhythm aspects of its gameplay. I would have loved to see the attacks and abilities be more on beat with the background music. But despite those flaws People of Note delivers a solid game that has a lot of heart and soul.
It wasn’t all a flowery trip to Pottery Barn though; at launch there was some issues with matchmaking, but it was corrected pretty quick. Kiln actually performs quite well, aside from some longer loading times; I had really no issues with the gameplay or anything. In fact, my only real gripe is the lone game mode that is currently available. Not that there is anything wrong with quench because it is a lot of fun, but there is no variety outside of it and we all know that gamers get bored of things quicker than a babysitter’s boyfriend when a car pulls up. And even though the Kiln is on Game Pass I worry about the longevity of the game, especially since it’s multiplayer only. But I guess that’s tomorrow’s problem, for today we smash pots.
Monster Crown: Sin Eater nails the feeling of a more mature and darker, Pokémon game. With its story of revenge for a brother slain it comes out you hard and fast with an evil faction that feels genuinely terrifying instead of just a cartoon threat. The overall story is hit or miss and the overall freeform nature of the game wasn’t really for me, but if you are someone who loves less handholding in your games, well come get revenge with Asur.
Darwin’s Paradox is a quirky puzzle platformer that harkens back to classic games and I loved it. The goofy cartoon art style is its biggest selling point, and the nods to classic Konami games are fun. The price matches the experience, and it is easy to recommend. I had a great time digging through it and we don’t get a ton of these types of games anymore, so it is always great to see a new one.
Samson is built with some excellent bones; its gameplay loop is fun and engaging and its gritty story is good and can be knocked out in 10-12 hours.