ZTGD's Reviews
I Am Setsuna desperately tries to pull us back in time, but just feels old and worn out, no matter how good the fresh new lick of paint looks.
The first entry in Bruce Wayne’s tale is not a bad one. I enjoyed the setup, and hope the rest of the series delivers on that payoff. I just wonder how long between episodes I will have to wait to figure out if this Batman story is worth the price of admission.
What I was hoping for when I booted up Shiren the Wanderer was another anomaly – a title in the roguelike genre that I would enjoy, and that wasn’t what I found. Instead, what I got was a fairly standard entry in the genre- crafted well by a developer that’s been making these kinds of games for years, and even though I did not find the title to my tastes, I could easily see why someone else might.
A stylish, fast, and pretty fun fighting game on their PCs
I really wish there was more to say about Blade Arcus. The art design is outstanding, and the fighting is solid, but it really just doesn’t do anything to stand out from the pack. The lack of features and paltry online community mean this game is likely already forgotten about.
Riptide GP Renegade is a solid follow-up. I really wish they would tweak the difficulty though, as it stands it gets far too difficult, far too quickly in career mode. This stunts progression, and makes continuing on a real grind. However, if you are like me and simply love the wave racing genre, this is yet another solid entry in a category we get far too few games in.
The art direction astutely compliments the gameplay and the self-referential, retro-infused style of Zombie Night Terror. It is a title that feels a lot like a postmodern love letter to games of a bygone era.
While the name may be confusing, this could easily be a blueprint for the successor to Ghosts ‘n Goblins, which is what it seems they set out to do, and they nailed it.
As a fan of the Gundam series, seeing all the different mobile suits with their signature moves duking it out should have been a dream come true. However, a dull single player campaign and a complete lack of online multiplayer makes Extreme VS-Force very difficult to recommend.
It’s a shame that online co-op wasn’t included, but if players ever needed an excuse to get their friends to actually come over and play something, this wouldn’t be a bad weekend recommendation. What we have is a game that takes inspiration from a classic genre years, before and while doing nothing very original with the idea, still provides a good time.
Abzu is something that was never even on my radar. Then I booted it up, and never let go. Every area was an experience, and it made an impact on me. I don't spend my time trying to figure out what it means, I just enjoyed the ride, and it is easy to recommend. Especially to those that enjoy the idea of swimming in the depths of the ocean, and exploring the alien life found below the waves.
Ninja Pizza Girl showed a lot of promise. The gameplay was solid enough, a lot of the music choices were great, and there were funny and quirky ideas. Unfortunately, the game frustrated me in several other areas. While the game had many rough edges, I still saw charm and effort put forth by Disparity Games.
Dangerous Golf is a weird game. On paper it sounds perfect, exactly what I would want from the guys that made t-boning cars so much fun. However, in practice it feels empty. Nothing about it screams “one more hole.” Even with the changes they have made this is an empty game that lacks anything to keep me coming back for more.
Daydreamer had the potential to be a sleeper hit in the Summer of lacking game releases, sadly it falls short on the most important of game fundamentals. I wanted to love this game a lot more than I do, but it just misses all the important notes in its execution.
Dex just never stood out enough for me. The generic and clichéd story left me cold, and the technical issues made the game hard to like. However, it is worth noting that the various performance issues I encountered on the Xbox One were not present on the PC version. So if you feel like you need to check Dex out and have the ability to do so, get it on PC. It doesn’t differ much in general, but at least it will be slightly more pleasant to play.
MX Vs. ATV Supercross: Encore is not a very well done game. While it has a few redeeming qualities, the actual racing and controls (the part of the game that really matters) is just far too inconsistent and just not that fun to play. Along with the bland presentation you have a mediocre game that doesn't play as well as it should. It's sad to see because I can remember a time when the series was highly praised, and it wasn't that long ago. Unfortunately, now is not that time. I'd say skip this one, or at the very least, wait for a significant price drop.
ADR1FT is a beautiful take on the space disaster genre, but ultimately one that not everyone will get pulled into. It's subtle, slow, and crawling at times, instead of intense, bold, or peppered with action moments. It could have used a bit of both personally.
Rather than investing in an immersive, intuitive, enjoyable gameplay experience, they have, unfortunately, created a generic and rather boring click fest of a game.
With the reuse of multiple locales and enemy monsters, I was hoping for a bit more variety in this game, but in the end, it still all adds up to a really enjoyable time for both veterans as well as newcomers.
It's a shame that Monochroma ended up this way, as there are sparks of brilliance buried within. There is a real quality to the sound and level design, which really add to the atmosphere and the puzzles could have been challenging with a little extra work. But the poor controls and the frequent frame-rate issues hamper this puzzle platformer.