ZTGD's Reviews
Typoman is another interesting little game on the Wii U. It has its moments of brilliance, and I have to commend the game for its hint system and checkpoints. While a bit on the difficult side, there was still some decent fun to be had. I only wish the platforming and controls were better implemented. This is one to at least look out for on the Wii U. Just keep in mind, there is some trial and error that has to be played through to get to the good bits.
Star Wars Battlefront is easily my favorite multiplayer shooter of the year. I can't stop playing it. It finds a perfect balance of strategy and diversity, and most importantly, it is extremely fun, something I find lacking in a lot of online shooters. I can definitely see myself sticking with the online mode for months to come, and here is to hoping the season pass delivers even more content to keep players engrossed. The Force is certainly strong with this one.
Visual novels are not exactly my forte. This is the first time I've played one, and while I'm still not one hundred percent sold on the idea, even being an avid reader in the past, I can appreciate what these games do for the genre. I think I'd love to see more unique visual novels, as of now most seem to cater to similar themes and ideas. This is where Sound of Drop hooked me. It's horror, it's interesting in premise, and it's easy enough to get into because I was digging the core story. Perhaps that's all it really takes sometimes.
The reason this is such a hard title to review is because it's by and large the exact same game as the original 2005 release. It's not exactly the easiest game to get into, and it still retains all the faults and issues it had upon release. Someone jumping into this game now and expecting something more refined or suitable to today's standards will be disappointed. Yet for players familiar with the game or those willing to explore the dark world it presents, there is plenty of story and interesting moments to appreciate. Just go in knowing that it's a relic of the past, and that it plays as such. Those ok with that will find that an interesting world awaits.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 feels like a progression of the series as opposed to the advancement past entries from Treyarch delivered. Still it is hard to argue with how much is packed into this release, and I found myself exploring it all over and over again. The sheer amount of content makes up for the lack of innovation in some areas, and while I don't think it stands out as much as Advanced Warfare, it still keeps me playing a series I never thought I would care about year in, and year out.
Yo-Kai Watch is another game to add to 2015 that surprised the heck out of me. I've tried countless times to get into the Pokémon games before and they just never pulled me in, even though I appreciate what they offer players. Here, the idea of spirits, the charm, the writing, the battles, and the style just immediately sucked me in. I wanted to explore the world, find the spirits, and help people. It's a great start to a new franchise, one of the best looking 3DS games I've ever played, and if you're looking for a RPG with heart and spirit, Yo-Kai Watch is the right choice and a great start to a new franchise.
I went into this game thinking I was going to completely dislike it, and in the end enjoyed my time with it. It may be a bit overly simplistic at times when traditional Zelda fans come into it, and the single player can be a bit boring with micromanaging each Link, but if players can find some friends to play either online or locally, there's some great fun to be had, especially if you allow the crafting bug to bite you.
While the story is a bit too predictable for my tastes, everything from the visuals to the combat felt very polished from beginning to end. It's quite unfortunate that this is likely the last game Imageepoch will release, but perhaps they will rest well knowing that they went out on a high note.
Hearts of Stone is a fantastic addition to the Witcher 3 world that feels as if it was always a part of the game. It keeps up with the quality that one would expect. It's refreshing in dialog, hilarious at times, inventive in its quests, and even after 70 plus hours in the core story, coming back to this world was extremely easy and welcomed.
There's a lot to like in the world of Zestiria, and fans of JRPGs will no doubt find a lot to like here, but at the end of the day it's still just another Tales games. Nothing more, nothing less.
I had my doubts about Chibi Robo, and was this close to not even trying it out. The video game player in me gave it a chance though like it tends to do, and I was really surprised. It has issues, but ones that I can easily overlook, not just to throw caution to the wind but because it just didn't affect my overall thoughts and feelings while playing the game. I was having a good time the majority of the time, and it strikes me as a unique platforming experience at the end of the day. It's cute, charming, and very Chibi, and that's just how I like it.
Fallout 4 is once again another Bethesda game that people will talk about for numerous years. Just like with Skyrim, this game is open, full of mysteries waiting to be discovered, and open for a mod community that can bring it to life even more, and with Bethesda announcing mods coming to the consoles as well, there will be even more to see and do in the coming months. Until then, you have yourself a well tuned, fully featured wasteland to explore with a great look, improvements, and tons of new features. Sure, it has some issues here and there, but with this amount of fun content to explore I could look past most of it. Fallout fans will be in love once again, and RPG fans shouldn't think twice about picking this up. It has something for pretty much everyone.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is a stellar title for the fall season, and a sequel that addresses most of the complaints about its predecessor. Crystal Dynamics is really knocking it out of the park with the reboot of Lara Croft and I cannot wait to see how it evolves over time. Anyone with an Xbox One needs to pick this title up. It once again makes a solid case for my top ten list of games of the year.
Even with its missteps, I really enjoyed Need for Speed. It tried to return to form in some aspects and it really scratched that itch I was looking for with a car customization game. It handles how the player wants it to, and while performance can be spotty in some instances, it's still a great looking and playing racing game.
MX vs. ATV Supercross Encore is a bad game. This hurts me considering I have been an avid fan of Rainbow's titles since the PS2 era. They were always dumb fun with friends, and now they have slowly become an attempt to cater to an audience that really doesn't care either. I wish they would go back to the more arcade-style racing and focus on fun more than realism. Now excuse me as I boot up my copy of Splashdown: Rides Gone Wild.
There isn't much wrong with Original Sin outside of the fact that there simply may be too much of it. In a time when games are releasing on a weekly basis, this is a daunting experience that requires the utmost dedication. Still, for anyone who loves the turn-based genre, it doesn't get much better than this. It is a game I can see myself really digging into more once the rush slows down, there is simply so much to explore, and the world is interesting enough to keep players engaged for well over 100 hours.
Rodea the Sky Solider has an interesting story and cast, with a colorful world that is fun to fly around in. Yet that flying around should feel even better, and it just lacks that polished feeling. It's a unique game and one that reminds me of early era games I played back the Playstation or Nintendo 64. It's 2015 though, and I can't overlook all the various issues that bring the experience down, making it feel like more of a relic then a new game released today. It's tries to do new things and soar high, but it ends up staying rather grounded and is only recommended to folks looking for a unique but flawed experience.
Obviously, fans of Borderlands will get much more out of it, but even if you haven't played the first person shooter RPGs, you'll still have a great time seeing this world in the eyes of a couple of cons. It is well acted, has tons of style, and brings a great story to the table. I highly suggest this adventure game to both fans of Borderlands and fans of adventure games.
Even for eight bucks, I don't recommend this title. It's buggy, annoying, frustrating, and really just not fun to play. If there is one redeeming quality I could possibly give it is I like the art style of it. That's about it. The mere fact there is an achievement for playing a race with six people locally is laughable. If you want a fun arcade racing game like this, I say stick to Super Off Road. The fact I'm suggesting playing an NES game over a current generation game says it all.
It's not the smartest, prettiest, or smoothest point and click game ever made, but it's the best faithful iteration of the Adventure Time franchise brought to gaming consoles. Fans surely won't be disappointed and even folks that like the genre might find some fun moments in the land of Oooo, WHOA Algebraic!