Game Reviews
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Back To Base: The Long Journey Home Review
Galaxies away from home, Alien’s with their own agenda, a plethora of worlds to explore, artifacts to uncover and four of the best people to help you on that journey. Gotta get back, back home, begin The Long Journey Home. Procedurally generated worlds, planets to loot, aliens to deal with and a lot of landing and flying around, The Long Journey Home is not for those who are impatient. The Long Journey Home has a lot of Rogue-lite elements like Procedurally generated worlds, perma death and RNG. This is mixed in with exploration of planets to get resources that fuel your ship, help repair your ship or fuel for a jump drive. These resources can also be used for trading when you encounter a merchant. The game has two core mechanics, the first is do to with your Lander, using it to land...
Witness The Journey: RiME Review
After you wake up on the shores of a mysterious and desolate island, Rime’s inspirations become immediately obvious. Elements from Team Ico’s work and several nods to Journey become clear in the opening levels of the game. And while Rime does make some interesting design choices, specially in delivering its narrative and directing the player along a predesignated path, Rime’s powerful closing is what truly defines it, and leaves a lasting impression on the player. You play as a young child, seemingly stranded on a deserted island, with a tower in the distance. The tower appears to be the key to unlocking the mysteries of the island, and eventually leaving it behind. As you slowly start exploring, stunning vistas and gorgeous landscapes greet your eyes. The island, while d...
Turn The Pagie : Yooka-Laylee Review
Yooka-Laylee’s Kickstarter campaign was a rousing success. Surpassing its initial funding goal of £175,000 in a matter of mere 40 minutes, the game promised to bring the classic 3D platforming of the Nintendo 64 era back to life. Developer Playtonic has stood by their promises, with cute cartoon-ish visuals, quirky characters and a vibrant, colourful world. At its best, the game is a testament to the legacy of titles like Banjo Kazooie which I’m sure a lot of us still remember fondly. It’s fun and enthusiastic and constantly makes fun of itself in a charmingly silly way. You play as the heroic lizard, Yooka and her trusty but sarcastic bat partner Laylee. Yooka mostly does the physical work, like running and jumping and rolling, while Laylee helps in gliding and has a son...
Steel Division: Normandy 44 – Review
Steel Division: Normandy 44 is a tactical RTS game set during the World War 2. Developed by Eugen Systems, the game relies on detailed and historically accurate vehicles, artillery and infantry, and gives you a ton of tactical options that are enjoyable to engage with. This is a game that leverages historical accuracy, complex gameplay systems, and beautiful visuals to make a cohesive and enjoyable experience, without compromises. There is a significant learning as with any good RTS, but the beautiful visuals and a robust intro are enough to hook any interested player. The large maps might feel daunting at first, but with an array of tactical considerations at your disposal, there’s barely any downtime. The attention to detail is striking, as zooming in to a section of the battle shows nic...
Gotta Shine A Little Brighter: Rise And Shine Review
Gorgeous artwork, a wonderful score, and a brutal world, Rise and Shine promises so much more but ultimately falls short. Developed by Super Awesome Hyper Dimensional Mega Team (That’s a mouthful) and published by Adult Swim, Rise and Shine was released in January 2017 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The game tells a tale of a video game world where characters know they are in a game and are controlled by a “guide”. The game follows the story of an eleven-year-old known as Rise who is chosen to be the carrier of the sacred talking gun known as Shine to save his planet Gamearth from the Space Grunts of the planet Nexgen. The art style and artwork of the game is absolutely gorgeous with beautiful backgrounds that feature cameos and references to many famous games of the pas...
Justice Is Served: Injustice 2 Review
A story of dread, deceit and destruction with plenty of twists and lots of bone shattering spectacles, Injustice 2 is a fantastic sequel that improves on its predecessor in every way possible. Developed by NetherRealm Studios, famed for their Mortal Kombat series and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Injustice 2 was released in May 2017 for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One along with ports for Android and iOS mobiles. To start off, I went on into this game completely blind, having not watched any trailers or character reveals. I was not expecting much from the game, thinking that it would be just another re-skinned Mortal Kombat game with a somewhat boring rehashed Batman v/s Superman story but I was more than just pleasantly surprised. Almost every aspect of the game felt...
Slamma Jamma: NBA Playgrounds Review
Even as some one who doesn’t usually play sports games, NBA Playgrounds was one of my most anticipated games of 2017. Despite my lack of fondness for the yearly sports franchises, the more goofy and over-the-top style of NBA Playgrounds, and other games preceding it, like NBA Jam and NBA Street, always managed to deliver quick doses of fun, and the lack of most rules meant that I could just jump in, pull off some flashy moves, have a great time and step away. NBA Playgrounds stands up in this regard for the most part, but definitely falters in significant ways. For those new to these arcade-style sports games, NBA Playgrounds offers a two-vs two game of basketball, that you can play offline with bots, or with others via local and online multiplayer. You start off with a limited roste...
Use Your GNOGin: GNOG Review
At first glance, GNOG is a bright splash of colors and upbeat musical tones. Take a few steps further in, and you’re greeted by a whimsical point and click puzzle game, with no help, tips or directions given to you at all. You’re given puzzle boxes (or heads) of sorts to solve. You can flip them to look at the front and back, and angle around to inspect the sides. The boxes can be opened to reveal more details inside. Almost everything can be interacted with by moving the cursor using the controller. GNOG is presented in a very colorful manner, with flashing bright lights across the screen, and clicking on many different spots on the puzzle box usually leads to them moving or changing. And they are complimented by a fantastic dynamic soundtrack which also responds to your click...
Praise The Industrial Smelting Machines: The Surge Review
Its easy to compare any game with punishing difficulty to the Souls games, but saying that difficulty is what the Souls games do best would be selling them really short. Labyrinthine level design, oppressive atmosphere, environmental story telling, epic boss battles, well balanced combat that offers a challenge while remaining fair, are what lie at the soul of these games. It’s not something that is easy to replicate, and previous attempts have either been substandard or unsatisfactory. Lords of the Fallen was one such attempt by Deck 13, and The Surge is a testament to learning from failure, while adding whole new systems that, at times, surpass the very games that it takes inspirations from. The Surge is set sometime in the near future in a world ravaged by war and global warming. ...
The Dark Tower: Ys Origin (PS4) Review
Set in the Ys universe, the events in Ys Origin occur 700 years before the first Ys game, and was originally released in 2006 for Steam. Now 11 years later, Ys Origin comes to the PS4, and while it retains all the trappings from older JRPGs of its era, Ys Origin is a surprisingly good game that still holds up 11 years later. Since Ys Origin is a prequel to the series, you don’t need to know a lot of backstory, and can jump right. For those who are already fans of the Ys universe, having played the later entries will definitely make you approach the game with more fondness. The main plot of the game has you climbing an ominous tower filled with dangers, as you make your way up in order to save two Goddesses, Reah and Feena, that you hold sacred, from the forces of evil. At the very st...
Dragon Warriors & The Dynasty Quest: Dragon Quest Heroes 2 Review
Dragon Quest Heroes scratches a very particular itch. It’s for those who like hack and slash action, along with long hours of questing, driven by a sturdy narrative, alongside trusty companions. It provides a satisfying grind of leveling up your characters, acquiring new loot, and taking down enemies. Dragon Quest Heroes 2 follows up on the same formula, and apart from a few missteps, improves upon it in almost every way. You play as one of two cousins, Lazarel or Teresa, as they find themselves in the middle of a clash between two kingdoms. You then set forth on a journey, tasked with setting things straight, and encounter an interesting cast of friends, foes, and many others with vested interests. From the onset, the story feels more carefully crafted as compared to the previous ga...
All I Want Is: Everything Review
Everything is about every thing. Or at least every thing the game developers could render into the game. You’re thrown right in to a procedurally generated world with little to no context, and soon you’re stumbling down the long plains, taking in the subdued yet breathtakingly beautiful vistas around you. As you walk (well, not really walk, but flip/roll around) further in any direction, you’ll see other creatures going about their own thing in the world. You’re free to mingle with them, or simply watch in fascination. You can interact with them by singing to them, and soon you’ll start moving with the pack. Or you can choose be something else entirely. See a rock that catches your fancy? Well, possess it, and you’re a rock. Or an insect. Or even go furt...