Category Archives: Review

The (Tidy) Return of the Old RPGs

Lately, I have really begun to lose my affection for RPGs, a genre I used to love after discovering how amazing they could be thanks to my first playthroughs of Square’s Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X.  Those games were truly special and introduced me to some complex and deep stories and characters I could really fall in love with (but not in that way, you silly people!).  For this reason, I came to look to Square Enix for good RPGs, I found myself, nevertheless, underwhelmed with the release of FFXII and FFXIII.  While I did have a lot of fun checking out some of the old RPGs, like FFVI and FFIX, I still had quite a bit of trouble finding any good new games of the genre, and as my schedule became busier, I also had less desire to spend such a huge quantity of time on a whole category of games that, in general, felt slow-paced and tedious.

That all changed when I was first introduced to Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch on the gaming blog, RPG Square.  Something about it caught my interest, and I ended up finding it at Wal-Mart when I was in possession of a gift card.  And yet, at the same time, I must admit that my initial impression of the game was a bit reluctant.  I didn’t know about the cartoony style of graphics (I know, I’m a snob sometimes), and when I saw the creature on the cover (who turned out to be Mr. Drippy), I thought, oh, no, not another cutesy sidekick. Continue reading The (Tidy) Return of the Old RPGs

Fruit Has Never Before Been This Exciting

Screenshot by Flickr User:  Gieson Cacho
Screenshot by Flickr User: Gieson Cacho

I get stressed very easily. You have no idea how much a tough battle freaks me out or the mere thought that I might be unable to progress through a game, causing me to ponder with unease all the fun I might be missing out on if I’m never able to overcome the challenges set before me. I know these are just games. They are for fun, and thus, there is no pressure to complete them. There are no global consequences as a result of our inability to traverse a series of tricky obstacles or pummel a monster into submission, but that knowledge doesn’t seem to help. And yet, what would seem like quite a contradiction is the fact that I seem to like stressful games.

Or something like that. Continue reading Fruit Has Never Before Been This Exciting

The Duck Apologizes to Retro Studios

Screenshot by Flickr User: Gieson Cacho
Screenshot by Flickr User: Gieson Cacho

As you may very well be aware of, I have complained a good deal about the fairly recent Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii.  It’s way too hard, I feel silly shaking the controller around (though, I do with all Wii games, so that’s nothing new), and it lacks the feel and the charm of the original Super Nintendo games.  Due to all this unhappiness I felt towards the game, I had my doubts about getting the sequel on the Wii U, Tropical Freeze, but I had some money to spare and decided to give it a chance.  And I am now forced to eat my words.

Now, I don’t really need to get into tons of detail about this game.  It’s a simple concept, as it’s a platformer.  We know what those are.  And many of us have played Donkey Kong.  It’s a platformer involving lots of apes and a monkey (Diddy is the only monkey I know of).  And so I’d just like to focus this post on what this game does so right and why I finally believe Retro Studios has done a commendable job bringing back a series from 20 years ago that I used to adore.  I will always have a special place in my heart for the original games on the SNES and will always feel they are far better, but any gamer that has been playing for more than a few years knows how strong nostalgia can be.  And I accept that I can’t always compare games to those I loved many years ago. Continue reading The Duck Apologizes to Retro Studios

Battlefield Hardline Impressions – Worth An Investigation

Images from EA’s Battlefield: Hardline promotional site

The following post was submitted by GamerCrash. See more trailers and news at GamerCrash.com!

Battlefield Hardline feels like an impostor.

Now, hold on a minute here. Before you grab the pitchforks, let me explain.

When I think about the franchise ‘Battlefield’ and what it represents to me, I immediately think of massive maps, huge vehicles storming the playing field, and utilizing destruction to help me better get at my enemies. Hardline, oddly enough, has none of that. It’s maps are smaller in size, vehicles are reduced to more civilian types like cars, dirtbikes, and vans, and from what I’ve experienced, the destruction element that the series is known for is massively reduced. Sure you can break fences, but punching holes in the side of a building with a grenade launcher is just about a no-no with this one.

battlefield-hardline logo

So why is this a Battlefield game if it’s missing some of the core elements that make other Battlefield games what they are? We can certainly speculate that EA tagged the game in order to help it sell and get noticed by first person shooter fans rather than try to market a completely new IP. That just makes sense.

While much of this may seem like a negative, surprisingly it’s not.
(More words after the jump…)

Continue reading Battlefield Hardline Impressions – Worth An Investigation

Watch_Dogs Bad Blood DLC Review – A Second Chance

Watch-Dogs-TBone

The following post was submitted by GamerCrash. The original can be found here.

It’s been a solid five months since Ubisoft released the open world game, Watch_Dogs, upon the masses and in an effort to update the series a little, its story based DLC, Bad Blood, looks to mix up some things in the main game. While still set in Chicago, Bad Blood seeks to refresh player expectations with new areas and enemies to battle against while still using your phone to manipulate the surrounding area. Introducing a new protagonist, a new story-line, and new activities to do, does Bad Blood hack its way into your heart, or should it be left by the roadside?

Editor’s Note: I’ve done my absolute best to avoid spoilers but certain things I discuss below may delve into spoilerish territory if you’ve yet to play the game fully. Reader beware.

Full review after the jump…

Continue reading Watch_Dogs Bad Blood DLC Review – A Second Chance

Valiant Hearts: The Great War Review – Remembering The Past

Valiant Hearts Logo

The following post was submitted by GamerCrash. The original can be found here.

I love history. There’s just something fascinating about learning from the past and getting in the mindset of how people viewed the world at specific points in the past. It’s because of that love for history that Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a game I’ve been watching for a while. Coupled with the fact that the game also uses Ubisoft’s wonderful UbiArt Framework to power the experience was really the only excuse I needed considering my love for both Rayman Origins and Legends. The game’s been out a little under a year now and sadly, I just never found time to get around to it. Life, man, what can I say?

With Valiant Hearts being a part of Sony’s PlayStation Plus free games program for March, there really was no excuse at this point to not download it. While I expected a fun title, I was absolutely blown away by it’s ability to tell a heartfelt and compelling story. I found myself caring for these individuals the more I played and hoping they’d make it through this grim time period of humanity.

Full review after the jump…

Continue reading Valiant Hearts: The Great War Review – Remembering The Past

Assassin’s Creed Unity Dead Kings Review – Tomb Raiding

ACU-DeadKings

The following post was submitted by GamerCrash. The original can be found here.

Dead Kings wasn’t on my list of things to do. After enjoying my time with Unity (even with its issues), I was ready to move on from the game. The story wrapped up, I felt content on where the journey ended, and I put enough time into the side content that I personally felt complete. Things obviously changed when Ubisoft made the decision to serve the added content up for free as a way of saying sorry for the very rough state in which Assassin’s Creed Unity launched. Honestly now, who am I to reject free stuff for a game that I had a good time with?

Also if you’re worried, I’ll try to steer clear of spoilers considering this content takes place after the events of Unity. Your welcome.

After putting time into the DLC, here are my thoughts on the experience. The full post waits for you below the jump.

Continue reading Assassin’s Creed Unity Dead Kings Review – Tomb Raiding