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Although I did enjoy my time with El Paso, Elsewhere, I cannot hide the fact it was plagued with some questionable gameplay decisions and repetitive visuals. You will probably play El Paso, Elsewhere not because of its janky gameplay, but because of its strong story and character development.
Payday 3 is a huge step up from the core mechanics of the Payday franchise. The updated gunplay and casing mechanics all come together for a gameplay experience that, as a whole, just feels better. However, it falters at just about everything else. The game is really light on content, progression has been ruined, and the rampant server issues are unacceptable, with the game refusing to work properly even if you want to play by yourself.
Mon-Yu is exceedingly well-coded, runs well, and is just exceptionally boring. The story is cookie cutter, there’s zero stakes ever, and the exhaustively long name just proves that there was the intent to distract from the very beginning. This can be fun if you’re a real dungeon junkie and just want to make a team of different catgirls to wreck house over and over again. Don’t expect anything more than surface level and you’ll be fine.
Believe me when I say that the trailers don’t do it justice, because there’s a much deeper game here than I could have ever expected. Changing up the visual novel formula by telling the story not only through dialogue options, but also through tarot card readings, is an ingenious concept. This encourages replayablility, especially with offering seven different endings, an makes each playthrough unique.
I would absolutely recommend it to gaming historians who want to see examples of solid pixel art and design during the coin-operated heyday. It’s punishing at times, so hardcore gamers can go off on a lark to try and accomplish it without turning on the cheats. But as an individual set piece, I can’t say I’d want to play it again. Such an obtuse title not being part of my regular rotation should hardly come as a shock, man.
Redfall might not be the worst game released in 2023, but I don’t think I have played something more uninspired. It looks dated, its performance is disappointing, its plot is bland, the controls are glitchy, and the entire gameplay loop is the most generic and passion-devoid AAA schtick you could think of. If Arkane clearly wasn’t willing to make this game, then why would any of us should or want to care about it? Not even the fact it’s on Gamepass makes it being worth downloading it and playing for a day or two.
I don’t know how the hell Nintendo allowed for this game to be launched on their system (I do understand WB probably did not care about doing some quality check on their end, though). It is something that needs to be played for you to believe it even exists. Not only is this the worst Switch port of a AAA title out there, this might be the single most pathetic entry in Mortal Kombat history. Yes, even more than Advance or Special Forces. At least those games weren’t being advertised as equals to ports on more powerful machines.
You know the drill at this point: NBA 2K24 is just like its predecessors, in both the good and bad ways. It still looks impressive and has great controls, but it is also plastered with convoluted menus and a ridiculous amount of ads and microtransactions. What can I even add at this point which hasn’t been said in my previous five reviews of NBA 2K iterations? It’s good as an arcade experience, it’s frustrating elsewhere, and you know for a fact nothing will change because there is no need to innovate when you don’t have to deal with competitors.
It’s hard to ignore how creatively bankrupt The Crew Motorfest is, but it is not a bad game at all. When you’re trying to be a carbon copy of a masterpiece of a racing game, and you do your homework to a satisfactory degree, you need to be utterly incompetent not to be, at the very least, a pretty good time, even if not a jaw-dropping one.
There isn’t a lot that needs to be said because Gunbrella, despite the unique premise, is really straightforward: what you’ve seen from previews and trailers is what you’ll get. It’s a really well-designed platformer that might be a bit too brown and dour at times, but plays like an absolute dream. With excellent level design, great boss fights, and just the right amount of funny dialogue bits to remind you that yes, you’re playing yet another high-quality Devolver outing, Gunbrella might not be one of the publisher’s top titles, but it’s still absolutely worth your while.
This is the best kind of sequel. Horizon Chase 2 is the kind of game that makes its predecessor look and feel obsolete in comparison, with vastly better graphics, AI, tracks, and controls. It might not exactly have a lot of cars for you to choose, but there is still so much content in here that complaining about it almost feels like an annoying nitpick. Aquiris has clearly managed to outdo themselves, with this game being one of the best retro-styled racers available in any console or PC right now.
This is not the worst idea Nintendo has ever had, but it’s really poorly implemented. F-Zero 99 feels restrained, never fully grasping the concept of an actual battle royale, just punishing the smallest percentage of players per race. It’s just a revamped take on the SNES original, with just more drivers per race, with a lot less room for skill, and more room for nonsensical mayhem.
Just by reading the name of the title, you can already expect that Baby Shark: Sing & Swim Party isn’t a good time. Granted, it is not the worst thing in the world, and not even the worst game made for toddlers out there (Race with Ryan exists, after all), but it is a boring, shallow, repetitive experience that goes on for way too long, featuring some of the worst musical compositions these poor ears have ever endured.
Super Bomberman R 2 is a nice improvement over its predecessor, and it features a lot of content, but be realistic. Do not expect it to be the most groundbreaking experience out there, because Bomberman is, has been, and will always be a very simple arcade-like experience with cute visuals, cheerful music and accessible controls, meant to be played for a couple dozen minutes at a time. It does everything it was meant to do with honors, and I’m happy about it. I wanted a an improvement over the flawed, but interesting Super Bomberman R from 2017, and got exactly that.
If like me, you have been itching for another Splinter Cell, then No Sun to Worship will scratch that itch. The unforgiving slow-paced stealth gameplay is worth experiencing, however, its short playtime left me wanting so much more. There’s a solid foundation here that could easily be expanded upon. I look forward to seeing more projects from Antonio Freyre in the future!
If you enjoyed Mugen Souls, you’ll want to play Mugen Souls Z. It’s just more, but better, and the power leveling, the insane equipment hunts and the endless parade of grinding opportunities never relents. If you didn’t like the first one, you might still want to consider Z because it is better, both technically and dynamically.
It is a game you will easily be able to spend hundreds, maybe thousands of hours into, and just complete a tenth of everything it has to offer. It can be a swashbuckling adventure, the next big space RPG since The Outer Worlds, a space trading simulator, or even a straightforward relaxing exploratory experience to play while listening to a podcast. The decision is yours. Welcome to space. Enjoy your stay.
This ain’t it. There are good ideas in Highrise City, but the game is just plastered with nuisances that result in it not being as relaxing or accessible as other city builders. It is too deep in its logistic mechanics, almost to a fault. The beginning of each new save is also painfully slow, poorly explained, and convoluted, meaning that this game also lacks the “pick up and play” aspect seen in Sim City or Cities. It tried, and I respect that, but it needs an extra phase of fixes before I can call it a city builder worth hanging out with the other big boys.
As a fan of Overcooked, Moving Out 2 should have been right up the alley of many fans. The thing is, it feels like it tries to play the same way, just as a moving company. The reality though, is it misses every single mark by a long shot. It’s not that it’s a particularly bad game, it plays as it says for the most part (I have had a couple instances of stuff falling out of the map and never respawning), it’s just overly boring to play alone, and just as boring to play with people. It’s not a party game like Overcooked and it’s not overly cooperative, so it’s hard to say what the aim was, if there even was one.
Considering its origins as a money-hungry mobile game, I have to say I expected a lot worse from Mega Man X Dive Offline. It’s still painfully dumbed down and far from being one of the best Mega Man games released over the past few years, but there is fun to be had with this “gotta catch ’em all” take on the franchise’s long history. It is bogged down by some repetitive grinding, but being able to play as pretty much everyone you can imagine, without having to overspend like a whale, is indeed appealing.