Spiritfarer, a beautiful but flawed journey.

May 18, 2023May 18, 2023 KinglinkLeave a comment

Spiritfarer is a beautiful game. No matter where I was in Spiritfarer, I was greeted with beautiful animations, interesting characters, and a world that I wanted to explore. Even after twenty hours, I can still say the game’s style really shined after having explored a decent amount of it.

Spiritfarer has the player taking on the role of Stella, and in co-op also Daffodil, a male cat. At the beginning of the game Stella takes on the roll of the Spiritfarer, taking from Charon. She is tasked with taking spirits she finds who are ready to pass on to the Everdoor, the game’s path to Hades.

But this is the end of each spirit’s journey. Most spirits will join Stella’s voyage for many hours, far longer than players might expect at the beginning. Stella will get a number of requests from her passengers, which will involve her having to manage a number of resources, and priority for requests.

Not For Broadcast Review – A fun experience, but a bad re-run

May 17, 2023May 17, 2023 KinglinkLeave a comment

Not For Broadcast is a novel concept. The player steps into the shoes of an editor of a live news broadcast on his first day and must use split-second decisions to cut the news together as it goes out over the air. It’s a unique idea for a game, but also one that works well. Players start with their first broadcast as they go through accelerated training where they learn about how to deal with camera controls, interference, and making a good “edit” as it’s called to keep the viewers interested. With each broadcast having three segments, the final of three segments in the first broadcast, the game also drops the idea of swearing that requires the age-old censor button.

The first broadcast does well-introducing players to the concept and why the game might work, the creation of a news program is interesting, and while the topic covered is a simple election, the characters and production values of the feeds that the player is challenged to tie together keeps the game moving. The writing, directing, and acting all are done extremely well for a small video game studio. The final segment of the broadcast does feel a bit corny but it also shows that the game can have a little fun with the story. When the newly elected prime minister who is drinking starts to cuss, it still feels like it can fit in with the concept of a news program even if it’s a bit bizarre.

Players are graded based on how they conform to the rules of the broadcast, mostly in how well their edit focuses on the action, or speaker, while not lingering too long on one shot, as well as the timing for transitions, commercial breaks, and if players let any swears be broadcast.

Hi-Fi Rush Review – A rocking good time.

May 9, 2023May 8, 2023 KinglinkLeave a comment

Hi-Fi Rush starts with one of the most impressive openings. There’s a strong stylized animation, an interesting premise, and a good beat. The story starts with the main character named Chai, who gets his arm repaired by Vandelay Industries, a clear Seinfeld reference, but an accident happens and his iPod style music device is implanted in his body along with a brand new arm being attached. The iPod gets him marked as a “defect” by Vandelay, and much of the game is Chai fighting against the Vandelay Industries security, bots, management, and eventually the owner to a rocking soundtrack.

The game is also legitimately funny and that’s not something that I normally say. The cutscene in Hi-fi Rush feels like a great opening, and luckily, HI-Fi Rush is able to take a similar artstyle, and delivery of it’s story with great presentations throughout the game.

There’s quite a few characters involved in the story, but every character works here, and the story has a lot of funny and light hearted moments that feel fresh in an industry that pushes a more grim-dark world. While there are serious consequences, the main character’s upbeat attitude makes most of the story enjoyable to watch, and there’s always a question of what will happen next, rather than a by-the-numbers experience.

Humble Choice May 2023 Review – A rougher month than usual

May 5, 2023May 5, 2023 KinglinkLeave a comment

I’m Kinglink and it’s May fourth as I record this, so May the fourth be with you, and it’s time for the Humble Choice May 2023 Review.

This month we have 8 titles, an interesting list, let’s just say that for now. I’ve played each game for an hour on stream, and now let’s talk about which games are worth checking out, which games should be skipped, and who will enjoy each title.

Let’s just get started with what’s on the screen.

Humble Choice April 2023 Review – Major headliners

April 7, 2023May 5, 2023 KinglinkLeave a comment

Sorry about the late post on this, I just realized it wasn’t sent out. New review in a couple hours.

I’m Kinglink and it’s a little bit after April Fools, we made it through another year of those unfunny jokes as well as Sonic being murdered. But that just means it’s time for the Humble Choice April 2023 Review.

This month has a ton of major titles and lots to talk about. As always I played each game on stream for about an hour, and now I can tell you what each game is about, how they feel and who should check them out.

We have a completely bizarre game to start us off, so without further ado, let’s get to it.

Like A Dragon: Ishin – A trip back in time with the same great style.

March 29, 2023March 28, 2023 KinglinkLeave a comment

Like A Dragon: Ishin is either the first Like a Dragon game in the West or the latest in a long line of a major franchises, depending on your view of the naming convention. This was created by RGG Studio and they are well known for their “Yakuza” series, though that series is now named “Like a Dragon” which is a direct translation of the original series title, Ryu Ga Gotoku.

However, Like A Dragon: Ishin, or Ishin as I’ll call it for brevity’s sake, is a stand-alone title, for the most part. However, the connection to the entire Like A Dragon Franchise is important. While this is a fresh new story in a new time period with new characters, every major character in Like A Dragon: Ishin uses a similar face to the rest of the Like A Dragon Series.

This might be the most important part of the game because for some it’s a little too on the nose, and for others, this is pure fan service, which is what fans of the series might enjoy. Many characters who no longer are part of the larger franchise, appear once more in Ishin, and in many ways, this works.

Final Fantasy IV vs Final Fantasy VI – Which SNES JRPG titan will reign supreme?

March 23, 2023March 22, 2023 KinglinkLeave a comment

I’m Kinglink and I hope you’ll join me on a journey into the past. You probably can tell where we’re going from the title, but I want to take you back to the days of the Super Nintendo. Nintendo’s second major console was life-changing for me. It is where I finally adopted my moniker from a little game called The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, which is still one of my favorite games.

But on that console, two other games stood out and were almost as powerful as A Link To the Past. They were Final Fantasy 2 and Final Fantasy 3, sequential games in a franchise… which of course is completely wrong as probably everyone knows. Final Fantasy 2 was the fourth game in the series, Final Fantasy 3 was Final Fantasy 6… and of course, the versions we got in America… well, lacked quite a bit.

Humble Choice March 2023 Review – The AA month

March 10, 2023March 10, 2023 KinglinkLeave a comment

I’m Kinglink and it’s sort of the first week of March which means it’s time for the Humble Choice March 2023 Review.

I’ve played all eight games on stream for an hour a piece, did a little research and now am here to tell you how they are, how they play, and who might enjoy them. I do want to remind people I’m looking at these games in a 12-dollar bundle, so this is more intended to see if they are worthy if they’re on sale.

Let’s get started with what’s already on screen.

Humble Choice February 2023 Review – Two massive Rpgs and a couple rogue-lites

February 10, 2023February 10, 2023 KinglinkLeave a comment

I’m Kinglink and it’s the beginning of February so it’s time for Humble Choice February 2023 Review.

So we have 8 or 9 games to talk about this month with a minor bonus game. A lot of these games have been seen in bundles before, but before we get into that, let’s take a look at the titles first.

I’ve played each game on stream for an hour, and now can tell you how the game plays, what problems there are, and who probably will enjoy each game. With that said, let’s get on to the lineup with this title.

Escape Simulator Review

February 7, 2023February 5, 2023 Kinglink1 Comment

The escape room craze has grown over the last decade, as a concept it’s interesting, players are locked in a room and solve a variety of puzzles leading to the ability to get out of the location.

Escape games also have been around and were created around the same time as the Escape Room idea, so Escape Simulator isn’t a new idea, however, it’s an attempt to get on that same craze.

Escape Simulator has the player choose an Escape Room from a list of 25 levels, included within are four sets of five levels in a themed chapter, but each room can be approached in any order. From there, players are given fifteen or more minutes to solve all the puzzles in the room and escape them.

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