Category: Review

Hob Review – This is Going to be Rough

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Hob is a perfect example of a type of game I dislike. Rather it’s a type of game whose fanbases’ cry bothers me. I constantly hear “it’s Zelda.” and as a guy named Kinglink, I have to listen to that.

But no… Hob isn’t Zelda, Hob is far from Zelda and what’s worse is I keep hearing about the amazingness of Hob, yet, I heavily disagree with that assessment. Hob is a game whose style might be amazing, but the game design at its core and the level of polish is so problematic, that I struggle to understand anything positive said about it.

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Dead Cells Review – One of the most challenging rogue-lites

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Dead Cells is a side-scrolling rogue-lite with a huge focus on enjoyable and deep combat. It’s a game made to challenge the player and provide many hours of entertainment for those who fall for. It’s also brutally hard at times.

But that’s par for the course in the rogue-lite genre. Dead Cells starts with the player waking up in a dungeon with a weak sword and being told to escape. Like many rogue-lites, the path is long and dangerous, and players will almost certainly fail. Each new run will give players randomized maps and new challenges. However the goal remains the same, the order of the levels, as well as the enemies faced, will similarly not change.

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Hades Review – Worthy of the gods

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Hades starts with the son of Hades, Zagreus who is fighting to leave the underworld and must travel through his father’s kingdom to gain his freedom. Much like most Roguelites the concept of Hades is deceptively simple.

But before long players will fail in their quest, and pass on. Zagreus will then be sent to the House of Hades. From there, players can start interacting with the court of Hades. After the first run, the House of Hades will be a little empty. There’s, of course, Hades and Cerberus his faithful hound. Players will also see Achillies and a goddess named Nyx, as well as Hypnos, who is Nyx’s offspring. Over time, more characters will appear.

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Lightmatter Review – An enjoyable attempt to mirror Portal’s success

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Lightmatter sounds and feels like many games. No, not Portal, but games trying to be Portal. You know the spiel, a humorous antagonist, puzzle rooms, and a pitch that probably can be summed up with “It’s like Portal but …” In this case, It’s like Portal but focused on Light instead of Portals.

Now many of these “portal clones” are of mixed quality. Most of them just seem to miss the whole point of what Portal does, such as Magrunner, a game I recently looked at didn’t like. Some games actually are quite enjoyable though still lacking that special spark, such as The Turning Test, and some games are just exceptional puzzle games, such as The Talos Principle.

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Golden Axed: A Cancelled Prototype Review – An actual prototype

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Golden Axe is a classic Sega Franchise that defined the Arcade and Genesis era of beat-em’ ups. It was a unique and amazing series that perhaps deserves a revival. And yes I’m conveniently ignoring the 2008 entry on purpose.

Golden Axed: A Cancelled Prototype is a prototype that Sega commissioned almost a decade ago attempting to revive the franchise. It’s also a true prototype that is valuable both as an artifact of a failed game but also to understand what games look like when publishers have to decide on it.

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Streets of Kamurocho Review – A combination that can rival Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

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Streets of Kamurocho is out. This is a combination of the very popular Streets of Rage brawler, and the Yakuza franchise. I’m astonished on how right this crossover feels, and yet how it hasn’t been done before.

Streets of Kamurocho came out as one of four free games from the Sega 60th anniversary celebration. It also doesn’t hurt that Yakuza: Like a Dragon is scheduled to come out next month.

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The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day – A completely average experience

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The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day is a point-and-click adventure game where the player takes on the role of a robot in a society where humans have been extinct. That’s the premise the game starts with.

The main character is a robot whose primary job is a scavenger and builds tools for others as the game starts with a simple set of tutorial tasks. Sadly this job has very little to do with the game, but it’s an interesting concept. Instead as the player walks out of his house after the first night, a giant spaceship crashes in front of him.

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Disco Elysium Review – Demystifying the mysterious

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Disco Elysium is an RPG unlike any other RPG. This a fresh new take on the genre from Estonia. So can it really be a major change to the RPG genre?

RPGs tend to focus on repetitive combat between snippets of story, and many RPGs tend to overdo the combat as they think that’s what gamers want to see in an RPG. Perhaps they’re right, but Disco Elysium offers something different.

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The Suicide of Rachel Foster Review – Troubling subject matter handled poorly

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The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a problematic game for several reasons. It’s a game that feels like it loses its focus multiple times and yet struggles to deal with the very real and serious issues at its core.

While the game is a typical “Walking Simulator” or exploration game it wants to tackle a large and sensitive issue like many of its contemporaries. In this case, the wheel of tragedies seems to have landed on inappropriate relationships between adults and children.

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