Category Archives: Games

DC: Dark Legion Review

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It’s time for the latest DC app game! I gotta say it’s pretty crazy how the last one is completely dead and has no online presence despite being fairly new while this one is already way more popular. It’s not even as fun which is the ultimate irony for me but I am glad that people are having fun. It won’t be sticking around for me on this journey but I do see the potential.

The story begins with the Batman Who Laughs taking over the multiverse. He has destroyed all who opposed him in every timeline. We are finally down to the last timeline where the player, Terry must put a stop to his evil designs. Terry will be working with Earth’s mightiest heroes but when he gets to Earth they are already on the losing side of the battle. Green Arrow, Catwoman, Batman, and Wonder Woman appear to be the last fighters left as Superman vanished recently. Can they find and rescue all of the heroes and villains to unite against this common foe?

The fact that there is a mysterious tower in the middle of the city drawing everyone towards it just like in the last mobile game for DC is a fun coincidence. Still, everything else is very different here. For starters the art style is definitely way more comic book inspired. Everybody looks like their traditional selves this time around. I would also say the art style is just a lot better even if the animation itself may lag behind the former game. I enjoyed the fact that we do have real cutscenes and voice acting here. Yes it may be a bit cheesy to have Superman punching Batman around and the latter surviving but Batman does say he could feel that Superman was fighting the mind control.

Just imagining Batman tanking hits from Superman like that while in an evil state is a bit intense. The Batman Who Laughs is an interesting villain, although I’d need to see more out of him before saying if he is really good or not. He is absolutely crazy without a doubt but that doesn’t automatically mean he is a great character. This guy basically destroyed the multiverse but doesn’t seem to have any goals beyond just trolling. Trolling is in itself fun though so maybe that works, again we just have to see how it goes and I can tell that this is the kind of story that won’t be moving too much.

I played through the first 8 chapters before putting the game down. I don’t actually know how many chapters there are but it seemed like a good batch before writing the review. First up I can say the amount of content that the game has is very impressive. There are at least 10 different modes including story, PVP, missions, guild content, etc. You have a lot going on here and there aren’t really any advertisements. There are constant places asking you to buy items with real currency but you can largely ignore those. The HUD is rather jam packed so it can be tough to maneuver around at first though.

I can always appreciate when a game launches with a lot of content so that was nice to see. It can really make the difference in a title like this. There are about 30 playable characters so far, I unlocked about 8. My best fighter was Black Adam whose attacks are super handy. The gameplay is your standard auto based combat system where the heroes attack on their own and you just click on the supers when ready. You can put that on auto too though and speed everything 2X. I did that since there isn’t much reason to assume direct control most of the time.

The problem is the heavy focus on building. You’re building different parts of the bat cave, new homes, different facilities, etc. Each one takes between 20 seconds to 3 minutes for the opening levels and you can spend in game currency to shorten it but you know that it’s ultimately a trick to waste your resources in the early game. I built and upgraded over 50 things before I stopped and I can tell you that it is repetitive. You can only build one thing at a time unless you spend real money and this needed a quality of life update badly. Something to really make the whole experience smoother. There is just too much clicking over and over again.

If you really like building then you will love this game. Otherwise I don’t see the combat being important enough to keep you interested. The gameplay style could stand to be a lot more interesting since as it stands every character is pretty interchangeable. It also takes too long to get to the point of things as the tutorial itself takes around 1-2 hours to complete. It’s not even like the concepts are that hard, the game just explains things very slowly.

Overall, I like the direction the game is going in and it does look to be an interesting playthrough. It’s just going with the classic drip feed approach and you will need to be committed to the game for a very long time in order to pull this off. To me the game just isn’t interesting enough for that. That’s the nature of mobile games though. Put it this way, with an actual ending and if this was a console game I would play it through to the end. The game itself is good but when it comes to mobile you really have to pick and choose your battles since they are basically endless until the servers give way. So I’ll be curious to see how many people stick with this one but for me at least? This was the end of the road.

Overall 7/10

Mario’s Picross Review

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I remember playing the Legend of Zelda Picross a long time ago and it was surprisingly fun. I’m more familiar with Sudoku than Picross but they have a lot of similarities. It’s satisfying to see the picture that you have created by making all of the matches. While Mario may not have quite the same amount of polish that the Link title had, I would say that it holds its own. The levels also throw you into the deep end right away with how many rows and columns there are.

For those who don’t play Picross, the basic goal is to try and figure out whether each tile is an X or an O. You do this by reading the numbers listed on each column and row. There are 15 rows and 15 columns. So lets say a row says “15” on it. Then you know that every tile in that row is an O. Likewise if it says zero, then every tile is an X. You start the level with one “hint” where the game completed 1 row and 1 column for you. Then from there you have to figure out the rest with logical deduction. After the first levels you won’t see any 15 or 0 indicators. Instead there will be numbers in the middle like 5, 7, etc. So for those you just have to check every field and narrow down your search. Don’t try to solve everything at once and eventually you will get there. You can get a few guesses wrong but each one hurts your score.

So that’s the gameplay and of course like I said you get to see a fun image related to Mario once you have completed the puzzle. It’s a nice incentive for pulling this off. Perhaps if you recognize the image that will appear it can also work as a hint but to be honest that’s never worked for me. It’s just too specific to really zoom in and make a great guess like that. You will need to really be a genius to pull that off so you’re probably going to be stuck trying to solve the puzzle the normal way.

How much you enjoy the game will all depend on how much you like Picross because that’s literally the only mode here. You won’t be doing anything else. Now if you do like the style, then you’ll be glad to know that there are over 100 levels to go through here! That’s a lot of Picross to get through and so you can’t say that the game is lacking in content. I’m curious which symbols are used but I guess across the Mario franchise it should be easy to make 100 pictures. I wouldn’t be surprised if the last one is a Mario face or something.

The graphics aren’t bad here. I’m not going to say they’re amazing or anything but they hold their own and don’t show the age all that much. The art style works well and then you’ve also got a decent soundtrack. Surprisingly they don’t go ahead and throw in all of the big Mario tunes though. That would have been really fun to have gotten a large variety of those. Maybe next time if they were to ever make a new Picross title.

It’s hard to estimate how long it would take you to complete every level but surely it would be at least a few hours. After all the puzzles only get harder and harder the more you go on. I wouldn’t be surprised if they increased the size to a 20 by 20 or even a 30 by 30 in the end. The difficulty should feel really hard by the end and so this works as a real educational game as well. You have to really focus and give it your all in order to reach your way to the top. One wrong move or bad guess will send you back.

There’s not much else to say about the game because of how direct it is. Likewise you should know if you will like it or not right away based on this as well. Picross is Picross at the end of the day. There may be some slight differences in how it can be presented but there certainly are no differences in how the game itself is played. Although if anyone was to ever add items or gimmicks to the game, it would definitely be Nintendo.

Overall, Mario Picross is a good game. It’s definitely not all that ambitious but you don’t need to be for a game like this. The real fun is in trying to see how far you can go. You can even implement big challenges on yourself like considering it a game over if you get any wrong responses or turning down the hint at the beginning. Just keep on going and your skills are bound to continue improving over and over again. Soon you will be a Picross champion!

Overall 6/10

Metroid Dread Review

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It’s time to finally check out Metroid Dread. That game was definitely out for quite a while and got good reviews so I knew it was about time that I took the plunge. I can tell you this, the game definitely lives up to the hype. In fact I would say it is the best Metroid game in the franchise. The climax is super cinematic and the combat is also a lot of fun. You really get to use a larger variety of abilities than in other Metroid titles and it doesn’t hold back on graphics or soundtrack. Prepare yourself for a difficult but very satisfying game.

The game starts with a brief recap to Metroid Fusion and then Samus has to head to a planet that is having some trouble. Unfortunately this was a trap. She is quickly defeated by a powerful being known as Raven Beak and she wakes up at the bottom of the planet with most of her abilities being sealed away. She is suffering from something called physical amnesia. She needs to find a way off the planet and then blow it up because if Raven Claw and his X viruses get off the planet then the whole universe will be in trouble. Will she be able to escape?

Right away the game lives up to its title as the main theme is really dark and foreboding. I’ve been listening to it a lot on Youtube after completing the game and it really holds up. It’s a super memorable track and it’s going to be hard for any Samus theme to beat this one. The various boss/level themes are also really solid so I was quite impressed with the soundtrack. Then we have the graphics which are looking real sharp as well. The colors are on point and the cinematics keep up the good work. There are no weak points in the visuals.

The game’s length is a bit on the short side as I beat it in under 7 hours but there are definitely more areas to explore through. All though not as much as in other games as most of the maps quickly get locked as you proceed through the game. So for the most part you can’t do any backtracking until you’re really near the end of the game. It’s hard to time this as well because then you quickly enter the land of no return for the climax so you could very well find yourself at a point where you don’t get to explore much at all.

The game is designed in a way where you can certainly still win even without all the extra energy tanks, it’ll just be more difficult. You have less room for error here so you better work on memorizing the enemy attack patterns. It took me some time for a few of the bosses but just keep going at it and you’ll be okay. This is a very appropriate measure of difficulty where nobody can accuse the game of being too easy but at the same time it’s not insanely difficult. You have the tools at your disposal to win the matches when it counts.

The key gameplay mechanic here is the parry system. You have to use that in order to block the stronger moves that the enemies use and then counter with some free shots from your end. If you nail every counter then you will definitely win but the window of time can be short so it does come down to your overall reaction times. There are also unblockable attacks so you have to be able to quickly notice when they’re coming and dodge instead. If you are too slow then you will be in trouble.

A lot of the boss battles are in fairly open environments which is fun because your movement is not limited. It also means that when you lose, you know that you could have done something different. There are 7 hunters after you as well so you have to constantly be running around them and evading until you get your super laser to finish them off. These chases are really intense and some of the best parts of the title. Probably the best aside from the final boss himself.

Raven Claw will also go down as one of the all time greatest Metroid villains. That guy was really solid. As always Samus is a great heroine as well. Someone who can make snap decisions without hesitating like when she blasts one of the villains near the end. She never gives up. As a whole the gameplay is definitely a lot of fun and in terms of gameplay design, the Metroidvania aspects weren’t bad.

The map could have been better though. It’s a little too cluttered and you can’t really filter it. For example I think you should not see collectibles that you’ve already obtained on the map. It just takes up space and looks misleading. At least make it a different color right? If the map were easier to read then that would make things easier instead of having to check it over and over again. It could be a lot worse though as the game at least usually makes it pretty clear where you should be going. So I give it a lot of props there.

Aside from trying to beat the game even quicker to get special endings, there is also a hard mode and a boss rush mode that you unlock. I’m sure those are fun modes to check out and hopefully you would get some kind of a special reward for completing them. Hard mode must be absolutely unforgiving too so I wonder how the bosses would go there. Maybe the reaction times for the parry are even more narrow which would really put you in a tough spot. As it is I could only parry the hunters once in a while because they are so unpredictable. Having reaction times that good is definitely a rarity.

Overall, Metroid Dread is definitely a great game. One of those titles that reminds you Nintendo can still churn out an intense title when they feel like it. It may be a little more rare than you would like but that’s just how it goes sometimes. I eagerly look forward to seeing if Prime 4 will be able to maintain this intensity. I still have yet to play Prime 2 and Prime 3 so you can bet that I will work on correcting that sooner than later. In the meantime, this is a good title to tide you over.

Overall 8/10

Poppy Playtime Triple Pack Review

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I’m sure everybody here has heard of Poppy’s Playtime. Well, the name may not have an s in it, but that’s the way I’m used to saying it. This thing was aiming to be the next Five Nights at Freddy’s or Bendy. The horror and scares were going to be next level and now I finally get to play it as a triple pack. It’s definitely a solid title with a lot of scares the whole time. The lore may ultimately start getting a bit try hard edgy near the end but ultimately this is an experience you will not forget.

The game starts with the main character inside the ominous Poppy’s Playground. The game is in first person so we never see the main character. I suspect that he is one of the animatronics to be honest or a zombie since he might be dead but either way there are a lot of theories you can go with. I’m sure the fans who listened to every tape and 100% completed every chapter will have a better idea of this though. Either way you now have to try and get out of here but to do so you will have to find a way past these vicious monsters.

The first part mainly has you trying to escape Huggy Wuggy. Part of the fun in playing a collection like this is that you get to see the subtle gameplay shifts as you go on. This one is the simplest as you are basically walking around and interacting with objects. There are no special abilities or anything like that. You have to make sure and run fast too because one hug from this villain and it’s curtains for you. We don’t learn much about any of the characters or lore yet but this is just the beginning. For this reason the first part is the most ominous and I dare say that it is the scariest. You just don’t forget a title that has such an intense climax. Neither following part could match the sheer intensity of this one.

In the second part, we start getting a bit more technical with the puzzles. At one point you gain a new hand which helps with that. You are interacting with less random objects and now it’s more about specific puzzles. You are tested with a lot of new minigames to conquer by the Mother who is the main villain this time around. We start getting more lore here as well thanks to Poppy herself. Definitely not a character I would trust but then again I suppose I wouldn’t trust any character in this game. Being locked in a horror environment like this would just give me trust issues I have to admit.

The increase in platforming works well and in terms of pure gameplay I would say this one has the best mixture out of the 3 parts. It does well in keeping the main horror gameplay while also putting in a bit of that platformer kind of energy. The main hub world is also quite large with all the different areas to go through. The climax is also pretty intense and we have our full plot by this point. The Prototype is out there trying to murder us all.

In the third part the game goes even more ambitious as we enter full platformer territory. The puzzles are the largest yet as you run from room to room to deal with each impending threat. The hub world is also the biggest by far, the game is the most difficult as well with some really tricky segments as well. You even get a flare gun in this part which may be pushing the envelope a bit since a game is inherently less scary the instant you get a weapon. There are a lot of scares still for sure but slowly you’re more worried about the other creatures running around as they get picked off instead of being worried for yourself. There are still a lot of close calls though and I’d find myself flinching in every game. Even when you know that the monster is coming, you just can’t help but get terrified.

Each game has a really solid cliffhanger which is nice since it absolutely gets you ready for the next big adventure. I’m eager to see what happens in part 4 now and the main character does seem to get closer and closer to getting out of this place. Once he has escaped then things will really be looking up for him but it doesn’t seem like the kind of game where there will be a happy ending. Something tells me that the main character is going to be absolutely cooked here. He just needs to make sure that he doesn’t go alone and at least takes most of the monsters with him.

As with most of these big horror games the more of the lore you know, the less you want to know. I would say the best thing to do with these games is to not really explain anything. Just let me try to escape the monsters while getting some evil speeches and such. Keep it all shrouded in mystery because inevitably it involves a bunch of kids dying and gets all so tragic. At least based on how this game is going, you’re rooting for the monsters to wipe out humanity because all the people here seem super evil. At least all of the grownups I should say since they are constantly pulling off crazy experiments. No mercy or escape here.

The graphics are solid as it really feels like a horror title through and through. It’s part of what makes all of the jump scares work. Additionally the sound effects and quick musical tracks really work well to that end. They even made a whole parody of a happy intro at the start of the second chapter which was really unexpected. The game definitely has a lot of effort put into it which I appreciate. I would have liked to keep the flashlight in part 3 as sometimes it could be a little hard to see but I also get how it would make the game a little less scary.

In terms of replay value there are trophies to get and they seem quite difficult. You have to beat parts 2 and 3 in a very fast time to get the Platinum. It basically means mastering each game which takes a lot of dedication. I see that a lot of people have pulled this off based on the trophy percentages so maybe it’s not as hard as it sounds. Maybe… but I have some doubts on this. Either way at some point I’ll try to improve my rank since I have a D in two of the parts.

Overall, Poppy’s Playtime is a game you won’t want to miss. It is definitely intense and disturbing at times so you have to make sure that you’re into horror titles but as long as you are then you should be having a good time here. There is a lot of exploring to do within the game and more details that you will pick up each time. The games go fast but as a trilogy there is a good amount of content to enjoy. I’m ready for that next bundle pack at some point.

Overall 7/10

Penny’s Big Breakaway Review

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It’s time for a wholesome 3D platformer. Penny is a new IP so it’s always impressive to see one of those grow and become the next big thing. It seems like everyone liked this one quite a bit and I can confirm that it’s a good title. It’s the kind of game that is easy to jump into and there is plenty to do after the main campaign is over. There’s no reason to leave this title on the shelf, just play through it and you will see what all the hype is about.

The general plot involves Penny heading to the Gala but unfortunately she ends up messing with the big political figure by mistake. I think he’s the mayor but now he wants her taken down. She must run fast, taking down every boss in her way as well as the proper authorities until she can get back into the gala and clear her name. Does Penny have what it takes to pull this off or is she about to be in for a very rude awakening?

Fortunately Penny is very skilled with a Yo-Yo. The general gameplay is all built around this as you use it to leap over obstacles, directly smash enemies, etc. It’s a fun way to make the gameplay a little different than just being your average 3D title. The game also moves at a pretty fast pace so you are really encouraged to learn the movement options well so that you can keep going at full speeds. The game isn’t all that hard but the real difficulty comes in trying to beat the levels as fast as possible to get the max ranks. I didn’t get a single max rank during my playthrough so it seems like this is definitely something you would need a good amount of practice for.

Additionally each level has several people asking you for help and I can only imagine that they will probably reward you with trophies for completing all of these. The main campaign is probably around 6-7 hours so throw in the bonus content and you’ve got a decent amount of things to do in order to really keep you busy here. You’ll really get to have tested your platforming skills by the end of it. There are also a lot of fun quality of life features here like a game over allowing you to continue but you lose all of your points. So if you actually want a high rank then you better prepare to play the level again while not dying so often.

Once you know the route to go for the goal you shouldn’t have a problem but sometimes it does take a bit of trial and error. Later on you also get invisible platforms so by that point in the game you really want to have mastered how far you can jump. Knowing the different distances by heart will really go a long way here. Without that then you may be in trouble but that’s why you have the option to keep on trying until you have succeeded.

Meanwhile the bright artstyle and graphics works really well here. Each world is distinct and you can tell that a whole lot of effort was put into the game. It’s all very polished and likewise the soundtrack is also super good. There are a lot of really catchy themes here and the soundtrack has a lot of variety to it. No two worlds sound the same at all. The technical elements here are all definitely on point.

The only part that can be confusing at times are the boss battles. It’s not always readily apparent what you have to do. Yes you have the trial and error but sometimes the game could stand to be a little clearer. The main example of this is the big boss where you have to use a magnet to attack him. Dodging his attacks was really hard to understand because of the odd hitboxes and the magnet’s range seemed a bit off.

All small things at the end of the day though. The gameplay itself is definitely a total win either way and I would definitely say that the sequels should stick to this kind of game design. Keep things fast to differentiate from other platformers and that momentum can easily be used to keep this title near the top of its genre. They can also start expanding the main cast a bit. It’s something that is good to begin doing sooner than later so the characters all have time to become fan favorites and everything. There are already some named characters here but none that strike you as the playable type. They seem like supporting characters, not main characters. At least that’s the way I would explain it.

Overall, Penny’s Big Breakthrough is a fun game. It’s fast paced and clever with the various mechanics. It looks and sounds good as well so you’ve really got the complete package here. There’s definitely a lot to take in and there is good room for a sequel. I’d definitely be interested in playing a follow up so lets keep our fingers crossed for that. In the meantime pick this game up and it’s the kind of title that you can really recommend to anyone. A simple but effective title that has no real issues.

Overall 7/10

Yoshi’s Island DS Review

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Yoshi’s Island is one of those games that I would have imagined that I’d have played years ago but it always fell through the cracks. As a result it feels really retro to be playing this one because it’s just from such a different time. This was back when Nintendo really did not hold back on the difficulty. Some of these levels are really quite hard but never in an unfair way. Your platforming skills will simply be tested in ways that you wouldn’t have thought possible.

The story is fairly basic but with one little twist that was nice. Basically babies around the world are being kidnapped and this includes poor Luigi. Fortunately the stork is able to save Mario and quickly locates Yoshi so that they can team up to save the world once again. These two are no strangers to mixing it up with the likes of Bowser and so they quickly get ready for this. What they don’t realize is that King Bowser has come from the future as well to really complicate matters. Dealing with two fierce opponents may be a bit much and then we have Wario as a wild card.

Right off the bat I can appreciate the wide character roster here. At least for a Platformer this feels pretty big. You can use Baby Mario, Peach, Wario, DK, and even Bowser at one point. Each character has their own special abilities while riding on Yoshi and this even affects your running speed. Additionally Mario has the ability to grow his cape while using a power star and you temporarily control him instead of Yoshi. It’s clear that Nintendo was really working hard to ensure there was a whole lot of depth to the gameplay. It’s certainly doing more than the original.

That said, more isn’t always better. How much you enjoy this game will really come down to how much you like playing as all of the characters. If for any reason you do not like playing as them, then you will probably miss the standard Yoshi gameplay. As its core the gameplay still has many of the same elements like running through the levels and getting past all the obstacles but then you use the character specific items like DK’s climbing to get past different barriers in the level.

I mostly stuck with Mario as his basic gameplay is the most comforting but the game does force you to switch on many occasions. So get used to playing as everyone. Like I said before the difficulty is also quite high so don’t think that you will just be sleep walking through this adventure. No, you’re going to have to really put in a lot of effort. Stock up on as many lives as possible in the first few worlds. I nearly didn’t spend enough focus on that since I figured lives wouldn’t be important but the difficulty really spikes starting with world 4. I had around 65 lives by that point and ended up with less than 20 by the end.

There are a lot of check points in the game which is good but some of the jumps and timings are really intense. It’s fun to see how creatively Nintendo added this difficulty while preserving the basic concept of Yoshi not having a health bar. You die if you fall through a pit, touch lava, or let your baby get away from you for a long period of time. The latter is the easiest way to die so just be careful where you’re at when you take damage.

For the most part the bosses are all really easy though as even the final boss moves fairly slow and only has a few different attacks. I suspect that it is harder to balance a boss than it is for a level which explains the huge disparity between them. So at least that’s one part you don’t have to worry about, for the most part you will be blowing the bosses away with ease. For the levels, you just have to keep going at them over and over again until you’ve found a way to win. Over 90% of the challenging parts are just about execution though so you don’t have to worry about solving puzzles or anything like that. Just put your best foot forward and you’ll be fine.

The graphics are pretty solid here. Again it has a very nostalgic kind of vibe to it with the looks and designs really being classic Mario all the way. It’s an easy game to enjoy visually and the soundtrack is also good. A solid array of themes even if I can’t point to any one theme and say that it’s an all star. They all work well within the context that they appear in which is good enough for me. Nintendo typically always does a good job on that front so I’m not surprised.

There is also a formidable amount of replay value here. The main campaign is fairly long with 5 worlds of 8 levels each but then each world has 3-4 bonus levels as well. Then you have the collectibles and there are a ton of those to grab in each level. We’re talking massive Yoshi coins as well as red coins. It will take a very long time to achieve all of those so that will add more than a few hours to your total docket.

Overall, This is a very complete Yoshi game. It holds its own with the classic Mario titles although I will always prefer the Mario gameplay over Yoshi overall. Nothing wrong with Yoshi’s but Mario’s tends to be more fast paced. Here you do often have to wait for things to get set up. The worst are the auto scroller levels but that is true for any platformer title since the movement is so slow. You should definitely check this game out if you are looking for a good challenge. I can definitely guarantee that you will find one here. It’s the kind of game that you really can’t underestimate.

Overall 7/10

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Review

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Tomb Raider is one of those franchises that is super well known but I actually have not played most of them. Crazy right? Well it was time to play 3 of the original ones via this collection but unfortunately the games have not aged well. The level designs can be rather brutal and the whole game seems focused on trying to defeat you in the most obnoxious and sudden ways possible. You’ll need to strap yourself in because you’re definitely going to be here for a very long time. The total collection took me over 50 hours to complete it and that’s without playing the 3 separate post/tie-in games that have their own sets of trophies.

Lara Croft is often thrown right into the action in each of the games. Sometimes she doesn’t really have much context on what is happening and other times she is following a lead. Each game has a full story and cinematics but the third game definitely has the largest amount of them which I appreciated. More cutscenes is always a good thing to really get you hyped on what is going on. Each of the games have their strengths as well. The first game has the best main villain and the best final level, the second game has the best combat gameplay, and the third one has the most cutscenes. That said they all do tend to share the same issues which is what really holds the title back.

The first thing I would say is to make sure that you have changed the controls to modern. Immediately you will feel a huge difference here as everything is a lot smoother across the board. You can actually turn without falling and everything. It’s not perfect mind you as Lara runs quickly and you’ll still fall a ton. it’s one of the many reasons why you need to quick save constantly to avoid deaths that set you back a great deal of time. that said, you also have to be careful that you don’t save yourself in an unwinnable position. That happened to me twice which meant I had to restart the whole level. I lost about an hour that way so yeah be careful.

The game keeps track of how many times you’ve saved which is pretty near. The first game I needed around 300 quick saves but in both games 2 and 3 I needed over 600. Shows you just how hard the games were and why it took me 50+ hours. It’s extremely easy to get lost in the games even with modern lighting. I should note now that al of my complaints with the modern version would be 10X worse without modern mode. There are many stages and areas that are extremely dark. You have flares to light things up but I would be going through those really quickly. The game would be virtually unplayable between that and not having quick saves.

Almost every level will have some kind of super unreasonable puzzle that takes you ages and ages to figure out. Then there is also the occasional glitch like bullets not dealing any damage or falling through a wall. They’re very rare but each instance is definitely annoying. If you missed a key anywhere you sometimes have to backtrack a very great distance. The levels are al made to be like mazes that intertwine as well so you can lose your sense of direction right away. Not the spot you want to find yourself in.

All of the instant deaths are rough but the worst is probably fire. If you even touch any fire then you get lit up and the only way to save yourself is to find water. Often times there is no water around so you just have to reset and go back to the previous save state. Also make sure you find all of the big guns because if you don’t have them then you’re in trouble. Particularly in the second game where every enemy hits like a tank. The third game is much easier in that regard as the enemies never appear to be that crazy. You get the legendary desert eagle in the final game which can wipe out virtually any foe right away. Even the final boss was absolutely shredded against this gun.

So in the end the biggest problem that the Tomb Raider game has is that they’re just not fun. Often times you are forcing yourself to get through the level but you just want to put the game down. Too many unrefined parts of the title exist like the gameplay, jumping, level designs, etc. Every time you start to have a little fun you are quickly brought to another annoying section of the level that will have you stumped for at least an hour. Rough stuff all around. Every game has to try and balance the difficulty and puzzle mechanics along with the fun factor and this one did not do the math right. The fun must always heavily outweigh everything else and that was not what happened here. Not even close and that’s why the game gets the rare distinction of being put in the under average category. Being fun is the biggest objective for any game after all.

Despite that, the cutscenes are fun though. The graphics look good for them and I do like all of the witty banter from Lara herself. She is definitely a really fun heroine and it’s fun to see all of the action going on. The first game in particular has the best climax as the enemies invade her home and she has to fight them all off. Now that was really cool. The next two games couldn’t quite top that but it would be difficult to do that for any title.

The soundtrack is okay when it appears but the sound mixing is not great. Often times the music is way lower than the soundtracks and then it vanishes for large parts of the stages as well. The game could have really benefited from having a real soundtrack there the whole time. Music can always enhance and improve different scenes by flaring up the emotions and this one needed that instead of the heavy silence that would often appear. Then you’d need to raise the volume for cutscenes since the dialogue would be low and then lower it again because of how strong the gunshots were.

Well, it goes without saying that there is a ton of replay value here. Over 50 hours of content is absolutely crazy and that will go to around 70+ if you play the expansions for each game. If you end up liking the titles then this would be a complete bargain. It’s rare to be getting any game with that sheer amount of playtime and it’s why people do like collections quite a bit. Just be ready to have to deal with a whole lot of puzzles.

Overall, Tomb Raider is a series that I like the concept of way more than the execution. By all accounts this should be a terrific series with an excellent lead and stories that know how to have a little fun. Lara literally takes on gods, dinosaurs, monsters, and magical beings. All just armed with some guns and her intuition. It’s a great kind of premise here. Unfortunately puzzles are often the Achilles heel of any good game and since the titles are built around not just puzzles but the levels working as interactive ones…there really wasn’t any way to get around that. If you like puzzles then you should check these games out but if not then you should probably skip this title and stay far away.

Overall 4/10

Care Bears: Care Quest Review

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The Care Bears is one of those franchises that makes you smirk whenever it is brought up. However when you think about it just a little bit harder you remember that it is a really moving series that brings tears to your eyes. The kind of title that makes you remember how wonderful the series can really be. Well I knew that I had to buy this game and let me tell you something…..it’s okay. It’s not bad and it’s not that good. It’s the kind of game that you play for a little while and then put down for good. It’s a collection of 12 minigames so it’s not particularly long after all.

There is no story and there are no other modes. The minigames are all that you get and I suppose what you can aim for is to get high scores in all of the minigames as many times as you can. They range from being extremely short games to being fairly long. The first and last minigames were definitely the longest ones I’d say since they went on for at least 5 rounds while most had 3. The games all start to get pretty similar so I’m thinking the devs were running out of ideas by the end.

The best minigame is easily a platformer where you have to run to the goal while trying to dodge the rain drops. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart and you have a health bar so you can actually die. Definitely make sure you take it slow as you go through. The scores are all based on how many stars you collect and none of them are time based. So slow and steady is literally your best option throughout. I liked that you could actually run and jump here.

A few of the minigames have you flying in the air as you drop different things on the Carebears. Sometimes you are putting them to sleep, other times you are making them fall in love, etc. There are a few different remakes of the same minigame here. Considering there are only 12 in total, that may make you raise an eyebrow but at least the gameplay is smooth. The one where you are firing off an energy blast to wake up the Bears was pretty fun.

Then you’ve also got a minigame where you have to match the bears together. It’s a very classic kind of matching puzzle that you would have seen often throughout the free game industry. It’s always fun but my main gripe is that it’s too slow. When you make a match you have to wait for the Bears to slowly walk away before your next attempt and those second really add up. It’s the little things that expose this game for not being an ultimate AAA title. A truly hype Care Bears game would definitely be possible with their flight and energy blast abilities but I guess that might not be in the cards for a while.

The final minigame has gits falling down from the skies and the Carebears need the right ones. So you have to grab them and give to the bear but unfortunately we ended with the worst one. It is completely RNG which gifts rain down and they go slowly. So whether you win or lose…you have no influence on the outcome. The worst part is that when you lose you have 3 lives so the whole game takes an eternity either way. A minigame should be fun and fast. Give me 30 quick minigames over 10 long ones for example. Wario Microgames and Mario Party are two of the best series in terms of balancing that.

The graphics are okay but nothing special. They’re nice and colorful so that helps the GBA title hold up better than most. The soundtrack is more on the nonexistent side but again that does make sense since this wasn’t the highest budget kind of title. It’s not like you would want to go all out on a minigame compilation right? So the technical elements aren’t really doing the game any favors but it didn’t really need them. To move up either way the game would have needed a lot more content. A game this short cannot get a positive score no matter what. It’s just too extreme. Still, it is a fun time and so that’s why it manages to hang in there at the middle.

Overall, The Care Bears may be out there to help make sure that everybody has fun but at the end that’s about all that they are doing. This game isn’t trying to rock the boat in any way and I would have liked for it to have really stretched the boundaries of what a GBA game is capable of. If you can find this one for a few bucks then I’d say to pick it up for the novelty factor. That said, this is the only reason you would get it as there are numerous games that are simply better than this one in every conceivable way. The Care Bears are not going to become the next Mario or Sonic. Not now….and possibly not ever.

Overall 5/10

Godzilla x Kong: Titan Chasers Review

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Games like Genshin Impact and other free to plays get a lot of insults thrown their way over the character designs but when you play a game like this you remember why most titles try to be very colorful. Titan Chasers is a decent game and there’s a lot to do here but the characters are so bland and lifeless that you have no real incentive to keep on. You don’t care about their struggles or what they intend to do about the situation and in a cutscene heavy game like this, it really spells the end rather quickly.

The story involves a bunch of Titan Chasers crashing on monster island. They have no way off of the island now and have to try and survive until people notice that they’re gone. Half of them want to focus on survival and so they set up camp while the other half grow crazy immediately and want to slaughter all the Kaiju. They will also destroy other humans for the lols. You play as the survival folks and are armed with different weapons that will let you destroy Kaiju and other monsters with ease. In this world the Titans may still be powerful but they can also be prey.

Now obviously we’re not talking about someone like Godzilla here. The main characters immediately note that he is too powerful and he actually works as a stage hazard where he just blasts around and you have to make sure not to get hit. I was glad he got some respect there but the fact that these Titan chasers are actually able to beat some monsters is a bit iffy. It’s always a slippery slope here because the instant you show that monsters can be destroyed by a few well placed gunshots, the whole verse starts to lose its intimidation factor. Also the story doesn’t mesh well with the gameplay.

Why is that? Well, we know that a decent amount of people crashed on the island but it wasn’t a whole army. So how come the majority of minion encounters early on are against humans? How are there this many humans running around? Yeah it’s gameplay mechanics but that’s still something they should take into account here. You also fight dinosaurs and such which is interesting but the gameplay doesn’t have much variety. It’s a very classic turn based fighting system. Nothing wrong with that as I like turn based but it does need to be paired with fun characters or a good story. This game has neither and you’ll be sleeping through the cutscenes.

As for the survival element, you use materials to build new houses and level them up. The whole thing works on a time gated mechanic so you could wait for a very long time or you can spend in game currency to speed things up. Naturally that is a trap as it runs out quickly. You also have an energy meter so you can’t play for too long without taking breaks. This is all standard stuff so while it sounds negative, it is to be expected. Ultimately I would just like to have seen the Godzilla game be a little more innovative.

I guess another way to look at it is that 5 years ago I may have stuck around with this one a bit longer. Mayyyybe. There just isn’t much reason to stick with this one for very long because it’s definitely going to be a big time commitment and a game like this needs to hook you in right away. Also there are gatcha elements here but it’s the most pointless that I’ve ever seen. In a Megaman game you can look forward to drawing your favorite character but here? You can roll for a bunch of made up humans and that’s it. No Kaiju or anything like that. I rolled a few times and got some random joes but I don’t care about these guys.

This will be the biggest example I ever use of how a game can underwhelm you because of the characters. Give me the Genshin crowd any day. As far as the graphics themselves go, I would say the game looks pretty good. Sure, the artstyle may be nothing special but we weren’t expecting much out of that anyway. Meanwhile the soundtrack is okay but rather limited so far. You better like the main theme because you will be hearing it a whole lot.

In terms of replay value there is a good amount here. It’s clear that the game launched with a ton of content so that is definitely a good thing. I give them credit for that unlike certain other games which were a bit on the light side when they launched. That said, you have to make sure that the content is interesting too. My biggest negative here is around the story so that means if you do like the story then you can be assured that the gameplay is pretty good. That part won’t let you down at all.

Overall, In a way I want the game to succeed for the Godzilla brand name but it’ll definitely need to do a lot of things quickly to polish the experience or gamers will be bleeding out fast. The mobile market is as tough as it gets with thousands of active games on the store at a time. Most games close up shop within the opening year so this one will have to work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m rooting for it to do well…but we shall see. In the meantime you’re better off playing some of the older Godzilla mobile games. This one would be around the middle for now, beats some and loses to some.

Overall 6/10

Sutte Hakkun Review

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It’s time for a puzzle title but unfortunately this is not one of the top tier ones. The mechanics are interesting to be sure but I wouldn’t say that they are all that good. They get old pretty fast and so you are unlikely to go through all of the puzzles in the game. Kudos to whoever pulls it off though. The puzzles are really difficult too so it’s not like you can just dive through them either. This is not a game for the faint of heart as you will have to keep on thinking hard all the way through.

The main goal of the game is to reach a rainbow gem in each level. In order to get to this gem you have to use your blood sucking skills to alter blocks. Each block in front of you can be made to move in different directions based on the kind of energy that you give it. Yellow goes diagonally while blue goes up for example. You can jump on top of blocks but can’t inject colors while in mid air. A lot of the puzzles involve timing so you want to be careful on the order of when you do things. That is absolutely important here.

If you make a mistake and get stuck you can always reset the level. Each level is a one room puzzle so at least you don’t have to back track a lot if you lose. Each world has 10-15 levels within it. Once you complete the levels in a world then you move on to the next one. You also don’t have to play through the levels fully chronologically either. You can mix and match as some puzzles might be easier for you to solve than others. Due to the way puzzles work in general, you may find that later ones are easier than the one you’re stuck at.

Although I don’t imagine that will be the case forever. As the worlds go on, even the weakest puzzle will probably still beat the strongest from a previous world. The setup really allows for a ton of difficulty jumps with how many blocks are in play at once. I very quickly got conquered myself. These puzzles were more than I was prepared for and I can say that with absolute confidence here.

The sheer amount of levels is super impressive. The game has at least 60-70 but it is probably over 100. Thinking of that many puzzles in general is already impressive. I always thought that had to be one of the most difficult things about game design because you have to come up with a puzzle that works without there being a way to break it and solve without following the right steps. Of course some games may allow that but in general the devs don’t want you to cheese the solutions. They want you to actually solve the puzzles which is the entire point of the game right?

The graphics aren’t bad although they are nothing to write home about. It’s a very basic kind of art style that works well for a minimalist kind of game like this. The screen is always clear and only basic colors are used. You’re ether into that kind of thing or you’re not. If you’re not then this could be a very long experience for you. The soundtrack is not really going to be popping off either. So you’re really here for the gameplay all the way through. If you don’t enjoy the gameplay then I don’t see how you will be able to enjoy any other part of the title.

Overall, Sutte Hakkun is a very unique game. I have to give it full points on creativity here. You are unlikely to see another game that is quite the same as this one. Unfortunately it is an example of a game not being able to get by on creativity alone. It’s just not all that fun by the end of it and that’s considering that I didn’t play through all of the levels. This is a game that has a massive amount of content so you can give the devs credit there. To someone who finds the gameplay to be very fun, they will have an excellent time all around. As for me, I’ll wait for the next Mario title.

Overall 4/10