Steven Santana
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DualShockers Latest Reviews
AWE is great as an Alan Wake fan, good as a Control fan, and all you could want in terms of getting excited for what is next with Remedy and their connected universe. Hearing Porretta narrate in Wake’s voice is priceless, and while the light mechanic from Alan Wake is surface level-adapted, its fiction being integrated into Control is really where anyone's attention should be, and it excels in that regard. AWE is another fine addition to Control and includes all the factors that make it great, and serves as another finger pointing towards the mysterious future of Remedy and their work.
Gathering the necessary resources to fulfill a Genesis mission can take a lot of time, especially if you end up getting pushed back by hostile invasions. There is a base sense of joy to be had from making the numbers go up, but I never completed a Genesis mission and I doubt whatever feeling or reward it gives was worth the effort to reach it. I think it is more than enough to say I have no interest in playing more of it just to confirm what I already know: it's not great.
With a stronger central theme that went deeper than base critiques of the US and its cultures, Desert Child could have been much better. While its got style, it's disappointing how little it does with it. Races are fine, the world it presents quickly becomes finding the quickest route to reach the end, and once reached it all ends so abruptly you can't help but begin it again with the curiosity of there having to be something more. In the end, there isn't that much more to it, and even an easy Platinum trophy on PlayStation 4 doesn't make this a game I would recommend to anyone.
Gwent became a means to an end by the finale, a necessary thing to do to unlock the next story segment, and something I would avoid when possible. Its a shame because Thronebreaker does some good work modifying the familiar Gwent rules, they just get easily overshadowed by the main storyline and the various decisions you can find along the way.
I enjoyed a lot of what 2064: Read Only Memories had to offer. Gameplay is focused on dialogue and puzzles, and while the latter can be a toss-up between frustrating and satisfying, the former outshines it in both quantity and quality. If not for the relationship between yourself and Turing, as well as the backstories, interactions, and performances of the secondary characters, there wouldn’t be much to keep one engaged. Thankfully all of that is present and make Neo-San Francisco and the stories it holds worth playing through to the very end.
While Owlboy may have small sections that cause numerous restarts, those portions are buried underneath the overwhelming amount of great moments found within. Nearly everything about Owlboy is well-crafted. From the graphics, the soundwork, the characters and their inter-relationships, the changing state of the world, the gameplay, and the title's ability to introduce and drop mechanics in a dynamically-paced way, Owlboy is a perfectly executed composition of story and gameplay.
Reaching the ending isn't the true goal of Necropolis, although it is something you aim for. Instead the goal is more about finding everything there is to collect, from filling out the codex and dye collection, to learning for yourself which weapon and shield's are the best. There is satisfaction from slowly building your character up from almost nothing into a nigh-unstoppable warrior. That is, until you die. Certain choices made regarding what you carry over after a demise, as well as no clear and reliable way to skip introductory levels once you have completed them multiple times, kept me from jumping back in after a particularly long and successful run ruined by a dumb mistake.
XCOM 2 rises above these small errors, and is still a highly recommendable strategy game for those both new and familiar with the franchise. Both friendly and hostile upgrades are doled out to yourself and the opposition over the course of the entire campaign, ensuring variety through to the end. Whether or not you will make it there is entirely on you, which is why success is celebrated and losses so discouraging. XCOM 2 introduces new elements that keep the strategy game fresh, continues to overwhelm the player with options, and challenges you to overthrow the alien overlords in power. There isn't much more I could ask for.
I wanted to enjoy Virginia, but the nonsense ending left me annoyed and puzzled as to its meaning. Even playing a second time, I still am not sure what really happened. Some aspects I understand, such as a scenario in which the player character ascends to her bosses rank and basically becomes him down to both the smoking and tossing a file to the person at your desk. I had someone else play for any insight, but the continual edits and metaphysics left them confused as well. There may be something there for others, but for me it was simply a good mystery gone wrong, and not one I enjoyed upon completion.
I really wanted to like The Technomancer during my twenty or so hours with it, but constantly I was pushed into battles that were just not fun. I liked my companions, their stories, and the overall progression of the conspiracies and faction wars occurring on Mars. It would have been so much better if every time I needed to reach a location in Ophir I wasn't forced to fight four soldiers at once. Frequently I would take damage in the middle of a swing from an off-screen enemy, or my healing would be interrupted by a bullet, or I would dodge into an attack when I swear I was pushing my stick away from it. While it would be interesting to see the results of making the opposite storyline decisions, I won't because that would mean having to relive moments where I wanted to throw my console out the window.