Matt Eakins
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Writing For
GameSpew Latest Reviews
I had high expectations, but Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice lived up to them. In fact, in some ways it exceeded them. It’s not a perfect game, but it comes very close. FromSoftware, via Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Tenchu, and Bloodborne, has built this beautiful, mystifying, work of art. A work of art that demands your patience, persistent and the application of all of your skill to fully understand and enjoy it. But it really is worth the effort. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is yet another FromSoftware classic.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate beautifully tows the line of accessibility for casual players and depth for the hardcore fans. One thing I have always loved about Nintendo is its dedication to the art, and to creativity as a whole. Good or bad, I’m always excited to see what comes next from them. As Super Smash Bros. Ultimate grows and the new characters arrive, I’ll be back on the battlefield for another round. When you have something that people want, it’s hard to balance pushing the envelope with maintaining the foundation. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a prime example of how you push forward into greater territory without losing what made you great in the first place.
But for those who trudge forth, there is a new game plus mode to be enjoyed. Or, for those bravest souls, who wish to tarnish their friendship with Death, you can destroy the contract and become mortal yet again: die once, and it’s game over. So, whether you’re a masochist or a hardcore masochist, Death’s Gambit might have something for you. At the very least, you can see an amazing take on the character of Death wearing an apron.
The Inpatient is simultaneously a familiar yet new experience. Playing off the wonderful formula of Until Dawn, but polishing whatever rust was there, it succeeds in nearly every task it sets out to do. It is chilling without being cheesy. Horrifying without being overt. Disturbing without being grotesque. I absolutely cannot wait to return to the Blackwood Sanatorium and make all the (right? wrong?) decisions this time around. The Inpatient is easily the most rewarding horror adventure to be had on the PSVR to date, and a fun puzzle that I still might not have solved quite yet. Just make sure you stick around after the credits roll, especially if you enjoyed Until Dawn.
Playing through Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon is a strange balance of joy and determination — long periods of boredom tend to surround shorter pockets of enjoyment. It’s shy of a hack-n-slash yet falls short of being a dense JRPG, and caught in the middle of the two, it fails to carve out its own identity. While it delivers good memories to its fans, it fails to open a door for newcomers properly. Nights of Azure 2 is a beautiful night that somehow only requires a passing glance.
Destiny 2 is… broad. It is a showcase of improvement and compromise. It is a time vacuum. It’s hard to not enjoy playing Destiny 2, yet still possible to dislike a fair portion of it. This game is a resurgence of excitement and enjoyment that began to fade late into the life of Destiny. It is, through and through, a better, more refined experience. Your Guardian’s journey will continue to grow through expansions and the inevitable third instalment. The community will keep sharing their stories and ideas. Weapons will rise and fall, classes will be reborn and destroyed. But, much like the original, Destiny 2 will be a second home for me and my friends. A place we can share laughs, hardships, defeat, and joy. That, in part, is what makes the Destiny 2 universe worth visiting: the brilliance of quality game design bringing people together.
The whole package that comes with Ancient Amuletor fills several holes but leaves a lot of gaps. It’s fun and action-filled, but that flame fades away within a few hours. There appears to be more content on the way, with characters and maps locked behind the immortal words “coming soon”. It’s a responsive, smooth experience, but Ancient Amuletor lacks the depth it needs to be a truly worthwhile PSVR title. Each hero is unique and offers a good amount of fun, but the combination of unimaginative enemies and short levels rushes the experience to a close. While it’s certainly not the most bare bones PSVR game on the market, it falls a few pegs down the ladder.
AereA was enjoyable, just not for the reasons you’d imagine a game would be. The story is great, the concept is lovely, but the execution doesn’t hit the right note. It’s colourful, full of bombastic music and character, but lacks depth and fluid gameplay mechanics. Too many little issues snowball into making the experience a bit underwhelming. AereA doesn’t feel like a game that deserves a second playthrough with another character, but it deserves to be noticed. I think it fills a void in games for parents and their children, or brothers/sisters. It’s witty, beautiful, and easy to play and beat. What AereA does, really, is that it makes you remember how important music and a good narrative are to games. Unfortunately, the curtain closes after this game’s last track.
NBA Playgrounds isn’t a bad game, but it isn’t great. The fun it offers is found almost exclusively in either co-op or online. The solo experience is lacking and doesn’t keep your attention for too long. The game has a great look, and plays decently well when the AI isn’t bugging out. What will most likely bog down your time with the game is the repetitiveness. With basically one game mode to play, it’s hard to make each outing feel different and fun. Playing locally definitely brought back some good memories, and online always made it interesting, but burning through the tournaments to unlock everything felt a bit uneventful and stale. It’s hard to say in its current state that it’s worth the price but the team at Saber Interactive seem dedicated to improvement. I hope they do, because it’s a niche in my catalogue I’d love them to fill.
Toukiden 2 is a great example of “it it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The core of the game comes from Toukiden: Kiwami and receives a good dose of polish, and Koei Tecmo added just enough new material. It’s another solid entry in the series and probably your best bet for a demon-hunting experience on current gen consoles. Though at times it can be monotonous and tedious, it allows the player to truly variate the gameplay. It doesn’t hold your hand or spoon feed you, and that’s always nice. With Toukiden 2, it’s good to be a Slayer again.