James Paley
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COGConnectedLatest Reviews
This game suffers when subjected to a reviewer’s brutal pacing. Maybe if I hadn’t been racing towards the finish line, the endless tiny loading screens wouldn’t have bothered me as much. I was also forced to discard a lot of the side content. It’s not super compelling stuff, but the...
Shadow Generations feels like a sequel. This is a pretty neat trick for an add-on bundled with a remaster. The controls are better, the graphics are crisp, and the level design is great. While the Sonic section looks awesome, it still feels like the original release. Which is normally fine...
The cool thing about story-driven games is that your story can be about literally anything, if done right. Apartment Story is a tiny narrative in a cramped space that feels much bigger. This is a simple concept fleshed out and made richer, more engaging, and more rewarding. It turns out...
Killing zombies is pretty fun, it turns out. It’s so fun, in fact, that there’s a whole genre of games dedicated to the activity. Dead Rising is one of the genre’s best, a glorious romp through fields of bloody carnage. The Deluxe Remaster has amazing new visuals and upgraded controls,...
Star Wars games are great, but they tend to tread pretty familiar ground. You get a lot of Jedi, space battles, and non-space battles. Star Wars Outlaws tries something a little different. And it works! Finally, a glimpse into the massive criminal underworld. On the other hand, if you don’t...
Worldbuilding is pretty important when making games. A rich world full of cool characters and adorable wildlife goes a long way towards a good game. On the other hand, worldbuilding only gets you so far. At least for me, the core gameplay loop has to be equally engaging. Creatures of...
Underwater exploration should be so cool. Who wouldn’t love drifting through the deep, scanning fish and solving mysteries? I so badly wanted to love Endless Ocean Luminous, and I simply could not. While the vibes are immaculate, the actual gameplay loop is a murderous grind with no relief in sight....
Adding DLC to a story as complete as FFXVI comes with some risks. Stories have their own momentum, after all. It can feel very weird to try and come back to a finished tale and sort of putter around. The apocalypse is in the skies, the mood is grim, and...
Spiritual successors are a tricky business. If you change too much, you lose that critical connection to the old game(s). But changing too little is equally risky. You don’t want it to feel like a re-hash, you know? Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is more than a JRPG. It’s a long,...
Sonic fans are generally split into two camps. The 3D fans are forever looking for the next Sonic Adventure game. Meanwhile, the 2D fans are just building new games in realms that Sega has long abandoned. Freedom Planet 2 is one such title. Like the previous entry, this is a...
Strategy RPGs are not normally known for innovation. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with slowly building on an established formula. Plenty of franchises do an amazing job making tiny changes to winning ideas. This just means that unusual new games land with that much more impact. Unicorn Overlord feels...
Persona games tend to sneak up on me. Having played the original, I expected my time with Persona 3 Reload to be a bit of a chore. Instead, I’ve found myself charmed and compelled at every turn. There’s new content to explore, new visuals to take in, and new mechanics...
