Scott Baird
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DualShockersLatest Reviews
Doom: The Dark Age improves on the more polarizing elements of its predecessor, with its defensive gear offering an exciting twist on the familiar Doom formula. The level designs are overly drab, and the vehicle sections wear out their welcome, but the actual battles against hordes of demons are as fun as ever, and you’re given tons of awesome tools and toys to unleash on them.
Fate/Samurai Remnant works as an excellent introduction to its franchise. A few issues aside, the combat system is fantastic and pulls off the difficult task of remaining fun over a lengthy runtime, which is something that similar titles can struggle with. The story is also superb and acts as the main motivator for you to pull out your sword as you push forward into the next mob of enemies.
At its heart, Master Detective Archives is a story-based game, especially as it acts as a visual novel for portions of its runtime. If you can be patient and enjoy the slower sections alongside the fast-paced ones, then you’ll find a lot to love in this game. It’s a shame Master Detectives Archives doesn’t quite nail the gameplay/story balance. Still, the process of actually solving the crimes and conquering the Mystery Labryinths manages to carry the parts that drag and make for a sati...
Those who have played the original versions of the Layers of Fear series won’t find much new content in this latest iteration of the games, but new players will be experiencing their best versions to date. Konami might have deprived the world of P.T., but Layers of Fear is a worthy successor to its concept, but only for those brave enough to explore its depths.
Gollum isn’t protagonist material, at least not for a video game. He is a wretched creature who only survived the events of The Hobbit because Bilbo took pity on him. If The Lord of the Rings: Gollum can be said to have one achievement, it perfectly emulates the painful experience of being Gollum, as it makes you feel just as sad and wretched as Sméagol himself. This story didn’t need to be told, as the exciting parts of Gollum’s life were displayed in Tolkien’s works, and this game ...
On its own, Redfall isn’t a terrible game, and if you’re playing it through Game Pass, you might be able to squeeze out some fun when playing with friends, especially if you find glitches funny. If you paid full price for the game, then its flaws will be more noticeable, as it’s nowhere worth the cost. Maybe it will be more enjoyable to play in a year’s time, when the issues are fixed and some very basic features are implemented, but it’s hard to imagine anyone caring at that point.
Sunbreak has the Master Rank quests, which means that nearly all of the monsters from the base game have to be faced again to climb the ranks. By far the biggest change in terms of difficulty is the speed of the monsters, as they are far faster and more reactive to players' actions in Sunbreak. One of the biggest complaints about Monster Hunter Rise was that the Silkbind and Wirebug moves made the game too easy, as the player could Spider-Mab websling away after being hit, and there were powerful defensive Silkbind moves for shield users that could totally absorb physical attacks. It feels like the difficulty in Sunbreak has been tweaked to address these complaints, as monsters will now perform multi-hit attacks with a long-range to overcome Wirebug escapes, while certain attacks will cancel out the ability to use Wirebugs at all.
The story mode will be interesting to fans of Persona 3 and Persona 4, since it acts as a sequel to both stories and gives updates on the lives of the cast members. The problem is that the story isn't as welcoming to newcomers, and it actively spoils many of the story elements of Persona 3 and Persona 4. This is especially annoying on Nintendo Switch and PS4, as there's no way to play these games on that system, while only Persona 4 Golden is on PC. The story of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is aimed squarely at Persona fans, whereas the other entries in the series are turn-based RPGs, so there's also a lack of appeal in continuing the story in a fighting game. Luckily, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax has easy difficulty modes and even an Auto-Battle option, so people who are mostly here for the story can breeze through the tougher fights. There is also the Golden Arena mode, where the player can level up between bouts and learn skills, which is closer to the original Persona experience but doesn't have any story content.
The most exciting aspect of the PC version of Monster Hunter Rise is the performance options. It's now possible for Monster Hunter Rise to run at 4K/ultrawide with uncapped framerates, with options for higher-quality textures. Monster Hunter Rise is still based on a Switch game, which means that its world and monsters aren't quite as impressive as those that were made for Monster Hunter World. With that being said, the game still looks amazing on higher settings, with the higher framerate and refresh rate making it look incredibly smooth in comparison to the Switch version. Another benefit of the PC version is that load times when entering missions are now almost non-existent when running the game off an SSD.
Akiba's Trip is set in Akihabara, which is a hub for otaku culture in Tokyo. The area is home to vampiric creatures called Shadow Souls, which drain blood from people, as well as their will to live. Unlike regular vampires, Shadow Souls can survive in the sunlight, so long as only their hands and head are exposed. If their clothes are torn off and they're exposed to the sun, then they disintegrate. The main character has his life saved by a female Shadow Soul, which also results in him receiving a portion of her power. He is drafted into an organization called NIRO, which wants to destroy all of the Shadow Souls in Akihabara. The player soon learns that there is more to this conflict than meets the eye, and they can choose to battle the Shadow Souls or join them.