Jon Bolding
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Writing For
IGNLatest Reviews
Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition is a bold attempt to remaster the most controversial game in a series. The funky experimental RTS at the core of AoE 3 is intact, but it's still just that: Weird. Like a stinky cheese, it just can't appeal to everyone. The new graphics, UI, sound, and content make it much more fun to play and will win converts among those who are trying it for the first time. The rest was harder to update, and though it's better than it was, the single-player scenarios will never be half as fun as multiplayer matches.
Breathedge may launch survival games into the final frontier, but it brings some of the worst tropes of the genre along with it… before abandoning that genre entirely in favor of a linear story propelled by hit-and-miss humor. It's all style over substance, looking great on the surface without much of interest underneath that polish. Without much sense of progression or accomplishment and exploration hampered by an obnoxious oxygen system, it relies too heavily on the initial novelty of floating around and the occasional decent joke. Breathedge just isn't fun to play.
Shockingly creative in its fantasy fiction setup and addictive in its largely automated gameplay, Loop Hero is something new and interesting in the realm of RPGs and it does not disappoint. It stops short of being revolutionary though, and its reliance on a tired grind and dull stats is weak in comparison to roguelikes that emphasize trying unique new builds over optimizing existing combos. That gives it a shorter lifespan than many of its contemporaries – but there’s nothing quite like it.