Latest Reviews
I left Metroid Dread feeling quite conflicted about it. On the one hand, I do think it is fundamentally well designed, and the main gameplay element – the robot stalkers – are woven into the Metroid formula beautifully. On the other hand, that Metroid formula is getting long in the...
Actraiser Renaissance, however, is a remake that should have simply stuck to the basics that made Actraiser great. Instead, what you get are moments of greatness broken up by far too many moments of mediocrity.
Well done, EA. See, you can publish a decent game, free of horrible microtransactions, every once in a while. Now, where’s that Polterguy sequel I’ve been waiting decades for?
Otherwise, the game remains the unique bit of genius that it was back on release. Whether it’s the surrealism of the babies in the bottle, the dark majesty of the beach that represents death in the world, the very Kojima names of “Sam Porter Bridges” (Sam’s a porter that takes...
I’m glad that I played SkateBIRD, and it hurts that I’ve had to give it this score. I firmly believe that as games are an art form, game developers should be trying things, even if they don’t ultimately succeed. SkateBIRD is a brilliant idea and it takes a big, heaving...
I hope Nexomon continues to perform well and grow from here. The developers really do have an opportunity to take what they’ve done across the first two titles and build it into “the alternative Pokémon”, especially considering that both Yokai Watch and Dragon Quest Monsters seem to be on the...
If you exclusively follow the main narrative then you’ll find that in Lost Judgment, Ryu Ga Gatoku Studio has delivered something every bit as compelling and interesting as anything Raymond Chandler ever wrote. The central crime story is a riveting and often uncomfortably poignant reflection on society (and also Japan’s...
Dice Legacy does have some interesting ideas under its belt, and I’m excited to keep exploring the various strategies and play styles that its robust tech tree has in store. I find the experience quite taxing with how much improvisation and compromise it demands, so I’m saving it for a...
Deathloop is a game that takes the ideas driving the immersive sim genre to new heights. Purists may take issue with the way it breaks from some of the genre’s traditions, but what it offers instead is something unlike anything else out there: a cleverly implemented time loop system that...
Elsewhere on DigitallyDownloaded.net, I’m doing a series on games that I’m still playing ten years later. In that series, I highlight games that I don’t necessarily think are the greatest works of art of all time, but I’m still coming back to them for having a rare quality that makes...
So that’s The Lonely Assassins – a game that heavily borrows genre trappings of other, more successful games, in order to push the Doctor Who narrative in a way that won’t be palatable to anyone except the most core of fans. It’s impressive how much effort went into developing this...
With all of that being said, Phantom Brave is still a highly enjoyable and challenging game. The difficulty curve is truly hardcore and you’ll want to have this combat system and the underlying tactics mastered early on, because you’ll be tested on them frequently and without mercy. As with all...
