Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts

Friday, June 24, 2016

The Explosions Look Like Pizza: A Mighty No. 9 Review

As you likely know, Mighty No. 9’s development has been controversial and tumultuous. The Kickstarter campaign was a success and fan enthusiasm was high. This was short lived, however, as delays, mixed messaging and awful trailers followed. And now, amidst further controversy, regarding some comments allegedly made by developers of this game, Mighty No. 9 has been released. And it's......you know.
 

The layout of the game is straightforward: There are eight levels, each of which is presided over by one of the “Mighty Numbers” (Robot Masters)- bosses whose abilities you (Beck) can absorb after defeating them. Do this and by the end you're putting together an ever growing list of skills in order to get through constantly evolving, tougher challenges. It's a tried and true formula for a reason: It works and it pushes, challenges and yet empowers the player.

As far as the level design goes, it’s standard stuff: tricky jumps, tight quarters, evolving enemy patterns. Clear, concise, constant difficulty progression. Rewards for exploration (with a few red herrings thrown in for good measure, a la Ninja Gaiden (NES)).

So far so good.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Muramasa Rebirth Review




Muramasa Rebirth is an enhanced port of a 2009 Wii game entitled Muramasa: The Demon Blade which was an excellent 2D side scrolling action role playing game that starred 2 characters: the princess Momohime and Kisuke, a ninja with, wait for it…..amnesia! Yes, amnesia, that old video game trope (I’ll save you the hassle of searching for the story section of this review and just tell you right now that if you are playing this game for the story you’re barking up the wrong proverbial tree).

When you begin the game you are tasked with choosing one of two stories to play through. Momohime’s  or Kisuke’s. Depending upon which choice you make you’ll either be travelling east or west; if you choose Momohime you’ll play as a princess possessed by a vengeful spirit in search of 108 legendary demon blades. Choose Kisuke and you’ll play as a ninja with amnesia……in search of 108 legendary demon blades. The stories both evolve (some might say devolve) from there but frankly, I paid very little attention. What did get my attention, however, was both the audio/visual presentation and the gameplay. The game is simply gorgeous, the music is great and it plays like a dream.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Resident Evil HD Remaster Review



One door leads to three which all lead to three and pretty soon there's a multiverse of doors and each death means going back 30 doors and I get confused.

7/10

Monday, October 12, 2015

Pilots Without Planes- A Titanfall Review



Titanfall is an online only shooter that takes place in a future in which humans have colonized outside of Earth but have not yet freed themselves of the shackles of violent confrontation. In a government vs. the people type scenario, diplomacy has failed, as it often does, and a violent revolution has broken out and both sides are utilizing mechanical, weaponized armour called Titans to do aid them in expressing their message of discontent. 

It would not be all that hard to understand why, to an outside observer, Titanfall might strike them as "just another fps." A standard, run of the mill first person affair replete with fast paced  action complemented by a screen covered in rpg-esque numbers and symbols; both of which work to provide immediate and visceral satisfaction and long term addictive behaviour, including the inability to refrain from buying overpriced map packs or a "season pass." Play the game however, and it becomes abundantly clear that Titanfall is more than that. The folks at Respawn Entertainment were clearly aware of the state of the genre and the long term implications of market oversaturation and worked hard to make a shooter that may look like the rest but is actually substantially different (even including addressing the pricing of post release downloadable content).

Monday, March 10, 2014

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's....a Pilot? Pilots Without Planes- A Titanfall Review



Titanfall is an online only shooter that takes place in a future in which humans have colonized outside of Earth but have not yet freed themselves of the shackles of violent confrontation. In a government vs. the people type scenario, diplomacy has failed, as it often does, and a violent revolution has broken out and both sides are utilizing mechanical, weaponized armour called Titans to do aid them in expressing their message of discontent. 

It would not be all that hard to understand why, to an outside observer, Titanfall might strike them as "just another fps." A standard, run of the mill first person affair replete with fast paced  action complemented by a screen covered in rpg-esque numbers and symbols; both of which work to provide immediate and visceral satisfaction and long term addictive behaviour, including the inability to refrain from buying overpriced map packs or a "season pass." Play the game however, and it becomes abundantly clear that Titanfall is more than that. The folks at Respawn Entertainment were clearly aware of the state of the genre and the long term implications of market oversaturation and worked hard to make a shooter that may look like the rest but is actually substantially different (even including addressing the pricing of post release downloadable content).

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Fable Anniversary Review- Saving The World, One Chicken Punt At A Time



You want to pass through me and gorge yourself on my treasures? Get fat first. That is the message delivered to you by one of Fable Anniversary's so called 'Demon Doors,' magical doors created long before the time during which the game takes place, made to conceal the existence of various treasures. Approach the door in Barrow Fields and this is the message with which you are met:

"Oh no, not again. Another bony adventurer seeking to plunder my riches. I'm not interested in your meager frame. Get some meat on you! I want beefy! Blubbery! Plump! Porcine! Stop being a slave to public perception, and treat yourself. Pies, meat, beer, anything; but lots of it! Eat yourself large, and you'll be welcome here!"

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Muramasa Rebirth Review

Muramasa Rebirth Review




Muramasa Rebirth is an enhanced port of a 2009 Wii game entitled Muramasa: The Demon Blade which was an excellent 2D side scrolling action role playing game that starred 2 characters: the princess Momohime and Kisuke, a ninja with, wait for it…..amnesia! Yes, amnesia, that old video game trope (I’ll save you the hassle of searching for the story section of this review and just tell you right now that if you are playing this game for the story you’re barking up the wrong proverbial tree).

When you begin the game you are tasked with choosing one of two stories to play through. Momohime’s  or Kisuke’s. Depending upon which choice you make you’ll either be travelling east or west; if you choose Momohime you’ll play as a princess possessed by a vengeful spirit in search of 108 legendary demon blades. Choose Kisuke and you’ll play as a ninja with amnesia……in search of 108 legendary demon blades. The stories both evolve (some might say devolve) from there but frankly, I paid very little attention. What did get my attention, however, was both the audio/visual presentation and the gameplay. The game is simply gorgeous, the music is great and it plays like a dream.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Impressions

Well, a year after the whole 38 Studios/State of Rhode Island fiasco I finally got my hands on (rental) the game at the centre of it all: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

PS Vita Review

Alright, let's just get this out of the way: The Vita is gorgeous. I mean, just look at the damn thing!

Eye Candy, anyone? 
That's a sexy piece of hardware. And seeing it in motion, with that 5-inch OLED (multi-touch capacitive) (touch)screen displaying high fidelity graphics in ridiculously sharp, crisp detail is something else altogether. I absolutely adore my Nintendo 3DS but just look at it:


It's cute and all but it's not even close. If you were to poll the average consumer as to which portable they believe to be the most pleasing to the eye the Vita would come out on top almost every time. Sleek lines, no wasted space, amazing screen....it's a beauty. 

Now that we got that out of the way, let's dive into this review, because "looks ain't everything, kid." 

Friday, May 18, 2012

"Full of Evolution"

Wow, all of that evolution must have been pretty graphic and intense. Link

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

So, I Gave in and Rented Ninja Gaiden 3....

I gave in and rented the damn thing (no way am I buying it and supporting TN's 'vision') and so far (beginning of Day 3 on Hard) I have to say that it's.....overall a great game with several significant flaws, one of which being it's a TERRIBLE Ninja Gaiden game. I'll review the game once I am done with it, but for now, here's a bullet point list of a few (negative) things about the game that many/most reviewers seemed to have missed (as usual):

-Recovery frames are far too numerous and sustained
-The usefulness of shuriken cancelling has been decreased (reduction in frames during which it is possible)
-Invincibility frames (i-frames) have been reduced in number
-Enemy tracking is not broken, but problematic
-Wind pathing controls are a bit screwed up
-No guillotine throw :(
-Shuriken cancelling while airborne (or even throwing normal air shurikens) results in OL recovery frames
-Enemy grabs have pretty obvious telegraphs (audio/visual) but this is largely negated by above issues
-ShurikenSlideStrong Attack on a bloody enemy to initiate a SOB moment often glitches and fails
-TN set out to negate UT spam, but in doing do merely replaced it with SOB spam
-Enemy encounters are ridiculously lengthy gauntlets (at least on Hard) resulting in extreme repetition
-Control of Ryu is taken from the player FAR too often, ruining the pacing
-Far too much grab spam in addition to the recovery frame issue=less combat options (at least on Hard)
-Many moments of slowdown on Hard and above (due to the high enemy and projectile count)
-Most of the music heard thus far has been much less memorable than that of the previous games
-Invisible walls
-Wall running and bird flipping opportunities are few and far between
-Too much bow combat. It's just not very engaging

On the positive side of things:

-Some nice new DS combos
-OT's look cool and are prioritized (OT opportunities are always recognized by the engine and prioritized)
-The lack of items, while overall a gigantic step backwards, does add to the tension/difficulty during fights
-SOB chaining, while overall a detriment, is actually kind of fun, surprisingly
-Graphics are (mostly) great
-Regent of the Mask is a good boss. Bit too easy but well designed and fun
-Bow control is much more user friendly than before (not all changes aiming for ease of use are bad)
-Quickest loading of the modern console NG games (restarting after death is pretty fast, which is nice)
-There's still challenge and fun to be had here. A non 'hardcore' Ninja Gaiden fan might LOVE this game

If I don't give up on this game (I have been tempted to a few times) I will review it in full upon completion.

Monday, March 19, 2012

IGN Gives Ninja Gaiden 3 a Fucking 3/10!!!

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/122/1221032p1.html

IGN scores Ninja Gaiden 3 a 3/10. What a fucking disaster. Hayashi and co. have RUINED the greatest series of action games on the planet.

Ugh.

I'll be ranting about the game in detail at a later date.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Shadow Complex Review: Old School, Meet New School

Old School Meets New School



Shadow Complex is a side scrolling shooter with 3D graphics that focuses heavily on map exploration and character progression. This is the game that, as you likely have heard a multitude of times recently, is a downloadable game in the vein of Super Metroid (and a few others). Some go so far as to say this game is a Metroid clone. Either way you look at it, it's definitely very similar. However, for the purposes of this review, I am going to forget Super Metroid et al., and focus merely on this game and its merits. This will be a fairly lengthy review, and I will do my best to describe in detaii what you can expect from this game.

Monday, May 9, 2011

The Thoughtful Gamers Interview Xona Games!!

This is an interview with Xona Games, the development studio, manned by two man fraternal team Matthew and Jason Doucette, that brought us games like Decimation X2 and the totally phenomenal Score Rush, which I reviewed here on the thoughtful gamers. Most of the questions were submitted by myself, but my fellow TTG's and GT friends also threw in a few of their own, making this a combined effort. Thanks a lot to all of you, and Matthew from Xona who was nice enough to participate. 

Be sure to keep an eye on Xona Games in the coming months, as they set to take the world by storm with their awesome looking Duality ZF, which strikes me as being the culmination of two brothers' dreams and hard work. 

Let's begin!

Monday, April 11, 2011

The Grand Design Book Review

Note: I don't normally do book reviews, and I am consequently not well versed in the art of producing them. Nor do I desire to be. This is as much an overview and discussion about my experience with the book as it is a review.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Crysis 2 Review

Note: Don't consider this an 'official' review from me; just an approximation of one. My true reviews are more involved than this, and I don't do them until I have at least completed the game. While I am quite close to the end, I have not actually completed the campaign in its entirety.  (I have since completed the campaign). I also only focus on the campaign here; the multiplayer doesn't interest me and is not discussed to any detail.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Gametrailers: Apparently Full of SHIT

Perfect Dark: Zero Review Score:


Recently, GT posted a video:



......


So wait. The game is a 9/10, but then it shows up in a video about the worst sequels of all time, in which it is described as an atrocious game?

Uh......Which is it, GT? Amazing, or Shit?

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Score Rush Xbox Live Indie Game Review

Score Rush XBLI Review

Score Rush, developed by two man development studio Xona Games, (edit: who I interviewed a few months after this review was written) is a mixture of two classic gameplay styles (2D Bullet Hell Shmup and Twin Stick Shmup) wrapped in a 4 player co-operative, neon coloured, $1 shell. Imagine, if you will, a mixture of Ikaruga and Robotron 2084; or, more relevant to today's gamer, and more accurate with respect to the game's visual style, Ikaruga and Geometry Wars.

Note: if you are familiar with shmup games, skip ahead to the 7th paragraph of this review (not including this one).

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Beat Hazard Review (Xbox 360 Indie Games)

Beat Hazard is a dual stick shooter found on the indy games section on Xbox Live which, upon first glance, will draw immediate comparisons to Geometry Wars, and for good reason; the games are similar in many ways (both of which being essentially modern versions of Asteroids). Similarly to the aforementioned Geometry Wars, this game utilizes very flashy visuals chock full of special effects, which can only be described as ''psychedelic.'' It really adds to the intensity and excitement while playing, although, it can lead to some frustration, especially during the acclimation process, but I will get to this later. Suffice it to say this is a dual stick space shooter that plays very similarly to Geometry Wars.


Geometry Wars, to which this game could be considered a spiritual successor (although it's not)

But it could be!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Rescue Me Seasons 1-5 Review

NOTE: I am going to attempt to review a television show for the first time ever. Having never done this, in addition to not being a huge TV person and having no expertise in the areas of television production, acting, etc, I am not going to be writing a technical review, nor will i be writing a terrible deep one. Hopefully it isn't too lacking and you can glean a few things from it. Let me know how I did, if you're so inclined. If you do give the show a shot after reading this, please, post back and tell me how it went, positive or negative. Just don't sue me ;)

Okay, Rescue Me review: