Category: Game reviews

Stellaris Console Edition (PS4)

The console version of Stellaris was always going to be a bit odd to me. A true grand strategy game on the console is a dream come true for many, but the mouse is a natural fit for them, the question of controls were always going to be there. Certain things were a given tho with Paradox Interactive.

First, the game was going to be pretty, and of that, there is no doubt. So it is no surprise the game is exactly that. The game looks amazing whether you are zoomed out looking at the map or zoomed in watching ships blast each other into space dust. The sound is equally amazing. I won’t spoil it for you but I highly recommend eventually turning the tutorials off completely, because the voice of the robot was hilarious to me.

The game itself is quite simple in concept. You create a species that just started traveling the stars and expand what will hopefully become a massive space empire. As you explore you will find new species to interact with. Some will be other space-faring races and others will be less developed. Each decision will help grow your empire or lead it to a path of destruction. From allowing slavery to free travel and open borders with other species. You can create your very own federation with your allies to crush stronger enemies or try to avoid conflict altogether, the choice is up to you.

It truly does come down to how the controls function with Paradox has honestly nailed. The D-pad lets you bounce between most menus pretty easily with the usual X and O being to confirm or cancel as usual. Obviously, I would never say it is equal to having a mouse to use but damn it is pretty close. Having played it on both PC and PS4 I can honestly say my biggest issue is that it is based off a much older version of the game. However, if you are a console player that has been wanting to play a grand strategy game but lack the PC to do it, here is your chance. Stellaris is one of the most easily approachable and it functions very well. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Sega Forever Phantasy Star 4

To the surprise of basically nobody on earth PhantasyStar 2 of Sega Forever has become the Phantasy Star Collection, Containing 2,3 and 4 of the series tho 1 as always is missing. As longtime followers know I am a huge fan of Phantasy Star 4, so while being able to play it on a cell phone is kind of cool it isn’t a huge deal to me as I have it on my PS4. The real question is how does it work?

Well the sound is damn near identical to its original release, possibly a bit better and graphically it looks good and honestly, the controls are mostly fine. A  little bit of trouble with moving around and hitting the wrong direction but that easily can be my fat fingers as opposed to anything else. The real issue is unless you have no other choice there is no reason to play it here, you can get it on all 3 major home consoles. There they have better graphics, sound more options, better controls, and a bigger screen. If you have no options this is a perfectly fine place to play it, but honestly, it’s not the preferred option. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Resident Evil Revelations 2

re rev 2

Awhile ago I talked about Resident Evil: Revelations and did a quick Resident Evil: Revelations 2 first impressions but never really got in depth on the game itself until the past few weeks. Let’s see if first impressions hold up.

Taking place between Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 we join series veteran Claire Redfield waking up in a abandoned prison on a desolate island with her new assistant Moira Burton, Barry’s daughter. They find themselves being watched by a sinister presence called the Overseer who has left Claire, Moira, and there team with a virus triggered by there fear as they face the wretched experiments inhabiting it. Meanwhile, Moira’s father Barry tracks her down meaning to rescue her, while meeting a strange little girl named Natalia that can sense the creatures lurking around. Can these two groups survive the clutches of the Overseer?

This game was kinda tricky to call in my opinion. I like the creepy atmosphere and eerie music, plus the fact ammo is hard to come by which is nice. I like how fluidly the switch between characters is and Moira and Natalia are good support characters but sometimes the gunning characters can feel useless without ammo, where the other 2 feel more useful. I have to say the revelation of who the Overseer is actually pissed me off and as for pacing, while shorter in theory than the first game, it feels more like a slog. In the end, it ain’t a bad game but not the greatest in the series and I highly recommend having a buddy to play with than dealing with the meh A.I. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Degrees Of Separation (PS4)

Some of you may remember me talking about this game a while back, and the guys over at Modus Games sent me a review copy, namely Geoff (seriously go check them out on Twitter) which I am always grateful for. I always like to get this admission out of the way before I review a game because I feel everyone deserves to know. That being said, let us talk about this tale of love that was sent to me appropriately on Valentine’s day.

The game is described as “an atmospheric 2D puzzle platformer”, which tells you a lot and nothing at the same time oddly enough. Sure it will tell you what the game is, but I don’t feel it truly does this game justice. You will control two characters, Ember, who is always in what can probably be best described as summer and Rime, who is always in winter. The two leave their homes and meet on a bridge, and from there they will go on a magical journey of discovery where they will get to know the world around them, each other, and how their abilities will help each other. Yes, there is more to the story, so much more which is both beautiful and for me was sad in its own way but I never want to spoil the experience for you guys.

The key aspect of this game is the puzzles. They range from simple things like using Ember to light something and move a platform to use Rime to freeze some water to walk across. Later you will get a sort of wand to create a bridge out of the area between worlds for one of the characters to walk across with the purpose of collecting scarfs which after collecting so many will allow you to access new areas. See, this is where the sad part was for me. These two characters work together and get closer and closer, but they can’t touch each other or ever truly embrace. Their worlds of summer and winter are literally keeping them apart. I don’t know if this was an intentional thing from the developers over at Moondrop games, but for me, it was a constant thread in my journey.

The puzzles were also very well done. See many are pretty straight forward while others pissed me off to no end, but they were fair. I never came across a puzzle I felt was unfair or that once I figured it out I was left wondering who would ever have thought of that. Despite the fact that I hate the phrase, this isn’t the “Dark Souls” of puzzle games and it isn’t designed for you to fail until you figure things out. It wants you to succeed and watch the story unfold and it wants you to explore.

The real thing I loved about this, however, was the couch co-op. Yes, you can play this by yourself, and you are free to do so. I started that way and had some fun. However, when my friend joined me is when we had some fun. She isn’t a gamer, I just said hey Casey I need some help come play a game so she did. She had no issue picking it up and I really didn’t have to explain much to her. It was great to have someone else to help figure out the puzzles and I truly believe this is the best way to experience the game.

The one big gripe I have about this game is there is a quick travel system. The issue is I found it on accident and until that point, I had no idea. While we were trying to figure out one puzzle I got a little to close to a little object, in the picture below it looks like stacked rocks with orange arrows for guidance. When I hit circle I turned into a butterfly to follow the paths to places I have collected the scarfs.

images.jpg

All that being said, the real question comes down to the one simple question, should you spend your hard earned money on this game? Truth be told, I don’t like puzzle games. I never would have bought this game truth be told, but I asked for the review copy because Geoff is a good guy and Modus games are quickly becoming one of my favorite companies. They haven’t let me down yet and I have enjoyed everything of theirs I have played. The day will come when I will sadly have to say hey this game sucks don’t buy it, but today is not that day. The story is nice and I quickly became attached to them, I never came across any glitches and the graphics and sound matched what they were trying to tell. This game is Savior approved, 9/10 one of the best puzzle games I have played.

Subnautica (Ps4 and PC)

Subnautica is the rare game I played on both PC and PS4, not because I loved it that much I felt the need to buy it twice simply because I got it for free on PC so there was no reason not to play it. That being said, I do love the game. I am a sucker for the survival genre and admittedly Subnautica does it very well. The crafting system is easy to use and I never truly felt lost on how to build anything even tho the game doesn’t hold your hand.

The visuals are stunning but the PC version does have a few issues with textures popping in and out regardless of my system settings, and I know others have had similar issues even with better setups tho it is worth noting nobody I know with high-end setups has played it, they are all mid-range at best, the PS4 also does it at longer ranges while traveling. Neither is a major issue admittedly. The sound is also some of the best I’ve heard in gaming, and when you are deep down it can be outright frightening to be damn near blind but hear giant sea creatures all around you. This is where the game shines, as you will feel safe one moment and not the next.

The story, well I can’t say much without spoiling it, but you won’t struggle to find it, and it is worth finding. You will be tempted to simply survive and build stuff which is perfectly fine to do, but the story is worth seeking out. I can honestly give you no reason not to pick this game up on your console of choice, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Apex Legends (PS4)

Apex Legends, the new and hot Battle Royal from Respawn the makers of Titanfall. Honestly, that should tell you all you need to know since it is respawn. You would expect fluid controls, great graphics, and a new twist. What do you get? You get fluid controls, great graphics, and a new twist. All games are played with a group of three that the game happily assigns to you or you can grab a few friends. The jumpmaster picks a spot and you can either join him or go on your own.

The characters are each unique and have their own ups and downs. The issues with the game are honestly pretty few. I had no frame rate drops or graphical issues, none of the characters felt under or overpowered and admittedly at no time do I feel like I am obligated to spend money to compete even tho two characters are essentially locked behind a paywall. They just happen to be two characters you have to buy. The cosmetics don’t seem overly expensive either.

The game isn’t perfect, it is still a battle royal and still suffers from many of the same flaws. The game has 1 map, at least for now, and it is the same thing over and over again. If you aren’t willing to put some real time into it and learn the ma you will be at a huge disadvantage and you can seriously hide and kill 1 person to win the round. You can conceivably win by luck and not skill, but that is just the nature of the beast. I don’t think this is a Fortnite killer, but it is definitely a great alternative. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Gunhouse (PS4)

Gunhouse is one of the other free games on PSN this month and I have to say it is easily the weakest. It is a puzzle game where you will sometimes be moving blocks to create bigger blocks that will be used to create either guns or special techniques and the rest of your time defending your home.

The problem is neither part of the game is fun. You will always be doing one of those two things, neither of which take very long. You start out in the puzzle section and really only have the option to move things left or right to make things fall and create a square of four so it creates bigger symbols. These can be made into either a weapon on the left side of your house or special ammo on the right. These each has different uses depending on the symbol used to create them. This pattern gets boring fast, and even for free, I can’t see myself playing again. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

36 Fragments Of Midnight

36 Fragments Of Midnight is a rather simple concept. You are a little square block, bounce around the map dodging all sorts of traps like saw blades and lasers to collect 36 fragments. The game itself is also kind of simple, in fact, in about an hour you can get a nice shiny platinum trophy. The real questions here are is the game fun and how does it play?

Well, it plays pretty well, at no point did I die and think it was the games fault. Getting around is simply a matter of hitting left and right and using the jump button to jump once or twice. As for fun, eh. I didn’t find it very fun at all. There isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with the game, it looks good and plays well I just didn’t enjoy my time with it. For $3 tho, it is worth it for the quick platinum if you are into that sort of thing. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Rogue Aces (PS4)

Rogue Aces is one of the PSN free games for February, its a small game ( less than a gig) so I figured I would try it out. The game is essentially an airplane fighter game, you take off from an aircraft carrier, run quick missions and land again. You get one life, and three planes. I make this distinction because if you fail to eject on time, even with the first plane and die, it is game over. You also get game over if you lose all three ships.

The game seems quite easy, take off, kill stuff, land. There are some advanced things, however, like when you jump out of your plane it is possible to land in an enemy plane and take it as your own, however, the few times I have managed to do this I didn’t see any difference between them and your own.

The graphics and sound are nice but my main issue is honestly the controls are a bit weird at times. A small tap up will occasionally send you up far faster than it previously did and landing is very imprecise. Despite that the game is fun and you should really go check it out, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Soda Dungeon (Mobile)

Soda Dungeon is kind of odd. You visit a bar that sells soda, decide you want to be an adventurer but can’t afford it and send a soda addict to go adventuring for you. Not even kidding about that. You then use that money to upgrade the bar (at the request of the owner) so you can attract new people to adventure for you.

The game is honestly kind of boring fast. You unlock more people by increasing your reputation and by unlocking new sodas to bring in new people to send in after new gear and money. I honestly can not recommend this game, it gets boring fast and isn’t all that interesting. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.