• NBA 2K25 - Xbox Review

    I can almost hear the naysayers with this latest release of NBA 2K25: “Another year, another sports title update, another roster update with nothing substantial added”. Well guess what?

  • Eden Crafters - PC Preview

    In this open-world game you are challenged with turning a hostile planet into a habitable haven for all of human kind. You have the ability and equipment to temper the climate, and to create a breathable atmosphere!

  • Memoria Polis - PC Review

    Memoriapolis is an intriguing colony builder that feels similar to others in its genre like Civilization or Cities: Skylines, although it has its own uniqueness. You get to decide what type of civilization you want and...

  • Ahro - PC(Steam) Review

    Ahro is an interesting introspective on what it's like to deal with anxiety and/or depression portrayed in a 2D adventure style gameplay. Exploring against a timer that keeps ticking until your next breakdown...

  • V Rising 1.0 Reviewed by a few Vampires

    Come one! Come All! Listen as we regale you with details of a vampire game that fully released on May 8th with more content, bosses, and just loads of fun!

  • Radiant Tale: Fanfare - Switch Review

    *Drum Roll* Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome back to our spectacular show! *Symbol Clash*

  • Natsu-Mon: 20th Century Summer Kid

    Going into Natsu-Mon I wasn't sure what to expect. I watched the trailer and knew it was about a ten-year-old boy on summer vacation and from what I saw it looked like a mix of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing...

  • 8-Bit Adventures 2 - PS4/5 Review

    8-Bit Adventures 2: The Adventures of Squishy, is finally here on consoles! Who's Squishy you ask? Squishy is your robot and totally the main protagonist.

  • MechWarrior 5: Clans - PC Review

    MechWarrior 5: Clans is a return to the Clans of MechWarrior, the first time in 30 years! Lead your Star of MechWarriors in an expansive 30-hour+ campaign across multiple diverse planets and a wide range of mission types.

Total War: Three Kingdoms - There Can Only Be One Warlord


Over the last year, Chalgyr's has covered Total War: Three Kingdoms several times in anticipation for its release. The game will launch in May and members of the Chalgyr team are extremely excited for launch day. So now it's time to ask yourselves a very important quest. Which ruler will you be?

**

12 warlords. One throne. You do the math.


The stage is set. The Han Empire crumbles, leaving a fractured China ripe for the picking, and twelve shrewd warlords ready to seize the opportunity. It’s now up to you. Who do you choose to rule?

Next month, Total War: THREE KINGDOMS will set you on the path to unify China. But before you experience its triumphant victories and devastating betrayals, you must first pledge your allegiance to one of the twelve contenders. Luckily, Creative Assembly’s latest video is here to help. Watch here:



Will you mend the country’s wounds as the benevolent Liu Bei? Or torch the establishment as the bandit queen, Zheng Jiang? Or maybe you’ll turn brother against brother as Cao Cao, the strategic mastermind and master puppeteer? Each warlord is a master of their art…

Sun Jian, the Tiger of Jiangdong.
Cao Cao, the Puppet Master.
Liu Bei, the Leader of the People.
Zheng Jiang, the Bandit Queen.
Dong Zhuo, the Tyrant.
Gongsun Zan, the Knight.
Yuan Shu, the Pretender.
Kong Rong, the Master Scholar.
Liu Biao, the Aristocrat.
Zhang Yan, the Soldier of Fortune.
Ma Teng, the Loyalist.
Yuan Shao, the Alliance Leader.

Whoever you choose, the path to glory is your own. Follow the history books or forge new legends when Total War: THREE KINGDOMS releases on May 23rd, 2019. Learn more on our Steam page.

For the latest news about this title and the other Total War games, subscribe to the Total War™  YouTube Channel or follow us Twitter and Facebook.

About Creative Assembly


Creative Assembly is a British video game developer located in Horsham, England. Founded by Tim Ansell, the company is behind games like Total War: Warhammer, Total War: Rome II, Halo Wars 2, and Alien Isolation. More information about Creative Assembly can be found on their official website.


Article by Susan N.
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Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms - PS4 Review


I have never really had much interest in idle / clicker games, but my oldest daughter likes them and suggested a couple of months back that I give Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms a try, since I am a big fan of Dungeons & Dragons. Turns out, her suggestion was a good one as I have found myself going back to this one time and again and find its use of the D&D property and loot / grind cycle to be a rewarding one.

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Levelhead Enters Steam Early Access


St. Louis, MO — April 18, 2019 — Levelhead, the cooperative level-building platformer from the DICE Award-nominated team at Butterscotch Shenanigans, launches on Steam Early Access today.

As a new employee of the Bureau of Shipping it is now your job to deliver packages throughout the galaxy. You’ve got a whole lot of delivery training to complete as you head into a campaign full of challenging, and oftentimes fatal, hand-crafted levels. But you won’t be going it alone! After numerous lawsuits, the Bureau of Shipping is pleased to announce that it now provides a GR-18 delivery robot to all employees. You just need to train it.

Coach your cute little robot buddy through each level and make sure that the package makes it to its target destination. Ridiculous powerups like the Tiptoe enable wall jumps and the ability to transform into a sneaky bush, while the Waylay lets GR-18 punch would-be package thieves in their smarmy faces. Up to four players can play together locally, and if you think four Waylay punches are better than one… well, you’re absolutely right.

In addition to being a full-fledged campaign on its own, the campaign teaches dedicated deliverers how to create their own levels. Those devious deathtraps that provide challenge in the campaign also show you how to use level-building elements in a creative manner, providing inspiration for your own wild creations.

Crafted from the ground up to make the building process as easy as the campaign is hard, level creation empowers you to make levels as complex as you want. Focus on the atmosphere and make a zen world with simple, satisfying puzzles; tap your inner geek and create a working calculator out of switches and pressure plates; or construct a living nightmare from more than 100 creative elements, three biomes, and rule-breaking powerups. Your friends can even help you build levels in local co-op, so making the death trap happy place of your dreams doesn’t have to be lonely!

Once you’ve wrapped a pretty little bow on that level, publish it so you can bring joy (or misery) to the world. Each level is assigned multiple tags to make it easy to find a level that appeals to you, plus each comes with leaderboards to track impressive runs. Become the imaginative creator your grandma always told you that you were while subscribing to other creators and curating the perfect level feed.

“Levelhead will keep growing and morphing because our players have just as many ideas for its future as we do,” said Sam Coster, co-founder Butterscotch Shenanigans. “And what better way to engage that creativity than with Steam Early Access? TOGETHER WE SHALL BUILD THIS BEAST.”

Levelhead is available on Steam Early Access for $19.99 this April in English, Chinese (simplified), Russian, German, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Spanish (Latin), Spanish (Spain), and Italian, with Nintendo Switch launching later this year.

To learn more about Levelhead and Butterscotch Shenanigans, check out their Discord and podcast, Coffee with Butterscotch.


About Butterscotch Shenanigans


Started by three brothers, Adam, Seth and Sam Coster, Butterscotch Shenanigans set out to create games that don’t take themselves too seriously and keep players hooked. Along with their platform specialist Shi Chen and operations engineer Sampada Coster, the brothers manage everything they create in-house as a small team of game-loving professionals.

For more information on Butterscotch Shenanigans, please visit their official website.



Article by Susan N.
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Chinese Paladin: Sword and Fairy 6 - PS4 Review


Sword and Fairy 6 is the latest release in a long running Chinese series of RPGs that we are only really getting to see now. Starting off in a town in which you are attacked almost seemingly out of the blue by two strangers protecting another, it becomes quickly apparent that they are on your side as they join up with you in order to uncover and stop a corruption that seems like a legitimate charity on the outside but is anything but on the corrupt inside as people are being sacrificed to a god.

Form the onset two things are clear. One? The storytelling is awesome and will keep you hooked. The second? From a technical and performance standpoint Sword and Fairy 6 is an absolute mess. Running on even a PS4 Pro, it’s slow, choppy, laggy and often I wondered if my PS4 hasn’t crashed. That said, even as bad as it was in overall performance, there’s a magic to it that kept me coming back again and again to further explore this world that was set before me.


Being bilingual, it’s rare that I’m left out of a conversation where I live. The core languages are English, French, and then there’s a good spread of others but never enough to pick up on anything. As I’ve essentially being playing games and watching anime forever, and generally Japanese ones at that, I can often look away from the screen and know what is being said just because I’ve picked up enough to know what I’m hearing. Could I speak it? Short of some words, no. But it’s enough to allow myself to be a bit distracted. Sword and Fairy 6? I wish the subtitles weren’t white on nothing as while it feels like a JRPG, it’s not, and if you take the first part for granted, you’ll miss along as the voice overs are all in a Chinese dialect.

The above leads me into my next point. Of late a good portion, not all, of RPGs have been trying to go bigger, flashier, and louder than the rest at the cost of what they should be. Truly story driven with a good narrative and added gameplay to top it all off. Dragon Quest XI showcased that the Enix side of things still have it but the Square side, as excited as I wound up being over time, Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3 were ok at best. And they aren’t alone in that vein of thought. So with that said, while Sword and Fairy 6 is a technical mess, it’s a well written one that is fun to play once you’ve saddled up and past the issues as it doesn't try to be super flashy at the expense of the storytelling.


The overall gameplay is pretty standard making me think of a PS2 title. You move your character around a map whether it be a town or a dungeon and you move towards your next story point. While in a dungeon though, moving toward an enemy will trigger a fight, cue a bit of a load time, but once the fight has been loaded up, wow, the battle system? Take the ideas of the Dragon Quest’s series’ styles of automatic combat like “Fight Wisely”, “Heal”, or “Go all out!” and mix it in with the Legend of Legaia’s martial arts turned based combat system but with an active time battle. It was a bit confusing at first but it then started to make sense after a few battles once you've settled into the flow of it.

So taking control of one character, and having the others operate through the AI, you get to choose from a list of moves that the character has. Each of these moves while being their own form of fancy martial arts or magic, will take up a value of one, two or three for example. Being able to chain up to a total value of five, you could spam a basic one point move or experiment with a 1-2-1-1, 1-3-1, or 1-2-2. It’s really up to you and what the situation requires. If you want to simply lay back and allow things to go their own way, the auto combat is really well done, but like in Dragon Quest for example, you’ll want to keep your hands on the controller for boss fights.

So other than the various technical issues that Sword and Fairy 6 has, it’s a good title. With customizable battle styles and a good battle system alongside good storytelling, there’s plenty to love if you can get past the awful load times and the choppy performance.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT INC.
Publisher(s):
SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT INC.
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher




Article by Pierre-Yves
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Jaggy's Corner - Sunday April 28



Alright, this week I'm unloading both barrels into esports because of the absolute garbage that made it into my feed. The topic is racism in esports and I'm disgusted that it is still a problem.

The first sighting of racism this week was when I read an article about Rick Fox leaving team Echo Fox because of racist statements made from their investors to his business partner Jace Hall.

For those that are unfamiliar with Rick Fox, he is a retired NBA player, an actor, and an esports franchise owner. The man is well respected and, in my opinion, is needed in esports. But don't just take my word for it, an article published by For the Win – a division of USA Today – in October of 2017 said this:

However, when Fox was asked about all of this — changing the culture of eSports — he said that his organization isn’t the first to do things like pay attention to fitness and explore ways their players can get competitive advantages, but he did say that he believes they’ve “enhanced” and “been an amplifier to the conversation” because of their pro sports backgrounds.

Echo Fox was excelling as an esports team and they had expanded into games like CS:GO and Super Smash Bros. Later they moved into other esports and they have the backing of an investment company Vision Venture Partners, a company that Rick Fox is a partner in, and will be discussed later on.

Anyways, Richard Lewis tweeted about Rick Fox leaving team Echo Fox from an email he sent to all the major stakeholders stating:

This is an official notification of my intention to exit the Echo Fox organization as a shareholder and participant as soon as I am able to facilitate a transaction to do so. The recent outrageous and abhorrent display of pure racism by a significant Echo Fox shareholder as well as threats to my family have made it impossible for me to continue to remain associated with the company

Are you kidding me right now? The string of profanities that just entered my mind over that article would cause people to grab a bottle bleach for their ears... Anyways, let me break down what he just said in plain English:

  1. He's leaving the organization, not because he was forced to, but because other people are racist dicks.
  2. Rick Fox's family received threats, presumably because he stuck up for his business partner.
  3. There doesn't appear to be any recourse against the jackasses that made the racial slurs to begin with. Although, not for lack of trying.

You want to know why this is insane to me? It's because Echo Fox was founded by Rick Fox after he retired from his NBA career with the LA Lakers. It is owned by Vision Venture Partners (VVP) – the company that worked with the racist individual that drove Rick Fox to dissociate with any subsidiaries of VVP, which includes not only leaving the team, but selling off his company shares. For esports, VVP is affiliated with Vision Esports, Twin Galaxies, and team Echo Fox. This is important to know because Jace Hall is a key figure for both team Echo Fox and Twin Galaxies. And as we know, he was the main target of the disgusting racial remarks.

Just in case you thought this was bad, another piece of information plagued my twitter feed, and that was something in Rocket League. A player was banned from all Psyonix operated tournaments for a full year after repeatedly violating the player code of conduct. While this action was not taken lightly, the player who was banned because of his repeated infractions was not the only thing to anger me about this particular incident.

After the announcement was made, the Rocket League player posted a Tweet about his life being ruined, as well as statements that caused many to worry about his safety. (After doing a small bit of poking around, the player has not done any harm to himself, although, my understanding is that he's mentally in a tough state – as one would expect when a future is put on hold because of mistakes made.) What really set me off were the reactions by the community which were equally abhorrent. Yes, what the player said were terrible statements that were made in the heat of the moment. No, I don't condone anyone making comments like the ones captured in screenshots. However, the community reacting with statements like,

  • “lol just move on..”;
  • “he's just trying to manipulate people to feel sorry for them...” and;
  • “You made your bed now lie in it. Honestly, this tweet makes you sound like a weak-minded bitch.”

* me foams at the mouth *


Now granted, the last line I quoted finishes with: “grow up and then come back a better person”, which is ultimately a good thing to say, I'm angered by the fact that the Tweet began with an insult. When someone is already down, insults don't often cause people to take your statements seriously. And, considering the toxic comments people made to the player does NOT make esports look good to the rest of the world. In fact, based on the Rick Fox incident, it makes celebrities and advertisers want to back away from esports entirely.

Until we, the largest entertainment medium in the world right now, take our professions seriously, the rest of the world will not. What people fail to realize is that the more our community shows its immaturity to the general public, the more esports suffers. And ultimately it will become more apparent as we are given less investment deals, less tournaments to attend, and less opportunity to make any career path in esports viable. Let that sink in.

So, to esports communities, stop showing the world your toxic attitudes and behaviors. Stop ruining it for the rest of us and figure things out.

* drops mic *


Until next time.


PS: The Rocket League player did issue an apology to the community, even though I don't believe he will be given leniency because of his actions. Although, I do believe that Psyonix made the right decision in his case. Take time to work on your attitude and your skills, then come back stronger.


Article by Susan N.
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Heaven's Vault - PC Review


Introduction

Heaven's Vault is an adventure game where players take on the role of Aliya Elasra, an archaeologist who is searching for a missing roboticist. She embarks on an epic journey to find the man, but along the way, discovers strange hieroglyphics that must be deciphered in order to figure out what happened. It's an intriguing premise.

Aliya travels to different places via The Nebula to find the man. She travels on a flying ship called The Nightingale. This is an integral part of the journey, discovering enough about the places that the roboticist has traveled in order to reveal the mystery. That said, Heaven's Vault is in no way linear and does not hold players hands when deciphering Ancient. I absolutely love it.

Story and Gameplay

The story in this game is amazing and I've spent a lot of time playing it in the last couple of weeks, partly because of my love of story based puzzle games, but mostly because of everything it gives me.

For one thing, players get to be archaeologists, which is something I've always been fascinated by. As an archaeologist, we get to discover new planets and decipher hieroglyphics without being told the correct answer - although, as you figure out words and phrases, the game will cross out incorrect answers and confirm words that must be correct.

Another interesting and unique element about Heaven's Vault is the timeline feature. When progressing through the game, it will log the various decisions you've made as a player, and it can be organized by actions completed on a planet or show the assumptions made for the Ancient language. This adds an element of realism to the profession of archaeology as each artifact will be categorized based on others that were found from the same era or contain similar markings to hieroglyphs already discovered. It also gives players an understanding of the depth in this game. Its size and scope becomes more apparent as players progress, showing that your decisions are part of a larger goal. By looking at the timeline, players realize that decisions can't be forgotten, and they get the sense that the game could play out differently should they commence another playthrough.

Heaven's Vault definitely pulls you in with its story and I find that NPC's remembering how you interacted with them is refreshing. I was kicked out of the office at the beginning of the game because I offended Myari, but other players might not have the same reaction. As a result, my thoughts of this woman has been skewed, and I made decisions based on her dislike of me. On that note, there are people that I cannot talk to because of how I responded to them - which is a game concept that I absolutely love. It's important to know that some of the characters are genuinely good people while others are questionable. So, making friends with NPC's aids in the discovery of the missing man, as well as what he was doing when he disappeared.

Throughout the course of game play, I found satisfaction in exploring every area possible. As such, the game rewards the player by providing objects containing more hieroglyphics to make solving other phrases easier. Sometimes, other characters in the game would have objects that also contain parts of Ancient too.

A feature that I love in Heaven's Vault is the autosave function, which allows players to experience the story without forcing them to manually save the game. There are some drawbacks with the autosaving feature. For one thing, I have no idea how frequently it saves, but it's enough that each time I've needed to exit the game, it recorded my progress. The second thing about it is, players that are accustomed to making decisions and then changing their minds. In Heaven's Vault, they can't simply go back to a previous save. I often find that players use ability too much in video games because they don't like the results of their decisions. This game, in contrast, is designed to pick up and play in the most literal sense and it forces players to stand by their choices. Frankly, there aren't a lot of games that are designed like this and I appreciate it even more as a result.

If I could ever make any sort of minor complaint about Heaven's Vault, it's that there is no run feature. Now, I have two minds about what I just said. The first is that because of the fact that there is a shadow of Aliya as she navigates an area, the game doesn't let you sprint because it doesn't fit the art style - at least, not in my opinion. On the other hand, sometimes our curiosity gets the better of us and we want to rush over to new areas to discover clues. While some people might find a faster speed necessary, I don't share the same view. Sure, it's annoying that we can't always blink or sprint to a new area, but often I found myself too wrapped up in the game to notice this.
   

Graphics and UI

I've been playing on a controller, allowing me to sit back and enjoy the experience, which is fantastic because there is a lot I love about the game. It has stylized graphics and the entire color palette is muted to other games, I still marveled at its breathtaking visuals.

When traveling on the Nightingale, players end up following a river in the sky called The Nebula - and 'river in the sky' is really the best way to describe it. Players navigate around obstacles while talking with Six about what has been discovered up until that point. Even though there are rocks that peek through the river you traverse, it doesn't appear to cause any damage to your ship. In fact, this section of the game reminded me of traveling through Agartha in Secret World Legends. (Don't worry devs, this is a good thing. I happen to love that game.)

The UI itself is quite simple. The analog sticks are used for movement as well as looking around, the four main buttons are used for various dialogue options and interactions, and the trigger buttons are used to zoom in and out when plotting destinations. Since there is no combat in the game, there is no need to complicate the system. That said, there is a health bar for your character. It will only appear when players encounter a section of game play where it makes sense to show, and it will appear at the top center of the screen.

Music and Audio

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love music, and when a game presents music that complements the player experience, I'm immediately onboard. Heaven's Vault is no different in this aspect. The portions of game play that have audio is simply stunning. Specifically, I'm referring to the moments during your travel through The Nebula, but there are other points where the music is compelling. What I like about these traveling scenes is that it functions as the games loading screen, but that isn't the only thing I like about it. It's that unlike traditional game loading screens, Heaven's Vault gives players things to do like talking to Six, listen to the beautiful music, stare in awe at the breathtaking graphics, and navigate the paths to reach a destination. Honestly, it's something that has to be experienced, so make sure to listen to the music!

I'd also like to talk about the incredible voice acting in this game. Gem Carmella is Aliya and I find that her voice perfectly fits the character because she has a distinguished voice befitting of a university professor - a fact you discover at the beginning of the game. Because of the dialogue and the voice actress, Aliya is a fully realized character. She is also quite strong willed and is very curious.

I don't know if the actress listed on IMDB is the same Gem Carmella, especially since there doesn't appear to be any video game credits. So instead of linking to that, here is Gem's Twitter and the Short Sighted Cinema website and Twitter accounts where she and Kate Williamson have a list of short films they've worked on together. Please feel free to take a look at their works.


Final Thoughts

Overall, this game is brilliant. Aliya is a character that I enjoy because I get to choose my responses to a situation. She is inquisitive, smart, sassy, and has a strong personality. I also really love the fact that this game is non-linear, allowing players to make their own choices about their game progression. I also have a fascination with archeology and so giving me a protagonist that works in that field makes me quite happy.

Heaven's Vault is beautifully designed, has spectacular music, diverse charming characters, and I love it. I need more games like this in my life!

My final score for Heaven's Vault is a 9 out of 10, and I'm only taking off the point for some small issues like the slow movement and the minor issue I have with map navigation. Other than that, I adore this game. Inkle studios has really impressed me with this release and I look forward to exploring more of their games in the future.

Heaven's Vault is available for purchase on Steam and PS4. Later in the year, the game will be released for Mac and iOS. Don't forget to follow the game on Twitter, Facebook, and join the Discord!

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Inkle Studios
Publisher(s):
Inkle Studios
Genre(s):
Adventure
Puzzle
Story-based
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
PlayStation 4
Mac and iOS (later)

Source:
Provided by Publisher





Article by Susan N.
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Warhammer: Chaosbane - Second PC Preview


Having just took a look at Warhammer: Chaosbane's first Beta with Robert, I'm here to give you another look at what the second Beta looked like. Now with all four classes available, I'm definitely looking forward to the full version in June!

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Eko Software
Publisher(s):
Bigben Interactive
Genre(s):
Hack & Slash
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4 (on Launch)
Microsoft Xbox One (on Launch)

Source:
Provided by Publisher


Article by Pierre-Yves
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Silence: The Whispered World 2 - Switch Review


Knowing nothing more than Silence was from Daedalic Entertainment, I was in. If there’s one group that know how to make a Point and Click adventure, it’s them. With bright colors and smooth controls that allow you to navigate your environment, you’ll be exploring rich environments with a brother and sister as they both try to survive the new land that they find themselves within.

Cinematically starting off with an Orphanage being bombed in some form of war, Noah takes his little sister Renie to a shelter in which they use to survive the blasts. Picking back up sometime later, the two start to go a bit stir crazy as they haven’t left the safety of this bunker and it’s at this point that the bombing restarts. This time however, the shelter doesn’t hold. Looking everywhere through the rubble for his little sister Renie, Noah spots her in a place that she couldn’t be, the top of a cave entrance. Rushing to get to her Noah realizes that he isn’t where he’s supposed to be and against all possibility, he finds himself in a place he’s only dreamed of when he was close to death’s door. Noah is in Silence, and Noah knows this place very well. This is where Sadwick the clown had his adventure, this, is The Whispered World.


Going back a few years, to the re-release of The Whispered World: Enhanced Edition in 2014, I loved it even if it frustrated the hell out of me at times. The visuals, the controls, the writing. All of it. Going back a decade however to the original release in 2009, Silence is the direct sequel to the original Whispered World. With Sadwick the clown and his caterpillar Spot’s adventure being over, it’s now Noah and Renie’s turn to see the world as it is now. With a False Queen apparently sitting on the throne with her demonic looking seekers scouring the lands, the siblings separately find themselves travelling along with the rebellion in their quest to keep whoever is left safe from harm.

This may sound just a little bit funny, but the thing that struck me the most about Silence, is that it’s quiet. Even with vibrant and rich environments, there often next to little noise other than the noise that your characters will be making as they traverse the area. Noah and Spot, who has made a return for the sequel, will often be making some loud noises as the break chains and move large objects in order to bypass obstacles. Doing so will require interacting with various points that can be poked or prodded along the way.


Two things that I really enjoyed was that one, there are tons of red herrings just waiting to lead you in the wrong direction. But these herrings aren’t just “click on this point of interest and move along”. You can click on points of interest many times and all depending what you’re currently holding can change what you do with those points.

The best example is prying something sharp because it looked like it could be useful. Finally got it out, but then Noah cut his hand and I had to rush to get it cleaned in hopes that it wouldn’t be infected. The whole process took some time and in the end, he kicked the object and moved along.


The second is that they’ve introduced some timed sequences that have you need to make a choice and fast but while trying to make the choice your character doesn’t stand idly still. They panic and just the look on Noah’s face for example makes me question all the more. What’s the right choice here? Just this little addition to the style isn’t anything “new” per say as that’s almost the entire basis for the TellTale series, but for something a bit slower like Silence? These out of the blue actions give just enough of a boost to bring it a notch higher than it already is.

Silence: The Whispered World 2 is an excellent sequel to the first. With new and returning characters, smooth controls, gorgeous graphics and excellent sound, there’s plenty to love whether you’ve been to Silence in the past or are here for the first time.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Daedalic Entertainment
Publisher(s):
Daedalic Entertainment
Genre(s):
Point and Click
Adventure
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4
Microsoft Xbox One
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher




Article by Pierre-Yves
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Grimshade - PC Review


Introduction

Grimshade is a tactics based RPG whose story is to save the city of Brann from its peril. Creatures have invaded the city's walls and has caused a war. Players run around with a party consisting of diverse characters like the badger (Charlie) or a kid with no memory (Kiba). Its art style is different, conveying the bleak tone of the game, and the RPGesque map is an element that made me smile.

Grimshade's major selling point during its Kickstarter campaign was to be an RPG tactics game without a leveling system, like traditional games in its genre. The developer, Talerock, set out to break the mold by releasing a title that is reliant on gear choices as opposed to a tired old leveling system. As a game that was successfully Kickstarted with over a thousand backers and a hundred thousand dollar goal, I expected Grimshade to be better. As time progressed, I found myself less and less interested in playing the game and I'm sad about it.

Story and Gameplay

At the beginning, players are presented with a cinematic that shows the reason why the city of Brann is in trouble. Alister, the protagonist of the story, ends up plummeting to the earth and is saved by a magical gauntlet that is only carried by Champions. Since the King's loyal guards and companions have vanished, it is up to the Champions to save the city from the evil creatures that threaten it. We learn quickly that the fate of Ree'Fah (the name of Grimshades' world) lies in the balance.

Now, at first this is a great way to start off a game, but it quickly becomes cumbersome. To begin, Alister befriends a boy who doesn't remember his name, and in bringing him back to safety, gets into several fights that ultimately lead to Alister's death. This is the first thing that annoyed me about the game – the fact that only Alister has the ability to fight, while the kid wastes combat actions. Why include him in combat if players are forced to skip his turn each time?

If that wasn't enough to sour the taste in my mouth, the next point that bugged me about the introduction, outside of the tutorials with small text, was that Alister HAS to die. I restarted that fight several times with the assumption that I could win. Anyways, right off the bat players 'lose' their main character for a story beat. (Just to explain, in novel writing if a character dies without readers having some kind of connection to the character, then the character isn't needed in the story. Novel editors will often tell the authors to eliminate these space-filling characters, because the characters had no real value to begin with. This is what Alister dying at the beginning felt like.) Since Alister 'dies', the kid is then forced into remembering his powers because now he has to 'save' Alister - a person whom he doesn't really know. Now, I get that characters need motivation to do the things they do, but technically these two characters just met. Kiba should not lose his shit because of a stranger who was nice to him. Because of these two things, I felt like this game introduction felt very empty and forced progression in a negative way.

Persisting through the introduction, players must make their way to Haven in order to heal, but since this is a tactics based game, players have to fight their way there. Now, I expected this to be the case, but it continued to feel forced because some of the fights were quite difficult - a point that I will explain in the next section about combat.

Characters and Combat

To start with, there are a number of characters to choose from, but a party can only be up to four members - which is part of the overall strategy. Another part of the strategy with combat is dependent on which weapons each character is given. Instead of following a standard leveling system like most RPG's, the developers decided to go a different route, allowing players to outfit characters with weapons which would hopefully tip the scales in their favor. Designing a combat system like this is interesting, but there are several points about the combat that I disliked.

For one thing, the combat was frustrating due to the fact that characters could only be placed on one of three columns. If the party consists of more than three people, then Alister would be placed at the front because he's the 'tank'. Kiba and Charlie (the cool rifle-wielding badger) are placed behind Alister because neither of them have a shield or dodge actions. Essentially, at the beginning of the game, players are limited to one of four spots. As combat progresses, none of the characters can cross over the middle line. In my opinion, this was a mistake. A good tactics based game always has options for flanking an opponent and this game simply does not allow for it. I consider this to be a large strike against the game. I could have lived with the inventory management for abilities and lack of leveling characters, but not being able to use terrain advantages or lacking options for flanking annoys me greatly.

Certain characters possess an armor or a dodge mechanic, which is just as well since the game does not allow players to use any type of heal in combat. According to one of the developers who responded to a Steam user, the lack of combat healing was by design. They did not want to have fights last for extended periods of time due to endless healing – a point which I can partially get behind, but taking out all forms of healing in combat artificially increases the games difficulty. Anyways, the tank gets a couple of these dodge moves each round, a fact that is both quite useful and irritating. There are characters that will have armor on the other side and it forces players to use a couple of attacks just to break the defenses down. To do otherwise would mean that Alister would not do any melee damage to the opponent. As a result, it feels useless to have him up front if he is constantly forced to use his pistol - a weapon that felt more like a nerfgun. Alister's melee attack is more powerful than the pistol. Part of the reason this is frustrating is because each character is restricted to certain types of attacks based on their weapons, meaning that there are points where combat just becomes a waiting game. If that wasn't enough, when a character is 'killed', they don't actually die, they instead lose their senses for a couple of rounds. In the case of Alister, if he is knocked out, then the other party members are prone to being attacked and killed.

There is one more element of the combat system that annoyed greatly, and that is the fact that once a player enters combat, there is no option to retreat. The only options are to fight it out or to restart the battle. If players want to avoid combat, they have to keep an eye on where the patrols are or, reload from a previous save point. Thankfully, the game autosaves frequently enough to be useful in this particular case.

Perhaps my frustration stems from the fact that I haven't progressed far, but for a tactics based game, I expect the combat to be difficult based on a number of options that are not inherently tied to blatant restriction of movement, weapon types, and no combat healing to speak of.

UI and Graphics

When it comes to the UI of the game, a lot of it is straightforward. The combat abilities are displayed on the right while the wait button is on the left side of the screen. General movement commands are simply point and clicks.

While in combat, players can use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out, and pressing and holding right click allows camera movement. Since there are only so many spaces for characters to move, the camera sits in a static location. Also, since Grimshade is a 2D tactics game, the camera remains in a static location much like Path of Exile or Diablo games.

Something I appreciate about the UI of the game is that in combat, players can right click on an opponent to see what abilities and resistances it has. This makes combat easier to plan out because you know what types of abilities would be most beneficial to use. Outside of combat, players can click on a group to see what it consists of before entering a fight.

I think my biggest gripe about the UI is the ludicrously small and intrusive screens that appears during the introduction, serving as its tutorial. Not only was it a nuisance to read paragraphs of description for each new feature or ability, but the text itself was too small. The last thing that any player wants is a game that explains too much. It's especially frustrating in a tactics game where players want to focus on their combat strategies than endless tutorial popups that end up being ignored. Other games in its genre handle tutorial sections much better, and I think it would be great if the developers take a look at other games as benchmarks for any future project of this type.

One more issue I had with the game is the lack of proper spelling littered throughout the text, whether that be present in the tutorial windows or in character dialogue. For a game that doesn't have any voice acting to speak of, proper writing for the English market is important. I understand that Talerock is a Russian indie studio with only one game to its credit, but spending a little extra money to hire a translator would have gone a long way. Overall, with the combat issues and the difficulty in reading the text portions, I found that my play through was significantly slowed to a point where I simply stopped playing.

All of that said, the graphics in Grimshade are stunning. I love the art style of the game because it gives a distinct RPG feel to it. Unfortunately, I found that the graphics, the idea of having an oversized badger character, and certain bits of dialogue, were the only things that I really enjoyed about Grimshade. That is sadly the truth of it. 

Final Thoughts

Grimshade, while it has a nice story concept, fell flat for me. I've played several tactic based games from tabletops like Risk, to video games like XCOM 2, Mech Commander, Battletech, and Attack of the Earthlings, and Grimshade is just not at the same level. The difficulty in the game can be prohibitively frustrating to the point where the game allows players to drop the difficulty level. I've read that even on easy difficulty that some of the battles are quite challenging. It restricts players in many ways and purports itself to be challenging - a point that I feel is forced.


As a result of my issues with the game, I have to give Grimshade a 6 out of 10. It was meant to be challenging and different, but this isn't a game that frustrated me in a good way. Unlike XCOM 2 where players had to pray that their 98% chance to hit would actually be successful, this game frustrated me in its overall design and not its mechanics.

Now, I know that the developers worked hard to create a different type of RPG that would break the norm, but Grimshade isn't enough to appease my personal tastes. That's not to say that the game is bad, because it isn't. I just found that the issues I had with it far exceeded its good points and it got under my skin in a negative way.

Anyways, just because the game isn't what I expected, doesn't mean that others will have the same issues. As such, make sure to follow Grimshade on Twitter and Facebook. The game can be purchased through Steam and GOG and may release for other platforms at a later time.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Talerock
Publisher(s):
Asterion Games
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
None

Source:
Provided by Publisher





Article by Susan N.
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Yet Another Zombie Defense HD - Switch Review


One would almost think that it’s Halloween with all of the Zombie action that’s been going on of late. Resident Evil, OMG Zombies! and now Yet Another Zombie Defense HD plus our recent coverage of the Walking Dead: The Final Chapter. Simple, to the point, this tower defense will pit you against the endless undead hordes with whatever weapons you can afford to buy!

If you’re looking for an in depth reason of being, you won’t find it here. Three game modes: Survive, Endless, Deathmatch. Four characters. Single Player, Coop or Multiplayer Versus. That’s it. While that is all that Yet Another Zombie Defense offers though, it offers it well.


The gameplay is sturdy and while it may not seem to be very well balanced at the beginning, that fell more onto me playing it like a standard twin stick shooter than a tower defense in which building up barricades and mounting turrets will be the only way to survive. Playing the basic survive mode, you’ll have to survive waves of zombies and other creatures over the course of a “night” and once day breaks, you can buy new defenses and guns in order to protect yourself.

Surviving the night will net you “experience” if you will that lets you level up. Faster reload times, faster movement speed, health regeneration, all things to help you keep on surviving. Where you’ll want to be a bit more adventurous is in picking up the loot that drops before it disappears. While seeing ammo leaving hurts a little bit, seeing money fly off to the wind is worse because you’ll need it to buy more ammo reserves and keep your defenses in place.


Where Yet Another Zombie Defense does this a bit differently is that you don’t just have a “turret” to drop and it’ll do the work for you. You can buy either a standard or advanced turret and once those are in place, and safely behind their own barricades, you’ll have to mount a weapon on top of them. At first I thought it was weird that I had five shotguns when all you can only really use is one and then it hit me, mount them. Each of these mounted weapons will work independently of you however they’ll only keep reloading and shooting as long as you have ammo in the bank to fill them up. It changes the formula up a bit but in a good way.

Adding in players is super easy, someone else simply needs to grab an extra controller and jump in on the fight. Tired of playing for survival? Going head to head can be an easy way to release that tension as instead of fighting zombies, you’ll really be fighting yourselves while trying to stay alive from the zombies. It adds in just that little bit of an extra touch to make this not just another tower defense, but one that could easily stick out from the crowd.

Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is a great addition to the Switch and for people who are looking for a break from their xth rounds of Mario Kart or Smash Brothers. With several game modes and study controls, there’s enough going on with the ever increasing difficulty to keep you and your team going for a while!

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Awesome Game Studios
Publisher(s):
Awesome Game Studios
Genre(s):
Tower Defense
Twin-Stick Shooter
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher




Article by Pierre-Yves
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Jaggy's Corner - Sunday April 21


Earlier this week PCGamer and Polygon released articles about a Fortnite professional gamer being dropped from their team. In both articles, the writers covered that the man who created the software used to cheat the game was the person to turn the player in.

Player Johnathan Kosmala was released from Team Kaliber after being found cheating during the World Cup Qualifiers, whose finals has a prize pool of $30 million dollars and would take place in July of this year. Then yesterday news broke that Epic Games has banned more than 1,000 accounts for cheating during the qualifiers because the players were account sharing, circumventing region locks to play in multiple qualifier tracks, or using cheating software.

As a result of the frantic cheating within Fortnite, Epic Games released a new 'Competitive Game Integrity' report which begins with the following statement:

Anyone found to be breaking the rules will be disqualified and penalized. Penalties may include a warning, a temporary competitive band (duration will be determined by Epic), removal from competitive play permanently, or a permanent ban from Fortnite. Penalties may be escalated if an account has received prior penalties in tournaments.

However, this Jaggy's corner isn't meant to go after specific players or teams because of cheating practices, it's to talk about cheating in video gaming.

As a person that is part of a couple tournament organizations, I can say that cheating is not limited to the game of Fortnite. Many competitive games have various mods or addons that provide certain advantages to the game play experience. I can recall a year and a half ago where a team was called into question among a tournament organization that I am part of. The admins had to make a decision about whether or not we should let the team play in our tournaments, especially since it was a community organization put on by an individual, and not by the game developers. Our team of admins engaged in heated discussion, and ultimately we decided to ban the competitive team from play. It was a difficult decision to make and it was also an unprecedented decision due to the fact that the game developer hadn't yet made a decision about the team until after we made our announcement.

A couple of things happened as a direct result of that decision. The tournaments started with a base prize pool and community members would donate to it, increasing the total amount. Normally this wasn't a problem since fans of the professional gaming space like to support their favorite teams and players, but one person requested a refund for the $1000 they had contributed once our ban was made public. Yes, you read that right. The person asked for a refund because the team they voted for was no longer going to play. Take that for what you will.

The second thing that occurred after we made our decision was the polarizing beliefs that the community had about the tournament and the admin staff. It was brutal because people wanted that team to play since they believed them to be 'the best', when we knew that most of them were being paid to boost accounts and engaging in other cheats. And when I say most of them, I mean that one or two of the players had not been proven to cheat the game. The admin staff had discussed at length whether or not we should ban the team, because we knew that only some of the members were legitimately corrupt.

A number of questions arose from that specific instance like: should tournament organizations penalize a whole team because of a couple bad apples? (Ha ha, ZING! #nocontext) Do we assume that if a couple of members are cheating, that the others must also be corrupted? How does a tournament organizer deal with instances of cheating in a world where screenshots can be doctored? (especially since some of the information we had came from Discord screenshots.) And is it necessary to wait on major decisions like it when the game developer hasn't made their own ruling?


The idea that players are sometimes more outraged by the fact that their favorite teams/players are banned is more egregious than the fact that people are losing legitimate chances to win money based on their aptitude for a game, is ludicrous to me. But 'professional players' have done all sorts of things to win tournaments like taking Adderall to enhance reaction time and refine their focus. Because of increased drug use in gaming, most esport tournaments have implemented rules to prohibit players from using any performance enhancing drugs. Also, this issue has never been solely the issue of physical sports, so when it became an issue in professional gaming, tournament organizers weren't necessarily surprised (I would think...)

The thing is, the onus isn't just on the players using various methods of cheating, it should also be on those who create the programs that can exploit video games. Having programs that can tip the balance in favor of certain players is not fair, and it makes the gaming industry look worse than it already does to the general public. Also, it calls into question a persons moral compass, the fact that certain people who create these programs don't care about the integrity of people or of friendly and fair competition.

Frankly, I think the programmers who are known to distribute cheats should also be penalized for their actions. And in the case of Fortnite, the person who created and distributed the software was the one to bring the person to the attention of Epic Games, ultimately leading to their removal from a professional team and a ban from the tournament. Now, in my opinion the creator of the cheat program gets a small free pass because told the World Cup organizers about ONE player. I say only a bit because personally, I don't condone cheating in most circumstances and definitely don't condone it in a tournament setting. However, I applaud the fact that the man was willing to bring someone to the attention of the admins. So there's that.

Anyways, that's just how I feel. The professional gaming space should continue to work on other ways to combat cheating, defrauding players, and promote good sportsmanship. This isn't something that will happen overnight, but they are principles that can be improved upon.

Do you agree? What are your thoughts about competitive gaming and cheating?

Until next time.


Article by Susan N.
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Kickstarter Campaign for New Survival Horror Game Chernobylite


Now, then: Igor, Chernobylite’s main protagonist. His voice sounded familiar, right? No surprises there: the character’s voiceover was performed by none other than Aleksandr Vilkov – the voice of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s main protagonist and some of the principal NPCs in the Metro series.

So, if you like what you see (and hear), support Chernobylite on Kickstarter or help us spread the good news. Every post counts!

ABOUT THE GAME

Chernobylite is a science-fiction survival horror experience from the team behind the critically-acclaimed Get Even. The game mixes the free exploration of its disturbing world with challenging combat, unique crafting, and non-linear storytelling. This exceptional title will constantly challenge you to:

SURVIVE

Ally or compete with other stalkers of the Chernobyl zone to survive. Remember that life is fragile, and it is your decisions that will determine the fate of your companions. You can spend as long as you need preparing; however, be aware that your story is still being written. With every passing moment your chances of success are dwindling, comrades are dying, supplies are running out, or an unexpected patrol could discover you. On top of this, supernatural dangers are arising around you in mysterious patterns. Each day brings new challenges, adding to the ever-increasing severity of your current situation. Plan your strategy carefully if you want to survive.

PLAY BY YOUR OWN RULES

Craft your gear and weapons to protect yourself from the hostile military personnel and supernatural threats lurking in the zone. Make use of the sophisticated tools at your disposal to aid you in your struggle while navigating the rough and contaminated environment. Stay undetected and gather all the evidence you can in order to piece together events from the past.

Decide what happens in the world around you by making choices and finding or avoiding the truth.

EXPERIENCE

Maintain your resolve and keep your wits about you; the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is not what it once was. None can foresee the horrors that may have befallen your beloved.


CHERNOBYLITE MAIN FEATURES

  • Explore the beautiful and horrifyingly accurate 3D-scanned recreation of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone;
  • Collaborate or compete with other stalkers of the Zone. But whatever you do, never fully trust them. Remember everybody has a hidden agenda. Always.
  • Face and survive the natural and supernatural threats;
  • Immerse yourself in the non-linear, thrilling, science-fiction horror story;
  • Make good use of your physics and chemistry knowledge to craft your equipment and manage your supplies;
  • Fight against the savage creatures pouring out of an alternate reality;
  • Investigate and collect data with a set of sophisticated environment and substance-analyzing tools.

Chernobylite is currently under development and on its way to PCs and consoles. The game is now gathering funds on Kickstarter in order to expand and improve the immersiveness of its free-roam exploration. More information about the title can be found on the official website, Steam, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

About The Farm 51


The company was established in 2005 by three game dev veterans: Kamil Bilczyński, Robert Siejka, and Wojtek Pazdur. Since then The Farm has expanded significantly and today it has over 100 employees. Since 2012, the company has been listed on the NewConnect Stock Exchange, which has allowed it to develop even further. The Farm 51 have completed many projects so far - with over 10 games and VR applications under their belt. They are also a licensed developer for Microsoft, Sony, and Apple iOS. The Farm 51’s newest projects are: Get Even, World War 3, Chernobyl VR Project, and Chernobylite. http://www.thefarm51.com



Article by Susan N.
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Darksiders: Warmaster Edition - Switch Review


Darksiders is a game that initially released some time ago that I had always been meaning to pick up, but never got around to. A while ago I picked up Darksiders 2 when it was on PS Plus, but I never did pick up the first game. Now, after Darksiders 3 has released, finally I get around to playing the first game that started the series, on the Switch.

In the first installment of the Darksiders franchise, you play as the eponymous horseman of the apocalypse, War. Having been “summoned to ride out the apocalypse but not really because plot”, War enters the realm of humanity in order to punish those who do evil. I think. It was phrased rather awkwardly in-game, but the gist of things is that War’s job is to play executioner to demons, angels, and humans. Unfortunately for him, there was a little mix-up with his call to arms, and he gets accused by “the charred council”, the local supernatural balance keepers, of causing the apocalypse when it wasn’t time to do so.

Needless to say, he’s none too pleased by this, but has no choice but to find out who’s fault it really is, and bring them to justice, ideally through the use of his really big sword. The council sends a watcher to make sure War doesn’t try to flee his “responsibilities”, and strips him of most of his power. Then begins an adventure to take down “The Destroyer”, because that’s who War thinks set off his false alarm. Or at least that’s what I gathered from it. It’s rather vague at times, so a lot of the story is rather inferred than told, and what is there can be really obtuse sometimes. There was a point about halfway though the game where I sat the controller down and just asked “why am I even doing this in-game?”.


Once you get past the initial questioning phase of whether or not there is a better solution to War’s preferred method of solving his plight, you get into the meat of the gameplay. I was told that the first Darksiders was like “adult Zelda”, the game not the character, and I’m largely inclined to agree. A third person adventure through various dungeons, collecting the specific tool you need to get through the dungeon/beat the boss, while beating up small hordes of enemies and collecting bonus items and upgrades hidden in chests throughout the post-apocalyptic world. Unlike the “Legend of Zelda” games though, there is a greater focus on combat, to a certain degree. You can get up to three different weapon types to beat up enemies with, each with their own “weapon experience”, that will increase when beating on enemies with that weapon.

Upon “leveling” a weapon, it gets boosted damage, so you can hack and slash your way through enemies a lot easier. In addition to that, you have special moves that can be “purchased” as upgrades from the local vendor. You have a dodge (sort of), a counter, a block, and a bunch of different movesets with which to mete out punishment to anyone who comes to poke you with the pointy end of whatever happens to be nearby, and that’s going to be a lot of people (read demons). When not in combat, you can explore the world around you by climbing on walls, swimming, falling into bottomless pits, swinging from gems, and gliding around like a phantom of death. Well, Death is in the second game, so gliding around like “almost death”.

So, let’s get some of my complaint about the game out of the way here. First of all, you feel really slow. And no, I don’t mean if you can’t solve a puzzle you feel dumb, although there were a few times I was going for a bonus chest and just sat there for 10 minutes trying to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do. Stupid weighted cages, I’m looking at you guys. I mean War feels like he’s moving way too slow. Especially after coming from the second game where they had a chance to flesh some of these things out, you just feel like you’re lumbering through areas. Even when climbing walls or walking. Even when you finally do get a “ride”, it’s later into the game, and you can’t even use it all that often. The controls feel a little janky on the switch, kind of awkward to get your hands in a comfortable position as well.


The in’game camera angle ranges between “highly competent” to “nice ass”, generally leaning towards the “ass” side of the spectrum. The “flight” mechanic is interesting, but you have a limited time to use it, so it’s more of a three second glide than anything else, and actually managing to jump off ledges can be tough before the gliding even begins. No, seriously, the amount of times I just kind of slid off a ledge into a bottomless pit because the game didn’t recognize my jump input was staggering. Bit of a saving grace is that you don’t really take much damage from it, so while it is a pain in the butt, it isn’t anything super debilitating, although annoying enough to make me consider throwing something.

The various tools are all pretty neat, but having to go into the menu to re-equip them between puzzles can get a bit annoying, although most of the time you can get away with the “hot keys” for weapon swapping. Swapping targets, on the other hand, is pretty much an exercise in futility. I gave up halfway through. Aiming in general can be really annoying. I don’t know how to really describe it other than saying it’s like if you made all the finesse of a tilt screen into a control stick aiming control type. And no, that’s not a good thing.

Speaking of “not a good thing”, whoever made the rail-shooting “intermission” deserves to be bitten by a gryphon, my lord. I can honestly say it’s probably the worst flight sequence I can remember playing in a game, and it’s about three times longer than it has any right to be. It’s rather hard as well, mostly because of how it feels really awkward to control, and you can probably expect to die a few times. In fact, expect to die a few times regardless. Enemies can and will demolish you in short order if you either aren’t paying attention or get hit at an inopportune moment. Oddly enough, the bosses I found to be rather easy in comparison to a large group of common enemies.


Overall, for a game that only took me about ten hours to do everything in, I did have a lot of fun with it. It isn’t what I would call “polished” by any means, but it doesn’t particularly do anything outright awful, either. Although, admittedly it sounds like they tried to make War way too edgy. Same with Death in Darksiders 2, now that I think about it. There is a lot of room for improvement, some of which you see progressing through the series, and some things you wish they would fix. There was a lot of opportunity I found wasted in much the same way other games do so: by introducing a mechanic, only to use it a few times and then promptly never speak of it again.

While most of the mechanics persist, there are a few that make a few appearances and then bugger off for the rest of the game.  The shadow arenas could have been a persistent theme, and while I’m certainly glad they weren’t, that doesn’t mean I will simply condone dropping a mechanic basically after introducing twice. Making them a bonus investment would have been a good idea. While I wouldn’t give the first Darksiders any sort of critical acclaim, it certainly isn’t fishing bottom of the barrel either. I would definitely consider picking up this switch version if you missed out on it earlier.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Kaiko
Publisher(s):
THQ Nordic
Genre(s):
Action
Adventure
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4
Microsoft Xbox One
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher




Article by Richard
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