Brief Reviews

[sims]

Starting up an old idea from another forum that I used to frequent.

Post short reviews of games that you've been playing recently. By short, I mean one paragraph, two if you really need the space. Talk about what you liked or didn't like, but don't go too in-depth explaining the story and gameplay mechanics. Try to avoid adding an "x/10" rating onto the end of it.

I'll start.

Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell [Rated M]
Really fun stand-alone sequel to Saints Row 4. Gameplay wise, if you enjoyed the superpower-centered gameplay of the prequel and want more of that, Gat Out Of Hell has you more than covered. A new mechanic they put in is that you can straight up fly instead of being limited to gliding, and flying around the city of Hell collecting soul clusters (identical to data clusters in all but name) is tons of fun. One thing I don't like about the game so far though is that gameplay is centered almost entirely around completing various minigames and diversions placed around the city. Now don't get me wrong, these activities are very fun, but there's almost no story missions to speak of. You progress in the game by completing these missions until the game decides to start the next chapter of the story.

All in all, it is a very fun (if condensed) game. The story is pretty weak, but it's easy to ignore, and completing activities and finding collectibles (there are a LOT of collectibles) is really fun.

 

[Legendary Emerald]

DmC: Devil May Cry [Rated S for Sadistic]

As a big fan of the original "trilogy" of DMC games (DMC, DMC3, and DMC4,) I was a bit worried when I first saw the new direction the franchise would be taking with this reboot. Luckily, I ended up thoroughly enjoying the end product. The combat system just feels great to play around with, even though it isn't as technically complex as the systems in DMC3 and 4. And as someone who liked the gameplay of the old games but couldn't give a toss about the characters and story, the rebooted world and characters are a huge improvement for me, personally.

I sometimes wonder if I give this game too much credit, especially since it does have a lot of flaws, such as a sometimes jittery framerate, no lock-on, and mostly disappointing boss battles. But after having replayed through the game again this week, it's still just as exciting as when I first laid hands on it back in 2013. Here's to hoping the upcoming Director's Cut polishes this work of love into an even brighter diamond.

 

[clairebun]

I just played an indie game for the 3ds called Xeodrifter. Pretty fun metroidvania platformer. Throughout the gameplay it introduces some neat mechanics such as phasing through objects and moving to and from the background layer, and allows you to customize your gun. My only complaint is that the game is really short; you can easily beat it in just a couple of hours.

Buy it if you wanted to be able to beat Metroid in the span of a few coffee breaks, or whatever.