Leonardo Faria's Reviews
Ignoring one or two slightly dated titles, plus a truly terrible one, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 goes to show that no one is doing arcade gaming preservation as well as Capcom right now. Just the inclusion of Capcom vs. SNK 2 by itself, in such a pristine, rollback-supported stated, is enough of a reason for you to purchase it, but add in games like two Power Stones and the best version of the best Street Fighter, and what you have here is more than a lot of bang for your buck. What we have here is an infinitely enjoyable collection of fighting works of art.
If it wasn’t for the excessive emphasis on a story I simply couldn’t care about, Doom: The Dark Ages would have easily, without a shadow of a Cacodemon-shredding doubt, been my favorite title in the modern Doom games. It perfected combat and exploration in ways I never thought would ever be able. By ditching platforming puzzles in favor of just letting you rip like a madman onto dozens of demons at a time, iD Software managed to create something truly spectacular.
I just wasn’t amused. Grandma No! goes for cheap humor, almost expecting further comment and dialogue from a Twitch streamer showcasing it to their followers. It’s short, uninteresting, and somewhat devoid of replayability. I’m not saying you can’t laugh a bit with some of its sections (I certainly did, like twice), but there are better comedic and slapstick-focused titles out there. It’s just a forgettable novelty.
All in all, you will only have a crack with this game if it’s literally the only kart racer at your disposal. And I highly doubt that will ever happen to literally anyone out there.
I really tried to enjoy my time with Memoriapolis, especially with how good-looking it is, but constant soft locking scenarios and a lack of map variety resulted in me losing my interest with it fairly quickly. It’s out of Early Access now, so I truly expected it to have just a bit more content, maybe some randomly generated maps, and a less punishing lack of resources.
I have to commend the development team at Foreign Gnomes for coming up with a sequel to such a unique game like Everhood, without making it feel like more of the same. In some regards, sure, Everhood 2 retains what made the original so fun and weird, whilst trying to be a bit more action-focused and a bit more combat-oriented.
I guess that what made me feel so disappointed about Shotgun Cop Man was the fact that I had just played a vastly superior game with the same gimmick, but no control issues whatsoever. In Sacre Bleu, I could perform small jumps before blasting myself with the recoil of my bunderbluss. Combat was fun there. It wasn’t here. Shotgun Cop Man ended up being a torturous patience test, with a control scheme that just didn’t fit in with the level design, really poor presentation, and a level of difficulty that never felt like I was being tested; I felt I was being made fun of.
I had a fun time with Captain Blood even if it’s clearly dated. For a forgotten game that should have been released back during the end of the Bush administration, the idea still feels fresh to this day. A pirate-themed God of War clone was appealing back then, and still is now. Just bear in mind the quality of life enhancements you’d expect from the 2020s aren’t featured in this game, and that it wouldn’t have even been a masterpiece for its intended generation of consoles.
My summarised answer as to whether or not you should pick up Haste is: “yeah, duh”. Do it right away. It stands out from a sea of generic roguelites by being completely focused on just a few core concepts, namely momentum, speed, and platforming. Thankfully, Haste delivers in all of these aspects, so what we have here is an incredibly charming game that is easy to pick up, hard to master, and even harder for you to stop playing.
I think this is the best way to sum up KIBORG: a neat premise that just ended up feeling like a mixed bag. For every admittedly interesting aspect, such as its visuals, ultraviolence and combat, there’s something else that brings it down a handful of notches, such as the awful voice acting, difficulty spikes, and bugs.
Despelote is not awful… it’s just very confusing. I appreciate the interesting premise and presentation, but it’s just somewhat devoid of elements that make it a proper “game”. Even the football-related gameplay (or what little of it is present) feels clunky and shallow. I also think the story could have been more focused on the innocence and lack of urgency in the life of a child – it would have made it a lot more relatable.
I still fail to understand the idea behind dropping these terrible Neptunia spinoffs every six months or so. Is this Idea Factory’s plan to keep the franchise under the spotlight at all times? Because I don’t think we are constantly being reminded of them for the good reasons. Neptunia Riders Vs. Dogoos is yet another example of an unfunny, uninteresting, short and lazy spinoff that relies way too much on fanservice to mask how shallow it really is. I don’t get who this is for, and I really struggled to have any kind of fun with it.
Both Lunar and Lunar 2 are utterly adorable JRPGs with lovable characters and great plots you can’t help but want to experience as much as possible. To have them available in an accessible and polished remastered package is more than just a lot of bang for you buck, but also a great way to preserve two cult hits from the 90s, finally making them easily accessible to a wider audience. It’s a good thing they are charming as hell, as their gameplay is grindy and dated. If you can put up with the clichés and limitations of old-school JRPGs, then Lunar Remastered Collection is a very easy recommendation.
It is still janky, occasionally ugly, and featuring some inexcusable bugs, but the core game is so good, so damn immersive and entertaining, you will keep on playing it for hours on end. It’s an updated and (ever so slightly) improved way to experience a classic RPG that doesn’t feel like it’s already 19 years old. Grab an axe, improve your charisma stats, completely ignore the plot and the urgency behind the main critical path, and immerse yourself in the land of Cyrodiil.
Sacre Bleu is a silly but lighthearted adventure with some inventive platforming and level design. I loved how the game managed to progressively teach me all of its mechanics through some organic difficulty growth, and also gave me reasons to replay each level by adding little secrets and unlockables here and there. It’s just occasionally hampered by some less than spectacular combat sections, but the puzzle-solving more than makes up for it. At the end of the day, even if it’s not spectacular, it’s a pretty fun game, of très bonne qualité.
There’s quite a bit of content, and the gameplay itself is sound enough, but City of Wolves felt less like Fatal Fury and more like a smaller The King of Fighters outing with a different (and by that, I mean smaller) roster. Speaking of roster, the baffling celebrity inclusions didn’t feel entertaining, they felt like a desperate and distraction attempt to draw attention. If I had to choose, I’d certainly suggest picking up KoF XV or even KoF XIV instead; even if City of Wolves is fully functional, with great rollback netcode and decent controls, I feel like SNK’s other outings felt more cohesive and entertaining in comparison.
It’s a funny little puzzler with a very creative and innovative gameplay loop. When it works, it works oh so well. It’s just way too punishing and demotivating due to its lack of either a rewind function or some kind of mid-level checkpoint. If this could be added later down the line in an update, then ignore my complaints and pick it up right away. As for now, just be aware of some harsh consequences for your mistakes; if that’s something you can deal with, then go for it and give this little indie title a go.
Bionic Bay features some of the best and most creative platforming I’ve experienced in a good while, coupled with some fantastic graphics, and most importantly, really tight controls. I was really impressed by the level design, the puzzles being thrown at me, and the fact I very rarely complained about a roadblock being way too difficult to solve – the game never felt overly easy, but rarely, if ever, made me want to ragequit.
Again, it’s not that #Drive Rally is a bad game; it’s just yet another arcadey rally game. What disappointed me the most was the fact that the original #Drive felt unique enough back then. Removing the auto runner aspects from the game, and just making it feel like yet another indie racer inspired by Sega Rally just made it look like everybody else.
Some might say that Ninja Gaiden 2 Black feels a bit pointless as a remaster, considering the existence of the (cheaper and still highly enjoyable) Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection. If you’re just a casual fan of the franchise, I’d argue that Ninja Gaiden 2 Black isn’t a must-own. It is, without a doubt, the best version of this game, but it didn’t feel like a complete game changer. With that being said, it’s still Ninja Gaiden II, so it’s still fun, visceral, and challenging.