Game Reviews

Review: Past Cure – There’s No Curing This

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment
Past Cure Screenshot (14)

[Credits: Phantom 8 Studios]

Pros:
+Extremely well-designed sound effects and music tracks
+Controls are intuitively designed for players of all ages
+Extremely well-done atmospherics

Cons:
-Voice acting has a lot of room for improvement across the board
-Controller feedback options such as vibration are non-existent
-An extremely convoluted story that really needs some strong editing
-Struggles to find a tone that the game should have throughout its duration

Ever since the release of Ninja Theory’s Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, all eyes have been on the possibility of a triple-A indie game future. Since Germany-based indie team Phantom 8 Studios’ announcement of Past Cure, I felt my attention continually draw towards the game since its reveal.

Continue reading →

Review: The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia – Smashingly Sinful

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

The Seven Deadly Sins　Knights of Britannia_20180223000456

Pros:
+Extremely intuitive control designs allowing for players of all skill levels to play
+Destructive environments add an extra layer of detail to an already great looking game
+The games overall narrative draws straight from the anime, offering newcomers a way to experience the series as a whole

Cons:
-Players who want to head straight to online play will need to experience the offline component of the game.
-Delayed terrain damage can become minor irritation when having to dash after an opponent.

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with the recently released The Seven Deadly Sins anime, which takes us on the wild trip with Melodias and his unruly gang of Seven Deadly Sins. Just like the anime itself, the game is an amazingly well-done retelling of the anime itself offering up a new take on immaculate character designs and a lively art style that comes to life.

Continue reading →

Review: Killing Floor 2 – Enhancing with an Xbox One X

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment
2-22-2018_1-53-41_PM.png

Credits: Tripwire Interactive

Pros:
+Gorgeous 4K visuals at 60fps on the Xbox One X
+All classes play differently, each coming with their own loadouts and sets of perks
+Enemies aren’t pushovers and can easily overwhelm groups of players
+Extremely low latency in matchmaking

Cons:
-Minor framerate dips do occur from time to time.

Editors Note: Due to having reviewed the PC and PlayStation 4 editions of the game at an earlier date (those can be viewed here), the review was handed to a newcomer to the Killing Floor franchise.

Just when I thought zombie games were left to The Walking Dead and Call of Duty, little did I know Killing Floor 2 was on the horizon to show me some amazing sights. Enter the finished rounds of shotgun shells dropping to the floor when you go to reload as you soon find out that you are out of ammunition. “AHHHHHHHHHH, HELP, THEY ARE COMING RIGHT FOR ME!” Thankfully I was on a team to help save me, as our medic shot me with a healing dart and took me to the nearest ammo crate and so that I wouldn’t die in our following round.

Continue reading →

Review: Dragon Ball FighterZ – Dragon, Dragon, Rock the Dragon

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Hungry_Time_1_1516963551.png

Pros:
+One of the best looking fighting games on the market
+Excevoice-overs overs that are performed by the anime actors themselves
+An exciting and original story to enjoy
+Classic Arcade Fighting has made a triumphant return
+Variety of Modes

Cons:
–Connectivity Issues

When it comes to arcade style fighters Dragon Ball game’s probably wouldn’t come to mind. This isn’t surprising since they haven’t been that way since the original Dragon Ball Budokai series that released on PS2. However, thanks to those at Arc System Works, those behind both the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue franchises, that isn’t the case anymore.

Continue reading →

Review: The Fall Part 2: Unbound – Not the Grid You Thought

/ Dustin Murphy / 1 Comment

the-fall-part-2-unbound-sc05

Pros:
+Strong story, even though it’s a rather short game
+Offers some great moments with the games cast
+Great combat mechanics that bring the game to life

Cons:
-Rather outdated graphics
-Extremely short, beatable in a single session

The Fall Part 2 Unbound picks up right were the first title left off. For gamers who did not play Part 1 of the game, the developers decided to give us a short little recap before allowing us to start the game which I though was a really nice add-in. Strongly recommend starting the first saga first instead of jumping right into the second story and being lost for a while without a full backstory.

Continue reading →

Review: Dynasty Warriors 9 – Warriors Gone Wild

/ Dustin Murphy / 1 Comment

DYNASTYWARRIORS9_Screenshot16

Pros:
+Controls have been simplified for better ease of use.
+Massive open worlds that are ever-changing as the game progresses.
+Level scaling is done quite well, emphasizing the need for side-quest completions.
+Every character has open access to all weapon types.

Cons:
-Problematic framerate spikes and character pop-in.
-Horrific English voice tracks that could have been left out entirely.
-Framerate dips do become problematic and take away from the experience the game has to offer.

In one way or another, there’s little to no doubt that you’ve some way encountered a Dynasty Warriors style game. In many ways, the franchise has been the quintessential experience within the very genre the games have created. Even if not a direct Dynasty Warriors title, there’s no doubt there may have been a chance you’ve played through games such as Fire Emblem Warriors, Hyrule Warriors or even Berserk and the Band of the Hawk.

Continue reading →

Review: Monster Hunter: World – We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

/ Dustin Murphy / 3 Comments
Monster Hunter_ World_20180128104343

Credits: Dustin Murphy/Capcom

Pros:
+Superb matchmaking and dedicated servers that allow for a solid online experience
+Tutorials aren’t overwhelming and offer solid explanations of every bit of the game
+Astonishingly well-designed graphics and animations
+Creatures act and appear realistic often battling one another in a turf war

Cons:
-Matchmaking systems can be slightly confusing to new players

Editor’s Note: While Monster Hunter: World has been out for a couple of weeks now, we felt it was in our best interest to take our time, beat our way through the game, and even try out some of the post-game content before reviewing this title.

If I were to look at my save file, my game would tell me I sit with a single character hovering just over 78 hours, another at 30, and a third at around 10. You’d even think I’d have learned every little thing the game had to offer from its own take on past titles. If I told you I hadn’t, you’d think I’d be a little crazy, a bit off in many ways.

Continue reading →

Review: Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

digimon-story-hackers-memory-sc04

Pros:
+Visually stunning on both PSVita and PS4
+Controls are easy to learn and player-friendly
+Amazingly well-done voice tracks and subtitles
+A solid side-story to an already well developed main game

Cons:
-Lack of camera controls makes some maps hard to explore.
-Platforming sections can be slightly difficult due to the camera angles

Shady hackers, bizarre computer cafes, while training digital creatures in some virtual world in order to carry out corporate espionage almost sounds like a headline for the nightly news. But it’s this very premise that Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory follows. In Hacker’s Memory players take on the role of silent protagonist Keisuke Amazawa, a young man who has taken to the digital world of Eden in order to find the malicious hacker who stole his identity.

Continue reading →

Review: Shadow of the Colossus – A Masterful Remake

/ Dustin Murphy / 2 Comments
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS_20180207190420

Credits: Dustin Murphy/Bluepoint Games

Pros:
+Possibly one of the most artistically impressive games in the history of gaming
+A true remake of a timeless classic
+The melancholic atmosphere returns, but brighter and more vibrant than ever before
+All actions players make matter

Cons:
-Troublesome camera angles make a slightly irritating return

Were you to be given the task to explain to someone how playing video games is time well spent and how they possess the potential or equivalence as artistic masterpieces what games would you mention? For me, that list is extremely small due to how far gaming has come in the past fifteen years.

Continue reading →

Review: Zwei: The Arges Adventure – A Short Lived Adventure

/ Dustin Murphy / Leave a comment

Zwei_ The Arges Adventure - 09

Pros:
-Nice and cute, very friendly feeling dungeon crawler
-Not too much complexity to the game

Cons:
-Distracting mouse placement in chats
-Not much to the game
-Very fast paced with little-to-no guidance or tool-tips

I was given the wonderful opportunity to review this game which I had heard a little bit about before in the past. I looked more into it and found out that it was originally a game on PlayStation 2, which I thought was really cool and made wonder how good it would be on PC. From the first bit of the game, I played I liked it!

Continue reading →