Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy, spot on review of DMC. I played it for the first time ever (on Switch for me), and I'd say my experience was similar to yours. A bit rough in spots today, but still pretty fun with nice atmosphere. I hated that dark blob boss too, which I assume is the "Nightmare" you spoke of.

@Jackpaza0508, nice series of reviews! I honestly don't get the appeal of Bugsnax at all (seems like it's only getting hype as one of the few true PS5 exclusives currently out), but Astro's Playroom, Sackboy, & Miles are all games I'm looking forward to when I get a PS5!

@Ralizah, I think I remember hearing about Puzzle Agent back in the day (probably in Nintendo Power or Game Informer, as I didn't frequent forums back then), but that's the extent of my knowledge. Sorry to hear it didn't live up to your expectations (the gum thing sounds like it'd absolutely gross me out, lol).

@RogerRoger, cool review of Everything or Nothing. Don't think I played too many licensed games on GBA, but it looks pretty cool.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I actually learned quite a bit from your review, it’s been a while since I played the first DMC! Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare actually come back as playable characters in 5 which makes a lot of sense once the main twists roll around! Really great review and fair, the game is great but also pretty hokey in places due to its age.

Super Mario 3D World (Switch)

Another past gen port to Nintendo's hybrid hit, and my first experience with it. This also comes with the new Bowser's Fury game, which I'll be reviewing seperately.

Gameplay:

• It takes the classic 2D style Mario platforming of running and jumping through mostly linear obstacle courses under a time limit and adapts it to 3D space. In addition to Mario (who's an all 'rounder), you can play as Luigi (slippery but can jump high), a Blue Toad (Runs super fast but has a low jump), and even Princess Peach herself (slow movement but has long floaty jumps). There's also an unlockable secret character.
• As extra objectives each level holds 3 collectable Green Stars as well as one Stamp in hidden/hard to reach locations, as well as the incentive to hit the top of the end level Flag Pole. There are some levels along the way that are locked until you have a certain number of Green Stars, the Stamps can be used to decorate photos (it has a photo mode), and collecting all Green Stars, Stamps, & Flag Pole tops is necessary to access some of the penultimate post game challenges.
• Powerups come in two flavors. First you have the "transforming" types (of which you can only have one active at a time, and can be taken from level to level) such as the Super Mushroom (makes small Mario big), Fire Flower (throw fireballs), Tanooki Suit (float & tail swipe attack), Boomerang Suit (throw boomerangs that can grab items), and the all new Cat Suit (climb walls & claw attack). Then you have the "wearable" types (these can stack on top of whatever "transforming" powerup you have, and even on top of each other in some instances, though can only be used within the level found) such as the Starman (brief invincibility), Propeller Box (massive jumps with slow descent), Coin Box (coins with every step), Boom Box (fires cannon balls), and the all new Goomba Mask (enemies won't attack), Goomba's Skate (better control on ice & can cross spikes), and Double Cherry (multiplies your character up to five at once). In a class of it's own you also have the Mega Mushroom (temporarily become an invincible terrain smashing giant, though this overrides and erases any other powerups you have). Needless to say, there are lots of options at play.
• Just like the 2D games the levels are accessed via a world map, though you're not locked to the yellow path and can run around the little environments. Nothing near the scope of the hub worlds of traditional 3D Mario games, but these do hold the occasional small secret here & there.
  
  Like the rest of the game, the world map is very aesthetically pleasing.
• In addition to traditional levels, each world also houses either a Mystery House or Captain Toad level. Mystery Houses string together (usually 10) small timed challenges back to back to back (earning you a Green Star for each challenge completed), while Captain Toad levels are the real standout (as you can guess getting it's own spinoff, also on Switch). In Captain Toad levels you have to guide the little guy around little dioramic levels trying to grab 5 Green Stars. You can move the levels around to get a better look at all their secrets, but the Captain himself lacks the ability to jump.
  
  A different perspective on gameplay.
• I also wanted to give a shout-out to the boss lineup, which came as a nice surprise. I wasn't sure what to expect going in as 3D Land (the preceding 3DS title) had a pretty lackluster slate of bosses, but the roster has been expanded & what's here is pretty good.
  
  If there's such a thing as a good clown, I haven't found it.
• All in all, there isn't a whole lot to complain about, gameplay is quick, fluid, instantly fun, and while Mario's moveset isn't quite as diverse as it is in other 3D titles, there's so much diversity thanks to all the power ups, other playable characters, and other level gimmicks (like levels/sections where you ride Plessie, the aquatic equivalent of Yoshi, through obstacle courses) it never gets boring. Some may complain that the semi-fixed/isometric camera angles can interfere with the platforming, but that's honestly a nitpick from my experience. Sure I've had a death or two I blame on it, but if you just pick one of the more janky scenarios in 64 or Sunshine (and let's be honest, each game has at least a few), that in itself will lead to more grief than 3D World's camera will during an entire playthrough.
• It also features both local & online multiplayer, though I didn't get a chance to check this out. Another common complaint related to this is that "the environments are too large to really enjoy in single player", but I honestly don't see it. The Savannah level is the only one that came close enough for me to wonder if I'd be able to fully explore it within the time limit, while on the other hand there are multiple levels I can think of that I'd imagine would be very cramped with multiple players, particularly the later ones.

Visual/Audio:

• It's a very colorful game, in some places I'd even say impressive (I liked the rain effects), and it's a super, super smooth experience. There are tons of different environments, from themes that repeat a few times like grasslands, Bowser's castle levels, & snowy areas, to largely one off treats such as a Japanese castle, Mario Kart themed level, or a haunted shipwreck.
  
  
  
  
  There are varied locales, including a pretty suggestive looking bridge (seriously, look at that last shot again, lol).
• Something else that has proved somewhat divisive is the lack of coherent theming. At first glance it would seem that each world has a specific theme going for it (look at the cloudy theme of the World 6 map I posted earlier), however in practice only one or two levels within the world actually match up with said theme (usually just the first level in a world), and it's much more content to experiment & jump around with theme level by level. It's largely neither here nor there for me (and if levels did stick thematically closer to their associated world, we'd probably get calls of "cliche!"), but I generally like the surprise. I would have liked World 8 to have more coherent level theming though, as the theme given off by the world map itself here is anything but generic for the series. Oddly enough World 7 stands out as the only one where it's levels largely did stick to theme, which was a nice change of pace.
• the Mario series has always been one with a lot of catchy music to bop along to, and 3D World is no exception. Things get really good in post game where a larger share of tunes from past games comes into play, and I particularly liked the return of some great Galaxy music.

Story:

• There's nothing much to say here other than the fact that it drops the "damsel in distress" bit and Peach joins the Bros. on their adventure. This time Bowser has invaded the Sprixie Kingdom (which looks a lot like the Mushroom Kingdom, but with the appearance of clear pipes & purple crystalline block bricks), and kidnapped the Sprixies, but other than that things play out as you'd expect.
  
  I hope this nice walk isn't interrupted by anything.
• I do like the tiny bit of worldbuilding connecting it to a past game in the series. Particularly the appearance of a past hub world appearing at the end of the credits, forshadowing the theme the post game will adopt (at least for it's world map, if not most of the levels themselves, as has been the case for this game).

Conclusion:

• It may not be as grand in scope & theming as past 3D titles (though a nice step up from the similarly structured 3D Land in this regard), but it's an absolute masterclass in platforming mechanics that makes it an absolute joy to play around in. Definitely don't sleep on it if you have a Switch & haven't played it on Wii U.
  
  "It's Meow, Mario!"

Y'all coordinate a review party? Lots of good stuff to dig into today.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Nice to see you contributing again!

I appreciate the historical/development history component of the piece. I've avoided the Devil May Cry until now thanks to my dislike of most of the character action games I have played (mostly developed by PlatinumGames), but the creepier setting and mild similarities to RE have made me wonder on one occasion or another if the first one might be worth getting into. I don't like that there's such a small window of time in which to keep up combos, but it sounds like the scoring system in the game is more about finishing quickly and less about pulling off "stylish" combos, at least. I like the music as well.

@RR529 Nice SM3DW piece! I agree that the boss lineup in this is surprisingly strong. At least on par with Galaxy, although under Odyssey, which has the best boss gallery in the series to date. Lots of decent power-ups as well. Even if it lacks the more ambitious scope of certain other 3D Mario games, I feel like it took the sort of gameplay seen in the 2D entries and pretty much perfected it.

How far did you get into the post-game content?

@RogerRoger You know, I've never heard of this game, Rog! It sounds fun, though (rooms where attacks instantly kill you aside), and I like the personal history element you've woven in here. Releasing a Wolfenstein clone (if it can even be called that) a week before the revelatory DOOM is, indeed, quite rotten luck.

This is going into my Steam wishlist, where it definitely won't rot for another decade because I already own way too many games on this service.

Thanks guys for all the responses! I appreciate you all taking the time to read of it!

I haven't played DMC5 yet @nessisonett but I know a fair few things about it and I'm kinda surprised Phantom didn't make a return in that compared to Griffon or the bloody Panther enemy. I always thought he was the most memorable boss from the first game (Even with him popping up in the second game for no reason if I recall correctly).

Very nice piece on Super Mario 3D world @RR529! Despite it's slight obsession with cats there's just something about 3D World even when it was released on Wii U that just appealed to me for some reason.

It's good to see it getting new life and appreciation on the switch now. I'll sure I'll get round to trying it sometime in the future as what I've seen and now read looks like a really fun little jaunt.

And yes Nightmare is the blob monster like boss in DMC 1 and boy is he a right pain in the arse on Hard! He was where most of those extra unclocked hours of beating that difficulty went!

No promises or resolutions but hopefully I can contribute the topic in a much more timely fashion @Ralizah from this point onwards 😅

Yeah like I said compared to the rest of the Devil May Cry series the result screen for the first when finishing a mission only grades your on your "Time" and "Number of Red Orbs Collected".

I typically found that as long as you beat the boss of a mission with a high style rank you'll generally be given enough orbs from it (As of course the higher the style rank when you kill an enemy, the more orbs they leave) that you'll land somewhere within an B-S range without having to worry about the more generic enemies littering the levels in the slightest.

With you having to fight the 4 main bosses throughout the game 3 times each (And the final boss is in two missions) that's 14 missions you can do fairly easily.

On my hard difficulty playthrough (Which actually unlocks something upon completion besides Dante Must Die difficulty The ability to play a new game as Sparda), I only got to "Stylish" nine times throughout that playthrough and still got like 3/4 S ranks.

The fact that the mission ranks don't really bother me in the slightest might also help there (And I don't think there's anything unlockable tied to them either)!

Oh! I feel stupid now @RogerRoger for not realising you just meant the gothic tone of Soul Reaver's vampire fueled world and DMC's more demonic setting! I'd be lying if I said I didn't spend some of my youth as a goth and I do quite like those supernatural settings and plot points!

Thanks again for the compliments of the review too... I did spend quite a lot of time agonising over it the past few days with editing out whole chunks and rewriting other sections so I'm pleased to hear it turned out alright.

DMC2 will be interesting to write about as I'll have even more to say it's development and I do feel it has a bit of a bad rep (Even if it is undeniably the worst in the series).

There's still quite a few write ups I could do for a bunch of games I've recently beat... Whether I have anything unique to say (Yakuza 0) or approach it's subject matter deftly enough (Ultra Despair Girls) I'm not too sure of. I still wanna get down a Code Vein review though at the very least. I have all those photo mode screenshots still sitting on my PS4 for one and it could do with some love.

Nice writeup on Blake Stone by the way! Never heard of it in the slightest but it sounds like a fun little experience. A shame it seems to have got completely overlooked over the passage of time thanks to DOOM releasing only a week later as it does seem to do some interesting things!

@Ralizah, I got to World 👑 and completed it's Captain Toad level, but haven't completed Champion's Road or that super long Mystery House.

@RogerRoger, Blake Stone looks like a fairly interesting change of pace for shooters of it's era thanks to it's bright colors. Not an area of gaming I have any expertise in, but I think a cereal brand (I think Chex?) even released either a Wolfenstein or Doom clone, that was entirely kid friendly.

@RR529 Chex Quest!!! It’s so good 😂😂

So I managed to play and finish Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I was originally intending to write a full review (I might drop one later on), but tbh I'm quite exhausted with the series at this point so could do with a break!

Some quick thoughts generally:

• The game started off really strong. The strengths of this game are its setting (South America's jungle and villages are much more interesting than the barren Siberia of Rise) and its improved mechanics (pretty much every mechanic is improved, especially exploration and stealth; the swimming is perhaps the best I've seen in any game).
• This is the closest the reboot trilogy has come to feeling like the Core Design games, with a focus on exploration and, unlike Rise, an environment I want to explore. The crypts and tombs are generally quite interesting.
• That said, a lot of the puzzles were very tedious. Moreover, I encountered two puzzle-breaking glitches in my playthrough on PC (one fixed by simply resetting, the other resulted in me completely abandoning a sidequest). This really discouraged me and made me develop a distrust for the puzzle mechanics within the game.
• Although discovering new villages (e.g. Kuwaq Yaku, Paititi) was interesting at first (and also a first for the series - we'd never really seen much civilisation in previous entries), the overabundance of sidequests really put the game to a halt - affecting the pacing in a manner similar to Rise (and arguably worse - although fortunately this is all optional).
• The story again was fairly cliche and bland. I wasn't really sure, nor did I care, what the villain was trying to achieve, and the final few acts seemed a bit rushed. I did like the inner conflict of Lara having caused the natural disasters - but this was only sporadically brought up, and feel her inner turmoil was resolved too quickly.
• Similarly, the character development could've been better. This is the best relationship building that we've seen between Lara and Jonah, but Jonah again sat only the sidelines for most of the game. Other characters don't get much development or memorable moments.

Overall, a lot of issues I had with Rise carry over into this title, however I think the new setting and the improved mechanics go a long way to making me prefer this title overall. I feel that Shadow is the best realisation of classic Tomb Raider in the reboot setting. However, as a game, I feel that 2013 is most memorable to me and is the one I'd most likely go back to.

If I were to grade them:
2013 - B+
Rise - B-
Shadow - B

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine DLC
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Completion Status: All main story missions completed; several side missions completed; roughly 30 hours of playtime

So, I've been sitting on this DLC expansion for a while. Unlike the first DLC expansion, Hearts of Stone, Blood and Wine is big enough to count as its own separate game, and gives you a large-ish separate region to explore. I didn't really want to go through the trouble of setting up Witcher 3 on my new PC, so I decided to get my money's worth out of the Switch version I bought for a while back and played sporadically. How would this DLC expansion fare on this generation's equivalent of the Game Boy?

Blood and Wine is canonically set after the events of the main game (and presumably the other DLC campaign as well), although, aside from some light references, it really functions as its own sort of thing. Geralt is summoned to the duchy of Toussaint, an idyllic region of the world that resembles classical imagery of medieval Europe, complete with virtuous knights pledging to defend the chivalric virtues. Something is amiss in paradise, however. A beast is terrorizing the land, and Geralt of Rivia is tasked by Duchess Anna Henrietta to find and stop the murders, which leads him directly into conflict with a mysterious and powerful Elder Vampire.

The name "Blood and Wine" communicates more than you'd think. Besides the vampiric connection, the land of Toussaint's primary export is wine, and much of the game's content involves settling land disputes over vineyards, dealing with wine theft, and even helping to restore a run-down vineyard and estate that has been pledged to you by the Duchess, where you'll eventually be able to grow additional herbs and display sets of armor and weapons. Otherwise, the gameplay loop will be familiar to veterans of the main game, as you travel around Toussaint and engage with fairly formulaic side content. None of the money/XP balancing issues from the main game have been addressed in this expansion, so your willingness to engage with everything this expansion has to offer comes down to personal enjoyment. With that said, I'm going to come down a little harder on how uninspired a lot of the side-content is in this DLC, because Toussaint isn't nearly as large as the wider Witcher 3 world, and more care should have been taken to furnish it with unique content.

Unfortunately, a lot of the visual splendor and charm of Toussaint were lost in the process of converting this game to the Switch. Granted, the entire game is here: there are no cut corners to speak of, and it runs surprisingly well on increasingly aged mobile technology, but the often pretty dramatic dips in resolution, texture quality, etc. are far more evident in this DLC than they were in the base game. Perhaps that has something to do with the art direction: Velen, Novigrad, etc. are generally pretty grim, dark, atmospheric places, but Toussaint is full of sunlit environs, and that clarity highlights the limitations of the technology all the more. I suppose it goes without saying: when people tout the impressiveness of the game running well on the console at all, that should probably tell you something about the capabilities of the hardware. Even as someone who often downplays the sacrifices needed to get home console-scale games running on this device (as they often aren't any more severe than similar cuts that are made to PS4 versions of games in comparison to their PC counterparts, while, IMO, the device itself offers much more in return for those sacrifices through the freedom offered by its hybrid form factor), I'd definitely say that playing Blood and Wine on the Switch should be a last resort.

Of course, there are ways to improve the experience via the options menu, which adds a suite of PC game-esque features to customize. First off, if you hadn't already, you'll want to turn off the anti-aliasing, which, as with the base game, makes the image appear uncomfortably fuzzy. Raw pixels aren't attractive, but it still results in a noticeably crisper image overall. Especially if played on the diminutive Switch Lite. The prospective player will also want to turn off "bloom" ASAP. I don't know what this DLC looks like with bloom enabled on other platforms, but on Switch it drowns the image in this horrible yellow tint.

I mentioned playing on a Lite, and that ends up being the best way to minimize the effects of the visual downgrade on one's experience with the game. The base version of TW3 looked better in handheld mode, of course, but it didn't look hideous when blown up on the TV most of the time. The same can't be said for this DLC, though. I remember docking it at one point when there were a lot of characters on-screen and then audibly gasping at how terrible the image quality was on my TV. It was... bad. Everything is so small on a Switch Lite screen that you can kind of fool yourself into thinking it looks better than it actually does, but put it on even a small monitor and you'll be faced with a game that, frankly, looks as bad as the most unattractive PS3/Xbox 360 titles.

But I won't keep ragging on the visuals. They're clearly not the result of laziness or a lack of effort. Saber Interactive, the company that ported this game to the Switch, did an amazing job stuffing a square peg into a round hole. If nothing else, this version of Blood and Wine still embarrasses existing home console ports of CDPR's embarrassingly unfinished sci-fi epic, Cyberpunk 2077.

The highest compliment I can pay to this version of Blood and Wine is that, more often than not, I was so fully engrossed in the story that I didn't even think about how basic everything looked. While I wasn't terribly engaged with the exploration (partly because of the lack of visual flair, and partially because, like the base game, TW3's open worldy aspects are half-baked: the side-quests are still unrewarding, it's still filled with unnecessary systems and mechanics, and its environments, while well-realized, have no interactivity or sense of mystery to them), the story in this DLC is surprisingly excellent. While the main game suffered from 'road trip syndrome' and featured a frankly pretty underwhelming main plotline, Blood and Wine's narrative is much more focused and immediately gripping, and the player will be thrown into a nuanced, tragic conflict that will have them sympathizing with everyone involved. A variety of memorable and mostly likable characters are introduced throughout. The smaller settings and narratives explored throughout are also compelling, in addition to the larger narrative. Blood and Wine weaves together a number of smaller stories and setpieces — freeing a woman afflicted with a terrible curse, infiltrating a swanky party to investigate a lead, exploring an ancient vampire castle — to great effect.

One area where the main game lacked a bit was in boss quality and variety. The Hearts of Stone expansion addressed this with some excellent boss encounters, but Blood and Wine's boss game isn't terribly impressive, although the final boss of the expansion is admittedly pretty challenging. Still, Toussaint would have fared even better with a collection of intimidating enemies to face.

For a DLC, though, this is still a pretty meaty, satisfying affair. I said it took me roughly 30 hours to get through, but that was just the main story and several side-quests. There was actually a lot of side-content I didn't engage with, and if someone felt like doing everything in Blood and Wine was worthwhile, they could probably get 40 - 50 hours total out of this campaign. I ignored a number of smaller side-quests, most of the unexplored map markers, almost all of the treasure hunts for special Witcher gear, etc. How much any of this content is actually worth engaging with is an open question, but its pure potential as a time-waster is impressive. And, you know, maybe I'll do that one day if I revisit the game on a different platform. I had a lot of fun with the PC version of the game just roaming around, soaking in the atmosphere, and, frankly, Toussaint is probably even better for that with its lush, technicolor environments.

I enjoyed my return trip to the world of The Witcher 3, even if the Switch port has a face only a mother could love. The storytelling in this DLC is the highlight of the package, and it highlights CDPR's strength when it comes to character writing and story-driven setpieces. I would love to one day see a Witcher game with more elegant gameplay, meaningfully streamlined mechanics, and balanced dolling out of rewards to the player to incentivize engagement with the (usually) well-written side-content. As usual, the art design and music are top-notch as well. I'm going to give the Switch version of Blood and Wine a 6/10. Tack on a point if you're playing any other version, but the image quality deficits here are too severe to ignore.

@timleon Nice impressions on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Glitched puzzles sound... worrisome, though. Especially given puzzles are often required to complete if you wish to advance in a game.

The complaint about pace-destroying side-content definitely rings true. A lot of modern AAA games seem to suffer from design bloat, where the developers almost seem to feel the need to stuff extra quests and collectibles and whatnot in the game to pad it out.

[Insert obligatory 'I really need to play these games' comment]

Thanks!

Yeah the glitched puzzles really soured what was overall a good experience. Luckily the first was easily overcome by reloading my checkpoint, but I was almost afraid that the second had completely broken the game for me (long story short - I was only able to continue by reloading an old save - luckily the game keeps your latest save at a campsite to help prevent you from getting trapped in difficult areas).

With the pace-breaking...as mentioned, this at least is optional. Unfortunately I go in with an "all-or-nothing" mindset, and once I start chasing sidequest markers...I start trying to go for them all. I definitely don't recommend that in this game - maybe choose one or two sidequests to get a feel for them, and quickly move on. Otherwise the entire game becomes a bunch of fetch quests for villagers, distracting you from the main experience.

@timleon I'm one of those people who gets anxious when side-content starts piling up, so, for me, it figures into the overall pacing of the game. In the best games, such content is meaningful and enhances the overall experience, but it doesn't sound like that's the case here.

It's good to hear the developer's built in a workaround to prevent players from losing too much in the way of progress, at least, but I think I'll probably do some investigating on how often these puzzle glitches crop up.

@RogerRoger Interestingly, the expanded options menu wasn't available at launch. But people with hacked Switches started messing with settings and showing off how much better the game looked with certain settings disabled, and the company actually responded by patching in the option to enable or disable a variety of post-processing settings. Very cool post-launch support.

In general, I remain impressed with how many games run well on the Switch. Even the base campaign of The Witcher 3, which, as mentioned, seemingly took less of a hit than the Blood and Wine campaign did. Granted, the drawbacks when playing on the system compared to something more powerful are obvious, but we're talking about simple differences in texture quality and framerate rather than the games needing to be entirely different to run on dramatically weaker hardware. I could see an updated Switch making use of some sort of DLSS solution to run games dramatically above its pay-grade, so to speak.

With that said, sometimes one is just flying too close to the sun with these ports, and I could feel the wax starting to melt with Blood and Wine.

And yeah, it's definitely a better than average experience overall. After 100+ hours of the base game and Hearts of Stone, though, the formulaic nature of the game has started to wear thin for me. Thankfully, it has the excellent narrative and character dialogue to fall back on.

I don't doubt CDPR will survive. I'm sure they still made mad profits on Cyberpunk, even with the huge number of returns, and consumers have short memories. CDPR will put out another game with a note thanking the player for buying it or something, and gamers will melt into a puddle and eat out of their hand again.

Thanks for the feedback! Yep, definitely agree that the first third of the game is the strongest - in fact, I was quick to write this up as my favourite in the trilogy until the rest of the experience pushed it down slightly. I think 2013 is a lot more consistent in quality, but is the least successful in capturing the Tomb Raider "feel", whereas that is what this entry excels most at.

I think the sidequests could go either way for you in that case. They actually do quite a good job of fleshing out the world and the civilisations that Lara encounters...but they bring the story to a grinding halt at a time where the story should be moving a bit faster, so they're really at odds with the rest of the game. In a way the main story and the sidequests almost feel like two different games. Personally I enjoyed the first few sidequests, but they became quite cumbersome after a while.

As for the glitches - specifically, I had these in the oil puzzle (which is the main story, but fixed by reloading the checkpoint), and path of fear (this is a DLC tomb, and the bug lost me the whole tomb's progress). There's quite a few reports of these bugs on Steam.

@timleon Great write up on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I think you covered all the gripes I had. Oddly, I was really invested after the Tomb Raider reboot and played the heck out of it, then I played Rise and thought it traded the narrative for larger open world and side missions and then Shadow seemed to do the same but with a weaker plot and character development. Not a bad game, would say it is good but it was treading water imo.

@Ralizah Another excellent review. I've just gone back to Heart of Stone after finishing the main game a year back. I've been taking advantage of cross save with the PC version so been hopping between platforms. I still think The Witcher 3 on Switch is the best place to play because of the weakness of the open world design, being able to hop on and off on Switch fitted it better and was a trade off for good looking. It is a nice looking game on PC at Ultra settings but it isn't the prettiest game anyway. Think I will finish this DLC then wait a bit for Blood and Wine though I understand it is the stronger of the two.

I have been playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey for over a month and boy will I have some thoughts on that game when I finish it (nearly 45 hours in and I'm maybe over half way possibly?) so I haven't had much to add to this forum. However, as a break of fresh air, I played a game called South Of The Circle on Apple Arcade. Developer my (mainly) mobile developer State of Play, the game is a narrative adventure about a young academic working on a scientific mission in Antartica in the 1960's who is stranded in an airplane crash in the snow.

Approaching a review of a game like South Of The Circle is a challenge. It is a narrative story and one incredibly well told. However, so much of what the game is about is locked into its themes and story decisions that it is hard for me to pick apart how I feel about the game and how I felt about the narrative.

So I'm going to split this into two parts. The black and white description of the game itself and then some thoughts about the dangers of the narrative affecting reviews. I played the game on an Apple TV using a controller via the Apple Arcade service but can be played on any supported Apple device and touch screens will be simple enough. The story is set in an intriguing period. You play as Peter and involved with dual narratives. Via flashback you see him as an academic at Cambridge who has a good idea for a thesis but is struggling to flesh it out and gain acceptance of his peers in the early 1960's. At the same time, it charts his relationship with Clara a forward thinking academic who may be the key to unlocking his thesis with an angle that has international consequences. At the same time, you are charting Peter in Antartica trying to save a wounded colleague and find out where he is in the Antartic tundra. Against both threads is the backdrop of the Cold War, where it intrudes in both Cambridge life and the Antartic experience.

The gameplay, like many narrative games, is limited. You can control Peter in some sections but it is very much a forced path you must take. You can interact with some items, such as radios, but this is really done to break up the story slightly. The most interaction is where you choose responses in conversations based on mood, indicated by coloured options. These then affect the conversation. If you don't like these type of narrative games, then I've probably already lost you.

The graphics and animation are simple but effective, with a wonderful pastal colour scheme and design choice that is quite beautiful. The scenes and flashbacks of the narrative interweve beautifully, fitting the scenes and locales. It is rather stunning in places. The music is pitch perfect, often quite but sometimes punctuating the scenes. The game is entirely voice acted with some excellent performances that feel of the time period but quite natural. You'll find yourself attached to these characters. The game is about the perfect length of a game of this sort, roughly 3.5 hours so you can do it in one sitting. Performance is strong, even on the Apple Tv which isn't very powerful in the hardware stakes. In its presentation, its execution and for evoking emotions, this game is truly masterful.

Still, there is a but coming, and that is the direction of the narrative. The game has a point to make in its narrative and to even mention what that is thematically could spoil it. However, it is one of those choices that you will either find satisfying or frustrating. It is well told, it isn't based on a some sort of clumsy 'twist' and is told naturally through the game. On a personal level, I wasn't sure I liked the way the story went but that is probably to do with the success of the game in having me invested in the narrative and characters. I've seen others online (yes, I liked it enough to google it) split on this and I can see why. The story, as a whole, is consistent but will you like where it goes narratively and thematically? You might, you might not. It will certainly evoke an emotional response in you but I think your response cannot help but affect how you view the game. It has with me.

However, if you have access to the service and can play the game, I would recommend. I think this will be nominated for more awards and rightfully so. It is a story masterfully told. Just be prepared for it to go in directions you may or may not like.

@RogerRoger Thanks! If you like indie games, I think Apple Arcade is possibly the best value subscription out there. At £4.99 a month, the quality and amount of new games added regularly is really good. Some of my favourite games of the last few years have been on Apple Arcade and they do fund a lot of games. The only downside is needing Apple devices and if you aren't a fan of mobile gaming then the reason isn't as strong. So the entry price is high and I couldn't say to go out and buy an iPad or iPhone just for Apple Arcade.

A lot of games do appear on other systems either at launch or months afterwards. However, the devs of South Of The Circle are primarily mobile devs so not sure if they will move it across. I hope so as more people need to see this gem of a game.

@RogerRoger Well there are some great Apple experiences are also available or are coming to other platforms so do keep an eye out! Creaks, Mutazione, Neo Cab, Necrobarista and lots of others are on PS4 or Switch I think. They just seem to fly under the radar a bit!

@Rudy_Manchego Hearts of Stone was surprisingly good. You don't get a new region like in Blood and Wine, but, for my money, it has the best set of story quests in TW3 as a whole. Good call on putting some time between Blood and Wine and the rest of TW3.

Also, nice review of South of the Circle. I've not heard of the game, which I'm guessing is in large part due to my the complete dearth of Apple tech or services in my home (although I'll admit I'm slightly jealous of people with access to Apple Arcade, since there a couple of exclusives games on it I'd love to play), but it definitely sounds interesting. Especially given the controversial direction of the narrative. Even if it ends up not really resonating with me, I've always found myself drawn to artistic experiences that stick to their guns and challenge the audience, as opposed to pandering to them.

If this ever gets ported to a device I own, or if I ever get access to Apple's gaming service, I'll definitely consider playing it.

@RogerRoger If nothing else, the controversy over Cyberpunk and their deplatforming of Devotion has done a lot to quiet the obnoxious, cultish circle-jerking about how "consumer friendly" CDPR is in pretty much every gaming forum and website I frequent because the company offers DRM-free PC games and butters up the community in public statements every once in a while. One of the reasons it took me years to get to The Witcher 3 in the first place is because I knew I'd judge it more harshly than I should if I played it at the height of its popularity.

@mookysam Thanks!

I think there's a place for Switch ports of games like The Witcher 3, DOOM 2016, etc. But they're definitely not as easily recommended as many other ports and releases on the system are. I tend to play less demanding multiplats on the system because I'm a bit of a fan of handheld gaming tech and also because I want to support the third parties who are investing into an ecosystem that third party devs have traditionally been skittish about, but I think something like Blood and Wine is definitely on the edge of what I'd consider acceptable for the system. It's better than not playing the game at all, which is just going to be how it is for some people, who maybe don't have much access to TV time at home, but I wouldn't recommend it as a hybrid experience. With that said, the best platform on which to play a game is the one you're actually going to play it on. I think it's fine enough if you leave it undocked. Just... keep this version of Blood and Wine away from a TV, lol.

While I've reviewed all my PS5 games I've finished except Spider-Man Remastered because I have way too much to say about that masterpiece of a game and it would take a while, I thought I'd review a game that's very close to my heart. A game that I really enjoyed and a game of the year contender for me.

Game: Clubhouse games: 51 Worldwide classics/51 Worldwide games
Played on: Nintendo Switch

No. This is not ironic. No. This is not a joke. I genuinely believe that this is a 10/10 game and I will stand by that opinion. 51 Worldwide Games is a collection of, what else, 51 games from all over the world. From well known games like Uno (well, it's called last card in this game. Copyright, sorry!) and Draughts/Checkers to lesser known games like Hare and Hounds, Chinese Checkers, Nine Men's Morris and Mancala, all of which are really fun. 6 Ball Puzzle is a real stand-out for me. I suck at it but it's a really cool twist in the matching puzzle genre! You have to make lines of 6 balls with the same colour and if you make a shape like a diagonal line, lines of balls will crash onto your opponent's board. Even the graphics are amazing, which is something I never thought I'd say about a puzzle game so well done nintendo!

I need to say more about these graphics, man! They look pretty damn good for the nintendo switch! Yahtzee has an eerily hyper realistic table and the bowling alley looks really nice too.


The only thing I despise about this game is the videos that play before you play the games. The voice acting is, quite frankly, terrible and it just sounds so robotic and fake. No child has ever said to their parent "Dad! I wanna play Gomoku!" I think I hear the woman singing "WHoOoOos up for BoOowling?!" in my nightmares now.

Every game is accessible and really fun. I bet your mum could understand it right after reading the rules (Which is good because I play it with my mum). The touch controls are really intuitive and while having the puck smasher be in front of your finger in air hockey is really weird and not that great, everything else is.

The music is amazing! However, not all of it is available on youtube for some unknown reason. The four in a row/sliding puzzle music is really jolly and the 6 Ball Puzzle theme is actually a remix of the aforementioned four in a row song! I highly recommend you give the ost a listen.

Conclusion
While there are some niggles here and there, 51 Worldwide games is an amazing collection of some of the best tabletop games there are. It's a fun multiplayer game even though some of the games don't support more than two players which is weird. It has introduced me to so many fun games and I love it for that.

Pros
-Incredible Graphics
-Fun gameplay
-Lovely music
-Overall fun collection

Cons
-Terrible VA
-Some odd decisions in the control department
10/10 Outstanding

Nice piece on The Witcher III's Blood & Wine Expansion there @Ralizah!

I tend to be a rather adverse to the practice of DLC/Expansions for the most part as I rarely think they're ever worth the money.

I've never even bought one actually. Only if they happen to be some part of a complete collection edition/reprint of a game that I've purchased. Even then I've found them mostly underwhelming.

In fact the only game where I thought the add-ons were actually worthwhile was Fallout New Vegas purely because of how unique in tone they were compared to the base game.

I've only tried the vanilla Witcher 3 but Blood & Wine sounds like a rather unique experience, especially with you praising the main plotline in it as upon replaying the base game last year the road trip syndrome of the main plot did hamper the experience somewhat compared to my original playthrough (And gave up on it getting to Skellige).

It's a shame of the concessions that had to be made for Blood & Wine in particular to run smoothly on the Switch but at least you had an enjoyable time overall with it none the less Ral!

That horrible yellow tint with the bloom on is... Rather ghastly put it mildly

And uhh... As someone playing Cyberpunk 2077 on a slim PS4. Yeah I can't dispute anything you're saying, especially with my somewhat lacklustre shots in the screenshot thread or my thoughts so far in the PS4 games thread!

Whilst I am having a good(?) time with it despite having a rather large laundry list of complaints... I'd be pretty pi$$ed if I actually bought it for full price, especially at launch.

Thanks @mookysam! Great to be back writing them! You should totally try to finish 3 as it was easily my favourite of the series back when I played it years ago (And I have a feeling upon replaying them it still will be)... It'll be interesting seeing the evolution of the combat in the titles as I go along though.

Honestly I think the plot of 1 (Which is practically nonexistant and AWFULLY told and voiced when it is there) has aged much worse then the combat. 3 & 4 aren't exactly shakespeare... But they might as well be in comparison 😅

I haven't actually! I've seen footage for Resident Evil 2's prototype with Elza Walker and Resident Evil 0's N64 version but nothing on 4!

I love the way his voice cracks in that line too... Sheer perfection There are a few different battle themes but I don't think they're anything to write home about. I think the atmospheric exploration music stands out a bit more to me.

@Ralizah, nice review on Blood & Wine. Witcher III is a game I look at occasionally on PS4 as it's on sale all the time, though I don't think I've bit the bullet yet for whatever reason. I will say the expansion does look pleasantly vibrant, even through the Switch screens you shared.

@Jackpaza0508, nice impressions on Clubhouse Games! I've always thought it looked pretty cool, but I'd have no one to play with so I don't know how much mileage I'd get out of it. I enjoyed Go Vacation! well enough on my own, so I should probably just go for it.