maisel97

As a long-time Zelda fan, I absolutely adored A Link Between Worlds. It's easily one of the best games in the entire series. Yet at the same time I had really hoped for a 3D Zelda game in the same vein of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Of course the 3DS remasters of those games were fantastic, however I really wanted an ORIGINAL title to fill that want. Enter Ever Oasis. While everyone (including myself) was excited for Breath of The Wild at E3 2016, I remember watching the Nintendo Treehouse stream and Ever Oasis being played. It looked to be something unique for the 3DS that immediately grabbed my interest. An RPG with a large world, dungeons to explore filled with puzzles and unique creatures? Tons of unique side quests? What's there not to enjoy? Thankfully, Ever Oasis delived and exceeded my expectations. It was THE classic 3D Zelda experience I was looking for. There were so many areas to explore, tons of great characters, and a solid story that made all of it even more worthwhile. I highly recommend Ever Oasis for anyone who is a fan of the Zelda series and was looking for that on 3DS.

I haven't played this game in years, and plan to replay it for a more extensive review. Going off of my own memory, however, Machine Knight was a solid JRPG that servedto have a decent story and combat. It isn't anything I would write home about, but it most certainly isn't something that should get needless criticism. If you want a bite sized JRPG that gives the itch of the classics, I think this is a fine game to mess with.

Although this port of the game doesn't have the most outstanding graphics or art direction, and it doesn't have the most thrilling gameplay, there is a decent amount of content and RPG mechanics to make the game a nice experience to play portably. There is a decent number of side quests and abilities to unlock throughout the adventure. It is overall a nice game to mess with even if it isn't the greatest RPG on the DS.

Zenonia is a bit grindy at times, however the story and overall gameplay brings in a relatively solid experience. Easily one of the best titles to come from the mobile gaming sphere, and works great on DSi. A decent amount of quests, decent combat system, as well as a meaty plot will allow anyone looking for a GBA feeling action rpg to have a good amount of bang for their buck.

Switch Version 2.01. Pine is addicting. The world of Pine is beautiful with varied biomes, plenty of items for crafting, and secrets to find everywhere. It is quite impressive that this 6 person team was capable of creating such a lived in world despite working with a limited engine. _______ Story The main plot of the game is that you are a human that is part of a village on top of a small mountain that is slowly falling apart. The village elders refuse to leave, believing the outside world is too dangerous for them. With a tragic event unfolding, you takes the matter into your own hands and proceeds to leave the village and look for a new home for the people to live. A solid premise that gives the player drive. You then must go to any of the animal races and ask for help. They will be hesitant to do so, as they have their own villages to take care of. They will only help you as long as you help them. Thus the game is essentially you donating, trading, or teaming up with various factions to find your people a land of their own. This leads to you trying to learn the history of the island, and how ancient humans must have survived in order to save humanity. It is enough to keep me invested, and makes the in game lore intriguing in its own right. Overall its compelling in the way classic adventure games have been, making me give it an 8/10 _______ Gameplay The core gameplay loop is pretty much that of a living breathing world. Each race has its own desires and needs, and will send out traders, gatherers, and warriors to ensure they can expand their control of the island to the best of their ability. This makes the world quite dynamic, as you will see different races interacting with each other in the fields and terrain outside of villages. You will also find them taking over different settlements throughout the game. You will have to work with multiple factions to help your own people. I have noticed many people criticizing this system in that you cannot stick with a single faction, and must constantly switch who you are allied with. I personally think this was a logical choice, on the dev's part, as it encourages you to learn each race's perspective in the world and do more than the generic grind of leveling up a single village until you finish the game. I would have definitely liked if there was more variations in NPC dialogue however. It would have been nice to see more side quests that provide materials or perhaps even some added lore. Outside from a few island stories I have played through, you will mostly be playing through multiple main story quests that you can do in any order you wish. Outside of that however, you will also go through 3 Zelda like dungeons called "Vaults" and solve puzzles in the overworld. These dungeons have been mixed, with the first time you entering a vault not really explaining what to do. Once you figure out the first puzzle though, the remainder of the dungeon become solid challenges. Combat can be improved, but is still good enough. Just fix the crashing. 7/10. 8/10 with fixes. _______ Visuals The graphical art style of this game is beautiful, and very reminiscent of Fable. Sunsets, and shadows from the moonlight give the world a serene look. Character designs amongst the factions is also well done, with plenty of detail. 9/10 _______ Sound I cannot stress just how amazing the soundtrack of Pine is. It is a perfect 10 in my book, and deserves the utmost praise. Sound effects are also surprisingly high quality. 10/10 Replay Ability _______ The world is interesting to experiment with, but aside from that the world could have a few more side quests. 7/10 _______ Verdict Overall Pine is fantastic despite some flaws in the code. 8/10

While the main story leaves something to be desired, Red Steel 2 brings forth one of the greatest combat systems from the 7th console generation. The implementation of motion controls in conjunction with the pointer functionality of the Wii Remote adds a whole new field of attacks to play around with in its combat system. Graphically the game is absolutely stunning even today. How the dev team managed to make a Wii title look THAT good is just mind blowing. The fact that the game retains a smooth frame rate is even more impressive. All this alone makes Red Steel 2 by far one of the best character action games of the 7th generation of game consoles, if not of all time. This is a title that would fit perfectly for a remaster (if not a sequel) on Switch.

As the video game industry has evolved over the years, it is quite easy to ignore the small development teams, and studios who tried to make it to the top. It is very easy to get caught up in games like Halo, Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Overwatch. While Xbox 360 and PS3 had the FPS genre covered on all fronts, it is often overlooked that the Nintendo Wii didn't really have a shooter of such caliber on their small piece of hardware. Now I know what you may be saying to yourself. "Why, the Wii did have Call of Duty! It was a run down port of Call of Duty, but it was a game from that series regardless!" Well naive reader. You are correct. The Wii did have Call of Duty titles. However, what it didn't have was an exclusive shooter that could compete with other games of the FPS genre at that time. Sure there was Metroid Prime 3 (and soon after the Prime Trilogy was ported all together.) However, Metroid Prime was more like Bioshock rather than a multiplayer centric shooter like Halo or Killzone. Enter High Voltage Software. This small dev team was setting out to put themselves on the map by doing something no other developer would dare to do. High Voltage would create an exclusive shooter for the Wii. Did they succeed? Well, sorta. Conduit 1 was a major success yet was considered as a pretty generic game all things considered. The plot line was considered silly and took itself way too seriously. The single player campaign was quite linear and didn't give much reason for players to play through again. There were few modes and it just wasn't the greatest thing on the system. Heck, even artistically it was almost lacking. High Voltage Software would need to make some massive improvements in order to maintain their rise as a studio. So how did Conduit 2 do in the end? Although Conduit 2 sold quite poorly due to several factors in not only the industry, but their own internal problems as a company (which can quickly be gone over in a watch of Did You Know Gaming's videos about the company) Conduit 2 was High Voltage's clear response to every single complaint made about the original and more. The story was silly in the first game and took itself too seriously? Well now the game is going be outright silly on purpose and really make fun of itself (and the original.) There were many modes? Well here's local multiplayer, improved online, several vs types, and even a survival mode where you fight off waves of enemies. Oh! And there are a ton of unique weapon types that you haven't seen anything like since Perfect Dark on N64. The single player was very repetitive and had little replay value? Well now every single level feels like a whole different culture, has dozens of secrets, a ton of lore, a much greater array of enemies and scenarios. Oh, and the writing is hilarious to fit the stupidity of the original game's plot. It's brilliant. Conduit 2 is the result of a small dev team working their butts off to please consumers while dealing with constant losses at all ends due to things they just couldn't control. Normally you'd expect an end result similar to that of Superman 64 or Mighty No. 9. However High Voltage Software managed to create what is easily one of the greatest titles on Wii, hands down in the top 15 if not top 10. Conduit 2 gets a solid 9 out of 10.

In this last console generation there have been quite a number of attempts at capturing the feeling that the Super Smash Bros series brings. These games that invoke such a gameplay style are typically called "Platform Fighters," and all have varying degrees of success with this 20 year old formula. It's too bad that Brawlout isn't one of the good examples. I am going to give credit where credit is due. The character design in this game is solid, and the graphics look better than almost any other 2.5d platform fighter I've seen (not comparing Smash because that is just not fair.) Like the character models look better than a certain Playstation themed platform fighter, so that is most certainly a plus. I must also give praise for the dev team managing to do a commendable job at putting characters like Hyper Light Drifter, Juan (from Guacamelee,) Yooka Laylee, and the guy from Dead Cells into an artstyle with 3D models while still retaining aspects of their respectful series. The backgrounds of certain stages are also kind of pleasing to look at as well. However. While the actual art style and character design is good for the most part, the core gameplay is horrendous. Every action feels stiff and cheap. Animations seem to have a strange end lag that just feels awkward. There is an interesting system using a meter which acts as both a combo breaker like move, and as a sort of rage like mode. Unfortunately this mode is poorly explained in game and I had to figure it out on my own. While I didn't have too much trouble understanding this, I can see where the average player may not understand this system. There is online as well, but it runs atrociously. There also just isn't much replay value to the game as you essentially can only unlock costumes, which I swear by Playstation Allstars is one of the laziest forms of replayability. I would rather be unlocking unique characters and stages to justify me learning this game's mechanics. In conclusion I tried to be nice to Brawlout, I really did. I often try to have an open mind when it comes to different forms of entertainment. However I just cannot bring myself to defending such a poor gameplay system that I am paying literal money for. The literal only reason I'd play this game again is for the indie characters. Aside from that I wouldn't even recommend playing Brawlout even if it were free. I hate doing this, but I recommend just buying Rivals of Aether if you feel you need to spend money. The combat in that is much smoother and it also has its fair share of indie characters. If you want something that is free then just download Brawlhalla or Rumble Arena. The latter has actual unique characters that don't rip off Smash too, and is constantly updating the graphics and combat system due to community feedback.

Upon seeing the initial trailer of Federation Force (FF) I was enraged like many other fans of the series. As time went on though I realized that I needed to not let my being a fan of the series get in the way of a fair review. With that said I decided to try and stay neutral about the game, its art style, and mechanics. Now it is August and I have finally gotten my hands on FF. I'll be putting this review into several categories to judge the quality of the title. These categories are Atmosphere (graphics, artsyle, and sound effects,) Controls (3DS and New 3DS versions,) story (includes characters, and lore,) and replay ability. No bias for or against FF. These are the rules I put on myself for every review so that I am as fair as possible. The graphics in FF are cartoon like to put it bluntly. Your characters are Chibi like in appearance and the game has a more vibrant color palette than any other Metroid game before it. However, being that Federation Force is a first person shooter with very smooth online capabilities and a solid framerate for a 3DS game, it is evident that the brighter and more simplistic art style actually compliments the game. Don't be fooled by YouTube's poor quality of its videos. FF looks great on 3DS. The 3D effects are some of the best on the handheld too, allowing the player to get a feel as though they are behind the an actual visor. The only thing I personally would have preferred is for the marines inside the mechs to have a more humanlike appearance. However what is most important is the art within the game's world. There are multiple times that you will come across ancients ruins or old Galactic Federation outposts. There is quite a bit of detail in them that make the world feel a bit more alive. As for the sound in the game, I think that the effects sound good whether it be the sound effects of a blaster bolt, to the delightful roar of an Ice Titan. The only negative I have for this game is the lack of any really memorable music. However, I will acknowledge that the theme for hard mode is easily the most badass theme in the game, on par with the classic Super Metroid theme. So graphically and artistically Federation Force gets my seal of approval. I wish there were a bit more memorable music scores, however the atmosphere we get from the sound in general makes the game good in the sound department as well. Obviously though, you are going to be having good reason to want to know the the controls are. I tried both the 3DS and New 3DS versions of the game's controls, and I must say I prefer the use of the c stick far more than the use of the gyroscope. When walking around in the normal setup, you feel like you are driving a big tank, similar to the control scheme of Resident Evil 4. It would have been nice to have seen the option to use the stylus to move the camera, however that didn't stop me from enjoying the use of the c stick's nearly flawless controls. Luckily the game features a lock on feature, the problem is that some enemies can easily dodge your shots. This is where FF brings in a brilliant idea from Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, the ability to move your reticle while locked onto an opponent. It make the game so much easier when you are trying to dispatch and enemy quickly with a headshot. If you don't have a New 3DS, I recommend buying a circle pad pro for this game. Like most other games in the series, the story for FF is very simple and straight forward. You are basically a new marine in the Federation Force and are being sent on missions in the Bermuda system to test out the mechs the Galactic Federation has made for the marines. By the 3rd mission you discover the space pirates are in the Bermuda system too and you must stop their different schemes as you and the Federation Force slowly discover a plot to wipe out the Galactic Federation with what is basically a Death Star. However there is more to the story than that. You can find little bits of lore throughout the game when you find certain computers in the different levels. You learn of the ancient race of Bion and how they became giants in size, as well as find old Federation battleships which crash onto the cold planet of Excelcion. The lore isn't quite as extensive as the Prime games, however it was nice to read. Replay ability is definitely there. There are tons of mods to discover that allow for a multitude of ways of fighting. Each mission gives you medals based on your score and whether you complete certain objectives, some of which are very difficult in single player. These medals allow you to carry more mods, equipment and (best of all) unlock new paint jobs. Beating the main story treats you to a nice end credits cutscene to Metroid Prime 4, gives you a new paint job that admittedly looks pretty badass, a new mod that increases movement speed and attack power, and the option to play the aforementioned hard mode. There is also blast ball and the ability to play co op. Difficult, but worth the $40