notmyfallout

Return to Monkey Island is a true return to glory for the series. I am so impressed with what they have done with this new entry in the Monkey Island series that just oozes charm from start to finish. This 7 hour nostalgia fest is chock full of character cameo's, humour, brilliant writing and zany situations that the series is best known and loved for. This game has some of the best music and voice acting of any game released in 2022. Some veterans of point and click gaming aren't going to like the controversial decision to take the series in a new art direction, with the corporate infographic style visual aethetics. What I would say, is don't write this one off just for the trailer visuals and give it a shot. Personally, this is a true return to form for the series. Once you get stuck in, the game looks visually amazing, and the canted and often exaggerated art style really suits the gameplay. Playing the game, I can understand why they made this choice, and it really serves to fill the gap between the second and third game, with visuals more akin to the art style of Broken Age. Overall, this is a game with a lot of heart, and is certainly one of the best games I have played of 20202. Do not sleep on this one! 10/10, pure joy from start to finish.

A massive step backward from Diablo III and Diablo II: Resurrected. Diablo Immortal is chock full of pay-to-win microtransactions. From the moment you launch the game, Diablo Immortal uses predatory tactics to convince the player to buy up to "800%" increases to stats, loot drops and rewards, offering a vast number of pay-to-win options. Adverts for microtransactions hit you from the moment you launch into this free-to-play mess. It's absolutely disgusting to see a game that relies so heavily on 'Whales' to fund it's in game economy. The micro-transactions and in-game currencies are so pertinent and egregious in this title, that it costs over $100,000 to fully upgrade a character. Please avoid this title at all costs. There are better games in the series, and even fairer free-to-play experiences out there. The only way developers are going to change this practice is to be hit where it hurts most. In their wallets... It kind of feels like an out-of-season April fools joke...

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! Absolutely abysmal. I own around 300 games on switch and this is easily one of the worst. The music is a nonsensical string of random notes slung together. The platforming is bare bones with no fun gameplay or consistency. The hit-box on the main character is off causing issues with jumping and general level traversal. Enemies in the stages move too quickly and are uninspired. On every level, fundentally this fails to be an enjoyable experience. I am usually an easy guy to please when it comes to switch games but this one was the bottom of the barrel when it comes to shovel-ware titles. 0/10 - honestly their are no redeeming qualities.

The brilliant team at Media Molecule behind such titles as the Little Big Planet series and Tearaway have followed up with Dreams for PS4. An ambitious title aiming to introduce gamers to the world of game development with a low barrier of entry. Dreams is a place to create music, sculptures, games, short films you name it, someone has attempted it, but one of the most impressive aspects of dreams is the ability to jump in at any time and play other ‘dreamers’ creations. And to be honest, its one of my favourite experiences on PS4… I have been playing dreams for around 200 hours now, through both the Beta and Early access release, and I think it’s fair to say that I have been blown away by its technical capabilities. Dreams is a full game creation toolkit, where users can create everything from small sculpture showcases to full musical scores, and share whatever they make with users worldwide. Booting up the game for the first time can prove a bit overwhelming for first time users, but this is quickly overcome by helpful beginner tutorials and a very intuitive user interface. A good starting point is MM’s own campaign, ‘Art’s Dream’ which can be found currently featured in the play dreams tab and has been made entirely within the Dreams creation engine. Art’s Dream plays as a 2-3-hour interactive film that follows Art, a depressed musician who doubts his musical prowess, and rekindles his love for playing Jazz through childhood memories. The story is deep, animations are near floorless and its incredibly impressive how many different game modes MM managed to cram in to a coherent and well written narrative. Whilst it helps to have a general understanding of the foundations of game design, anyone looking to play dreams can jump in, and with the help of MM’s tutorials, and can easily understand the basics of how to create content. Anything more than that however, is going to take time and dedication to grasp, as is the same with the learning curve for any other piece of software. The ‘Dreams Surfing’ mode in the game has also proven to be quite a fun dive, with it acting as a random button for every dream that has been uploaded to the ‘Dreamiverse’. You never quite know what you’re going to get yourself into. I have seen some very impressive user created content so far in Dreams, but most experiences so far are short format content, or games that exhaust themselves within the first 5 minutes. This could be because the game has only been out for a short while, but I hope users create more fleshed out experiences in time. Over the course of the Early Access release, I dabbled in creating a dream, and attempted to recreate a scene from the game ‘Bioshock’ from scratch. I was impressed in how easily I was able to pick up the toolsets and create something that utilised lighting, sound, texture and movement to make a coherent scene. As someone with no prior development experience it was reassuring to know that with a bit of practice you can make engaging dreams. Its important to note that if you don’t fancy yourself as a creator, you can still create dreams using assets that other users have made, and MM actively encourage this through their tutorials. I know it sounds cliché at this point but one of the most interesting aspects of Dreams is the community that has been built around the game. It has its own reddit, discord server, a dedicated website to view users’ creations on ****, and there is a clear push towards collaborating with other users. MM have a 10-year plan for Dreams, and have a roadmap to add PSVR support, online multiplayer and sculpture export for 3D printing among other things down the line. The ability to share and create whatever you want to is truly awe inspiring. Overall, I feel Dreams both delivers and exceeds the lofty expectations that MM set out to achieve, and you’re probably better off trying it out for yourself than reading this review to understand if its worth your time investment. The game allows for full creative expression, and really highlights the talents of every day people around the world. I can’t wait to see more

There's a lot of Buzz surrounding this simulation game, but it could Bee better!

Spoiler free review: What a fantastic title. To preface this review, I have not finished this title. I will update this review with final thoughts when I have completed the game. Luigi’s mansion 3 expands on every aspect of its predecessors, highlighting how fun campaign driven games still are in modern gaming. I first remember playing Luigi’s mansion on GameCube around release. Sat with my Dad and my twin brother, we played one of the most charming and fun Nintendo titles late into the evenings. It was a fantastic albeit short playthrough, and since then I have replayed the campaign multiple times. Luigi’s mansion 3 truly rekindles these memories and reminds me why as a series it is just plain fun. The graphics are a great step up from when they were first showed off a year ago, and are quite impressive on the switch hardware. Having said that I have noticed a few frame dips when the game is saving, and in areas where there are a lot of assets on screen. This happens very rarely however and did not takeaway from the experience. One thing that really impressed me was the physics engine. I had so much fun just vacuuming jack o lanterns to see how shadows were cast, or seeing polterpup leaving a ghostly mark as he flies through walls. Very clever. The lighting and texture effects are very impressive too, and there appears to be a lot of game for your money here. Introducing Co-op using Gooigi also works really well, and feels like a natural progression for the series. **** up ghosts, picking up a hundred floating dollar bills, and Luigi’s comedic dialogue is just as fun as it all used to be. This is Nintendo at its best.

The worst in Nintendo's line up of mobile app offerings, Mario Kart tour preys on a younger audience, using aggressive monetization practices to make revenue from gaming whales. The app itself is a shambles and here’s why: • The game is free to play, yet on launch day was plagued by multiple users running into server connectivity issues, unable to play the game. •‘Mario Kart Tour’ tries to trick you into thinking there is a multiplayer component by including a ‘multiplayer’ option in the home screen menu of the app when in fact you are playing against CPU opponents exclusively. This is made worse by the use of player usernames in-game to trick the user into thinking they are playing against real people around the world. • Rarity rates for characters are ridiculous, with chances of obtaining certain characters being as low as 1%. Furthermore, some of these rare rate characters are also locked behind timed events, prompting players to try to obtain them before they disappear forever. This will cause players to spend more time and money in game and is a monetization model that has been made famous by ‘Fortnite’ introducing scarcity to drum up revenue. • 10 minutes before the game was released, a ‘gold pass’ subscription was announced costing $4.99 a month. This pass paywalls certain modes in the game such as a 200cc mode, and will allow users to unlock specific characters, carts and cosmetics. This amounts to $60/year which is a lot of money for a free to play game. Nintendo have not been upfront about this ongoing charge through the adverts for the game, as they know how egregious this is. How can anyone justify the price of content offerings from a Mario Kart Tour Gold Pass when it costs more that an annual Switch Online subscription? Or apple arcade for that matter! • The app utilises ‘Gacha’ mechanics introducing loot boxes, in game currency and gambling type systems to keep users engaged, and spending more money. • The game is 100% pay to win. When the user first launches the game often win races and place high in rankings. As time progresses users will need certain cars, characters or items that make the player faster or increase player rewards. This means free to play players are at a disadvantage. Remember, all of these take place in a single player experience. • This one is subjective but the gameplay is as casual as it can get, and honestly is quite boring. Exceptions can be made for this being a mobile experience, but there is no skill to driving and every track ends up feeling the same because of the lack of control the player has. It’s worth mentioning that this project was outsourced to Chinese app firm, yet Nintendo would still have approved every decision made. This sets a worrying trend for the future of gaming and the future of Mario Kart on Nintendo consoles. If you enjoy Mario Kart, you could buy both MK8D and a Nintendo Switch and still end up paying less than this app could cost you in the long run.

Fallout 76 is a hollow and vapid experience made worse by an aging engine, bugs galore and a large, empty world. Fallout used to be one of my favourite game franchises, built upon the foundation of great storytelling, engaging and rewarding RPG gameplay, and fantastical world building; Fallout 76 goes against everything previous fans of the franchise knew and loved, and appeals to fans of online survival games, rather than its core fan base. At release there are many issues with the game, including but not limited to: - No NPC quest givers. If anyone remembers the monotonous Preston Garvey quests of Fallout 4, be prepared to re-experience this again, except being given active quests from a computer. Storytelling is done solely through the use of hollotapes and somewhat creative uses of in-game object placement. - An aging engine. Fallout 76 runs of the creation engine, and whilst the game can be visually stunning at times, is host to many problems. Graphical issues, technical hiccups, texture pop-ins, and consistent optimization issues on all currently released platforms. - Always on mic. As far as I can tell, there is no way to turn off the audio of other players you encounter in the game. A right bummer if all you can hear down your headset is a screaming child! - Cosmetic microtransactions. Enough said. - Quite honestly too many problems to list. Read up on some more in-depth reviews, or if you have the game, play it to experience these blatant issues in their full glory. The game is a shameless attempt at a cash grab to capitalize on the popularity of games like Rust and Ark Survival evolved, whilst also utilizing the fallout world to sell copies of the game to unsuspecting Fallout fans. Its like if Valve released Half life 3 as a battle royal game exclusively for google cardboard. You don’t do it… Fallout 76 is a great commentary on the modern-day gaming industry, how publishers are adhering to the wants and needs of investors over long-term fans. Companies such as Bethesda are falling out of touch with their audience, and it is clearly shown in how Fallout 76 was marketed from its initial E3 reveal. Fallout 76 was doomed to fail from the start. in its current state, Fallout 76 is one of the worst AAA published games of the year.