REVIEW: Ghostwire: Tokyo (PS5)

Review by Jon Donnis

The largest city in Japan, Tokyo finds itself overrun with deadly supernatural creatures, the entire population of Tokyo have vanished.

Your job is to find the source and rid the city of these creatures and the evil cult that created them.

Your character Akito managed to survive this "snap" of sorts, due to a friendly spirit (KK) who gave him extra life source and elemental powers.

Akito and KK are basically the same in the game, they talk to each other which gets annoying quick. So do what I did and put the Japanese language on, just seemed better when I couldn't understand them.

As you travel around the map you will "cleanse" Torii gates, that will unlock more of the map and allow you to progress further. Don't do this and dense fog blocks your path. You will face countless waves of enemies that you have to beat, as well as have to look for certain items.

Combat revolves around you firing magic out of your fingers, breaking through the enemy's "aura" and then destroying their core. 

As your magic is elemental, your spells are the obvious Wind (fire balls of wind energy), Fire (Kinda like explosives or bombs) and Water which I dont need to explain surely? You get a bow and arrow to fire as well. As you fight with the enemies, people new to the PS5's Dual Sense controller's triggers will instantly notice some cool resistance as you slowly break down your enemy. Little things like this really do stand out if you are not used to them.

There is not much to the fights themselves, the AI is pretty poor, fire off your magic, damage the enemy until you can rip out its core, and then the same over and over throughout the game. A bit more variance would have been welcome.

The graphics are excellent as you would expect, and if you stop to look at the work put in, it is very impressive. Everything looks spooky, and fans of the supernatural will enjoy the visual aspects.

The Good

Visually everything is spot on, the battles are fun if repetitive.

The Bad

An empty Tokyo with no people, just seems wrong.

Overall

Ghostwire: Tokyo is good but not great, there is potential here, but it just lacks in certain areas where really it should shine.

It is not scary in the least, the enemies are a bit boring, and the game can be completed way too quickly.

There are parts of this game to enjoy, but perhaps not enough to demand a £50+ price tag.

I score Ghostwire: Tokyo a fair 7/10

Released 25^th March 2022

Pre-Order at https://amzn.to/3NefehR

MINI REVIEW: BubbleShot - on PC ( Steam )

 

From RetroBug comes a simple Puzzle Bobble clone.

Good:

50 levels to beat. Classic gameplay. Arcade, casual and Challenge modes. Only a couple of quid.

Bad:

Brings nothing new to the genre.

7/10

Out Now

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1955820/Bubble_Shot/

REVIEW: Summertime Madness on XBOX

Review by GamingCouchPotato.co.uk Staff

Summertime Madness is a single-player first-person puzzle game. The game starts off with a nice intro.

"The city of Prague was under siege, ravaged by war.

Buildings were falling, churches were burning, and everything was to be washed away forever.

A painter lived there, isolated from the outside world. The worse the terrors of war became, the more the artist obsessively painted beautiful landscapes as a contrast to the evil he had witnessed. One night, a mysterious figure appeared in the house seemingly out of nowhere. The stranger walked slowly around the room, inspecting the paintings. He then sat down in front of the artist; to offer him a deal.

The chance to enter one of his own creations, far away and free of war. But he would have to find his way back out before midnight, or else his soul would become trapped in the canvas forever. Feeling alone, on the edge of madness, terrorized by the scent of death creeping in from the streets, the artist shook the mysterious man's hand, accepting the deal.

A few moments later, the house was empty."

Once the intro has finished, you get a choice of how to play the game. 

Classic Mode = 6 hours to finish the game.

Advanced = 3 hours to finish the game.

Explorer = No time limit.

Once you have chosen which you prefer, your characters eyes open and you find yourself in a beautifully drawn 3D world.

You play as the painter, now inside one of the paintings, who has seemingly made a deal with the mysterious figure, basically representing the devil.

As you walk about you will need to solve puzzles and explore your surroundings.

For a puzzle game, there is a lot of walking around, which seems strange, but I understand that the game makers want to give you a peaceful experience, but then why add time limits?

The puzzles themselves involve a lot of running back and forth, and unfortunately the puzzles in general are really poorly thought out. And instead of a challenging feel, they will just make you frustrated. The first puzzle for example, run back and forth turning the wheel on a ship, open doors, close doors, pull a lever, ring a bell, it all gets a bit tedious. The exact puzzle mechanics tend to be very easy, but wrapped in ridiculous back and forth running about, that is just annoying and not much fun.

The game doesn't hold you hand either in any way, some puzzles are just confusing and make no logical sense, and since you have no real idea what you are supposed to do, the feeling to just give up and turn the game off, grows and grows as you play.

The Good

The game is beautiful, the visuals and sounds are all of the highest quality.

The Bad

The puzzles are poorly thought out, and frustrate more than challenge.

Overall

The base of a good game is there, it is just ruined by puzzles that are just terrible in their delivery.

I score Summertime Madness on Xbox, a poor 3/10

MINI REVIEW: Neodori Forever on PC (Steam)

 

Neodori Forever is a retro inspired, endless arcade 3D racing game inspired by the beloved old classics. A colorful cast of rivals is waiting to race against you on a variety of vibrant environments.

Collect power ups and coins on the way to expand your car collection and outrun the competition.

The Good

Fun, old school racing game, addictive, and challenging.

The Bad

Controls can be tough, and drifting needs improving.

Overall

Fun game - 7/10

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1963660/Neodori_Forever/

REVIEW: Blast Brigade vs. Evil Legion of Dr. Cread on Nintendo Switch

Review by Jon Donnis

Blast Brigade vs. Evil Legion of Dr. Cread comes from Allods Team Arcade and published by MY.GAMES.

The game is a classic style 2D side scrolling platform game in the style of Metal Slug, for any of you old school gamers.

Inspired by 1980's action films, you find yourself trying to save the world, using an array of weapons and bombs to help you along the way.

The game has its tongue set very firmly in its cheek, and this sets the stage for what is a very fun and action packed game.

You start off watching a cinematic of a plane being blown up, the Pilot and a Scientist grab a parachute and jump, while Jeff is asleep in the back of the plane, Jeff wakes up, grabs his gun and plummets to the island below.

As you explore the island, you will collect coins that will help you upgrade your weapons and abilities, as well as collect grenades, and eventually assemble a team that will help you as you fight the weird and wonderful enemies that the island is full of.

Areas on the island include jungle villages, cliffside prisons, volcanoes, and ancient temples.

I am playing this on a Nintendo Switch Lite, and as is often the problem with the Switch Lite, sometimes the controls can be a bit tricky. The right analog stick is used to aim your weapon, and the right trigger is used to fire, now I have decent sized hands, so can reach both, but even then, hand ache will come in soon. This game definitely works better with a regular controller.

As you play you will eventually have available to you a decent amount of weapons and tools, not just big guns and grenades, when you are first exploring, you will notice areas you can't reach, well later on when you get a grappling hook with one of the characters you add to your team, you can go back and explore those areas and in turn unlock the secrets they hold.

Another part of the game is the ability to upgrade buildings at your base area, this allows you to get better weapons, tools and upgrades, and this really does add an extra element to the game including customizing specific abilities for your character, including faster reload times, magnet to help collect coins, a longer period of invulnerability after you are hit by an enemy, more ammo etc.

Enemies include hybrid monstrosities, giant robots, cyborg ninjas, and other evil minions. Further along into the game, as you assemble your squad, you can switch between them as you play, each character has different abilities and specialities, which is important if you want to explore certain areas.

You start off with "All-American Jeff, and later can channel the deadly rage of Shura, decommission enemies as the cyborg Scotsman Galahad, and help the chakram-wielding Vortex reclaim her island."

The boss fights are quite tough, and will need pattern analysis if you want to beat them, nothing impossible, just needs effort to keep trying until you beat them.

Luckily there is a in game save option whenever you see a hammock, get a quick rest, your grenades are refilled as is your energy. And you can also quickly move between areas once you find the motorbike.

The game should give you at least 20 hours of play, more if you really want to explore every single corner of the island. There are multiple paths, and nearly always a way to go you haven't found yet.

The game is fully voice acted, and full of humour, and is definitely worth your time.

The Good

Stunning cartoon/comic themed graphics, which look incredible. Gameplay is easy to learn, but tough to master, and the boss fights offer a decent challenge.

The Bad

Works better with a proper controller. And some of the humour won't be for everyone.

Overall

A thoroughly good 2D metroidvania adventure.

I score Blast Brigade vs. Evil Legion of Dr. Cread on Nintendo Switch a solid 8.5/10

Add it to your collection now!

Out now on Nintendo Switch

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Blast-Brigade-vs-the-Evil-Legion-of-Dr-Cread-2195976.html