darkSpyro

Here it is, just review any game you want to and post it here, simple as that, folks.

Fitting that the first game I review properly is the one of the first games I ever played. Ah yes, Spyro the Dragon, this game and it's franchise always bring a tear of joy to my eye with their creative level designs, colourful presentation, amazing gameplay and great humour to wrap everything up in Insomniac's metaphorical bow of approval... if that makes any sense. Though the franchise is most likely more well known than it ever has been with the Skylanders spin-off series, I think it's important that everyone knows where Activision's current cash-cow... err... dragon, originated from. That origin, Spyro the Dragon for the PlayStation 1.

The story of Spyro 1 goes like this, some elder dragons where talking bad about the evil Gnasty Gnorc on a television broadcast one day and in a rage, Gnasty froze all the dragons into crystal statues that can only be freed with someone's touch. Spyro, avoiding Gnasty's attack for being so small must free all the dragons across six worlds, collect all the stolen treasure that Gnasty turned into minions, find all the the stolen baby dragon eggs and defeat the tyrant Gnorc himself. Not the best story out there, but hey it certainly doesn't overcomplicate things or make you shake your head in confusion like a certain Australian tiger's game does. I also find it kind of funny how the whole world seems to be set in medieval times, yet there's news crew with microphones and cameras, that always made me chuckle.

In terms of presentation, Spyro definitely doesn't disappoint, easily one of the best looking games on the PS1, and the series' use of colour and graphics in general only get better as the series progresses, with one or two minor hiccups here and there. The soundtrack is also amazing, nearly every track in the game is memorable in one way or another, if you told me a level, chances are I could probably hum out it's song, though that may be due to how many times I've played this beauty. Now that I think about it, this is most likely one of most replayed games of all time, and for good reasons, the main reason other that nostalgia, is the gameplay.

If you like the type of collecting madness like in early Rare games, you'll love this one, there's just so much to collect, like all the previously mentioned dragons, dragon eggs, and gems, and every time you do manage to find anyone or all of these things, the feeling is just so satisfying, it'll drive you to wanted to 100% this masterpiece. Every time you free one of the 80 frozen dragons, they'll also give you a little dialogue that can range from helpful tips, funny stories, or just the basic 'Thank you for releasing me'. Each level feels unique and different to the last in a big way, none of them are a chore to trek through, they're just fun from point A to point B picking up as many things as you can. With the medieval fantasy themeing, Insomniac really could do nearly anything they wanted, though some level aesthetics feel a tad bland in my opinion, the rest of them more than make up for them, my favourite levels being Stone Hill, Dark Hollow, Tree Tops and Twilight Harbour. The difficulty slowly raises itself which I think is a very important thing to do, don't stay too easy and don't make the game randomly super hard near the last few levels. The controls feel fluent, responsive and tight, giving Spyro alot of choices to navigate these amazing looking levels. You can jump, glide, charge, breath fire and roll, the roll being exclusive to this game only, it's not very useful, but it is funny to look at. Joining you on your journey is Sparx the Dragonfly, who controls your health, giving you a whopping four hits before loosing a life and picking up gems within close range of you, this little guy is a god-sent and I'm very thankful for him. The only real complaints I have the game are that some of the levels, only a very small amount though, don't stand out too much, and the boss battles are pretty basic, but apart from that, this game is an amazing time to be had. I give it an 8/10, OUTSTANDING. I recommend this game to gamers that just enjoy platformers in general, especially if you enjoyed the likes of Donkey Kong 64 or Banjo-Kazooie. Coming up next is Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker! See you then. c:

Quote: JCW555

Excellent review TorchSheep. Would you consider reviewing Spyro 2 and 3?

Thank you! Yes, I'll certainly get around to those as they are some of the games I'm most eager to review.

I don't mean to be rude, but you should split that review into paragraphs. I had a ard time reading it because I kept getting confused about what I had and hadn't read in the large text block.


I anticipated Shovel Knight for months after the US had it, because I live in Australia. As you can imagine, I had very high expectations following all the praise it got.
Was I disappointed with it? Absolutely not. In fact, it and Super Smash Brothers are the only 2014 games I felt totally hyped for and satisfied with (not to say that there weren't other great games).

Shovel Knight never treats you like you're dumb. It has many secrets and goals. The design is clever and fun and the world brims with detail. The controls are incredibly tight, and in spite of retro aspects it intentionally keeps such as segregated areas, Shovel Knight feels really fluid. Its soundtrack is very memorable. This is a game I know I'll replay many times, just because it's so damn great.

10/10: Masterful. There isn't any big niggle I have with Shovel Knight. Even the story is very simple but done well.

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Larger version

Finally, a topic that i can relate to! I love reviewing video games.

I guess for my first review on dS(I already have other game reviews up on my Metacritic account, but i've never posted a review on here for anything), I'll do Alien Isolation, because why not?



I had been looking forward to Alien Isolation even before i saw the first two films in the Alien series. the game looked absolutely terrifying from what i saw in press videos and demos, so i was highly anticipating it. though, at the same time, i was a bit skeptical, since most Alien games beforehand didn't get good reception at all, especially Colonial Marines almost two years ago. I can safely say, however, that Alien Isolation is one of the best horror games I've ever played. From the moment I started the game, i knew i was in for a great experience, from the beginning to see how barren and atmospheric the Sevastapol station was, to my first encounter with the Alien.

The gameplay is top-notch here. The atmosphere is nailed perfectly and captures the mood of the original Alien film effortlessly, not to mention its art design is absolutely perfect as well, and looks exactly like the style of the original films. The thought of having limited supplies was dreadful to me, as i had to constantly stockpile items in fear that i'd lose them. I was always afraid i'd have to use them on other humans to get rid of them, waste even more to fight working joes, but worst of all, ward off the Xenomorph that can't be killed.

The Alien creature in this game is easily the best part of the game. Its A.I. is incredibly smart, constantly on the lookout, and you never know when it'll strike next. I can't count how many times i hid in the same spot for nearly 20 minutes just so i didn't have to look at the alien. Each level became a tense experience for me because i never knew when anything was going to find me or going to strike at me. Combine this with excellent lighting effects, slick graphics, and its already established atmosphere, and you're in for one of the most dreadful games you'll ever play.

The story, while entertaining, isn't much to write home about. The writing can be pretty good at times, but there's times where i felt the story dragged a bit. And some scenes felt like they were only put in there for fanservice, which is nice for Alien fans like me, but can still pad out game time. And the ending isn't all that great either. Even without knowing what really happens to Amanda Ripley in the extended version of Aliens, the game ends very abruptly, and i couldn't believe it had just ended right there.

However, the ending isn't the worst aspect of Alien: Isolation- the worst part is the save system. this game doesn't auto save, and there are not that many save stations available at your disposal. On one hand, this adds to the tension, as you really don't want to start a whole section over, but at the same time, this adds frustration to the game, and can really take away from the experience.

This issue aside, i can't deny that Alien Isolation is an excellent game. It has a great atmosphere, amazing A.I., great lighting and graphics, a good story, and excellent horror gameplay.

Overall rating~9/10. An excellent game. Has a few very minor issues, but is a must-have nonetheless.

I'll review The Walking Dead: Season Two and Valkyria Chronicles next. I'm still working on Valkyria Chronicles so i can't promise when i'll review it.

Thank you Arc for your constructive criticism and somePerson for the logo. Great reviews so far guys!



Though originally all for the idea of Nintendo to make a spin-off of the Captain Toad levels from Super Mario 3D World, I thought they'd make it a small 3DS e-shop game or something. When I first heard word of them actually making a fully-fledged Captain Toad title, I was sceptical, but when the game finally game out with it's cutesy graphics, tons of charm and the likes of The Completionist and ProJared's reviews of the game, I had made up my mind that I wanted this game, bad. Did the game live up to all of my hype? We'll get to that, but first let's go over the story.

The story of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is nice and simple; Cap'n Toad and Toadette are out collecting power stars just for the sake of having them as treasure, a giant bird named Wingo takes one of the stars they just collected and kidnaps Toadette. Now it's up to the good Captain himself to rescue Toadette and collect as much treasure as he can along the way. As I said earlier, the story is very bare-bones and minimal, but for a game like this, it really doesn't need to be very complex at all. The game is meant to be taken and played light-heartedly, like most Mario games, as this game does that very well. It's short, sweet and everybody can understand it, which I think works just fine. I also like the fact that Captain Toad seems to have an antagonist of his own this time around, instead of just having Bowser as the stock main bad guy again. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing wrong Bowser being the main bad guy in the main series Mario games, I just find it a nice change of pace to see a new villain swoop onto the scene.

The presentation of Captain Toad is amazing, the same as any new Wii U game out there, the game obviously runs at a smooth 60 FPS and the graphics and artstyle just look so charming and cute. Much like 3D World, it has this small feeling of being in a cartoon as everything just pops, every little detail right down to the bricks of a fortress. They probably use the same engine and graphics, but I feel like this game looks even better than Super Mario 3D World, I don't know if it actually does, but it just feels like it to me. Besides a few tracks right out of 3D World (boy am I bringing up that game alot in this review), this game's soundtrack is all original, which it really nice, their weren't as many stick-out songs as previous Mario games, but I did notice a few nice tunes here and there, my favourite of the bunch being the final bosses theme.

Now if you played the minigames where you get to play as Captain Toad in 3D World (See look, there it is again!), you might be a bit sceptical on whether this game is a simple copy and paste of those types of levels, but let me put those fears to rest, all of this games puzzles are much more impressive than the ones of old. The core mechanics still stay the same, yes, but there's just so much added, it makes it seem like a new experience entirely, to me at least anyway. Some of these things include new power-ups, new level gimmicks, much bigger areas to solve puzzles, as well as bonus collectables and tasks. CT still plays the same as he did in 3D Wo-... that other game, no jumping here folks, but still, it more than works and people that complain at that fact must understand how easy the game would be with that ability. Plus, Captain's back pack is like, way to heavy to let him jump! >:U However, 100%ing this game led to a few frustrations, nearly all to do with completing the time trials, definitely the hardest part of the game. But collecting every gem and completing every secondary objective is very rewarding and fun. If you complete the game 100% you unlock and extra hard level, and if you complete that, you get a golden crown to wear throughout the rest of your experience, which makes you feel rather... royal.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker was a massive step-up from the small levels of Super Mario 3D World in almost every way, it's a surprisingly good experience that I give a 7/10 GREAT! I recommend this game to puzzle platformer fans that enjoy cute charming-ness like the charm in games like Yoshi's Island of the Kirby games. Up next is Crash Bandicoot! See you then!

Ah, Crash Bandicoot, the very mention of his name can send alot of people into a nostalgia overload. Unfortunately the poor guy is no longer with us, but his legacy still lives on his many fans memories. Alongside Spyro, Crash was considered the unofficial mascot of Sony during the PS1 era, his games really were that well known. Which of course begs the question, were his games really that good? Well to find out let's start at the very beginning all the way back in 1996, with Crash Bandicoot for the PS1.

The game's story is nice and simple and a pretty good origin story to the orange marsupial and his relationship to Dr. Neo Cortex, the main antagonist of the series. It tells of how Dr. Cortex was actually the creator or Crash, whom intended him to be one of his evil henchmen, but the plan backfired and turned Crash into the loveable numbskull he is today. I particularly like the story of this game as it provides a nice alternative on the somewhat generic types of platformer stories.

The presentation is great, this game holds up very well in graphics for PS1 standards, not quite Spyro 3 levels of colour and detail, but it's definitely up there. The music in each level perfectly fits the atmosphere very well, with tense, gloomy music outside the rainy castle walls, to fast paced and frantic music for the hog riding sections.

Gameplay is decent, but the game can get ridiculously hard at points, especially for completionists, thank goodness it's pretty short. The controls are okay, with my only real complaints being they can be a little slippery at some points and the game uses the D-Pad only which is very frustrating in a 3D platformer. Is this game worth completing aswell though? Well, in order to 100% the game you must finish every level without dying from beginning to end, and break every single crate which are all over the place, some of them being very hard to get to or find in the first place.The hardest part of this game I think was trying to complete the stage without dying, I had to try over 50 times on the level 'Fumbling in the Dark', it's that difficult. Completing each of these objectives will get you a gem, these gems can be used to open up more pathways in previous levels, or just add to your completion bonus. Speaking of which, if you manage to obtain all 26 gems, you unlock a path on the second last level, made of all the gems you've collected, make you way over to Tawna and unlock the secret ending, without having to even fight the final boss. Was it all worth it? Well for the secret ending, certainly not, it's extremely underwhelming. You do however get some funny end screens showing what the bosses did after the events of the game. But the feeling of accomplishment this game gives with every gem collected is amazing, play the game for yourself and you'll see what I mean.

Crash Bandicoot for the PS1 is a very decent game which struggles a bit in terms of control and it's strange saving system, but more than makes up for with it's beautiful presentation and challenge. This game gets my rating of 7/10, GREAT! I recommend this game to Crash fans that simply just haven't played this one yet, other than them though, I'd say if you want a better Crash experience, there are much better games in the series, but we'll get to them eventually. Again, the next game I review is up to you guys, so suggest away.

Great reviews, TorchSheep! If i can recommend a game, I'd look into The Walking Dead by Telltale Games or Bioshock.

Speaking of The Walking Dead...



It was really hard for me to sit and wait for every single episode of The Walking Dead: Season Two to come out throughout 2014. Each episode left me hanging on a cliffhanger so bad that i couldn't believe every single time that the episode was over already. Now that the full game is out, I'm ready to give my full thoughts on the game. Does it hold up to Telltale's first masterpiece of a video game?

To put it shortly, yes. The Walking Dead: Season Two's story is as excellent as the first. Watching Clementine grow in this coming-of-age story is exhilarating, and It's amazing that you can still easily connect to characters just like the first game. The only small issue i had with this game's story was that character connections didn't feel as powerful as the first game. There wasn't as much room for connecting to characters as the first game. a couple characters didn't even have to be in the episodes at all because they're essentially stock characters. And unlike the first game, there's multiple endings. While your previous choices didn't account for much of these last decisions, it's nice that Telltale is at least taking initiative to make EVERYONE's ending different, and hopefully make for unique playthroughs when Season Three comes out eventually.

The gameplay is just like the first game. The game functions like most point-and-click action adventure games. But even with something as low as a few meaningless characters, Telltale still manages to make choices in this game difficult. I found myself many times regretting a decision i made because it had its own consequences. Every single choice does. Heck, i actually rewound an episode just to get another outcome because i thought my first one wasn't all that great, and even then it backfired horribly at the very beginning of the next episode. And that's the charm of these games. You are never satisfied with your decisions, but you have to make them. You don't want people to takes sides, but you have to take one of them.

The graphics are pretty good again, nailing the comic art style yet again. The music is great as well: subtle when it has to be and intense when it has to be. And the performances for this game are top notch. Every voice actor/actress conveys the proper voice work and emotions the characters go through, and they all fit their characters and their personalities perfectly.

There is little to dislike about The Walking Dead: Season Two. Telltale has managed once again to create a masterpiece of gaming. The gameplay may be simple, but the interactions you have with characters, the excellently written story, and amazing character development make this game another legendary interactive story. If point-and-click games aren't your kind of thing, or you didn't like the first Walking Dead game, this one will not change your mind. but for everyone else- those who like point-and-click games, or those looking for great story in a video game- should definitely look into this game and the first season. and i think fans of Season One already know just how great this game is.

Overall rating~10/10. A masterpiece of gaming. There is little to nothing to dislike and should be in every gamer's library.

I'm still working on Valkyria Chronicles, but I'll also have a review of Sonic Lost World soon. I've been meaning to write a full review on that game for a while now.

Great job so far! I was hoping a topic like this would pop up eventually! So I guess here's my first entry...



Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Unity: Dead Kings PC Review

Being the hardcore AC fan I am, I was definitely excited for Unity. I preordered it, and I was counting down the days until this masterpiece was supposed to come out. Finally the day came. I went to the underwhelming release party at GameStop and picked up the only PC copy they had. (The only consoles I own are NES, GameCube, and Wii U.) After ACIV, I expected a long time to load so I popped it in the disc tray and went to sleep.

By the time it was installed, I was psyched. Next gen AC has pretty much always been an exiting topic for me and I was extremely happy to finally get my hands on it. Aaaaaaaaand then the disappointment set in. The very first mission I played was a chase mission, and the rushed dev time on this game caused me to lag so badly I failed it every time. I had to log in on my girlfriend's computer just to finish the mission. In addition, citizens would often just poof away, and I constantly fell into the floor. This game was so buggy, I seriously put it down for months. It was completely unplayable.

Fast forward to 1/12/14. The free Dead Kings DLC comes out and most of the glitches were gone from the game, allowing me to complete it. The storyline for the entire game was dull and Arno wasn't really likeable. Dead Kings wasn't that fun either, seeing as the storyline wasn't that engaging and there were some frustratingly hard parts. (DAMN YOU, LANTERNS!!)

Functionality wise, it seems to work okay now, however combat and stealth are still a bit harder to grasp than in previous installments. I miss being the one man army and not just a wimpy baguette of a man that only has one hidden blade you can't even fight with.

OVERALL: 3.5
Pros: Customizable assassin, great graphics, complex Paris
Cons: No female assassin, horribly glitchy, not fun
ASSASSIN'S CREED: UNITY ALONG WITH THE FREE DEAD KINGS DLC IS AVAILABLE ON STEAM FOR $59.99 USD

Since other people are writing up other reviews I'll do the same. Expect reviews for Skullgirls, Titanfall, and Dragon Age: Inquisition sometime soon.

In celebration of S.T.E.A.M. and Robin's amiibo coming out soon, I'm about to start a replay of Fire Emblem: Awakening. I'll probably review it when I'm done. It's the only strategy game I've ever played (at least, the only one that I actually remember), so it'll be pretty refreshing for me.

Destiny ps3 review


Far as I know this game has been one my most favorite games of the shooting game classes I played.
It's fun addicting when your into a mission. I like solving the mysterys behind things by exploring the maps getting exotics and legendarys.

The levels mission might be repeatable but I still enjoy I enjoy games that you can continue still on the game once you finished. Not like those that you pass the game and it's over I don't like that much.
The game does need little more animations like high five or a friend blackhead slap. I do like the current 4 animations over all this game incredible.

I herd that dragons roam Venus that there more expansions after house of wolfs.
One being comet which a new expansion giving the guardians the last power up in the slot. Example

Warlock arc damage power
Titan solar damage power
Hunter void damage power

Even there another 2 expansion one being the vex with new raid and mission and last the cabals expansion unknow at moment.

Rate 10/10 remember this is my opinion on the game ^u^

I had no idea what to think of Sonic Lost World when it was first announced. Sonic was starting to pick up steam after the disastrous Sonic 06 with games like unleashed, colors, and generations. and considering the praise sonic's gameplay was in those games, i don't think ANYONE was expecting Sega to change things up already. After i finally got my hands on it, what's the verdict? ...It's acceptable.

The story here is somehow even more nonexistent and boring than Sonic Generations. Nothing about the new setting or characters is explained, and the Deadly Six are easily the worst villains the Sonic franchise has had to offer. Each of them is seriously stereotypical with predictable personalities and cliche dialogue.

The gameplay is alright. The idea of isometric levels is actually pretty interesting and shows off some interesting level design, even if it can be a strain on the eyes sometimes. The new parkour system is a neat addition, but it's used so little in the game(aside from red ring collecting) that you wonder why it's in the game in the first place. Thankfully, the control feels very fluent and responsive, and the addition of a run button now feels very natural. kind of reminds me of Assassin's Creed in some ways.

The game looks gorgeous. The graphics are vibrant and colorful, and each location pops out great(even if each world is generic), and the music, like most sonic games, is fantastic.

Not to say Lost World still has some problems, because it's full of them. Lost World has the most gimmicks i've ever seen in a game so far, and these gimmicks are so briefly used and so unneeded you wonder why they were in the game at all. A lot of these levels are essentially experimentation by Sega, and the game gets a lot of points deducted for it.

This also may just have been me, but i found the difficulty of the levels to be all over the place. sometimes i got past levels no problem, other times i had to try numerous times and put my gamepad down so that i wouldn't break it in frustration. The red ring collectibles in this game are also so hard to get that it's not even worth collecting every single one, not even for super sonic.

Overall, Sonic Lost World is an okay game. It's gameplay and level design is great, and the game looks and sounds awesome, but the gimmicks and difficulty can be a chore, and the new characters and world are really forgettable. If you're looking for a good platformer, or looking into the Sonic series, avoid this game. There are so many better platformers and Sonic games out there. If you're a Sonic fan, i say play this entry with caution.

Overall Rating~ 6/10. An above-average game, but still has glaring issues that may hinder your enjoyment.

My next reviews will be on Five Nights at Freddy's 1 and 2, as well as Pokemon X and Y, but after that i'm waiting until i finish Valkyria Chronicles to write another review.

When it comes to life-sim games, I've never really been that sucked into them, sure, I've played a little of The Sims and Animal Crossing, but neither of those games really did it for me, also my memory of playing The Sims is very faint, but for whatever reason, Tomodachi Life appealed to me almost instantly. The games seemed to have some quirky and funny charm, it seemed quaint, in a way. Plus, I'm still playing Spyro 2, having technical troubles with The Walking Dead and Ty... uuuuhhh. So here's my personal thoughts on Tomodachi Life!

The story of the game is quite similar to the likes of Animal Crossing, in which you and your Mii move into an apartment on an island which you can name, and you just kind of play God and help out your Mii and all the other Mii's you create, they can be personal friends, relatives, fictional characters, or a mix of all three. That's about it really, but just like Cap'n Toad, for a game like this, the story really doesn't need to be very deep, it's fine the way it is for a life-sim game, and I appreciate that.

The presentation is good, nothing spectacular like Uprising, X and Y or Awakening, but still, good. Like the story, it really doesn't need to do anything grand or fancy when it comes to graphics or music, it's just the way you'd expect a 3DS game made my Nintendo to look, nothing ground-breaking, just good. There are a few catchy tunes here and there but you'll manly be listening to a short whistling song on loop for most of your experience playing it, thank goodness the song doesn't get annoying.

Gameplay! So what exactly is that you do in Tomodachi Life? Well unlike Animal Crossing, you don't actual control anyone or anything, more so you encourage your Mii's to make decisions when they ask for opinions or help, and they just take your advice. If you were planning on playing the game just so your Mii could go out with your crush, well you can't really force them to get together, your Mii has to become friends with the crush and develop feelings for them naturally. You can influence what happens but not control it, and I think that's very important to note if you thinking of potentially buying this game. Aside from taking care of your Miis, you can buy them stuff like food and clothing, you can make them perform in musical numbers and test one Mii's love or friendship compatibility with another's. There's plenty of fun little minigames to keep you occupied if you don't feel like taking care of your Mii's all day, so do not fret. The more you pamper your Mii, the higher they're happiness level will go, every time they level up you can give them a room, gift, catchphrase, song to sing or piece of clothing. Currently my highest levelled Mii is Aia (CrystalHero37) at level 61, we're also married and have three kids... the game can predict the future! *Boo'd off stage* Also, if you like your Mii's getting into fights, then you'll love this game, as it seems to occur pretty much like twice every day. Fun. The game can get a little boring sometimes once you've played it for a while as you'll start to encounter the same events alot over and over, the solution to this problem is don't play it as religiously as I do, check up on it once every day or so, or just have a bunch of Mii's to make things happen quicker.

Tomodachi Life is a fun and quirky game that does have a few drawbacks like too many repeated events and some fairly tedious games the Mii's like to play with you sometimes. I give the game a 6/10 GOOD! I recommend this game to those who think this is there cup of tea, because it most likely is, if you think it seems stupid, then you probably won't like it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to pawn fifty rolls of toilet paper, see you later!

These are some nice reviews.

Skullgirls: Encore PC Review

I hate PC fighting games. Let's get that out of the way. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are pretty terrible on PC, even with the controls being changed. The only fighting game I've really liked was Injustice: Gods Among Us, and even then it was hard for me. Skullgirls changed all that for me. This game was one of the best fighting games I have ever played.

Let's start off with the visuals. I'm not really one for sexualization in games, but there are plenty of options to pick from, with characters dressed rather modestly or ranging to a bit risque. All of the frames for each character are hand drawn, and executed perfectly. Its quite surprising how well made it is.

Each character has their own unique skillset and campaign, all of which are pretty entertaining. All of the powers they have makes each battle fun and unique, and the voice acting adds some nice comedy. Even once you finish the main story, It's fun to play all the characters and discover more about them.

The only real downside I had with the game was the difficulty of the boss fight. Even on "Sleepwalk" mode it's a little tough. Other than that, this game was great. The visuals were gorgeous, and the characters are all fun in their own ways.

OVERALL: 9.2
Pros: Great visuals, fun characters, endlessly entertaining
Cons: Tough boss battle
SKULLGIRLS IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON STEAM FOR $14.99 USD

Up Next: Titanfall, Dragon Age: Inquisition, I am Bread

I'm going to be reviewing Dream Team when I'm done with it.

When it Hyrule Warriors was first announced I got a stale impression thinking that it would just be another Dynasty Warriors game. But Nintendo seemed to have high hopes in this project by releasing several DLC, a Club Nintendo promotion, and a limited edition copy that was released in a horribly stupid way. But was Nintendo right by putting in too much effort promoting this game or was it more than just another Dynasty Warriors game?

The story of the game is quite simple as you follow the forces of Hyrule trying to take down the main antagonist Cia. Cia used the three Triforce of Power to open the the Gate of Souls to three different worlds
(being representations of past Zelda games) freeing pieces of an evil spirit to power her.

The presentation of this game is astonishing from the beautiful bright colors of Skyloft to the dark gloomy Land of Twilight. The music to the game is high quality symphonic completions of the best Zelda soundtracks to date guiding you into battle.

Gameplay is where the game falls flat, as you finish the main story you still have lots to do by completing a challenge map to unlock characters and items or collecting every Gold Skulltula to complete pictures for rewards. But sadly the actual game itself gets really boring and repetitive as all you do in the game is press the same buttons over and over again to get your special moves ready and use them and repeat. Once you beaten the first level you practically have beaten most of the game as most levels are the same except you have different bosses at the end. You can't also really destroy everything in your sights as you are forced to run away from enemies go for keeps getting you practically worthless forces or help teammates that are close to dying.

Hyrule Warriors is a decent game bringing new elements to the series, bringing back familiar faces to play with, and having many features. But unfortunately the game suffers from its gameplay being boring and repetitive. The game mainly attracts casual to hardcore Zelda fans and to people who haven't ever played a Zelda game. The game may be boring but it can be rather challenging and has beautiful graphics and symphonic soundtrack the game offers can be enjoyed with the repetitive gameplay that it has. Overall I give this game 6.5/10 as it is enjoyable but boring at the same time.

Quote: JCW555

Would you consider reviewing Spyro 2?

Spyro the Dragon was an amazing game with top-notch gameplay, charm around every corner, an awesome soundtrack and it's only real drawback being a few of too many of the same level aesthetics. Of course Insomniac simply had to make a sequel to this outstanding game, not only so they could they expand on the Spyro universe, but so they improve aswell, and oh boy did they do these two things in bucket-loads. Let's cut to the chase and talk about arguably the best game in the franchise, Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer/Ripto's Rage/whatever the Japanese name is, Spyro x Sparx Glimmer Tour or something, I dunno.

The story this time around is Spyro and Sparx are getting sick of all the bad weather in the Dragon Realms, so they decide to take a vacation to the beautiful sunny resort called Dragon Shores. On their way, they 'accidently' get pulled into a completely different realm known as Avalar, there they meet The Professor, Hunter the Cheetah, and Elora the Goat, right? They plead to Spyro to help them save there land from the destructive forces of Ripto and his baddies, a short orange dude who hates dragons with a passion. It's now your job to help save all the worlds in Avalar from Ripto. I think this story is again, perfect for a game like this, not to complex, not to simple, as expected for a sequel, introduces alot of new characters and it's all good with me. I also think this game is the first to start really defining the Spyro franchise, it just adds even more charm and character, a more distinctive and recognisable style and just more personality over all. It really helps immerse you more in a series when this kind of stuff is brought to the table.

The presentation, once again, this is one of the best looking games I've played on the PS1, this game also seems much more colourful than the last Spyro game, which I think suits the franchise well. I did enjoy the medieval dark tone of the first game, but I just prefer the more colourful and fairy-tale inspired look. From nice sunny beaches to tiki lodges with a nice sunset, this game looks amazing for it's time. The soundtrack is also pretty dang gnarly too, once again made by Stewart Copeland, the drummer for 'The Police'. Each track, with a few very minor exceptions, feels distinct and stands out alot. My favourite track in the game is Sunny Beach, that first bit is just aaaahhh.

Gameplay-wise, this game does everything a good sequel should do, keep the core mechanics more or less the same, adding alot more new stuff on top of it, and including some new kind of gimmick that spices things up a bit in your game stew. So yes, the core mechanics do stay the same and hey, no need to fix what's not broken, *cough*SEGA*cough* The controls are all still the same with a few notable differences, you can unlock three new moves, being the ability to swim, climb ladders and headbash. Speaking of swimming, this is like, one of the only games I've played that actually has really fun mechanics to it, it controls really well! You also can't roll in this game, which nobody seems to really care about, apart from my sister, meh, I didn't find it two useful and forgot you could do it in the first game anyway, so I don't really miss it. You also start of with the ability to hover which is a very useful move, at the end of a glide you can press the triangle button to jump up a little bit higher for a very short time, this can help you get further and higher with alot of your glides and has saved some many people from bottom-less pits, including myself on multiple occasions. The game still has plenty to collect, like talismans for finishing levels, gems which are once again scattered all over the place, and orbs which you get for completing minigames. Yes that's right, minigames, in each level there will be various tasks that you can play to win orbs which you need to complete the game. These can range from anything to an ice hockey match, to exterminating robotic bee's to escorting an alchemist around giant rock creatures. -And this is where my only problem with Spyro 2 lies, some of these minigames are very tedious, boring and simply not worth the pay off. True, alot of them are fun, but there are just so many that aren't worth the hassle, like the previously mentioned alchemist escort mission. This would be a small nitpick but there's just too many that I just find, okay at best. Apart from the minigames, your main goal is still simple, collect as many shiny things as you can, and that's the way I like my Spyro games.

Overall, Spyro 2 is an absolutely ground-breaking game, that has amazing gameplay, gorgeous presentation and is the first in the series to truly start giving the games a distinctive personality. I would easily give this game a ten, but that would be implying it's absolutely perfect, which it isn't because of the previously mentioned hit-or-miss minigames, with that in mind, I give this game a 9/10 DIVINE! I recommend this game to fans of platformers in general, it really is that great. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some trolley troubles to I'll be on my way.

Titanfall PC Review

Because I feel like writing endless walls of text tonight, why the hell not. I purchased Titanfall over the holidays for $20 bucks at Walmart. It was a great deal. But that's not the point.

Titanfall is much more than your average FPS. It has endlessly fun controls, combat, and abilities, not to mention way more heart than most other shooters. Let's start off with the most fun part. Titans. These mechanical giants are definitely the most fun part of this game. Just getting in a Titan and destroying your opponents is a very different feeling, but one that's welcomed all the same. Multiple Titans on both teams makes the battles more fun and intense, really making you work to get those extra experience points so you can get the next weapon.The movement in this game is extremely crucial, yet entertaining. The parkour system is fantastic, easy to use, and fun. I can't think of a situation where I didn't have fun using the game's parkour.

The only real negative part about Titanfall is the storyline (or lack thereof). It put down some interesting groundwork, but not enough to carry a story mode. This story was also entirely set in multiplayer, though I would have enjoyed a single player experience.

OVERALL: 9.5
PROS: Fun gameplay, intense matches, mother****ing Titans
CONS: Lack of story mode


UP NEXT: Dragon Age Inquisition, I am Bread, Borderlands: The PreSequel

The Walking Dead, the TV series has become extremely popular since its release and the same goes for the comic books, I've personally never checked out either of these two things so my knowledge of the franchise is to a minimum, they've both always appealed to be but it's just one of those shows I've never gotten around to watching, like Dragon Ball for the longest time. Of course like most popular TV shows, a game was well due to be made, and unlike most TV licensed games, it actually has a very interesting gimmick to it. The main idea of the TV show, from what I've gathered, is just a realistic depiction of what a zombie apocalypse would really be like, which sounds cool, but the idea of the game always appealed to me more, that being because of the interesting gimmick, but we'll get to that later, so let's delve into critically acclaimed 'The Walking Dead'.

The story of The Walking Dead is one of it's strongest points and one that it seems to rely on alot, is that a bad thing? Of course not, well at least when a story is this good. We start out as the convicted murderer, Lee Everett, on his jolly way to prison, but when fate takes a turn for the worse, he finds himself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse where he meets Clementine, an eight year old girl who he wants to protect by any means necessary. I'll leave it at for now, as the story is just so good with so many twists and turns I'd feel terrible for spoiling it for anyone that is thinking of buying this game. The story also never gets too over-the-top or confusing which is great thing indeed, they keep it at a steady pace with plenty of scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The presentation is one of The Walking Dead's other strongest points, it seems to take heavy inspiration from it's comic book incarnation, as in all the characters have thick outlines and a fairly cartoon-y, but again not-over-top, look. Sure it may not have the best graphics of that generation, as it could pass for a good looking PS2 game in my opinion, but the artstyle is just so charming it never really bothered me at all, give or take a few small occasions. The music in this game is a similar case to Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time, as in all of the tracks are good and set the tone very well, they're just not all that memorable is all, but again, that's really not a big problem at all. All the voice acting, which is something I haven't talked about in any of my reviews thus far, is also fantastic, each voice fits it's character and situation perfectly, they really did a great job with this.

The gameplay of The Walking Dead is another one of it's strongest points, see where I'm going with this? This is where that previously mentioned 'gimmick' comes into play, what do you do in 'The Walking Dead', you make choices, and big ones at that. This is one of the most immersing features I've seen in a game before as it really makes you connect with your character, Lee, just that little bit more. This choices can range from just things to say, which can actually drastically affect your story and character relationships, from choosing to save only one of two people. Also, boy do some of these choices get to you sometimes, I drastically regret two choices in particular I made, both concerning two people's deaths, but I won't explain the situations exactly, because you know, spoilers and what not. Of course the choices thing is the main focus of the game, but not the only thing you can do. The game also gives you alot of chances to walk around and think your way out of situations, none of which are very hard, except for one, gosh I could not figure out what to do at the train part... but still, they're good none-the-less, and force you to think and react quickly like you would have to in a real zombie apocalypse. Also there are quick-time events that are actually good and don't feel out of place, praise be to Telltale!

So, you may have noticed that I've given massive praise to the story, presentation and gameplay right? Well keep that in mind because that's gonna be a big factor for my final rating. The Walking Dead is an amazing experience of a game that truly makes you connect with it's beautiful story and well-developed characters, and makes you truly feel like you're a man struggling in the middle of a walker apocalypse. I give this game a rating of 10/10 PERFECT! I recommend this game to gamers in general that aren't too squeamish of gore and frightening scenes. In The Walking Dead, I've found one of my new favourite games of all time, possibly my favourite game of 2012. Thanks to pankakesparx for the recommendation, please feel free to leave suggestions for games for me to review too, as I only take suggestions as of now. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to... Clementine don't touch that! >:0

Generation V of Pokemon wasn't all that great for me. I thought Black and White were the weakest entries in the series, and i disliked them so much that i skipped every other Gen V game, including Black 2 and White 2. When X and Y were announced, I was convinced that these games were going to be great. The new gameplay features, the new 3D region, new Pokemon, everything looked awesome. When i finally got my hands on it, i enjoyed it a lot, but not as much as i thought i would. Both in a positive and negative sense.

The story is pretty simplistic, unlike the past two generations. The story is your typical bare-bones Pokemon game: go on a journey, get gym badges, stop the evil team, win against the champion. While i welcome the simple story, i couldn't help but feel that it was TOO simple. the plot doesn't really advance much outside your typical Pokemon story, and the new characters in the game, save for your rival, are downright forgettable. I will say it's passable.

There's so much to talk about with the gameplay. You have your standard Pokemon gameplay- catch monsters, train them up, evolve them, and fight to become the best trainer possible. Pokemon, like the last games, have numerous types, abilities, moves, stats, natures, etc. But X and Y bring the most new mechanics to the series to date. First, there's the new Fairy type. I love this new type so much. It adds a whole new layer of strategy and gameplay to the series, and balances the typing chart even further. though, I can't help but feel that the Fairy type was a bit too overpowered, as i found myself constantly looking towards my Sylveon or Togekiss to win a battle over my other Pokemon. Mega Evolution is another great addition, though it shares the same issues as the Fairy type. It adds a lot of new strategies to gameplay, but it can be overpowered when used on certain Pokemon. Trainer customization is a feature that has been needed for a long time now in Pokemon, and i'm glad it's here. Every player i'm pitted against now has their own identity and it doesn't feel like i'm battling the same trainers every single time.

Smaller additions include the player search system, which makes it easier than ever to battle with friends or people online; Pokemon Amie, Which allows you to play with your Pokemon to raise affection(which in turn can boost some stats), and Super Training, which is honestly my least favorite part of the game. I like that these games make EV training much easier to accomplish, but this mini game was not the direction to go. The game controls horribly, and even getting past the bad controls doesn't help the fact that these mini games rely on cheap difficulty. and i know this is a nitpick, but it's even worse for me since i'm left-handed and the game only has right-handed controls.

The game itself looks great. The Pokemon world is fully realized in 3D, and makes the transition to it seamlessly. The music, however, isn't all that great. it does have some decent tracks that i like, such as the legendary theme and elite four theme, but most of it is either forgettable or not good at all. it does fit the setting of Kalos, which i think is fairly well-desiged, but that doesn't make it worth buying the soundtrack like previous games.

For an RPG, the game is pretty short. Most of my hours were spent playing online and with friends. I breezed through the whole game in a short time, and it ended pretty dissappointing with a final that's somehow easier than Black and White. Aside from training Pokemon, there is little post-game content, so there isn't much left for you after you beat the main story.

Overall, Pokemon X and Y is a solid game. While the story is way too simplistic, the music isn't the best, and the game itself is short and void of replayability, the gameplay is still kept fresh thanks to the numerous new additions, and even though a few of them don't work very well, the new gameplay features that do work, such as the new Fairy type and Mega Evolutions, make X and Y a worthwhile entry in the series. Fans of Pokemon and those looking for a decent RPG should check this game out.

Overall rating~7/10. A great game. it has its flaws, but is still worth its price tag for everything that it does get right.

the Valkyria Chronicles review is going to take a LOT longer than I thought, because of how much longer the game is for me, so don't expect a review on it for a long while. I'll still review FNAF 1 and 2, but i'm not sure what i'll review after that, even with numerous games at my disposal. If anyone has a recommendation I'll take it into consideration, but i can't promise I'll be able to review any or every game someone recommends to me.

Pankakesparx, you should look into No More Heroes. Great review by the way.

Thanks, TorchSheep. Glad you enjoyed The Walking Dead, by the way(forgot to say earlier. ). If you loved that game, then Season Two is definitely worth checking out.

I'm looking into No More Heroes right now, but i have no clue when i'll get around to actually buying it. Also, i'm thinking about waiting to review FnAF 1 and 2 until 3 comes out so i can review the whole trilogy.

So in the meantime, I think i'll do a review on these games since i'm on the subject of Pokemon;



After being surprised with how good X and Y were, i was eager to see where Pokemon would go next. and honestly, Gen III remakes caught me off guard. But I was still highly anticipating them nonetheless, even more than X and Y. I was really excited to see remakes of Ruby and Sapphire, especially since Gen III was where I started in the Pokemon series. When the games finally came out, I had the best experience I've ever had with a Pokemon game since Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.

The story takes the basic premise of the original Ruby and Sapphire and expands on it greatly. The story has a lot more focus on characters and their development, and each character feels much more unique because of it. Characters that were barely existent in the original games, such as Wally, are given much better roles in these games, there is a much bigger attachment between you and characters such as your rival or champion Steven, and characters are given even more distinct personalities, such as Maxie and Archie. This, on top of the better storytelling and presentation, gives ORAS a story that can be dark at times, but is also lighthearted and fun. Nintendo has fully realized that Pokemon games don't have to be as complicated as Black and White, but also shouldn't be as simple as X and Y.

Many gameplay elements from X and Y return, and the game builds upon what made X and Y great games. The X and Y mechanics transition very well into ORAS, such as the Fairy type and Mega Evolution, but unfortunately the ones that don't transition well also make it into here, such as super training. The best factor about ORAS, by far, is the amount of content it has. The main game isn't too short or too long, and there's tons of content after the main game is over, including a special side story, tons of legendaries to catch, and some of the new things introduced and reintroduced in ORAS.

Character customization unfortunately doesn't make a return, but I forgot all about it, mostly because of Secret Bases returning. The Secret Base mechanic makes an awesome return to the series, and thanks to the online capabilities with bases, it becomes so much fun exploring other people's bases and battling them. Contests make their return, and a very welcome one at that. I haven't spent much time on them myself, but the improvements made on contests in this game make it worthwhile to train entire Pokemon just based around contests.

The music in this game is fantastic. It's much more intense and upbeat than the past games in the series, and does the original soundtrack justice. the new tracks in this game, however, are typically hit or miss, and tracks used for some legendary Pokemon are just reused instead of getting a full remix. It's not too bad, but i really wish they had the time to remix these tunes as well. The game looks great on 3DS, and looks even better thanks to some of the aesthetics, shots, and cinematics in the game.

Overall, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire gets three things right: It improves on what made X and Y solid games, It follows the standards that Heartgold and Soulsilver set for Pokemon remakes in terms of updating their original games and content, and improves an insane amount on what made Ruby and Sapphire excellent games. Up until now, the Gen IV games were my favorite, but now, thanks to ORAS, Gen VI is my favorite, with these games becoming my absolute favorites in the Pokemon franchise. Don't let bother you that this game has "Too Much Water"; Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are amazing games and should not be overlooked by any Pokemon fan or RPG fan.

Overall rating~ 9/10. An excellent game. Has a few very minor issues, but is a must-have nonetheless.

i have always loved super smash bros...but i never though it could get even better....but it did..amazing music,beautiful graphics and jaw-dropping gameplay BUY IT NOW!amiibo rocks too.What are you waiting for BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you review this one?

Following the success and great feedback of Spyro 2 from fans and critics alike, the franchise was at an all time high, but unfortunately Insomniac Games' contract with Universal had almost run out, they had time to make one more game before Universal took the franchise elsewhere, so in the year 2000, Spyro: Year of the Dragon was born, the finale in the classic PS1 trilogy, but did it live up to expectations and further expand the Spyro franchise for the better? Well, let's take a look shall we?

The story of Spyro 3 goes a little something like this: It's the year of the dragon in the Dragon Realms, and in real life at the point, a momentous occasion where a whole new batch of baby dragons are hatched from there eggs, even though there's not a single female dragon to be seen in the game... uh... I dunno, magic seems to be the main focus of these games so we'll just assume they were created by some spell or something, I don't know. /TorchSheep Nitpick #1 While all the dragons, and Hunter for some reason, are sleeping, waiting for the eggs to hatch, an evil bunny rabbit in a cloak named Bianca and the ryhnocs, steal all the dragon eggs and bring them to the other side of the world. Seeing as Spyro, Sparx and Hunter are the only ones that can fit through the holes to the other side of the world, known as the Forgotten Worlds, it's up to them to rescue all the eggs, find even more stolen treasure and torch the evil Sorceress, the mastermind behind this whole sherade. The story, in my opinion, is good but nothing special, it doesn't disappoint or impress, so I'm more or less neutral to it. Decent story overall that has a few surprises here and there too later in the game.

Oh hey, it's time to talk about the presentation, gee I wonder if TorchSheep is going to say this is yet again one of the best looking games on the PS1 and probably the best looking in trilogy with it's use of cartoony graphics and vibrant colours all over the place. Well I sure am! I don't really want to sound like a broken record in terms of how the game looks, as my comments on the first two games, which I've already done reviews on too, still stay the same for this title, it's dang impressive alright. Music is also a thing in this game and it's still really awesome, with some really outstanding tracks, my favourites of which being the speedway music and Icy Peak.

Gameplay! The most important thing for a platformer in my eyes, does it hold up to the other games thus far? Well... let's just say Insomniac were a little too ambitious this time around, I'l explain how shortly. Core gameplay is still the exact same as Spyro 2, you've got all your moves you've gotten use to by now which is great, because again, there's no need to fix what isn't broken. What's also cool is the fact you get to keep all your new moves you learned in Spyro 2, such as the ability to swim, climb and headbash, right from the very start. No need at all to re-learn them all, which is a nice touch. For the most part you'll still be charging around some nice levels collecting shiny things, and that's good in my books. Minigames are back, those of which being my main complaint with Spyro 2, have they improved or gotten even worse? Well the minigames you play as Spyro in have improved a little, there being alot more ones that I actually like, rather than dislike. You may be wondering why I said play as Spyro a moment ago. Well here's the main gimmick of the game, there are multiple playable characters that you unlock throughout the game and I really don't like playing as nearly any of them. Sparx is controlled in a top down shooter type style, which works okay, Sheila the Kangaroo is manly based around jumping really high, though it's a shame the actual jumping mechanics are really fidgety. Sgt. Byrd is the worst of the bunch in my opinion, being really hard to control as you awkwardly fly through the skies picking up things and shooting over and over again to try and hit things. Bentley is the only other character that I like a little bit, and Agent 9 is the same as Sgt. Byrd but without the ability to fly. These characters are great ideas on paper, but put into action, I really don't think they're that fun at all, mainly due to poor and finicky controls, I usually always dread playing there sections and skip them when I get the chance. I think level designs have also seen a slight decrease in quality, sure they're good and all, but most of them feel a little lifeless and not nearly as stylised as Spyro 2's or even Spyro 1's. Oh well, at least the speedways are back and better than ever, that's a cool thing.

Spyro: Year of the Dragon is a very ambitious title that has gimmicks that some games may love and others may really dislike, but aside from that it's still Spyro and it's a grand ol' time to be had, with that in mind, I give this game a 7/10 GREAT! I recommend this game to collect-a-thon enthusiasts and Spyro fans in general that haven't tried this game out yet. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm off to hit some targets... err... I mean doodads.

Quote: Windbringer

Can you review this one?

Sure thing, I'll get to playing it as soon as I can.
Also, thank you for the positive feedback pankakesparx!

I'll be doing the Ratchet & Clank Future trilogy later, I guess. INCOMING FAVORITE GAMES BIAS. <3

i will be reviewing the amazing spider man 2 next

I'm going to review The original Legend of Zelda game and Neopets: Darkest Faerie.

At a later date, as I must finish the first and replay the latter.


EDIT: The later date has come, for I have finished the one, the only, original LoZ!




To begin this review, I'd like to point out that I'm a somewhat recent LoZ fan, with my first game being twilight princess, and the fact that I played this on an eshop download, which inevitably made the game less frustrating, if only slightly.

For a game made in 1985, it has certainly aged very well. The graphics are amazing for the time, and the music is still world renowned today. It lacks what we today would call a storyline, but it hardly needs one. With an overworld map so large you easily get lost in, a multitude of neat gadgets, puzzles, enemies, and traps, some might say it defined the genre of adventure games, and they would be correct.

The Legend of Zelda might seem simple at first, where the basic premise is to head from one dungeon to the next, defeating the bosses, and gathering various items, its execution is not. The game is VERY complicated and secretive, from having to toss fire randomly to find secret areas, killing thousands of mooks just to get enough ruppees to buy that one essential item, to having the game pretend to give you a new weapon, only to find out that you can't pick it up because of some unknown reason.

And that's where my only issue with the game comes in, the difficulty. This game is a monster. Starting you off with a flimsy weapon, and enough health to only survive three hits is bad enough, but when you start spending days wandering the overworld aimlessly just to try and figure out where to go next, it gets frustrating to say the least. Obtaining a full map online is something I recommend to anyone who wants to play this game. The enemies in this game are brutal as well, from the obnoxious fish that appear in every body of water, the ghosts that can teleport, the infuriating darknuts who can take a ton of hits, to the hellspawn like-likes who will eat your 100+ ruppee worth of equipment.

All in all, I'd rate this game a solid 8.5/10, it's an amazing game that I would recommend to anyone, anyone who can handle the challenge that is.

I'm just putting here that I will review one of my favorite games of all time, Portal 2, within a few days.

Whoops, edited.

Portal 2. One of my favorite games of all time. Where do I start...
(note that story spoilers will be....spoilered for those that want to play without SPOILERZ)
Being a sequel to the original Portal, The story does reference the original in some ways, some obvious, some not. Which really changes the atmosphere in a way. A new character called Wheatley leads you through the game, which adds a sense of adventure, especially when


During this time, you arrive in the depths of Aperture Science, where you encounter a new game element: Gels.
The gels add more to the puzzle side of the game where you can bounce higher, run faster, and create a portal on any surface. It really allows you to think outside the box on numerous occasions. Afterwards, arriving at the top of Aperture again, there takes place some other puzzle elements, such as Tractor Beams(or, by their official name, Excursion Funnels.). I'm going to stop the story part now and will review the final boss fight later.

In addition to all of the old game mechanics, like Turrets and Cubes, many new mechanics were added, such as Lasers and Tractor Beams, Gels, and the Aerial Faith Plate(which launches you into the air.). With all of these puzzle elements, some puzzles became very hard, would take a good chunk out of your time if you didn't know the solution yet. And since we're on the topic of puzzle elements...


THE CO-OP
Th co-op is an entirely different game mode where you can pair up with a friend to work together and complete a different story than what the single player offers. Every puzzle element seen in single player is here as well, along with some co-op "exclusive" elements.
For example, some tests would allow one player to put their partner in an infinite loop, then launch them, so they could reach higher areas.
Or you can also launch them into death. That too.

And now my opinion on the final boss fight.

So there's my review, the only downside I really have to say about this one is that the game feels a little short, even though it really isn't, and that custom maps are Steam Exclusive. Maybe it's just because I love this game so much, I don't know.

My final rating however, is 9.5/10. Great game, few drawbacks, get it if you haven't already.

I plan on reviewing Lego Batman 3 and Sly Cooper. ^_^

Here's my review of Neopets, darkest Faerie for PS2.




For a game made in 2005, 10 years ago, I personally think it has aged well. Being a PS2 game, you can't expect the graphics of todays standard, but they're pretty good for PS2 and they are vibrant. The controls are smooth, and easy to learn, and the combat is simple yet challenging. The story is solid, even from the perspective of someone who knows nothing of neopets (such as myself). The game has a large some-what open world, with many sidequests and treasures to hunt for. The RpG elements of the game are simple, relying on equipment and hidden items to increase your stats.

The game follows the adventure of two young heroes, Tor, who is the knight (seen above) and Roberta, who is the sorceress(also seen above) as they attempt to save the world from the dark clutches from The Darkest Faerie, (seen above in the reflection of the sword) hence the title. The two both start from humble beginnings, neither of which seem very ready for the dangers they face. Neither of them are the mary-sue "chosen one" as they both carved their own destinies.

The combat is based on an elemental system, with seven types of "motes" (elemental energies) fire, water, air, earth, light, shadow, and nova. Motes must be constantly switched in order to maintain the edge on the enemy, and are the only reliable way to defeat some tougher enemies.

This game, seeming lighthearted at first, is surprisingly dark for its ESRB rating. Possession, assassination, necromancy, cannibalism, corruption and treachery are among some of the things that happen in the storyline. The crypts with the dark colouring, endless undead, creepy music, and the threat of getting lost can all put pressure on you.

There are some issues with the game however, there are some noticeable glitches which allow enemies to walk through walls, or randomly spawn beside you. Water is very hazardous in this game, and while some lakes and rivers are harmless, others will instantly kill you, sending you to your previous save point. The issue is that all the water looks the same, there is now way to tell whether the water will kill you or not, possibly sending you back to whenever the last save point was.

As well as the mechanical issues with the game, certain aspects of the story annoy me. When you finish act 1, any sidequests you had previously completed will become impossible to complete, which is infuriating. The same is true with the shift between act 3 and 4, once you finish act three you are transported to a completely different world, with no way to go back. This game also has the most anticlimactic final boss fight EVER.

As a whole, I would rate this game a 7/10, it's good, but not great. It has a lot of bugs that should've been gone over before publishing, but it is a solid game otherwise. Any fan of RpGs should give it a try if possible, it may give a few frustrations, but it's a unique experience.

So here's the story behind this one, I was going to play The Last of Us and review that game, but goodness, I was still in shock from The Walking Dead game, (which if you haven't read my review on, the game is awesome, play it now.) another apocolypse game with a similar main story, from what I've seen. I wanted something cheery and colourful for a change of pace, because I totally never talk about games like that already all the time... but yes, that's when Shantae and the Pirate's Curse caught my eye on the Nintendo e-Shop for the Wii U. It looked like a fun time to be had, so did the game deliver on being a fun time? Let's find out.

Keep in mind this game is the third game in the series, and also my experience with the Shantae franchise in general, so please do excuse me if there's some stuff explained in the earlier games that I miss out. I believe the story goes like this, Shantae and her friends are just chillin' n' grillin' on their home island of Scuttle Island when they are suddenly attacked by the dastardly Ammo Barron, a man that now has the power to take over Scuttle Island and make some 'improvements' for his secret plans. Meanwhile, an old evil force know as the Pirate King is being resurrected by the power of dark magic all across the setting, Sequin Land. Having no where else to turn, Shantae the half-genie, hair-whipping hero must team up with long time antagonist, Risky Boots to stop the Pirate King destroying all life as we know it... or talking over the world... wow, I really should have been paying more attention to some details in the story. The story has a wonderful cast of characters in it, which I personally think outshine the story by themselves, nearly every one of these characters is incredibly designed and have at least one funny phrase to tell you.

The presentation of this game is it's strongest point in my opinion, the game is entriely spirte based apart from the character artwork that shows up when said character speaks, the spirtes look really darn good if I do say so myself, not the best spirte-work I've seen in a game by a long shot, but still, they look really flippin' good. From detailed character spirtes to weird and wonderful enemies, this game is no slouch when it comes to how it looks, graphically. Speaking of those pieces of character artwork from earlier, holy geez, they look even better, these are some of my favourite character desings for video game characters I've seen in a long time, they all just look so colourful and stylised, and if you know me, I love stylisation. I haven't even gotten to the best part of the presentation yet though, that being, the sound. Honestly one of my new favourite soundtracks from anything ever, it's that good, it goes for a sort of funky Arabian theming most of the time. I think the best way to describe it would be saying it sort of sounds like a mix between Paper Mario songs and classic Sonic songs, which is a damn awesome mix. Plenty of tracks will get stuck in your head for all the right reasons, and boy do I love it.

Now onto the ol' gameplay, a pretty important aspect of any game, sure the presentation is fantastic, but what good is that is the gameplay is awful... so is it? Heck no! Shantae 3's gameplay consists of exploring large 2-D areas, solving puzzles, beating up enemies and using plenty of upgrades and power-ups. You'll usually unlock an island, explore it, find the dungeon, beat the boss and the cycle continues, it kind of reminds me of a 2-D type of Zelda game, mixed with some Metroid, with a hint of Wario Land: The Shake Dimension with just a dash of Alladin from the Genesis and SNES. The game's difficulty doesn't really come from the puzzles being that hard or the enemies being that tough, it mainly comes from not knowing where the heck to go half the time. If you're a fan of exploring and maybe just a little smarter than I am, then you might like the mysterious nature of the game, but I personally found a bit of a drawback, speaking of drawbacks, there's a VERY large amount of backtracking involved in this game, not too much if you know exactly what you're doing, and this can be partially fixed with a purchasable item called the 'Pirate Flare' which brings you back to the beginning of the level, get alot of these, they can help you out TONS. And yes, that's right! You can buy things in this game from the jewels you find all over the game. You can buy upgrades to make you stronger, learn new moves, or just buy health items, it's not over-complicated like in some games and I appreciate it. Your controls are simple to start of with, B is to jump and Y is to use your hair as a whip to damage enemies. Unfortunately you can only whip your ponytail forward, I would have loved it to whip upwards aswell as that could have been very helpful throughout the game. You do however find a new item in each dungeon you go through, these can range from stuff like a few extra jumpst to a gun. I found at least a little bit of use out of each of these items, which was great as I don't lie it in games where you get a power-up or item you never need to use or feels clunky and pointless. But no, these all work very well and control even better. There's also plenty to collect in this game, yey! You can go after heart squids which if you get four of, you can get anothe heart for your health meter, or dark magic, which I assume if you get alot of you unlock some sort of secret ending, that's the way the story was pointing me in near the end, but I won't spoil anything. Pretty great gameplay overall.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse was indeed a very fun and light-hearted adventure with lots of high's ESPECIALLY concerning presentation, but be prepared for alot of back-tracking and not really knowing where alot is, but it's almost fun back-tracking, with such nice looking levels, characters and one heck of a soundtrack. I give this game my rating of 8/10 OUTSTANDING! I recommend this game to those who are looking for a very stylish 2-D platformer with plenty of humour and great music to listen to. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm of to take a bath... wait a minute, I don't have a bath, RISKY BOOTS! >:U

If someone talks **** about The Last of Us, you won't hear the last of it.

Love all the reviews so far. and omg TorchSheep i didn't know you were a Shantae fan!



I first found out about Five Nights at Freddy's through Let's Player Markiplier. I remember being instantly intrigued with the game and looking more into it. I remember the first stages of the game's popularity grow. but it wasn't until last December that i finally got my hands on the game itself. Is it intriguing as i originally thought it was?

The story is simple: you play as Mike Schmidt, the new night guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. Your goal is to survive five nights at the restaurant, as the animatronics there are active at night, and if they catch you after hours, they'll stuff you into an animatronic suit, killing you in the process. It seems pretty barebones, but what makes FNAF so intriguing is the lore. though special Easter eggs, you'll learn more about the restaurant's history, including an incident where five children were killed by a man in an animatronic suit. the game is so rich in lore, but doesn't give it out to the point where you know everything. there is a lot of mystery surrounding the game and a lot of it is open to many theories and rumors. this helps a story as basic as FNAF succeed in almost every way.

The gameplay is pretty simple as well. You can only move left and right in your office; you can't move anywhere else. you have two doors with door lights, one of each on both sides, and a camera to watch the animatronics's movements. using the camera, doors, and lights uses up your power. once you run out, it's a matter of time before game over. Using all these mechanics and reserving power is key to your survival every single night(a single night lasts about 6 minutes). What makes this gameplay so amazing is the sense of paranoia you feel when first playing the game. you have no idea when the animatronics will come because of their patterns, and you feel dread knowing these animatronics could come out to you at any moment. This is easily the best part of Five Nighs at Freddy's, as it gives a sense of horror that most big-budget horror titles and movies can't replicate. This sense of fear also makes it one of the few games to use jumpscares effectively, as there is actual build up to the jumpscare, as well as something to fear. the small musical cues as well, such as footsteps by the animatronics, only add to the dread.

other small things such as the graphics an design are solid, but there is only one negative i found with this game. One huge, glaring issue: growing wise to the act. Once you start to learn the animatronic patterns and develop a good strategy, the game loses all sense of dread. instead, you'll start to feel frustration whenever you lose a night once you get a pattern down. this is even more evident when you unlock the custom night(after first unlocking and beating the 6th night) and do the 20/20/20/20 challenge, which is one of the worst difficulty spikes you'll endure if you take on the challenge.

this problem aside, Five Nights at Freddy's gets a lot right for its small price tag and production values. The story is intriguing thanks to its lore, and its gameplay is fresh, new, and above all horrifying... if you don't get used to the patterns.

Overall rating~ 7/10. A great game. it has its flaws, but is still worth its price tag for everything that it does get right.

a Five Nights at Freddy's 2 review will be coming relatively soon.

Quote: pankakesparx456

Love all the reviews so far. and omg TorchSheep i didn't know you were a Shantae fan!

I am now. Can't wait for Half-Genie Hero to come out. ;o; And thanks. ^o^

Actually I don't want to review Sly Cooper.

I was so pumped for Five Nights at Freddy's 2. I loved watching gameplay for the first game, and i was really interested to see where the lore would go next in the series. Like the first game, i didn't get my hands on the actual game until last December. Is it as good as the first game?

The story is essentially the same as the first game: you play as Jeremy Fitzgerald, the new night guard at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. You must survive five nights at the restaurant, or the animatronics that become active at night will kill you. and like the first game, the story is rich with lore, only this time it's much better. More info is given to the player about the restaurant chain's history, and the game hints at not only being a prequel to the first, but taking place during the first game's lore, with incidents such as the missing children incident possibly taking place. The expanded lore gives a lot more interpretations as to what exactly is going on, and it makes the story in this game even better than the first.

The gameplay also expands on the first game. First off, there are no more doors in your office, which you are restricted to like in the first game. there are vents on both sides of your office, as well as a large opening to the hallway in front of you. these areas, as well as much clearer music and sound cues, are key to figuring out if an animatronic is near you. because you have no doors, your only mode of defense is a freddy fazbear mask that will fool the animatronics into thinking you're one of them when they get into your office, as well as the flashlight mechanic. it is now impossible for the restaurant to lose power. instead, you can flash your lights in the vents, hallways, and rooms to hold off certain animatronics. your game overs in this game will depend on if you flip your mask down fast enough when an animatronic is nearby or in your office, or if you eventually use up all of your flashlight power. finally, there's a music box that needs constant winding on the camera feed. if the music box stops winding, a new animatronic will insta-kill you.

and holy crap, there are a lot of animatronics in this game. a grand total of 10, 11 if you count the one involving the music box. this, on top of the numerous new mechanics, can be a turn off for some players with how overwhelming it can get, especially on the later nights. but if you thought the first game wasn't very challenging, then this game just got a whole lot better for you. and once you get the patterns down on how to complete the game, it can be pretty fun for some players like me. the game itself also looks much better than the first, and graphics and models look a lot smoother and slicker than the first game.

here's the big problem with Five Nights at Freddy's 2: because of all these numerous mechanics, the first game's eventual feeling of frustration when you get a pattern and strategy down becomes evident again; only this time, it's much worse. the intrigue and horror in this game wears off a lot quicker than the first game because of the overwhelming mechanics. if you don't have lightning fast reflexes, you will die. a lot. this takes a lot away from the game's horror factor, and most of the game will feel cheap rather than horrifying. i haven't even gotten past night 6 because of how difficult the game is with all these mechanics. if you make it far enough to get past the custom night with the 10/20 setting, you deserve a trophy and a cash prize for your accomplishments with getting past this game's insane difficulty.

for every good thing Five Nights at Freddy's 2 gets right, it gets just over the same amount wrong. the story and its lore are much better than the first game, and the game looks and sounds much better than the first: but while the new mechanics and gameplay can work well at first, the game will quickly turn into a rage-fest because of the overwhelming number of things you have to consider and do on later nights in the game. if you liked the first game, give this one a shot. if you disliked the first game, don't bother with this entry.

Overall rating~ 6/10. An above-average game, but still has glaring issues that may hinder your enjoyment.

i'm going to scrap the plan for a Valkyria Chronicles review right now. at the rate i'm going with the game, there's no way i'll have a review up for it anytime soon. I'm also not sure what my next review is going to be right now, but you can count on a Five Nights at Freddy's 3 review once the game eventually comes out.

^ Awesome review.

i enjoy reading these, keep'em coming

I'll briefly review Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.

After finishing Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, I wanted more of the game series, and I wanted it bad, I immediately after looked up all I could about the franchise and how many games were in it. I found three with one on the way later this... who really knows when any more, dangit WayForward! But anyway, the point is, I wanted to experience more of the formula I came to love from Pirate's Curse, so I decided to go way back to 2002 on the GameBoy Colour to experience the first game in the series, Shantae. But playing a newer game in the series first, did it affect my playthrough and expectations of the first game? Let's find out, this is, Shantae.

Now this is story all about how, Shantae's life got flipped, turned upside down, and I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, and I'll tell how she became the gal that kills guys with hair... doesn't exactly roll of the tongue now does it? Oh well! So one day, Shantae was chillin' up in her crib when BOOM! cannon ball to the roof, pfft, don't we all just hate it when that happens? ...Okay I'm going to stop trying to be funny now. The cannon ball was shot by none other than the nefarious Risky Boots! A pirate that soon after takes Shantae's uncle's, Mimic, steampower whoozit thingy and plans to use it to power a giant robot that will destroy all of Sequin Land, and make her reign supreme! But she can't power the steam... machine thing without the four magical stones lost in labyrinths all across the previously mentioned, Sequin Land. Shantae, being Scuttle Town's sworn guardian, decides to try and get the stones before Risky and save the world from her evil wrath. For the first game in the series, this game also has a pretty solid story and interesting characters all throughout, though I would like to mention something... TorchSheep Nitpick #2! ;3 Shantae seems to care very dearly about her friends and would do anything to protect them, if that's the case, then why is her interaction with them to such a minimum, especially towards her friend Bolo, it seems like all she does is call him an idiot, that got to me throughout the journey, but again, i guess it's only a nitpick as it really doesn't affect the game overall in the slightest.

With Pirate's Curse, I said the presentation was the best part of the game, having an excellent mix of artstyle and sound, does the same stay true for the first game in the franchise? Aww yeah it does! This is by and far, THE best looking and sounding GameBoy Colour game I've ever seen, no exaggeration. Being made very late into the GBC's life-cycle, WayForward pushed the console to it's absolute limits with incredible sprite work, with vibrant colours, an awesome chip-tune soundtrack and just so much else to love. I wouldn't put it on SNES levels, but it still looks damn good, especially if you consider the console it's on and the time it was made. I'm honestly still baffled by how they managed to pull of this look, it's just so... arrrgg... AMAZING! My favourite tracks in the game are Water Town and Boss Battle.

If you read my Shantae and the Pirate's Curse review, you should already know how the gameplay of Shantae works. A is to jump this time however, and B is to whip your purple pony back and forth. You can also hold down the B button to run, this honestly took alot of getting used to for me, but that's probably I can't video game particularly well, especially with these darn old hard games. Give me something easy to review! *Looks at NSMB2* Uh, on second thoughts... Instead of unlocking Pirate gear in the middle of each of the four dungeon, you learn a new dance move which can make you turn into an animal. Just like the pirate gear, these are all useful but not nearly as utilized as much as the affermore mentioned pirate gear. You can turn into a Monkey to climb up any wall, a rhino, I think, to charge into stuff and destroy specific walls and spots, a spider which can crawl on alot of background surfaces, and a harpie to fly around to your hearts content. I don't think the rhino or especially the spider where used that much at all, I only used them when the game told me I absolutely had to, but the monkey and harpie are VERY useful, especially for finding hidden collectables. Speaking of collectables, you can find alot of stuff in this game, heart containers which give you an extra heart to your health meter, warp squids, which if you bring four of to a town, you learn a dance that can bring you back to said town whenever you like, and finally, fireflies, I never learned what they did because you need to collect all of them to unlock there ability, so, you know, they're there if you want them. There's also a day and night system in this game and it's pretty cool, the only differences I could find between the two is the music and that at night, enemies become harder to beat and you can also belly dance in Scuttle Town to earn more gems. Speaking of GEMS, there's also a shop in this game too, you can buy all your basic platform-y stuff, stuff to restore your health, a barrier that damages enemies and some new moves that are VERY pricey. For the most part, you'll be doing the exact same thing you did in Pirate's Curse execpt this time, everything's all on one big island. You explore, collect stuff, go to the town, go to the dungeon, solve puzzles, beat boss, wash, rinse, and repeat four times, then it's time to take down the nasty Risky Boots herself at her own Tinkerbat-infested island. Again, the best way I could describe it is like a 2-D Zelda combined with Metroid, so if you're a fan of either of those two series, then DEFINITELY at least look into this game, buying a copy of it is pretty much impossible if you're not willing to spend ridiculous amounts of money, but it was released on the 3DS e-Shop which is how I played it, and it's cheeeap, so you can definitely give it a gooo.

Shantae honestly surprised me in a very good way, I thought it was going to be an incredibly simplified version of Pirate's Curse, but they managed to cram so much into one little GBC cartidge, it truly was a wonderful adventure yet again, and I look forward to playing Risky's Revenge in the hopefully near future. I give this game another 8/10 OUTSTANDING! I recommend this game to those who like the style of Zelda and Metroid, and if you haven't played a game in the series yet, this is a great starting point, especially since it's now so cheap on the 3DS e-Shop, just try it, come on now. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to spend 900 gems on a tiara that not only will make me fight better, but make me look faboulous while doing it! See you guys, take care.