Recent reviews by Warboss Vitali

This is a strange "horror" game that doesn't quite seem to know what it wants to be. It feels confused about its themes and its ties to The Secret World just make it even more muddled. I can't really recommend this game, but if you want a more in-depth review I was crazy enough to make an entire video essay on this for some reason so... here you go.

https://youtu.be/r2GDWOW3_FI

I'm not even joking, I legitimately created an entire YouTube essay to explain how fascinatingly bad this game is. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiuZxycCAvE

I was hyped when the teaser for this game released. Mascot platformers in the way of Banjo Kazooie, Hat in Time, or Mario Odyssey are my favorite genre of all time- so much so that I can even enjoy Yooka Laylee despite its many, many flaws. Unfortunately, this game fails at practically every level in terms of creating a fun game.

Somehow this game is both infuriatingly simple and infuriatingly cryptic. Each costume has exactly one function with almost no room for creativity or experimentation, and yet there are odd mechanics and challenges that are so unintuitive that you're likely only going to discover them by chance. This makes the game feel stilted and overall just very closed-off.

The level design doesn't help anything. It's mediocre at its best, bland or frustrating at its worst. Furthering the annoying design is that many Trophies (the main collectable) are locked behind certain powers that don't appear in the level, meaning you need to exit the level, change costumes, and go back in to get them. Issue is, taking a single hit with that costume active makes you lose the power with no way to get it back, forcing you to go back and re-equip it if that happens. This isn't backtracking with a new power you have, it's just busywork.

Overall it's a messy game that I'm finishing purely out of a need for closure. I bought it on sale for about $5, and even that feels like too much. Again, this is coming from someone who enjoys Yooka Laylee, so that should tell you just how awful this game really is. It's just bad.

As someone who played since the very beginning, years upon years playing this game, I have to add my voice to this.

#fixtf2

There's honestly a lot to like about this game. The art direction is fun, the soundtrack is energetic and gets you pumped, there are fun characters, and Death feels good to control.

However...

The game is tedious. Extremely tedious. The motto of every dungeon is "if it's worth doing once it's worth doing thrice." Progress in this game goes at a snail's pace, so you never feel like you're ever accomplishing anything. In short, this game is padded to hell.

Speaking of padding, the "open world" in this game serves only to be that same padding. I cannot fathom any reason this game is "open world." There's nothing to explore or find outside of a few token collectables. In practice the "open world" just means it costs you a boring horse ride from point A to point B to get anything done. You'll never find anything interesting off the broken path that you aren't meant to come do at some point in the future anyway.

The worst offender however is the enemy design. 10 hours in and I've encountered a grand total of three enemy types- small mooks, big mooks, and ranged mooks. That's it. Oh sure, they may have different skins and models, but they all do the same thing. There's never any interesting enemy designs to challenge you or change the flow of combat. You approach every encounter the exact same way- just charge in and attack.

I tried a decade ago to beat the original version, and couldn't. I tried to give it a second chance now, and it was just as bad as before. This is a tedious game and I cannot recommend you play it.

Really, the header sums it all up. Lunistice is a game that sets out to do exactly one thing and does that thing very well- be a fun, fast-paced platformer. Every new level mechanic is easy to grasp and flows well into the design, and players can choose to pursue 100% completion, True Ending completion, or just running through all the levels as fast as they can. It's short, sure, but honestly it feels just as long as it needs to be without overstaying its welcome. Overall a very solid game and you really can't go wrong with a $5 price tag.

When I first saw this game I thought it was another generic "mascot horror" title, but this game is far more than that. Real effort and heart went into this game, and its roots both as a RE2 style game and as a homage to both the Muppets and Sesame Street shine through at every step. Even the "guns" feel fun and friendly, using various office instruments to help the rogue puppets learn their ABCs.

The level design is very strong. It's a decently sized map without feeling overwhelming, and as you explore the studio lot you come to learn which passages are the best to take in order to save on ammo or other resources, as much like RE2, these enemies can get back up.

There's also a fun heart to this story. We get glimpses of the protagonist Gordon's backstory just so we can piece together how he came to be the gruff "get the job done" kind of guy he is. We also get to know some of the "boss puppets" better largely through context clues and better observations of their behavior.

The puzzles in this game are simple but satisfying. Nothing too challenging came here or there, but by and large they were satisfying to learn and understand. Similarly this game does a decent job of letting you piece together where to go next without often directly telling you or marking some objective on your map.

Overall this is a worthwhile experience, and truly not what I was expecting at all. A pleasant surprise to be sure.

This game built itself up with extremely interesting teasers and showcases featuring bizarre architecture, strange mechanical devices, and the promise of a wild and deep mystery. On one hand, the game delivers. Every lab or underground lair you visit has this bizarre twinge of brutal devices carrying out strange tasks, seemingly nonsensical scientific experiments, and wild technology that seems almost like magic. Unfortunately, the game ruins all of this because it just cannot keep its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mouth shut

Every single time you encounter one of these wonderful and horrible creations or experiments your companion character immediately explains exactly what's going on and the purpose of what you're looking at. You'll enter a room with giant, rotating platforms, strange mannequins strewn about, and a bizarre floating goo, and instead of letting you take time to digest what you're looking at and try to puzzle out what all this could be for, your companion will butt in and say "oh this is just how we test rockets," which makes what your looking at paradoxically banal and unbelievable. I enjoy a good technical explanation of strange technology in settings like Mass Effect, Warhammer 40k, or Death Stranding, but in a game that hinges on mystery and the bizarre, this ruins the effect immediately.

Speaking of mystery, there isn't one. You immediately know who the villain and what you'll be fighting, and the only twists this game comes up with come completely out of nowhere and are either inconsequential or completely unbelievable. None of the characters come off as compelling, mostly just one-note actors going through motives we can't really relate to because they're either complete monsters or just idiots. A character like Andrew Ryan can be a complete monster but you learn enough about him to make him interesting, to really learn his points of view. Despite how much this game talks about the main villain and his views, I never felt I really knew who I was fighting, just some card-carrying villain who had to be shot.

As for the gameplay, the reason it took me so long to get to it is because it's largely just fine. The weapons are fun and customizable in ways that suit your playstyle, and a lot of them are satisfying with a good punch. The powers are serviceable but never feel that substation, and the enemy variety is slightly lacking but decent enough. None of it ever felt tactical however. Most AI will typically just rush you down with little thought, or hang slightly back to shoot at you. I never had moments where an AI would try to go around and flank me or try to retreat for a better opportunity, it all felt very basic. In addition, with how many healing supplies you can carry and how prolific supplies are, I never truly felt challenged.

This game also has no reason to be open world. The only collectable upgrades or items you can get are located in specific bonus buildings. There's never any reason to go off and explore or see what's over the next hill, no side quests or interesting locations, just a bunch of copy-pasted buildings and mindless driving that quickly becomes little more than a commute.

Overall I really did want to like this game, and it just so borders on being good. If there was ever a mod released that completely cut out any of the over-explanatory dialogue, that would probably push this game to a recommend, but as it stands, it kills any sense of mystery the moment it happens and doesn't have a plot strong enough to carry its decent but inconsistent and simple gameplay.

I have been very critical of Sonic myself. Even past games I do not give much leniency. I acknowledge that Sonic has had far more awful games then even decent. And in fact, going into Frontiers, I fully expected it to be nothing but garbage.

My expectations were defied.

Sonic Frontiers is one of the Best 3D Sonic Games
This endorsement does not come lightly. It may not have the replayability of Sonic Adventure 2 and its Chao Garden, but it has so much more elsewhere.

Its gameplay is fantastic. Movement is fluid, Sonic is fast, and everything just clicks. One of the best innovations is that the homing attack has its own dedicated button, which means the move can be done even while grounded. While this might not sound like much, it opens a lot of much quicker manuevers.

The environment is basically a wide-open jungle gym for Sonic to platform around in. There are tons of small challenges to complete for various rewards, and they all flow well and feel fast.

Combat is a bit clunky to start, but once you get the hang of various combos and upgrade Sonic's move pool, fighting enemies feel snappy and cathartic. Not to mention, the various minibosses strewn throughout the map are all unique and have very interesting ways to combat them.

Speaking of bosses, the main bosses are a delight. Without going into too many spoilers, they are all mighty fights, each with their own unique soundtrack with a tempo, pace, and feel to get the adrenaline pumping as you take them on. They are all definitely highlights of the game.

The "cyberspace" levels are also fantastic. These are more straightforward, traditional platforming levels. However, one neat innovation is that they incorporate aspect from previous Sonic levels. You'll be running through a level themed after Chemical Plant zone and then go through a stage element and say "hey, that felt like White Forest from Sonic Adventure 2". These elements are very well placed and feel like a fantastic homage.

But what cannot be left out is the story. I cannot stress that Sonic Frontiers has the best story of any Sonic game by a wide margin. Every character gets moments of introspection, the island is mysterious and has a rather grim and esoteric history to it, the enigmatic girl Sage has an incredible arc, and every character gets a moment to shine. Various moments from Sonic history are made mention, and the finale of the story really hits hard when everything comes to a head. I really was left in awe at the storytelling.

In the end, if you are a Sonic fan, this is going to be a fantastic ride. If you only have a passing fancy or enjoy just going fast, definitely give this game a look. This is the best form Sonic has been in decades.

Shootas Blood and Teef is a simple game, and it's meant to be. It's a classic 2d sidescrolling shooter like Contra or Metal Slug, but painted with the 40k brush. And what impressed me most was just how much this game gives as far as detail.

To go without spoilers, your enemies will range far beyond the standard affair of orks and guard and Space Marines. As a tabletop player, I found myself shouting out in surprise whenever a new enemy showed its face, many which have either rarely or even never had a video game representation before. Seeing these often overlooked factions and species was extremely refreshing.

Of course, the gameplay itself is great. It's fast and simple, with tons of options for weapon loadouts and, not to mention, classes. You can choose from Stormboyz, Beast Snaggas, Flash Gitz, Weirdboyz, all of which have unique actions and looks to them, different melee attacks, different grenades, and overall feels. Combine this with a total of five weapon slots each with four weapon options, the game has a ton of replayability.

I will say that the game is on the shorter side, but with its arcade-y nature, it is very easy to pick up and just run through a level or two with an entirely new loadout. Half the fun is going back and trying a level with a new class and new loadout, and seeing how it performs.

Overall, this game is simple fun, a very fitting soundtrack, and probably my most enjoyed 40k game so far. Of course, that might be the ork in me being biased. Either way, I absolutely must give this game an obligatory-

WAAAGH!!!