Reviewed on: Switch
Platform: Switch, iOS
Developer: Super Evil Megacorp
Score: 7.75
About Game Informer's review system
PurchaseFriday, July 26, 2024
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate Review - Radical Repetition
<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://ift.tt/LAj47Oh" width="800" height="450" alt="Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-body-default" /></p>
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Nobody Wants To Die Review – A Beautiful But Limited Mystery
Reviewed on: PC
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Plaion
Developer: Critical Hit Games
Rating: Mature
Nobody Wants to Die’s world terrifies me. Set only a few hundred years in the future, it paints a dystopian society where humanity has unlocked the secret to immortality, but instead of eternal bliss, it paved the way for the government to have full legal control of our bodies. The world is as fascinating as it is upsetting, and a high-profile murder becomes the catalyst for a gripping (though not always actively engaging) mystery within it.
Since Blade Runner's release in 1982, renditions of a cyberpunk metropolis have been plentiful and familiar. Nobody Wants to Die’s bleak depiction of 2329 New York City stands out as one of my favorites due to its effective fusion of Art Deco. The game looks as if technology skyrocketed in the 1930s while retaining that era’s aesthetic; vintage cars soar across the polluted airways of the concrete jungle, and futuristic gadgets have a Tomorrowland-esque design. In addition to a strong art direction, the graphical fidelity is top-notch with beautiful lighting illuminating the densely detailed cityscape and interiors. Nobody Wants to Die is a gorgeous game, and a clever introductory reveal of its world ranks among my favorite moments of the year.
The visuals invited me in, and the world-building kept me. After developing the ability to transfer human consciousness to different bodies, humanity has essentially solved death. People routinely live for centuries by switching to new, more desirable bodies, engendering a terrible system where citizens must pay a subscription fee to keep their original shell after coming of age. Failing to do so results in government seizure, where your consciousness is forcibly extracted and stored in a memory bank while your body goes up for sale. The less affluent 99% may have to settle for occupying aging or medically compromised bodies. If you can’t afford a new body, your conscious mind could be trapped in a bank for decades or longer. From Orwellian government promotions of a healthy lifestyle to prevent citizens from becoming damaged goods to reintroduction parties where people familiarize loved ones with their new bodies, developer Critical Hit Games has crafted an intriguing culture around this concept. Every lore detail, whether through new paper headlines or radio broadcasts, added substance to the presentation’s sizzle.
The politics surrounding immortality means morally dubious politicians and celebrities can maintain their status and control for obscenely long periods of time. In a world where true death is a rarity, the mysterious murder of one elite figure rattles the cages. Protagonist James Karra, a 120-year-old loose-cannon detective, is tasked with finding the culprit in an off-the-books case. The first-person adventure sees James visiting crime scenes and using a small set of high-tech forensic tools to collect clues and reverse engineer sequences of events. Whether using a handheld X-ray to trace a bullet’s trajectory, shining a UV lamp on hidden blood trails, or, most often, using a time-manipulating gauntlet to rewind and scrub through a chaotic moment, I enjoy assembling the pieces of smaller puzzles to form the big picture.
Detective work isn’t difficult, relying less on deductive reasoning and more on thoroughly poking around and uncovering every intractable element available. I don’t mind this more guided approach, as finding clues can lead to insightful and entertaining conversations with James’ partner Sara, who provides remote tech support in his ear. The two share some fun, sarcasm-heavy banter, such as an optional exchange where Sara asks James to describe the smell of chocolate (which no longer exists). The performances, especially Sara’s, are strong enough to make their relationship feel genuine and endearing. Their back-and-forth also adds welcomed levity, though James’ hard-boiled noir detective act means he often spews verbose monologues with metaphors that sometimes make limited sense.
Connecting clues in a flow chart between investigations is a game of determining which piece of evidence answers the question at hand. In reality, you can cheese this by just slotting in every clue until the right one fits, but I always wanted to deduce the answer properly. That said, Nobody Wants to Die is ultimately a narrative-focused adventure that uses detective-inspired gameplay as a vehicle to tell its story. You can’t really get anything wrong, and so if you’re hoping for true agency in how you approach solving this conspiracy, you’ll be disappointed.
You can, however, steer the plot in different directions thanks to the choice-driven dialogue and significant decision-making moments, adding stakes to conversations. Some choices have timers and can be as simple as deciding whether or not to drink on the job; an inebriated James may open an additional dialogue option. Bigger decisions, like deciding whether or not to kill a suspect or to destroy or preserve incriminating evidence, alter the plot more significantly. While that provides a good incentive to replay the roughly five-hour adventure, you’ll have to trek through the entire game again since it lacks a chapter selection, which is unfortunate.
Nobody Wants to Die does an admirable job juggling three main story threads: the aforementioned murder, James’ struggle to remember and come to terms with a traumatic event surrounding his wife’s death, and a heartbreaking tale involving Sara I won’t spoil. These plot points are disjointed at times; I’d make a big breakthrough in the murder case I wanted to follow up on immediately, only for the story to shift focus on James’ problems for a period. A mysterious villain at the center of it all is menacing at first but winds up feeling too obscure by the end. Perhaps it's a result of my choices, but I’m still not entirely sure what the antagonist’s true goal was or even who they were. Though the main threat falls a bit flat, the story regularly gripped me and sprinkled a few effective twists and revelations that kept me guessing until the conclusion.
Nobody Wants to Die delivers a few hours of largely engaging storytelling, easy yet well-presented puzzle-solving, and jaw-dropping sights. It has an ideal length, as it wraps up just when the long investigation segments begin feeling repetitive since your toolset never changes. While I didn’t get to wear my detective hat as tightly as I wanted, I enjoyed my tour through this cautionary vision of the future.
Score: 8
About Game Informer's review system
PurchaseMonday, July 22, 2024
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Review - Unexpected Strategic Delight
<p><img loading="lazy" src="https://ift.tt/4xbXMp2" width="800" height="450" alt="" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-body-default" /></p>
Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/S
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Rating: Teen
Score: 8.75
About Game Informer's review system
PurchaseFriday, July 19, 2024
EA Sports College Football 25 Review - Hail Mary
Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/S
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Orlando
Rating: Everyone
Successful rebuilds require strong foundations. After a drought, Alabama’s Nick Saban reinforced his staff with innovative coordinators like Kirby Smart and Lane Kiffin. Urban Meyer urged beloved Gators captain Tim Tebow to inspire his teammates. And during his short tenure at Texas A&M, Jimbo Fisher secured extraordinary recruiting classes. The road to success is paved in various ways, but EA Orlando knows football doesn’t have to be rocket science. In EA Sports College Football 25 (CFB 25), coaching chemistry is an engaging skill-tree balancing act, locker rooms come to life with unique player abilities, and roster recruitment is a tense but gratifying public relations minigame. Like a generational talent, CFB 25 possesses all the intangibles, even if some minor fumbles prevent it from snagging unanimous All-American honors.
There’s nothing quite like the pageantry of college football, and EA Orlando’s reverence for gridiron spectacle is apparent from the jump; pirouetting cheerleaders make way for mascots followed by armies of energized players, helmets sparkling brilliantly in the sun. Whether it's Chief Osceola galloping toward the 50-yard line or Smokey leading the Volunteers’ iconic charge, CFB 25's fanfare never disappoints. This deep immersion also extends to the impeccable on-field presentation. After breaking from the huddle, my fidgety linemen await the snap as a trio of hulking linebackers turn to the sideline for cues. The world vibrates with “Mo Bamba's” menacing bassline, and when Penn State's Nick Singleton shoots the gap toward daylight, Beaver Stadium’s white sea erupts. Thankfully, these awesome atmospheric moments dazzle in every face-off, from big-time rivalry games to routine conference matchups.
The sleek visuals are paired nicely with speedy gameplay. Agile halfbacks beat defenders to the edge, elusive wideouts catch bullet passes in stride, and powerful rushers tear through pockets in the blink of an eye. Throw a vast array of abilities into the mix, and every play call or pre-snap adjustment has the makings of a memorable highlight. Lobbing balls to tall receivers with the 50-50 physical ability always feels like an exhilarating risk worth taking. And masking coverage shells to force picks with lockdown corners is so gratifying when met with zany celebrations. Improved ball-carrier movement is the cherry on top as simple stick adjustments make slipping through the trenches, turning upfield, or breaking free from pesky backs satisfyingly flashy. CFB 25’s frenetic tempo and big-play potential might lead to a frustratingly disproportionate number of nail-biting shootouts, but fluid controls alongside vibrant on- and off-field animations make playing to the whistle worth all the sweat and tears.
The game's modest selection of modes, however, is less consistent. Dynasty shines as several emergent systems – namely, coaching archetypes and recruiting procedures – keep the campaign interesting long after winning big. The D-coordinator of an abysmal Coastal Carolina team, I decided to invest skill points in both the motivator and recruiter archetypes, marveling at my team’s respectable XP gains while building rapport by DMing prospective players and their families. I love Dynasty’s slow burn progression; from targeting low-star recruits to finally landing a four-star player years after restoring the program’s athletic reputation. Eventually, my starting lineup of hard-nosed underdogs earned a playoff berth. And even though I never deliver Coastal Carolina a national championship, it's particularly cathartic to witness my motivator-recruiter philosophy pay off when LSU hands me the keys to Death Valley.
Road to Glory, a solid alternative to Dynasty, touts an impressive catalog of gear customization options, but managing a short list of static meters throughout a three-to-four-year career is not engaging. When I’m not perfecting RPO handoffs in training or taking a knee to ice epic regular season games, I’m allocating a limited supply of “energy” points to maintain high academics, leadership, health, and brand ratings. On paper, cramming for an upcoming midterm while also finding time to enlarge my fandom seems like a fun weekly challenge. In practice, Road to Glory's off-field loop is akin to completing chores for negligible gameday gains; why attempt a 4.0 GPA if the correlating buff is a lackluster composure increase? Becoming a starter through successful drills and rare in-game opportunities feels like meaningful and dynamic progression, but navigating status bars to flesh out forgettable player attributes just makes me want to quit on the team.
College Ultimate Team (CUT) is nothing new to the EA Sports landscape: Complete challenges (or spend money) to earn points, purchase packs with accumulated points to amass an unstoppable roster, rinse and repeat. CUT attempts to break the mold with interesting challenges that range from learning the basics of the sport to playing historic moments from recent seasons. Its grind will exhaust casual players, but the bite-sized trials mixed with exhilarating PvP play should serve as a welcome reprieve from Dynasty or Road to Glory. Unfortunately, Road to the CFP feels shockingly shallow in comparison to its counterparts. Playing a season against other competitors for mere bragging rights might warrant a few attempts, but with no real incentive or reward beyond leaderboard placement, Road to the CFP will likely remain a short detour.
EA Sports College Football 25 makes the gridiron feel new again with stellar visuals that heighten the gameday intensity and smooth controls that evoke the high-octane moment-to-moment action that makes college football so beloved. I enjoy the painstaking, time-consuming process of revitalizing weak programs in Dynasty as well as competing against teammates to earn that coveted starting spot in Road to Glory, but some skin-deep progression systems and game modes are concerning; beyond the campaigns, there simply isn’t enough to see or do. Nevertheless, CFB 25 is a confident spiral throw in the right direction, and I’m excited to see how its strong foundation evolves in future releases.
Score: 8.5
About Game Informer's review system
PurchaseFlintlock: The Siege Of Dawn Review – Lacking Divinity
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Developer: A44
Rating: Mature
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn does its best to provide an epic adventure despite clear limitations. This semi-open world action game’s bright spots include an exciting premise, a unique tag-team spin on Souls-inspired combat, and an entertaining exploration mechanic. Unfortunately, it falls short of providing a wholly satisfying or polished adventure, resulting in a respectable but flawed revenge quest.
Developer A44 has crafted an intriguing world that blends a colonial aesthetic and technology (think 18th or 19th century) with magic and fantastical creatures. Soldier Nor Vanek embarks on a mission to kill all gods after they and their armies of the dead have broken into the mortal realm. She finds an unlikely ally in Enki, a small fox-like deity with mysterious reasons for helping Nor slay his kin.
As the two gather a small band of allies to take on their divine foes, Flintlock spins an adequate yarn backed by stronger performances. Meaningful character development could be more consistent, however. While the evolution of Nor and Enki’s uneasy partnership feels largely earned with a few decent revelations, the rest of the supporting cast doesn’t get the same love, making it hard to care about them. The pantheon of primary antagonists feel equally uninteresting, as little time is spent establishing their personalities or purpose in this world; they’re just cool-looking punching bags who occasionally taunt players en route to them. When I did find the narrative interesting, uneven sound mixing meant that the soundtrack often muffled dialogue.
Flintlock’s combat consists of decent melee combat emphasizing small combos while keeping distant foes at bay using a range of firearms. Hacking away at foes using Nor’s axe feels passable at best. Parrying feels equally mediocre and occasionally unreliable due to questionable timing windows that are tricky to nail even hours deep into the adventure. The action functionally works, but a thin layer of jank holds it back, including dumb-as-rocks enemies that often won’t detect you even when passing well within their view.
Hitting a button allows Enki to lend a hand by bestowing debilitating curses that weaken, stun, or poison targets. It’s a neat assist that bears greater fruit after unlocking several cool upgrades. Eventually, Enki can restrain or distract enemies, imbue your melee weapons with his power, and curse multiple foes simultaneously, among other valuable abilities. Firing Nor’s pistol from the hip to interrupt or counter an assault is a fun strategy that made it my favorite sidearm. Other ranged weapons, such as a rifle, grenade launcher, or flamethrower, don’t stand out or feel good enough to encourage regular use.
Though described as a Souls-lite and sporting familiar genre tropes, such as having to retrieve lost experience points (called Reputation) upon death, I wouldn’t call Flintlock a challenging game. Most threats can be torn right through, and none of the boss fights took more than a few attempts; the final boss, most surprisingly, is the biggest pushover of the bunch. The most interesting and effective combat twist is an experience points multiplier that builds as you execute different attacks and actions, encouraging players to creatively vary their assaults. The catch is you must manually add these points to your XP pool by holding a d-pad button; if you don’t, taking damage resets the counter to zero, meaning you can finish a full encounter and walk away with little to show for it (though bigger enemies still drop a guaranteed large amount of XP). I like how this system added more tension and intentionality to combat.
Flintlock mostly unfolds across two medium-sized landmasses sporting a small number of boilerplate sidequests (with worthwhile rewards) and collectibles such as various XP and upgrade items and lore notes. It’s not the most thrilling world to explore, save for an unlockable network of magic warp points called Rifts that let players soar through the sky to expedite travel. Rifts serve as great shortcuts and sometimes create fun platforming segments, making them one of my favorite mechanics in the game.
Flintlock’s presentation is nothing to write home about, with only a few creative creature designs piquing my interest. With two graphical options, you’re better off sticking with the default Performance mode, as Quality offers a negligible bump. Animations can be stilted and sometimes have an unfinished quality, such as the bad-looking slow-motion kill cam that saps the satisfaction from rifle headshots.
Despite my hangups, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn never plummets to being actively bad. Instead, it coasts along a solid line of mediocrity that results in a moderately good time. It often feels like it wants to say or do more but is held back by its scope and execution, not to mention some technical hiccups. Though it occasionally shows flashes of brilliance, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn falls short of achieving true godhood.
Score: 7
About Game Informer's review system
PurchaseWednesday, July 17, 2024
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition Review - Impecunious Nostalgia
Reviewed on: Switch
Platform: Switch
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Rating: Everyone
NES games are difficult to revisit. They’re easy to find and play, but they are showing their age and have been for some time. To play the original Legend of Zelda, for example, rewards a difficult-to-control, often obtuse puzzle game whose importance to the industry is undeniable, but its contemporary fun factor is low. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition counters this with a strategy that WarioWare has been using to great effect since its inception: you only play classic Nintendo games for exactly as long as they’re fun – which in 2024 is anywhere from three seconds to a few minutes. The result is a game that lets you challenge yourself and experience the highlights of Nintendo’s ‘80s library without much need for commitment, but it’s not without its annoyances.
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition features a few modes, but they’re all built off the Speedrun Mode. In it, you play through a series of challenges that, at its lowest levels, force you to jump on a platform in Ice Climbers, to its highest levels, which might task you with beating a full dungeon in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link as fast as possible. Each of the 13 games has a handful of short challenges that range in difficulty. This is where I had the most fun, defeating a number of microgames based on a series of titles that most people probably only know for their appearances in Super Smash Bros.
Successfully completing challenges rewards coins, which can be used to unlock more challenges or avatar icons, but the economy of the unlocks is frustrating. I always felt I was scrounging for money to unlock the next challenge when I was getting A++ and the occasional S rating. If you want to exclusively challenge yourself, you have to do exceptionally well to see everything, and it is an unnecessary hurdle.
Thankfully, playing in the online modes rewards additional (and ultimately necessary) coins, and it is fun to compete with others’ high scores. You don’t compete live, like with Super Mario Bros. 35, but instead, play through a collection of the Speedrun games against other players’ ghosts. I like this approach as it lets you tackle the challenges at your own pace as often as you want without worrying about network connectivity.
Local multiplayer is a highlight, and I had an especially joyful experience playing with my child, who understandably has no nostalgia for this era of Nintendo games. It was borderline educational to see her slowly appreciate what is fun about these games, thanks to the bite-size presentation that never overstays its welcome. The microgames are also varied and offer enough practice options that I was rarely an automatic winner just because I am old. As a local party game for up to eight players, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is definitely a success thanks to its fast pace and nostalgia.
Though barebones, I also like the presentation and explanation of what the Nintendo World Championships is and were. Nintendo understands that, ideally, most players jumping into the game did not see 1989's The Wizard and probably don’t know that before esports, there was this bizarre thing where people competed in single-player games. It was a different time.
I have my frustrations with the game’s coin system to unlock additional content, and unfortunately, most, if not all, of the games in the collection do not stand up to the test of time. But as a means to highlight Nintendo’s history, participate in some nostalgia with local friends, and play classic games for exactly as long as they’re fun, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition succeeds in its intention.
Score: 7.75
About Game Informer's review system
PurchaseFriday, July 12, 2024
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Review - Shonen Summer Sojourn
Reviewed on: PC
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PC
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Creative Business Unit III
Rating: Teen
In its fifth major expansion, Dawntrail, Final Fantasy XIV is facing its biggest existential crisis yet: where does your story go now that its 10-year A-plot is over? Dawntrail forges ahead with an enjoyable summer adventure to the land of Tural, doubling as a trojan horse for what lies in store for the future of the long-running MMO’s story. Dawntrail doesn’t match the narrative highs of the previous pair of expansions and is flawed in several ways, but its themes of legacy, the importance of culture, and responsible use of technology ring throughout.
Feeling more like a Shonen anime than a fantasy epic of past expansions, Dawntrail has an entirely different feel from the hundreds of hours I’ve poured into FFXIV thus far. It starts with a tournament of sorts, where four claimants are vying for the title of Dawnservant, replacing the retiring beloved ruler of the new continent of Tural. Instead of being the center of attention, I’m assisting this expansion’s main character, the energetic and passionate Wuk Lamat, in her bid to ascend to the ruler of her people, competing in a rite of succession by completing trials.
Rather than being driven by conflict, these refreshing trials are leadership lessons, proving whether each competitor is worthy of the Dawnservant’s throne. I wish the act of completing these quests were more than menial tasks, but Dawntrail’s masterful worldbuilding greatly outweighs my boredom from the lack of action in the early hours. At the core of each trial are fascinating lessons about the diverse cultures and regions of Tural based on Latin American countries. I’m in awe of how much I connected with the mercantile trade-centric Pelupelu and found joy in reconnecting the colorful bird folk called Hanuhanu with the importance and magic of their harvest rituals. Making me care about the people of Tural goes a long way toward bolstering my desire to make things right for them when things inevitably go south later in the expansion.
Despite its simple premise, Dawntrail tackles some heavy subjects within the rite of succession and beyond. Wuk Lamat aims to take the throne to retain the current peace her father has built for Tural over many decades. However, she isn’t alone in vying for the title of Dawnservant. Her brother Koana favors bettering society with foreign science. Another brother wants to seize peace by conquering everything, while the powerful and ruthless Bakool Ja Ja envisions returning to the old ways where the strongest rule and the weak serve beneath them. Through each of their actions, Dawntrail explores how we deal with grief, the legacy we leave when our time on this mortal coil ends, and the perversion of the natural order by utilizing advanced technology. The deeper down the philosophical rabbit hole Dawntrail goes, the more invested I became and more forgiving of some of its hard tonal shifts and occasional character inconsistencies.
While I love her anime main character energy, it’s sometimes hard to have the back of Wuk Lamat as an ideal ruler of her nation. Her passion is infectious, and her curiosity and willingness to listen and learn are admirable, but her actions often conflict with her devout beliefs. While striving to be a beacon for justice and peace, Wuk Lamat sometimes sacrifices her convictions and sweeps rather big atrocities under the rug that she would otherwise demand accountability for. It’s disappointing that these aren’t the moments she learns her biggest lessons from, but rather breaking points, swerving away from intriguing and complicated interactions that should have been explored.
Dawntrail’s dungeons and trials are consistently a delight, serving great combat scenarios paired with the best tunes on the expansion’s catchy soundtrack. Each boss fight sports unique mechanics that are intuitive to learn and build on one another, forming complex and satisfying combat puzzles to solve if you’re paying attention. After playing an MMO for hundreds of hours, it’s nice to have challenging content that tests what I’ve learned and introduces new ways to keep me on my toes.
Dawntrail doesn’t reach the peak of earlier Final Fantasy XIV expansions, but its path is different. Its mission is to begin a new grand tale, and it absolutely succeeds in placing the threads for the future while weaving an effective story about legacy and loss. Although I have grievances about the pace of questing and the main character’s contradictory actions, I’ve loved my time exploring Tural and can’t wait to see what the next chapter of the story brings.
Score: 8.5
About Game Informer's review system
Purchase