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Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Switch Publisher: Sega Developer: Vanillaware Rating: Teen
<p style="margin-bottom:11px">Draw from enough unique inspirations, and eventually, a game begins to feel entirely novel. That’s the sensation that emerges as you play Unicorn Overlord, Vanillaware’s vast fantasy adventure of tactics, strategy, and storytelling. I was consistently reminded of other systems and mechanics from prior genre releases, but the resulting combination felt consistently original and entertaining, even after many hours of battle and exploration.</p> <p>Players control a young, exiled prince in a high fantasy world as he gradually gathers an army to take down an all-powerful empire. There’s a significant focus on story and character development from beginning to end. The fact that the plentiful “thees and thous” frame an especially trope-heavy and familiar plot doesn’t diminish the enjoyment. Instead, I was delighted by the confident and well-written dialogue and its willingness to embrace the fun of countless long-lost siblings, figures in disguise, and redemptive character arcs. By the end, some interesting choices let you shape the game’s outcome, but this isn’t a game of bold narrative surprises – simply well-told comfort-food fantasy antics.</p> <p>Unicorn Overlord is awash in systems that govern your army’s advancement and improvement. Whether it’s equipment, honor, renown, gold, or character level, the primary goal is growing your army, promoting your combatants, expanding the potential size of each unit, and setting up a team that can triumph in the field. Everything works together admirably, and it’s great fun to tweak each small squad unit to create unstoppable combos of damage, defense, and healing.</p> <p>Battles are an intriguing mix of real-time troop movement and small unit-to-unit skirmishes. By adjusting each character’s formation placement and tactical decision-making before a melee, you set them up for success. However, once an exchange begins, your role as commander is in the back seat; you can’t affect the outcome anymore – only watch as it plays out. As such, much of the gameplay is about clever unit placement, movement, use of items, and pre-battle powers. I enjoyed overseeing a large and diverse army of knights, witches, gryphon riders, and elven archers as they strode into a righteous rebellion.</p> <iframe width="560" height="315" frameBorder="0" allow="autoplay" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zFu7jAkdELY" width="640"></iframe> <p>Vanillaware’s attention to detail and high production value are on full display. The vast top-down overworld is stacked with detail and vibrant, illustrated backdrops. The score is grand and dramatic, accompanied by a tremendous bounty of memorable voice acting. Most notably, both story moments and unit battles unfold featuring the studio’s striking trademark art and animation style, which leverages exaggerated deformation of everything from weapons to character curves and musculature to accentuate the fantasy setting and tone.</p> <p>While I consistently enjoyed my dozens of hours with Unicorn Overlord, the latter half of the game begins to show some cracks in the fun. Because you can preview the outcome of each battle (which is good), many players will eventually do what I did, and begin to skip the bombastic visuals of a given skirmish to get on with the larger battle. The thrill of those lavishly illustrated scenes sadly begins to lean toward tedium.</p> <p>Likewise, the plentiful unit types you both recruit and face in battle are initially intriguing but eventually become extremely challenging to keep straight. Imagine a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” where you can throw any one of dozens of distinct hand signs, and you can see the dilemma. Tactical complexity is good, but I ultimately found keeping all the distinctions straight slowed down the pacing and sense of mastery rather than enhancing an already rich tactical simulation. Combine those two problems, and late-game battles can feel repetitive and muddled.</p> <p>Even acknowledging those frustrations, I love the variety of encounters Unicorn Overlord presents and the seamless way so many interlocking game systems contribute to an overarching saga of magic and warfare. From beginning to end, the game feels crafted, balanced, and deep, without sacrificing approachability. Set aside preconceptions from the unusual name, and you’ll find an epic well worth exploring.</p> <section class='type:slideshow'><figure><img src='https://ift.tt/ZqYebJ9 src='https://ift.tt/KCDeka5 src='https://ift.tt/O2tVIkx src='https://ift.tt/LslqByY src='https://ift.tt/IjAp1HQ src='https://ift.tt/1CTcL9G src='https://ift.tt/0pZnwRr src='https://ift.tt/MFWCGL6 src='https://ift.tt/izYRBvA src='https://ift.tt/paRu5gw>
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5 Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Publisher: 2K Games Developer: Visual Concepts Rating: Teen
WWE 2K24 leverages WrestleMania’s impending 40-year milestone to celebrate the event, and it proves to be a party worth attending. Enjoyable additions and smart improvements bolster its steadily improving formula, making it the strongest in-ring outing since the series’ return.
2K24’s control scheme remains largely unchanged from 2K23 but boasts neat new mechanics, such as the trading blows mini-game. This gamification of the back-and-forth “boo/yay” punch trope adds a fun wrinkle to combat. Other well-worn in-ring moments to receive attention include setting up big dives onto a mob of opponents; I rarely use it, but it’s nice to have. That sentiment applies to the game’s new match types: Casket, Ambulance, and Special Guest Referee. I’m generally lukewarm on these stipulations in real life and I won’t be rushing to play them often here, but they’re replicated well. I especially like how Special Referee sports a meter that limits ref shenanigans to keep it from being totally one-sided should you face a crooked official. It also fosters strategic cheating for the player in stripes.
A staggering roster of over 200 Superstars out of the box varies from pretty good to spot-on in the looker department. I also appreciate smaller presentational touches, such as having real-life referees like Charles Robinson and Jessika Carr appear for the first time. Regardless of whose boots you wear, playing 2K24 remains a largely good hands-on experience, even if some moves could stand to be less mechanically dense. Forgetting all of the offensive options at your disposal is easy, but a robust tutorial helps simplify this learning curve. Existing match stipulations remain entertaining whether playing alone or online, though the latter destination is, at publishing, a tricky proposition thanks to spotty connections.
Showcase mode allows players to relive iconic bouts throughout the first 39 WrestleManias. Taking into account wrestlers who can’t appear due to current employment in rival organizations or for being generally problematic, it’s a strong curation of matches. Corey Graves’ commentary during transitions to real footage adds a nice touch compared to last year’s silent cutscenes. I also love that button prompts for objectives now appear on-screen, reducing trips to the menu screen to figure out how to execute a specific maneuver. Showcases’ wacky finale isn’t quite as memorable as last year’s big twist, but the mode is an overall improvement over 2K23’s rendition and a great celebration of WrestleMania that inspires me to rewatch my favorite matches from the event.
The dual story-driven journeys of MyRise present more narrative forks stemming from pivotal decision-making moments. Whether you play an indie legend navigating the mainstream waters of WWE or build the credibility of a low-card act chaotically thrust into the World Title picture, I like how choices pack more meaningful engagement to their overall enjoyable tales. It’s delightfully silly at points, and I also like seeing characters and plot points from last year’s MyRise reappear here, adding a welcomed continuity to 2K’s alternate WWE universe. Thankfully, created characters and unlockables finally carry over into more modes, adding deeper returns to my investment in MyRise.
MyGM, a personal favorite destination, remains a good time bolstered by expanded match types, GMs, talent interactions, and other options. It also feels more strategic now that you can level up individual talent by placing them in certain matches and negotiate Superstar trades between brands each season. Although Universe mode is less my jam, I’m happy to see the giant sandbox sim get options such as Money in the Bank cash-ins and run-ins, plus more cutscenes that add to its TV-like presentation. The card-collecting-themed MyFaction has never been my cup of tea, and 2K24 doesn’t change this, but it’s nice to see it receive more depth in match types and competitive multiplayer options. The already stellar creation suite sports additional items to build the coolest – or silliest – Superstars, arenas, entrances, or championships you can concoct, but don’t expect any major changes to its reliable template. That last point applies to nearly all of 2K24’s offerings: good iterations of an established formula.
2K24 sees Visual Concepts layer on quality new bricks to WWE 2K’s strong foundation while sanding away some rough edges. The series has settled into an exceptional, if very familiar, blueprint, and I would love to see a bigger shake-up in the future, but the result offers the best package since the franchise returned in 2022. If you’re a curious fan who’s held off on jumping back into the digital ring, 2K24 is as good an argument as any to shake off the ring rust. For diehard enthusiasts, this year’s entry won’t bowl you over in the broad sense, but its incremental updates and continued polish make it a worthy contender for another year.
Reviewed on: Switch Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC Publisher: Private Division Developer: Evening Star Rating: Everyone
Coming off the success of Sonic Mania, the development team behind one of the best games in Sega’s storied series is back with an all-new franchise. Much like how the studio now known as Evening Star’s previous effort was a love letter to a bygone era of platforming, Penny’s Big Breakaway is a fond tribute to the 3D platformers of the late ‘90s. Evening Star clearly knows how to design a fantastic new entry in this well-worn genre, but some important issues drag down an otherwise strong game.
As Penny, a street performer whose yo-yo is transformed by a cosmic entity, you must leap, swing, spin, and dash through more than 11 colorful, themed worlds of stages. Each world is more colorful than the last, complemented by an upbeat soundtrack full of catchy tracks to push the action forward. In moving through these levels, Penny’s Big Breakaway steps into the spotlight in a big way. With the help of her enhanced yo-yo, Penny can pull off satisfying movement-based combos. Once you master the basics, jumping into the air, swinging from her yo-yo, landing in a roll, and smoothly launching into another combo with a twirl feels fantastic. In combat, however, I struggled with accidentally sending Penny flying off a cliff since double-tapping the attack button also initiates a dash.
Thankfully, combat is only a small piece of the overall pie, and from the moment the movement mechanics clicked with me to the moment I watched the credits roll, I adored building momentum as I sped through the stages. Those terrific moves are accentuated by top-tier level design. Evening Star provides players with a ton of expertly designed courses that play into Penny’s abilities. Penny’s Big Breakaway is at its best when you’re moving quickly through obstacle courses, and the levels give you plenty of opportunities to do so; even the optional side objectives often require you to complete the given task within a time limit.
I relished every twisting path that let me quickly roll through, but I also enjoyed exploring every corner I could to find the collectibles used to purchase extra-challenging bonus stages. Levels typically offer branching pathways, and I loved trying to find the best route through the stages, though the fixed camera sometimes discouraged me from poking around too much. I was also disappointed by how many times I clipped through a stage element and had to restart from a checkpoint.
Sadly, the entire experience is brought down by a problem many early 3D platformers struggled with: depth perception. By the time I beat the story mode, I had lost count of the number of times I missed a seemingly easy jump because I couldn’t tell where Penny was in relation to the platform I was trying to land on. While the obvious answer is to look at her shadow’s position on the platform, my brain constantly needed to perform the calculus of whether Penny was where she looked like she was or where the game said she was. Unfortunately, this permeates the entire experience, poisoning the well of the overall gameplay.
A smaller issue that often rears its ugly head is that of screen-crowding. One of the key elements Penny’s Big Breakaway uses to propel the player forward is a group of penguins that swarm you in a capture attempt. Each time this happens, it immediately raises the level of on-screen chaos, but it sometimes goes too far as the penguins obscure everything happening in the level. Add to that an intrusive U.I. element that pops up when you’re near a side mission, and on multiple occasions, I had to blindly perform a leap of faith and hope for the best.
It’s a shame so many problems weigh on this otherwise enjoyable adventure. Even with the screen-crowding, bugs, and depth-perception troubles, I still look back fondly on the superb level design and movement mechanics. But because of those important detractors, Penny’s Big Breakaway lands as a solid 3D platformer unable to swing to the great heights it felt destined for.
