Paper Mario: Color Splash is deeply influenced by the reception of the previous title, Sticker Star, which released for the 3DS and is actually great, fight me. But since Sticker Star was heavily criticized for its barebones story and strange combat system, Color Splash now tries to present a more developed narrative and some additions to its core design – …
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Earthlock
Earthlock is an unpretentious RPG that, unfortunately, fails to leave any sort of mark. The biggest fault lies in the story, which is basically non-existent, with paper-thin characters and a severe lack of tension and thematic purpose. So, even though its combat system is dynamic and engaging, it’s not complex enough to save the game all on its own. It’s …
Read More »Star Fox Zero
Developed in cooperation between Nintendo and Platinum Games, Star Fox Zero is an on-rails action game that aims to bring something new to the genre with a unique control scheme. However, with a problematic tutorial and an uneven level design, the game fails to fulfill its potential. The plot of Star Fox Zero is simple: the scientist Andross wants to …
Read More »Watch Dogs
No one develops underbaked, bloated, and poorly written open-world games quite like Ubisoft. But even among many illustrious peers, such as * checks notes * most Assassin’s Creed games, Watch Dogs is special: taking place in a modern setting, focusing on the use of technology, the game is an even bigger mess than usual. The story follows the quest for …
Read More »Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is hands down the best entry in the franchise to date. It’s true that the game doesn’t try to reinvent the… wheel, but it more than makes up for it by offering some outstanding track designs and a truly stellar presentation. Mario Kart 8 makes use of several elements introduced in Mario Kart 7 and the …
Read More »The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess offers a much more complex and cinematic version of the formula adopted by the series after A Link to the Past. With a story marked by melancholy, and with more elaborate dungeons than its predecessor, the game impresses with its epic scope, although, for that, it gives up the element of mystery that surrounded …
Read More »The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker boasts a unique art style – a wondrous cel-shaded look that simulates a cartoon – and a great story – with the best antagonist in the series to date –, but it is sadly bogged down by some uninspired dungeon design and an overly repetitive structure that focus too much on combat. The …
Read More »Assassin’s Creed III
The ambition of Assassin’s Creed III is both its strength and its Achilles heel. The scope of its world and the number of activities available for the player is certainly impressive, since in one moment we will be bombarding ships during a storm on the high seas and, in the next, we will be hunting foxes with hand-made traps in …
Read More »Affordable Space Adventures
Affordable Space Adventures is a puzzle-adventure game that manages to make better use of the Wii U gamepad than any of Nintendo’s own titles on the system. Telling a story that confronts the exploitative practices of large corporations while offering innovative mechanics that create unique puzzles, the game only falters when it comes to its difficulty curve, which falls sharply …
Read More »Bayonetta
Developed by Platinum Games, Bayonetta is an action game that has an unusual heroine and a very engaging combat system. The action, however, is constantly interrupted by long cutscenes that tell a boring, barebones story. The main character, Bayonetta, suffers from amnesia, only knowing that she is an Umbra Witch – a European sect in collusion with demons that is …
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