Recent reviews by Jive Soul Fros-st

Your game is free because its mechanics are cheap.

Game developpers do not know the difference between difficult and frustrating. Unstoppable instant knockback into hazards. Simple boss patterns with huge healthpools making their killing a slog. SLOOOOOOOOOOW everything about the main character. Unrechargeable specials that must be saved but you don't exactly know when to use 'em (except for the heal, which is obvious). Ground that might or might not be unpassable, who can tell? Maps that don't tell you where you are or give you any landmarks as to where you could be. Mysterious everything. Especially the rewards, they're the most mysterious of them all. Call me if you meet any!

(Stupid tick increases in health when a boss's attack will drain you for about 70% health. A cruel joke more than anything.)

Lets talk about battle again so as to show you just how awful a game experience Jotun is: you have two attacks, one weak, one slow. You have specials, but like I said, they're unrechargeable in battle so you don't want to use them for fear of wasting them. So your game experience consists of walking through a HUGE world at a snails space, with only two attacks with which to play with. Jotun is bad AND boring.

Every design decision surrounding Jotun has been an error and I now fear buying indie games as a result. Its such an evidently awful product that I cannot trust anyone who would ever recommend this. Sure it's beautiful and hand-drawn and I'm sure you found the atmosphere "magical" but the first priority of any game should be to make it accessible to the public and I nearly pushed my keys through the keyboard because everything controls like molasses.

I reach hard walls and I can't pass because I get screwed seemingly at random. Boss patterns are simple, but outwitting them is not consistent. Then you die. Quickly and unfairly. You know what to do but maybe this turn is the turn the boss decides to do something wildly offpattern. With their boundless health, boss fights last forever and something random is bound to happen when you least expect it. You curse after every death because you know you're not at fault.

I never wanted this game in the first place. Summer Steam events make me want to encourage every sixth or so game and Jotun ended up on my wishlist as a result. I honestly thank xlren for telling me of the opportunity, but Jotun broke me and I will steer clear of indie games unless I tried them first and know they're worth the money. Here, I tried it for free and I KNOW I don't want to ever associate with Thunder Lotus ever again. Or anyone who thinks Thunder Lotus makes good games. It's that bad.

Ha ha, Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit is a zany comedy action-platformer where you go on a bloody rampage as a skeleton bunny, fighting to regain your throne as prince of Hell while armed with drill (more like a ring blade) and a huge variety of improbably heavy weapons. I won't go into details because humour constitutes the game's greatest value but Hell Yeah! will keep you amused for a couple of hours, or for about 25 to 30% of its overall content. It's just the sort of product that makes me apprehensive of "comedy" games; past the initial chuckle you'll find that there's very little in the way of content.

Still, I'm giving Hell Yeah! a Thumbs Up because although I was apprehensive of its many questionable design decisions, I've found nothing too offensive during play and the shock humour DID succeed in making me laugh. Design decisions such as mapping jump to a face button, aiming to the right stick and firing the right trigger; it seems cumbersome to do everything at once but there is enough leeway preventing you from getting frustrated. Or like holding jump for a floaty "jetpack"-like super jump. You dread the moment where you'll have to "float" just underneath a set of ceiling spikes but such a situation never occurs.

There's A LOT of material to go through so you're certain to get your money's worth, except that it does get repetitive after a while. Hell Yeah! makes an earnest attempt at providing as much monster variety as possible but inevitably, monster patterns and executions loop around and the game turns into a slog. You gain about a dozen different weapons but little to no difference in strategy. There's even extra value in the form of post-story extra missions; but they usually involve platformer racing or killing a certain amount of enemies within a time limit. The most pedestrian of added content.

If you've already obtained this game during the Sega giveaway and haven't played it yet, then save it for a rainy afternoon or during a period when you're particularly down in the dumps. Avoid reading about it as much as possible and simply allow the story to surprise you for as long as it can. If you do not already have this game in your library and are currently staring down its 16,99$ price tag, then no, I most certainly do not recommend the purchase. Steam sale only, with the understanding that you're playing this game strictly for laughs.

Tomb Raider makes for a better movie than a game. Well in comparison to the over-produced Angelina Jolie debacles, any competently produced movie offering would look favorable but what I'm trying to say is that Tomb Raider is one of those AAA games that are incredibly well-made but without any hooks that would constitute a must-buy. As gripping as Story Mode gets, from a game design standpoint you're on a linear path with QTE challenges, scripted non-repeatable enemy encounters and a few puzzles so easily solved they're barely worth mentioning. It's an interactive movie where you are the hero.

You are Lara Croft and you are fighting for your survival. You can't actually starve to death or catch your death in cold and you regenerate from bullet wounds after a short period of time so in this case "survival" means tons of enemies out to get you and all you have are a bow and arrow. And a pistol. And an axe, a combat shotgun and a machine gun. Kinda undermines the whole point, really. Combat is actually the bees-knees with flawless controls in a cover-and-shoot environment against determined foes out to plant a machete into your skull. Your melee options are rather lacking, leading to tense gameplay where one fights desperately for every inch of personal space against maniacs with firebombs trying to flush you out from cover.

I guess the "hook" of this game is that it's a Tomb Raider game. Tomb Raider fans will buy this product sight unseen and call it a shining beacon in the franchise. That's fair, but what about the rest of us? Well if you're like me and you barely touched the series, Tomb Raider is certainly more accessible than any of the previous Playstation installments. It's downright easy, even. The reboot mixes realism and fantasy in equal measures so as to build genuine dread at your desperate plight while still being respectful to the setting established throughout previous Tomb Raider titles.

Needless to say, Tomb Raider multiplayer is dead in 2016. I tried it, had a nice 15 minute conversation in the lobby then wrote that part of the game off. I cannot recommend this game at full price but I couldn't endorse simply watching a Let's Play either. And because story is such a central part of the product, every scene that you witness prior to play takes away some of the value from your purchase. Price it as you would a blockbuster, with popcorn. I'd like to thank Tonton Mori for the giveaway as I finished this during a long three day weekend and I cannot say that I regret the experience.

Finally, a word needs to be said about the gruesome death scenes. Those squeamish over violence against women should probably give this title a pass. The first couple of minutes of the following is required viewing for anyone thinking about purchasing this game.

My problem with Azure Striker Gunvolt is that it's a Nintendo 3DS port that was lazily converted to PC. Simply getting a full-screen display took an eternity, but capping a side-scrolling platformer with high skill requirements at 30FPS makes for an exercise in frustration. From hidden endings to achievements to extra stage challenges to speed-run modes... everything seems to be designed for the expert player, except for the game itself. This is not Guacamelee. You will feel the dropped frames and you will go through loading time (why are there still loading times in PC games?) when you want to restart a level.

Of course, you don't have to play for S ranks. In which case, the game is rather frugal in terms of giving you new toys. Or to put it in another way: you don't get the Robot Master's weapon after defeating them. Some gun sidegrades are given, but shooting isn't how you defeat your enemies. "Tag with my gun, follow with my flashfield. That's how my world turns." Yeah, but it gets old after a while because that's all that you ever do. Air dashes and double jumps are what you want, and such upgrades are only given through a somewhat out-of-place crafting system. Better scores offer more parts, making for a recursive loop preventing you from gaining the tools to get ahead.

As a platformer, there's not much platforming challenges. As an action-shooter, you don't really encounter any hordes of enemies to quickly and creatively dispatch. A better description of the ASG experience would be more as a stop-and-go side-scroller wherein all the gimmicks of the main character are used to better your score. Methodically advancing and destroying every foe that creeps to your right is a serviceable way of clearing a stage, and your reward for such a strategy will be a C score and very little parts for you to craft potentially fun upgrades. Playing to win is boring. Playing to excel is frustration.

As a 3DS game, I'm sure that Azure Striker Gunvolt is an excellent product. However, that isn't the product I am reviewing. Everything apart from the gameplay is great: graphics, story, enemy design and especially the soundtrack. However, if a game plays like boring ♥♥♥♥ than I cannot recommend it. There's obviously a demand for Megaman-like games, AND BOY DOES THIS GAME PILE ON THE REFERENCES. However, nostalgia alone cannot make me like a product. There's no hook to keep me playing. The resistance to your progress is so strong, all that electricity your hero generates only succeeds in burning you off.

Amongst a multitude of open world games with maps littered by icons for collectibles as a substitute for gaming content, Mad Max does something with the genre: it turns all of these collectibles into exploration pieces. This doesn't exactly solve the problem; exploring over a hundred of tiny settlements becomes as tedious as hunting down a hundred of other collectibles, but it does turn what would be a collectathon into a series of adventures and the resulting product is that much richer for it.

Mad Max is at its best whenever it turns into a dungeon crawler in post-apocalyptic Australia. Imagine Middle-Earth: Shadows of Mordor where instead of gaining intel on orc warlords you gain intel to take down enemy bases. Scout enemy camps from afar before taking out their perimeter defenses in your V6 engine car, then battle it out inside while seeking treasure troves of metal scraps.

The features are what sets Mad Max apart from other games. There are definite improvements to the traditional Batman-style melee while car combat has a range of over-the-top special attacks such as the harpoon slam, drive-by shootings, THUNDERPOONS and flaming jets of incineration. Meanwhile, the weakness in the main story actually made me wistful for the Assassin's Creed franchise! Say what you will about their game balance; you knew absurd action hero ♥♥♥♥ was gonna go down the minute you accepted that Story Mission! Here it's the opposite: Story Missions are quite tame and most of the value comes from investigating non-essential camps and hunting down enemy convoys.

One must enjoy the greater changes Mad Max brings to the genre if they are to appreciate their purchase. This could've just as easily been a negative review if I nitpicked every little thing that went wrong: Top Dog bosses follow identical patterns, the vehicles you collect from the enemy serve no purpose, ditto the archangel "alternative car builds", some cars are deliberately rendered hard to maneuver as artificial difficulty, the greatest threat to your lifebar is an impromptu event against which you are completely helpless (OH NO, A MIGHTY DUSTER!), same ol' chore list of tasks to do ("kill 20 enemies with wall finishers." No, stop adding those), not to mention the glaring elephant in the room: you are STILL searching for collectibles! They're just properly hidden as part of your (side-) adventure rather than showcased on a map, so you end up longing for those traditional map icons whenever you're stuck searching for that one final object and be done with a particular encampment!

Most games have you seek out upgrades in side quests, Mad Max makes upgrading your V6 engine into a V8 the main plot of the game. It's true! You get your car stolen in the opening, you vow vengeance, you find a substitute which you'll upgrade with better wheels, armor and such but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ if Max Rockastansky is gonna drive anything with less than 8 cylinders of pure power! This is literally "Upgrades: the Game". Assault the various strongholds of Scabrous Scrotous to unlock upgrades, collect piles of scrap to pay for upgrades, perform feats of daring-do (or kill 20 enemies with wall finishers) for character upgrades. This is... "pure extract of open world game". Mind you; the upgrades are indeed wonderful, but there should be more to games than just upgrades. I don't want to play the world's most skillful scrap collector.

There's just so much good in this game for it to warrant a Thumbs Down, despite my numerous gripes. However, I obviously cannot recommend this to anyone burnt out on open world games at the risk of seeing them puke map icons. Important: check your system requirements before purchasing as this game actually caused my computer to overheat when played at its highest graphical settings. If you're still on the fence, consider watching a few Let's Plays. I promise it won't spoil the story.

REVIEW SLIGHTLY EDITED FOR LENGTH

I wanted Final Fantasy Tactics in Sentai suits and was not disappointed!

No seriously, I'm calling Chroma Squad a must-buy in terms of tactical RPGs. At worst, the scenarios get kinda samey, the mecha battles are more luck-based than anything, Scout class needs work in terms of role within the team and the meme-based humour might get under some delicate skins. Never mind the details; as a tactical RPG, Chroma Squad gets everything right and even dares some neat ideas concerning character statistics, combat and the money/audience system.

What I'm saying is there's a deepness to the game despite the apparent simplicity of the setting, with clear character roles and a certain leeway in how you want them optimized. The love for the genre is genuine and goes a long way in enhancing your experience; it's more than just shooting aliens as in X-Com. Building an audience to gain money and better toys is a welcome change from XP grinding. The grid movement can be unforgiving what with the inability to take back a move but I feel as this just adds to the challenge factor.

In short: the core of the gameplay is great and the further you get from the tactical RPG, the worse it gets. I can't fault a game for false notes when it's just being overly ambitious. An original backdrop for an RPG, multiple story paths, clever insertion of Kickstarter backers into the story and the fact I've encountered no game-breaking bugs despite a Report button makes me want to heavily endorse this product. An example for other Kickstarter-funded game developers.

I'm a lapsed MtG player who completely skipped over Heartstone and tried Cards & Castles as a freemium game. To its credit, C&C is quite accessible without monetary investments: daily quests have reasonable objectives (so far), completing 2 or 3 of them will allow you to gain a booster pack but the campaigns offer more advantageous rewards while constituting proper gaming content.

Best not to look into the shop page period. I balked at the day-one opening sales pitch as the high-pressure sales tactic that it is. An offer of 99.00$ as "best value" for silver points nearly made me uninstall. No, the proper way to enjoy C&C is by playing practice matches until you're past level 5, doing the daily quests whenever you can and going through the campaigns. I recommend C&C as a side game: something to play between sessions of some other game you bought as a relaxing alternative.

There's ONE change I'd want to make. Presently, in the grid-based arena that is C&C, troops can pass through enemy units like they just aren't there. I'm sure there was plenty of play-testing involved before developers reached a decision but when you make a design choice to have all of your action happen on a grid, then movement matters and therefore obstacles must be an option so that movement has value. Right now movement only has value in the amount of turns it takes to reach the target and this is robbing the game of a primal strategic aspect. Make passing or blocking a keyword but obstacles need to happen if you want people to appreciate the differences between that and Heartstone!

C&C is a free, casual and approachable TCG with a great forum community that offers enough content to be worth the experience. Balance between factions is great and a cursory amount of research was enough to make me aware of the effort that was put into this product. I especially recommend this product to fellow players disabused by the increasingly competitive nature of Heartstone and Mythic-centric MtG. Campaigns, not competition make this experience worth it.

This will probably be my last review of an Assassin's Creed product. To its credit, Assassin's Creed: Revelations is better than Brotherhood and is pretty much the sequel Brotherhood was meant to be. Although whereas Brotherhood was an unimaginative rehash of previous gameplay principles, Revelations appears to be this dubious mishmash of poorly implemented game ideas.

There's less filler missions but now you individually rescue about a hundred citizens to induct into your assassin ranks. They removed the cryptography puzzles (a shame since I honestly enjoy cryptography) and inserted first-person PLATFORMERS into the metagame sequences instead. There's this odd TOWER DEFENSE mini-game, and it's presented both as a fail condition from being too notorious yet comes with rewards of its own. The Awareness Icon can go blow itself: even at max notoriety, Ottoman soldiers won't challenge you unless you're already doing something suspicious and Byzantine soldiers always view you as an enemy anyhow. Finally, challenges are back and in greater number than ever. They were probably intended as a tutorial device but the sheer quantity of tasks required grinds the story to a halt.

A major sticking point for Revelations is how utterly unbalanced it is. I was used to unbalanced mechanics from when one could simply wait for money to fall from the sky and open up better equipment toot sweet. That's still there but now you have the main map open from the get-go and access to END LEVEL EQUIPMENT as soon as you unlock your towers and complete your assassin network. Master Assassin armor and 5/5/5 weapons by sequence three? You better believe it. Bomb crafting seems to be the major drawing point of this installment and they're both easily accessible and eminently customizable. Sadly, simple smoke bombs were already overpowered by Assassin's Creed 2 and have now become superfluous by the sheer amount of killing tools you possess. Furthermore, they can only be crafted at specific crafting stations, meaning you won't be able to switch to the right bomb in the middle of a mission when they'd be relevant.

I really wanted to give Assassin's Creed: Revelations my thumbs up; it's essentially a Michael Bay movie set up in Turkish gunpowder civilization. But as much as I enjoy the stunts you pull throughout the story, there is no defense for the clunky gameplay mechanics. I imagine one could say the same for the series as a whole.

My first playthrough actually left me physically ill. Motion sickness from the wobbly first-person perspective? Anywho, a second playthrough didn't offer anything new. This is basically an ad for the http://crowscrowscrows.com/ newsletter. There are no gaming components to this product, just follow instructions as sequences won't advance until you do. I have no incentives for you to download this, unless maybe you like funny English accents?

For the record, I didn't sign up for the newsletter because I was looking for a cheap game to pass the time and this does not qualify as a game. Once again, this is a tasteful advert for the newsletter from the developers behind The Stanley Parable. There is no fun to be had from consuming this media. My fault for downloading a "free" product; everytime I download something free from the internet I get a virus or a bug or something similarly awful. Won't happen again. Sorry.

There are three reasons why I cannot recommend Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood; chief of which is how there's not enough new content for this to qualify as anything more than a DLC. No new notable characters have been introduced, additions to gameplay are minor and differences to the script similarly so: you essentially lose everything from Assassin's Creed 2 during the prologue and spend the rest of the game trying to build back your base of operation. Meaning, don't begin your Assassin's Creed experience from this title onwards because you start immediately as Assassin's Creed 2 drops off; so yes, spoilers.

Secondly, one of the defining aspects of the game (specifically, the brotherhood of assassins whom you recruit) works entirely by a time-passage mechanic. If Assassin's Creed 2 allowed you to cheat the system by waiting so as to gain additional income, Brotherhood sends your assassin recruits away on missions where success is based entirely on a percentage, with no involvement on your part.

Third, although I love how your missions now have additional challenges, autosaving on your failures and the inability to skip cutscenes are just artificial obstacles that any game producer respectful of their customers would've removed already. Neither can you skip the end credits, and the game won't acknowledge you've finished the story until the whole 20 minute thing has passed. Alt-tabbing pauses the credits.

Production was so lazy, it warped the whole story stupid. They've copy-pasted the villa restoration system from 2, but it's one thing to rebuild a decrepit villa so as to attract tourists and another one entirely to renovate ROME. You wage war on the open seas against battle ships sculling about your little gondola oar, because of course they kept the gondola and they couldn't be arsed in building an appropriate boat. I should add that the filler returns WITH A VENGEANCE: the missions I don't mind, it's the list of tasks such as "kill 20 guards with a crossbow while undetected" which are nothing but a chore. Expect around 40 of those.

So don't do like I did and buy a whole bunch of discounted Assassin's Creed products in bulk, but pick and choose amongst the goodish ones. Or imagine everyone lived happily ever after the events of Assassin's Creed 2. That works too.