Recent reviews by david_parsons

Super happy that this demo was released to the public on Steam! I've been looking forward to this game since first seeing it. It has quickly become one of my most anticipated games. Had a lot of fun playing through the demo, and can't wait for the full release.

Absolutely top-notch, S-tier video game experience. Loved Ratchet & Clank back in the day, and this was just as much of a blast as the series ever was. They did an excellent job implementing a greater emphasis on storytelling with this one as well. Adored every bit of it. I only ever played the PS2 era of the series, but I played them a LOT. It was one of the series that I grew up with, so I was very happy to finally get around to playing the latest entry, considering that so many series that I adored back then are essentially dead IP now. I've yet to play the PS3 and PS4 era games, but I would like to someday, and have looked into what those games were. From what I've seen, Rift Apart was a massive return to form, after the Future entries, while still moving in a modern direction. The Future titles introduced a greater emphasis on being an action/shooter game, with platforming and puzzles taking a very intentional backseat. Rift Apart continues this trend, while also throwing back to the PS2 era in some of its worldbuilding and level structure. There are some very driven, linear cinematic moments throughout, which is a deviation from that old-school feel, but it's handled very well and remains fun, even if there's less of a feeling of openness to the game. There are still some levels sprinkled throughout that have that more classic structure of looping paths, with different gameplay feel and rewards, to tie it all together. I do sort of miss the more platforming and puzzling structure of the classic games. I liked having a handful of random gadgets that were only ever used a few times a piece, and had some level gimmicks built around them. Maybe in hindsight that was objectively bad, but I like it. I think my nostalgia for, and genuine love of, the gameplay structure of the original trilogy will always keep those as my favorites of the series, but this was right up there with them, in its own regard, and will probably stand above the PS3/4 games when I finally play them.

Played a bit of this before they started using AI generated images. Now I know to never bother with playing it again. Thanks, Activision.

Played a bit of this before they started using AI generated images. Now I know to never bother with playing it again. Thanks, Activision.

I couldn't even begin to remember when I'd last played this game. Like 15 years ago, or something. I think it's such a hidden gem. I love it so much. Super happy to have the remaster on Steam. That's very cool. It played really well. The movement and jumping aren't quite as tight as some other platformers, but the game is still so much fun. I love the boomerang combat. It's just such a cool weapon. I love the vibe, and the art, and the theme, and the humor. It doesn't quite stack up next to the bigger names of the genre, like Crash and Spyro, or Jak and Ratchet, but it's such a solid B-grade experience, and all the little bits that make up the whole on this one make it a personal favorite of mine.

Super charming and fun. I really enjoyed it. I spent like 3 hours on attempts at beating the last boss, but it's really not that bad, after you get dialed in. Sucks to get all the way to the final phase, and then die though, but that's the retro platformer way. I love that this game does justice to the Collectathon genre, without trying to reinvent it for a "modern" age, or something. More often than not, I want a game that's just gonna do something really well, rather than attempt to shake up why the genre is loved to begin with. I don't always want roguelite elements, or procedural generation, or randomization of what's to be expected. Sometimes I just want a game full of levels to explore, and a solid character to explore them with. That's what this game delivers.

I had a great time with this one. Charming is probably the best word to describe it, which goes a long way for a 3D platformer. The audio is very rough in places, the animations during cutscenes are stiff, and the performances and dialogue aren't great, but the core of the game is solid. Jumping around, exploring the levels, and fighting the enemies feels really good. There are some wacky things that can happen with the physics at times. I had some unintended proxies off of breakable objects a couple of times, one of which even flung me off the stage to my death. 🤣 I find that kinda thing more funny than frustrating though. It's a very classic 3D platformer though, which gives it high marks for me. I feel like that's a genre that we are sorely lacking in the modern era. I'll take every Collectathon that I can get, B-rate or otherwise, and this one definitely sits in the "Good" tier, despite flaws.

Love what they did with this game. It's an extremely short kinda prologue/campaign, which they are direct about when you launch the game, but that does not detract from the experience at all. This game feels great.

Atmospheric, little horror game. Nothing to complain about considering it's a free experience. Simple, little walking-sim, really, but has some good moments.

I really do love the gameplay of the Tide series, and I think this game handles all of those pieces very well. I do wish that there was more of a structured campaign system, similar to Vermintide, but I understand how the 40K universe lends itself more to feeling like a small cog in a big machine. It feels great to just jump in and slay the hordes though.