Recent reviews by Marcore

Hogwarts Legacy is an RPG that truly stands out from the crowd. From the moment you start playing, you are immediately transported into the magical world of Hogwarts, complete with rich and immersive environments that truly bring the beloved world of Harry Potter to life. The attention to detail in the design of the world is simply incredible, with each and every location feeling unique and full of character.

The combat system in this game is nothing short of spectacular. It is fast-paced and intense, but also highly strategic, requiring players to carefully consider their actions in order to succeed. The battles are truly epic, with a wide variety of spells at your disposal, each with its own unique animations and effects.

The gameplay in Hogwarts Legacy is incredibly addictive, with a compelling storyline that keeps you hooked from beginning to end. There is a massive amount of content to explore, with countless quests, caves, and secrets to uncover. The game also features a robust character development system, allowing players to truly make their wizard or witch their own.

Overall, Hogwarts Legacy is an outstanding RPG that should not be missed by any fan of the Harry Potter universe or the RPG genre. With its incredible world, amazing combat, and addictive gameplay, this game is sure to provide hours of entertainment and satisfaction. If you're looking for an RPG that will keep you engaged and entertained for countless hours, then look no further than Hogwarts Legacy.

As I write this mere hours out of 2022 ending, I felt like this one sneaked in this year for me as one of the best games I played in this year.

Dinkum is what I would call the perfect alternative to Animal Crossing. However whilst not quite a clone of the the top tier Nintendo title, Dinkum certainly sets itself apart and stand on it's on two feet. The best I can describe this game would be using a the Family Guy meme of the two guys crashing and accidentally inventing peanut butter and chocolate. Except in this the meme would be Animal 'Crossing-over' with Stardew Valley albeit set in Australia. This is a welcome setting for myself as an Australian, it isn't very common a game will use Aus as it's worldly inspiration.

Dinkum is fun, relaxing and addicting and I could not imagine just how good this game must be on the Steam Deck. (I cannot wait for the device to launch in Australia for this game alone now.)

Dinkum can be enjoyed with friends in a fully co-op world where you can work together to build and survive. This is a very welcome addition to the game and I wouldn't fault the game without this at all.

All said, this is the perfect game to pick up if you're a fan of Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley and I am absolutely going to sneak this in to my top 5 games of 2022, perhaps top 3.

The story behind the creation alone reminds me of Eric Berone's story of Stardew Valley and I cannot wait to see how far this game could possibly go with more marketing, console releases, mobile ports and expanding features.

All this, and it's in early access as of the time of writing this.

Play this game.

Still better than Civ VI? Maybe, but definitely still relevant and still one of the very best experiences on PC today. If you love Civ, you should still play and appreciate Civ V. Civ VI does not replace this game, it lives alongside it, offering a different experience that won't alienate fans of the previous game if Civ VI does.

OG: You were supposed to be the chosen one! It was said you would save us from the bad games, not join them! Bring balance to the Battlefield, not leave it in darkness! You were my brother Battlefield, I loved you!

EDIT (September 2022): Getting Better... Still need lots of work! The chosen one, this is not!

Have you not played this game yet? No? What are you doing then? GO PLAY THIS GAME!

Fallout: NV is perhaps the best game in the entire franchise, offering a deeper and more thought out experience than Fallout 3, 4 and certainly more so than 76. Fallout: NV is one of the best RPG games to have ever been made, showing just what Obsidian are truly still the RPG kings.

If this game seems dated, mod it and play it anyway, if you can't mod for whatever reason, Google it, mod it, play it. If you just want to play without modding, good, GO PLAY IT ANYWAY!

If you don't enjoy it after an hour, then Fallout is obviously not for you.

Probably one of the best party games you can have with a group of friends willing to piss each other off, have a laugh and maybe throw a controller or two. Simple but very repayable.

I can't fault Moto GP 22 as much as I think I can, the game is overall a solid experience in making you feel like Marc Marquez or your own Moto GP rider. It's the yearly experience that hurts this game, seemingly nothing but a minor iteration on the previous year only to seem a bigger upgrade if you purchase after a 2 to 3 year upgrade cycle.

Most upgrades come in the form of real life changes, not much in the mechanics or the line-up.
However the visuals are the biggest noticeable change for this year's iteration, a graphical bump obviously to reflect the newer console hardware has paid off for PC players as well.

My overall opinion is relatively simple, if you already have last year's Moto GP 21, then it may well be better to save your money and wait until next year or even 2024, unless you absolutely NEED the real life changes reflected in your game, there really isn't much else on offer here that should have just been a small cost yearly upgrade fee or DLC that could serve the game and its consumer well. Moto GP: The Game, serviced for up to 5 years with yearly upgrades for a small fee would be better suited than gamers that don't want to pay for essentially the same game year after year with very minor changes overall.

Ride 4 is perhaps the best experience in video games for a motorcyclist or even a rider-to-be looking for a good game to play in the interim before getting your licence or actually getting on a bike. Whilst not the same thing, this is the closest you can get in virtual form.

Ride 4 manages to capture the feeling of each of its well crafted motorcycles very well, from the sounds, performance and handling of their real world counterparts. But it's not just the bikes, the tracks are faithfully recreated with some of each track offering multiple variations to keep the game more interesting.

The single player is weak in may regards though it does offer some nice career modes, it doesn't offer much. In my opinion this game really shines when you have some friends just as good as yourself to keep you on your toes for a nice duel around the track on your favourite two wheeled machine.

Ride!

I cannot stand people that review bomb a game for a poor launch. Games for many years with live services have experienced launches like this and will in short time be ready to play with a relatively smooth experience, this however does not bode well for developers that make a great game. Everyone thinks Amazon's vast wealth means the devs over at Amazon games MUST have access to all of that money surely.

New World is a breath of fresh air in a stale market of live service games that offer no real content, Amazon Games has crafted one of the best looking, well playing and interestng MMORPGs in the last decade. Combat is fun and rewarding, quests are plentyful, weapons and class systems are refreshing and exciting to play with, graphics are among the best in an MMO and the world is breathtakingly detailed and fun to live in. Whilst I don't condone any review bombings for any such reason I understand the frustration, having waited hours to even get a chance to play, however the wait was worth it, if even a glimpse in to what I will be able to play smoothly soon thereafter.

New World is a fantastic, well crafted MMO with a fresh perspective on the genre with the breath and scope of others MMO's that came before it. If you could combine The Witcher 3, Dark Souls and World of Warcraft into a single game, this would be the closest you'd get.

Dragonball Z: Kakarot is perhaps one of the finest Dragonball games in recent memory, with writing from Akira Toriyama and a decent recreation of the Dragonball Z portion of the anime, Kakarot manages to capture what makes this franchise special. The game manages to tell the story of Goku and his adventures throughout the series from the Saiyan saga to the Buu saga with many sub stories acting as side quests.

Whilst Kakarot doesn't stray too far from the anime's narrative, it does manage to fail in some parts of the story's recreation with some outright changing them altogether and not always for the better. Many of the side quests are short and uninspired for the sake of longevity, there is also many that are well written and worth playing for the ever expanding lore of the universe or explaining parts of the story that wasn't told in the manga or anime.

Lacking any kind of an impactful soundtrack many of Kakarot's cutscenes manage to fall very flat lacking any emotion or intensity that the series is known for, many of the more memorable scenes from the anime fail so drastically it borders on being cringy. If you've ever needed proof of just how important a good soundtrack is to telling a story, this is a good example. I however I managed to circumvent this issue with third party mods.

The combat system in Kakarot is where the game manages to shine however, taking notes from previous entries such as Xenoverse and the Budokai Tenkaichi series. The combat is fluid and entertaining with just the right amount of difficulty for the fans looking for a challenge, it also manages to stay faithful to the series whilst not alienating newcomers of the series. Using a leveling system akin to an RPG, the game has you play through the world of DBZ doing all sorts of main story quests, sub story quests, fetch quests, crafting, mining and many other elements, you gain your power through a skill tree that you unlock by collecting orbs that allow you to level up and unlock new abilities that contribute to your overall fighting prowess. Whilst not perfect by any sense of the word, it does manage to keep the game fun and interesting enough to enjoy your time within its world.

All in all, DB Kakarot is a well crafted action game with RPG elements that manage to capture the feeling of being Goku and the Z fighters whilst also managing to tell a story that we care about and tell it well, with a lacking soundtrack or any multiplayer options, it does feel as if some crucial updates could drastically improve the overall experience of the game. But in my opinion, Kakarot is a well worth playing recreation of the anime with some original elements that will have fans of the series saying "oh that's new".