Atlas Fallen Review

Players will step into the shoes of a refugee stuck in a camp that is hanging on by a thread. The camp’s soldiers abuse and use the inhabitants for their own means. However, when something is stolen from camp, players will set out to find the thief. From there, one is called by something known as “The Voice,” leading players to a magical Gauntlet. Using this Gauntlet, you can access newfound weapons and skills to fight back against the Wraiths surrounding your camp. After this, you eventually find the thief, and your camp is wiped out by what is known as a Watcher.

Escaping the Watcher, players will then enter a large desert filled with more Wraiths and Watchers. Coming across a small town of survivors trying to find their way out of the desert, they turn to the player and their Gauntlet to escape.

Before one can do that, however, players will need to power up and do some side missions.

Atlas Fallen’s open-world has plenty to see, but it’s also pretty generic. Most side quests involve finding someone, killing something, or powering yourself up. Some early quests feel more like additional tutorials than actual quests. Still, getting the power-ups is the only way to survive some of the harder enemies and boss fights. You grind the quests to get more essence, and from there can upgrade your armor and Gauntlet stones.

The stones are how you get new skills and passive buffs, including more damage, higher defense, and better counterattacks. Unlike most games, you don’t unlock these by leveling up. Instead, you must find blueprints and fuse them or find the skills in chests. You can equip up to three skills and eight buffs at a time, leaving plenty of room for experimentation. Once I found what worked for me, I rarely switched unless it was to do more damage to flying enemies (because screw flying enemies).

While exploring, other things to do include traversal puzzles, animal discovery, elite enemy fights, and Watcher Tower destruction. Animals lead you to chests and sometimes rare materials for upgrades. Elite enemies are like they sound: mini-bosses with more skill stones and upgrade stones. The puzzles are hit-and-miss, but most of them are following one line to another, then another, and another within a specific time limit. The Towers have you facing waves of enemies until a boss pops up, with beating it down clearing the region of the Watcher’s influence. Everything here is pretty typical open-world checklist stuff.

The combat itself is fast and hectic. At first, you can easily spam attacks and bust enemies into pieces. However, as you progress, enemies start having certain body parts that must be destroyed to kill them. This is fine on land since you can move around quickly and destroy pieces, but air enemies are different. You have multiple air dashes and double jumps, but maneuvering the air against enemies is never fun. It’d work great if you could just hit wherever you wanted and destroy enemies. I’m not sure why the “breaking parts” system was needed; it just drags the combat down.

One of the game’s best features can be found in its traversal mechanics. I already mentioned the sand surfing, but the vertical movement is also excellent. You start off with a double jump and one dash. As you upgrade, you can do multiple jumps and dashes in mid-air. It is fluid and precise, allowing for sudden direction changes if needed. There is one downside to this freedom, though. You will often run into invisible walls or slide down mountainsides that you think you can climb. It’s annoying, but you get used to it.

Tech-wise, I did have a few frame drops. I also had one crash, but thankfully the auto-save functionality only brought me back about a minute.

While Atlas Fallen is a perfectly fine game, fine doesn’t quite cut it in 2023. If you’re dying to hunt down Wraiths, wait for a discount first.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post Atlas Fallen Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Remnant 2 Review

The plot of Remnant 2 is pretty simple: The Root has taken over Earth, and you and a few other survivors must fight back. While searching for supplies, you and a fellow survivor stumbled into a settlement called Ward 13. It’s basically a shipping yard with containers and a few buildings. Here you meet up with Ford, who shows you the World Stone and how to use it. With this, you are able to set out to find your missing friend and clear out some Root.

From there, the story will vary from player to player due to how things are set up. My first area was a forest zone where an eternal struggle between something known as the Doe and the Ravager has been going on. Our other editor ended up on this dying planet where a giant creature wanted him to find some Star Seeds. You eventually see all the zones, but your story and how you get there is random. Most of the game is procedurally generated, which works for the most part. I did occasionally get lost using the map, due to the placement.

Remnant 2 is best described as Dark Souls with guns. The combat is brutal and quick, leaving you dead if you don’t react quickly enough. The dodge is generous, but you can still go down in a couple of hits. The shooting is on point, and unloading a clip into an enemy feels excellent. You also get abilities from the classes you take. For instance, I had a dog that could bring me back up if I went down or attack enemies. They took what made the original Remnant good and improved it, which is exactly what I wanted.

As for classes, those are new to the series. At the start, you can choose from four different archetypes that will give you certain buffs and skills. You start with the dog handler, the gunslinger, the medic, and the challenger (melee class for those crazy enough to want to play that). There are also other classes you can unlock as you play the game. Some of them are VERY hidden, which I respect. Do you think Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will let you miss Vincent or Yuffie? Not a chance. Players willing to explore are rewarded.

To encourage this exploration, you get what is called Adventure mode. So I told you the story splits depending on the planet you start on. Well, there are multiple different storylines on the planets as well. For instance, while I was in Losomn, I was asked to find evidence against a king. When I returned to Adventure mode, I was in a city instead of a palace like before. The king wasn’t even mentioned this time, and I found an insane asylum in the city instead. That is just one example of many; I’m still not sure I’ve seen them all.

Puzzles in Remnant 2 are both more difficult and less frequent. Alternate boss kills were a big thing in the original, and Remnant 2 still has them; just far less frequently. There is a new inspect mode for items that aren’t used much but is a cool new feature. Mostly you are putting together cryptic clues or looking for specific keys for puzzles. That’s not to say that they are bad; I just felt like there weren’t as many. Also, Ward 13 only has a couple of puzzles in this game, which is a bummer.

There are quite a few weapons in the game. You have the stand assault rifles, snipers and hunting rifles, shotguns, LMGs, and even some bows. I started as the Handler, and they started with an assault rifle. I never switched my gun until I beat the game. Everything else I came across fired too slow for my liking, or were the LMG which took forever to reload. I’m also not sure if I had bad luck or what, but nearly every weapon I found in the worlds was a bow or crossbow, and I had no interest in those. I eventually switched after some boss Alt Kills, but the AR is the way to go.

To go along with your weapons are your weapon mods. These are extra abilities on each of your guns; think fire bullets, grenade shots, summoning vine allies, or shields. You need to kill the bosses and return to Ward 13 to get them made. While there are a ton to choose from, I still stuck with fire bullets, just like I did the last game. Combo that with acid bullets on my sidearm, and I still melt enemies. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – that’s my motto.

There were some tech issues I ran into. I did have a few crashes (after reviewing this game, I am replacing my PlayStation 5, so I’m not 100% sure it was the game). I also encountered several frame drops, especially when bosses were doing big moves. We also ran into the bug where an enemy would be stuck somewhere, and we couldn’t use the world stone since we were still stuck in combat. There were some minor annoyances, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the game.

I find myself thinking this about a lot of games this year, but in a weaker year Remnant 2 could be a GOTY contender. Don’t hesitate to check it out if you like these types of games.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post Remnant 2 Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Exoprimal Review

The story is Exoprimal is pretty wild: In the near future, portals start to appear on Earth that spew out dinosaurs. Instead of becoming extinct ourselves, humans fight back to push back the dinos. To do this, the human race made Exosuits (mechs) to even the odds. Thankfully you also have an AI that can detect the portals before the dinosaurs come out. Using that knowledge, you go from mission to mission to push back the scourge.

Exoprimal is a third-person shooter at its core, but you can also use melee. Each Exosuit you can use is basically a class and has different abilities and weapons you can use. The assault classes are meant for damage and typically have explosions, strong rifles, and evasion skills. Tanks are the tanks and get shields and crowd control. Supports heal you up and buff you while doing a little bit of damage. Each role works fine, but the game’s repetitive nature means you’ll likely only play a few of them.

The best feature of the game is the special abilities of the Exosuits. Each has a unique skill that you can get once or twice a match if you are lucky, dishing out damage and looking pretty in the process. One of them is just a barrage of endless bullets shredding dinos. One of the tanks can call in an air strike that will decimate everything it hits. For me? It’s all about the tornado spin. One of the tanks spins in place, gathering up dinosaurs around it in a vortex, and can then shoot the tornado out. It feels good to use every time.

I’m not sure how many maps the game has, but they all start to blend together after a few hours. I just played a match where I was about to load into a new area, only to load right back where I was and have new objectives spawn, making the load completely pointless. Speaking of loading, it takes far too long to get into a match. I’m unsure if it’s a lack of players or poor servers, but I shouldn’t have to wait over a minute to find a lobby.

Exoprimal is supposed to be a competitive game where teams race to complete objectives faster than the other team. If you fall behind, your team gets a dinosaur ally that one player can be. Being the dinosaur is the funnest part of the game. From my experience, the team who gets the dinosaur not only catches up, but also gets ahead and wins. It’s almost a better strategy to lose the first few rounds to get the dinosaur and wreck the enemy team with it. Alternatively, a noob takes the dino and dies in less than 30 seconds.

The upgrades and progression are also dull. You get new decals for your suit, new colors, emotes, some minor upgrades, and charms. There are no new guns or parts you can switch out on your Exosuit; it feels like they shouldn’t have even bothered including mechs if you can’t do that. Oh, but don’t worry; there is a paid battle pass that also unlocks avatars and exclusive skins. Killing dinosaurs can only carry a game so far.

Speaking of killing dinosaurs, they don’t spawn enough. Sometimes you have to kill 200 to move onto the objective. However, they don’t all spawn at once, instead dropping piecemeal with 20-30 at a time. The game feels like it’s caught between being something similar to Earth Defense Force and a horde-mode game. As is often the case with trying to do multiple things, it gets neither right. I actually think this game would have been better as a wave survival game. Tech-wise, I didn’t run into any frame drops, crashes, or bugs.

Exoprimal was clearly designed to be free-to-play, and much like Capcom’s other competitive multiplayer offerings, I kept trying to find a hook. It’s worth a go on Xbox Game Pass, but this dinosaur just can’t beat the kings of the genre.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post Exoprimal Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Diablo 4 Review

When Diablo 4 begins, you get to pick from five different classes. I mostly played the Druid, but got some Necromancer time during the beta. After creating your character, you get caught in a storm and need shelter. A local town nearby takes you in, but they need help with creatures at the temple. You deal with them, return, and the whole town tries to sacrifice you. Beating them, you soon learn about the Cult of Lilith.

Lilith has come to the lands of Sanctuary and is intent on taking over. A man named Lorath explains what is happening and that you two need to try to stop it. From there, you set off to the various settlements around Sanctuary to help out and kill demons. The main story is very long; I’d say roughly around 50 hours. However, the end game can easily last another 50.

As a druid, I mostly played melee as the werewolf and werebear. As the bear, I would rush in and tank enemies while doing crowd control. As the wolf, I’d focus on damage and building up my poison dot, ripping through certain bosses. I had access to tornadoes, lightning storms, rock slides, and other elemental attacks, but shape-shifting carried me to the end. The skill tree is vast, and you could have dozens of builds – even within the same class.

Combat starts off far too easy, but players will quickly hit a brick wall of challenge later. Controls are responsive, and moves feel impactful. My favorite bear move is a huge ground slam; when you spam it, you feel the earth shake. Even my normal swings felt good when I was hitting hordes of enemies. One downside is the enemy buffs early on. Sometimes they have more HP as a buff, and it’s not needed. You rarely lose to these creatures; they only serve to consume more time.

One good thing the development team took from Diablo Immortal was its shared world, not unlike an MMO. You don’t get matchmaking, but you can run into other players on the map and team up with them. Unlike most other games, people happily team up in this because you get more experience, and it means enemies go down quicker. There are also events in-game that players can team up for and get chests from. These spawn randomly, and it’s first come, first serve.

Other points of interest on the map include dungeons, hideouts, forts, Altars of Lilith, and waypoints. The waypoints are fast-travel, so you want those. Forts need to be taken and sometimes become another settlement with fast travel. Altars of Lilith give permanent boosts to stats and are shared between all characters on the accounts. Hideouts are basically mini dungeons with one room and a quick fight. Then the dungeons are huge sprawling instances with bosses, loot, enemies, and sometimes events.

It’s important to note that this the stuff you can do BEFORE you beat the game. Once you beat the story, you get Nightmare Dungeons, World Boss Events, Legion Events, Blood Tides, and the Whispering Tree. All of these help you unlock Legendary gear to keep you getting more powerful for the final difficulty tier. Honestly, this game will be a job for some of you. There is so much to do it can quickly become overwhelming; and I didn’t even try the PVP.

Then there is Diablo 4’s equipment. With item design, they knocked it out of the park, and transmog is free. With crafting, you can remove stats you don’t like and replace them with better ones—aspects altar your abilities, meaning that builds can get even more in-depth. Gem slotting and unique items return as well. One downside is that you can’t pull aspects off of the unique gear, which is often very good.

Diablo 4 is not without blemish, however. For one thing, it takes far too long to get the mount. You do get it on all characters when you unlock it, which is nice, but the game world is enormous. You need to run back and forth multiple times with no waypoint, and a horse would have made it that much better. In addition, playing on a console makes it very hard to see what buffs and debuffs you have going on you in combat. I know limited inventory slots are a staple of ARPGs, but bigger bags would have been nice. Also, the team desperately needed to put an overlay map in; it blew my mind that this wasn’t included.

I did have a couple of crashes and some server issues, but nothing that changed my impression of the title.

It’s been a long time coming, but Diablo 4 is the game fans deserve. Put simply, Diablo 4 will easily be many people’s Game of the Year.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post Diablo 4 Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Review

As the name would suggest, you play as Gollum in this title.

If you are asking yourself: Why would you want to do that? Well, the answer is: You do not want to do that.

The story begins with Gollum being captured by an elf king and Gandalf as he retells the story of his time in Mordor. As you might expect, it was rough. He worked in the mines with some other slaves and had to do the work others couldn’t due to his size. This mainly included dangerous tasks like finding dead miners deep in the cave or setting off explosive charges that didn’t go off. Eventually, he escapes with one goal in mind: finding his precious.

Another story feature are the choices made between Smeagol and Gollum’s internal decision-making. You seem to be choosing who is the more dominant personality. For example, you find a beetle that you can eat or let go of early on. Letting it go lets you watch it fly away, and Smeagol is happy. Eating it makes Gollum happy, but you get an upset stomach. Not that it matters because you are hunted right after. Also, you quickly realize your choices are pointless as The Lord of the Rings’ story has already been told, and your choices aren’t changing that.

The gameplay revolves around sneaking and platforming, along with some stealth kills. Unfortunately, the stealth kill takes so long that you might as well not bother unless it’s one target. Sneaking around works fine, but the AI can be dumb as bricks. If you get into a shadow, it is to the point that you are nearly invisible to them. However, getting caught can put you back some steps, and the checkpoints are a bit annoying. I didn’t have much issue with the platforming; that worked fine when the camera did what it was supposed to.

The mission structure of the game is also very odd. You feel like you are doing a bunch of busy work. Yes, I get it, you are a prisoner, but man does it drag on. Even the first few days in prison have a bunch of tasks that feel like they take too long. Then there is the bird hatching if you consider random guessing a puzzle, that will be right up your alley. I really don’t know how someone played any of this and thought: “This is fun.”

It isn’t really a game with side quests or big areas to explore, and it feels linear. There are collectibles to find and worms that can heal you, but there isn’t much reason to explore off the path anyways. And if you do go off the path, your stamina meter lasts approximately two seconds before running out. You do go very fast for those two seconds, but the bar takes forever to recharge.

For a game that looks this bad, it also doesn’t run great. It looks like an early PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 game, with the gameplay to match. I had plenty of bugs and crashes. Creatures and objects are clipping, NPC’s walking circles, and floating heads, among others. My favorite was when my checkpoint put me near a guard who was already alerted. I’d spawn in and have to run around the corner or get caught again and again. I was also told to turn Gollum’s hair off to help with crashes, which is very funny to me.

It is good to know that we already know the worst game of the year in May. Do yourself a favor and forget about The Lord of the Rings: Gollum – it is anything but precious.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review

Taking place five years after the events of the original, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has Cal and his crew mates splitting up and going their separate ways. However, Cal has been taken prisoner to Senator Sejan on Coruscant, who basically tells you to give up the location of the others for freedom. Just in the nick of time, BD jumps in and frees you, allowing you to pursue the Senator.

You are actually here to gather intel, and the Senator’s ship just so happens to have it. While going after the ship, the game introduces you to the new crew, who help out in a few places. Eventually, you catch up with the Senator, but your trap turns into a trap against you. You escape, but what you found needs to be discussed with your old crew. Finally, you crash land on a planet with Greez, and there your journey begins.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is much larger than the last game, with fewer planets that are larger in scope. Koboh is where you spend most of your time and all sorts of creatures – friendly and not – inhabit it. This is also home to the Bedlam Raiders and their repurposed old war droids; something else to watch out for on top of dealing with the Empire. It took me just over 35 hours, but I still had plenty of collectibles left on the map.

Unlike the last game, you start with basic Force powers like a push and pull, along with a double jump. On top of that, you still have the dual-sided lightsaber and the twin lightsaber stance. You get a few new Force powers like mind control, but it’s nothing crazy like lightning coming from your hands. The big new upgrades are the new lightsaber stances, the Crossguard stance, and Blast Saber combo.

You do have a lightsaber throw, but the range is minimal. With the blaster, you can hit enemies at range and get a charge shot. I used the stun shot, which worked great for big human enemies. You still have your lightsaber in this stance as well, so you can parry and do basic combos. The Crossguard stance is a powerful lightsaber that is similar to a greatsword in most action RPGs. It is slower and hits much harder. I’m more about speed, but it is a cool addition nonetheless.

The combat first and foremost favors a defensive style. The more you block, the more you break an enemy’s guard and open them up. Once open, Cal can do significant damage. That isn’t to say it is like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. You can get away with spam attacking most basic enemies. Rather, it’s just the bigger guys that you need to watch out for. One can also slice limbs off in this one – truly excellent.

Mixing in your force powers into combat opens up even more combos, while the skill tree lets you upgrade force powers to affect most non-boss enemies. You can even get a strong enough lift or pull to pick the huge enemies up. There are many options for skills; each stance has a tree, Cal has a tree, and your Force powers have a tree. Cal’s special is a time slow, where he can slow everyone around him down a bit and do some free damage. It’s cool, but you can still get countered while you are in it.

Exploration and parkour also play a big role in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. If you were hoping for better exploration rewards, then you might want to wait for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. You now get haircuts, new clothes, BD colors, extra HP packs, stat upgrades, and occasionally lightsaber parts. Every once and a great while, you will find an upgrade for BB or map locations, but even then, it’s not worth it. It is cool that you can customize your Cal a bit more; I just don’t think it’s worth all the effort.

There is one element worth discovering: Perks and Perk Slots. Perks are upgrades to specific stats or abilities; you can only have so many equipped at once. For example, I like to toss the lightsaber, so I had a perk that upgraded that damage and one that broke through the enemy’s block quicker. So with my upgraded saber throw, I could simultaneously hit multiple enemies and break more guards. If they added some stats to hilts and clothes, I think it’d be worth finding.

There are a lot of new side activities to do. You have bounties, side missions, an auto battler mini-game, gardening, fish finding, and recruiting. You recruit people out in the wilds back to Rambler’s Reach, and they give you currency, new quests, or other rewards. The currency is spent in the game’s few stores, but again it’s mostly cosmetic stuff. Fish go into the aquarium in the saloon, which is fantastic, and I actually do think that’s a good exploration reward. Gardening looks pretty, but I couldn’t figure out if it did anything else.

With the game going more open, there are some drawbacks. For one, the title is very selective of which ledges players can grab. There are also many more invisible walls, which is never fun. This could all be resolved if they just give my boy Cal a jet pack next game. I know they got that Anthem code sitting around somewhere in EA. So get that flight mode, and let’s go. Also, I felt like the last bit dragged on far longer than it should have.

I did have a couple of minor bugs, but nothing game-breaking. I also ran into a few frame drops, mostly during huge fights with many enemies.

This entry proves yet again that letting Respawn handle the Star Wars IP is the right call. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a Game of the Year contender in a very stacked year.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story

The Mageseeker follows the story of the imprisoned rogue mage Sylas. After initiating a prison break, he escapes his chains and sets out to create a revolution so mages can live free. After finding some ruins, players will set up a camp with others who fled the city during the riot. Using the information from these people, you figure out where other mages are being held and set out to free them.

As you recruit more, the camp grows with new facilities and NPCs. You start with a small base littered with broken columns and debris and end up with what amounts to a fully functioning town. During downtime, players can chat with others, do upgrades, find treasure, and learn new spells. The camp area gives you just enough respite in-between levels to be satisfying.

The game is broken up into chapters; you will typically have a main mission and a few side ones. You can also send your extra Outlaws out for special missions for more supplies and recruits. The missions mostly play out the same, just set in different areas. You fight some enemies, gather some lore, fight a boss, then head back to camp. It’s a simple system, but it works because of the combat.

The Mageseeker combines fast-paced melee combat with various magical spells and effects. Sylas has these chains that allow him to steal magic from enemies. Once he steals a spell, he can learn it back at base camp. The chains also act as grapple hooks to pull you toward objects and enemies. Used in conjunction with combo attacks, players can fly around rooms and beat down enemies quickly. The chains have a small cooldown, but you get used to it.

As for spells, you have the elements of fire, water, wind, lightning, mystic, and nature. For every element of magic, there is also an Outlaw you can find with that same element. Admittedly not every spell was powerful or cool, but you can only equip four at a time, and it’s easy to find four useful ones. Lightning has always been my favorite type of attack, so I liked to call in Thunderstorm when I had the mana. Poison Spores is also good – if used correctly.

Side quests are presented as refreshing mini rogue-like missions. Players go in with all your equipment, but there is a simple upgrade on each floor that one cannot leave with – think more magic damage, quicker mana regen, or more HP. To get these upgrades, you have to swap out your spells with a random one they choose. Doing this made things more challenging, and gave me spells I couldn’t use yet.

Back at base, you can spend all the loot you find to upgrade both yourself and your spells. The skill trees are somewhat big, but it is mostly stat upgrades. The mana and HP upgrades are essential if you want to get to the end of the game.

New to League of Legends? No need to know the lore to enjoy The Mageseeker. We played a few seasons in the past, yet we still cannot tell you who this Sylas cat is. Still, it was cool to see Garen and Lux make an appearance.

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story is a fantastic action RPG and a worthy spin-off. If you like fast-paced top-down action, give this one a shot.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Review

Like a Dragon: Ishin! takes place during the mid-1800s, as Western ships start to enter Japan. During this time of turmoil, a young man named Sakamoto Ryoma returns to his home after some sword training in Edo. Sakamoto Ryoma is actually Kiryu from the other games, just renamed for story purposes. When you return home, you meet with your adoptive father and learn about the political issues around your home.

It doesn’t take long for you to get caught up in some plot, and your adopted father is killed. So naturally, as this is a Yakuza game, the blame is put on you and you go into hiding. Unfortunately, you only know that the assassin used the Tennen Rishin style and that the only people who know that style are the Shinsengumi. So you head to Kyo and join up with the Shinsengumi, a group of elite lower-class samurai, hoping to find the answers you seek.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! returns to the real-time action combat the series is known for. As a samurai, you are gifted in multiple fighting styles and can switch freely during battle. There is sword style, unarmed brawler style, gun style, and sword and gun style (for area of effect attacks). Each one has its own skill trees, combos, and special abilities.

Sword style is best for one-on-one fights such as bosses or mini-bosses. Brawler is more about grappling and control. The gun is broken against weaker enemies, and you can spam shoot without reloading. Gun and sword is a hybrid, more about flashy moves and hitting multiple enemies. Brawler was my favorite since I could use my heat gauge to throw endless punches until the enemy dropped or I ran out of steam. I think the sword is the best one overall, though, since some enemies have armor and bullets do next to nothing to armor.

Something I noticed was that there seemed to be fewer heat actions (special attacks) in the world in general. In the other games, you could use bikes, cones, trash cans, and basically anything lying around. You will find some things like stools or fish to use in Ishin, but not nearly as much as in previous entries. It might be because you already have weapons that don’t break. Either way, I was disappointed because I was looking forward to seeing the different ideas they could do in this era.

To make up for this, you gain what are known as Trooper cards. The cards are used in battle to aid you in combat. Most of them buff or heal you, but some have special attacks. One of the first ones you get lets you shoot lightning out of your hands like Star Wars’ Palpatine. My current favorite is casually summoning a tiger into the battle like it’s an everyday occurrence. Trooper card usage can be set to automatic for people who don’t want to bother with it as well.

The big mini-game in Ishin is called Another Life. It is basically a farm simulator, and it is super addictive. First, you gain a small plot of land to plant multiple crops. Then, after a short time, you harvest the crops and can sell them or make food with them. You can also use Virtue which you gain from various activities such as side quests and defeating tough enemies to upgrade the farm. If you stick with it, you get great food buffs and make some real cash selling crops.

While there are a ton of side quests in Ishin, some of them are just turning in items over and over. I like this because sometimes the Yakuza side quests can start to drag. The downside is you don’t get as many memorable moments. As for other mini-games, you still have karaoke, fishing, and gambling. Chicken racing is a new one that has you gambling on chickens, but I never had much luck at it.

Since you are part of the Shinsengumi, you have a reputation around town. You can gain more rep by doing side missions, eating at a place multiple times, or buying items from vendors. You also gain access to weapons and upgrades, allowing you to craft new katanas and firearms. And while I did feel strong, I never felt overpowered.

Tech-wise, I didn’t run into any frame drops or have any crashes while I was playing.

Like a Dragon: Ishin! is the most fun I’ve had playing a Yakuza game since Yakuza 0. Any fan of the series or fans of samurai games, in general, should check it out.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post Like a Dragon: Ishin! Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

WWE 2K23 Review

I think the wrestling genre as a video game peaked about 20 years ago, when WWF No Mercy launched on the Nintendo 64. Some of the games that followed came close, with the best being the Smackdown VS. RAW games. As time moved forward players got less freedom, less features, and more micro-transactions. That being said, Visual Concepts and 2K Games have definitely started making steps in the right direction and a year long break for the franchise was definitely the smart idea.

Before we get into the endless bells and whistles that accompany the release of WWE 2K23, let’s dive into the meat and potatoes of the entire experience: the wrestling. When fighting a single opponent in any basic one on one match, WWE2K23’s combat is the best the franchise has seen for years. It’s fluid, fast, and impactful with the animations stringing together effortlessly. Put simply, it’s the total package. Reversals are time-based and sensitive, kicking out of pins and squirming out of submissions is intuitive and fair. It delivers in every aspect, well, until a few more folk get into the ring.

WWE 2K23’s wrestling starts to struggle when you’re playing in larger matches, with restrictive targeting and poor AI pathing being the major culprits to an otherwise stellar experience. The game doesn’t allow you to change targets while you’re stuck in animations or rolling around on the floor, making every change of opponent a mix of panic and frustration. When one is trying to pin someone when the referee spends several seconds running around chairs, tables, and other superstars, it’s a poor showing in a game that boasts so many incredible large-scale matches.

That being said, from the moment the pyro hits on the first entrance to the moment the winners hand is raised, WWE 2K23 is the best outing the franchise has seen for a very long time and the majority of issues holding it back are easily remedied.

If there’s one area of WWE 2K23 that left me a little confused, it was its game modes. There’s a good selection on offer, but while some are fantastic, others are a complete mystery. The MyShowcase mode makes a triumphant return as you follow the rise of John Cena beginning with his battle against Rob Van Dam at ECW One Night Stand in 2006, and it ultimately culminates in matches against the likes of Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, and The Rock. The presentation package as a whole is fantastic, seamlessly blending in-game action with iconic footage from WWE’s extensive archives. The combination of gameplay and archive footage is a true gem for long-term wrestling fans that recall these epic moments but even for more casual fans, seeing an in-game body slam transition almost perfectly to actual footage feels great, each and every time. The immersion is sometimes stunted with blurred faces, logos, missing stadiums, and the occasional middle finger, but unfortunately, that’s the product nowadays.

During these matches, you follow a strict sequence of objectives designed to imitate the events that took place in the real match. While immersive and exciting, certain objectives quickly become frustrating as you constantly pause the game to learn how to perform nuanced attacks and abilities. Between each match, Cena provides the narrative, explaining his emotions and motives, and discussing the outcome of each match. It’s a very rewarding game mode, and arguably the best WWE2K23 has to offer.

The other game modes, and there are a few, are more of a mixed bag. You can try your hand at MyGM, MyFaction, and MyRise to name a few. MyGM was easily the mode I spent the most time exploring, a game mode that I initially loved, only to be left disappointed towards the end. In MyGM you pick a manager and take over general duties for one of the five shows, RAW, Smackdown, WCW, NXT, and NXT 2.0. You then draft your favorite superstars and compete with the other shows to put on the best matches and biggest PPV’s.

On paper, it’s a fantastic concept and one that is so nearly executed well. However, there’s ultimately not much reason to play past the first season. Each card you spend money on staff, advertising, stadiums, and pyro effects as you attempt to build rivalries between superstars to increase your overall match ratings, earning bigger revenue numbers and garnering more fans the better the show you deliver. It’s a lot of fun for the first few hours, but it doesn’t evolve much past the introduction.

Superstars are restricted to just one singles rivalry and one tag rivalry. Rivalries can only really deliver for four to five weeks before they need to be ended. It is very rewarding trying to create WWE 2K23 versions of real-life rivalries and events, but the mode is very restrictive. There are limited match types, you can’t put singles titles on the line in anything but one on one matches. It doesn’t really recognize tag teams as actual teams, even some of the most iconic teams from the WWE Universe don’t work well as tag teams. As I started my first playthrough I was salivating at the potential, only to find that potential never reached. After entering the Hall of Fame, and being disappointed that I didn’t unlock any new managers or any real rewards at all, it’s unlikely I’ll ever return to the MyGM mode.

Other modes, while not my cup of tea, will offer a lot more value to most players. The MyRise mode, which features both The Legacy and The Lock, features two unique, narrative-driven experiences where players either take on the role of a custom female superstar looking to live up to her family name, or a custom male superstar trying to live up to the hype of a big debut in the WWE Universe. I didn’t dive much into The Legacy, but the time I spent with The Lock was a lot of fun, working alongside Randy Orton and reviving Evolution to aid with my climb to the top. Both modes feature choices that alter the story and events and there are enough branching choices to warrant multiple playthroughs to experience all of the outcomes.

Both the Universe and MyFaction modes just didn’t appeal to me. The Universe mode allows you to customize shows, build your own rosters, simulate running your own version of the WWE whilst the MyFaction just seems like a poor attempt to cash in on micro-transactions as you control a “faction” of superstars and compete in various modes and challenges. I’m sure there’s a lot of appeal for some, but I just found the mode to be rather pointless.

Playing through WWE 2K23 on the PlayStation 5 is, simply put, the best looking wrestling game ever released. The graphics, especially the wrestler models, are fantastic, and the in-ring animations are fluid and realistic. As a visual presentation package, no other game in this genre comes close.

Ultimately, WWE 2K23 has something for everyone. Whether you’re a casual wrestling fan looking to jump into the squared circle for a quick match, or a die hard WWE fan looking to create and brand your own WWE Universe, each game mode brings something new and exciting to the table – even if the depth is somewhat lacking. The gameplay and combat is the best the franchise has seen for over a decade, the customization suite offers near endless possibilities, and the community content portal is incredible. All this, but I still can’t help but feel the game was so close to something more.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by captaincamper
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by captaincamper
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by captaincamper
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by captaincamper
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post WWE 2K23 Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Wild Hearts Review

As the game begins, you find yourself as a nameless hunter wandering through the world of Azuma. The people of this land are at odds with giant beasts known as Kemono. You don’t take long to run into your first Kemono, and a brief fight ensues. It’s not a fight you can win, but it gives you a glimpse into your future hunting the beasts.

Eventually, you make it to a town called Minato and are told what has happened in Azuma. The humans tried to fight the Kemono but failed, and now very few are left. Unfortunately, the hunters have also lost knowledge of weapons and gadgets to help beat the creatures. As the new hunter in town, you set out on an adventure to slay many Kemono and help out the people of Azuma along the way.

The most important aspect of a hunting game is the combat. Wild Hearts feels quicker to me and slightly easier. The basic combos are simple attacks followed by a trigger, making them much more accessible. You can get some advanced weapons later that require more skill, such as the Umbrella or Staff, but the base weapons are simple to use. More importantly, the hits feel good, like they have weight behind them.

The weapons and combo don’t do much to differentiate it from Monster Hunter, but the Katakuri system does. It’s a quick-build system that lets you build in the middle of combat. You can build walls, launcher pads, gliders, and many other things. At first, it is as clunky as it sounds, but you will fly when you get the hang of it. It is a good feeling the first time you put up a wall to stop a charging Kemono.

Each weapon also has a meter to fill up for a special attack or ability. I mostly used the basic katana, which turns into an electric whip when you use the special. You do more damage, attack faster, and have more range like this. The greatsword, however, is a charge meter, and the more you charge, the more damage you do when you release the special move. There are also ranged weapons like bows and canons, but I didn’t care for them.

Where Monster Hunter has this beat is the monster selection. Unfortunately, Wild Hearts doesn’t have an impressive roster of over more than 20 years like its inspiration. Instead, you start to see slightly reskinned or retextured boss monsters fairly early. That’s not to say you won’t run into fabulous creatures, like a giant lava monkey or a massive forest chicken, but expect some repeats as well.

Repeats of monsters aren’t really that bad when you think about the amount of grinding you are doing in the game. The equipment system is just like Monster Hunter; you go out, kill a beast, collect some parts, come back, and craft. Typically, you must hunt a monster multiple times to get all the weapons and armor pieces. While you still need to loot broken body parts of the Kemono, you don’t have to loot them after the fight. This means if you die and are back at camp, you still get the materials.

The zones themselves are rather large. Therefore, you are encouraged to build up camps in various spots so you can fast travel between locations quickly. You can’t build unlimited camps; rather, you need to place materials into the Dragon Well, which will let you make more camps and Katakuri. There are also multiple Wells in each zone, allowing you to build up several bases.

The most significant improvement from Monster Hunter is that you can co-operatively play the entire story. As long as you two are on the same main mission, progress counts for all players involved. You can only play with two others in this game, but all facilities in town and building Karakuri in the field are open to all players. The only downside is that you can’t skip cut scenes while you are with others.

As far as technical problems, I had some frame drops in a couple of fights, but nothing that got me killed. I crashed twice in town, but I thankfully didn’t lose progress. Connection issues with others also proved to be a problem; while I’m sure patches can address this, the game currently has issues.

While Monster Hunter still reigns supreme, Wild Hearts still holds its own in the hunting arena. Those on Xbox Game Pass shouldn’t hesitate to give it a go.

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Acceptance Review

Players will have to come to terms with suicide with the release of Rasul Mono and Ratalaika Games' Acceptance. Should players traverse this dark path in this story-driven thriller?

Posted Aug 16, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Moving Out 2 Review

The residents of Packmore need players’ help once againi with the release of SMG Studio, Devm Games, and Team17's Moving Out 2. Promising to be even wackier than its predecessor, should players move out and get to work?

Posted Aug 13, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Sclash Review

Quick kills are back on the menu with the release of Bevel bakery, Just For Games, and Abiding Bridge's Sclash. A game where timing is everything, does this 2D samurai fighter turn the traditional formula on its head?

Posted Aug 12, 2023 by johnny-hurricane
in Game Reviews

Atlas Fallen Review

Roughly a year after being first shown, Deck13 and Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen arrives between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. Does the game do enough to stand out in what has proven to be a stellar year for gaming, or will it fall by the wayside?

The post Wild Hearts Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.