Authoritative Media Game Reviews

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Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero ReviewA final flash from the past that's both fun and frustrating

IGN PC ReviewsOct 12

Until Dawn ReviewUntil Dawn is an overpriced and under-featured remake that seems less like a must-have bit of moonlit murder and something closer to a case of daylight robbery.

IGN PC ReviewsOct 9

Backyard Baseball '97 Review - Hit ParadeIt's the bottom of the ninth in the fifth and final game of the Super Ultra Championship of the Universe Series. My Mighty Monsters are trailing by two runs and down to their final out. Kenny Kawaguchi, the league's best pitcher coming off a record-setting season for strikeouts, is at the plate. No one would doubt his repertoire at the mound, but his strength has never been in the batter's box. With runners on first and third, the count goes full-- could it be any more dramatic? The 3-2 pitch screeches inside, but Kenny makes great contact. Incredibly, the ball is launched . The kid only had four homers all year, but this one could count for much more. It's high enough if it's got the velocity. Back, back, back… gone! The Monsters win! A walk-off three-run blast from the team's pitcher sends the squad of neighborhood pals into the history books of the Backyard Baseball League. Do you believe in miracles? My true story of sports heroics took place roughly 24 years ago on one of those colorful Mac computers many had in the late '90s and early aughts. Backyard Baseball, once handed out merely as the prize inside a cereal box, would go on to become an institution in the lives of Millennial kids everywhere, and if you're around my age, you might have some nostalgia for it yourself. Over a quarter-century since the game first debuted, Backyard Baseball '97, as it's now officially called, has debuted on Steam--where shady download links and eBay price gougers can't hurt you. It's been great to discover the game still holds up, even as it's also very obvious that I am no longer the target audience. Backyard Baseball '97 revives the original game that kicked off a generational obsession. Backyard Baseball '97 is a re-release of the original game that kicked off the Backyard Sports series. Under new rights-holders, the plan is to bring back several games lost to time, eventually paving the way for a Backyard Sports multimedia universe. With such grand plans for the future, the first release of the bunch has thankfully turned out great, and could feasibly serve as the series' grand re-opening. It's said that the game is remastered, though I can't see how. Every inch of it looks identical, not just to my spotty memory, but also when I compare it to gameplay videos online. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsOct 8

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero Review - Final Flash In The PanIt's been 17 years since Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and its 3D-arena-based combat graced consoles, and ever since, fans have clamored for a return to that old style. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has answered the call, with the benefit of an entirely new story arc to explore thanks to Dragon Ball Super--which wasn't part of the Dragon Ball canon until 2013. For the most part, the Tenkaichi approach still works thanks to its fast and energized battle system; however, repetitive gameplay and limited mode options leave us wanting more from this battle. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is a return to that old Tenkaichi format, where two fighters wage war in an open arena lined with buildings, rocks, cliffs, and more just waiting to be destroyed. Each fighter has a mix of physical and ki-based attacks, highlighted by flashy and bombastic special attacks like the Kamehameha, Final Flash, Spirit Bomb, and other iconic Dragon Ball techniques. As is immediately noticeable, the visual style of Sparking Zero is top-notch, from the main menu to the heat of battle. Every character moves and fights fluidly, and the small scenes that play during a successful ultimate attack are a delight, which makes connecting with those moves even more exhilarating. In particular, attacks like the Point-Blank Kamehameha performed by Ultra Instinct Goku's Sign form--the animation complete with scenes ripped right from the anime--are amazing to close out a match with. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsOct 7

Metaphor: ReFantazio ReviewAtlus further refines its winning RPG formula of weaving turn-based combat into social sim mechanics.

IGN ArticlesOct 7

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review - Everybody Wants To Rule The WorldWhen I was younger, I was told that there were two things a person should avoid discussing in polite conversation: religion and politics. Such topics were divisive, I was informed. Contentious. Even then, this policy bewildered me. Politics and religion are the lenses through which we view the world--our most powerful institutions--and we are expected to avoid talking about them? Impossible, I thought. Yet as I've grown older, I've encountered many who abide by this rule, and even more who pretend that they can't feel the flames even when the entire world is on fire. It's isolating, then, to feel consumed by the blaze. Lately it feels as if I'm made up of blistering anger, disappointment, and anxiety that borders on despair. I've struggled to find a balm for this ailment. And this makes it all the more surprising that I've found some relief in the form of a fantasy RPG. Metaphor: ReFantazio is acutely aware of the role religion and politics play in society, and is more than willing to have conversations some would rather avoid. Furthermore, it is a game that understands the important role fiction plays in helping to establish our most fundamental beliefs, and it does not take that power lightly. Thus, the game begins with its narrator asking the player an important question: Do you believe that fantasy has the power to drive real change? Yes, my heart sang. Yet there was a part of me, cloaked in that aforementioned anxiety, that hesitated. Do art, fiction, and fantasy mean much in a world ravaged by bombs, inequality, injustice, and starvation? I wasn't so sure. By the game's end, however, I felt certain of my answer. Metaphor: ReFantazio is a brilliant game packed with adventure, charming characters, heartfelt stories, and elevated versions of Atlus' signature gameplay, art, turn-based combat, and sprawling dungeons. It's also an extraordinarily earnest title that offers comfort to those who need it and asks players to have hope for tomorrow, the people around them, and themselves. By the time my 80 hours with Metaphor came to a close, I felt lighter--younger, too. Its themes and various stories were somehow restorative, and its set pieces brought me back to the RPGs I grew up playing--the ones that shaped me and made me long for companionship and grand adventures. Metaphor is Atlus at its strongest and most sincere. It's the type of game that reminds you of the idealist you were, the person you'd like to be, and how fantasy can shape reality. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsOct 7

Undisputed ReviewUndisputed does a lot of new and unique things in the boxing genre, but also fails to connect in several key areas.

IGN PC ReviewsOct 7

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred ReviewThis stellar expansion hits all the right notes, but only feels like the first act to a larger adventure.

IGN ArticlesOct 4

Diablo 4: Vessel Of Hatred Review - Piercing The VeilUnlike the contentious launch of its predecessor, Diablo 4 arrived last year with a reasonably strong foundation that Blizzard has nurtured thoughtfully in the months since, giving its first expansion much less heavy lifting to do in the hearts and minds department. Diablo 4 doesn't necessarily require an overhaul, but that's what it feels like it's getting next to its biggest content addition yet. That means you don't have to own Vessel of Hatred to enjoy some of the most exciting changes arriving alongside it, but without it you would be missing out on the game's most dynamic class yet, which makes Vessel of Hatred a blast to play. If you've been away from Diablo 4 for sometime then you'll be happy to know that Vessel of Hatred isn't designed solely for those who have stayed engaged in demon-slaying since launch last year. If you want to hop right into the campaign of the expansion, you're given the option to do so with a new character from the start, so long as you've completed at least the prologue in the base game. The updates since Diablo 4's launch coupled with the sweeping changes made by a far-reaching update that goes live with the expansion enables this approach, making leveling substantially faster to get you to endgame activities by the end of Vessel of Hatred's campaign. The changes to difficulty also remove any tedious grinding, letting you select your preferred difficulty and having all areas and enemies scale accordingly. These, along with more subtle changes to damage, health, and resource figures, as well as the lower level cap, all make Diablo 4 feel fresh again. That's especially true if you haven't been keeping up to date with it over the past year. Vessel of Hatred's story picks up after the events of Diablo 4, an indeterminate amount of time after Lilith's defeat and the subsequent imprisonment of her father, Mephisto. Neyrelle, one of your core companions, has been shepherding Mephisto with her and bearing the brunt of his mind-twisting torture, venturing deep into the new region on Nahantu in search of a prison that might hold him. Meanwhile, the Cathedral of Light has its own crisis of faith thanks to a misguided campaign into hell and a new leader who is all about punishment over redemption, threatening its very existence in the wake of many of its followers perishing. This establishes a dual-antagonist threat, one with the Cathedral pursuing Neyrelle to pin its failures on, and the other with the growing power of the Prime Evil she's carrying. Yet despite this, both of Vessel of Hatred's main villains feature surprisingly little during its campaign, only manifesting once you're ready to vanquish them. This stands in contrast to the persistent threat of Lilith in the main Diablo 4 campaign, whose presence was tangible as you raced across the region to put an end to her machinations. Continue Reading at GameSpot

GameSpot - Game ReviewsOct 4

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game ReviewA simple, physics-based adventure that lacks the heart to make a splash.

IGN ArticlesOct 4