Tomas Franzese's Reviews
PS4 exclusive FMV game Erica has turned out to be one of the most worthwhile surprises from Gamescom 2019.
The Church in the Darkness tells an engrossing and chilling tale, but it's technical problems will suck you right out of the experience.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order for Nintendo Switch is the fan service heavy franchise revival you were hoping for despite its flaws.
Sea of Solitude manages to strike a chord with its relatable themes despite a rough start.
Crystal Crisis is a decent puzzle fighter that ultimately suffers due to bad pacing and lackluster capitalization of its premise.
Lapis x Labyrinth shields its repetitive nature with a flashy presentation and interesting RPG mechanics.
Finally, a decent Bubsy game. What could possibly go wrong from here?
While Saints Row: The Thrid - The Full Package contains some great missions at its core, the Nintendo Switch port itself is a bit rough.
Hörberg Productions produces yet another fun title in Mechstermination Force, currently a Nintendo Switch exclusive.
Dangerous Driving may be rough around the edges, but it succeeds at being a worthy Burnout successor.
Power Rangers: Battle for the Gird had a lot of potential as a fighting game, but it ends up squandering most of it with a lack of content.
Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn is a solid 3DS port that both builds upon and takes away from the original Wii title's charm.
Dead or Alive 6 is the most enjoyable and accessible title in the fighting series yet, though its story and online modes leave a bit to be desired.
Tetris 99 improves an already near-perfect game and proves that battle royale can transcend genres, but it is held back by Nintendo Switch Online.
Vane boasts some gorgeous visuals for an indie game but sadly suffers from a litany of bugs and strange design choices.
Double Cross for PC and Nintendo Switch feels quite unoriginal and bland despite coming from the team that gave us the excellent Runbow.
While Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! starts slow and is quite different than usual, it's still a very enjoyable and accessible RPG.
I'm ultimately sad to see that I have grown out of a franchise I once loved, with underlying problems that I may have not noticed as a child building on top of one another to make LEGO DC Super-Villains much less enjoyable than I thought it would be. I may still return to LEGO DC Super-Villains in the future if I'm in the mood for some DCAU voice acting or want to play the TV show and movie themed DLC, but at this point I can tell that I'm done with the LEGO franchise as a whole, which is a shame.
The Nintendo Switch version has noticeable technical faults, which does make it the weakest version of Valkyria Chronicles 4. Fortunately, outside of annoying menus the rest of Valkyria Chronicles 4 is so solid I am more than willing to overlook those flaws. Due to its likable characters, engaging plot, and fun and unique as ever gameplay, Valkyria Chronicles 4 has definitely cemented itself as one of my favorite strategy games in recent memory.
The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep is definitely for a specific crowd of hardcore RPG and series fans, and for those, it caters wonderfully. It features a fascinating world and one of my favorite turn-based combat systems in recent memory. That being said, it may not be as appealing to a mass audience due to its complicated nature and glitches. For a franchise that hasn't been seen in 30 years, that may not have been the wisest decision. However, I do hope The Bard's Tale series sticks around because the core experience is great, making the game one of the most interesting RPGs I've played in 2018.