Robin Baird's Reviews
Reignited is a very well done remaster and was well worth the time and effort put in by the developers. Everything looks, feels, and sounds as if it could have come out this year as a brand new game. All three games are fun though the first and second are the strongest entries in the series. As platformers go these games aren't incredibly challenging, but there are some spots which can be fairly difficult especially when trying to 100% the games.
Anthem is a fun game that has some weird oversights built into it. On the upside, BioWare has been quick to respond to issues and especially bugs in game which is hopeful for the future longevity of the game. Currently, if you play with the mindset of just wanting experience the game and take your time with it, it’ll likely be a fun experience. However, if you tend to have the mindset of needing to be max level NOW and have all the best gear NOW it will probably not be fun.
Final Fantasy VII is a game which has stood the test of time well.
The mystery of what is really going on in Oakmont, and with lead character Charles Reed, kept drawing me in and often kept me playing far longer then I intended to.
Overall, I had a blast playing Oninaki and not only enjoyed the gameplay and story, but the art style and music in-game is also top-notch. I did find the story to be mostly predictable; however, there were also a few moments which surprised me. In fact, at one point I thought I had come to the end of the game but it turned out it was just the end of that section. The combat can be a bit challenging to get the hang of, even on the easier difficulties, but it's well worth the effort.
We finally have the remastered Final Fantasy VIII fans have been waiting for. They gameplay is there exactly as it was previously and it’s a fun trip through a crazy timey-wimey story. But how does the remaster hold up decades later?
Overall World of Warcraft Classic is a solid effort and a ton of fun.
If you enjoy going out and fighting progressively tougher monsters while working your way to new rewards, then Dauntless is a game you need to checkout.
sadness. The Long Return is a relaxing puzzle game with very light platforming elements included. Although I was lead directly through each zone, in many of the zones, I was free to wander as much as I wanted to.
This game delivers a deep RPG experience where the various choices you make, both in character creation and in gameplay, have a bearing on what happens and how you need to go about completing tasks. There are general guidelines of what needs to be done but not a whole lot of direction on how to do those things, which leaves a lot of room for creativity.
Kingdom Under Fire 2 has gotten off to a solid start, and I honestly had a ton of fun playing. Unfortunately, for me, the gender locked classes are a pretty big deal, and having issues with finding groups to do things can be frustrating.
I enjoyed every moment of Lost Ember, and when I stopped playing, I just wanted to get back in the game and wander around more and find more of the memories.
Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition brings a classic game to a more modern look while retaining everything which made the original a classic in the first place. It's worth playing for anyone who hasn't ever played it and a fun trip through memory lane for those of us who have loved it. Unfortunately, the Switch version suffers from not having the touchscreen-enabled for navigating menus and in-game.
Coffee Talk is the kind of game I would never have thought to ask for, but it is exactly what I needed to take a break from my normal video game fare.
I’m honestly happy I waited until Persona 5 Royal came out to play Persona 5. It is well polished and feels like a game that could have come out for the first time this year. This is absolutely an excellent example of how to rerelease a game and make paying full price for it worthwhile. For me to only have minor complaints about a game, which is easily well over 100 hours of gameplay, even if you don’t do everything is rare. If you loved original Persona 5, Royal is worth your time. If you’ve never played the original or any other Persona game, Persona 5 Royal is a perfect game to pick-up and get into the series.
Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time is a fun romp through some of the episode settings in the series. Although many old characters make appearances, there isn't a whole lot of interaction or story development in-game. This might Battle Through Time a bit harder to get into for players who weren't avid fans of the game. However, if you like old-style action RPG games, this will probably be right up your ally.
Persona 5 Strikers is a brilliantly executed melding of the Dynasty Warriors style gameplay with Persona 5 characters and systems. It delivers a solid story while staying true to the roots of both games. There were some small issues with how some of the systems were set up, the default sorting for the items list for one, and I wish some of the actual content of my P5R saves would have carried over. Despite these minor issues, I had a blast hanging with the Phantom Thieves again and working to make the world a better place. I would never have thought to ask for this melding, but it's a beautiful experience.
Burning Crusade Classic has been an excellent launch of some of Blizzard’s best expansion content to date. It’s an excellent experience for veterans and players who never got to experience Burning Crusade the first time around. However, if you are looking for an authentic TBC experience, this isn’t it. I mean, you can’t get that no matter what because part of the experience is we all knew so little about WoW’s inner workings, and there’s no way to recreate that. If you’re looking for a version of WoW, that’s a bit of a slower pace and less handholding (unless, of course, you get certain addons), then you should probably give Burning Crusade Classic a try.
I’ve enjoyed playing Diablo 2 Resurrected and getting to experience the story in a visually updated way. The tweaks they made to get everything working on the console also helped a lot as it gave me far more flexibility in what abilities I had at my disposal. D2R is ideal for anyone who likes dungeon crawlers and doesn’t want everything to be explained or to be told where to go all of the time.
Overall, End of Dragons feels like ArenaNet has taken all the lessons of both Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire and honed their newest expansion into the best of both. The few areas where things aren't quite there, they are working hard at fixing them in the right way, which will be best over the long term, rather than quick kneejerk solutions. This is the perfect capstone to the story they have been telling for the last ten years, and this expansion makes me excited to see where they will go from here.