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| Eirinn's Last Game Comments | Harvest Moon | If you keep getting the message that you should listen to all of the villagers, try checking in the back room of the market. Nina should be in there. She's the one I usually forget. | Zupapa! | Great old school Arcade title | Memory Card - 8 MB | This is "very rare"? o_O | King of Kings, The | They did the impossible: Make a good console game based on the Bible. Also a good Christmas game. These guys were on fire! lol | Santa Claus Saves the Earth | I have to disagree with what seems to be popular opinion. I played through it all for myself, and it isn't all that bad, considering it's theme. | ToeJam & Earl | Easily the best game on the Genesis. Everyone should play this game in multiplayer at least once in their life. | Harvest Moon | Press A to harvest or pick up items. It's assigned to the X key by default, I believe. |
| Eirinn's Last 25 Game Reviews |
Race The Sun 04-24-17 09:37 PM |
An Unremarkable Race Allow me to preface this review by saying that Race The Sun is, to my understanding, a mobile game that made it's way to the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, and probably several other systems. Initially I was unsure as to how I felt about mobile games landing on consoles or even handhelds, but over time I decided that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, so long as the games were good. The question remains though: is Race The Sun a good game? Graphics: 5/10 Average. Can any other word properly describe a minimalist approach to graphics that's so minimalistic that it ignores the usage of textures, shaders, and even, with precious little exception, colors? Now don't take the "Average" as me saying that Race The Sun is on par with other PS4 games, because it isn't even close enough to joke about that. Nor should the word average be taken as me saying that the game is graphically on par with other indie games on the PS4, because it isn't. Average here means that it's plain. Nothing makes anything in the game stand out visually, and at the same time nothing in it is bad enough to say th at the graphics are bad. They're plain, yes. They're unengaging, to be sure. And they're also lacking in appeal, definition, and any real design most of the time. They're almost all just basic geometrical shapes that you could find preprogrammed in a 3D design system like Blender, but they all work in the game. Literally nothing in this game is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but also true is that literally nothing in this game is aesthetically offensive. It's just there. Not good. Not bad. Just plain. While the appearance of the game, from objects to powerups and even effects, was meant to be simple and without definition, it isn't something that I can rate up. On the flipside however, I cannot rate it down for doing this intentionally. That would be like me downrating Su... Read the rest of this Review |
Flower 04-22-17 10:21 PM |
A Rose By Any Other Name NOTE: I am reviewing the PS Vita version of the game, but they all play the same. The only difference being that the console versions utilize the motion controls of the Dualshock, whereas the Vita version requires moving the entire system. This is both a pro and a con for the Vita version as moving the system makes you feel more immersed since your personal perspective is altered with the movement, but it also requires you to follow the screen around unlike using the Dualshock. Aside from this minor change, the experience is the same across platforms. _______________________________________ Flower is a game about... well no, it isn't really a game, it's an art about... no, that doesn't work either... It's an interactive painting with... Oh forget it. Graphics: 9/10 Excellent. Alright, so this isn't exactly my way of saying that the graphics are crazy sharp, or that they stand up against another for realism or brilliant art design. No, these aren't anything special in that regard, but what they are is pretty. You control the wind and carry a flower petal that flies past other flowers and blooms them, collecting one petal from each of them as you do so. Before long you have a swirling mass of petals that float along behind your starting petal, and that swirling tail is always made up of different colors which is as pretty as it sounds, especially on a Vita's OLED screen where everything is super rich. It looks good on any screen, it just looks best on that OLED. Then there's the environments themselves: the deep greens of the revived grass, the floating light particles, and just the environment as a whole. It looks great in a relaxing and just pretty kind of way. It's also a nice touch that everything starts out plain and lifeless, and ends up lush, vibrant, and colorful as you revive the area by opening more flowers. The whole level is basically a canvas to paint on. ... Read the rest of this Review |
Nihilumbra 04-16-17 08:41 PM |
A Potentially Life Changing Experience, Disguised As A Simple Game NOTE: I'll be reviewing the PlayStation Vita version of this game, but it's also available on Steam and Android, and possibly more. The overall experience should be pretty much the same across all platforms, minus the controls. ___________________________________________ Nihilumbra is a game that I can honestly say is unlike any other that I've ever played. It's a unique experience that has to be seen first hand to truly appreciate, given the concept of it's narrative. However, lest I spoil the rest of the review before it even gets started, let's move on to the ratings. Graphics: 9/10 Excellent. Nihilumbra is a 2D side scrolling puzzle platformer, and as such it doesn't exactly readily lend itself to beautiful displays of graphical feats, but the developers did manage to achieve just that. The graphics here are smooth. Like, really, really smooth. So much so that I can't even tell whether they're pixel art or hand drawn. Now I can appreciate great pixel art graphics, but even with great pixel art you can usually tell it's pixel art. I've only seen one game that managed to pull of pixel art so smoothly that it was nearly impossible to tell it was pixel art due to an almost complete lack of jagged, rough edges, or poorly rounded items, but if indeed this game is made with pixel art, then I've found two. Moving on from that however, we come to the design. It's one thing to have great graphics assets, but it's another thing entirely to use them well. Many are the games that look nice, but lack any real atmosphere, but Nihilumbra isn't one of those games. Nihilumbra takes that beautifully rendered imagery and utilizes it in ways that make it an atmospheric presentation that you won't soon forget. The environments begin cold and dark, change to just plain dark, then it turns hot and dark, and so on. But yes, it remains mostly dark throughout, and that's exactly... Read the rest of this Review |
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection 04-09-17 10:54 PM |
One Of The Best Experiences In Gaming Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is a collection of all three Uncharted games released for the PlayStation 3, remastered for the PlayStation 4. Now let me give a quick disclaimer here: I have never played any of these titles on the PlayStation 3, so I cannot compare the remastered versions to them. Instead I will compare them to other PlayStation 4 games. I won't take much time with the formalities here since there are three games to review, and each varies considerably from the other in most areas, so I'll try to be as all encompassing as I can on all of them without dwelling too long on any one of them. Overall Graphics: 9/10 Excellent. Graphics for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune: 8/10 Exceptional. I was very happy with the graphics in this game, and with it being my first Uncharted on console, and one of my first high end AAA games on PS4, I was also impressed with what I saw (and I still am, despite having seen better graphics in the others). Had I reviewed this one before playing the others, I would have given a 10, doubtless. The characters all look great, super smooth, good animations in game and cutscene alike. However, the characters are where my two point deduction for graphics comes into play. The mouths seem ever so slightly out of sink, at least at the beginning of the game. This was noticeable from the first time I saw the opening scene and it was a little offputting, but it was acceptable given how good everything looked otherwise. Furthermore, I cannot say that I ever noticed this later in the game, though it could very well be just as bad later on and I may have overlooked it because by that time I was so engrossed with the game that I failed to notice. I've played through it three or four times now and still haven't noticed it if it's there, but I won't rule it out as a possibility. Next, they look a little too smooth and polished. It isn'... Read the rest of this Review |
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End 04-07-17 09:13 PM |
The Uncharted of Us My apologies for the length, but I couldn't trim this down while doing the game justice. I tried. Uncharted 4 brought about the end to a long running and well loved game series about the adventures of Nathan Drake and friends. It brought us an entire crew of loveable characters along with a few we wish we could forget, but Naughty Dog refuses to let us *cough*Lost Legacy*cough*. The series is known for it's intense action sequences, witty dialogue, and of course, it's parkour elements. There's always climbing. Much climbing. The formula is a tried and true one, and various elements of it have evolved over the course of the series, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse, but all of the console iterations are worth at least one play, if not several. So when it was announced that there would be an Uncharted 4, and that it would be not only the final Uncharted (which, surprise, it wasn't), but it would also be subtitled "A Thief's End", everyone began speculating as to whether or not this could mean that the legendary (those who have finished 4 will get that reference) treasure hunting hero in thief's clothing would meet his end. And I am here to tell you that...you have to find out for yourself because I'm not allowed to spoil the story. Graphics: 10/10 Incredible. It was an undisputed claim by Naughty Dog that this game had the best graphics of any [console] game ever at the time of it's release, and a year later I still have to stand in awe at what they accomplished here. However, there were a few things that left me less than impressed, but only because of how great everything else is. So let's start with the characters: they look great, at times looking more like actors than video game characters. I found myself taking screenshots at different points just to capture the detail that a certain camera angle or area lighting highlited. If there are better look... Read the rest of this Review |
Sword Art Online: Lost Song 03-17-17 08:23 AM |
Link, Start Before getting this game I had heard very little about Sword Art Online as a show, and even less about it as a game series. In fact, I only knew there was a game series of it because of Gadget Girl Kylie's videos on YouTube, and a few articles that popped up when Hollow Realization was about to release. Then I got this as a present for Christmas 2016, and immediately popped it into my PS Vita to test it out. Little did I know I would be figuratively sucked into the world of ALO and unable to escape it, much like Kirito had been in SAO. Unlike Kirito however, I didn't want to leave this new world, and for a while, I didn't unless I absolutely had to. But enough of that, let's get on to the review. Sword Art Online: Lost Song is an action RPG, that genuinely feels like an MMO, despite being a single player experience. If you've ever played an MMORPG before, then you'll notice how well they replicated the setup of said genre. The gameplay mechanics are simple enough, which surprised me because I'd heard how confusing they were. It was very basic stuff really, with R running and boosting flight speed, L locking on targets, Square attacking, X Jumping, Circle evading, and Triangle interacting. The special abilities are also just a combination of R and a face button or d-pad input away. There's also a stamina gauge, health gauge, and mana gauge — your basic Action RPG stuff. It's easy to pick up and play for anyone with any experience in the genre. As for the categorical breakdown... Graphics: 7/10 Very Good. At first glance you may be inclined to disagree with me here, but bear with me while I explain my reasoning on this rating. The in game graphics, while not the best I've seen on a Vita game — that title belongs to Uncharted: Golden Abyss, with Freedom Wars coming in second — were well rendered. Things look smooth, they look, well, like a video ga... Read the rest of this Review |
Kung Fu Rabbit 11-25-16 11:20 PM |
A Review Without A Horrible Title Unhorrible title made at the request of a slinky that shall remain anonymous. Yet another game I netted via PS+, and one that, despite looking forward to it once it hit the PS+ lineup, I wouldn't have paid for it. It sounded cute, but that's it, and I don't buy cute games because they're cute, I buy a game because it looks fun, and if it's cute then it's cute. And Kung Fu Rabbit is a game that is certainly very cute, but don't let that deceive you: if you want to truly beat this game, you'll need plenty of patience and skill. And if you want to 100% this game by getting all of the carrots and beating all of the bonus levels (especially beating the bonus levels), then you're really going to need patience and skills. This is a game that's challenge is meant for core gamers, so come prepared. Graphics: 5/10 Average. The graphics are absolutely nothing special in any way, shape, or form. Still they aren't bad either. I can't tell if the characters are hand drawn, or if they're just sprites made to look hand drawn, but they are still nice enough and fitting for the game, though that isn't to say they couldn't have been better, as I'm sure they could have. Again, they're nothing special at all, they just get the job done. The levels look hand drawn as well, and the color usage isn't bad either. Much like the characters, the levels don't look bad, but they don't have anything remarkable about them to speak of either. They're just kind of there, and they do the job. They look nice enough though, and they're closer to the good side of average than the bad. The rest of the graphics are about the same as the characters and levels: nice, but not "good". They're there and that's about it. The best part is easily how when you die and continue a level, you'll see a rabbit head icon with little "x" eyes to show where you died last time. It's nothing amazing by any means, ... Read the rest of this Review |
Tak and the Power of JuJu 10-31-16 10:07 PM |
Tak And The Power Of Hilarity Tak and the Power of Juju is...weird. Okay I literally tried to find a way to open this review several times, and this is essentially what it kept coming back to. This game is weird and it's about as simple as that. I'll get into more in the review itself, but let me just say this first: if you don't enjoy juvenile humor and tropes, avoid this game because it lives and dies in these two things. It is not for you if you can't appreciate silly humor. Now with that out of the way, on to the review. Graphics: 10/10 Incredible. Say what you will about this game, but one thing is undeniable: it's pretty. For a game from it's time it's about as smooth and well rendered as you could hope for. In fact it's probably one of the best looking games on the system, though in all honesty few people pushed the limits of the PS2 graphically speaking. For evidence of that, look at Genji: Dawn of the Samurai. Case closed. The characters seem as good a place to start as any. They're all well made and they instantly get your inner kid's attention. It's like a blast from the past, but in 3D. Now let me say that I've never seen the show, but this game seems to be more in line with nineties Nicktoons than modern ones (I shudder at the thought of modern Nicktoons, save TMNT), and as such I felt like I was revisiting my childhood as soon as I saw Jibolba, and even more so once the opening scenes really got under way. Not only are the character models smoothly rendered, they're also well made in general with each one having it's own personality, even the ones that really serve no purpose other than to be on screen for a brief joke. I couldn't find anything to complain about here if I tried. The worlds: now this is where Tak and the Power of Juju really shines graphically. The worlds are all as beautiful as can be, and as crazy as you could hope for...and maybe a little crazier. The first world that springs... Read the rest of this Review |
Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken 10-31-16 07:41 PM |
A Hardboiled Review A game with a ridiculous title and more than a few equally ridiculous moments. This is yet another one I got as a PS+ freebie, and also another one I would never have bought. However it's a game worth experiencing, and it manages to be both fun and humorous throughout the entire game. Now that I've spoiled the entire review for you, let's get into the review! Graphics: 6/10 Good. There's nothing great about anything here graphically speaking, but there is definitely a very specific art design intended here, and they managed to hit it right on the head. This is an example of modern 2D done well, and that's something that isn't even tried for very often. The characters are nice enough, and sport a decent amount of detail given the camera's distance from the action. There isn't much variety among the enemies, but that really makes sense given the theme of the game's story. When all of your enemies are the same kind of bird, and all of them are in the same military, it makes sense for all of them to look and dress the same. Hard Boiled Chicken of course has the most attention given to his appearance, being the player character. Then there are the NPCs, mostly cardinals, and all part of the same force as well, so there's no variety there to speak of either. Still they're all well made I suppose. The levels all sport a dark and gritty appearance, utilizing only darker shades of whatever color is employed, and even the greenery in the beginning is less than vibrant. The choice to go for dark colors makes sense given the vibe that this game is going for, and it succeeds at setting the mood for what the game is meant to be, but the dullness of the color palette used here also seems a bit overbearing, and in the end the game pays for it, if only slightly. But dull color palette or not, the levels still look nice in design, and are never a real pain to traverse. Beside all this... Read the rest of this Review |
Xeodrifter 10-30-16 09:13 PM |
Skip Reading This Review And Just Buy The Game Now NOTE: while this is listed under the PS Vita version, I have played both the PS Vita and PS4 versions and the differences are small enough that this review applies to both versions (and as such, likely the PS3 version as well). Literally the only difference I've found is the ability to use the touch screen to adjust some things in the menu on the PS Vita version, and for all I know the touch pad may or may not offer that on the PS4. Regardless gameplay is entirely unaltered between the two systems. Xeodrifter, the game that plays off of Metroid and does such a good job at it that it makes Metroid wish it were Xeodrifter. Okay so let me start off by saying I do not like green eggs and ham, nor do I like Metroid. At all. Metroid is another one of those games that I really like in concept and see plenty of potential in, but between concept and execution it loses whatever it was that seemed so appealing to me, and I'm left thinking "this is it? It looked so much better before I played it". Bear in mind however that I've not played any Metroid other than the original and one of the SNES entries (if there was even more than one on SNES). Others may appeal to me more. Xeodrifter is doubtless inspired by Metroid, and perhaps even a Metroid clone because yes it's that similar to Metroid, borrowing the classic formula of the beloved franchise. And yet still it somehow captivates me to no end. I simply adore this game. Let's get into the review and maybe I can show you why I love it so much. Graphics: 9/10 Excellent. I want so badly to give the graphics a ten because from the very start I loved the way this game looked. They go old school as Renegade Kid always does, and in fact the two founders of Renegade Kid actually split up because of this. The one wanted to stay retro and the other wanted to try modern. At least on the outside this was the reason seen. Now I'm all for going modern once you have ... Read the rest of this Review |
Gauntlet: Slayer Edition 10-25-16 04:36 PM |
Creative Titles Elude Me. The Game Is Fun Though. Gauntlet is easily one of the oldest game series out there, and it's one that hasn't lost it's fan base despite going so long between iterations and changing hands a few times along the way. However due to the changing developers it can be a bit difficult to know what to expect from a new installation in the franchise. That was actually a big question for me going into Gauntlet: Slayer Edition. I wanted to know what it even was, and I ended up with a different product entirely than what I'd expected. Slayer Edition is a return to Gauntlet's roots, and while I was disappointed by that, I should have known better than to worry about it when I saw that it was in the hands of Arrowhead, easily the best top down game developers today in my opinion. And while it turned out that Slayer Edition wasn't the Gauntlet I had wanted, it also turned out to be much better than that. Graphics: 7/10 Very Good. This seems generous for a game like this one, but once you play it you'll understand. This is, at it's heart, a twin stick shooter with a couple of mêlée characters thrown in to change it into something of a twin stick brawler. And as such the camera is once again zoomed out to the point where the characters are quite small and lack obvious detail. Still this doesn't detract from the graphics any, though it does keep them from excelling. A necessary evil for an amazing genre like this one. The characters are in fact very well detailed for something so small, and you can actually make out some of the finer details about them. As an added bonus you can see them change over the course of battle as enemies become covered with blood splatters, or elf's arrows remaining lodged in them as they continue approaching him, undeterred by the barrage of quick shots. The environments are easily a shining point for this game, and in campaign mode they change with each passing world and often reflect the changes in... Read the rest of this Review |
Crimsonland 10-22-16 08:59 PM |
Such Blood. Much Action. Note: this is being filed under the PS Vita version but it applies to all of them, and in fact I've spent equal parts gaming time between the PS Vita and PS4 version. Ever played Smash TV? Or how about pretty much any other twin stick shooter? If so then you know exactly what to expect from Crimsonland. A game that takes absolutely no pains to avoid falling into every single cliché of a genre that has had almost no innovations or changes of any kind since it's inception decades ago. These games never change, but then is that because they're not creative, or is it because there's no need to fix what isn't broken? Clearly fans of the genre eat this stuff up like candy every given chance, so apparently it isn't so bad to offer what is essentially more of the same, right? Well for fans, no, and I for one am a fan. When I first tried the demo my impression wasn't that great. In fact I said I would get it but only if it was $4.99 or less. A month or so later it went on sale for $4.99 so I decided to be true to my word and buy it. I have never regretted it since. But what makes it so good? Let's find out... Graphics: 5/10 Average. Now at first glance it's obvious that this game is nothing special to look at, nor is it anywhere near "average" modern game standards. However this is about what you would expect from a twin stick shooter, and as such it can't be criticized too heavily. The camera angle is extremely high as in most games of this kind, and as such very little detail is offered in the characters. However this is balanced by the fact that the colors and designs of the characters are so diverse one from the other that they're easily distinguished from one another even when the swarms of them become so thick you can't see the ground, and that happens quite often. The environments are all so similar that you sometimes feel as though every level is taking pl... Read the rest of this Review |
Snoopy’s Grand Adventure 10-16-16 06:48 PM |
It's Hard To Beat A Good Beagle You know those games that come out and you're like "Okay, this game is gonna stink but it's [insert name or theme here] so I have to get it"? This game was one of those for me. I seriously said that, in fact it was somewhere on Vizzed. So needless to say I went in with low expectations and I was not disappointed, but I was a pleasantly surprised, if mildly. This game didn't blow my mind or make it onto my top games of all time list, but it provided a light hearted and enjoyable experience. It's all Peanuts through and through, and it's definitely for kids of all ages, especially adults who are kids at heart...like me. Graphics: 7/10 Very Good. Snoopy's Grand Adventure is a game that doesn't seek to impress with it's looks. It knows what it wants to do, and that's match the looks of the movie it's based on, and it does that perfectly. The characters all look awesome in the transition from Schultz' classic art style to modern three dimensional computer rendering. It's a style I never would have imagined for the series, but it works quite well really. The effects are super toony too and that's a good thing as well. I especially love Snoopy's idle animations when he's regular Snoopy and when he's The Masked Marvel. The former makes me smile inside and out, I can't help it, and the latter is just so perfect for this game and sets off any level's appearance, especially those found in the third world. The levels look nice and really pop with their cartoony vibe. The colors are vibrant and leave the greenery looking lush and wild, the dust bunny temple looking very Indiana Jones rip off (complete with a boulder chase), the Parisian Underground looking... well honestly it looks really slimy in the most literal sense of the word, but in the best slimy way possible. Again, the environments aren't ground breaking, but they are well made and are certain to warm your heart and leave you feeling like a child a... Read the rest of this Review |
Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires 10-06-16 11:21 PM |
My Return To The Musou Field So a series I've fchangingfor years now in a sense is Dynasty Warriors Empires. I started with Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires on the PS2 and since have watched as it released with one version after another. I've mocked it and derided it for it's many many versions and the like, but still I enjoyed the gameplay of the only one I'd played, mindless as it was. But hey, I like mindless fun sometimes, so I enjoyed DW5: Empires for what it was: a hack 'n' slash trying to appear to be more strategy based than it was. Seriously empire mode could be beaten on Chaos difficulty with no strategy at all. Just mash buttons right. And so after obtaining a PS4 I began looking at Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires, and when I finally got it I was pleasantly surprised by how it had matured. Graphics: 9/10 Excellent. Okay so it may not be the best looking game on PlayStation 4, but it's still pretty nice. And while this rating is probably better than most would give it, suffice it to say that I don't get bogged down in all of the pixel count details and other jibberish that many modern gamers do. If it looks good it looks good, and this game looks good. The characters, while not looking as real as some games have managed this generation, look very detailed and polished. Their animations are clean (I'm assuming motion capture was employed), and their attacks are nicely done. Also bear in mind that this is a multigen title, so it's not going to look cutting edge but seriously, what's to complain about here? The levels are also a huge improvement over previous entries, but that's to be expected since I came to this one from a PS2 entry. Still it's nice to see that the developers actually tried to do something with the power given them. The environment not only looks detailed in pixel count and reaction to movement etc. it also has a great deal of attention invested in the layout of each level. No more are the... Read the rest of this Review |
Armello 07-31-16 10:47 PM |
A Must Own For A Table Top RPG Fan Dark times have come upon the land of Armello. Dark creatures known as banes have begun appearing, and they bear with them the dreaded disease known as the Rot. This disease slowly drains the life from those corrupted by it, and warps their mind in the process. The king has become corrupted by this terrible disease. Each day the disease weakens his body more than the day before, and each night it warps his mind, until he has now become demented, a shell of the man he once was. The land needs to be saved from this madness. The king must be healed...or slain. The four clans of Armello have sent forth their greatest heroes who now seek to save the kingdom by whatever means they deem necessary. Welcome to Armello. A fantasy based game that is a bit of a mix between table top RPG, Trading Card Game and Video Game RPG. So what's in store for you here? Let's see... Graphics: 8/10 Exceptional. The graphics in Armello are best summed up as charming. However since I can't very well end this section with only one word, allow me to elaborate. The world of Armello is literally just a game board with a relief map. You're simulating a table top RPG after all, and that's exactly what it looks like. No flash, no fancy effects, just a game board. However this doesn't mean it's boring, in fact it's quite the opposite. The environment such as it is looks nice, and as I said, holds a certain charm to it. The characters are toony, and honestly that look is perfect for this game. Also everyone in the game is an animal, with the four clans being the Wolf clan, Rat clan, Bear clan and Rabbit clan. Each clan has two heroes straight out of the box, each with their own unique design both in the actual character as well as in their apparently hand drawn avatars. This too adds more to the feeling of playing a table top RPG, and it feels great seeing them in action. The cards. These are well worth ... Read the rest of this Review |
Knack 07-28-16 11:08 PM |
A Modern Classic Knack, a game loved by many, and had in derision by most...or is it? While those who most often speak of Knack talk about how terrible it is, a quick examination of PSN or other sites that require a verified purchase prior to rating will show that Knack tends to score well. So it appears that most who give the game a shot tend to agree that it's a quality experience. The reasons for the hate it receives even from those who have never played it vary, but the focus of this review is to determine whether this game is a gem or the deplorable mess some would have us think. Graphics: 10/10 Incredible. Now first off I realize the graphics in Knack are far from cutting edge and rather resemble a Pixar movie, but toony graphics are hardly something to call a fault if they're what the developer was shooting for. In fact the game wouldn't feel quite right if the developer had taken the realism approach to graphics, and the entire story would have felt out of place as well. Imagine if you will, Call of Duty with toony graphics, or Sonic the Hedgehog with realistic graphics (suddenly playing as a hedgehog seems far less entertaining): neither game would be nearly as enjoyable, as the aesthetic wouldn't fit the style and attitude of the game. Such is the case here. But toony doesn't mean ugly, as Knack has some rather charming visuals, and at times the scenery is outright beautiful, and the particle effects are very nice, such as those that occur after Knack performs his explosion super move. There's a good amount of attention to detail as well, like how when Knack takes damage and relics fly off of him, his character model reflects the loss of relics and when his health dips low enough, you can clearly see gaps between the relics that make up his body, exposing the flow of his energies that held the relics in place. To see a character dynamically and accurately changing in appearance as they take damage is a nice touch that we don't se... Read the rest of this Review |
Sniper Elite III 07-26-16 08:31 PM |
Shooting Virtual Nazis Has Never Been This Much Fun Before starting this review it may be worth noting that this game contains some moments of intense violence and gore. Namely when the player performs an enemy takedown with the sniper rifle, the game offers a detailed X-ray view of the enemy as the bullet enters their body and pierces the organs, and when applicable, shatters bone. This feature can be turned off if you desire however. Now on to the review. You are Karl Fairburne, an American sniper in World War II. But you are not just a sniper, you are one of the best at what you do, and your skills are leveraged for far more than simple skirmishes that take place during the war. Through the course of your campaign in Africa you will find yourself hunting down Nazi top brass, performing espionage missions, destroying supply lines, and much more. Graphics: 9/10 Excellent. While I personally have no beef with the graphics here, especially for a game that was on both last gen and current gen systems, I heard a few complaints so I broke out my magnifying glass and inspected everything I could find. The characters are easily the most important aspect in graphics to me, and SE III nails the look perfectly with only one minor issue -- and this should probably be expected, but the enemies: there are so few of them, or rather, there are so many enemies but so few original faces to go around. Now maybe Rebellion wasn't expecting people to use their binoculars (in-game binoculars that is) to inspect everyone's face like I did, but it quickly became apparent that throughout the course of the game, I shot the same guy several times, either that or all of his brothers were there and shared an incredible family resemblance. But then, does that really matter? The only other things I could fault here are the textures on some walls and various other surfaces, and the blades of grass. At times, again under close inspection (dem binoculars, bro) ... Read the rest of this Review |
Broken Age 02-28-16 01:19 AM |
Let's Get This Good Time Over With Parental Advisory: Broken Age is a game about challenging the norm, and has both lead characters taking a stand for what they believe in, questioning their parents/authority figures, and in Shay's (the boy) case, criticizing his authority figure, an overbearing computer known as "Mom". While the game doesn't seem to intend to encourage defying authority, these things may be worth noting. Also there are a few mildly suggestive jokes, but they're vague and never outright dirty. Finally, I have exhausted almost every line of dialogue in the game in my nearly two play throughs, and have yet to find why the ESRB rated it for mild language. Now on to the review. Do you like to point? Do you like to click? Do you like to point AND click...at the same time?? If you answered yes to all of the above, then good for you, you hardcore gamer, you. As you well know, point and clicks are a fast paced (not really) action oriented (not so much) edge of your seat thrill ride (are we even thinking of the same genre?) from start to finish, and only a true adventure seeking soul such as yourself can fully appreciate them and their insanity. Okay, so back to reality; point and click games --much to my delight-- have made somewhat of a comeback as of late, and with good reason: they're entertaining. While they do maintain a very slow pace and often leave you clicking on anything and everything for an hour at a time, while hearing your character stating over and over again why the action you're suggesting won't work ("Gary doesn't want to grab that"), a well made point and click game is oddly compelling despite such repetition. No, they aren't for everyone, and you may struggle to get into them for a bit, but if you enjoy racking your brain trying to find a solution to a logic puzzle, and you can appreciate a relaxed pace (if you like logic puzzles then you must appreciate a slow pace, right?), then you should find yourself engrossed in a good point and... Read the rest of this Review |
Little Nemo - The Dream Master 04-27-15 01:22 AM |
Dream On, Dreamer Sleep. It's a wonderful thing, isn't it? Says the guy typing this review out at three A.M.... Little Nemo - The Dream Master is about a young boy by the name of --you guessed it-- Nemo (boy you're clever) who receives a distress message from the dream world princess and begins his great quest to save happy dreams, one bedtime at a time! Odd perhaps, but you can't say it's an overused plot anyway. The game's controls are crazy easy to learn, and are as follows: -D-pad = Move -A = Jump -B = Attack/Throw candy (Yes, throw candy) -Start = Pause/Unpause -Select = Change weapons And that's all that you need to know to get started, well that and a little bit that I will mention later in this review, but if I tell you everything now you won't have a need to finish this review, and quite frankly I need all of the tricks that I can utilize to uh..."encourage" people to read my reviews in their entirety. It's not cheating... Graphics: 9/10 Excellent. While they may not be the absolute best graphics on the system, they certainly do offer a good idea of what the NES was capable of. The levels are sharp as far as 8-bit platformers are concerned and can challenge some of the more renowned titles on the beloved Gray Toaster-Console that powered some of the finest games of it's time. The characters are well made and there are a fair amount of them, but they aren't what pushed me to rate the graphics so highly. Rather it was a combination of their animations and the backgrounds, and their animations is what I plan to address here. Simply put, the animations are perfect. They're smooth, and there are so many different variations that each sprite takes that I can hardly imagine how much of a pain making them would have been. During the game, Nemo will take his usual kid form to start with, but he soon begins using his candy to get the different creatures to "give him a ride... Read the rest of this Review |
Haunting Starring Polterguy 05-30-14 06:07 PM |
Forget a witty review title, just play this game "Your stereotypical ghost/horror game" "Just another 16 bit game" "Run of the mill" These are all things that you will never hear a truthful person say about Haunting. In fact, not only is it not your stereotypical horror game...I wouldn't even call it a horror game at all. If anything, Haunting is a spoof of horror games. It's funny, silly, and simple light hearted fun. The biggest twist on the horror genre here is that someone finally had the guts to make a ghost story game where the player is the ghost! That's right, you play a ghost whose fashion sense is heavily influenced by the decade he lived(?) in (the 90's), and scares the hooey out of people repeatedly, all while getting to be the good guy! Could the theme of this game be any more perfect? The gameplay is extremely easy to catch on to, and the controls are equally simple. All you have to do is locate an area in the room where there's a colored sparkle, walk up to the sparkle and press the A button. Polterguy will enter the object "charge" it, and then exit it. The charged object then becomes a scare trap for the unsuspecting target. Scare them badly enough, and they'll run out of the house terrified. Be warned though: these people have nerves of steel. I don't know about you, but if my couch grows a tongue and licks me, or my floor opens up and a body comes up through it, I'm out of there no questions asked. These guys can take things like this and just go into the next room over. So good luck, because you'll need it to scare these folks away once and for all. Well, let's get on with the assessment of this special little game. Graphics: 6/10 Good. So this is probably Haunting's weakest point. It isn't really that the graphics are bad, they're just more of an afterthought here, or so it seems. The way the game plays, the developers had to either sacrifice great graphics or great gameplay, and thankfully they chose to sacrifice great graphics... Read the rest of this Review |
Nintendo World Cup 04-30-14 05:05 PM |
Just another soccer/football game? GOAL!!! Yep, it's soccer (or football, depending on where you're from) meets 8 bit gaming. It's Nintendo World Cup. So what makes this game special? There are countless Soccer games out there, since we seem to feel like we need a new edition of each sports game franchise every year, and in the end, a soccer game is a soccer game after all. But after about ten seconds into your first game in Nintendo World Cup, you'll see that there's something different about this soccer game... The players have gone psychotic, and somewhere under the bleachers in an abandoned soccer stadium, there are a bunch of refs tied up. The end result being that all mayhem breaks loose, and players are often left unconcious after taking a hit, trip, or intentional soccer ball to the face. Folks, this is the NBA Jam of Soccer games. The controls in Nintendo World Cup are pretty simple: Offensive controls - A - Pass B - Shoot Defensive controls - A - Tackle B - Slide Every other button is just the standard stuff (start = pause, etc). So now that we've covered the basics, it's time for the review. Graphics: 8/10 Exceptional. The sprites are well designed, and smooth. The players look good, but a little...mantis like. It's like Heinz Doofenshcmirtz cloned himself into an entire soccer team, and it almost makes me expect to see Perry jump out of the stands at any moment. However, if you can get past the strange little mantis people, the characters look pretty good. One thing about the player sprites that really impressed me was the fact that they all look different, rather than looking like a bunch carbon copies of one another. A very nice touch for an NES game. The effects here are great. They're just so toony that you can't help but smile when you first see them. The way the players eyes buldge impossibly out of their heads when they take a hit, add... Read the rest of this Review |
Flintstones, The - The Surprise at Dinosaur Peak! 04-28-14 07:22 PM |
One of the best platformers on the system Yabba Dabba Doo! It had to be said. And now that all of the necessary and strange—albeit extremely predictable comments—are out of the way, we can move on to the review. So I was looking for an NES game with no featured review, and what do my eyes spy? A Flintstones game! Yeah, not that exciting, since TV show/Video Game crossovers usually stink (much more so on such an old and limited console). Still, out of what could only have been either some morbid curiosity or my inner child squealing with delight over a classic cartoon turned video game, I decided to set out to play, finish, and review The Flintstones: The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak!. And so, having done the first two, I'm here to complete step number three: tell everyone how good (or bad) the game is. But first, it's time for some overview info on the game. It's an NES title about The Flintstones (bet you didn't see that one coming, now did ya?), and what might be equally shocking is that it's a platformer. Oh the originality! Predictable details aside, The Flintstones - The Surprise At Dinosaur Peak! implements a few surprising and interesting gameplay elements and at times, some cunning level designs. Indeed, this one holds some shockers for you. The first surprise is the character select system: Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble are always together in this game (though only one is visible at a time) and you can cycle between the two at any given moment. Each character of course has their own strengths and abilities, which I found incredibly innovative on such an old system. Fred's strength is... well... his strength. His attacks deal more damage than Barney's, plus he can charge his attacks for more power, though you won't often be able to know in advance that you'll be needing to attack (and even fewer are the moments that you'll be able to actually do so). His special ability: he can grab the edge of a cliff or platform when h... Read the rest of this Review |
Zupapa! 03-31-14 05:16 PM |
Silly game, serious fun Zupapa is a game about...well, I would tell you, but the truth is, I have no clue what this game is about, but that isn't always important I guess. What really matters in a game, is how enjoyable it is; some games accomplish enjoyable gaming and fun by giving you a story that pulls you in, and others do so by giving you unique and/or addicting gameplay, while yet others fail miserably at both (I won't call any names, like Slaughter Sport... Oops)! Zupapa falls into the second category, or at least tries to. This review endeavors to determine if the developers managed to pull that off, or simply did what many "unique gameplay" games have done already, and show us why those "unique" ideas were never implemented in other games. The controls are crazy easy to learn, and flow as smoothly as the developers could have hoped while the game was still in it's conception phase, and possibly even smoother. You simply "Tackle" the bad guys to get rid of them, but this isn't always as simple as you might hope, given that you're so greatly outnumbered. However, coming to your aid are... Are you ready for this? A bunch of little star people! Or... something. You get them to help by walking up to them and touching them. Once you do this, they'll start following you, and then you simply press a button to throw them at an enemy, causing them to cling tenaciously to the foe, immobilizing them, while you tackle the helpless fiend. Fair? No, not at all! Fun? Yes sir and yes ma'am, it's a blast, and truly a game like no other, which is very much an unfortunate thing. Yes, I'm aware that I just spoiled the suspense that I was trying to build up and save for the review, but this game is so brilliant that it merits that. Also I have no patience nor self control, so...yeah! Alright, now on to the only thing in this world that could possibly make numbers fun: Game review ratings! Well that and a paycheck... Graphics: 6/10 Good.... Read the rest of this Review |
Tom Clancy\'s Splinter Cell 03-17-14 06:55 PM |
My introduction to Splinter Cell So many times game developers have taken a perfectly good console title and ported it to a handheld, and it ended up being a complete bust. So much so, that it's made hardcore gamers with actual game quality standards want to personally fire everyone at their favorite game development studio and replace them with chimpanzees. We've fussed about it, written online articles about it, even had printed articles about it published, and yet they just don't seem to catch on. It makes one wonder what exactly their Research and Development teams are doing with all of that monetary backing they get. Some possible answers to that question might be: -Making paper airplanes out of it -Using it to wallpaper their offices -Making bonfires with it to roast marshmallows over Whatever the answer may be, it certainly isn't that they're using it to find out what the consumers actually want, else they would cease the senseless porting of console titles to handheld systems. Which brings us to Splinter Cell for the GBA. Yes, not only have they once again ported a console title to a handheld, but it's quite probably the worst possible genre for porting to a handheld: a stealth shooter. So can it break the long streak of games that have suffered from BadPortitis? Graphics: 8/10 Exceptional. These graphics won't wow you in the least, but they're solid. They don't look bland or pixelated in the least, and they manage to successfully communicate the spy mission atmosphere in a modern way, which is very nice indeed. In fact, the way that the environments are designed to give that feel of a modern spy theme is what bumped my graphics rating up from a seven to an eight. They really did impressive job on creating the right atmosphere here. The sprites all look very realistic for a handheld system, and coupled with the environments, level, and equipment designs, they communicate the intended theme well. It'... Read the rest of this Review |
Harvest Moon: Back To Nature 02-28-14 06:08 PM |
Harvest Moon meets 32 bit PlayStation goodness! Could it get any better? Harvest Moon: Back To Nature. What I believe was the sixth installment in the series, Back To Nature set forth some new and very interesting changes from the series' traditional formula. These changes combined with the changes set forth by Harvest Moon 64, are what really started molding the Harvest Moon series into what it is today, and that is one of the many reasons that those two titles hold a very special place in this gamer's heart, but more on that later. Change is good....sometimes. So how about the changes made here? Well, if you had been following the series in order, from the SNES debut, up to Back To Nature, then you immediately noticed many differences between this one and the others. In fact, somewhat contrary to the Harvest Moon series' style, Natsume actually changed up a number of things between this title and it's predecessor, rather than just making a minor change or two like usual. It's also the last Harvest Moon to my knowledge to include the Hothouse which oddly was introduced only one installment in the series prior to this one (I miss it so bad!). So what new things did Back To Nature bring to the table that weren't in the previous installments? -New villagers -A fruit tree on your farm, and a honey supply to bring in more money (both of which produce with no work from you) -A fish pond on your farm. Yep, more money. (Your farm was a virtual gold mine in this one) -The Harvest Sprites serve as farm hands....though they are fairly lousy at their jobs... -New items -New crops And some more beside that. As any Harvest Moon fan knows, that was quite a bold step compared to the small amout of change that seemed to be typical of Natsume in the HM series. So as you can see, this installment was definitely worth a Harvest Moon fan's time and money, and held many surprises for them. Now to see how these changes --along with a few others- panned out.... Read the rest of this Review |
| Eirinn's Last 7 Game screenshots (17 total) (view last 250) |
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| Eirinn's Last 7 Game Videos (18 total) (view last 250) |
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| Game Boy Advance Games Eirinn owns (15) |
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.jpg "Yoshi's Story (tech demo) - gba")
| Super Nintendo Games Eirinn owns (30) |
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.jpg "Mario's Nightmare 64 (v1.1) - n64")
| Nintendo NES Games Eirinn owns (22) |
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.jpg "Splatterhouse - Super Deformed (English Translation) - nes")
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.jpg "Cameltry (US, YM2610) - mame")
.jpg "Mystic Warriors (ver EAA) - mame")
.jpg "Captain America and The Avengers (Asia Rev 1.4) - mame")
 (set 1).jpg "Tetris (Atari Games) (set 1) - mame")
.jpg "Rygar (US set 1) - mame")
.jpg "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Turtles in Time (4 Players ver UAA) - mame")
.jpg "Strikers 1945 (World) - mame")
.jpg "Marvel Vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Euro 980123) - mame")
.jpg "Wonder Boy (set 1, 315-5177) - mame")
.jpg "Mario Bros. (US, Revision F) - mame")
.jpg "Donkey Kong (US set 1) - mame")
.jpg "Bucky O'Hare (ver EAB) - mame")
.jpg "Blood Bros. (set 1) - mame")
.jpg "Fantasy Land (set 1) - mame")
.jpg "Popeye (revision D) - mame")
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