Recent reviews by C-Dub

Disappointing.

UI issues aside, this game feels incredibly soulless.

I can't put my finger on why I don't like this, but all the character of the last few Civ games feels sandpapered out. It's so uninteresting to play that I feel the series' trademarked 'one more turn' addictiveness is gone. I can't even be bothered to play past the opening segments of the game because it's so dull.

Previous games in the series have all had problematic launches, and it usually takes an expansion pack or two before the game reaches its potential. But Civ VII feels different. It's like a bunch of disjointed and half-baked concepts were smashed together without any sort of unifying theme or approach. As I said, I can't put my finger on one issue, but the best I can come up with is this game lacks a grand vision and just feels like a bunch of decent ideas were dispassionately implemented by a design committee who couldn't come to any agreement or give the game a sense of direction.

And the end result? It's just... bleh. I don't know what to say because I've never felt this disappointed by a Civilization game before.

This game is pretty mediocre.

I started off quite enjoying this. It feels like you’re playing a good Indiana Jones movie.

However, it goes off the rails pretty quickly, committing a few AAA cardinal sins:
- overly hand-holdy
- repetitive gameplay that doesn’t increase in complexity as the game progresses
- filled to the brim with content that makes the game overstay its welcome
- cookie cutter quest design

If the game was a good 30-40% shorter, with more imaginative side quests and a bit more depth to the gameplay, this could’ve been a classic. Instead, we get a game that’s pretty big, but as shallow as a puddle.

Alas, what a shame.

An optimistic game set in a bleak world.

The great soundtrack and amazing English voice acting drive this incredibly fantasy road trip story.

The gameplay is classic Atlus, only with a job system to shake things up a bit, and it mostly works.

My main disappointment is the dungeons are pretty lame, on the most part. Coming from Persona 5 - this team's last game - it's really disappointing how simple the dungeons are. But everything else, from art style, story, gameplay and soundtrack is just a pleasure.

Best game in years.

What a trip. I can't begin to describe what I've just experienced.

In fact, I think to do so would spoil the game. My review is gonna be vague because I don't think it's right to spoil much of this. Just play it. Play it now.

Anyway...

Story of the year (so far). The game starts off odd and confusing, with weird use of language and starting off in medias res, so it can be disorienting. But that disorientation is part of how the game absorbs you into its world. After an hour, I was thinking in red to blue, HEKKI grace and hair to hair.

The mystery of the world, and what happened across the generations of the game's messed up family, is compelling and each chapter peels a new layer off the narrative onion. Getting each new sliver of information is addictive, and is videogame storytelling at its best.

The voice acting is superb, capturing sadness, bitterness and anger in its characters that brings all these clones to life.

If I say any more, I'll spoil the game. But if you love story-driven games, you owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece.

Wonderful, charming and cute. This game has a great sense of humour as you play a cute little kitty wandering the big city.

There's a few bugs here and there, but none that were game breaking and the artistic intent of the game still shone through.

I've played about 3 hours and done a whole bunch of stuff, but there was a lot more for me to do and I think once I'm done playing a long game I'll come back to this and complete some of the extra quests.

I definitely recommend playing by yourself as it's short and charming enough to be something nice to play between two bigger games. If you've got kids, they'll also love playing this or watching you play.

A bit too long (the first one was just the right length), but I still recommend this.

If you enjoyed the story from Horizon: Zero Dawn, all the planning and worldbuilding in that story pays dividends in this one, with some great twists, characters and plotting.

The gameplay is refined from the first one, and is mostly good. I'm not a fan of the amour in this game versus the original, nor am I a fan of the ability trees this game has. But the core gameplay loop is still there, and it's still very satisfying.

Aloy is still awesome, her friends (new and returning) are great and following them through their latest adventure has been a pleasure.

I just hope PlayStation don't delay the PC release of Horizon 3 like they did this one.

This is the best game Microsoft has published in at least the last decade.

How is this quality rewarded?

Studio closure.

What a massive shame. Studios like Tango Gameworks don’t come from nowhere.

A classic RPG remade for the modern age.

The gameplay has been revamped for modern sensibilities, but in every other way it's still the stylish and edgy Persona 3.

Full of bleak and bittersweet moments, the game asks you to make the most of your time to find meaning in your life.

With gameplay closer to Persona 4 or 5, and a strong and meaningful story, we now have the definitive version of Persona 3.

I put over 100 hours into this game and I can't say I liked it. The game does just about enough to lull you into a zombie-like state and get you mindlessly playing, but if you begin to think about it you realise you're not having fun.

The story is mediocre, the quests are mostly uninteresting and much-touted exploration is a whole lot of hot air.

What a disappointment. Give this one a miss.

This game is brilliant.

I think Jusant is a hybrid between "walking experiences" like Abzu or Journey, and also a soft puzzler. Each climb you make is a problem you have to solve, carefully balancing the length of your wire while also judiciously inserting one of your three hooks into the wall to "save" your progress on that specific section of the tower.

The climbs are sometimes small, sometimes epic, but always satisfying.

Each of these climbs is punctuated by some environmental and letter-based storytelling. You get logs and letters from the residents of the tower who lived there, and how they coped as the water dried up. You also see their homes, full of stuff, falling into disarray. They've been gone for a long, long time and the whole journey up the tower is quiet, contemplative and sometimes quite lonely.

These two aspects fuse together to make a compelling and enjoyable climb up the side of a forgotten settlement.

Definitely recommended - this game is worth both your money and your time.