Reseñas recientes de Ashoka

Everything Thirsty Suitors tries—whether it be the humor, creating engaging storylines, or switching genres between turn-based RPG, cooking, and skating—it succeeds in greatly. Lovable characters, a charming story, and the relatable generational trauma of second-generation immigrants come together to make a game that just works, and works exceptionally well. As a Sri Lankan, never did I think I'd see the day where I'd be playing as a Sri Lankan protagonist, cooking Sri Lankan dishes, and fighting off the expectations of South Asian parents. Thirsty Suitors is one of my top games of 2023, and I'd highly recommend it!

Doom II is an iconic FPS that, while fun and action-packed, doesn’t quite live up to the legacy of its predecessor in every way. Iconic as it may be, it's only really the level-building that came out of this game that stands out. If you're a fan of the first Doom, you'll appreciate the familiar gameplay, but you may already know that there are some issues that plague its successor.

The levels in Doom II are much more complex and larger than those in the original, which is great if you love exploring and figuring out intricate layouts. However, this complexity often turns tedious. Many levels can feel like elaborate mazes where you’re forced to backtrack and spend 20-30 minutes hunting for keys, which breaks the flow of the intense combat. Instead of focusing on shooting demons, you’re frequently left wondering where to go next. This combines with another problem, which is that some levels feel poorly balanced. Enemy placement can be downright unfair at times, with traps that lead to cheap deaths or swarms of demons that overwhelm you in tight spaces. While I enjoy a good challenge, some areas come off as frustrating rather than fun, as if the difficulty spike is more about padding out the experience rather than testing your skills.

As Doom fans know, the introduction of the Super Shotgun is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it’s an immensely satisfying weapon to use, blasting enemies into bits with a single shot. On the other hand, it’s almost too good. The Super Shotgun becomes your go-to weapon for most of the game, making other weapons feel obsolete. I love the Super Shotgun, but it would’ve been nice to have more incentive to use the full arsenal. Doom II adds several new enemies, which help to freshen up the combat. The Arch-Vile and Mancubus are great additions, introducing new strategies and challenges. However, some of the new enemies, like the Pain Elemental, feel more annoying than enjoyable to fight. They don’t add much to the game and sometimes just pad out the difficulty in frustrating ways.

All-in-all, these issues made the base game of Doom II a slog to play through, and definitely an unenjoyable experience. Coming off of the first Doom game, it's hard to see how a game that perfected combat, exploration, and balanced gameplay squeezed out a sequel so flawed in all three.

I did in fact want those games, and I did in fact clear every single one of them — once again.

Hands down the best way to play the original DOOM games. Not only do you get the genre-defining classics that revolutionized gaming, but these versions are optimized to run flawlessly on modern systems.

The updates include some fantastic quality-of-life improvements, like smoother gameplay, widescreen support, and customizable controls, which make it even more accessible without sacrificing the original feel. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to the series, this package offers the ultimate version of DOOM, DOOM II, and extra campaigns.

Pizza Tower is a masterclass in the platformer and runner genres. Taking inspiration from classics of the past Wario Land, Sonic, and even Metroid, Pizza Tower turns them into a mixture of madness that works very well in its favor. My most pleasant surprise with this game was just how well the levels are designed. Each world of the game (there are five in total) increases in difficulty, building on the skills previously hammered into you. Level replayability lends itself to differing playstyles, allowing you to take your time and explore the secrets of each level, or cruise right through. The bosses were also a huge plus that I was not expecting, giving you added fun and something to look forward to at the end of each world. The entire experience culminates in a final boss and final level that puts quite literally everything in the game into one big amalgamated level. Truly spectacular! If a fast-paced platformer with action and Metroidvania elements thrown in sounds like your kinda thing, do give this a try!

Yooka-Laylee, a modern-day collectathon from the original Banjo-Kazooie team, was supposed to bring back the magic of classic platformers. Despite its $3.2 million budget and a lot of new and fresh ideas, the game ultimately falls short, feeling more like a 2000's movie tie-in game than a polished, modern title.

The level design is a major letdown. Remember games like Super Mario 64 or Dark Souls, which give you a clear mental map over time? Some of us can navigate those spaces blindfolded. Yooka-Laylee’s levels are the exact opposite; incohesive and confusing. There’s no sense of direction or flow, and I found myself getting lost repeatedly. It’s one of the worst cases of level design I’ve encountered in all of video games, making it nearly unplayable to navigate or find all collectables without a guide. In fact, the hub overworld is one of the worst examples of this. Just getting around between the five levels of this game is a chore, requiring you to navigate an unnecessarily complex maze of load screens. The transformations and minigames, while meant to add variety, end up being clunky, boring, and time-consuming. They offer a change of pace but are more of a slog than a delight. As for the boss fights, they are the absolute low point of the game. Each one gets progressively worse, culminating in a final boss that is unnecessarily long and difficult, completely out of sync with the rest of the game’s kid-friendly vibe. Not to mention the game's clunky controls that work against you more than they do with you.

One of my biggest complaints is the complete lack of a system to check which specific Pagies or Quills you’ve collected. Missed one of the 1,202 collectables? Good luck tracing every step backwards to check every single location! This makes it frustratingly difficult to track down missing items and adds to the already tedious experience.

Despite these issues, I did manage to complete the game 100%. The characters are charming, and I was thoroughly entertained by the fourth-wall-breaking humor characteristic of Rareware games. While I did enjoy much of the game, these moments of enjoyment were significantly overshadowed by the game's numerous flaws. I cannot think of a single person I would recommend this game to in my own personal life, which is why I cannot recommend it here either. I wanted to like Yooka-Laylee, but its incoherent level design, tedious mini-games, and downright abysmal boss fights severely hindered my experience. Nostalgia alone can't save it from these critical missteps. Unless you're a 3D platforming fanatic, save your money, and especially your time.

Raji: An Ancient Epic is a visually stunning journey through Indian folklore that offers a rich tapestry of culture and mythology which often goes criminally underrepresented in video games. The music is mesmerizing, and the cutscenes adorned in the style of Pahari paintings are a unique style never before seen in video games. The newly-added Hindi dub is very well done and completes the entire package.

As a South Asian myself, I very much so appreciated the game's dedication to representing the diversity and richness of the region's culture and mythology. The incorporation of Hindu mythology into the game's narrative is a refreshing departure from the norm, offering players a glimpse into stories and legends that are often overlooked in mainstream media. From the stories of powerful deities to the mythical creatures, the game does an incredible job at seamlessly weaving together all of these concepts. Optional in-game murals also provide voiced background details on the main deities represented here (Durga, Vishnu, and Shiva) for those who are not as well-versed.

This game is a visual marvel that does a fantastic job at immersing players in a breathtaking depiction of Indian folklore and culture. Every moment is a visual feast for the eyes. I found myself taking screenshots all too often! The intricate details of Rajasthani architecture, cutscenes that combine the styles of Pahari paintings and Kathputli; every scene is a work of art. The scenery and design elements in my opinion serve as a testament to the dedication of the developers in authentically representing South Asian culture.

One of the things that I found to be a major frustration was the game's exploration mechanics. Hidden upgrades are often missed due to unclear pathways and lack of backtracking options. The decision to block off certain paths after progressing further exacerbates the issue, leading to missed opportunities for upgrading your character. It was frustrating to feel limited in my abilities, only being held back by the game itself. Luckily by the end I had found enough orbs to fully upgrade, but getting there was harder.

The level design is fantastic though, and I found going through each area to be incredibly satisfying. Especially staring at those visuals! I wish there was more seamless integration between world movement and combat. Usually getting into a pre-determined area where enemies will spawn locks off the area for combat until all enemies are eliminated. This stunts the flow of the game.

While Raji excels in its visuals and storytelling, its combat mechanics leave much to be desired and are easily the weakest part of the experience. Although the concept of utilizing the terrain adds a very interesting dimension to the gameplay, the execution feels lacking, with combat often devolving into repetitive button-mashing. Many enemies also leave little to no opening, so the combat quickly devolves into mashing the dodge button until you wait and wait and wait to find a slight opening and send out one or two attacks. Boss battles, in particular, suffer from a lack of depth, becoming tedious battles of attrition rather than engaging tests of skill. The absence of a lock-on system only serves to further the issue, making it difficult to effectively target enemies and execute strategic maneuvers.

Despite its flaws, Raji: An Ancient Epic is a remarkable achievement and huge step in Indian game development and South Asian representation, showcasing what I believe to be the highest quality video game production to come out of the region. While the combat mechanics may fall short of expectations, the game's stunning visuals, rich narrative, and authentic representation of South Asian culture make it a journey worth embarking on for anyone eager to explore the wonders of Hindu mythology and Indian folklore. Hopefully they can improve the combat in a potential sequel, which I definitely would buy!

An outstanding sequel that somehow takes on the gargantuan task of being even better than the first one, and does it with finesse. Rise of the Tomb Raider takes everything good about Tomb Raider (2013) and improves upon it tenfold. The frankly insane number of achievements and collectibles can be daunting to even the best of completionists. If you're looking for an experience (time-wise) that is well worth your money, this is it. I'd highly recommend this game.

I thought for long on whether to give this game a thumbs down or not. Ultimately though, I came to the conclusion that I just would not recommend this game to someone. While I did get some enjoyment out of it, the game is mired in issues all too familiar to Assassin's Creed games of this era. The repetitive loop of entering enemy strongholds and fulfilling mundane challenges as you mow through enemies grew tiresome quickly and is completely unrewarding. By the end of the game, I ended up rushing through the story just to get it over with, even as hundreds of meaningless icons littered my map.

Virtually unplayable. I had to jump through many many hoops to even get this game working, and unfortunately, the experience still fell far short of enjoyable.