Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week: May 27 - June 2: Too Tired Edition

I'm late? Of course I am. Sorry. Stuff happens, and then I get exhausted. It'll probably happen more as we venture further into summer, and my hospital's caseload goes through the roof. I don't even need to pull overtime this year to get exhausted. I can't imagine what it'll be like once I start doing OT.

Did I mention that I've been on a sasquatch horror movie kick recently? I'm not even sure how I got there. I just started looking up bigfoot movies and watching/detesting them.

Okay, so Exists is actually a decent, albeit predictable, one. I like Eduardo Sanchez, so that helps. I called the ending within the first few minutes, but then again I think anyone could. On the flip side, Curse of Bigfoot is insufferable garbage. Don't watch that without Rifftrax. I'll also call the late '70s made-for-TV flick Snowbeast a guilty pleasure. I've always wanted to write a Broadway remake of this one called "There's No Beast like Snowbeast."


Honestgamer - iHUGu
The "Mute" bit got me. That was good stuff.

Side note before I go further: This sounds like a watered down version of Dropsy, but with a Gacha feature.

You do a good job describing this game, and approach the part about the caricatures properly. It's good to have that section in there, because some readers might be turned off by that. Granted, they seem benign enough, so I don't think it'll be a huge issue, but you never know. It's always good to keep the reader informed. Like your Assault on Metaltron piece, this one accomplished what it set out to do. It gives readers all of the info they need without boring them to tears. It's a good, swift review.


Honestgamer - Estiman
Not much to say here that I didn't already say above and in your placing review. This one was a little more technical than its buddies, which was to be expected. Puzzlers tend to be so. It still sold me on the game, which I added to my Steam wishlist. I do like the comparison to bubble wrap.


Pickhut - You Died but a Necromancer revived you
That title's inconsistent capitalization annoys the crap out of me.

As any good review ought to, this one told us everything we need to know in a short amount of time, while not boring its readers. Difficulty rating seems to be the centerpiece here, and you handled that smoothly. It's good to know that this game is pretty accessible, despite its tendency to kill you dozens of times over.


CRB - TMNT Tournament Fighters
I've not played the NES edition of this game, and I always wondered how it handled. It always seemed weird having a tournament fighter on NES. You did a pretty good job covering this one, detailing all of the game's features and critiquing the visuals. I agree, it does look great for an 8-bit title. The only small complaint I could have is that I'd like to know how this game handles on the NES, as far as play control. I mean, I know you said they're responsive, but what about move sets and button schemes? To me, it seems like only have an A and B button wouldn't be enough.

THIRD PLACE
Honestgamer - Assault on Metaltron
This game is a hard pass for me. I know that because your review did a terrific job summing it up, describing the core mechanics without going into needless detail. That part of it sounded cool, but the rest didn't seem worth the trouble. Your review outlined the downsides, among which are gating, lengthy load times and a lack of depth. Count me out. This review accomplished what it set out to do in informing readers exactly what to expect without bogging them down with tedious material.


SECOND PLACE
Masters - Lovecraft's Untold Stories
Again, we have Marc speaking as an expert on Lovecraft.

Your examination is very detailed. You speak about what works/doesn't relative to roguelites, and also for Lovecraft-themed games. This one seems to hit some proper notes, but doesn't entirely succeed. This review showed a lot of your passion for the horror genre and the titular author. That guided your well supported points without devolving into a completely, incoherent geek out session, complete with digressive banter. You stayed focused instead and delivered a truly excellent review.


REVIEW OF THE WEEK
EmP - Guard Duty
Adventure titles like this are excellent picks for contests, if you know how to write them. EmP does, as it turns out.

This review flowed wonderfully, guiding us through the guts without getting dry or giving away spoilers. That's a tricky feat to pull off with story-centered game,s but you managed it. You gave some great examples to back up your points, and none of them revealed too much. I like the comparisons to Monkey Island and Discworld as well, as this title is blatantly trying to ape those. You also obviously write this from a position of authority, as someone who has played a boatload of these games. This absolutely reads like it was written by someone who knows what they're talking about.


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Until next time...

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

What? This is some bullshit. That small, concise, well-written Emp-produced piece of shite beat my epic review? Well, thanks for the doing the topic then, I guess.

Life can leave little energy to do thankless busywork like RotW Joe. Thanks for getting the topic up, and I appreciate the placement and compliments.

I don't have to prove I'm refined - that's what makes me refined!

Thanks for getting the topic posted, even with life's demands kicking you around a bit, and thanks for the comments on my reviews! It sounds like my reviews accomplished precisely what they set out to do, which is more important in the long term than the short-term burst of ego juice that would have undoubtedly come with a higher placement. Congrats to my esteemed competition for contributing to another week with fewer reviews than we were getting a number of months back, but with no sign that quality is dropping in the slightest.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

I actually had to look at that title on several websites just to make sure the capitalization wasn't wrong...

Thanks for liking the review! I actually almost didn't play this because I was weary of approaching another "die-a-million-times" game. But it was a pleasant surprise, and the way it handled difficulty was pretty interesting.

Congrats, EmP! And a good job to everyone who submitted this week.

I head spaceshit noises.

It's just as well my Transformers review didn't land in this RotW, because it would have been blasted to smithereenies. Smithereenies! I need more reasons to write that word, just because of the way it sounds in my head. I'm certain my latest review will fare far better.

Anyway, it's good to see the activity even though I was too tired to do my latest review justice in a single evening. Congratz to everyone who participated!

Look, the only time I'm not wrong is when I'm right, so...

Adventure titles like this are excellent picks for contests...

SHOTS FIRED @ ROB

Appreciate the win; I've never been able to settle into the mindset that X in my genre, but perhaps adventure games are my longest standing vice. Beating Discwolrd in a time before online FAQS and walkthrough fosters that on you, I suppose. Duty was a fun little game, and I hope it does well.

Props to Marc and Jason, who both seem to have woken up in the last few weeks to help pick up the numbers.

For us. For them. For you.