Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW // 26th August – 1st September // Clever tagline goes here

Barely scraped three reviews on my last rota. You busy little buggers have made that a distant, pleasant memory…

Plus, seriously, this week was tough. In particular, there were four reviews that would have probably have won a less stacked RotW. It might well be the closest run week I’ve ever had to try and sort through. You annoyingly competent bastards.

Victims of circumstances:

Sairento VR [PS4] Pickhut

Pick’s current weird obsession is VR. And he picks out one of the good ones today. If you showed me static screens of this game, I would probably assume it to be a Superhot clone, so doubling down on the locomotive controls and then adding video rather than flat screens was probably a good idea. It’s a good review and an easy read; leaving on the note that it’s a game primarily concerned with having fun was a good call. Remember when that was a thing? Good times.

Thunder Paw [PC] Masters

Man, am I going to hear about this one…

Arguably, Marc has the hardest job of everyone, taking the most obscure game, and trying to make it sound interesting despite being such a middleground experience. And he does just that. It’s a really good review, picking on the right examples and even managing to make a few funny asides (bonus props for the single line -- it was goofy, but I laughed). If it wasn’t for everyone else bringing their A games, then this small annoyance would have been just that, and not thin justification to expel him from the podium. So, here it is: the sixth paragraph that talks about the BGM and graphics felt levered in there just so you could say the cosmetics were barely noteworthy. That’s all I have. Unless you count the fact that this review is six months late



THIRD The Witcher 2 (Switch) Overdrive

Ol’ rambling Rob’s off again, but this time, he manages to keep on topic for the most point and, with a game as large as the Witcher franchises threatens to be, it’s a pretty good tactic, anyway. There’s moments where it kind of gets away from you (there’s a part where you’re talking about the antagonist assassin, but it’s not made immediately clear he’s the topic, so I had to reread it a few times to get there) but, otherwise, it’s a clever run through that takes the reader through the game and how things worked and failed as it progressed for you. One day though, dude, we’re going to have to teach you how to use screenshots. They’re not that hard!

SECOND Whipseey and the Lost Atlas [SWH] Jason

Jason writes a very Jason bash review, in that everything is fairly argued and well balanced where as some of us would have just got on with pouring down the hatred. It’s super effective; he doesn;t even come right out and accuse the game of being a Kirby clone, he just hints at it like an unreasonably nice fellow. A continuing motif of this week has been excellent example usage, which Jason nails here by dedicating a lot of the review to pointing out and contrasting Whipseey’s two main failings.


WIN Ninja Gaiden (NES) Joe

It’s been a very Ninja Gaiden-y kind of month.

Joe writes an excellent review that takes the reader step-by-step through Gaiden’s easy beginnings, challenging mid game and ridiculous conclusion still held up by many (who never played Battletoads) as the benchmark in ridiculous difficulty ramps.

Unlike me though it is, I don;t have a lot of nitpicks I can throw at this one. It’s extremely well constructed, each talking point progressing naturally into the next and every example well placed. It’s kind of annoying when I have nothing to snark at. I should disqualify you for that.

For us. For them. For you.

I mean... if you spent $200+plus on a headset and some controller sticks, you would want to get mileage out of it, too. >_>

Thanks for the comments! Yeah, I didn't think pictures would do this game justice, though I wouldn't have submitted pictures for a PSVR game anyway; the PS4's capture tech doesn't play well with VR games, causing an odd warp effect on the sides of the screen. Check out my Statik pictures for an example. Sairento VR is probably the most fun I've had with a PSVR title, so I'm glad that got through in the review.

Congrats to Joe with his Ninja Gaiden review!

I head spaceshit noises.

1. I played this on the 360, not the Switch, as you have it labeled. I'M NOT VENTER, DAMNIT!!!!!

2. Didn't see any screenshots or assets attached to this game. I mean, I'm sure I could have scoured the Internet to find some that aren't watermarked to put on the site, but my brain didn't take things that far. More like "Got one done!!! Now, off to the next one and I might get caught up before I finish another batch of games....heh, no chance of that happening, Mr. Slow Writer..."

3. Thanks for the comments. Bet I surprised you with an actual mostly-focused review. You don't get many of those from me here! I'll try to make up for it during your next RotW that I'm submitting for by penning a review talking about all things I did in my house to put off playing the game of choice. It'll be THRILLING!!!!

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

Thanks for your kind comments, and for a good topic on what I agree would have had to be a very tough week. I'm very pleased that it was a tough one, though, and we got to see so much cool stuff! Keep it up, everyone. I know I say similar things most every week, but I mean it every time!

"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

Thank you, good sir, for the win. I'm glad that review went over so well. Congrats as well to OD and Jason! Now, let's see if I can actually finihs my Phantasy Star III review.

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