Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW: Dec. 30, 2019 - Jan. 5, 2020 -- A bridge for the years

Well, here we are already in a new year... and a new decade. The slower submission pace has continued, as is usual for the winter holiday. But this week there were three reviews from three unique contributors discussing games on three separate platforms, so at least you all gave me more to consider than you did overdrive last week. Let's get right down to it!

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Third Place: Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure (TurboGrafx-16) by overdrive

I'm always up for a new retro review, and this one does a good job exploring just what it meant to Bonk for a third time on the old TurboGrafx-16. The angle taken with the review isn't extremely fresh, but it's relateable. A lot of us have gone back to binge on a favorite series, only to find the binge process strips some of the magic away and highlights flaws we might not otherwise notice so readily. There was less of the nuts-and-bolts stuff I tend to look for in reviews, since overdrive assumed (probably not incorrectly) that most who read the review will be familiar enough with Bonk by now that they won't need that stuff spelled out. The end result is a competent, informative review that the retro minded should find quite useful.

Runner Up: Jamestown+ (PC) by Masters

There are some beautiful lines here, including the very final one, which is always good to see in a review for a game that falls within a niche genre. It's always nice to end memorably, and the review does that after expertly carrying the reader through an analysis of Jamestown itself and the added content for this newest release in particular. A five-star review needs enthusiasm, and that's delivered, so that my fingers are left itching to play the game. On another week, this might easily have claimed the top slot, but there was some stellar competition this time around.

Review of the Week: Death Stranding (PS4) by pickhut

This is a compelling and detailed review for a game that must have been difficult to cover. I now have a much better understanding for the world Kojima has created for Death Stranding and, more importantly, how the player functions within that world in a way that provides a unique play experience. Regrettably, there were some very minor errors throughout, such as a missing word or two, and other minor grammatical issues. They were few and far between, however, and this review serves its purpose so beautifully that I'm happy as a reader to forgive them. I suspect anyone wondering what Death Stranding is all about will be well served by starting the search for information with this review, and I suspect also that they'll come away with a desire to play it, even if they do have a few misgivings. That's about as much as any review could have accomplished. You did a fantastic job with this one, to the point where I would say it's your finest work I can recall reading to date!

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Thanks for finding time to write about games and share your thoughts with the community over the holidays, and I look forward to seeing what you all have in store for the new year!

"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

Thanks for the RotW and the very kind words about the review, Venter! Writing a review for the game was definitely an undertaking, since there's so many elements to consider. I wanted to go into more depth with the story, since it did have some narrative issues, especially a particular moment towards the end of the game, but they weren't so big that excluding them from the review was a grave mistake. It was difficult trying to mention all the important aspects of the game without the review feeling like it's going on for too long. So I'm glad that you understood more about Death Stranding after reading the review!

Also, to OD and Masters for submitting this week, too; I was for sure one of you might've landed RotW this week, so thanks for the solid entries!

I head spaceshit noises.

Thanks for the compliments, Venter, and kudos to Rob and Pick, for submitting great stuff on a slow week.

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