Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW: March 30 - April 5, 2020 -- Untitled

Happy Wednesday! The end of the world marches on. I'll keep this brief. I have a holdover -- my review of Thunderflash -- which I can only hope Gary doesn't overlook on his watch next week.

With that out of the way, I suppose I should 'celebrate' the pretty strong output this week: 6 reviews by 6 different writers. Awesome for the site; less so for my workload. Three will place, three will not!


1943: The Battle of Midway (NES)
CptRetroBlue

Retro says don't call it a comeback, but we're glad he's back anyway, in light of his recent troubles. This review starts out rather rocky (the first paragraph), but smooths out thereafter, although what is this line: "Unlimited continues are actually something that you can count on as long as you don't reset the game." On the whole, it reads just fine, but it ends rather abruptly, just as it was gathering steam -- it feels unfinished, but what's actually present is solid.


Enter the Gungeon (PC)
Brian

This review definitely has its ups and downs: on the one hand, it contains passages of cogent analysis related to 'git gud' and contemplating roguelikes and their inherent pros and cons. On the other hand, it's rather long, takes a long time discussing the game in question, and the organization could be better (I didn't find out what kind of game it is until very deep in the piece.) Finally, what the review sets out to do is no mean feat -- celebrate the game despite its frustrating difficulty -- but the final, positive paragraph and the high score do seem to come out of nowhere given the negative vibes that came before.


Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX (Switch)
mariner

Mariner does a nice job leading us into his review with an economical run down of Inti Creates's action games resume and then proceeds to describe how this latest game is not like the others. I wondered what this bit meant though: "Ah, so it's a tradeoff being movement and getting hit? Not much, because...". Mariner had a tough task ahead of him here: making a game nearly devoid of challenge sound like something you'd want to play. He mostly succeeds, detailing the excitement of achieving air dash flow, as it were. I wonder though, about the utility of aiming to succeed and collect kudos when the reward seems to be a helper fairy that you likely don't need? The author's sentences are shorter and more enthusiastic than I've seen before, and the approach seems more stream of consciousness than usual -- but in the end the writing is as good as it always is.


THIRD PLACE
Kingdom Hearts III (PlayStation 4)
Rob Hamilton

Rob's review starts off with a bang, and carries that momentum far into its considerable length. Inevitably though, it does lose steam and it could have benefited from some tightening up, especially towards the end. That said, it's a very well written review that does a great job doing what it set out to do: boosting the awesome gameplay and simultaneously tearing down the game's poor narrative. Rob's strong conclusion brings it all together after some comparatively listless paragraphs prior with a score you'll agree with, having heard what else he's had to say: it's a fun experience, but the storytelling really feels like a wasted opportunity. Great review on the whole.


SECOND PLACE
Bear With Me: The Lost Robots (PC)
Gary Hartley

Emp comes in with possibly his worst pun to date, but he's been remarkably consistent so far, so we'll forgive it. Besides, he more than makes up for it with sheer volume of puns throughout the review itself. This line doesn't feel like a proper sentence: "Talking toy robots or cute anamorphic animal people; it’s just the majority of the ones you’re forced to hang with are often hardened criminals." But aside from that, it's written in usual Emp fashion, in equal parts impressively quotable clauses and silly jokes ("Ted, on the other paw..."). It's appropriately short, which is always good when covering a small game, though the way it closes isn't the strongest, which seems to be a trend this week.


REVIEW OF THE WEEK
Star Wars Arcade (Sega 32X)
Wendell B

First of all, who the hell is Wendell B, and what did he do with Pickhut? Turns out it doesn't matter, as the Pick imposter review is the best of the week. The opening paragraph is fantastic, and really sets the tone. He graciously tips his cap to the efforts made for this game to even exist, a 3D game in a 2D era -- and then bemoans all of its failings in an organized fashion which really shows rather than tells us how frustrating the game is to play. The penultimate paragraph summarizes things ideally, giving us a proper snapshot of the pain he's saving us from enduring. In a week of reviews that started strong and lost steam, Pick's might be the only one to maintain its fire throughout. Kudos.

See you next month, if we're all still here.

Be safe!

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

I guess reviewers receive a different alias whenever they review 32X games.

Besides that, thanks for the RotW! Been wanting to review a 32X game for some time, specifically one for this, since I thought it was odd that this hasn't had a review for it on the site yet. It was an overall disappointment to play, but I was still genuinely impressed with certain aspects of it, especially how the graphics managed to hold itself together when so much was happening at once.

Glad you enjoyed the review! Congrats on EmP and OD's placement and for everyone for participating this week.

I head spaceshit noises.

I don't mind getting beat if that means I have one less 32X game to play!

Appreciate the nod and the catches; I'll change some bits around when my head is in the right place. By modern standards, six is a pretty bust week, so good job getting through that and props to my podium pals!

For us. For them. For you.

Thanks for the commentary and placement. Twas a fun romp through the Kingdom Hearts series over the past year-plus and in a way, I'm kind of sad it's over, even if KH II Remastered is the only truly great game in the series (although everything else but Chain of Memories and the ReMind DLC I just posted were at least pretty good).

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

"I wonder though, about the utility of aiming to succeed and collect kudos when the reward seems to be a helper fairy that you likely don't need?"

Ah, you noticed that, didn't you? Yeah, to be perfectly honest, I'm not even 100% sure what the reward actually does, probably upgrades your secondary weapons or something. But it's just part of this game's focus on flashiness rather than challenge. I know, kinda weird.

(And as for the part that confused you, it's a typo: it's "between" movement and getting hit, not being. As in, with a limited number of bullits, one might expect you could only use them for defense or movement, but not both)

Congrats to pickhut for the win! Seems to be lots of reviews these past few weeks. Turning the world upside down must be good for the site...

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