Forums > Contributor Zone > ROTW: AUGUST 17-23 -- "Did you forget? Cuz I did"

Regarding the lateness of this topic: I can't even... so don't ask. (You weren't going to.)

This week offered a trifecta of veteran's work. What that means is everyone gets a prize, and also that two very good reviews that would likely win top spot on other weeks, this week will not.

On to it, then:


THE BRONZE MEDAL

Pokémon Café Mix (Switch) by Venter

I like this line early on in the review, "I quickly downloaded it with plans to ignore it until the end of time." Jason then goes on to talk about how he is careful when he fingers someone or something, which is nice for us to know. I think the description of how the game is played (it's not a match 3) could have been clearer. Overall though, Jason covers this free pick-up-and-play puzzler rather well, but is limited by his subject matter for the purposes of this 'contest' (he's reviewing a free pick-up-and-play puzzler).


THE SILVER MEDAL

PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate (PlayStation 4) by Rob

Great opening paragraph from Rob -- we've all been there, indeed. I don't love the "suits" paragraph though; I felt that something was lacking in the explanation. I also felt you took a bit too long bringing 'the flaw' into focus. But once there, you handled it well and tied things up nicely in the conclusion. This is a solid review, to the surprise of no one.


REVIEW OF THE WEEK

Skully (PC) by Emp

Very well written puzzle-platformer game review by Gary. It's well paced with a lot of polish, which we've come to expect. This line though: "Though, to bring my grumbling full circle, Skully’s usually very fair checkpoint system is usually scrunched up and tossed aside when the game forces you back to basics, forcing you to undertake long daunting runs of multiple curves while plagued by malicious wind currents where a single slight mistake sends you crashing to your death with zero means of recovery." It's hard to read and has the word 'usually' in it twice. This part is not the easiest thing to parse either: "There’s problem inherent; the cutscenes make the weird choice of being a collections of garin still screens that sometimes undercut the superb sense of personality the excellent voice acting has built..." But I'm mostly nitpicking. The bitch slap bit and the noise complaint bit round out a great review.

I'll see you next month. Oh. Right, that's now. Well, I'll see you in a few minutes.

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

I would rather there not be weeks this slow again, but lulls are inevitable. If they must exist from time to time, I hope they are at least as good as this trio of reviews (I say as someone who contributed one of them myself). Congrats and thanks to all who participated, and thank you for getting to this topic with the useful and specific commentary. It's nice to know that sort of reward is waiting when I submit a review!

"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

Good catches, old chum. Thanks for pointing them out. They've all been neatly fixed. Or at least re-jumbled into some else just as ungainly.

Props to Jason and Rob, who show even when we don't quite have the numbers we once did, the quality will never take a dip. I appreciate the placement for ol' Skully. Jason absolutely dumped him, but it was a run throwback 3D platformer, and I have no regrets.

Next Golding RotW -- 2022. After this dig, I'll place 7th.

For us. For them. For you.

Thanks for the comments and placement! I rather enjoyed the game (minus the bosses) and had fun writing about it, so glad to see it was well-received.

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