Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW: June 11-17, 2018 -- WHO'S THE TARDY ONE NOW, GUYS??!??!

Well, after watching my slacker comrades go back-to-back with really late RotWs due to things like computer troubles or whatever, it's time for me, THE MOST RELIABLE ROTW PERSON, to show everyone how stuff gets done around here, once again being a paragon of punctuality!!!!

(Awkward pause, waiting for laughter to subside).

Besides, we only had six reviews by five writers, so this was a fairly easy week! DO NOT FORGET MY DARK SOULS REVIEW FOR NEXT WEEK, JASON!!!!! I'm the only one who can forget about hold-overs around these parts! Of which there don't seem to be any this week. EmP apparently learned not to submit anything during his week after I forgot about him that second time! Or was it third?

Since we had a close battle for placements, to give a few words about the honorable mention types, since everything I read was good enough to at least deserve a few words.

For Midcore, you could probably just pretend I said what Jason said in the comment he left. It's a very good review from a historical perspective that explains the fundamentals of the game, but could have used a bit more spice in the form of personal opinions. Some weeks, it would have placed regardless, due to how good you are at discussing these really old games and how they came to be (comparing the one you reviewed to the Japanese game that it came from, essentially, was very interesting), but this was a pretty big week for quality, if not quantity, so it wound up a bit short of placement.

Follow Freeman wrote an interesting room for a shmup I've never heard of before, although I kind of am interested in it. I suppose a lot of how a person reacts to this review probably ties in to how they feel about shmups in general, as a lot of your praise for your game is tied in with your disdain for how other games handle their business. Meanwhile, while I don't play them like I used to, I started out reviewing one shmup after another for quite some time, so I found myself gritting my teeth at every "this game is better than ALL OF THOSE for these reasons" bit. 100 Percent Rage, my man. More seriously, it's a good review that's very well-written, but I don't how well it'd sell a shooter fan on it being better than the average Gradius or R-Type. A more casual player, sure, as this one seems loaded with anti-frustration features combined with tons of content. But me personally? I found it to be an interesting game that I'm interested in trying out, but some parts fell short with me because I'm in that niche where I like the challenge posed by overcoming frustration, so I'd be what you call a "hard sell" when trying to make some of the points you made. I mean, I'm sure I'd really like this game; I just struggle with the concept I'd consider it a better game than classics that I've expended blood, sweat and tears playing because you can take multiple hits and not have to necessarily start over after losing lives.

THIRD PLACE

EmP's The Office Quest (PC)

I'm not really a fan of point-and-click games, and therefore, not a big fan of reading about them, but this was an entertaining little review. Sure, part of that is your imagery, placing you in the role of the hapless, unappreciated cubicle drone as far as writing these reviews goes, but there are other positives. Such as the beginning where you do a good job of explaining how this is a great example of a rare mobile-to-PC port where the move seemed to actually be beneficial. And you do good illustrating how in these games you can have uneven puzzle quality and other frustrations. Overall, this was a easy-to-read, yet comprehensive look at a game I'd never heard about before and likely will never think about again. And with games like that, if you can keep my interest throughout, that's a victory in itself!

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SECOND PLACE

Pickhut's Killer 7 (PlayStation 2)

Killer 7 is one of those games I've heard a lot about, but not really. You know, where I've constantly heard about how avant-garde or "different" it is, but then see it got decent, but not great, reviews overall and it all ends up this mess where it's a "rule of cool" game that I really don't know anything about other than it's weird. You do a great job of explaining it all. The weird stuff that happens and how, at its heart, it's a pretty boring and repetitive game under all the weirdness. Hard to say too much about this review other than you took a strange game and really dug into the nuts and bolts of why it doesn't work all that well, with the best part being for me where you simply said that despite all the imagination put into it, it was pretty bog-standard to the point you think the designers were hoping the weirdness of the plot and controls and whatnot would distract from that.

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REVIEW OF THE WEEK (aka: Overdrive Place)

JoeTheDestroyer's Xenon Valkyrie+ (PlayStation 4)

So, of your two reviews, I liked this the best. I think you did a great job of showing how this game went from "pretty sweet" to "whoa…no…" as you played it, while illustrating just why the things that gave you issues were problematic. You do a great job of showing the game's potential, especially talking about how, while it's a rogue-like action game, you tend to have tight, exciting levels all the time. And then, bringing up the intense difficulty surges, how you lose everything after death except one item and how that one item can be easily wasted on crap, even though it's the one thing you can count on to potentially help you recover from those deaths. By the end of it, you'd convinced me that this game is more frustrating than fun the more you play.

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And there we are with another RotW by me, the guy who is NEVER late with his RotWs, as opposed to these other guys! Time to drop the mic and run far away before everyone starts opening remembering how many times it's near the end of the week before I bother doing this.

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

Thanks, OD. Like you, it's one of those games I've always heard other people talk about, but never touched myself until this year. After finishing another one of Suda's games, The Silver Case, I figured it would make for an interesting follow-up review. Then a PC remastered was announced shortly after completing the review. Makes me wonder if the aiming is going to be extra smooth now with mouse controls? Wait... how are they going to map the controls???

Anyway, congrats to Joe on the RotW honor and everyone else who participated this week!

I head spaceshit noises.

I took another look at my Gun Fight review, and yeah, I see the problem. For the most part, I was just stating facts about the game. Other than the last few paragraphs, it might as well be a Wikipedia article, haha. I think I do a better job at talking about single-player games than multiplayer games, so hopefully my next review will come out better. Congrats to the winners!

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Oh, don't you worry, Overdrive; soon, you will be inducted into the True Truth of Tyrian, shedding your ways of instant deaths and untelegraphed attacks! You will find challenge in fairness, not arcade-era quarter-munching madness! I, too, was content to play the likes of Soldier Blade and Ikaruga, getting one-shot or losing my upgrades or both, until Tyrian showed me the light. May you find your way, my troubled son.

Also, kudos for punctuality.

Mwahahahahaha! I have triumphed! Thank you for the win, and congrats to Pick and EmP on placing.

Also, I totally read the tagline for this topic in a Bruce Campbell "Who's laughing now!?" kind of voice.

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