Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW // 16th - 22nd NOV // The First Step Back

I could fill this page up with whining, but there’s no need. This month has kicked my arse and I have to dole out what’s left of my energy very carefully. Time to drag myself over the line.

THIRD - Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together [SNES] CptRetroBlue

I’ve enjoyed watching Cpt improve as a reviewer over the years, and Ogre is a solid representation of that. It’s not perfect by any means; there’s still a hint of secret section review about it, such as when the music gets its own paragraph out of nowhere, rather than the discussion naturally arriving at that point, and some of the sentences are overlong. The paragraph about recruits probably suffers from that the most. But it’s a sold run through of a complicated game, written succinctly while remaining informative. Tardy props to you.

SECOND - Touhou Spell Bubble [SWH] Honestgamer

Jason sets himself a tough task with 4/5 considering the following complaints: in game app purchases, cheap AI that can often make you feel cheated out of wins and a poor gimmick implication when it comes to the spells. Does he pull this off? Yeah, kind of? I think it’s a bit too steep a hill to climb, but waxing enthusiastic about the greatness of Bust-a-Move is certainly a good step because I love that game and pandering to my pet loves is a great way to score easy points. Why no one slaps together an X-Com review on my week for an insta-win is a long running mystery.

Jason does well in the body of the review striking balance. For example, rhythm gimmick -- good! Implementation of spells - bad. I think the only problem is that so much focus is put on these negatives that it really doesn;t feel like a 4 star game by the end of it. Maybe it’s time we abolish the star ratings now gamerankings are dead?


FIRST - Distorted Reality[PC] Joe

Joe writes three reviews this week. Bloody Joe, taking away time I could be using staring out of the window, willing along the end of days…

Azure Saga was close to getting the nod this week. It has a strong example game in how it fails to really hook anyone in because it fails to secure a protagonist worth caring about. I thought that point was very well made and better proven. But I’m going to give the nod to Distorted Reality this week because it knows what its job is, and does it in spades. Here is a bad game; rip it to shreds. In doing so, it’s very easy to either slip into cringey overkill or not quite sink the knife in deep enough, but Joe has neither issue here. He tells us about his time with the game, walks us through his journey from the start to the finish that doesn’t actually seem to exist. It’s an excellent review wasted on a garbage game.

For us. For them. For you.

Thanks for the comments, EmP. Congrats also to Joe on winning the week, and to Cpt on the podium finish!

"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- Wait, did I also get second?

Whatevs. I shall thank you for the topic. I hope you're doing okay, as it sounds like you've been through hell recently.

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