Until now, that vision was never truly realized…

The original Jurassic World Evolution was a decent start – an average game with good ideas. Later on, its successor Jurassic World Evolution 2 offered marginal improvements, but ignored many of the original’s downfalls.

Scoring both releases 50/100 and 55/100 respectively, Frontier Development’s Jurassic World Evolution 3 was approached with reserved optimism.

Surely this time it’ll hit the spot, right?

Jurassic World Evolution 3 Review

Let’s get something out of the way…

The franchise’s biggest pain point comes with its poorly simulated attempts at guests – the single reason why this is a park management sim and not a wildlife conservation sim.

Sadly, that has not changed with this release. The guests are mere illusions, walking objects that serve no real purpose and exist only because they are expected to do so.

While one can create experiences of pure wonder and joy – even epic when it comes to the grandiose playground the Jurassic Park franchise is known for.

Despite that, 300 people will still be wandering around your staff-only facilities…because reasons.

Placing any guest service, like a food or drink vendor, will immediately net a profit based on the number of guests that are in the area.

This is regardless of whether guests actually physically appear in said area.

One’s beautifully curated viewing platform, with 15 visible dinosaurs and 4,000 appeal, will often be empty and lifeless.

This area has been all but ignored throughout the series – and it continues to be a disappointment in this release.

With that out of the way, Jurassic World Evolution 3 is the best game in the series – and it’s not even close.

Jurassic World Evolution 3 builds on almost every other area (sorry, combat is still a bit meh), pushing the franchise to new heights.

A lot of Jurassic World Evolution 3’s heavy lifting is done by the community, thanks in part to a fantastically designed set of building customization tools that provide near-endless creativity.

Merely days after its release, the Jurassic World Evolution 3 community has already created some truly epic designs.

Using Jurassic World Evolution 3’s tools in the well-constructed workshop, one can create everything from a near replica of the original park.

One can even include the iconic raptors from Jurassic Park’s kitchen scene, with raptors actually being able to walk around the kitchen.

It’s ridiculous – and we love it.

It would be easy to understate the importance of this impressive suite of tools, but they all add an unrivaled level of longevity and customization

Outside of Frontier Developments’ other titles, of course.

Put simply, Jurassic Wold Evolution 3’s suite of tools is a truly remarkable feat.

And they all do so much more!

Every problem seems less of an issue, every obstacle less relevant…there’s just so much potential to do just about anything.

With these tools in placce, they allow the rest of the game to shine like never before.

While the economic challenges of the game are still few and far between (a positive cash flow is literally throwing down a few buildings, and you’re good to go) the complete and utter carnage and chaos is as glorious as ever.

Our sandbox park featured a small enclosure for the ridiculously cute Microceratus. On the other side of the path, a growing family of Dilophosaurus. Money was pouring in, and we were thriving.

Then a storm hit.

It took out the power, causing the Dilophosaurus to escape through the fence and break into the Microceratus enclosure. On that note, this was attached to a petting zoo for visitors…

Dinosaurs died, people were eaten, and we were hit with lawsuits to near non-existence.

Chaos defeated us that day.

There’s a magic to Jurassic World Evolution 3’s chaos, a combination of compounding events that can bring even the best managed parks to its knees – and it’s awesome.

Many of the elements surrounding dinosaurs and care in Jurassic World Evolution 3 remain the same. Dinosaurs require certain habitats to thrive, and attempting to balance these out across multiple species is rewarding and satisfying.

The introduction of Juvenile dinosaurs to Jurassic World Evolution 3 adds another layer of excitement to the mix.

Genetically breeding the ultimate attraction while watching all the new animations and interactions between different families and herds, it’s a seemingly small and simple feature at face value. However, this feature adds so much to the overall experience.

New attractions, a suite of impressive terraforming and community creation tools, new dinosaurs, new breeding mechanics…

Clocking approximately 40 hours into Jurassic World Evolution 3 as of this writing, we have barely scratched the surface of what we want to achieve.

That’s where Jurassic World Evolution 3 truly won us over…

Jurassic World Evolution 3’s combination of existing and new features creates a consistently busy – yet growing – environment.

There were always simultaneous projects going on at any given time. We were mentally checkmarking objectives as we progressed, always moving forward to that next grand idea.

There is still one area of criticism that needs to be discussed: Jurassic World Evolution 3’s console release.

Reviewed on the Xbox Series X, its 30 frames per second frame rate 30 FPS is very noticeable to the point we regret not buying it on PC first.

With the level of flora and fauna detail scattered across every map, graphical pop-in is quite intrusive. There is also a construction limit imposed on console platforms will be off-putting for those hoping to create something massive.

Coupled with the traditional woes of console management games, sluggish controls, and interface interaction when it comes to challenges building with precision, makes the console versions of Jurassic World Evolution 3 a tough call.

Jurassic World Evolution 3 is a great console release; there’s no denying that.

That being said, while it works well and does everything it needs to do, the PC version of Jurassic World Evolution 3 really lets this game shine.

Jurassic World Evolution 3 is the single best entry in the series to date – and it’s not even close.

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Following the launch of the incredible Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed is almost the complete opposite of Warhorse Studio’s Bohemian epic.

And that’s exactly what many players are looking for.

Avowed Review

Avowed promises a refined, orchestrated role-playing experience, with every area crafted to perfectly suit its set pieces and enemy placements. Featuring a compacted RPG experience (settling around the 25-35 hour mark for story completion), Avowed is the perfect remedy for players exhausted with the seemingly never-ending open-worlds of games like Assassin’s Creed and Kingdom Come Deliverance.

It’s not my type of RPG, but it’s impossible not to appreciate the level of quality and detail present throughout Avowed.

Avowed tasks players with taking on the role of an envoy to the Aedry Empire that has been sent to the Living Lands to investigate the Dream Scourge, a mysterious plague wreaking havoc on an already divided land.

Often seen as oppressors by the native people, the Aedry Empire looks to tame the Living Lands, bringing law and order to its people – whether they want it or not.

Avowed features an incredible story, one heavily influenced by player choice. In particular, Avowed’s story is delivered in such a way that I was never really sure what the “right” or “wrong” decision was. As a lawful good goody two shoes, I frequently walk the path of the ever-righteous paladin – but Avowed doesn’t make things that simple.

Avowed’s main choices – huge decisions that impact the very lives of the people of the Living Lands – are almost segmented, cornered off to specific regions. While the overarching theme remains the same, choosing to aid the Aedry Empire in its goals to conquer save the people of the Living Lands, or working with the natives to solve their many issues. These choices branch out to offer a world of delightful intrigue and discovery.

This presents a unique narrative opportunity for players. Although they may feel one way toward the overall story, these individual events and the circumstances of the local people often require a bit more thought than a simple good or bad choice.

Would you choose the immediate suffering of hundreds to secure a future for thousands? Even that is not black and white.

Many prominent characters from Aedry would prefer aiding the people of the Living Lands, while others want to rule with an iron fist.

The uncertainty of each choice in Avowed, and the unclear impact it has, is a thrilling ride. So much care and attention is given to the final scene, the culmination of the players’ choices throughout the entire game, seldom do games have such a satisfying conclusion.

Avowed’s story would probably be its greatest asset – if it wasn’t for its combat.

Avowed’s combat isn’t just good; it’s one of the best the first-person RPG genre has ever seen. It’s familiar, utilizing dodge and parry mechanics alongside elementally driven combo attacks, but it hits a quality level very few can match.

Every part of Avowed’s combat feels refined and polished to near perfection. An arsenal of weapon types gives players the option of 13 unique weapons, six which are one-handed and can be dual-wielded in various combinations.

Each weapon boasts its own attack speed, damage rating, and defensive abilities, promising near endless choice throughout the campaign.

Despite this impressive selection, I spent much of Avowed with a 2H flame sword and a book of fire spells. Throwing out fireballs, calling down fiery rain from above, charging in with a 2H swing, even though I opted for a routine-like approach to my combat ability rotation, every fight was engaging, and so much fun.

It’s not without its drawbacks, however.

The limited active weapon slots, allowing players to equip two slots of weapon types, are hindering and frustrating through much of the early hours. By choice, I would equip a large two-handed weapon in one slot, and either a gun or a bow in the second slot.

Eventually, I was funneled into swapping out my ranged weapon for a grimoire, despite having no interest in playing a mage character. This was due to the constant need to interact with the environment, a feature that would otherwise be a lot of fun.

Charging up damaged power stations to open doors, freezing water to access new locations, burning away thorny bushes, all required a constant switching between my desired weapons and the weapon the game was forcing me to choose.

This is somewhat alleviated as your list of companions grows, utilizing their abilities to clear obstructions and open new pathways, but this becomes equally limiting. I often felt forced to pick characters whose abilities answered some of the more common elemental obstructions, instead of those whose company or combat abilities I enjoyed more.

Although, eventually, being forced down the route of always wielding a grimoire in Avowed did encourage me to change my build.

And oh boy, was it worth it! So much fire.

When you’re not saving or condemning the world of Avowed, it’s time to help locals.

On that note, Avowed’s questing system plays it very safe. You arrive in a new area, visit the central hub, grab all the side quests, and venture out to chase objective markers on the map, with very little thought or effort required from the player.

The simplicity of this system is sometimes overshadowed by bizarrely placed quests and enemies that create an often jarring experience. All too often, quests at my level would be the other end of the map, forcing me to either bypass or slog through higher-level difficulty quests en route.

This became less of an issue later in Avowed as my build and gear began to shine, making the higher tier quests as easy as the lower tier ones. Nevertheless, it still felt a bit off in the early hours.

That’s mostly because I just never seemed to have enough items to upgrade my gear. I completed every bounty board I could find, grabbed every quest in passing, looted more chests and enemies than I could count, but it never seemed enough.

All too frequently I would be forced to invest my entire stockpile of upgrade supplies into one or two weapons, removing much of the opportunity to switch up and explore other weapon types.

That’s until you randomly find a weapon on the floor that’s as powerful as the one you just spent 15 hours upgrading. It’s an odd system, one that I’m sure will be uniquely experienced by each player depending on choice of weapons and luck of what they find, but it’s yet another issue that seems to vanish as the hours pass.

If there is a single area of Avowed that blew me away, it was the jumping and movement. It’s more akin to parkour than traditional clunky first-person movement.

The accuracy and momentum of jumping is tuned perfectly, giving the game confidence to deliver some truly unique set pieces. Whether you’re sneaking through dangerous traps, jumping between small ledges, or leaping across great chasms, Avowed’s movement feels grounded and realistic every step of the way.

It passes that confidence of design directly to the player, adding a level of verticality to both the exploration and combat of Avowed rarely seen in first-person games.

Avowed takes a few hours to find its feet, but once it does, this RPG provides an unforgettable journey that never outstays its welcome. Avowed features a jaw-dropping world to explore, complete with a solid cast of intriguing characters and choices that will remain with you long after the credits roll.

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Is Indiana Jones and the Great Circle worthy of the series, or should you skip it like you did the last movie?

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Review

The game starts with a classic:

Indiana Jones makes his way into a temple, looking for an artifact. After a tutorial, the big rock we’ve all come to know and love chases you out.

Boom: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

With the artifact in tow, players head back to Marshall College to return to work. On your first night back, a massive man sneaks in and attacks you, stealing a completely different artifact from the College and leaving before you even know what’s going on.

Getting one’s bearings, you figure out what was stolen and then find a clue. The burglar had a pedant revealing he was from the Vatican, giving you a new area to check out.

Taking place in 1937, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle pits players against Nazis and Mussolini’s fascists. Mussolini has already taken over Rome, so you have to sneak in as a priest. Here, you run into Gina Lombardi, a journalist who is looking for her sister.

You agree to help her since you know her sister as well, and the two of you adventure together. You are also introduced to Emmerich Voss, the leader of the Nazi’s in the area and the big bad of the game. He is an archaeologist as well and is searching for The Great Circle.

Similar to Wolfenstein, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Review is in first person, so you can literally punch some Nazis instead of just talking about it on the internet.

Combat in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle feels fantastic, packing a punch.

While I always want to brawl when given the chance, gunplay is also a highlight, as players can feel the weight of each gun differently.

Of course, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle features the whip. You can disarm, trip, slap, and even distract enemies with it. It’ll be your most useful tool and trusted ally – especially when climbing.

Along the way, players will use said whip as a grappling hook to get up and down and all around the areas of the game.

There’s only one downside; its stamina. Running out hurts, and it makes Indiana Jones and the Great Circle a surprisingly vertical game because of it.

Thankfully, the stamina system in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle works, taking the best elements of of Dishonored 2 when one explored the town for loot and cash. The areas in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle aren’t massive open-world sections, but they still get the job done.

The Vatican gives you a city to explore, with buildings, quarries, shops, and other spots. Then you hit Gizeh, which is the desert, Pyramids, and the Sphinx. There’s a jungle and the College to explore as well, and exploring is encouraged.

One of the first tools you get is a camera, which will give you hints for quests but also earn you skill experience. You can spend that on skill books you find or buy throughout the game for buffs. You have basic ones like increased HP or stamina, but unique ones like retrieving your hat to get up after a KO. Given enough time, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle lets players become an unstoppable force.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle also incentivizes exploration with quests and cash.

Cash is on a per-area basis, so the money from Rome won’t be spent in Egypt, and vice versa. Said money can be used to buy map locations and new equipment like a lighter. Then, you can find quests, relics, mysteries, and other spots like an underground boxing ring.

Put simply, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle features a wealth of content beyond the main story. Some of the side content is worth doing for more than skill points and cash.

There is stealth in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, but there are no instafail areas. Since you can change disguises, the stealth is pretty good. Clubbing someone in the back of the head feels good; it’s just hard to stay motivated when wed rather be brawling.

Note that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle features both guided and nonguided modes at the offset. With guided mode, you keep waypoints and markers for key objectives.

However, those looking for a real challenge should turn to a guide; some of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s puzzles were hard enough with the markers.

Thankfully, Gina will occasionally be with you to provide hints. While we were stumped a few times, everyhing eventually clicks – be ready to use your brain!

When it comes to quibbles, this title does not let you skip cutscenes, and there is a fair amount of backtracking around quests. There was one instance where we ran back and forth from the Sphinx at least three times in one mission.

While there was a single crash, this title’s autosave was only a minute behind – so it didn’t hurt too bad.

Indiana Jones and The Great Circle goes to show that MachineGames has an eye for fortune and glory. Not only is this title another great addition to Xbox Game Pass, it’s an absolute must for fans of the infamous Indy.

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The development studio GSC endured several development delays, cyberattacks, a server fire that wiped out an entire floor, and evacuated nearly 200 families to continue development in a safer environment.

In today’s faceless, hyper-connected online world, it’s easy for people to forget that real people pour their lives into creating these games. However, not all games are created under equal circumstances, and not all studios face the same challenges. The fact that this game was released at all is deserving of high praise and a testament to the resilience of the development team.

The love and passion for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is evident throughout, but games can only be delayed for so long. A mix of brilliance, brutality, and a buggy mess, mar a game that may eventually define the genre…but not just yet.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart Of Chornobyl Review – A Brilliant, Brutal, Buggy Mess

Crouched in the corner of a dusty wooden cabin, I watch through the barely ajar door as the pulsing red glow of the Emission storm floods the night. The howling wind relentlessly pounding against the walls, making every creak and groan of the timber sound like the cabin’s about to collapse.

Crawling through rusted sewer tunnels, I keep to the shadows, avoiding the dangerous green glow of the radiated water below. The faint scratching of… something echoes through every passage. Unsure which path leads to safety, I pause in front of a grilled exit, offering the smallest comfort of protection—from one direction, at least. I’m out of ammo, out of medical supplies, and have no idea how deep this sewer goes.

These heart-pounding moments are S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl at its very best. The attention to detail in both the audible and visual components of the environments is jaw-dropping, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is one of the most atmospheric games on the market today.

In one moment, I felt as though I was treading through the halls of a pure horror game, and minutes later I was ducking and diving between crates dodging enemy fire. It brings together a strong core of horror, survival, and action, but doesn’t really look to push to perfection in any discipline.

Exploring the world is equal parts brutal as it is fascinating. Avoiding mutants, taking out human patrols, watching in awe at some of the more spectacular anomalies that haunt the landscape.

Therein lies the downfall of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, I’m not sure the anomalies were designed to smash through the fourth wall and undo so much of the game’s brilliance.

I witnessed enemies spawning several feet in front of me, out of thin air, which is almost as impressive as seemingly duplicating themselves in the process. Taking down one with a well-placed headshot, I watch as the body falls, only to see another standing in the same location.

Quests remain unfinished due to missing objective items or AWOL NPC’s. The game gets to a state where attempting to open the map or inventory takes upwards of 40-50 seconds. These bugs in any other game would be enough to dismiss it entirely however, despite these issues, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl manages to be one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played this year.

Enjoyable is probably not the right word; S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an arduous journey.

It’s challenging, frustrating, and infuriating at times, but it’s this willingness to push the player through the negative emotions to adapt and evolve that hits so hard for me.

It reminds me a lot of the incredible Dragon’s Dogma 2 in the way it ignores the all too convenient design of modern games. It’s not going to hold your hand; you are going to fail, you are going to die, and you will either love the game more for it or hate it entirely.

However, even with the welcoming challenge of a game that pushes limits outside a simple test of reflexes, the challenge is often pushed to a point of failure as the game’s core design philosophy clashes with mechanical designs that just don’t make any sense.

Too often, the choice was clear but miserable: push forward to the next story location, driven by the intrigue of post-nuclear fallout, bizarre anomalies, and the fascinating characters populating the world, or spend 45 minutes trekking back to a camp to repair gear and restock on ammo.

Ammo is a big problem, especially during extended story sequences when you don’t have the time or desire to return to camp. Combat is already a challenge, mostly due to a mix of sometimes brilliant but oftentimes abysmal AI enemies, but to survive in these story sections is monotonous.

Several times throughout the game, I found myself resorting to knife attacks against heavily armored enemies. At other moments, I wiped out entire rooms, looting each body for ammo, and then scavenging their weapons to extract additional rounds from the clips. This created a repetitive loop of three to four minutes of ammo looting in nearly every room. The mundane repetition is a stark contrast to a game that is anything but mundane.

Sometimes this was due to my eagerness to follow the story, other times it was due to extended story sections that played out over many hours. I didn’t rush through, I farmed a few hundred thousand Coupons (the currency of the game), but it never felt enough.

This was more of a struggle toward the latter stages of the story. The early game narrative is rather disappointing, as you spend much of your time chasing down a single device and a group of people that attacked you.

Towards the end, however, the desire to reach the next chapter and learn of the next event was impossible to resist.

I really needed to see what was coming; instead, I was forced to walk 1.2km to a safe house to resupply, farm for resources, and repair.

During the review access period, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl welcomed numerous updates and patches, more than I can remember for most games this close to release. A day-one patch was also released, which addressed many of the more glaring issues. In addition, several thousand fixes have been applied.

While S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has vastly improved from its patches, it still suffers from technical issues. From flashing textures tp poor performance during cutscenes and dialog, it’s a long list.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl was a hard game to score.

It’s not a typical 7/10 game, a game we’d usually consider a universal recommendation for any fans of the genre.

It’s not an 7/10 because we ignored the bugs and glaring technical issues.

It’s an 7/10 because, despite these problems, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is still an experience deserving of high praise.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a fantastic game that flirts with greatness but falls short of being truly incredible. Longtime fans of the franchise will relish the brutal challenge the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe is known for, while newcomers might find the bugs more horrifying than the world itself.

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Even a week after I finished the story, I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it. There are moments I loved, story memories I will cherish, but I don’t think I’ve ever sworn at my TV as much as I did playing this game.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Review

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a heavily narrative-driven RPG experience with traditionally bizarre JRPG pacing that is as exhausting as it is impressive.

You could spend several hours in many of the dungeons if you go in unprepared, slogging through enemy after enemy as your supplies and patience slowly dwindles. Exploring repetitive dungeon design one nearly identical corridor after another is tiring, and thrilling?

It’s that constant desire, the relentless urge to get this bit done and move on to the next. Sure, the end of a three-hour dungeon run sucked, but after 45 minutes of cutscenes and dialogue, the beginning was bliss.

It’s a strange combination of highs and lows, one many JRPG players will be familiar with, but it’s ultimately what will decide whether this is a game for you.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a marathon and not a sprint. The story builds slowly but the pay-off is pure Persona. It’s an incredible adventure, one filled with surprisingly deep companions, and a twisting and intriguing political narrative. A reflection on what our society has become, and what it could be.

I don’t think it’s going to make any great strides in introducing the JRPG style to those yet to brave the waters, but for the fans, it’s everything it needs to be.

Rarely is my first thought in approaching a new game the visual style. It’s important, a defining feature for many of today’s biggest releases, but nobody does it quite like Atlus, the Quentin Tarantino’s of the video-game space.

Metaphor: ReFantazio drips with style and class. Every element of the user-interface, every carefully constructed loading screen, every bizarre or outright hideous monster design.

Everything in Metaphor: ReFantazio is done with a level of flair and creativity almost unrivalled in this industry.

It helped define Persona as one of the most iconic and successful JRPG franchises of all time, and Studio Zero have not missed a beat with Metaphor. While the environmental graphics suffer with the inclusion of a last-generation release, the overall style, characters, and animation design are flawless.

Studio Zero continues to show a willingness and ability to innovate the turn-based genre, when it feels as though most of the industry has turned its back.

Metaphor: ReFantazio’s combat is some of the most intense and strategically layered the genre has seen for years.

There are two main elements to the combat system: Action and Squad. Action is a real-time combat lite, allowing players to move around and slash at enemies with a primary weapon. It’s never primarily used as a means to defeat most enemies, more so as a method of engaging in combat with the upper hand.

It’s not as simple as running around mindlessly slashing at anything moving. Using different weapons and different styles of approach maximizes the chance of avoiding damage and beginning combat with stunned enemies.

This is simply the first couple of layers of the innovative combat system. Once the Squad combat starts, the turn-based element, it continues to evolve. It features the traditional tactically driven decision-making of the turn-based genre. Choosing the best time to attack, buff, heal, or defend, but with a level of consequence seldom seen.

Every enemy has its own arsenal of abilities, a list of elements and attack types it’s either weak or strong against, but this is much more than simply increasing or reducing damage.

Hit an enemy with an attack they are strong against, and you may miss a turn. Hit an enemy with an attack they can repel, your entire team loses its turn.

This is huge, both offensively and defensively. It greatly increases the value of characters built to dodge or sustain damage, allowing them to double up as action economy sinks for your opponents. Metaphor: ReFantazio rewards understanding and investigation of each enemy type unlike any other.

A carefully constructed symphony of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei’s best combat elements sees Metaphor: ReFantazio deliver one of the most innovative turn-based entries in years.

I should probably mention just how brutally difficult this game can be. I messed around across most of the difficulty settings, but even on Easy, my lack of preparation and intel caused me to wipe during several battles, and then there was the final battle…

It took me two days to defeat the boss at the end of the story, and I had to drop the difficulty to Storyteller mode to get the job done. Metaphor: ReFantazio is punishing, and frustrating as all hell, but about as satisfying as a turn-based RPG is ever going to be.

This was after spending nearly 70 hours maxing out the best Archetypes and gathering the best gear. No substitution for skill, I guess.

The Archetypes, the game’s class system, brings with it a blend of the familiar with a dash of the surprising. Watching as characters tear out their heart and transform into strangely armored thingies, seriously, I have no idea what they are, is glorious.

Carefully planning progression routes, so each character has the requirements to unlock the next tier of their preferred Archetype, is the sort of micromanagement RPG players dream of. Decisions made in the early hours of the game, choosing what direction to take characters, pays off nearly 60-70 hours later.

It’s a robust, powerful set of systems that truly give players the freedom to create, manage, and evolve a cast of characters. Despite my struggles with the latter stages of the game, I had characters that were nigh on invincible, my favorites, characters whose stories I loved and enjoyed.

I also had characters I didn’t really like, and they typically died after a couple of slaps. For players with the time, ability, and understanding, Archetypes are the pinnacle of an RPG class system.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a deep, stylish, and rewarding adventure, but it’s not for the faint of heart.

The post Metaphor: ReFantazio Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

That’s very much how I feel about Creatures of Ava. While the game is not without problems, the story reminded of me of why these games are so important.

Creatures of Ava Review

When developers aren’t pressured to chase AAA juggernaut success, and can instead just tell a passionate and meaningful story, that’s when video games stand apart as the greatest entertainment medium on the planet.

Following Vic’s adventures through the world of Ava as she fights to save its creatures and the natives from a planetwide infection called The Withering is an experience that will remain with you long after you finish the game.

It’s a story of human heart, passion, and our constant drive to fix our mistakes, to right our wrongs, even if we still don’t truly understand the world around us.

The world of Ava is beautiful, captivating in places, and filled with charm and character. Exploring across the different biomes, Jungle, Desert, Swamp, and Grasslands, is an enjoyable and worthwhile endeavor, hampered only by the bizarre decision to cut slices of the world away through story progress.

While each area is unique in the creatures and puzzles Vic faces, exploration incentives remain the same throughout. Permanent Upgrades in the form of increased health, stamina, and backpack capacity, and various collectibles and photography opportunities to learn more about the world of Ava and the creatures that call it home.

During the early hours of the game, I really enjoyed exploring the Grasslands region. Saving the creatures, finding the permanent upgrades and lore collectibles, taking snaps of the creatures to fill out my Avapedia. I felt like I was running around as Spyro in a world of Pokémon Snap.

All of which quickly became a chore when the game’s multiple pivotal story moments forced me to cut off parts of the world, never to return.

This point of no return conundrum is one faced in many games over the years, but typically in the final moments of the game. Having several, in a game that runs about 18 hours, felt very oppressive.

It all makes sense from a narrative perspective, and the story is easily the game’s most defining aspect. However, constantly being faced with the choice of finding items I’ll never have the opportunity to find again, or following the heart of the story, felt contradictory to the game’s empathic nature.

Part of that decision-making process was made easier by the rather disappointing impact of the upgrades. The increased health, stamina, and backpack capacity was nice, sure, but you can get through the entire game without much of it.

Couple that with the fact that you need to invest skill points, alongside finding the collectible items, and it became all too easy just to ignore them entirely.

Thankfully, the rest of the skill tree was more impactful, albeit difficult to complete if you don’t spend the time completing areas fully before progressing.

Various upgrades improve Vic’s ability to craft items, tame creatures, and solve puzzles, but much of it still felt unnecessary.

I couldn’t help but feel much of the time dedicated to these systems could have been better spent on the game’s namesake, the creatures of Ava.

Each region is home to a variety of unique, colorful, and gorgeous creatures that Ava can interact with. During my adventures, I encountered 21 unique species, each as mesmerizing and intriguing as the last.

Each creature makes sense, feels like it belongs, and has a real impact on Vic’s progression. Although, as the hours passed, the initial awe and that fuzzy feeling you get when you pet something cute, was replaced by mechanical understanding and expectation.

Once tamed, Ava is able to connect with these creatures, controlling them for a short time and gaining access to their Co-Op Ability.

These abilities are just additional skills to solve puzzles, making the creatures feel more like tools than living, breathing entities. Using creatures to navigate pathways Ava is unable to use, breaking down walls and pillars, moving heavy boulders, it synergizes perfectly with the environment, and learning how these skills behave early in the game was really rewarding.

The puzzles are all very simple, minimal stress, and almost calming and relaxing in places — and this is from someone that absolutely hates puzzles. That said, I would have enjoyed more complexity to some puzzle elements of the game. However, if you’re easily frustrated by puzzles but still enjoy the positive returns of solving one, this is the perfect adventure for you.

That is, sadly, the only purpose the creatures serve. You save enough to complete a region, use some to solve puzzles, and you move on.

At the beginning of my adventure, I was enamored with the opportunity to snap as many images of these gorgeous creatures as I could, only to ultimately leave somewhat disappointed at the lack of unique character and environmental interaction.

Take a snap of one infected with the Withering, take a snap of one not infected, and you’re done with the camera.

Although much of your time is dedicated to exploring and solving puzzles, Creatures of Ava does feature a combat system.

Well, it’s sort of a combat system? You don’t really fight, but you do kinda fight? I’m not really sure what to call it. A pacifying system?

Many of the creatures that inhabit Ava are infected with The Withering, a deadly infection that causes creatures to become aggressive and attack Vic on sight.

In order to tame these creatures to solve puzzles or just get that warm feeling of helping innocent animals, Vic needs to “attack” them with the Nafitar, a ceremonial stick of sorts.

It’s an intriguing extension of the game’s puzzle system, one that works really well. The Nafitar can pacify multiple creatures at once, if you’re able to catch them in its beam. It definitely feels like Vic may have been a Ghostbuster in a previous life.

It’s a balance of trying to tame the creatures in the quickest way possible, while trying to use specific abilities to counter certain creature traits.

For example, certain creatures are infected with an advanced form of The Withering, requiring the use of the Krist ability to break through an additional shield before the Nafitar can begin the taming process.

Other creatures may be incredibly fast, requiring the use of the Ushun ability to briefly levitate them above ground, giving Vic a chance to tame them before the next attack.

While initially skeptical at how challenging or in-depth this system could be, by the end, it was one of the game’s features I enjoyed the most.

There is so much to love about Creatures of Ava. The 2D cinematic scenes are a work of art, the world of Ava beautiful from start to finish, and the puzzles a perfect balance of accessibility and challenge. I just can’t help but feel so much time was spent in areas of the game that really didn’t need it.

Creatures of Ava is a heartwarming love letter to the action adventure games of old. A captivating tale of empathy and reflection, its story will leave you pondering its teaching moments long after the credits roll. This title is pure charm, hampered only by a number of shallow features that feel like they don’t belong.

The post Creatures of Ava Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Review

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II follows the story of Senua from the original Hellblade. She begins her journey in a slave ship, going to who knows where. She aims to find and kill all the slavers, so step one is complete.

As with most things in Senua’s life, this doesn’t go to plan. The ship encounters a dreadful storm that slams it into the rocks and spreads its inhabitants into the sea. Exhausted and defeated, you are flung onto the shore, looking for rest.

Sadly, there is no rest; the waves crash into you and threaten to drag you back to the sea if you don’t get up and move. You drag yourself out, then make it off the shore and start looking for survivors. 

The beginning section of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is agony for Senua, and the player feels every part of that. There are no markers, tutorials, or prompts; just fog, rain, and the voices in your head.

It is very frustrating, and I can see a lot of players getting turned around and even outright lost despite the size of the map being pretty small. On top of that, you are thrown into combat with no tutorial or button prompts, just the voices in your head telling you that you need to hit harder or dodge quicker.

The whole section felt like moving through mud, and Senua’s frustrations matched my own as I slowly made my way off the beach. 

It turns out this was all by design.

During the production of The Godfather, director Francis Ford Coppola was adamant that Michael needed to go to Sicily. We needed to see Micheal return to a normal life before having it ripped out from under him. We needed to see, just like Micheal, that there was no going back.

The studio kept saying there was no room in the budget. Luckily for us, Crazy Joe Gallo was gunned down, and the money was suddenly found. Sicily would be the catalyst for Michael to accept his role in the family, from being an outsider to the Don. I don’t know if this island has a name, but the island is Senua’s Sicily. 

Before we go any further, though, let me explain the combat because even after beating the game, I still don’t fully understand it. The combat is intense and hectic, with the voices telling you what will happen if you lose.

“They will eat you,” one of the voices told me. Such close and visceral combat would likely feel like that, the constant threat of what happens if you lose—the manic swinging of a person trying desperately to survive against a creature of darkness.

One word comes to mind: RAGE. Unfilited and pure, you feel the struggle and the anger bubbling inside you as you desperately try to find an opening against your opponent. 

The aura, attitude, and essence of true combat are there, but it doesn’t always make for fun gameplay. Thankfully, there’s an easy mode if you are struggling.

That may be the point. Maybe the developers want you to understand that the battle isn’t easy. Whether it’s combat in the arena or combat in your mind, the fight never truly ends. All you can hope for is a moment of respite from the constant storm bashing you against the rocks. 

Outside of combat, you have exploration and puzzles. There are a couple of side objectives to find, like the totem poles that talk about the land you are in. There are also these special trees that light up and bloom if you find them, but I found three the whole time.

The puzzles start out very frustrating because there are no prompts or indicators. There is one early one where you need to light a torch with your torch. Sounds simple, right? But when you walk up to it, there is no prompt, so you hit the button at the wrong spot, and it doesn’t work.

Well, what do I do now? Obviously, after figuring it out, you know, for the rest of the game, but the first time might leave you confused.

Something unexpected happened to me about halfway through the game. I was going through a cave and had to give up my light at certain sections. A strange sort of calm came over me as I walked through the pitch-black cave towards my goal. I realized that this whole struggle and journey had been about one thing: acceptance.

Not only accepting your fate but embracing it and becoming the person you are meant to be. Everything clicked after that cave, and I fell in love with the journey, even if the combat was still a train wreck. I’ve beaten the game now and am still unsure if I am bad at parrying or if it is only meant to work at certain spots.

The Stoics speak of the lower and higher self, about raising above the lower self to be who you truly are. Watching Senua ascend from her lower self to the higher self, to accept her place in the world—not just accept it but embrace it—was truly a sight to behold.

During one of the earlier sections, I was walking through a broken-down village, and one of the voices said, “Life is just endurance here.” Life is just endurance everywhere, which is what the game is trying to tell you. Yes, things suck for you, but they suck for everyone else also. It’s through the struggle that you become who you are meant to be. 

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is a classic example of the old mantra: get past the start, and you’ll love it. If you have Xbox Game Pass, you have no reason not to try this game.

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The post Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Well, it’s a mixed bag to say the least.

Sand Land Review

Within the first couple of hours, I shared a Tweet on X calling it one of the most boring games I ever played. If it wasn’t for the fact I was writing a review, I probably would have dropped the game there and then. I’m happy I didn’t, for the most part.

The game begins as protagonist Beelzebub, the Prince of the Underworld, and his merry band of loveable misfits fight to procure water for the Demon Village. Series favorites, such as Thief and Sheriff Rao, join Beelzebub on an adventure to seek out the Legendary Spring.

With an understanding and passion for the source material, there’s a meaningful and worthwhile narrative adventure here, one full of charm and heart. However, for those like myself, it’s like struggling through a barren desert, hoping to find an oasis.

And it took me about 15 hours before the exhausting, awkward translations and dialogue made way for a cast of truly memorable characters.

Without that initial struggle to find the connection with Beelzebub and friends, I’m sure fans will enjoy every moment. For those perhaps exposed to the series for the first time, it’s going to be a very hit-and-miss experience.

Much can be said about many of the gameplay elements of Sand Land. There’s a lot of fun to be had, but there’s a lot of work to get there.

Combat is separated into two main components: Beelzebub’s on-foot melee combat, a system you only really use when it’s forced by the story or environment, and a far more thrilling and rewarding vehicular combat system.

Beelzebub’s combat is well done. Basic combination attacks, special moves, and careful dodging combine to deliver a responsive and fast-paced battle system, but one that just pales in comparison to the alternative.

Would you rather stand toe-to-toe with enemy soldiers throwing well animated kicks and spins, or do you bring a tank to a gun fight?

The vehicular combat, as explosive and entertaining as it is, takes all too long to get started. A near seamless ability to switch vehicles during combat creates for endless combination attacks and variations of combat style, but it can take over half the game to unlock all the bots.

I share similar issues with the party and progression systems. While Beelzebub and his allies core upgrades are fast enough to obtain, the ability to truly unlock the maximum potential of the bots is locked behind a party member that joins in the final hours of the experience.

This makes the final hours of the game the very best Sand Land has to offer. An impressive customization suite boasts a huge selection of options for each of the vehicles, both mechanically and visually. However, Sand Land’s difficulty and additional content fail to motivate any real necessity to take the time to grind.

This is largely due to the unsurprisingly barren and uneventful nature of the game world. It’s a desert. It’s full of sand and, sadly, not much else.

You occasionally bump into side quests, treasure chests and characters, some of whom will be happy to return to the game’s central hub. Adding new buildings and facilities along the way, but for the most part, it’s as barren as you would expect a desert to be.

Even in later areas when, after what seems like a lifetime, you find some grass and trees, the world feels very much empty and lacking purpose.

Sand Land is at its very best during the humorously over-the-top boss battles. Mowing down tanks and enemy soldiers using an impressive array of vehicles and abilities. It’s just a shame that, outside the colorful cast of characters, the rest of the game can’t match the pace.

Sand Land’s vehicular combat is entertaining from start to finish, but bizarre progression pacing and the repetitive nature of the side content makes this a hard sell for those approaching the series for the first time.

The post Sand Land Review appeared first on GamersHeroes.

A decade has passed since the launch of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag and the beginning of Skull & Bones’ development journey, yet it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Enduring numerous delays, shifts in genre, and geographical transitions from fantastical realms to real-world settings, development has struggled through troubled waters.

Regrettably, the aftermath of that journey leaves Skull & Bones grappling to define its identity. It’s a clash of compelling ideas and concepts, each brimming with potential, yet few have been afforded the necessary time to flourish. While there are undoubtedly elements of Skull & Bones I’ve grown to love, its inherent challenges are evident for all to witness.

Skull & Bones Review

Usually, this is the part where I delve into my experience with the game’s storyline. Taking a moment to explore significant characters, dissect important plot events, and offer my overall perspective on the narrative direction before transitioning to other meaty parts of the experience. In the case of Skull & Bones, well, the story doesn’t offer all that much. Relationships feel forced and rushed, never given the time to develop through trial and tribulation, and the overall plot just feels flat.

After completing just a handful of seafaring missions, I found myself unexpectedly hailed as a hero by the pirates standing on the docks of Sainte-Anne. John Scurlock, the esteemed Kingpin of Sainte-Anne, now celebrating my achievements, when just moments before he was mocking my lack of experience. I struggled to remain interested in the lives and motives of the characters I encountered, and feeling rushed to develop that interest didn’t help the situation.

It’s a disappointing execution of the story, but as is often the case with live-service games, the story is rarely a focal point. It’s a few hours in a grand adventure, often spanning hundreds or thousands of hours. So, leaving the underwhelming story off the stern, many other areas of the game are truly remarkable.

Despite the hurdles of delays and change of genre, one key component was clear in the development of Skull & Bones: naval combat was destined to be its cornerstone. This is evident by the level of quality and polish in the ship-to-ship combat, a captivating and thrilling experience from start to finish. It offers a deep layer of strategy and tactical thinking as you analyze the movements of enemy ships, looking to capitalize on the smallest mistake. This is all the while providing pure satisfaction derived from just blowing the ship out of something.

Every encounter, even the trivial battles against enemies offering little to no rewards, is an enjoyable one. Lining up the perfect mortar shot onto the weak point of a moving enemy ship, sniping enemy flares before they call for reinforcements, watching three torpedoes hit at maximum range for insane damage; the combat in Skull & Bones is quite simply at the top of its class.

This is enhanced by a robust ship class and customization suite that offers a surprising variety of build options and loadouts. Each boat can be tailored to suit a number of different play styles, with a variety of different armaments and furniture pieces designed to support a holy trinity style approach with tank, DPS, and support. It may be difficult to swallow that your support ship is firing balls of goo to help heal your hull, but it works nonetheless.

While clearly designed to support co-operative and multiplayer play, each of these roles functions perfectly well for solo players. Choosing the bulky tank class of vessels, I was able to sustain incredible levels of damage whilst ensuring enemy vessels prioritized me over my allies. Switching up to one of the ramming style DPS ships, complete with a bow-mounted flamethrower, plowing directly into enemies and leaving a pile of flotsam in my wake was equally fun. It’s a system that is perfectly suited to the live-service model, one that has a multitude of avenues for advancements and improvements but one that, alone, may struggle to keep players engaged through the rough seas of the early game.

Skull & Bones doesn’t really leave the dock for the first 30 to 40 hours. The early hours, including the immediately forgettable intro, are a combination of tutorial missions and fetch quests. Fetch quests that, even with the most beautiful of oceans and a fantastic combat system, quickly become stale. I was approaching the 35-hour mark when I hit Kingpin rank, the final rank before the prestige-style grind enters the arena.

It wasn’t until nearly 40 hours into the Skull & Bones adventure that the true essence of the game unfolded. The vast expanse of the Empire stretches across three distinct regions: the Coast of Africa, Red Isle, and East Indies. Each features different locations such as foundries, encampments, and settlements. I had to grapple with frustrating time limitations and the inherent drawbacks of the GaaS model, but eventually I could seize control of these strategic points, tapping into their resources to amass Pieces of Eight, the top-tier currency. These Pieces of Eight serve as the key to unlocking much of the end-game content, from named weapons to ship cosmetics and pirate outfits, bringing the live-service elements of the game to life.

It’s a completely fresh gameplay loop from the rest of the game. Sure, it’s still very much a glorified fetch quest with epic combat, but the Empire system is where you find the best rewards, the biggest battles, and the most epic PvP encounters the game has to offer. Prior to unlocking this feature, the largest battle I had was with three enemy ships. After my first attempt at a hostile takeover of a territory, that number was closer to 20. After capturing a location, funding its resource development, and then attempting to grab your haul, you have to travel back and deposit it at one of your central hubs – or you can risk it all and take a double-or-nothing gamble on reaching another location but with other players at your heels.

There is definitely a potential for problems in the very latter stages of the live-service grind. It will be relatively easy to max out multiple locations, stack up near infinite supplies of silver, and end up managing more of an economic simulator than a pirate game, but hopefully Ubisoft can address that before the average player gets there.

Finally, touching on an area of the game that struggles to find its place as much as the story, there is controlling of the actual character. You cannot walk around on your ship, and there is no on-foot combat. Rather, it’s purely an avatar for navigating towns, cities, and camps – most of which are very tiny locations that serve little more purpose than a menu with an environment. It feels a bit sour, considering the what-if scenario. Overall, it’s a minor, annoying time sink at worst.

I played through most of the game on the Xbox Series X but also played a fair amount on PlayStation 5, both co-op and solo play. Skull & Bones is perfectly suited for solo players, although the more challenging and exciting missions are definitely geared towards co-op and multiplayer play. It’s a lot of fun solo but whack that dial way up if you can sail with some friends.

If you can stomach the rough seas of the early game, Skull & Bones has a bounty of live-service content on offer. The end-game mechanics and loot loop rely completely and entirely on the combat system that, thankfully, is one that delivers with every firing of a cannon. Taking over towns and cities, conquering trade routes, climbing the leaderboards – Skull & Bones is a thrilling ride. It’s just a shame that it can take 30-40 hours to get there.

Posted May 27, 2026 by captaincamper
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The post Skull & Bones Review – Troubled Waters appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Forza Motorsport Review

Forza Motorsport starts by talking about how each car has a journey, from the showroom to the race track to the winner’s podium. Your journey begins with a choice: Which car will you start with? Once you decide, the racing can finally begin. The first cup is a tutorial that lasts a few races and teaches you the basics of Motorsport. After that, Tours opens up, giving you many different spots to race. I want to be clear: This is not Forza Horizon, and there is no open-world component. Forza Motorsport is all about the cars and the racing.

These guys figured out how to do racing long ago, and I am happy to report it’s still some of the best in the business. The cars handle like a dream, taking precise turns while the straightaways let you blast off and feel the acceleration. Due to the accessibility options, you can make it as easy or hard as you want. You choose your start position and how well the AI drivers brake and handle. On the easiest difficulty, all you have to do is steer, accelerate, and let the car brake for you. The more difficult the race, the more credits you earn.

Credits are used to buy cars, but you need to earn Car Points to upgrade your current vehicles. You get these by leveling up cars in races or in practice. The higher your car is level, the more parts they have unlocked for boosts. The best part is that you can automate everything for the best car with a single button. Anyone who wants to change the air in their tires, weight distribution, or anything like that can, but for novices like me, the auto feature is the way to go. The only downside is that the Car Points take a while to earn, so fully tuning a car can take hours.

Online starts you in a Qualifier Series to see how good you really are. If you wanted, you could tank it and race only noobs until you got found out. You’ll likely need to rent or buy a car for this, but renting is free; you just won’t earn Car Points. Unlike single-player, you can’t rewind, and there are qualifying laps you can do to place. It makes sense, but sometimes lobbies have 30 minutes of practice and other times, you load in with only five minutes left and can’t even qualify. Still, there are plenty of events and races to do with friends or against random players.

The other big thing about Forza Motorsport is their emphasis on clean and “pure” racing. You rack up Car Points by passing people and get multipliers by doing it without hitting other cars, driving off-road, or crashing. Making a mistake will reduce the bonus to one, no matter what. Online is even more intense because you are ranked by skill and how clean you drive. If you crash into drivers a lot, you are put into lobbies with other players who do that. It’s a sound system, but occasionally, the clean lobbies have players still crashing into you.

There is also this Rivals mode where you race against ghost cars and other players for the best times. The car is chosen for you, and a new ghost car appears each time you beat a rival. It is an excellent way to grind a track and level up a car quickly. Also, beating your friend’s ghost car score is always a good time.

I’m not too into cars and brands, but all the ones you want are here. Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Hyundai, and Ferrari are just some that make the list. If you enjoy collecting cars, you will have plenty to do in Forza Motorsport.

As for tech problems, I had no bugs, frame drops, or crashes. However, online I had a couple of issues loading into lobbies. Nevertheless, it was always clean when racing.

While I still think Forza Horizon is the better series, there is no denying Forza Motorsport has the best driving around. Racing fans should pick up Game Pass and give it a go.

Posted May 27, 2026 by johnny-hurricane
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