The Bad
Forspoken
***click here for our review***
Forspoken is a very good game. COGconnected gave it a 70, which is very high for a “Bad” game in The Three Best (and Worst) Video Games from January 2023. But it could have been so much more. The game is gorgeous. It definitely had a triple A Square-Enix budget behind it. The gameplay is unique. There’s a lot of depth to the spell casting. And the magical parkour traversal is extremely fun. But the UI is very awkward, the story falls short, and, overall, the game just feels incomplete. Almost like the sequel might be fantastic. Our reviewer called it “a big, messy first draft”, and hopes Square-Enix will work on it in the future.
Raiden IV x MIKADO remix
***click here for our review***
Raiden IV x MIKADO remix is a solid vertical shoot ‘em up. The controls are precise, there are lots of modes, and the remixed soundtrack is bangin’. The focus of the game is on maximizing the player’s score on repeat playthroughs, in different modes. But it doesn’t do much to differentiate itself from other games in the shmup genre. There’s no unique visual style, or gameplay hook. Our reviewer called it “a no-brainer for hardcore shmup fans”, but “a tough sell” for everyone else.
Sports Story
***click here for our review***
Sports Story is the token December game in The Three Best (and Worst) Video Games from January 2023. It’s the sequel to Golf Story, a wonderful RPG with 2D golf gameplay mechanics. This new game nails its RPG portions, but spreads itself a bit thin when it comes to the gameplay. There is a variety of sports to play, but no new sport is as strong as the golf gameplay from the original. There are also a lot of bugs. Sports Story was delayed quite a bit, and had a stealth release. Hopefully the developers know it needed more time, and will update it soon. Our reviewer found “you have to wade through lots of issues to get to the enjoyable parts of the game”.
Do you agree with our The Three Best (and Worst) Video Games from December 2022? What were your favorite games that didn’t make our top 3? Let us know in the comments.
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