Reviews
1991
At this point, most people already know what to expect from Just Dance, and the 2025 edition ticks every box. While there are a handful of features added to the formula, these feel more like polishing and streamlining, and not like must-have changes. If you already own a previous recent edition of Just Dance, there’s no real reason to pick up Just Dance 2025 Edition, unless you’re looking to add the new song selection to your library. If not, however, Just Dance 2025 is as good of a point of entry as any prior game. Just keep in mind that to get the most out of the game, you’ll need Just Dance+ as well. You do get a free month of that, but in all honestly, it feels more like a “first hit’s free” situation.
In essence, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered offers almost exactly the same experience as the original 2017 release, albeit with so much visual polish making it a proper next-gen title. If you already own the game and are planning on replaying it, then we can say that it’s worth the $10 upgrade for PlayStation 5. If you’ve been on the fence for some time and you’ve been wondering if you should experience Aloy’s adventure for yourself, then it’s another easy recommendation to simply pick up the Remastered version. Keep in mind that the game is still priced the same as a new triple-A release, however. Last but not least, if you’re content with your first playthrough several years ago, then the Remastered edition probably won’t bring anything new to the table for you. While this remaster wasn’t exactly that high on our personal wishlist, we still enjoyed every minute of it, and it’s a remaster done right.
Amanda the Explorer is a short but effective little horror game that might contain a lot of cliché tropes, but manages to execute them in a way that keeps us engaged. While it takes some puzzle work, the underlying plot is honestly rather interesting and we enjoyed the overall creepiness of this one. It’s a good start to what is shaping to be a series of games.
While Double Exposure probably isn’t the best entry point into Life Is Strange, it speaks volumes that it piqued our interest enough that we want to give the original game a try at least. The series isn’t the most challenging when it comes to puzzle solving, but the gorgeous atmospheric visuals, expressive cast, and beautiful soundtrack allowed us to immerse ourselves into the game, even if we undoubtedly were missing a lot of key information. Fans of the first game in particular will certainly know what to expect in terms of gameplay and will likely be happy to be reunited with Max.
Super Mario Party Jamboree might just be one of the best games in the entire series. While many older Mario Party games do have that nostalgia factor, what Super Mario Party Jamboree offers is a lot more content, more variety, and as a whole, a very polished experience. While the AI opponents are still dodgy and feel like they tend to cheat outright at times, this is a title that will offer you hours upon hours of fun content. The online modes are the icing on the cake, and as a whole, the asking price feels extremely fair for this new Mario Party adventure.
We, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. To say that we were pleasantly surprised by Empire of the Ants would be an understatement. From the gorgeous audiovisual presentation to the bite-sized missions that offer frantic strategic gameplay, this is a fantastic little game. While we do feel that the narrative could have been fleshed out a bit more, you can always pick up the actual novel to further immerse yourself in the insect life of Fontainebleau Forest. It’s definitely worth immersing yourself in this RTS, if only because exploring the forest as an ant is incredibly fun.
Farmagia is a fun title that is best enjoyed in short bursts. While we played the PS5 version for our review, we can imagine this title being an absolute blast for Switch players on the go. It’s easy to actually make progress in the game, even when you only have roughly half an hour of spare time. Farmagia is accessible and offers engaging gameplay, but it is quite rough around the edges. If this title came out a decade ago, it would have received a much higher score. Even so, the gameplay is enjoyable, and the story is engaging enough for players to press forward.
We try to stay away from political statements on this website, so we’re not letting the fact that Liberator TD is from a Russian studio influence our opinion of the game. The same logic applies to Ukrainian developer Frogwares’ Sherlock Holmes games, for example. We do suspect that Liberator TD being a Russian game is the reason other websites are avoiding it. However, we do have another reason to tell you to steer clear from this one, and that is that it’s just bad. The story and visuals are derivative and we’d probably call the gameplay uninspired if we would’ve been able to get the busted controls to work. Liberator TD is, to put it simply, a stinker.
Over the last few decades, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series has established itself as one of the mainstays in the grand strategy genre. Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 reaffirms that reputation by delivering a solid and engaging game that you can easily sink a ton of time into. Of course, being a remake, the game has already proven its worth in the past, but it’s great to see just how well it holds up without the bells and whistles that more recent entries have added. The visual presentation is a bit of a letdown, and we’d have preferred Chinese voice acting, but ultimately, this is definitely a game worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre.
Having played several SaGa games at this point, we can easily say that Romancing SaGa 2 is our favorite one. The game definitely shows its age in some places, in particular when it comes to the lack of character personality and the simplistic combat system. This does make the game very accessible, and thanks to both the successor and glimmer mechanics, there is still some depth to be found here. If you can adjust your expectations to match the original game’s age, then you’ll definitely enjoy what Romancing SaGa 2 has to offer.