“Super predictable review alert!”. Yes, the internet doesn’t need another glowing review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but I’ll undoubtedly be putting this on my Top 10 Games list at the end of the year and I always like to link back to reviews of things that make it on there as much as I can, so… Get ready for another long glowing review of Clair Obscur!
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Budokai 3 is the “peak” of the Budokai series of games, although some handheld versions and a sort-of reboot happened after they all had little issues that dragged them down to below this game. I was definitely excited about it at the time and I was looking forward to replaying it for this countdown and I can say it held up exactly like I knew it would, sadly didn’t exceed my expectations but thankfully didn’t drop in my estimation either. Want to know more? Let’s take a look!
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Budokai 2 is where the Dragon Ball Z games finally clicked for me. The cel-shaded art style was great, the roster was bigger and more varied and there was a lot more to do. Hell back then I even really enjoyed the QTEs that happen frequently during matches, something I’ll admit to disliking now, beyond the odd beam clash or high-speed punching, anyway. The thing I most remember about Budokai 2 though is the story mode, which instead of anything resembling a traditional set up is a strange board game thing, plus this game has a bunch of “what if?” fusions which are a really fun feature that sadly never returned, even in the direct sequel. So, let’s take a look!
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So kicking off the gaming side of the DBZ movie/game marathon-thingy is the game that feels like it kicked off Dragon Ball games, as it was the first released here in the west that was any good (for context: you can find my reviews of “Ultimate Battle 22” and “Final Bout” by clicking on them here…) Admittedly as with most things that are the start of a series with multiple sequels this game is quite lacking in polish and modes it still created a solid framework to build on, and has a few unique gameplay ideas that I hadn’t experienced before or really since beyond its sequels. Sadly it looks like crap (even at the time I thought it looked off) but hey-ho. Let’s take a look!
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Resuming the on-and-off Kingdom Hearts first ever playthrough… thing, we reach Birth by Sleep, a game originally on the PSP but in terms of this review it also got a few “HD” console ports, which is handy. Set ten years before Kingdom Hearts I, the game features three protagonists each with their own story mode that intersect with each other, which was fun (reminded me of the Resident Evil 2 A/B scenarios) and the combat was great as well. Let’s see how it fairs overall though…
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I’ve said before on this site that I’ve been a fan of Assassin’s Creed since the very first game but Ubisoft certainly make it hard to continue to be one, and Shadows is very much a continuation of that. The gameplay is great and the visuals are absolutely stunning, but the story is non-existent and even worse ends on something of a cliffhanger that won’t be resolved until paid DLC expansions… Throw in a bunch of online challenges and currency cluttering the map and ruining immersion (that thankfully play no role in completing the game, but still…) and this is mixed bag. Let’s take a look anyway and try and see where it lands…
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I was cautiously optimistic about ReBirth (yes the B is capitalised for some reason) of Souls going in as the presentation looked spot on and the combat seemed fresh and exciting, but at the same time it was a modern Shonen-anime based fighter released by Bandai Namco, a lot of which has been bare-bones and subpar to say least in the last 10 years. The truth has ended up somewhere in the middle, where it plays better than most of its contemporaries and the presentation is indeed spot on, but it’s far from perfect. Still, it’s a brand new console Bleach game, something I literally assumed would never happen again, so I’m just happy it exists at all! Let’s take a look…
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I’m not sure why it’s taken me a year to get round to writing the review for the second classic Battlefront game, but here we are anyway! Battlefront II was one of those sequels that improved on the original in literally every aspect and then added a whole bunch more besides. Dedicated space battles, playable heroes, the ability to actually run… you name it, they added it or improved it. That being said, what’s it like to play now in the mid 2020s? Well…
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Well this was a surprise, literally as it was suddenly revealed and shadow dropped last month! I was expecting the first and only new Warriors review to go up on this blog to be Dynasty Warriors Origins but as that still hasn’t dropped to a price I’m comfortable with I’m happy to get this rather addictive Roguelike with nostalgic characters (i.e. reused models) from the peak of both the Dynasty and Samurai Warriors series instead. Is it perfect? No, but it’s relatively cheap (so long as you’re not interested in vastly over priced costumes!) and really fun. Let’s take a closer look, as the game has understandably gone under the radar I feel this is one of the few reviews that might actually matter in the long run!
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After mistakenly playing the next game release-order-wise last time (thanks PS4 collection menu!) it’s finally time to tackle Kingdom Hearts II in this on-and-off marathon of my first time playing the series, and I was excited about this more than most because it’s often cited as the best one. Now obviously I still have three main games and two spin-offs to look at yet (not counting mobile titles, which I won’t be covering gameplay wise at least) so I can’t say “I agree!” but I did enjoy myself a lot, which can never be a bad thing… let’s take a closer look at the game then, nearly 20 years after its initial release (Coincidentally!)
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Hogan Reviews 