There are so many games to play, and not enough time to write a massive review for all of them. So this segment is dedicated to those smaller games, or the games we’ve just been itching to talk about in some capacity. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Remaster, a classic game, or even a tabletop RPG: we’re here to chat about them. And during the Waypoint Mini Review Roundup, we gather up thoughts from each of our writers and pass them on to you. So sit back, relax, and check out these mini-reviews for many different games across the spectrum.
’Days Gone Remastered’ Is Basically the PC Port With Small Improvements (Review)
When Days Gone first released back in 2019, I was one of the few people who actually liked it. Granted, I had waited a few months to play it, which was after Bend Studio patched out most of the launch bugs. And while I know protagonist Deacon St. John is a hard sell for some folks, I promise the game is worth it if you get past the story’s opening hours. I mean, it’s basically Sons of Anarchy plus zombies—what’s not to love? I’ll just get straight to it: if you’ve never played the game before, absolutely get Days Gone Remastered. It is the best version of the game outside of the PC port. Plus, at $49, you can’t go wrong with picking up the PS5 edition.
Where Days Gone Remastered shines is its new lighting system. In particular, the game’s nighttime sequences now actually feel like they take place at night. Doing missions with just the glow of your motorcycle headlight now feels dangerous, and is nightmare fuel.
Bend Studio also improved the game’s sky generation technology, so clouds and varied weather conditions look realistic. Considering you’ll spend a lot of time out in the vast wilderness, this goes a long way toward making the game’s world feel more immersive. I could bore you talking about the technical improvements of the game, but honestly, the Remaster doesn’t look substantially better than the original. Although the new 1440p 60 FPS mode is awesome. However, one of the best new features in Days Gone Remastered is its Horde Mode.
Horde Mode Is Even Better Here Than Ever Before
Whatever flaws the original game had, its impressive enemy Horde feature was groundbreaking tech. So much so that players back in 2019 would often go searching the map just to experience the insane flood of enemies rushing towards you. With the remaster, you can now take on hordes of Freakers as much as you want. And yes, I know Freakers is the lamest name ever. They are zombies!
The new feature even includes roguelike mechanics called “injectors,” which let you alter your character’s stats. It’s a blast to dive into, and I found myself wanting to play Horde Mode more than the base game. If I had any complaint, it’s that I’m not sure Days Gone needed a remaster. The 2019 game already looked great, and the remastered version doesn’t do much to make it look substantially better. It’s the PC port of Days Gone, with a handful of small changes that do improve the game overall. Do those changes add up, though? Sort of. If you’re a super fan of Days Gone or a new player, I would definitely recommend the remaster. If you’re a returning player or someone who wants to revisit it, wait for a Steam sale.
Verdict: Recommended
Days Gone: Remastered is available now on PlayStation 5. A code was not provided by the publisher for the sake of this review.
Just thinking about ‘Thirsty Sword Lesbians’ Has Me Craving A Glass of Water (Review)
I’m thinking a lot today about Thirsty Sword Lesbians, a queer-themed TTRPG experience about gay girls going on action-packed adventures and kissing each other. TSL came to mind while writing about Vice & Violence, a lewd fantasy TTRPG that has some similarities in terms of its focus on narrative and intimacy over heavy mechanical emphasis. One thing I love about TSL is that it’s essentially one big queer cartoon story generator, where players roleplay as characters based on various fictional archetypes. Friendship, love, romance, and desire are all core to the TSL experience, and even if you don’t get your preferred outcome, it’s still up to you to decide what happens and how with every action, every role. It’s less of a game about failure or success, and more about the highs and lows that come with seeking out our ideal outcomes. Even though TSL is relatively well-known in the indie TTRPG sphere, not enough people have tried it out. But it’s a phenomenal little thing. Go give it a shot if you haven’t already. The base game is on itch.io as a PDF.
Verdict: Best In Its Class (S-Tier — The Best of the Best without question)
Thirsty Sword Lesbians is available now on itch.io for no cost.
‘Conquest Dark’ Has Some Work to Do, But It Might Just Have What It Takes (Early Access Impressions)
Vampire Survivors is in a very unique position. Multiple Survivor-like have surfaced since it exploded in popularity, but nothing has landed the way it did. Roguelikes seem to have a pretty solid hit rate, but not these. That’s where Conquest Dark comes in. Developed by Eldritch Sword Games, it has all the trappings of the Survivors genre, but it throws in some ARPG elements, and this is where I think it has the potential to outshine most in its class.
Giving you the ability to equip different armors and weapons is the thing these games have been missing. Gameplay-wise, enemies attack you in a defined area. At first, it felt limiting, but once I started getting into the flow of the game and changing up my approach to be more aggressive, it clicked. My one complaint is that the flow of the game feels a little off. Everything just feels slower than it should. Maybe it’s a design choice due to the limited amount of space you work with, but I’d like to see the game sped up slightly. All in all, I’m looking forward to seeing how the game evolves.
Conquest Dark is available now on Steam in Early Access. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of impressions.
‘Kiborg’ Would Have gone so INcredibly Hard as an Xbox Live Arcade Game, but That Time Has passed (Review)
Kiborg is a very interesting game. On one hand, it’s a visually competent game that allows you to shut your brain off and beat the brakes off of a plethora of different creatures. On the other hand, it’s a game that has about as much overall substance as an Xbox Live Arcade game from 2013. And depending on who you are, that could be the greatest selling point, or a reason to steer clear from this one. I’m firmly in the camp of Kiborg being a fun little romp, but horrid voice acting and a terrible UI make this one feel cheaper than it should.
Don’t get me wrong, absolutely annihilating creatures while playing as this macho man is a blast and a half. It’s easy to pick up and play for a little while, or you can lose a few hours to it in a single go. But the laughably bad voice acting, abysmal UI elements, and basically non-existent story make this feel like something I would have gone nuts for when I was 15 years old. Once again, not the worst thing in the world, but in a very packed genre, you’ve got to be at the top of your game at all times. Kiborg is genuinely very fun to play, but don’t go in expecting a masterpiece.
Verdict: Wait for a Sale
Kiborg is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of review. Reviewed on PC.
‘Buddy Simulator 1984’ is a Totally Normal Game about Two Buds Hanging Out and It’s Not Weird At All (review)
In between games I’m not at liberty to speak about at the moment, I picked up a game on Steam that a friend has been begging me to play for a while. Buddy Simulator 1984 isn’t a new game by any means, but it’s new to me, and that’s sort of the core of what makes a game like this tick. Similar to Inscryption, Buddy Simulator 1984 is one of those games best experienced blindly, with as little foresight into the premise and what comes after.
Which, in turn, now makes this a difficult review to write. I don’t want to give the whole shtick away, but Buddy Simulator 1984 is essentially a nostalgic ride about technology becoming a bit too autonomous. Between its abundance of subversive weirdness and tinges of analog horror, it’s a game that constantly wrestles control from the player while gaslighting them in the process. Subversion isn’t a new concept or anything, but the way Buddy Simulator 1984 handles it is wholly unique, breaking far beyond the fourth wall in a way that often feels like a violation of personal space.
But hey, it’s all in the spirit of having fun. Just you and your best buddy.
Verdict: Highly Recommended
Buddy Simulator 1984 is available now on Steam. A code was not provided for the sake of this review.
The post Waypoint Mini Review Roundup Episode 3: Remasters, Retro Throwbacks, and More appeared first on VICE.
