Bone Robot Games

I'm making this an entry into the Revisited Series, with a caveat:  I never played Resident Evil upon it's initial release. It's my first experience with the original game, albeit the GameCube remake version -  being played via Xbox Series S.   My first Resident Evil game was Resident Evil 5, and my most recent one being Resident Evil: Biohazard.  (*Addendum - After playing this Resident Evil 1 remake in 2021, I have since played the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes as well)   Resident Evil 5 was an action packed romp with little substance overall  that ended in a volcano. Biohazard is more in touch with the original,  but couldn't resist adding long, tedious action sequences.  The Resident  Evil remaster maintains its allure almost 20 years later. My  initial impression with this game was pure joy, and it stuck with me throughout. It's got a sort-of campy, B-Movie feel to it, but it pulls it off extraordinarily. It takes its...

After playing the Dragon Quest 3 HD2D remake, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to jump right into Dragon Quest 11.  Instead of doing a review for a single game, I am going to review them together and compare (and potentially even contrast) them. Warning, there will be major spoilers for both games. Something mundane and stodgy about Dragon Quest is that a lot of features, items, fan service, characters, references, and locations are recycled across games. There are needless and constant callbacks, at least in my experience for these two games.  Dragon Quest 11 is a prequel to Dragon Quest 3, which is a prequel to Dragon Quest 1 and 2, so these associations made sense and were direct references when they were first created.  I find it drab and insipid, and since I played Dragon Quest 3 HD2D before Dragon Quest 11, I was entirely sick of it by the end of the game. That ends up being the general motif of Dragon Quest 11, the fun doesn't last until the end. If I never...

There are some games that warrant a lengthy, developed review.  That's what you'll typically find on BoneRobotGames.  These ones require little discussion, whether it be good or bad.  Bone Robot Quickies will take a brief look at a handful of games at a time.

 Momodora:  Reverie Under the Moonlight is a delightful entry into the side-scrolling, action-adventure genre.  I play as many as I can, and they are usually bad.  Having played through so many mediocre titles, I wasn't expecting much from Momodora, but I was happy to have been proven wrong.  A "Metroidvania-lite," Momodora makes the case why maybe more Metroidvanias should be this way. There isn't too much to this game, and that is its biggest strength.  Everything about it is simple, but executed brilliantly.  It has a retro feel with its graphics and art style. The story is told in very short quips from a small amount of NPCs.  It deviates from basically every other Metroidvania I've played, and I welcome it with open arms. Pixel-style  graphics are usually a style choice I don't enjoy, but after the initial disdain, I found myself enjoying it quite a bit.  The lack of imperious elements on the screen gave it a quaint spectacle. ...

  This style of game never sat well with me.  I played Wasteland 2,  and it had a myriad of problems.  This installment also felt jilted, slow, and janky.  The  movement was blocky and stuttering, combat was not intuitive and overly punishing, and the game design and story were both sub-par.  Wasteland 3 makes  some improvements on the base formula, but keeps all of the flaws of its  predecessor.   The opening of the game got me excited.  It started off promising, removing some tedious aspects of the game, and streamlining other bits.  Simple quality of life fixes, like not having to switch to a separate character and interact with an object to use their specific skill.  Instead, no matter who you are controlling, the person with that skill uses it.  These fixes are far overshadowed by the lackluster gameplay and, in general, how the game spread itself too thin.  There are a lot of areas of focus, but none g...

*This is a reupload of my original article from BoneRobotGames.com May 29, 2020 We all want him to be cool.  We all desperately want the games to be good.  The unfortunate truth is they aren't.  Each time a new Sonic game comes out, it's like a bait and switch from whoever developed it.  Our ears perk up, and we collectively think "This is the one. They've done it. Look everyone, a new Sonic game.  This one has GOT to be good."  All of us Sonic fans are waiting, eager, frothing at the mouth for the feeling the original trilogy back on the Sega Genesis tricked us into having.  Even though every installment before was garbage.  We never learn our lesson.  We're all in an abusive relationship with Sonic, and I'm here to give us all an intervention.  It's time we accepted the truth.  Sonic the Hedgehog sucks.  This feeling was brought on when I recently replayed Sonic Mania.  As I neared the end of the game, I was still h...