By Nelson Schneider - 09/01/13 at 02:17 PM CT
Welcome back to another installment of the MeltedJoystick Review Round-Up. Here’s what our staff has reviewed since last time:
Nelson’s Reviews:
Summer is traditionally associated with vacations and lots of time to have fun. But as adults with multiple jobs, the MeltedJoystick crew doesn’t really get to experience that anymore. Instead of chipping away at my backlog and clearing out a large number of games (like I wanted), I ended up falling into the trap of trying to play two different RPGs at the same time – one a single-player TRPG and the other a MJ online co-op game. It is a lesson I learned long ago, but I experienced a momentary lapse that doomed me to a Summer of backlog stagnation: NEVER try to play two RPGs at the same time!
The drought of local co-op games has continued, leaving us with only a compilation of old arcade games to tide us over. It didn’t really live up to expectations. But now “Dragon’s Crown” is finally available to us, and we’re enjoying what we’ve experienced so far. Look forward to that game getting the full review treatment in the upcoming Fall quarter.
And in our desperate attempt to find online co-op games to substitute for local co-op, we let our occasional guest-blogger and dedicated MJ staff photo/videographer, Matt, pick our next online game… and he chose an MMORPG. So now you know where all of our time went and why there are so few reviews. Hopefully we’re done with that MMO in time for the Fall roundup!
“Kirby Squeak Squad” – 4.5/5
“D&D: Chronicles of Mystara” – 3/5
“Growlanser: Heritage of War” – 3/5
“Toki Tori” – 3.5/5
Chris’ Reviews:
Like me, Chris has been sucked into our online co-op MMO experience, which has eaten most of his time for playing other games. But then, that’s what MMOs are designed to do. Of course, it would help if he hadn’t decided to replay “Dead Island” on Steam (which he’d previously played on PS3) so he can import his character into the sequel. Replaying is the biggest enemy of backlog removal. At least he did get to play some shorter games featuring violence, gore, and horror, which are his favorite things.
“Hotline Miami” – 4/5
“Amnesia: The Dark Descent” – 3.5/5
“D&D: Chronicles of Mystara” – 3.5/5
Nick’s Reviews:
Nick only played one game to completion this quarter, and it just so happened to be our only local co-op game. He started playing “Toki Tori,” but didn’t finish it… and I suspect stopped playing so he wouldn’t have to write a review of it. Of course, he has PLENTY of overdue local co-op reviews from… LAST YEAR.
“D&D: Chronicles of Mystara” – 2/5
Featured User Review:
This quarter’s featured user review winner is dbarry_22 (again), for his review of “Scribblenauts Unlimited” for the WiiU. With the WiiU getting mountains of hate, it’s important for someone to review some of the crap available to play on it. dbarry_22 took one for the team and played a game that none of the MJ staff would touch with a 10-foot pole. Thanks for taking that bullet for us!
Comments
Nick - wrote on 09/10/13 at 01:04 PM CT
Battletoads - released 1991.
D&D: Chronicles of Mystara - released 2013.
My rating is based on what was expected for games of the era. A 2013 re-release of Battletoads would most likely not get a good rating from me.
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/07/13 at 01:45 PM CT
@Nick: Chronicles of Mystara didn't live up to expectations. I gave it a mediocre rating. But it's still a compilation of 2 beat 'em ups that were reasonably fun AND were improved (if slightly) from their arcade incarnations.
You gave Battletoads a perfect score. It's the same genre, and same approximate length, but with less diversity (all the 'toads play the same way) and it's friggin' impossible to finish (esp. in multi-player).
You let nostalgia cloud your assessment of Battletoads, yet you hate Chronicles of Mystara simply because you don't understand D&D acronyms and, like the rest of us, were probably expecting too much from an arcade game.
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/07/13 at 01:39 PM CT
@Jonzor: Since you're still playing Borderlands 2 every night, I'm sure you're discovering more and more subtle nuances to discuss. I'm sure you will blow our minds come the end of November.
Nick - wrote on 09/02/13 at 01:28 PM CT
Why did the MJ staff (besides me) find “D&D: Chronicles of Mystara” so inspiring of a game? It wasn't, and is exactly the type of game the MJ staff normally looks down upon. But this one is different how? Their reviews don't really get into those finer points.
- 3 hour game for $15 bucks (which is worse than most digital games)
- Re-make, re-release with some pointless fluff.
- Capcom pulled a classic Nintendo trick.
- Is the brand name the reason for the glory?
I simply don't get it.
Chris Kavan - wrote on 09/02/13 at 10:55 AM CT
Something tells me the MJ crew will tackle Borderlands 2 shortly - I think after the massive amounts of hours we put into Dragon Nest we may tackle something a bit more lightweight before diving back into a full-on massive game. But you know I'm looking forward to gunzerking my way to awesomeness.
Also, I'm going to really try to finish Ni No Kuni before the month is out... we'll see how that goes.
Jonzor - wrote on 09/01/13 at 06:58 PM CT
Dave only won because the literary masterpiece that is my Borderlands 2 review isn't quite done. I phoned it in on that Resident Evil: Revelations review and I wanna make sure this next one is back up to my usual pristine standards.
