Recent reviews by ajacks222

I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

Starfield is not a bad game, but frequent loading screens, vast planets of nothingness, long animations when entering sub-menus, and fetch quests are just a few of the reasons I feel that Bethesda didn't respect our time with this title. It's taken me just shy of 60 hours before the main story finally felt "good" and a significant amount of my playtime has comes from frequent loading screens and traveling back and forth (with little of interest in between) for fetch quests, not enjoyable gameplay like one would hope.

While Starfield has done a lot right, it's fallen behind its predecessor (Skyrim) in several ways and falls short of other modern titles, such as Baulder's Gate 3 and No Man's Sky, in others. While no game is perfect, I feel that Starfield fell far short of what we expect from Bethesda.

And that's why I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

Although it takes a moment to learn the controls and mechanics, this game provides an infinite loop of dungeons to explore. The game play is a bit repetitive and can be boring, but is great for scratching a quick hack and slash dungeon itch.
Pros:
• Great music
• Neat boss fights
• Infinite play
Cons:
• Some things are hard to figure out and there are very few online references
• Can feel grindy at times
Overall:
I wouldn’t recommend buying this game if you’re looking for a great story or a long ongoing game. However, it does provide a nice little break between longer games and is great if your looking for a quick dungeon crawling experience.

The Walking Dead New Frontier is the 3rd game in The Walking Dead series (not including Michonne). It allows the player to continue Clementine’s story from another character’s point of view, similar to how the player views her growth through Lee’s eyes in the first game. TWD New Frontier does a great job of bringing up your decisions from the previous two games and in both the dialogue and actions taken by Clementine.
Pros:
• Great story
• Meaningful decisions
• Emotionally immersive
• Brings up your decisions from the previous games in an impactful way
• Brought back the ability to skip the credits
Cons:
• Have to have your account linked to the Telltale clound[account.telltale.com] to view your decisions (have to wait for a while after each episode before you can view your decisions)
• A few minor graphical issues during the last episode
Overall:
If you’ve been playing the TWD series, then I don’t have to sell you on this because you already know it’s worth a buy. As for new players, I strongly recommend starting with The Walking Dead’s first game in this series.
Links to previous reviews (not including Michonne):
Season 1 Review
Season 2 Review

The Walking Dead: Michonne is a standalone game (at least from seasons 1&2) in the Walking Dead series. It provides a more action filled story with dark undertones and a stronger focus on the mental health of the survivors compared to the first two games. Although it has a few technical issues, the storyline is on par with other Telltale games.
Pros:
• Standalone title (as far as I can tell)
• Great story
• Lots of quick action scenes
• Emotionally immersive (however, slightly less than other Telltale titles)
Cons:
• Fails to show your decisions at the end of each chapter, which is a key element of Telltale games (This is a major drawback for many players)
Overall:
While Michonne provides a nice change of pace from the other Walking Dead games, it has a major drawback with viewing your key decisions. These can be a major turnoff for some players. However, it also has the nice bonus of being separate from the other Telltale games (at lease season 1&2), which allows players to jump in at anytime between other Walking Dead games. Overall, I’m not sure if I can fully recommend this game, mainly due to the decision review error, but aside from that it is a decent title that delivers on most of the staples mechanics from the Telltale series.

There’s not much to say beyond my previous review (link at the end of review) other than the fact that this sequel did a great job of tying things back to the first season.
Pros:
• Can view all past decisions (for season 2) from main menu
• Great story
• Meaningful decisions
• Emotionally immersive
Cons:
• None that I can think of
• (Edit) You can't skip the credits at the end of each chapter unless you force the game to crash.

Overall:
If you’ve played the first game, then you already know whether you like the Telltale playstyle. As for the story, I feel that the sequel provides just as much meaningful dialog as the first season and provides the player with a lot of tough choices throughout the game. If you haven’t played the first game, be sure to check it out before playing season 2
Link:
Season 1 Review

I’ve never watched an episode of The Walking Dead (TWD) television series, but I love this game. Just like all of Telltale’s games, TWD provides great immersion and envelopes the player in emotional gameplay.
Pros:
• Great story
• Meaningful decisions
• Emotionally immersive

EDITED START
Note:
• The DLC felt short and unfinished but leads to a few cameos in season 2
EDITED END

Overall:
If you’ve enjoyed Telltale games in the past, you won’t go wrong with TWD. If you’re new to Telltale games and looking to test the waters, I would suggest going with whichever theme interests you the most, they’re all good.

JYDGE is a fast-paced bullet hell with a wide variety of customizable equipment. These customizations allow the player to take on several roles from stealth sniper to rapid fire shotgunner. Each stage has four difficulty settings, each with their own set of objectives.
Pros:
• Loads of customization options, including cybernetics, special weapons, weapon upgrades, and weapon type
• Fast paced, each level can be finished in just a few minutes
• Good soundtrack and artwork
Cons:
• No control instructions (easy to figure out, but not new player friendly)
• Melee enemies will always run straight at you even if cloaked and sniping
• On some levels, enemies will occasionally see you from far away even if you are cloaked and not taking any actions
• Top-down upgrade also increases enemy vision range
• Shows and ad the first few times you exit the game
Overall:
JYDGE is a fun game, especially if you only have a few minutes to sit down and play a game. The customization options are a high point, allowing players to tackle challenges with a wide variety of playstyles. Although the bugs can be a bit frustrating at times, its still worth a buy if you can get it on sale or as part of a bundle.

Call of Cthulhu provides a game style similar to Telltale games, but with the addition of skills that influence your dialog options and the likelihood of passing/failing certain decision checks.
Pros:
• Great story
• Interesting skills and dialogue choices
• Fun puzzles with multiple solutions
• Multiple game paths and endings
Cons:
• Movement speed is slow (not an issue for most scenes)
Overall:
If enjoy Lovecraft themed board games like Elder Sign, Arkham Horror, or Manisons of Madness, you’ll enjoy this game. Both the story and playstyle of Call of Cthulhu lines of with the essence of these board games. If you aren’t familiar with the board games listed above, I would also recommend this title if you enjoy games such as the Telltale series or Heavy Rain. Lastly, I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys detective like gameplay or Lovecraftian themed stories.

PC Building Simulator is great for several types of players. From those wanting to take there first steps towards learning about how to build PCs to tycoon fans and those just wanting a laid back experience. When I started this game, I had no idea what the main components of a computer, let a lone how they come together into a functioning desktop. This game taught me enough to go into my schools IT department and carry a decent conversation with my friends who work with computers on a daily basis. Not only was it great from a learning aspect, but the gameplay was engaging with great chain quests, unlock systems, and customization. If you’re considering this game, I strongly recommend getting it. No need to wait for a sale or bundle, it’s easily worth more than the $20 price tag.
Pros:
• Great way to learn the basics of PC building and trouble shooting
• Great music selection, including the OST, link to your desktop music, and online radios
• The game is a lot more realistic than I originally thought (My friends in IT told me that what I thought were shortcomings were actually pretty accurate of how it works in the real world)
• It uses your actual PC background as the background for your work desk PC
Cons:
• In the tutorial mode, it’s a little hard to read some of the descriptions as they fall behind other text bubbles
• Some quests ask for specific NVIDIA parts, but people who are completely new to PC building (like me) might not realize that NVIDIA isn’t actually in the name of the products.
Overall:
Normally, I would just recap the highlights of a game in this section but this game is so great, I’m just going to recommend that everyone who’s interested buy this game and give it a try. I’m also going to follow up with a list of ideas that I would love to see added into the game.
Desired Improvements or Mods:
• Allow players to mark emails as unread after they’ve been opened
• Adding an in-game dictionary or dictionary app would be awesome for learning
• It would be neat if you could write notes on parts and computers to remind yourself of what you were doing for when you log back in (in addition to the games automated notes).

If I had to quickly summarize Hello Neighbor, I’d call it a strange mix of puzzle, platformer, and possibly even sandbox-based game mechanics. The game delivers a great story with interesting gameplay but gets held back by its lack of guidance and instruction. Normally, I enjoy getting dumped into game that doesn’t hold my hand, but it felt like some of the solutions and mechanics of Hello Neighbor were to abstract to be left for players to find on their own. This often ended in me having to look up hints or guides on how to progress through the game, which really destroyed both the immersion and accomplishment aspects of the game. Still, it was a great game. It just could have been better if the developers could have found a way to subtle hint at the more abstract mechanics.
Pros:
• Nice story, but it’s a little hard to pick up on the finer elements of the story.
• Interesting and complex mechanics, which provide the player with a lot of freedom.
• Nonlinear gameplay (problems can be solved in several ways)
• Challenging puzzles
Cons:
• No tutorial or guidance, even for more complicated mechanics and solutions
• Nonlinear gameplay (a lot of content can be missed and its easy to get lost and have no idea what to do next)
• Felt impossible to beat without guides/hints due to abstract solutions and lack of guidance
Overall:
Hello Neighbor is a pretty good game, but I feel like it could have been an amazing game. If you enjoy puzzles with platforming elements, this game is probably a good fit. Just be warned that discovering the games hidden mechanics and solutions can be equally frustrating (if you have too look it up) or rewarding (if you discover it on your own).