Hardcore Gamer's Scores

  • Games
For 4,329 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 50% higher than the average critic
  • 9% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.4 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 73
Highest review score: 100 Balatro
Lowest review score: 20 Final Fantasy: All the Bravest
Score distribution:
4332 game reviews
    • 59 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    With all of its issues, and in its current state, DUST 514 is a title that has lofty ambitions, but also far too many problems and contingencies to deal with right now. Only the hardcore EVE enthusiasts need apply.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    As unique as Typoman is, seeing the scale of its missed opportunity unfold only saddens me evermore.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    While the final explanation shows that, predictably enough, there’s more going on than meets the eye, it’s more short story than novel. In terms of both story and gameplay it’s hard to find much to recommend about The Starship Damrey, but there’s nothing really wrong with it either. It’s a curiosity, interesting enough while being played, and then it’s over.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    If you’re looking for a shorter RPG and don’t care particularly about the storyline then Machina of the Planet Tree -Planet Ruler- will serve up some enjoyable gameplay, if little else, for seven to ten hours.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Ken’s Rage 2 feels like it was developed by Koei’s B-team thanks to performance issues, subpar graphics, a shallow character development system and fighting mechanics that are only as fun as the game’s limited combat engine allows. For the price, there are so many better alternatives out there that it would feel irresponsible of us to recommend this to anyone who’s not a diehard fan.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment is entirely average, which is frustrating because there are elements of greatness sprinkled throughout its somewhat mess of a product.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Credit to Michelle Mylett and Al Weaver (who play Amy and Rees, respectively) for serving what material they’re given here, credit too to Wales Interactive for supporting the FMV genre still. But the pull of multiple branching endings (technically) as well as a shallow relationship mechanic mark The Complex down as, while not terrible, a safe, sterile and sadly under-utilized effort.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Thus, for 700 points, ColorZ is simply not worth the aggravation if you plan to play alone, but if you have friends or family to play with, ColorZ may be worth a try if the premise intrigues you.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    In the end, this Chrome needs more polish.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Platformer and puzzle game fans who pick this up will have a good time, but everybody else can pass on Color Symphony 2.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Risen 3: Titan Lords is a clunky mess of a game that fails to capitalize on the potential it has put forth. While the concept sounds alluring, and it’s chock-full of charm, it’s weighed down by stodgy design and a lack of polish.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    A few great ideas are drowned in a torrent of design flaws and technical problems. I wish there were something interesting to say about this game’s failures, but they just amount to plain, old-fashioned bad craftsmanship.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    While Blacksad: Under the Skin shows a lot of promise in its story, world and a couple of neat gameplay mechanics that help put you right in Blacksad’s shoes, it unfortunately suffers when it comes to the execution. Be it clunky pixel hunts, an awkward interface or a myriad of potential glitches, the end result comes off as a bit of a janky, unpolished mess. Pendulo isn’t exactly a perfect developer, but this may end up being their weakest work yet, at least until future patches can improve things. For now, though, best to just turn down this case.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Never Alone makes experiencing this untouched world cumbersome and frustrating, draining the magic away from its promise and leaving a sketchy, unpolished game in its snow-covered wake.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya may be worth a purchase on Steam for those who haven’t played it, but there are definite issues with the release. The biggest of these is the iffy translation and editing work done to the text, harming its ability to entertain.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    While Rise of the Argonauts offers lots of hacking and slashing, which is fun for a time, its story, style and sound aren’t enough to atone for its shallowness and elevate this odyssey to the epic heights to which it aspires.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Chronology is a great example of how a few warts can taint an otherwise pretty package.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The issue with this Vita version as that the publisher just decided to bring that same exact version over without tailoring it to fit the platform. Many can look past this and enjoy a better looking, but faithful recreation of Final Fantasy Adventures, but we as gamers should expect better.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    J-Stars Victory VS+ fumbles what should have been a glorious, celebratory experience. It’s combat is banal, its design is overcomplicated and its presentation is completely halfhearted.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Deathbound is a game that has a lot of great ideas that seem amazing on paper, but few of them actually end up hitting the mark. The clear high points of this game pretty much all relate to the setting, the story, and the characters presented, but even this is marred by the goofy vocal performances and the frequency of the swearing in a bid to seem edgy and cool. But in the end, the game is dragged down by a wonky multi-character combat system, a messy health system, an all-round unresponsiveness, which is a death warrant in a Souls-like such as this, and the fact that the game's performance is enough to make you throw in the towel before you even have a good reason to write the game off. It feels like a game that would have benefited from pivoting to an all-out hack-and-slash format because, despite labeling itself as one, Deathbound simply doesn't have the polish or the attention to detail needed to truly call itself a Souls game.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    While there have been many great and accessible titles gracing Nintendo’s growing eShop catalog in recent months, Rakoo & Friends sadly doesn’t offer as much variety, engagement and reason to return to aside from a graceful wind-down.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The episode doesn’t really close out the story of the Order of the Stone as a whole and really only makes it an addition to one of the many adventures that Jessie will have.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Phantom Brave is sure to be a fun, but possibly underwhelming, return to the franchise for fans of the original title, as well as of other NIS titles like the Disgaea series. For newcomers, however, the game has failed most of its attempts to make gameplay accessible to even well-versed veterans of the turn-based strategy genre. The end result is a niche-interest title that will likely be hit-or-miss with hardcore fans, due to the rough and messy assembly of its multitude of interesting parts.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    JETT: The Far Shore has an impressive world with well-crafted lore, an intriguing story and eye-catching visuals. Unfortunately, you actually have to play through the game to experience any of it, and that ends up being a slow, plodding mess in more ways than one. Maybe those with more patience will enjoy the trip more, but everyone else can rightfully skip JETT: The Far Shore and just remain grounded with better games instead.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    As promising a foundation there may be here, Foamstars sadly finds itself buried beneath a malaise of lackluster content and an underdeveloped world alike. Occasionally enjoyable and suggestive of greater potential the foam-centric mechanics can be, as both an offensive and defensive tool alike, it's everything going on in and around the core gameplay, that ultimately makes the experience feel hollow and at worst, jarring to deal with. From its all-too-cheery presentation, to its laughably one-dimensional attempt at instilling personality into its world and characters. Right down to the horrid monetization practices at the very start of its life-cycle. A commitment to further updates and new content may stave off a small amount of concern, but it's hard to see where Foamstars' longevity will land. By no means the worst attempt at a multiplayer-centric experience by way of its handful of hopeful, admirable elements here and there, but still one that could've been far better given the promise.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    If you’re already a fan of the series, it’s impossible to recommend a bare-bones expansion like this at its current price point. If you’re not… well, I have a hard time imagining that you’d enjoy the third installment at all.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Unfortunately the considerable lack of polish, indecisively wonky aesthetic and utterly dismal implementation of random events both visually and structurally — of which can leave your six/seven/eight hour run feeling wasted for nothing — leaves Genesis Alpha One feeling like an early build with far too many a hole to plug. There are some pleasant joys and novel moments to be had amidst the mundane and the cumbersome, but in the end, Radiation Blue’s multi-genre spanning venture — ambitious its intentions may be — delivers both an underbaked and amateurishly constrained effort.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    As expected, Resident Evil 6 — four years after its original release — remains one of the series’ most underbaked, underdeveloped and downright unappealing entries in a franchise that has claimed far greater heights in terms of gameplay and presentation.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    For now, though, it is something that should only be acknowledged by the truly masochistic.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The problem with Vertical Drop Heroes HD is that it’s not very fun.

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