Recent reviews by Nathan_Rae

I'm writing this review to get a badge during a Steam sale. Therefore, I'll be brief in my initial report before expanding on it in subsequent updates: The game is very good, I like it, and I recommend purchasing it.

Pros:
- A ridiculously large amount of content - 450 gold bricks to collect, 300+ costumes to unlock
- Some genuinely funny gags and references in the story
- Changing up the way currency is spent within game (bricks are spent on environmental objects, while studs are spent on characters and vehicles) helps differentiate this game from others in the franchise
- LEGO City genuinely feels like a lived-in world

Cons:
- Some of the platforming sections are extremely frustrating
- Frank Honey is annoying
- The frame rate has a tendency to drop, especially during vehicle missions
- The load times in starting the game are about as tolerable as Lego Island 2's loading screens; be prepared to listen to the music a lot in this game

Overall:
If you ever wanted a GTA LEGO game, only have a PC to play it on, and can get this game on sale, you'll probably enjoy this game. Otherwise, I'd recommend playing it on another console or skipping it entirely, because while it does some things really well, the overall experience is probably not worth full price.

Every Saturday, I make it a point to play this game with a friend of mine; we live in two completely different countries, and we only have time to hang out with each other for two hours a week. And yet throughout that time, we're able to build, explore, fight bosses, and just have fun because of the connection videogame provides. I'd like to thank the developers so much for making that happen, and I look forward to the never-ending adventure that's still to come.

Go, Terraria!

The time travel aspect of the game is interesting, and the puzzle-based battle system is certainly unique, but the story is incredibly lackluster and unengaging, which might be a dealbreaker for some.

Short? Yes. Replayable? Not really (unless you're into speed runs). Incredibly hillarious satire? Absolutely.

To The Moon tells the story of Dr. Neil Watts and Dr. Eva Roselyn, two scientists sent from the Sigmund Corporation to a dying man by the name of Johnny Wyles. Their objective? To dig through his mind, and help him achieve his wish of going to the moon by rewriting his memory for a monetary fee. But as they go back into Johnny's past, they find themselves picking through a mystery involving Johnny's deceased wife River, origami rabbits, a stuffed platypus, and a lighthouse called Anya, all of this culminating in a shocking revelation that cause Neil and Eva to question the ethical nature of their assignment.

Upfront, To The Moon is not a game, or at least not in your usual classification. It's a point-and-click visual novel that'll capture your heart and hold it in embrace, but it won't give you any combat based missions or give you any kind of customization options that you might expect from an FPS. With that said, there are elements within this tale that do give it some gameplay. In order to progress through Johnny's memories, you need to look around the environment gathering mementos that'll allow you to go further back in time. In order to initiate this jump, you have to complete a simple flip-the-pictures mini-game that'll only get frustrating if you're dead set on completing the puzzles in the lowest amount of moves. There's a horse riding sequence, a strangely addicting whack-a-mole rip-off, a section where you shoot zombies, and a brief moment where you're in combat with a squirrel, but those don't come up again and again like with the flip-the-pictures mini-game. This is a game that, while it is entertaining to play, the focus is more on experiencing the narrative.

And what a narrative it is. The story goes through many twists and turns as the relationship between Johnny and River is developed, and even if you know what's coming up ahead, you will be on the verge of tears in at least one part of the story. Without spoiling anything, for me it was learning that River always sat alone in lunch at school, and it made her character relatable, even though I knew she was a composition of pixels. However, everything isn't all sombre and serious. To The Moon manages to inject some light-hearted charm too, with the constant irreverent bickering between Eva and Neil providing for some hilarious moments, and references to other works of art like How I Met Your Mother, The Matrix, Hulk, Street Fighter, My Little Pony, Doctor Who, and Animorphs, give the game an abundance of personality.

If there's anything bad that can be said about To The Moon, it's that it doesn't really give any indications on how to progress through the story. The objects you search for to progress back in time are obscurely hidden, and you might find yourself wandering around for five or ten minutes only to figure out that you needed to touch a light bulb. The graphics aren't particularly realistic, but if you grew up playing a GBA, chances are you'll be right at home with the game's pixel art. I also encountered a glitch in the middle of the game that disabled collision detection, but that's more awesome than irritating.

Overall, To The Moon is a wonderful joy to experience. The graphics are good if you like the retro style, the story is absolutely engaging, and the music... Oh man, the music. There are so many compositions packed into this game that just scream awesome. 'Take Me Anywhere' is the happiest one-minute tune I've ever listened to, the title screen music is fabulous, 'For River' is incredibly riveting for being such a simple tune, and 'Everything is Alright' is in my Top 20 favourite songs of all time. The game is available on Steam for £7, £10 if you're buying it along with the soundtrack. It'll eat up 100 megabytes on your hard drive, but it'll be absolutely worth it. Now, it might be expensive for a game that can be beaten in 3-5 hours, so if you're really strapped for cash, you can wait for a sale to come, but once it does, buy this game. I can't recommend it more highly enough.