Recent reviews by Dudfruit

I'm so glad this game got people into Digimon.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger is the long-awaited Digimon Monster Taming JRPG featuring the Digital World: Iliad, an alternate Digital World inspired by Greek and Roman myths. The mechanics isn't as unique as its contemporaries (especially compared to non-MonColle JRPGs) but the story beats are Digimon, for better or worse (played on Normal Difficulty).

Note:
Unlike Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth/Hacker's Memory, Digimon do not have species-exclusive base stats nor abilities, they do have at least one (up to three) signature skills unique to them. It lets you play with virtually any Digimon with little to no differences in casual play. This plays a little more like Digimon Story games from the DS Era (Digimon World DS, Digimon World Dawn/Dusk included).

What I like about the game:
- Casual play experience is challenging enough whilst still being fair, given I have not touched Mega/Mega+ difficulties.
- Attachment Skills are way less of a hassle to get compared to Cyber Sleuth.
- The Digital World is the liveliest it's ever been in the Story games, and you get to be in it for a good chunk of the story too!
- The general story feels mature, bonus points for respecting Greek Myths to some degree for its writing.
- QoL features like EXP sharing with your ENTIRE BOX.
- A good chunk of the 100 or so New and Returning Digimon alike not seen in Cyber Sleuth/Hacker's Memory before feels like actually substantial additions and not haphazardly picked to fill the roster (Examples include the Olympos XII, BeelStarmon, Parallelmon (DLC), Callismon and even brand new additions like Sharkmon and SkullSeadramon).

What could be better about the game:
- Reserve Digimon being capped at 3 again feels backwards from Cyber Sleuth in some ways.
- Despite the QoLs, DigiFarm still feels like it could be better.
- The story feels a little bit predictable with its direction, and that's besides being based on Greek Myths.
- Digimon from after Last Evolution Kizuna doesn't look like they'll appear any time soon unless there IS a season pack 2 (RIP Gammamon line dreams)
- Some older Digimon you'd think would be in the game are still NOT in the game (Looking at Much of Digimon Frontiers, Rafflesimon and Aegisdramon for example; easiest DNA Digivolution add-ons).
- 1st wave of DLC Digimon Roster has 3 OMEGAMON. WHY?! THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A SLOT FOR OTHER DIGIMON LIKE BLOOMLORDMON.
- Speaking of DLCs, they're overpriced.

All in all, this game is a great Digimon experience for first timers and Digimon fans alike, however if you're really deep into Digimon you'll feel the roster not being as good as expected of a 2025 release. Not sure if it'd be a great JRPG experience though, since my reference point in non-moncolle JRPGs are pretty limited.

Platypus Reclayed is an arcade shoot-em-up with graphics entirely made using modeling clay. It's a remake of "Platypus" made back in 2002, and as such the game is made accessible for all ages.

What I like:
- Excellently-crafted art direction and environmental storytelling
- Comes with new content without changing the original game too much (And they're hella epic)
- A wide difficulty range (Regular mode is recommended for starters)
- Couch Co-op
- Comes with a rendition of the classic 2002 game because it's hard to make it run in newer devices nowadays
- Mod Support: wonder what forms of torment modders can come up with!

Considerations:
- The base game is fairly short for its price. I'd recommend it in a discount in some places, but if you want to buy the game to support the devs, full price is also welcome!

This game filled the void left from not being able to play Mario Party.

DISCLAIMER: This is REALLY my first Monster Hunter game, so MonHun veterans take this review with a grain of salt. I'll also review the game as a Monster Collector RPG game likewise.

This is probably the best monster collector game I've played so far, and somehow it's a spin-off.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is a game that puts you in a world where you can tame the various monsters from the Monster Hunter franchise and fight alongside them in a JRPG-Styled Combat. I've had 98 Hours in this game and counting (I need to clear the rest of the Postgame content) and I genuinely enjoyed a lot of what the game has to offer.

- Monster Design: I guess it's hard to mention monster hunter without mentioning their designs. They range from "Absolutely awe-inspiring" to "Filler, but it's completing an ecological niche", which I like a lot compared to filler that don't contribute much to the immersion. Each Animations also add quirks to certain monsters that is only possible in Stories 2 due to settings differences from the mainline games.
- Monster Customization: You can give the powers/attributes of a lategame monster to a route 1 monster should you wish, so go on and play with your favorites!*
- The Player Character takes an active and central role in combat: You know how in Pokemon or Digimon JRPGs the Trainer/Tamers don't actually join in combat? Riders do, and in true Monster Hunter fashion you're supposed to gear them up accordingly using materials that drops from monsters.
- Quality of Life: All monsters are obtained from level 1, however extra EXP are awarded to underlevelled party members, so you'll find levelling that new member to be way easier compared to other games.
- Monster Representation: Take this one with a grain of salt but I heard friends who are Monster Hunter veterans mentioned that there's a good balance of New and Old monsters, and while the tamable monster roster is only barely in the hundreds each comes with a variety of unique animations and their own Ultimate animation (Variations of the same monsters may or may not have unique ultimate animations.)

*With base stat limitations

- The Story: Story is pretty baseline for Monster Collector RPGs; it's not bringing anything really new to the table but it doesn't mean it is bad or stale.
- Multiplayer: Your postgame would mostly be multiplayer content, so it's even more recommended to find a friend to play this with for more playtime longevity.
- Difficulty: The game difficulty scales rather well, until the very last leg for some reason.
- Combat Details: You can guess a monster's patterns if you're paying attention to what you're facing, no spamming A mid-combat in this game!
- Better in Controller: While the game is absolutely playable on keyboard, there are button mashing sequences mid-combat that would favor controller users.

This game is absolutely great, though its longevity really depends on whether or not you have friends to play with. Preferably snag this game on a sale.

I love you Milestone and Mattel for not forgetting about the AcceleRacers fandom.

Chicane, Spine Buster, Rat-ified and Vert's Reverb are great additions to the game and are faithful to their toy versions (I used to have Reverb myself). The Acceledrome is a fairly faithful recreation of what we saw in the movies back then and it still holds a special place in my heart.

However there is one thing that is bothering me. In Hot Wheels Unleashed 1, the Expansion DLCs have at least one Track Module related to their respective expansion and the AcceleRacers DLC gets... none. It's mildly disappointing that no new modules are introduced, would have loved to see the Swamp Realm Monster again. Is it going to peg it down to me giving it a thumbs down? No, 10 bucks for 4 highly-popular cars and an Environment is fair.

DISCLAIMER: This review will be more half-and-half between players of the First Game and those who haven't. While I do recommend this game, it's mostly for those who haven't gotten the first game. First game owners, YMMV.

Hot Wheels Unleased 2 is an arcade racing game at 1:64 scaling taken right to your screen. Basing it off of the first game, this game improves from the first game in the quality of life and car roster department, however there are some missed opportunity still along the way.

+ New Mechanics in Jumps and Lateral Dash to cause carnage and gain an edge in the race
+ Performance Perks which allows you to further tune your car to your taste.
+ Improved Economy and progression system that makes collecting way easier.
+ A Car Roster more focused on car culture or Hot Wheels' own legacy (Goodbye Character Cars!)
+ Some new Modules to toy with, and the DLC ones from the first game comes with the base game too!

> The racing is still fun for audience of all ages, with a difficulty settings for kids to enjoy and adults to still have a crack of challenge too.
> The car pool STILL has something for different people. You like classic Hot Wheels Original? There's the Sol-Aire CX4. You like AcceleRacers? Power Rage. You like real life models? Bugatti Chiron. Are you a collector? There's the Modified VW Beetle. This time around Milestone and Mattel are taking notes about what we want to see.
> Creativity Unleashed. Other than the Livery editor and Track editor, a sticker editor is now added so that you can use the same design across different liveries or share them to the world!
> No Microtransactions for in-game currency. Thank goodness.
> Car Classes. Cars now are classified as Rockets, Balance, Swift, Off-roaders and Heavy Duty vehicles and are given different driving profiles. Off-roaders are especially unique since terrains make your car handle differently now.

However, I would be lying if the game is perfect. Here's why:

> Decrease in Expansion Pack DLC Value. While I appreciate the new environments and cars from the Expansions, the fact that it does not come with new modules is a bit of a letdown.
> Lack of Wheel selection and Wheel accent painting. This is a pretty requested idea and it's disappointing to me that this game lacked wheel selection when the Hot Wheels franchise has made so many different iconic wheels over the years. Even then we still don't get wheel accent choices; solid colors or default.
> The story. Felt like the story was shoehorned in.
> Multiplayer got shafted on release. Not a good sign.
> Livery making is still hard for non-controller users. There's no slow or snap options.

Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 is a definite improvement over the first game, however I would say this is a Need for Speed Heat vs. Unbound situation; other than the new roster direction there's not enough new things going on for me to truly recommend this to owners of the first game, well other than the AcceleRacers expansion/DLC since we both know that that's why we're here. If you haven't gotten the first game please get this one instead. Otherwise wait for a big sale.

Rating: 7.5/10 overall. I wish there's a middle of the road review option.

*DISCLAIMER: I WOULD ONLY RECOMMEND THIS UNDER THE PRETENSE THAT IT'S ON AT LEAST A 30% SALE

Need for Speed Unbound is a uniquely stylized Racing Game where you race your way up the local street racing scene. With a focus on Risk and Reward, cop chases and street culture Unbound manages to be one of the most unique racing game experience we had in a while. While it is the best-playing game compared to previous entries in a while, the game ultimately still falls short in the grand scheme of things.

Ups:
+ Massive overall physics improvement over previous installments
+ Burst Nitrous mechanic adding new depth to racing
+ Art direction is unique among racing games
+ Colorful cast of Characters
+ Difficulty feels right

Downs:
- Old entry cars barely has new body customization options, even with render artists on the team.
- A Very short singleplayer campaign
- Multiplayer lacks substance
- Despite being featured heavily, only 8 cars get a Legend Customs variant (Out of 143)
- Countach LPI800-4 felt forcefully added because it doesn't have any body mod options|
- AI Rubberbanding can be very unfair

Despite not recommending the game, I genuinely love this game. I really hope Criterion gives this game further support, because this is a really great game. New Singleplayer campaign maybe? New Legend Customs maybe? Multiplayer adds maybe?

Slime Rancher 1's Early Access was good, and the game only gets better from there. This one? Oh boy.

At my point of gameplay I'm inclined to believe that Slime Rancher 2's Early Access is as big as Slime Rancher 1 before the game introduces saber slimes, and honestly that's pretty darn good for an early access. The color tones are much more vibrant and the musical atmosphere leans towards the calm-and-beautiful side (idk how to word it I'm not a mucisian). Not sure if they'll add the daily requests system from the first game later down the line but I hope they do.

+ For an early access game, there's a lot to explore.
+ Every possible pros from Slime Rancher 1
+ Bnuuy Slimes is the best decision they have for a second game.

Not only are we getting Synkro free, we're getting a car that actually drives well!

DISCLAIMER: This review was made with regional pricing differences in mind (Bought in SEA). Reader's discretion is advised.

Hot Wheels Unleased is an arcade racing game where you race as Hot Wheels cars in all its 1:64 scaling glory. While Milestone nailed the core of its content, some parts of the game could use a pointer to the right direction.

> The racing is simple enough for kids to pick up while being deep enough to keep more serious players interested. The game uses a brake-to-drift style of handling physics that is crafted beautifully to make every perfect turn worth it. The only power-up you have is your boost gauge that fills up faster when you drift.
> The car pool has something for different people. You like classic Hot Wheels Original? There's the Twin Mill. You like AcceleRacers? RD-02. You like real life models? Koenigsegg Jesko. Are you a collector? There's the Beach Bomb and Deora. And Milestone and Mattel are not done adding cars yet.
> Creativity Unleashed. There's a lot of ways to unleash your creativity in this game and I love that about it. You have a livery editor, a track builder, a basement editor and a profile editor. The Track builder is especially appreciated because Hot Wheels in its core is about making tracks and letting you have one in-game shows how much Milestone wants this to be a love letter to Hot Wheels fans of all ages.
> No Microtransactions for in-game currency. Adding that would really hurt its rating.
> Single car DLCs are cheap, with the cheapest costing a dollar, true to Hot Wheels singles.

However, I would be lying if the game is perfect. Here's why:

>Gravity physics. Since you are a lightweight toy car, you're bound to get air time for the slightest of bumps. While it is frustrating when it bumps you off the road, it is still part of what make the cars... Hot Wheels (For lack of a better word), so I can't really get mad at anyone for throwing my cars off like that but myself.

> Economy and Gacha. Yes. Gacha. To unlock cars you have to unlock these lootboxes called "Blind Boxes" that costs 500 in-game coins a piece. One singleplayer race hands you 50 coins and that's if you win first place. Once your story mode campaign is over your super treasure hunting is going to be painful.
> There is also a guaranteed way to get the cars you want in the form of "Limited Time Offers", but it only offers 5 cars that rotates every 4 hours in-game. This would mean you have to spend 4 hours in the game without closing it or the rotation timer would just grind to a halt. So not only is the rotation slow, the pool you get is also very small. I really wish they would double the amount of offers at a time and change it so that the offers are determined by the online server's clock instead of time in-game so it'd rotate even when you aren't in the game.
> Minor gripe but changing the pitch of music whenever you're boosted does not sound pretty. Also, the music choices could have more variety than just Electronic Music. Some Rock would be nice.

HotWheels Unleashed presents itself as an attempt at being a love letter to all Hot Wheels fans with its fun racing and the amount of creativity allowed in the game. While it succeed in some parts with flying colors, the in-game economy is being a major setback.

Since I get this game at a different price than most others and the fact I'm accustomed to gacha at this point, I'd give this game a 7.5/10. However if you're getting this game at its full price then it's honestly a 6/10. I do choose to recommend it however because in the case that there's a sale, this game would be worth the value.

> The music pitch change when boosting is now only restricted to boost pad modules, which I guess was better
> The in-game Limited-time shop is actually better now: It offers more cars and refreshes every 1 hour and 30 minutes with less chance for a common and more chances for Super Treasure Hunt cars. Sure it's still 1 hour 30 minutes while the game is running but it is much better than having to wait 4 hours.