Richard Inks – Google

Waited years for this and all I ended up with was disappointment and regret. One less Game Pass PC subscriber. What is even going on at Xbox any more? This will need to be multiplatform to save the money Microsoft is losing by paying the devs and having it on Game Pass for $10 with every other game. At least with God of War I got to play the game after a long cutscene. This game... it's basically playing The Order only with less action. Sure, it's sort of cerebral, but this was done in the first game. Was hoping for something new and fresh, like a take on a female viking version of God of War, but no. Super linear, on rails walking simulator with frequent cutscenes to show off where all the money went: facial animations. It sure wasn't spent on gameplay or other graphics. Everything is so blurry and muddy, I can't imagine playing it on Series S let alone X.

Saints Row is like the red-headed stepchild version of GTA. The non-sensocal slapstick is back with graphics and animations that are somehow worse than Saints Row 4. Gameplay is very generic and controls are oddly configured (Y/Triangle button for entering vehicles, D-Pad down for crouch instead of circle/B or clicking left stick). Enemies are very arcade-like which matches the generic, lifeless shooting controls. Don't expect variety of any sorts. Driving is also very arcadey and drives as unrealistic as the over-the-top, zaney hijinks that play out in cutscenes. Upgrading skills is a barebones system. Something seems to be off with the HDR as it has HEAVY color banding (PC version at least). I didn't expect much and had low expectations once I learned this game was coming out. Surprisingly, it turned out even lower than my expectations already were. It might be time for a new franchise from Volition because Saints Row just doesn't compare and is still a shell of its former self. This could have been a deep, dramatic game about gang life but instead they've delivered the Monty Python equivalent of a Sons of Anarchy's estranged 3rd cousin, "Cousins of Unrest."

The Switch version has very poor graphics and bugs/annoyances from the PC version haven't even been fixed. Character creation leaves A LOT to be desired, especially in terms of color selections (especially eyes). When you first start, the first thing you'll want to do is lower the music that is WAY too loud and covers up conversation pieces. You'll then want to turn up conversation volume. I also turned off the rumble as it didn't properly sync to actions and was sometimes harder rumbling than it should be (very inconsistent). You'll also want to turn the game speed WAY down if you want to have longer days, as the initial setting makes the time fly by so fast it's very unrealistic. Some voice cues overlap other conversations, even for the same character that is speaking, as if they're saying two lines at the same time. Voice acting is terrible for most characters. There was one main character voice I could tolerate (voice 2). The other voices sound like they got random people off the street or family members to do voices for them. Performance on the Switch is sub par. The lower resolution, lack of anti-aliasing, constant frame skips and fps drops should have been improved by now, but the Switch version fails hard. The result is a janky, stuttery mess that is also full of constant loading screens when entering new areas. Even the loading screens lag and stutter. Textures are pretty bad as well. If you want the best looking and performing version of this game, then Steam is where you should buy it. It's no Stardew Valley but I guess it will hold me over until the next Harvest Moon comes out.

These devs or the company itself just don't get it. These pay to win and pay to progress shops are constantly killing their games. Genshin Impact is a good example of a shop that isn't overly intrusive or based solely on microtransaction purchases in order to progress, succeed, or even have a decent time with the game. Bless Unleashed on PS4 is abysmal to say the least. Unleashed on Steam isn't doing much better, if not worse as it's just a port of the PS4 version and not built specifically for the PC.

I don't know what the critics were smoking but this movie is an absolute must watch! It was very funny through and through with enough backstory and sad moments to make you really feel for the character Sonic without making it into an overbearing "OKAY! WE GOT IT! HE'S LONELY!" situation. Ben Schwartz did a great job at personifying the voice of Sonic as a rambunctious teenager who has lived life (literally) in the fast lane and the various scenes portray. The humor is great for both adults (who will catch some adult jokes) and for younger audiences who enjoy random moments of slapstick, fart jokes and even more mature humor. Jim Carey was an amazing Dr. Robotnik and really put a personal spin on the maniacal bad guy. You understood where Robotnik came from and eventually why he has it out for Sonic (as well as how he got to be a human in Sonic's original world). Near the end, Carey does a Robotnik voice that is SO exact from the various cartoons and games you can almost fully witness his transformation into Eggman. The way the rings came into play was great as well, very reminiscent of the ring portals used to warp Sonic to special stages in many games. I'm really looking forward to the sequel(s?) to come! Do yourself a favor and flip off a "movie critic" and go see this movie either for yourself as a Sonic fan or with family just to get away and see a funny, non-stop entertaining film. You definitely won't be disappointed, especially with the new Sonic design that actually looks like the iconic character and not some Deviant Art abomination.