TROLL AND I
Worst Games of Q1 2017
Troll and I takes place in post-World War Two Scandinavia where a bounty has been placed on the head of a monstrous, but misunderstood Troll. A young hunter named Otto teams up with the Troll to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and hopefully save their home from those trying to destroy it.
The game’s focus is primarily on narrative, attempting to establish a friendship between Otto and the Troll as man and beast. The idea of befriending a beast isn’t a new one to video games, and Troll and I’s attempt to mimic that plot device feels lesser when compared to other games that do it successfully such as The Last Guardian.
Other hindrances include sub-par graphics, an extremely cumbersome crafting system, low frame rates, and an open world that makes climbing, running, and essentially just traversing it a bore. It plays very much like a PS2 era title, with a mediocre plot that isn’t able to make up for its other limitations.
Troll and I released in on March 21 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and is coming soon to Nintendo Switch. For a closer look at the Troll, which you may not want, check out a trailer here.
DYING: REBORN
Worst Games of Q1 2017
Dying: Reborn traps the player within a psycho’s house, encouraging you to escape by searching for objects to help you solve puzzles and escape with your life as the protagonist Mathew.
The voice acting is noticeably bad, with lackluster writing that even has numerous typos throughout. The puzzles often just filter down to find the solution, and execute it, such as finding a lock combination on a wall, and then entering the combo into the lock to proceed into the next room. These never truly feel like puzzles, more like a checklist that needs completion in order to advance.
In our review for Dying: Reborn we also bring up the flawed sound design, as “sounds will get cut off abruptly instead of blending with the rest of the mix, and frequently don’t pair with the subtitles offered on screen.” Frame-rate stutters and glitches were also present throughout, and along with all its other flaws this makes Dying: Reborn a game you can probably skip for early 2017.
Dying: Reborn released on PS4 and PSVR on Feb 28, and later for PS Vita on March 14, you can see a gameplay trailer here.
VROOM IN THE NIGHT SKY
Worst Games of Q1 2017
Vroom in the Night Sky is inexcusably bad, especially since it was one of the launch titles for Nintendo Switch in Europe and Japan when it looks more like a Stream Greenlight pitch.
The point of Vroom in the Night Sky is to collect Stardusts and Keystars as Luna on her magical motorcycle in order to open “The Magical Gate” floating in the night sky. The environments are either basic or horribly bare, and the whole thing can be easily completed in just a couple hours.
The overall goal of this game is extremely basic, it’s essentially just a time-killer where you ride a motorcycle around and collect items. The game’s description on its Nintendo Switch page reads, “By manipulating the motorcycle technically, the number of Stardusts you can get increases. Try various actions and challenges to collect Stardusts. By using the collected Stardusts, you will be able to get a new Magical Bike. If you get a powerful Magical Bike, you will be able to more easily collect Stardusts!” So collect Stardusts, to get a better bike, to collect more Stardusts.
Vroom in the Night Sky was originally going to be part of the Switch launch lineup in North America as well, but it was delayed until April 5. Make sure to steer clear of this one, folks. Check out a trailer for this title to see its barren environments and uneventful gameplay.
VACCINE
Worst Games of Q1 2017
In Vaccine you are finding a, you guessed it, vaccine for your friend who has been infected. With a timer on screen, you search through rooms to find weapons, items, and enemies to fight in order to level up and find that vaccine to save you pal.
Although it’s obvious the game is intentionally going for a low resolution, PlayStation era look to it, that doesn’t mean it works nor helps the game in any way. It attempts to mimic the original Resident Evil in both appearance and camera angles, but its tough to set yourself up for success when using a renowned title as an example over 20 years and three console generations later.
When you do find the vaccine, the game resets and places you back at the start with a shorter time limit. The rooms within the house are jumbled up, so you won’t take the same path as you did the first play through.
As time goes on and on, you’ll read the dreaded words “Despite all your efforts, your friend got sick again” every time you successfully bring back the vaccine. The shorter time limits forced at each play-through are meant to give it some replay value, but instead make it feel like a tedious and repetitive experience that abandons any chance for an intriguing story. Sure the house is rebuilt to form a different shape everytime, but the same assets are used. Since their isn’t exactly a plethora of different types of enemies, it ends up never really feels fresh and thus drags on.
Vaccine released on PS4, PC, Xbox One, and Wii U on Feb 20. To see what its gameplay looks like, here’s its release trailer from early February.
1-2 SWITCH
Worst Games of Q1 2017
When to comes to party games, Nintendo has always been the go-to place for couch co-op fun. Titles like Mario Party, Wii Sports, Mario Kart, and more invite friends to actually get together in the same room to play a game.
Often at the start of every launch for a new Nintendo console, a game is marketed specifically for its multilayer capabilities while showing off the new functionalities of the console. 1-2 Switch is that game for the Nintendo Switch, as it shows off the HD Rumble with mini-games like Sneaky Dice and Ball Count to mimic real world vibrations while pushing the 2-person co-op the game offers.
The 28 mini games range from meh, to horribly bad. Some offer a slight challenge like Safe Crack where you have to unlock a safe first by sensing vibrations, but the majority of them are designed more to just make the participants feel silly than strike up any actual competition. Such as Copy Dance and Runway, which only follow the orientation of the controller, meaning you can just hold the controller a certain way or flail it all around randomly and end up winning the game.
And some of the games are just plain weird, such as having to hush a crying baby while you cradle your Switch in your arms. Who wouldn’t want that at a party?
Overall, 1-2 Switch feels extremely shallow and misses the mark when it comes to the past success Nintendo has had with couch co-op. It feels more like a tech demo than an actual fully-fledged game, and probably should have just been used at gaming shows to show off the HD Rumble and Joy-Con sensor capabilities than actually making it a whopping $50 launch title for the Switch. You can check out the trailer here.
LIFE OF THE BLACK TIGER
Worst Games of Q1 2017
How exactly Life of the Black Tiger managed to be released onto the PS4 is a total mystery. When its trailer was first shown on the official PS4 YouTube channel, most people thought it was a joke. Since then it has gotten over one million views, and a whole lot of “what the heck Sony?”
Essentially, you are the mysterious Black Tiger who roams around his 2001 Zoo Tycoon-looking environments hunting prey and other predators. Missions include going to a spot and standing on it, killing stuff, and killing other stuff.
Not only does this game look awful, but it plays even worse. The Tiger’s attack is slow and aiming is pretty much limited to pointing a certain direction and hoping the enemy stays in place while you take three seconds to swipe while orange sparks flash in the air.
Not only that, the Black Tiger finds himself a lady (watch out, MAJOR Life of the Black Tiger plot spoilers coming up) and they have a baby. What does the Black Tiger say at the birth of his child? “It’s good the baby is not a black one like me. I’m lucky.” Um, what? What message is this game trying to convey exactly?
Life of the Black Tiger somehow released on Ps4 on Jan 12.
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