Review: DYNASTY WARRIORS 8 Empires

Previously published on Exeposé Online, here’s my verdict on the Empires spin-off from the main, numbered entries to the DYNASTY WARRIORS series. And, unlike a sweeping, blistering Lu Bu special move, it doesn’t exactly set the world on fire:

 

I have my reservations whenever I turn back to my favourite nostalgic titles for fear of disappointment. So, naturally, when I turned back to DYNASTY WARRIORS — a set of games that were a guilty pleasure even when I was too young to know any better — I feared the worst. Surprisingly, in this case, I’m happy to inform you that…no sorry this game is far from worth playing. Despite the near-endless customisation making this a good value game in some senses, the repetitive gameplay continually lets down the promising Empires meta game.

Review: Better Call Saul – Episode 5, Alpine Shepherd Boy

Previously published on Exeposé Online, my review here follows on from my thoughts on episode 4, “Hero”. As your resident Shepherd boy, unfortunately I’ll be arguing that “Alpine Shepherd Boy” fails to hit the high bar set by the series so far:

 

Episode 5, “Alpine Shepherd Boy” immediately suggests a shake-up for the series. This is the first episode not named with one word ending with the letter O (i.e. “Nacho” and “Hero”). Change is immediately afoot as Better Call Saul now delivers us a pre-credits sequence that doesn’t launch us into the past or future, but remains resolutely in the present.

Review: Better Call Saul – Episode 4, Hero

Previously published on Exeposé Online, my review of episode 4, “Hero” follows on from my review of episode 3, “Nacho”, and things are looking up for our charming, cheeky protagonist:

 

Until this stage we’ve seen a James ‘Jimmy’ McGill in turmoil, attempting to satisfy the needs of both the menacing drug dealers as well as those of the law. He’s struggled thus far, and his internal battle was played out before us in episode 3, “Nacho”.