Reviews

I would love to know why this game exists. On paper this probably sounds like a great pairing. In execution, this game is both a bad Lego game and a very poor use of the Horizon IP. I have mixed feelings on the Horizon games but overall I think the design and the overall world and story are good. What this game delivers is a more lighthearted take on the games story overall but with some incredibly boring gameplay. Unlike most Lego games, you can't destroy most of the items and environment, you barely build anything and there are no red bricks. There are Apex bricks, which once you acquire all of, they bestow upon you the great honor of replaying biomes for all that exciting one note gameplay. There is a city building aspect that as you progress lets you build more buildings and randomly little interactive events around the city hub. There is a bunch of costumes to buy and there is a community board with sidequests you can do to earn gold bricks. This is all set against the Horizon aesthetic and it's mostly just for looks. The only thing from the IP is using parts of the machines for weakpoints. You don't use parts to craft gear or any sort of progression. You do gain levels but that's mostly more health, damage etc. The game is just very boring to play and all the levels are relatively the same. On top of this the trophies are also lame. You have plenty of completion stuff and unlocking outfits and town stuff. Then you have one that requires you to level up all four characters to the max which is an absolute slog. There is no reason this should be a trophy given how repetitive, slow and boring the gameplay is. There is nothing here for fans of either property in my opinion and I would've been pretty upset if I paid full price for this expecting the traditional Lego style.

This game looks great and it uses the flora and fauna of the Avatar world to great effect. There are aspects of this game that are great and it's blend of modern Farcry and Primal work really good. The issue, as is the case with most Ubisoft games, is that it gets stale pretty quick and it is far too bloated. There is so much unnecessary filler in this game. On top of that the one thing this game could've used was a tower or two to clear the fog of war but of course there are none. After almost 80 hours in the game I still had fairly large batches of the map covered because you apparently barely clear any as you traverse. The gameplay itself is mostly fine, I found it to be pretty slow in your movement even when on a mount. You'd think while flying on an Ikran that you wouldn't feel like you are going 5 mph. Thankfully there is a good fast travel system that lets you get around quick. My biggest complaint about the game is the gear system. For whatever reason they decided all of their games need loot with stats and now they decided to have craftable gear. There are resources and gathering that have RNG relating not only to its location, time of day and weather conditions but also on how you grab it. This just makes it a chore to craft the best gear you can and this isn't optional. You need a specific level of gear for certain missions, how it dictates this gear is beyond me because I frequently had higher damage weapons that would bring down my gear score if equipped. This leads to you being potentially softlocked if you don't have the correct level of gear. You can attempt any missions at any level but most of the time that will lead to you being one shotted if you are so far under the recommended level. In the Skybreaker DLC I also ran into a few bugs several time including long load times that seemed to skip over cutscenses for some reason. I'm not sure if this was related to the third person view patch they put out or not. Lastly, the trophies suck. There are a lot relating to the story and other random things you'll get along the way. Then you have some that have you do a few sidequest things, others that will have you complete the entire side quest line and one that has you maxing out all the donations which was extremely tedious. I have no idea where they come up with some of these as opposed to some better ones.

This was a very enjoyable game much like the first game. There is a lot of levels and good trophies to do. There wasn't too much new stuff added aside from some new attachments and a new washer. I found the new washer to be pretty useless because of how the extension worked. I found it to be finicky and would only clean right in front of me most of the time. There is a furniture collection added in where you buy and clean furniture that you can then place inside your shop. This seems like a halfbaked idea because there is only one room you can add things too and if you add all items it's a complete mess. The hitbox for the item placement is also huge meaning you can't place things too close to each other and can't place things on top of the rugs you clean which was very odd. Not really sure what they were aiming for with this. The biggest change is that soap is no longer a purchased item, instead it is on a sort of cooldown. This greatly helps getting rid of the tougher grime you have to clean. It also felt like they tweaked the clean completion for sections so you didn't need to get every little speck to before getting 100%. I didn't dislike all the levels but I found some of them to be way too vertical that led to challenges even with the longest extensions. Another issue was some areas had fixed objects that were a chore to clean around like the scissor lift in the theater. Overall I really enjoyed the game and found it relaxing.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is a first-person exploration game where you play as Stanley, a simple employee who realizes his co-workers have vanished, prompting a search for answers. However, describing the plot ends there, because this expanded re-imagining is less about the destination and entirely about the chaotic, meta-narrative journey. As a critic, I find this title to be a fascinating anomaly. The "gameplay" is undeniably basic (5/10)—you mostly walk and press buttons—yet the experience is elevated by Kevan Brighting’s phenomenal voice acting (9/10). His narration doesn't just guide you; it taunts, praises, and gaslights you, brilliantly breaking the fourth wall. The new "Ultra Deluxe" content isn't just filler; it offers a satirical look at sequels and game development that fits seamlessly with the original code. While the visuals have been updated, they remain merely functional (6/10), serving the narrative rather than dazzling the eye. Ultimately, this is a cerebral experience rather than a mechanical challenge. It is short and technically sound (8/10), but the real value lies in how it messes with your head. It’s a loop of contradictions that creates a unique bond between player and developer. If you enjoy narrative experiments over high-octane action, Stanley is waiting for you. Or is he?