Ghost of Tsushima is Delicious Like Ma's Sushi, Man | Attack the Backlog

On this episode of Attack the Backlog, watch as I duel and reviewel my way through the beautiful forests and valleys of Ghost of Tsushima, a game where you play as a samurai fighting against tradition in order to bring freedom and peace to Japan. If that sounds like your jam, I can't recommend it highly enough. I may sound negative at times in the review, but my experience was unique as outside influences affected me more than usual. Despite all that, I still had a great time, adding yet another win for Sony's secret best studio. Ghost of Tsushima originally came out on July 17, 2020 for PlayStation 4 and has since been released on PlayStation 5.

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Music Racer: An Amazing Audio Visualizer, But a Terrible Game | FIRST!

Music Racer is a game I played when it originally came out in 2018 and, while this new "Ultimate Edition" adds a bit more content and the ability to use your own music, my feelings about the core game itself haven't changed; Music Racer is an amazing audio visualizer, but it is a terrible game and in no way fun to play. Does that mean I don't recommend it? Well, that all depends on what you're looking for. If you want a good game...run away...run away and don't look back, never look back; however, if you want one of the greatest audio visualizers ever made (maybe the best), I can't recommend Music Racer highly enough. As long as you know what you're getting before you pull the trigger, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

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The Last Cube is First in My Book | FIRST!

I'm very hit or miss when it comes to puzzle games, so The Last Cube already had a barrier to break through before I even started playing it and, like in-game, it broke through that barrier with ease to become one of my favorite games of the year (so far). This may only be my first impression based off the first 45 minutes and it could fall off a cliff starting at minute 46, but I enjoyed the hell out of what I played, finding The Last Cube succeeding in that ever-so-hard ability to create puzzles that are challenging, but never frustrating, introducing new mechanics and new ideas at the perfect pace. Again, I don't know if it'll stick the landing, but I can say one thing for sure, The Last Cube makes a hell of a great first impression. 

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Elex II is Perfect for Fans of Jetpacks, Jank, and Euro Poo | FIRST!

Elex II is not a good game. It's buggy, full of jank, and not particularly fun to play; however, if you enjoy yourself some Euro jank--I've been known to dabble--you'll likely find plenty to enjoy in Elex II. It has a weird charm, terrible voice acting, and writing so creative, there's literally a creature called, "Annoying Critter." I can't recommend paying full price for the game, but if you go in knowing what you're gonna get and pick it up during a sale, you'll probably have a good (enough) time with Elex II, even if it is the gaming equivalent of poo. 

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Gear.Club Unlimited 2: Ultimate Edition Should Have, Ultimately, Stayed on the Switch | FIRST!

Let's get one thing out of the way right at the start. Gear.Club Unlimited 2: Ultimate Edition is not a bad game. In the grand scheme of things, Gear.Club Unlimited 2 is a solid entry in the racing genre. That said, it's clear from second one that Gear.Club Unlimited 2 is a Switch game being ported and it can't compete with what the other consoles and PC have to offer. It's also a three-year-old game. Now, none of this would be a problem if it was agreeably priced, but at $40, it's hard to recommend what is ultimately a three-year-old Switch game to owners of significantly more powerful devices with many other options out there. To summarize, Gear.Club Unlimited 2: Ultimate Edition is not a bad game, it's just an old, overpriced one.

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My Humor May Be for Dummies, But PowerSlave Exhumed is Fun for All, Not Just the Mummies | FIRST!

Despite playing and loving many games like PowerSlave, I never played PowerSlave until now thanks to the new and shiny Exhumed edition, which takes aspects from the Saturn and PlayStation versions and mashes them together. I don't know what's from what, but what I do know is I had a really good time with PowerSlave Exhumed and wanted nothing more than to keep playing after I put it down in order to try another game [for FIRST!]. It feels good, looks good, and is just a good time all around. Is nostalgia a factor? Probably, but, more so than that, PowerSlave Exhumed is just a good game, a game well worth your time if you enjoy classic shooters and don't mind getting lost on a somewhat regular basis.

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Castle Morihisa Should Have Been Moriginal and Less Slay the Spire-y | FIRST!

This is going to sound weird. Castle Morihisa is a good game and I had fun playing it. Weird, right? That said, I would recommend Castle Morihisa to no one. Why? Because what Castle Morihisa does is it takes Slay the Spire, changes very little, and delivers a lesser experience. Sure, it's still a good game and imitating one of the best deck-building roguelikes out there--hell, one of the best games period--but it stays too close to the original and what changes it makes are for the worse. Because of that, there's no reason to play Castle Morishisa over Slay the Spire or other games that do a better job of being their own thing (unless you've played every other deck-building roguelike and you just want more of the same with a fresh coat of paint, because that's all Castle Morihisa is).

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Call of Juarez: The What the Hell Were They Thinking One | Attack the Backlog

On this episode of Attack the Backlog, Marc puts on their best Obama mask and gets high as a kite while burning fields of dreams in Call of Juarez: The Cartel, the kind of dreams that only weed can make true, especially when playing a game that's worst that poo. The Cartel is a bad game in so many ways and the kind of game that leaves you constantly asking why as you play. Call of Juarez: The Cartel originally came out on July 19, 2011, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with a PC release a few months after that. Marc played the Xbox 360 version of the game on an Xbox Series X via backward compatibility and highly recommends not doing the same.

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My First Impressions of Beyond a Steel Sighhhhhhhhhhhhh | FIRST!

No matter what you think of this episode, you can't deny my commitment to a bit. Speaking of bits, the little bit I'll say about Beyond a Steel Sky is that I played it for an hour and a half, enjoyed none of it, and was bored by most of it. I never played the first game and have no idea if that matters, but, ultimately, Beyond a Steel Sky left me wishing I liked it more than I did, but, sadly, not every wish comes true (and now I shall prepare for the abundance of comments comparing me to poo).

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Kungfu Kickball Is Like a Kung Fu Kick in the Balls | FIRST!

What do you get when you take a ball, kicking and punching, and scoring goals by hitting your opponent's bell? Kungfu Kickball, of course! With a great first impression thanks to fun, colorful art and good (at first) music, Kungfu Kickball seems like a good idea; however, despite solid controls and the aforementioned great art, in practice, it fails to come together into a satisfying experience. I tried and tried and tried, but in and hour and a half of play (against only the AI because no one is playing online), I never had a single second of fun. I want to believe it can be fixed with a few changes here and there, but given how poorly the game appears to have sold, I imagine we'll never know.

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