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The template for making action sports like skateboarding work well as video games has been the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series for decades now. So, when a new one comes along and it feels like those old classics it's not entirely surprising. Perfect Grind does a decent job of condensing very similar action to the Tony Hawk games down to a smaller, portrait-mode form factor, but doesn't do a whole lot to change up an age-old formula.

Small skater

Perfect Grind lets players create their own skater and take them to various locations full of stuff to trick and grind all over. Scattered throughout these locales are also people who give you challenges. Some of these might be to trick off of specific things, collect certain items, or a good old score challenge. Completing these challenges grants you currency you can spend on cosmetic items and can unlock new locations to skate in.

All of this action takes place in portrait mode, and it fairly easy to control with Perfect Grind's swipe-based control scheme. You swipe to jump and trick at the same time and then various taps, swipes, holds, etc. while tricking let you do just about everything you might expect from a Tony Hawk game (i.e. manuals, grinds, transfers, wall plants, etc.).

Free skate

When you aren't doing challenges in Perfect Grind, you are free to skate around and do whatever you'd like. The game also has a dedicated free skate mode, a score chasing 2 minute run, and even a park editor that lets you design the skate park of your dreams. The park editor seems to have quite a bit of potential to add to the longevity of Perfect Grind, as players can upload and share park designs with other players.

Perfect Grind is set up as a free-to-try game and locks its full feature set behind a simple one-time $2.99 in app purchase. Personally, I think the price and the model are very player friendly as you get a lot of bang for your buck and also get to try the game out before deciding. More games should do this!

Do you like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater?

With all that Perfect Grind has to offer, your enjoyment of it hinges almost entirely on two key things: whether you still have an appetite for an extremely by-the-numbers Tony Hawk-like and if that appetite can be satisfied with a streamlined version of this on a small screen with touch controls.

I find Perfect Grind's controls slightly clunky but every time I boot it up I can't help but try to knock out a few challenges. This is to say it has a good and compelling structure. That said, I never really miss it when I close the app. It's a fine game, but outside of being playable on a phone it's not novel or otherwise particularly special.

The bottom line

It's hard to think of any other mobile games that really do the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater thing as well or as reliably as Perfect Grind. So, if that's something you want, it's here! Have at it! It very much is basically a 20 year old game repackaged for phones, for better or for worse.

Source link:https://www.148apps.com/reviews/perfect-grind-review/

Finding Paradise is the second episode in the To the Moon series, which probably means something to anyone who has played To the Moon. I haven't, but the app description for Finding Paradise accurately notes that this game does not require previous knowledge of other games in the series. This experience ends up being a touching exploration of inner life presented through a very light pixel art style and some sci-fi shennanigans.

Choose your own deathwish

The story of Finding Paradise revolves around two doctors who work for a company that has developed a technology they use to hop into the subconscious of people on their deathbeds. Their mission is to reconstruct a new life for those at death's door so that their parting memory fulfills any wishes, dreams, or desires of the person before passing on.

For this particular game, everything focuses on one particular client named Colin who isn't particularly forthcoming about his dying wishes and has a family who is pretty unhappy about his decision to work with this company. Regardless for the doctors, the job is the job, and you as the player alternate between controlling both members of this dynamic duo to solve light puzzles that break up what is otherwise a text-based dialogue-heavy game.

Mind games

A large portion of Finding Paradise is a slice of life story about the person Colin came to be, but the wrinkles introduced by playing as interlopers trying to “fix” his life before he dies creates layers of mystery, twists, and turns that keep it genuinely intriguing. For most of the game, the doctors act as stand-in for the player that you pilot around scenes to piece together their significance.

At the end of any particular scene, you are supposed to have gathered memory “orbs” that you then insert into some object of significance that kicks off a simple matching puzzle you complete before being whisked away to the next memory related to the object you interacted with. This creates a structure where you are hopping between large gaps of time in Colin's life. The space between these scenes also creates some suspense and mystery, but as you play the game you fill in the blanks to eventually learn why Colin was so insistent-yet-cagey about getting this procedure done.

Pesky playfulness

The primary draw of Finding Paradise is almost entirely its story. The game doesn't ask a whole lot of you in terms of problem solving or navigating, which is probably for the best as controlling characters doesn't feel great so you don't want to be in control for longer than you have to before making it to the next round of dialog.

That said, Finding Paradise doesn't really do many favors to help making control it easier. Almost every object interaction feels like it has two or three extra steps to it than necessary, which can get annoying at times. Similarly, Finding Paradise's dialog can be a bit loquacious through its constant insertion of jokes and bits between lines that actually drive the action forward. I'd be ok with these if they were a little fewer and further between, but it feels like every sequence has at least 2-3 moments where the game is giving you a wink and a nudge and it feels too forced. Without any of those moments, Finding Paradise establishes a charm of its own, and every time it tries to add to it with little gags it's a bit distracting.

The bottom line

I found myself genuinely moved by the story in Finding Paradise. Making my way toward the end wasn't particularly challenging (which is good), but it sometimes did feel like things were drawn out unnecessarily (which is… less good). Still, if you are looking for a narrative-forward experience on mobile with an intriguing sci-fi premise this game is probably among the best picks you could make.

Source link:https://www.148apps.com/reviews/finding-paradise-review/