I'm not gonna beat around the bush here: I've cried laughing more times than I can count playing this. I already loved Quiplash 2 Internashional simply because it finally gave an opportunity to play a jackbox game with an excellent Spanish localization with my buddies, and this is just more of that plus two ''new'' games, and oh boy I adore this. Granted, the price is a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit inflated, with this three-game package being similar in price to full blown Jackbox Party Packs, tho I can excuse that a bit with how cheap it does get in sales and how excellent the translation is. Still, probably the biggest drawback of this compilation, 'cuase otherwise it's pretty excellent for what it is: a small collection of little games for a group of people to play and have a laugh at, and oh boy does it succeed.
So, I think it's fair that I talked about the games included individually, not only because they are all pretty different in their approach, but also because I really believe some are better than others, so let's make a mini review for each of them, shall we?
Quiplash 3: It’s in those little moments where you and a friend give the same answer for a prompt where you realize you all share just a single neuron….
This may sound a little silly to say considering how positive I was about all this at the start but… I think I might actually prefer Quiplash 2 to this one? In that one the final round had much more variety and could be three completely things, here, while it’s not a big departure from what you do in rounds 1 and 2, it doesn’t quite reach the levels of le funny that completing comics in Quiplash 2 did. Still… I mean… it’s still fucking Quiplash, it’s still a riot to play and I’d say that I actually prefer some of the prompts here that in the previous versions, since they tend to lean to the more absurd aspect that results in even more absurd answers, and I love that. Even if they named the presentator Schmitty instead of the actual superior name that is Gutierrez, at the end of the day, peak is still peak, I love that motherfucker.
4/5
Tee K.O.: There’s no worse feeling that losing to a shirt with your own drawing AND phrase, at that point it’s just mean…
Tee K.O. is… fine, and it’s a shame I have to say that when it can get so coo coo crazy. Making multiple drawings and phrases and then combining them to create shirts and competing against one another is an incredibly inspired and fun idea, and it is fun, but sadly, it does have a couple of drawbacks that the others just don’t have. It’s the game that suffers the most by being played in smaller groups; the other games in the pack are a blast even with the minimum amount of people, but Tee K.O was clearly designed for voice calls with a ton of people, and even then, that doesn’t change the fact hat it’s so damn long to get to the point, and that’s probably the least involved of the games. Again, not bad at all, but it’s the game I come back to the least, specially when the two other options are right there.
3/5
Murder Party 2: They did it, I don’t know how but they sure did it, they made a simpler Mario Party that’s somehow more intense.
Really now, reducing Murder Party 2 to calling it a ‘’Mario Party’’ is a gross misinterpretation, because holy hell, is this game fantastic on its own merits. Combining a trivia game with a horror setting and introducing minigames and the alive and dead mechanic makes it some of the most fun multiplayer game I’ve tried in a very long while, and also probably one of the most original. The presentation, the trivia and minigames themselves, the finale… this is my favorite Jackbox game I’ve played so far by a long shot, it perfectly nails what it wants to be and, even if it’s a departure from the other games focused on absurdism, it’s still funny as hell and the tension makes it the most interesting to go back to.
A god-like way to end the collection, an outstanding multiplayer experience in almost every way.
4.5/5
So, I think it's fair that I talked about the games included individually, not only because they are all pretty different in their approach, but also because I really believe some are better than others, so let's make a mini review for each of them, shall we?
Quiplash 3: It’s in those little moments where you and a friend give the same answer for a prompt where you realize you all share just a single neuron….
This may sound a little silly to say considering how positive I was about all this at the start but… I think I might actually prefer Quiplash 2 to this one? In that one the final round had much more variety and could be three completely things, here, while it’s not a big departure from what you do in rounds 1 and 2, it doesn’t quite reach the levels of le funny that completing comics in Quiplash 2 did. Still… I mean… it’s still fucking Quiplash, it’s still a riot to play and I’d say that I actually prefer some of the prompts here that in the previous versions, since they tend to lean to the more absurd aspect that results in even more absurd answers, and I love that. Even if they named the presentator Schmitty instead of the actual superior name that is Gutierrez, at the end of the day, peak is still peak, I love that motherfucker.
4/5
Tee K.O.: There’s no worse feeling that losing to a shirt with your own drawing AND phrase, at that point it’s just mean…
Tee K.O. is… fine, and it’s a shame I have to say that when it can get so coo coo crazy. Making multiple drawings and phrases and then combining them to create shirts and competing against one another is an incredibly inspired and fun idea, and it is fun, but sadly, it does have a couple of drawbacks that the others just don’t have. It’s the game that suffers the most by being played in smaller groups; the other games in the pack are a blast even with the minimum amount of people, but Tee K.O was clearly designed for voice calls with a ton of people, and even then, that doesn’t change the fact hat it’s so damn long to get to the point, and that’s probably the least involved of the games. Again, not bad at all, but it’s the game I come back to the least, specially when the two other options are right there.
3/5
Murder Party 2: They did it, I don’t know how but they sure did it, they made a simpler Mario Party that’s somehow more intense.
Really now, reducing Murder Party 2 to calling it a ‘’Mario Party’’ is a gross misinterpretation, because holy hell, is this game fantastic on its own merits. Combining a trivia game with a horror setting and introducing minigames and the alive and dead mechanic makes it some of the most fun multiplayer game I’ve tried in a very long while, and also probably one of the most original. The presentation, the trivia and minigames themselves, the finale… this is my favorite Jackbox game I’ve played so far by a long shot, it perfectly nails what it wants to be and, even if it’s a departure from the other games focused on absurdism, it’s still funny as hell and the tension makes it the most interesting to go back to.
A god-like way to end the collection, an outstanding multiplayer experience in almost every way.
4.5/5