This title's gorgeous visuals, great sense of humor, and creative crafting make it much easier to overlook the areas in which it falls short. The game weaves a delightful tale full of feline-centric magical realism that's truly delightful, and it's possibly one of the best releases for cat lovers since Stray. Despite its flaws, Mineko's Night Market is perfect for any player looking for a creative and relaxing world to get lost in.
At its core, Rune Factory 3 Special maintains the elements of the original fans know and love, but doesn't do a lot to innovate beyond its graphics.
Depending on the path players take and if they utilize the scene-skipping function, a run through of The Isle Tide Hotel will generally last about one and a half to two hours. The many ideas introduced in the game could've been explored more with a longer run time, but it's fairly satisfying to go back through multiple times to discover new endings and not have it take a huge amount of time. While it's not quite as creepy or deep as it intends to be, The Isle Tide Hotel offers an inspired environment to explore and engaging acting that make the title mostly worthwhile for the price.
Fae Farm is a game that's easy to sink many hours into, and with post-launch content already planned, it's exciting to think about what the future holds for the already expansive title.
One playthrough of Stray Gods takes about five hours, but one of the most impressive things about the game is its immense replayability. Different dialogue choices coupled with the huge amount of musical permutations mean that no two runs are the same, and it's hard to resist going back for more even after the mystery is solved. The title certainly isn't for everyone - those who completely abhor anything even adjacent to musical theater are certainly not the target audience. However, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical presents an engaging story and song mechanics that feel beautifully personal, making it worth looking into even for players who don't consider themselves musical lovers.
This latest Sims 4 DLC delivers exactly what it claims to and little more. Were this a Game Pack there would be nothing wrong with that, but with the steeper price tag of an Expansion Pack the areas that barely scratch the surface of what they could be or remain unexplored entirely are more glaring. That being said, Chestnut Ridge is beautiful and several elements of the EP are legitimately fun despite these flaws, and players who have long been clamoring for horses in the game will certainly want to pick up The Sims 4 Horse Ranch - it just may be worth waiting for a sale.
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life manages to toe the line between the core features that made the original great while adding and improving upon aspects that needed a little love. If all the systems had been completely modernized, it wouldn't maintain the charm that made the game so beloved in the first place. The differences between Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life and most other modern farming games will likely be somewhat jarring and divisive among players, but it's a unique journey unlike any other, and one worth going on for veterans of the genre especially.
Centering around simple minigames and slice-of-life stories, Fall of Porcupine isn't an incredibly complex title at its core, but it still manages to feel meaningful. This year is full of games billed as cozy and wholesome, but this one manages to set itself apart through an interesting healthcare focus, quaint aesthetics, and impactful characters. Although it's not perfect, Fall of Porcupine is a great option for players looking to have a unique and emotional journey that may very well make them shed a few tears.
At first, the balancing act of Do Not Feed The Monkeys 2099 can feel quite overwhelming. Health decays at a faster rate than in the original, much to player detriment, and managing to keep it at a viable level while also paying the Council, buying new cages, and viewing feeds at their active times is quite the challenge. However, similarly to games like Papers, Please, it's very doable to make incremental progress each run, and the payoff that comes from things like the title's both hilarious and thought-provoking dialogue and the payoff from either helping or hindering primates makes Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 a worthwhile experience.
Homestead Arcana's world is creative and the lore that unravels about the player's family history is interesting, particularly when it comes to Huck, who's voiced by the impeccable Yuri Lowenthal. It's clearly designed to be a slow-paced game, which in its own right isn't a bad thing, but some of the ways it goes about achieving this can feel frustrating. However, for those willing to sink the time in, Homestead Arcana could be a good fit for players looking to journey through a magical story alongside an adorable companion.
Just as with the original, Coffee Talk Episode 2 can be played through a second time to unearth new secrets and earn new achievements, offering a great deal of value for its small price tag. At its core, this title is more of an experience than a game, with small bursts of brewing peppered throughout a visual novel. Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly won't satisfy all styles of player, but it's perfect for those who enjoyed the original and any fan of cozy games looking for a rich new narrative.
At a $129.99 price point - or $149.99 for the Deluxe edition - Hot Wheels: Rift Rally may not be worth the investment for those without ample course space, particularly because making varied track layouts is a big component of keeping the game interesting long-term. However, the title's incredibly varied campaign and diverse environments pull a lot of weight in this regard as well, and the way it manages to transform a room is truly impressive. For any long-time fans of the toy brand or players looking for a new kind of racing experience, Hot Wheels: Rift Rally is a perfect fit.
Because so much of Growing Together centers around expanding existing in-game mechanics and interpersonal minutiae instead of entirely new experiences, it's easy for the EP to come off as shallow at first glance. This DLC will undoubtedly be divisive simply due to the many different ways fans of the franchise like to play. However, the boundless narrative potential and amount of new content and depth for all age ranges makes The Sims 4 Growing Together a perfect fit for family-oriented Simmers.
Depending on how long each puzzle takes players, Lucy Dreaming will run about eight to ten hours, and although the game's eventual conclusion falls a bit short, this time spent still mostly feels worthwhile. Despite this lackluster final plot beat and occasional elements of tedium, Lucy Dreaming overall comes off incredibly charming thanks to its fun pixel style, entertaining and fully-voiced characters, and creative puzzle mechanics. For any fan of the classic point-and-click adventure genre, Lucy Dreaming is much more of a dream than a nightmare.
As time goes on and Thomasina becomes haunted by strange dreams and flashbacks of her past alongside some disturbing encounters in Bewlay, the cosmic horror elements of Hob's Barrow slowly come to the forefront, leading to the game's harrowing conclusion. With a recent resurgence of the point-and-click genre, this game is a great example of how to do the style justice. Although it's occasionally stifled by less-than-stellar quests, the overall storytelling, acting, and general ambiance of The Excavation of Hob's Barrows make it well worth a player's time.
Dwarven Skykeep prides itself on being incredibly hard to master, which is either a pro or con depending on the player. The game only has two difficulty levels, the lowest of which is Hard, and levels are meant to largely require multiple tries prior to victory. The game's boss battles are particularly challenging, which means they also provide a solid sense of satisfaction once beaten. Dwarven Skykeep is definitely best for RTS and tower defense fans, as it includes more of these elements in its moment-to-moment gameplay than it does deckbuilding, and certainly isn't for those who prefer the ability to adjust a game's challenge. While Dwarven Skykeep doesn't deeply reinvent any of the genres it borrows from, the way it combines them is very worthwhile, and alongside a silly and entertaining - albeit simple - storyline, Dwarven Skykeep comes off quite well-rounded and enjoyable.
Wobbledogs isn't perfect, and players looking for an incredibly involved pet simulator or a sandbox game with satisfying crafting loops will likely be disappointed. However, for those who don't mind a more idle playstyle, Wobbledogs offers a strange, charming experience, albeit a fairly simple one both in terms of its graphics and gameplay. The game's gut flora and breeding mechanics are fun to experiment with, whether players are setting out to simply make the cutest pup or test the game's laws of nature. While the game might not scratch the itch of a player looking for an involved pet simulator, Wobbledogs is a great source of silly, open-ended, sandbox fun.
Harvestella is a game full of immersive environments, beautiful music, and an engaging and meaningful narrative for both its world and main characters, which is enough to redeem the game's more mediocre elements. There are several areas of Harvestella, like it farming, animations, and social simulation elements that would have greatly benefited from more depth and care put into them, but despite these flaws the game manages to be incredibly addictive. It's easier to notice these issues when comparing Harvestella to games like Rune Factory, but standing on its own Harvestella is a fairly strong title that's worth players' time. It may not be perfect, but it's very easy for players to fall into a "just one more day" loop in Harvestella nonetheless as they uncover the mysteries of its universe.
Though Rusty Lake: The Past Within has many of the same themes of a horror video game, it's not an outright scary title. Its cartoony graphics make sure that nothing ever gets too disturbing, and some moments meant to be spooky actually look quite silly, but the game's soundtrack does a good job of setting a generally eerie tone throughout. The Past Within is quite short, with its two chapters clocking in at about two hours total, although there is some replayability to be had via the ability to choose between "Butterfly" or "Bee" mode, which changes the answers to the puzzles. Overall, at the price of only a few dollars, Rusty Lake: The Past Within will likely be a worthwhile enough experience for long-time fans of the series, but players not familiar with the story or those seeking a challenge should look elsewhere.
While players shouldn't go into Monorail Stories expecting a Telltale Games-level of branching storylines, it's a simple and charming title that despite its elements of conflict is an overall relaxing player experience. The replay aspect of the game ensures nothing ever feels too high stakes - if players make a mistake, they can simply readjust their approach the next time around. While the repeated playthrough element may not be for everyone, it's an interesting concept that's easy for players to jump into for short play sessions. Although sometimes repetitive, Monorail Stories tells a mostly engaging and charming story that seems to have a bright future ahead of it.