Stay Out of the House very easily could have become overbearing to the point of headache-inducing. Fear and tension can only maintain a high for so long until the feeling becomes tiresome. Stay Out of the House masterfully balances the horror and game mechanics into a beautifully cohesive nightmare… just don’t try to pet the other dog.
Frictional Games have finally abandoned their “walking-sim” style horror games with Amnesia: The Bunker. The experience is unrelenting white-knuckle terror where the player’s actions and choices are critical. Fans of Alien: Isolation and classic horror will get a lot of enjoyment from this.
Miasma Chronicles is a novel take on tactical turn-based gameplay. Some ideas are not fully realized to their fullest; like the ambushes or the adventure mode. The core gameplay is one of the better examples of its genre. It manages to impress thanks to its incredible visuals and likable cast of offbeat characters and strange world.
If the team behind The Lord of the Rings: Gollum manages to get it in an acceptable state, the foundation of this game is still hopelessly rotten at its core. No amount of polish can undo the miscalculated story and game design. Daedalic would effectively have to restart the entire development process and start over to salvage it.
Bleak Sword DX falls short of greatness due to its questionable adherence to minimalism. It comes close to being interesting, but the lack of variety keeps it boring. Bleak Sword DX‘s strengths are its low barrier to entry and how it pushes the player forward with its casual design.
Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust is a hallow addition to an already average product. It was made cheaply since anything impressive in the game is due to the powerful game engine. Nobody will be offended by it, but it also leaves no impression at all.
If you liked Breath of the Wild, then you will be pleased that Tears of the Kingdom is more of it, but refined and with more impressive physics and systems to mess around with. Breath of the Wild was missing something and that something was Ultrahand. It has a transformative effect on how players look at the world and how they can improvise solutions by tapping into their inner engineer.
Action game fans will be left bored by the combat, but kids who are getting used to 3D action games will find Strayed Lights worth a play. The emotive ambiance and the low-stakes gameplay make the experience intriguing for younger gamers who would normally be confused by exposition or extended scenes of dialogue or text. The disappointingly short playtime is a bummer, but that means it will hold the attention of kids.
The appeal of Cyber Citizen Shockman is its nostalgia factor. The sights and sounds will take you back to the days of New Coke, Ronald Regan, and gaming on a hardwood floor with your friends that you long since lost touch with. When it comes to an end, older gamers might find themselves feeling wistful for the days they were young and full of potential.
This is not a game that comes recommended for the faint of heart or for anyone who desires a polished or thoughtfully designed JRPG. At the very least, Mugen Souls is interesting and has a lot of weird ideas that are worth experiencing. The ramshackle build of the game is almost impressive that it is a product from an established industry developer.
Labyrinth of Zangetsu is a profoundly stressful, but admittedly exciting experience. This is a very hardcore RPG that throws you into the deep end. Merely making it out alive feels like an accomplishment and you will feel the sting of loss when your favorite unit dies, over and over.
Smile For Me is an amusing but very short adventure game with some clever puzzles. The art style helps it stand out and the out-of-nowhere horror elements are a welcome twist. The queer stuff is out of place and makes the game seem like it’s more aimed at socially conscious manchildren instead of actual children.
The new graphics in Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp do not honor the original vision of the GBA game. At the very least, the gameplay is still solid. The amount of content is substantial- lasting over 40 hours. If you already have the original GBA games and the hardware to play them, then it is hard to recommend this version. If you don’t, then Re-Boot Camp is still worth it if you want a great strategy game.
An inquisitive player who explores and tries some of the optional objectives will find that Teslagrad 2 is excellently paced. It rarely has a dull moment and is an artistic achievement with striking visuals that stay with you and challenges that push your reflexes.
In short single sessions, God of Rock can be enjoyable. The problem is that it expects players to devout a lot of time to complete 10 rounds in the arcade mode. Even when hopped up on a ton of nose candy, that is a tall order for any rock star.
New additions are the various difficulty modes. ANNO: Mutationem could be a pretty spicy action game at times, so less skilled players can enjoy a more casual experience with the new easy mode. The “Hell” mode lives up to its name and returning players will find Ann will have no hope of success. Not the best mode to play on Switch, due to the increased load times.
The Crown of Wu has a lot of problems and most of it is due to the complexity of the concept that a small team was unable to realize. Some aspects would have been more effective if they were simplified, like the combat and magic systems. The platforming is hopelessly underdeveloped and the character design needs a drastic overhaul to be more appealing.
Mato: Anomalies is a very flawed RPG that tried. It had big ideas in its story but god bless anyone who is fat-brained enough to understand it. The gameplay has small sparks of creativity, but it is lost under the woefully low-budget presentation.
When Clive ‘N’ Wrench works, it is possible to get a glimpse of something that is a very close approximation of a quality fifth gen 3D platformer. In its current state, Clive ‘N’ Wrench is rough around the edges and requires patience to contend with its less refined qualities. With more finesse and more time in the oven, this could be a cult classic.
Cannon Dancer – Osman is from the arcade game age. A time when games weren’t designed to be fair but came with glitzy and alluring visuals to get the attention of a passerby. It is honest about what you get; a flashy action platformer with a ton of personality and lurid visuals with an unclear meaning. The game is as brilliant and bright as a slot machine and is just as fair.