There have been frustrating boss fights, sure, but that was my experience with Hollow Knight too, and it's a similar feeling here. Finally beating these tough-as-nails bosses gives you a great feeling of accomplishment (and relief), although they're probably not for everybody. It's definitely worth a shot if you enjoy Metroid, Hollow Knight, or the Souls series.
Turn the lights down and the sound up. Play this game on your TV, late at night. SIGNALIS is a wonderful, mind-bending experience and the passion of the developers can be seen in every pixel.
If the difficulty didn't go up every time I died or I could activate checkpoints without having to fight a clone afterwards, it might be a different story, but I don't appreciate being punished for doing inevitable things (dying, saving). Did you find Hollow Knight and Blasphemous too easy? If so, Moonscars may give you the challenge you crave. For the rest of us? It has limited utility.
For the Contra diehards among you, Spidersaurs is a great game. The difficulty can be brutal at times, but I'm sure I'll power through the higher tiers eventually.
I can't recommend Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition, at least not in its present form. There are too many annoyances, too many unexplained systems, and not nearly enough lighting. If you really must check this out, I suggest leaving a FAQ open on your phone.
*I re-read my review of WTD, and was surprised to see that I compared it to CAH. That's dumb and wrong; it's more like Quiplash. You vote on answers that people make up, you don't have a pre-set list of responses that you try to match up with a given prompt. I'm a moron.
It does, but my wife doesn't seem to mind.
But that's a relatively minor complaint since each stage is so short. I'm also willing to forgive because 13AM Games has built a charming kaiju brawler that, while paying homage to the giants (ha!) of the genre, feels wholly unique. There's a lot of game here, and there are a lot of places they can take this franchise. DOTM is a fun time, and one I've greatly enjoyed.
I desperately want Undying Moon to be a linear, level-based adventure where I can see all the levels and fight all the bosses without enduring the tedious rigmarole that roguelites require. Keep the randomized level layouts! Keep the randomized paths and boss encounters if you have to, but just let me play your beautiful game without all these roadblocks. Eventually, I just got sick of Undying Moon. It was more frustrating than compelling, in part because it does so much right, but its wings are clipped right out the gate by its grind-heavy, roguelite trappings. There are better roguelites out there (Binding of Isaac and Dead Cells, for example), but I'm sorry to say none of them look nearly as amazing as Undying Moon.
And then, and this is truly the best part of RCGZ, you unlock the ability to play the Intro, Outro, and End Credit sequences from the main menu. You can also flip through scanned pages of the original game's Japanese instruction booklet if that's your bag. I haven't played too many games where the bread is the best part of the sandwich, but here we are.
Of course, grinding and questing usually means leaving and returning to the Inn, which also requires paying rent all the damn time. There’s a storyline, but since all of your characters are mute character portraits, all the dialogue and interactions come from the Inn’s colorful cast, most of whom I didn’t care for. I just don’t see the appeal of DGE. In the very crowded marketplace of JRPGs, there are way better choices out there.
It does have a multiplayer option and online leaderboards for each stage, so if competitive speed running is your thing, Aeon Drive delivers. For me, it's an interesting curio that I'm glad I played, but won't be returning to often.
I feel like I say this with a lot of games, but I really enjoyed Steel Assault until I didn't anymore. Up to that point, it was really fun, and I have to commend Zenovia Interactive on their effective graphical filters, which are a big part of the appeal.
So while the bells and whistles aren't necessarily anything to write home about, the GBA games at the core of this Castlevania Advance Collection are easily worth the price of admission. I remain flummoxed and annoyed that Konami is holding Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night hostage for the time being, but hopefully that will be resolved someday.
More often than not, though, it feels like work. Tedious, exhausting work. And 38-year-old Zach doesn't have the patience for that anymore.
Axiom Verge 2 is a fantastic evolution of Axiom Verge 1-it feels like a different game, but with enough gameplay and story connections to remain familiar. My issues with the protagonist and wayfinding pale in comparison to the addictive exploration and beautiful vistas that Axiom Verge 2 revels in, and I can't wait to speculate wildly about the storyline.
Doki Doki Literature Club doesn't disappoint as an off-kilter visual novel. If you, like me, tend to avoid this genre, you might consider DDLC as an exception to the rule if you can handle some disturbing content.
Everything about the production, from the pixel art and color selection to the catchy chiptunes, will make you think you're playing a lost Game Boy game. Christophe Galati really knocked it out of the park. I just wish the gameplay was a little more interesting! Despite my misgivings, I really do enjoy Save Me Mr. Tako, and if you're nostalgic for the golden age of handheld gaming, this game absolutely delivers in spades.
The original Shantae is a lovely little game that too few people were able to experience, so I'm thrilled that it's available for mass consumption on the eShop. Franchise fans should, of course, jump on this as soon as humanly possible, but folks curious about the series or who just want some GBC nostalgia will enjoy it too.
What the Dub is a great little party game in the tradition of the Jackbox series, and it will definitely see a lot of play at my house thanks to my own predilections.