Dorfromantik is a largely relaxing building puzzle game. There are various factors that reinforce the puzzle focus, such as points for matching edges and various tasks for new stack cards.
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Birdigo is an entertaining word-building roguelike, though its nature means it does present a few linguistic hurdles. It’s fun to piece together words from a collection of letters whilst keeping an eye out for whether another word might be worth more points. For me, the later levels in particular are a bit too difficult, because whilst the modifiers can be very powerful, sometimes they just don’t make up for everything.
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The digital campfire in Chillin’ by the Fire is a well-designed simulator. There are lots of little tricks that affect the fire. However, the increase in difficulty in the final area is significantly greater than between the previous areas.
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Catto’s Post Office is a short delivery adventure. An hour is more than enough to finish the game at a leisurely pace. The story is predictable but cute, just like the various cats. There’s no real challenge to speak of, apart from a bit of fiddling about with objects in the environment – though this is mainly down to the controls. Furthermore, the options for interaction are very limited. Catto’s Post Office is fine as a little game to play in your spare time, but it doesn’t offer much more than that.
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Dear me, I was… is a lightly interactive life story that truly shines through its distinctive art style. While the narrative itself isn't particularly extraordinary, the visuals and music are employed with remarkable effectiveness.
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Cave Crave is a solid VR caving simulator. The story is rather functional and, unfortunately, still feels a bit unfinished at this stage, but otherwise it provides a nice backdrop. The crawling mechanics work well for the most part, and the climbing hooks in particular feel substantial. However, there are a few minor bugs, and hand-tracking isn’t always reliable. Furthermore, the scope of the game is rather limited at present, and many of the crawling sections feel rather pointless.
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Despite everything, I played extensively and will continue to play. I had fun with Death Stranding 2, and still do. But in all that time by the beach, the sand seems to have smoothed out a few too many edges.
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April Grove builds its woodcutting loop quite effectively, with skill upgrades, increasingly difficult trees to fell, and a gradually expanding movement range. However, the integrated idle mechanics make the grind feel somewhat excessive, as the game does not automate progression enough for its cutting requirements, while at the same time the automatic woodcutting is too slow to fully satisfy active play. In addition, side characters and the surrounding world lose much of their significance over time, fading into the background. As much as I enjoy chopping and collecting wood, the slow progression makes this woodcutting simulation unsuitable for everyone.
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The fact that I personally felt rather emotionally distanced is a shame, but I don’t hold that against the title. What is actually more problematic are the obstacles present in each subsequent playthrough after the first. Repeated sections can usually only be fast-forwarded slowly rather than skipped entirely. With a single ending, this would not be much of an issue, but with a total of four character routes, large portions of the playtime end up consisting of repetition. This is especially unfortunate because the individual routes can be quite compelling, yet overlapping events significantly lose their impact. In a sense, it makes it difficult to find a way forward.
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Copycat is a compelling story about the search for a home. Whilst Dawn reflects very human emotions, her feline nature is not overlooked either. Technically, however, the game isn’t quite flawless. Given the harrowing moments, I’d recommend playing it with care; if you do, Dawn will reward you with a deeply emotional journey.
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Dagger Froggy is a cute little survival roguelike, but it didn’t manage to hold my interest for long enough. Whilst the time limit is supposed to be long enough to make survival actually feel like a struggle, the gameplay didn’t keep me engaged for even ten minutes at a stretch.
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The otome visual novel Battlefield Waltz dances rather at the edge of the battlefield, yet largely masters the steps there. The routes are varied and fun to play, even if the pacing doesn't always work perfectly.
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Dynasty Warriors Origins implements the familiar combat system excellently and expands upon it with duels and a greater emphasis on deliberate parrying and evasion. The tale of the Three Kingdoms is realized in rich detail with many iconic battles. Ziluan as a protagonist remains understated, yet his muteness and missing memory are well-executed. The other characters, in turn, possess all the more depth.
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Cuisineer serves up an entertaining dish combining the ingredients of a dungeon crawler and a restaurant simulation. Both are simple enough to accommodate groups of players who aren’t very familiar with either aspect.
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Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake has the charm of a pixel RPG while playing fresh and modern. Exploration is fun at every moment, and thanks to quest markers and the memory feature, I never lose track. The remake is thus very well executed and offers just as much gaming fun for newcomers to the series as for Dragon Quest fans.
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Crypt Custodian is an entertaining Metroidvania with plenty of opportunities for exploration and a low-key but effective pathfinding system. The bullet-hell battles are challenging yet fun, and the dialogue is humorous. The gameplay flow is excellent.
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Cat’s Request is a largely unremarkable adventure game. The puzzles are mostly very simple and the pace is rather leisurely. It’s also very clear when I need to switch between the two characters. However, the few bugs in the game are highly disruptive. For this reason, I can only recommend Cat’s Request with some reservations. And if you do play it, it’s best to have several save files.
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Creatures of Ava is a colourful action-adventure game with exciting gameplay mechanics.
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Cattie is a short platformer featuring varied levels. The levels often have a good flow, which is only slightly disrupted by enemies. Anyone looking for a major challenge certainly won’t find it here. For everyone else, however, Cattie offers some entertaining gameplay.
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The Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition is a successful version of the cult classic. The varied gameplay is already good; the QoL features bring the game the final piece into modern times.
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