Replaced lived up to the expectations I had for it. It’s a compelling cinematic platformer most of the way through, boasting surprisingly effective Arkham-style combat, an incredible variety of locations and scenarios, and one of the most standout art styles the industry has seen in a hot minute. I have grievances about certain encounters, the controls can be clunky even when you get used to them, and the finale is a letdown compared to the quality of the package leading up to that point. But, I can nonetheless easily recommend it if it caught your eye in the past. Just know that it won’t make the best first impression, but as soon as you hit Chapter 3, it will rarely let its foot off the gas and send you on a journey you’ll likely remember more for its many strengths than for the notable areas where it stumbles. Sad Cat Studios delivered a great debut effort, and I can’t wait to see what they cook up in the future.
Resident Evil Requiem feels like the perfect capstone for everything Capcom has been working towards since 2017, and for one of the most impressive franchise reinventions the industry has ever seen. Its execution of action and horror is masterful, both in terms of how they deliver that to the player through its larger environments and its more linear set pieces. It’s a step up in terms of character performances and storytelling, pulling off emotional moments in a way no previous Resident Evil has accomplished before. All of this is wrapped into an incredibly well-paced journey with not a single bit of fat to trim, yet still leaves you wanting more. While I think its partial retreading of scenarios and increased linearity holds it back from being the very best the franchise has delivered thus far, it is the perfect game to mark 30 years of one of gaming’s most important franchises, celebrating everything that has come before it, and getting you amped up for everything that will come after.
Little Nightmares III is easy to like, and thus, it’s difficult to truly hate it. Simultaneously, it’s a very hard game to praise past a certain point. It nails the visuals and atmosphere, and the journey is solid all the way through, but it feels too familiar and safe in terms of the IP, horror more generally, and the genres of puzzle-platformer and co-op that the game exists within. It’s not what I’d call a ‘bastardisation’ of the IP by any means, but if this franchise is to continue to exist under Supermassive, then they need to push the boat out further next time, because I don’t think the IP can keep making entries like this and have people still be engaged.
While I enjoyed my time with Shadow Labyrinth, notably when beating the bosses and mazes, and uncovering the world’s most useful items, there is not much about it that has me yearning to return. For as much as there is to appreciate, there are an equal number of undesirable elements I know I’ll have to re-experience to get to the good bits again. This isn’t the type of game where you can cleanly skip past the bad, but even if it were, those parts nonetheless weigh the package down to create a deeply flawed experience, and there are certainly many other titles in the genre that have fewer rough edges you need to contend with. If you were also curious about this game’s crazy concept, then I still think it’s worth checking it out at some point, at a level of entry which works best for you. Whether you will roll credits is its own story entirely, but I believe you will find various sections to appreciate if you stick with it. But when I think back to watching the Secret Level episode and beginning to wonder what the video game version would be like, I was not able to picture what I imagined it would become. And while Shadow Labyrinth is certainly partway there, it is a notable distance removed from the potential of its initial idea, and I can’t help but feel disappointed that it didn’t fully meet those expectations.