Tom Bond
I've been contemplating the best way to word this part of my review, and I just have to think being blunt and forward is the best way to go. This game is mediocre. It's a nice first try at a game, and the story of it is pretty great, but everything else falls so short I'm forced to simply say unless you're a big fan of indie games and you don't care about quality, don't bother playing this game.
Infernium is certainly something else. It's not quite the Souls-like, Survival Horror Pac-man game the developer thinks it is, and it's certainly not something that's all that well put together. If you like running away from the same 2 enemy models with slightly different colors, don't mind the absolute lack of story beyond bad fan-fiction on random walls, and like dying to enemies around the corner, you'll love Infernium. Otherwise, it's best to stay away.
Submerged could have been interesting. It could have offered a nice challenge, a good setting, a good story, but it did none of these things. Submerged ended up being so samey and monotonous that it isn't really worth playing through when you realize the first half hour is what the entire game is.
Overall, Elex had a lot of promise, but it's amalgamation of settings and mechanics do nothing positive for the game. With an utter nonsense mix of weapons, enemies, and settings, Elex might have been a decent game...for 2007. Unfortunately, it seems like Piranha Bytes still hasn't learned from their various mistakes with Risen 3. As it is now, there's simply no reason to try it unless you're a diehard Piranha Bytes fan.
From a first glance, Shadwen should be pretty great. Everything seems to look good and gives the impression that this game is totally finished. Then you make it past the first area and you quickly realize that Frozenbyte hasn't learned anything from their Trine 3 experience. Shadwen could be a promising game. There's a lot of potential with time manipulation, and if they could fix the AI this might even be worth a playthrough. But as it presently stands, I can't recommend this game.
Overall, I cannot stress enough not to buy this game at $40 for the Wii U, unless you're ok with what is basically a portable game being packaged as a full console experience. If Nintendo re-releases this game for the 3DS for $20, go for it. If you see it in a bargain bin for $5, go for it. But whatever you do, don't spend more than that.
Overall, I can't recommend anyone paying $60 for this version of the game, it's not worth it. While some of QOL fixes are nice, and some of the new control schemes are good, overall I find it hard to recommend. If you like Zelda, you probably already bought this, and I hope you have fun with it, but if you haven't played Skyward Sword yet, this is probably the version to play...so long as you spend $30 or less.
Overall, Chronos: Before the Ashes is okay. As a Souls-like, it sort of misses on a lot of the mechanics that make Souls-like games good, the combat is meh, the story is just ok, the environments aren't that amazing, and the aging mechanic is disappointingly underused. If you're enamoured by the story of Remnant: From the Ashes and want to learn how things ended up that way, give this game a playthrough. But if you're not really that interested, it's probably best to just be forgotten.
Overall, Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX is ok. If you're a fan of the series, or if you just want a game you can play in the background while doing something else, it may be a good choice for you. With plenty of monsters to generate and decent QoL improvements, you'll certainly get your money's worth at only $29.99. But if you're expecting an in-depth monster breeding simulator with lots to do...well, it'd be best to look elsewhere.
If you're a fan of action RPGs that are Souls-like, I'd probably suggest giving Mortal Shell at least one playthrough, or at least maybe waiting for a comprehensive map to be created by the community. With fun boss fights and good combat, Mortal Shell is one of the better Souls-like games around that's simply plagued by a lot of bad design choices.
Overall, the YS Seven PC port is an ok one. If you've never played a YS game in your life or if you've simply never owned a PSP, this port may be the thing for you. But if you've already been through YS Seven before, there's not much content here that warrants an additional purchase.
Overall, Has Been Heroes is...ok. If the RNG was fixed up a bit and the difficulty curve was altered so you're gradually introduced to the game, it would be a pretty good rogue-like. As it is now, it's simply too frustrated and luck-based to be up there with other great rogue-likes like Rogue Legacy or Darkest Dungeon.
The Fall makes you want more. That much is clear. I want to see what happens with A.R.I.D, I want to see how the ending of The Fall continues on in it's sequels. But I don't want to play those puzzles, nor anything like it again. I'm not happy with how short the game is, nor with the way it's split into separate games. The Fall should, in my opinion, be avoided until all three of the games are out there.
Overall, Maid of Sker is a fairly decent game that could just use a bit more polish and maybe some more varied gameplay mechanics. Is it worth a playthrough? Perhaps, if you like indie horror games. But regardless if you play or not, definitely check out the soundtrack elsewhere!
Close to the Sun starts out quite promising, but simmers out the longer you play. Despite its walking simulator gameplay and predictable story, however, I find I would still recommend Close to the Sun to anyone who likes adventure horror games. The well-written characters and excellent ambiance really stands out, which can make the game quite enjoyable regardless of its flaws.
Overall, I think QLOC dropped the ball here. I love Dark Souls, and Dark Souls 1 will always be my favorite of the all the games in the series, but there was simply no love put into this remaster. However, if you've never played the game, or if you've only ever played the console versions, then I would highly recommend picking up Dark Souls Remastered Edition, as it fixes a lot of issues that were present and unfix-able in the original console version of the game and still plays just as well now as it did in the past. But if you own the original Dark Souls 1 for PC, and you have no desire to PvP, don't even bother buying the remaster. Even with the $20 discount, it's not remotely worth the price tag when you consider you already get all these improvements (even if slightly buggy) for free.
Overall, RiME is ok. It's a rather simple game wrapped in a beautiful package, but that's about the most that I can really say about RiME. A more open world feel would've been a welcome addition, as well as some puzzles that actual involve a tad more thinking rather than "Oh just open this door by finding this thing and shouting at it".
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter isn't necessarily a bad game. Each individual case is written rather well, voice acting is about as good as you can expect, and some of those puzzles along the way work well enough to keep the game challenging, but fun. It still looks good and offers that "Holmes" feel, but unfortunately no game is perfect. Bad puzzles and poor performance can easily kill the pace of the game, and with only four and a bit cases you'll find the content as a whole a bit lacking for $50.
Final Fantasy XV is an ok game for the most part. My biggest complaints are with the lackluster story, the lack of that "Final Fantasy" feel thanks to the modernized world, and the occasional technical issues. Is it truly a Final Fantasy game for fans and first timers? I don't think so. All the changes they made to the standard Final Fantasy formula don't necessarily sit well with previous games. Would I still recommend FFXV? If you're a true JRPG fan looking for a change, absolutely.
All in all, Thymesia comes together to form an interesting combination of Sekiro and Bloodborne. You have the limited weapons, parry mechanics, and talent trees of Sekiro, and the movement speed, setting, and general gameplay feel of Bloodborne. Despite being only 6 hours long, I feel as if the $25 price-point makes Thymesia worth at least one playthrough if you’re itching for a new Bloodborne-like.