All in all, Inventory Manager: Future Technologies is just a lot of interesting ideas that don't amount to much. Perhaps as an idle or social game, it would work much better. As a so called "full" title, it just leaves a lot to be desired, almost like it's all the side dishes and none of the entree. It's easy to see there's clearly a game here waiting to bust out and scream "Play me", but this is merely the voice mail to that scream. It's almost like a large demo, and if fleshed out further, and the edges sanded clean, there might be more to recommend here. For now, it's just an idle numbers game, and it's not much fun to experience.
Collide-a-Ball is mentally exciting, and a rare puzzle gem. It actually convinces the player they may have willed the puzzle solved, just by letting them experiment with the various options they have in front of them. Unfortunately, it's a cracked facade under cheap graphics and formulaic puzzles. Perhaps with a little shine and some added depth, there'd be something a bit more engaging here.
While it's nice to see how far Suda 51 has come, only diehard adventure and Suda 51 fans will be able to appreciate this. The Silver Case hasn't aged well, and feels both clunky and underwhelming. This feels like a first attempt, and compared to many others, it's a novel one. Still, it's hard to appreciate the beauty of a mirror under all the dust, and The Silver Case is definitely a dusty one.
Xenoraid is just not very much fun. It has some interesting ideas, and some that are just confusing, but for the most part it's the same space shooter that has been seen time and time again. It's like the Expert mode of an old shooter, where things have been tweaked, but it largely feels like the exact same game. While the upgrade system and loadouts are pretty interesting, they feel like an exciting game leading into something much less appealing.
It's obvious there's something here in Unbox people may find entertaining. Even with the clunky controls, there's little nuggets of fun to be found in this throwback to 90s platforming wonders. It's just clear that it also brings a lot of the frustrations of that era with it. It's a bit late in the gaming industry to still be figuring out 3D controls, but if you can look past it, there is enjoyment to be had here, after all.
Unholy Heights is a perfectly fine tower defense and management title, but it never manages to feel like an accomplishment. Instead, it feels like an experience the player participates in, like the game itself is garnering a lot of the glory due to being about setting things up and waiting. While it's nice to watch the slum hovel turn into a real swanky complex, and the battle system is just deep enough to feel manageable, the experience just feels a bit too out of control to be truly engaging.
Kumoon would make an excellent training program for better physics in gaming. Everything else seems bland and uninspired, and leaves the game a collection of objectives that are somewhat fun to complete, but not for too long. Kumoon: Ballistic Physics Puzzle is simply a long exercise in tedium. Even if the puzzles were more varied, it may not make up for how boring the rest of the experience is.
Retro aesthetics are starting to aim for the 90s, and Shutter brings that beautiful, low-res polygonal structure to the forefront. The problem is that it doesn't feel like a full experience. With annoying and clunky controls, a handful of subpar jump scares, and little to actually do, this is more of a trailer for missed opportunities than a fully realized game. The concept of taking photos of creepy areas could have been more, but Shutter seems content just letting the whole thing be.
Rogue Stormers just isn't a package that can be easily recommended. The difficulty is largely unfair, including enemies who don't die when they should, and come at you in groups of 30 strong. While there's nothing wrong with the controls or artwork, there's nothing really noteworthy either. Rogue Stormers is a bland experience when it works, and a hair pulling experience when it doesn't.
The Technomancer is, after all, a video game. It had time, energy, heart and soul put into it. It never feels lazy, and it never feels like a cash grab. It just never manages to feel inspired or fun. In fact, it manages to be frustrating more than it is fun. Perhaps you'll find a nugget of charm underneath all the tedium. Unfortunately, The Technomancer only really manages to feel bland, if not devoid of life all together.
Beautiful setpieces and a great atmosphere don't make up for the same old gameplay. While it doesn't need to reinvent the wheel, Layers of Fear should at least aim to do the same old thing as well as it can. It would seem that "as well as it can" is very much a "means justify the ends" approach, and the ends are stale mechanics done just well enough that they work.
Level 22: Gary's Misadventures is a lot of different extremes, if the good to bad spectrum is a tangible thing. With a controller, all of the movement issues are completed resolved. The art work is absolutely stunning, even for a retro-styled title, and the music is impressive, yet wears thin after a while. As it stands, Level 22 is almost a casual game trying to be more. While the stealth components are inventive, there's just not enough to save the whole experience from being too cumbersome to be enjoyable through the whole of the experience.
For all its crooked edges, Albert & Otto is still worth venturing into, if not for the great atmosphere alone. It is a rewarding romp, as many difficult platformers are, but the lacklustre puzzles and cumbersome shooting, both of which are definitely a priority in this game, drag it away from greatness, and leave it grasping for any semblance of stability. Hopefully, further down the line, Albert & Otto will come into its own, but this is a rocky beginning for the episodic puzzle-platformer.
Ninja Pizza Girl is an unfortunate example of a game falling apart due to poor execution. It shouldn't be overlooked for platforming or runner fans, but it's not going to change your feelings on either genre. For all it does right, it manages to do twice as much wrong. If the controls were refined, alone, it would be one of the best runners available, but even then, there are too many rough edges to overlook.
The Deer God gets points for trying to mix things up in two genres that are growing increasingly stale. It's a balancing act that the game manages to maintain, but much like the tightrope walker who never falls but is always flailing, the illusion is definitely broken. Perhaps if the formula was tweaked to make the experience a bit more fair and to have a lot more going on, The Deer God would be the game it clearly set out to be.
For everything that Poncho is, it still remains stagnant. The interesting idea of an apocalyptic scenario not filled with zombies is met with great artwork. However, it soon gets humbled, and the gameplay that follows is somewhat painful to play. Understanding the mechanic of swapping between layers is simple enough, but understanding how the world works around it is arduous, and at the end of it all, leaves a bad taste in the gamer's mouth.
While it's hard to find anything overtly enjoyable in the experience, Expand never feels like a complete waste of time. It's a tough game to explain on many levels. It's more of a platformer than anything else, or perhaps a puzzle game. It's not horrible, and it's not amazing.
Gnog is a basic clicking game with a great universe and some simple puzzles on the side. For a kid, this would be immensely rewarding. For puzzle fans, this won't even begin to feel rewarding. Perhaps with deeper puzzles, Gnog would feel a bit more enticing. Currently, though, it's just a lot of bells and whistles with little reward for the player's precious time.
Gravity Ghost Deluxe Edition is an art piece that is enjoyable for what it is. Playing it is honestly the weakest part of the whole thing, though it does manage to be fun from time to time. The creative display on work here is a clear winner, even if not every idea feels like it works in the end product. As a whole, this isn't a must-play, but for fans of something a little different, it is a decent jaunt around the universe.
Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth is a great series, with an enjoyable first act, a profoundly good second, and a rather disappointing third. While it's still a good story, Book Three just doesn't know what to give time to. Stories that should have been wrapped up quicker get much more time, and moments that should have been given more weight are rushed. It doesn't tarnish the first two books all that much, but it is sad to see this story go out on such a low note. Still, the time spent with the series is definitely a treat and, overall, the entire series is one of the best adventure games to come out in some time.