It is never a fun thing to play a game like Dystoria as it has many interesting and clever features and serves as a great history lesson in gaming, but, at the same time, it all falls flat due to the poor execution of said mechanics. To have a game focusing on driving on all sides of the objects, it is important to focus on making that enjoyable some way or another. In Dystoria, it simply isn't, as everything looks the same in a way that makes it extremely difficult to navigate, making it a frustrating feature instead of a game-defining one. Currently, it feels more like an early beta game with potential than a finished product.
forma.8 focuses on exploration - the very core of what makes a Metroidvania great. It included some very clever design choices that ensure that someone who enjoys looking for secrets and figuring out tricky boss fights will never be bored for the duration of this game, and it also does a wonderful job avoiding some of the most common pitfalls of the genre, making this a must buy for its fans.
Bit Dungeon+ is a dungeon crawler playing on nostalgia to a fault. It has completely neglected the modern touches to the genre that gave birth to its renaissance. Each run feels painfully similar, and towards the end it is possible to run several levels without receiving any upgrades at all. Thankfully, it has multiplayer, which can be entertaining in the right company. That is not enough to make it more than just another dungeon crawler, though.
World End Economica Episode.03 is much like a rollercoaster to the moon. The time to get up there is ridiculously long, and it would not be surprising if some passengers fell asleep halfway through on their way up, but once at the top, it gains high speed and never slows down until the bitter end. It is powerful and impactful, and tackles heavy subjects wonderfully. It is the perfect conclusion to the trilogy for those who have read it this far, but is not going to convince those who did not like the previous instalments…
In many ways, Plantera is an interesting idea. How about creating a more active clicker? It is the kind of game that has to be made to find the true appeal of something, and as such, it has a lot of value for the company, and maybe even the entire industry, to see what to avoid. The problem is, however, that it got released. This is a game that, during play test, should have got turned down and got reworked until it became a far more appealing package for its customer base. The lesson to be learned is to not sell unripe fruit.
Adventure Pop is no doubt one of the strongest entries in its genre, but it is very much held back by being released on a system where it has few fans. While the already convinced will love it, it will be difficult to make those sceptical towards the genre start playing it, as it at first glance looks like a copy of every other bubble shooter game. Those who do play it, though, will be met by one of the most cleverly designed games in the genre, with plenty of wonderful and creative mechanics that are made to make sense thanks to the story.
Aenigma Os stands out as a really clever take on the modern puzzle genre. It offers great brain training and entertaining game modes that really change how players have to plan their moves. The biggest problems are that it is very similar to many other games and that it is on a home console. While the gameplay is enjoyable, it is one of those games that is best enjoyed in short bursts of between five to twenty minutes while traveling or waiting for something, and that isn't very home console friendly at all.
While extremely confusing at times, Virginia manages to keep players glued to their screens thanks to the wonderful scenery and camera work, mixed with a wonderful story that is to some degree up to those at the helm to interpret. While to some it might be rather annoying to be trapped in silence, never getting a true grasp of what is happening, the pay-off of this style of storytelling allows the adventure to make up for that. Few games manage to capture the mood as well as this one, and some of the surrealistic segments are truly disturbing, making people question the line between reality and imagination, and even whether or not there is actually one to begin with. Virginia is a game that is easy to recommend to anyone who wants to experience something that is truly outside of the ordinary in the industry and truly flexes its creative muscles.
At a first glance Omega Zodiac seems like it could be good, but after a while, it's becomes obvious that the only things where the developers did not try to get away with as little as they possible could were the boob sizes of the female characters, as well as the number of p2w options for players to get lost in. The fact that this plays itself by auto-attacking the targets and moving to the objectives, makes it easy to imagines its creators reading through MMO forums, before taking the "BabyRage" comments about the genre difficulties seriously and removing all obstacles.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII is a great and deeply strategic game, where the sword is not the only tool towards victory. Great importance is put on things such as economy and relationships in a way that might feel overwhelming at first, but that is slowly eased into thanks to the hero mode that basically serves as a tutorial. The lack of multiplayer is a downside, but the AI is enough to raise the replay value of the main mode.
Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet catches the feel and tempo of the titles in the Touhou franchise, but it still contains enough to make this experience different from the main titles. The biggest weakness is that it has a poor single-player experience due to how easy it is, but it shines as a multiplayer game, and it is certainly a title that fans of the franchise can pick up and play with their friends or online.
The new skin it is given in this modern recreation is sure to enhance the experience, though, so if you're looking to relive this classic adventure, this is maybe the best version of it out today. Just be warned that it has aged mechanics that might affect the experience negatively if unprepared.
While Table Top Racing: World Tour is a wonderfully designed racer, the lack of local multiplayer does hold it back from reaching its full potential as a party game - most of the fun of the genre is removed when there is no way to see or hear the reactions of the opponents when they fall into the malicious trap laid out for them. The campaign will at least last for a while, however, giving it some hours of fun and plenty of value - and who doesn't enjoy the charm of toy cars driving around in a sushi restaurant?
Barbie and her Sisters: Puppy Rescue would have done well as a Facebook game or smartphone app. However, as a console title, it suffers from downtime and repetition. For people who intend to play this as a five-minutes-at-a-time game, it will be a blast, but very few people play on consoles like that, making it difficult to recommend even to long-time fans of the Barbie brand.
Robot Arena III offers a lot of fun for enthusiasts of robot wars. Some clean-up with the physics engine is needed, though, as well as a better in-game tutorial; as it is now, it's difficult to get into for newcomers and the physics do at times feel broken. The game is ultimately great fun, however, especially once the robot building is mastered.
The gameplay is simple yet complex in a way that forces players to think about long-term goals rather than individual battles, making Grand Kingdom a natural choice for people who prefer the "tactical" part over the "role-playing" part of tactical role-playing games.
Asdivine Hearts doesn't reinvent anything; far from it. But it takes the JRPG formula and balances the combat to perfection.
Croixleur Sigma will offer players a fun experience for a short while. The content in here is overall good and entertaining while it lasts, offering a fun and entertaining arcade experience. But due to a lack of actual challenge or changing objectives throughout the game, it will barely last three hours in the eye of the average gamer. There are some entertaining modes for enthusiasts of the genre, but they will not save the game from the content drought, no matter how fun the actual content therein is. It is a title worth getting if you can accept that it will not last long. However, if you're looking for more bang for your buck, there are far better titles out there.
Samurai Warriors 4 Empires offers a great experience in the long running franchise, and stands out with the strategical aspects that the resource system and empire-ruling simulator provide. At first glance it might be annoying, but after a short while it becomes very charming and gives life and personality to the game in a way that would otherwise be difficult. The possibility to create characters is also a neat feature, and it gives the player the option of playing as a character they feel comfortable with, both visually and mechanically. This makes Samurai Warriors 4 Empires a game that is easy to recommend to fans of the franchise.
The ideas Totem Topple introduces to the genre, with its dynamic difficulty and the protection of one tower that is built upon are interesting additions to the genre and could have made for a fun and interesting tower defence. Unfortunately, the problems that the self-implemented limitations add are extremely problematic and make this a title that is very difficult to recommend to anyone due to the long downtimes in-between when the player is allowed to do something without being hit by a kill-screen for building their tower a bit too high. This is a problem expected from games in the '70s/80s, not in the 2010s...