Gabs Tanner's Reviews
Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water keeps the essence of previous titles in the franchise with its setting, story, art style and gameplay, while creating fantastic atmosphere and tension. However, the combat can be fiddly, while the necessity to traverse the same location multiple times, as well as the repeated information in the story text, may leave some players with a lacklustre experience.
The art style and music in Read Only Memories does a great job of drawing the player into the game. However, too much attention is centered on the complex lore of the cybernetic future world, so characters spend more time explaining the features and practices that are available than furthering the plot.
The Park is a single player experience good for a short game with lots of tension. There is a minimal amount of actual horror or action, with the focus instead being on a psychological journey for the protagonist, while surrounding the player in a tense situation and environment.
Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power is a puzzle platformer with stunning 3D environments. Players will enjoy finding the solutions to puzzles by switching between the three playable protagonists, but may find frustration with the necessity to find most of the collectables in order to progress.
World of Warships is a game that most players will be able to pick up and play due to the simple controls. Fans of the franchise are sure to have fun with the levels of strategy and assortment of ships to switch between, but there possibly isn't enough to entertain players with no real interest in naval warfare.
Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures is a 2D platformer with a retro game style. The title tries really hard to capture the difficulty of old NES games, as well as the character of the Angry Video Game Nerd. While the graphics, music, and controls are all fantastic, it falls a little short in the level design, story, and humour.
Leap of Fate is a rogue-lite title that brings together a lot of separate elements to create a very fun experience.
Ray Gigant follows a lot of the RPG dungeon crawler tropes, while changing up the protagonists and enemies just often enough to keep things from getting boring. It’s not a challenge by any means, taking the focus away from grinding, and instead onto sitting back and enjoying the journey.
RefRain -prism memories- may lack a few details, but it more than makes up for them with the variation between playable characters and a satisfying attack system.
Highway Blossoms may not bring anything new to the table through its story, but it gets you emotionally involved through the cute, and relatable characters.
Crush Your Enemies hides a surprising strategical depth behind its crude humour. Whilst simple, it provides just enough challenge through the fast pacing to keep you engaged until everything in your path has been destroyed.
Blade Arcus from Shining: Battle Arena has beautiful art design and a number of difficulty options, but the limited fighting styles result in a lack of any real depth.
Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky has a solid foundation in its art style, characters, and combat. It’s just a shame that a lack in variation holds it back from being something truly engaging.
Urban Empire's focus on politics and invention through history provides an interesting take on the genre, although it can get a tad repetitive in the later parts of the game.
Even though Toukiden 2 lacks depth in its combat, the game still manages to provide a story and world that players will enjoy spending time with.
Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash adds some fun to the shooter genre while dishing out bucket loads of fan service.
Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator fulfils its promise of silly dad humour and heartwarming fatherly moments, but just falls short when it comes to the romance.
Ys SEVEN's simplicity in its story and gameplay helps to make it fun and addictive.
Despite lacking the variety of previous Atelier games, Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings has a happy charm that makes it hard to put down.
There's no revolutionary story, gameplay, or graphics here, but Ys: Memories of Celceta is still super satisfying to play through.