There is a lot of potential for some innovative and memorable puzzles here, but the games heavy focus on its emotional narrative detracts from it being, well, a game.
Had the developers simply slapped the Lovecraft label on the game and not explored the rich mythos inherent in the name, this could have been a disaster of a game, but instead – and despite of its faults – Lovecraft’s Untold Stories is a rich and intoxicating set of tales weaved together, balancing mystery, combat, and madness together in an engrossing experience.
Akane is unapologetically fast, tough, and challenging. It’s setting and general yakuza/cyberpunk themes mesh incredibly well together in telling the player everything they need to know about the games’ last stand.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is an unsettling, nerve-wracking stealth experience in the best way
While these games were iconic trendsetters for their time, only a handful of them hold-up to today’s standards of playability, ingenuity, and fun. While the library size is large, so many of these games feel like reskins that it doesn’t quite reflect the broader scope of SNK’s accomplishments over the years. If you love a fast-paced challenge than this is definitely for you, but rather than being a memorable throwback like the NES or SNES Classics, this feels too bogged down in its lack of variety for what it could have been.
Anno 1800 takes time to learn, but it’s time well spent.
Mortal Kombat 11 is a culmination of so many great features from across the franchise. Offering a blockbuster narrative with seamless transitions, real character development, incredibly helpful tutorials and a varied roster to choose from.
Feather sets out to create the most relaxing and calming experience you can have in a game. With its varied yet mellow and uplifting soundtrack, its basic yet brightly colored visuals, and the great detail that goes into the rustling of the birds feathers, it can be quite a joy to soar through the air and practice trench runs through the cave tunnels. However, in designing a game to relax it’s also made with no stakes and no threats, so much of the serenity you experience after the initial elation of flight is from not feeling like there is an imminent threat at all.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is light on narrative and heavy on fast paced action.
The Occupation is a serious and well crafted first-person thriller dripping with nuance and subtleties.
Windscape is a delightful and charming experience. It’s like playing an Elder Scrolls game that is designed to be friendly and fun, however, for everything I found about it to be enjoyable there was something else slightly off-putting that made me think it could use just a little more time in development.
Valley is an enjoyable experience that tells a comfortable narrative through brilliant music, exemplary writing, and a creative setting.
Devil May Cry 5 excels at bringing back that iconic feeling the franchise is known for and does so with killer style, strategic, fast-paced combat, and a pumping soundtrack. With a cast of both familiar faces in Trish and Lady, as well as newcomers Nico and V, this is a game that gives me confidences for the future of the Devil May Cry series.
Q.U.B.E. 2 is a worthy successor to the previous game, building upon the established mechanics and basics of an exemplary puzzle-solving experience.
If Far Cry 5 didn’t exist, New Dawn could easily have been a new narrative on its own, but because we have something close to compare it to the only saving grace for its fewer features is it’s reduced launch price. If you had a good time in Far Cry 5 and enjoy lite survival mechanics, you’ll have a blast tearing through Hope County, but as a stand-alone Far Cry entry it doesn’t quite hit its mark.
Serving the niche of Lovecraft fans, this is a marvelous game to play, but as a horror video game it will easily lose those not already interested in this style of macabre.
Octahedron: Transfixed Edition is a solid and deceptively simple platformer that uses its challenging structure, pumping rhythm, and striking visuals to create a package designed to overwhelm the senses. While each part is solid, the final product wasn’t enough to hook me into playing long term.
unforgiving camera during combat. Whether you are a fan of Suda51’s work or have never played any of his wild titles before, Travis Strikes Again really is a must play for the absolute lunacy of the narrative and the chaotic – if repetitive – combat.
While the ending was predictable early on, the journey to get there was captivating and fun, and the various unlockable abilities will surely make each players experience a unique one.
NAIRI: Tower of Shirin is a delightful and cozy point-and-click adventure you can feel good about letting your kids play.