Justin Oneil's Reviews
Garfield Lasagna Party is a Mario Party clone with some fun mini-games but ultimately lacks enough content to be worth recommending. I had fun with quite a few of the mini-games but there is only so much enjoyment I can get out of this when there is just one board, no online play, and nothing to unlock. It’s worth picking this up on a deep sale but at the release price I think you can find better value for a party game elsewhere.
The Dark Prophecy tries to capture some of that magic that old school adventure game had but ultimately falls well short. The visuals and music are actually the best part of this game and while the gameplay is solid it just doesn’t have satisfying puzzles or writing to make it fully worth recommending.
Sofiya and the Ancient Clan’s art style is pretty nice but everything else about it just feels average at best. The gameplay is mindless and forgettable and what is left of the fan service doesn’t even make much sense in its dumbed down form. This is another game from eastasiasoft for the trophy hunters as anyone else is better off finding one of the many other platformers out there for their fix.
I personally love a good side-scrolling beat ‘em up game but Samurai Riot: Definitive Edition is just not one of them. While the different schools and branching paths are some cool ideas the actual gameplay and technical issues left me feeling disappointed. There are a lot of other recently released titles in this genre that are just flat out better so you are better off spending your money on those.
Rayland is a perfectly fine puzzle game about bouncing lasers around with mirrors and that’s about it. Many of us have done this same thing in other games and this game doesn’t do anything to set itself apart. If spending a few dollars to do that while earning some easy trophies sounds up your alley than Rayland may be for you.
Crypt of the Serpent King Remastered 4K Edition is just a prettier version of this previously released dungeon crawler and that’s it. If you played it before there isn’t much reason to return unless you want some more easy trophies. Newcomers won’t have to spend much to gain entry to these dungeons but will quickly see that this game has little substance and will likely move on from it quickly.
Pretty Girls: Speed is another casual anime girl card game that can be fun for a brief period of time but that’s all. There isn’t much to the gameplay but clicking a few buttons to place cards and doing that over and over gets quite repetitive. Fans of the card game Speed or trophy hunters will likely be the only ones that this appeals to.
Metal Tales: Overkill’s twin-stick shooting gameplay and metal soundtrack is enjoyable for a short while but it falls out of tune fast. The game is kind of ugly to look at and you’ll likely finish it or grow bored of it pretty fast as I did. The game also needs a patch or two to fix some annoying bugs. It can be a fun time waster for an hour or two either by yourself or with a friend locally but it doesn’t have much to offer outside of that.
Slap the Rocks is an OK casual puzzle game but one that is over quick and just feels like you are going through the motions while playing it. I’ve certainly played better from eastasiasoft and unless you are just venturing in for the easy trophies I recommend you pass on this one.
Dyna Bomb is a solid action platformer but one that isn’t memorable or in need to be played. The jetpack and bomb gameplay can be fun for a little while but over the course of the 60+ levels it gets repetitive. It also doesn’t help that it looks like barely any work was put into making the presentation look better on consoles compared to the mobile version. Unless you’re after some cheap, easy trophies then I think you can safely pass on Dyna Bomb.
Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality has quite a bit to enjoy for Doctor Who fans but you’ll have to trudge through some boring gameplay and put up with irritating bugs to see it through. If it sounds interesting at all to you I would either wait on a sale or wait for some of the issues to hopefully be fixed before jumping in.
Out of all the indie games I’ve played this year Gleamlight is one of the most disappointing. It isn’t broken or anything but it just doesn’t present much to make playing it worth it. It’s got a great art style but it tells you nothing about what is going on and the combat and level design is too basic and boring. Fans of Hollow Knight who are looking for a similar experience won’t find it in this cheap imitation.
Outbreak: The New Nightmare is only something that I think the most dedicated survival horror fans will enjoy and even then they should approach it with caution.
Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories isn’t quite a disaster but it does have quite a few things wrong with it you need to keep in mind before jumping in. Getting to visit a Japan hit by disaster and have the opportunity to interact and choose whether to help people can be fun. It’s just a shame that the game looks and performs poorly and has some questionable design choices and writing in it.
The game is fun to play, there just isn’t enough of it
Code Shifter looked cool to me when I saw it but after playing it I walked away feeling pretty disappointed.
Tetsumo Party is very cheap to pick up but whether those few dollars are worth it will be up to you. It’s a very simple idea and it works well but personally I don’t feel like there is enough here to recommend it as I grew bored of it within thirty minutes.
It doesn’t do anything to stand out and rather just does things that make me want to recommend you pick up one of the many other twin-stick shooters out there.
Sadly if you didn’t really enjoy the first AeternoBlade I’m not sure you’ll like this one much more. The story will be confusing to anyone who didn’t play the original and even to someone like me who did it still wasn’t very interesting. The bad writing and voice over work just further drags the story down.
If you want a visual novel with more focus on the actual story then you better look elsewhere.