Ruaraidh Dempster
Beastiarium sets out to combine horror and story, yet feels completely disconnected from both. In the end, so little story is actually delivered cohesively and it so rarely feels even tense.
There isn’t any wall-jumping, double jumps or any other fancy manoeuvres, just pure precision platforming
With very little variation or side content anywhere [Bounce Rescue!] just feels like another generic 2D platformer. There is nothing new and no gimmick to separate it from the rest
There are great concepts at play here in terms of the weapons and gameplay, but Ironguard is unfortunately let down by pretty much everything else.
You would think a pirate game would have a brimming personality. Yet, sailing around, doing mission after mission, I never feel like a pirate. I never dig up treasure, get in trouble with the law or even meet any famous pirates.
It's a shame [more difficult] fights are so few and far between as it is where the tactics and strategy of the genre really shine
All The Delicate Duplicates' moments of greatness – often coming from its experimental nature – are too few and far between stages of gratuitous reading and derivative searching. The final experience, marred by playing it just too safe, comes off feeling needlessly short and forgetful.
There are no secrets and nothing cool to find, just a frustrating design mechanic of incessantly backtracking through areas you have already completed
At the outset, Future Unfolding is magical experience; an elegant world waiting to be explored, with wonder at every step. But with each discovery, the wonder disappears – and isn't replaced with anything new.
I have the feeling that Lamina Studios were going for a ‘Best of Roguelikes’ with Dungeon Souls, but it ends up as more of a showcase of the best and worst the genre has to offer.
Even with certain problems, some that stand out more than others, there is some semblance of greatness in Maize – particularly in the writing and humour that shines through the absurdity.
Put simply, Farabel is tough. To some, it may seem unfairly so, although the strategy and tactics required to actually make your way through the game are enticing.
The build-up in Asemblance’s mysterious psychological nature is so well done that the final pay-off being so difficult only ends up leaving a bad taste in your mouth
Despite [its] flaws, Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders still provides a great and thoroughly engrossing crime story
You would be hard-pressed to find a better looking roguelike; the voodoo theme adds a creepy and unique feel to a wealth of different maps that are already good-looking
Shadows of Adam takes the very best aspects of the genre, cuts out most of the tedium and delivers an exciting, stirring and compelling trip through memory lane.
For all its linearity, Mainlining does a fantastic job of making you feel like a detective. It’s as much a puzzle game as it is a point-and-click, and the continous light-hearted humour keeps the experience from feeling too drab.
Tyranny may have its issues and it may be shorter than other RPGs but it often means that, in the end, it comes together as a greater and more concise experience.
Slayaway Camp is a simple puzzle game that through evolving mechanics becomes a difficult and satisfying experience. It revels in both the ludicrous and outlandishly fun things that come from its original genre while making fun of its stupidities.
While Ride 2 has some problems, such as questionable balancing of difficulty and credit-earning, the wealth of customisation options available and the pure gratification and thrill of competing makes it rather unlike any other experience currently available.