It all chugs along quite nicely for a few levels: hack away at groups of zombies, find a few collectible coins and generally bash and smash your way through to the end of the stage. Unfortunately, it all becomes monotonous and infuriating very quickly
South Park: Snow Day is, ultimately, a huge disappointment. This is so far removed from The Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole that it really shouldn’t be considered to be related to them in any way. Sure, there’s a glimmer of trademark South Park humour here, but it’s not enough to make the repetitive, dull and painfully scrappy gameplay any more enjoyable. This is a snow day you can safely sit out of: stay home and play Stick of Truth again instead.
We applaud Adventure Academia: The Fractured Continent for trying to do something different. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite pay off. Its battle system is chaotic at best and downright infuriating at worst. And with a story that couldn’t quite hold our attention, there are much better RPGs out there. If you fancy trying something out of the ordinary, grab this in a sale. Otherwise, you’re not going to miss out on anything.
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch is a lovely-looking game. Its art style and open world freedom engaged us right from the off, like a horse-centric, combat-free Breath of the Wild. Except it doesn’t take long for its design flaws to rear their ugly head. It’s such a shame that the act of playing isn’t anywhere near as fun as it should be, thanks to poor controls and bad design choices. Still, if you really love horses, some of its flaws may be easier to overlook. The fact is that it’s still better than many other horse games out there.
Stick with Bunny Park past its opening moments, and you’ll probably have a decent time with it. Don’t expect any real depth, though, but if the idea of a very simple simulation game where you can design your own cute garden appeals to you, you’ll at least get two or three hours’ enjoyment here.
Flat Kingdom may be a little clunky, sure, but it’s not broken – and if you’re a fan of simple side-scrolling platforming, you might find something to enjoy here. It’s not going to light your world on fire in any way, but there are certainly worse games out there.
Unfortunately, Bloodshore is Wales Interactive and Good Gate Media’s most disappointing collaboration yet. We thought very highly of The Complex and Five Dates, and the recent Night Book weaved an enjoyable narrative, too. But Bloodshore never quite hits the mark. It doesn’t work as a black comedy, instead never quite deciding if it wants to be funny or horrifying. It’s a disparity that never redeems itself – not even by seeing terrible internet personalities meet their grizzly demise.
The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem is a very average platform game. It plays it safe, and doesn’t try to do anything interesting – or in fact, anything at all – with its license. As such, it’s hard to recommend to Addams Family fans, as there’s very little here that evokes any kind of spooky, kooky mayhem. There are plenty of better platforming games out there, but it’s serviceable for younger players – and the minigames do at least add a bit more fun into the proceedings.
Still, even with its frustrations, there’s something alluring about The Plane Effect. Its art style, its eerie and slightly unsettling soundtrack, its dystopian sci-fi vibe; it all leaves you with questions that you’ll be desperate to get answers for. It’s just a shame that the gameplay you’ll need to endure in an attempt to uncover those answers isn’t as enjoyable as it could be.
I can’t recommend picking up Truth Quest unless you absolutely loved Maneater. It does nothing to advance or even mix up the formula in any way. It’s more of the same, but with increased emphasis on the more frustrating elements of the main game. At least Chris Parnell’s excellent narration remains on point.
When stellar DualSense implementation really is the only highlight, however, it’s hard to fully recommend Timothy’s Night. Its visual style is commendable, and this is not a bad game by any means. But its gameplay – complete with sluggish movement, ho-hum gunplay and enemies that frequently spawn behind you – is just never particularly enjoyable. If you really dig the noir aesthetic you might get a kick out of it, but there are certainly better ways to spend your time.
Manage to get through King’s Bounty II‘s battles, though, and you’ll be rewarded with engaging exploration and a decent narrative that leaves you wanting to find out more about the fate of the world you’re in. Despite not looking great, it truly is a world that begs to be explored. Unfortunately, many of the battles are simply too unforgiving and frustrating to encourage you to keep going. Reloading an old save again and again isn’t fun and ultimately, it’s hard to recommend King’s Bounty II – unless you genuinely do enjoy getting defeated again and again.
Perhaps I have been rather critical of Button City; there is something sweet in its cuddly art style and although its dialogue and narrative may be try-hard, it is effective at times. The real issue is that it feels like its developers have relied too hard on simply being cute rather than focusing on creating engaging gameplay. Regardless of how adorable the protagonist and their friends may be, there’s just not enough here to hold my attention.
I applaud Indigo 7: Quest For Love for trying something different. It’s a fun enough puzzle game that fans of Tetris and Puyo will be interested in, and its presentation is charming and eye-catching. Sadly it’s let down by a poorly thought-out scoring system, which is likely to bring any enjoyment of the game to a premature halt.
Filled with glitches, fallible logic and a list of problems as long as my arm, I absolutely cannot call Open Country a good game. But despite its rough edges, there’s something to be said about the freedom it provides players. Exploring the vast wilderness, being fully responsible for your own survival, can be exhilarating. Just don’t expect a polished experience, and you won’t be too disappointed.
If you’re a huge fan of twin-stick space shooters, Curved Space will do enough to hold your attention for a while. Its unique features don’t amount to much, however, leaving you with a rather mundane entry into an already crowded genre. Simply put, there are much better arcade shooters out there to spend your time and money on.
As a franchise, Geminose has potential. The range of animal creatures are adorable, and they’re impossible not to love. But Geminose Animal Popstars doesn’t provide them the best backdrop to truly shine. There are some nice original songs here, but many of the minigames are unoriginal and are let down further by poor motion controls. Kids under 10 will get a kick out of its cutesy presentation, but it’s not going to hold anyone’s attention for long.
TOHU is set in a beautiful world begging to be explored, with an adorable protagonist that we should be dying to learn more about. But its frustratingly difficult puzzles and the fact most players are going to have to rely on the built-in hint system quickly sucks any joy out of playing. Unless you’re a hardcore adventure game fan with the patience of a saint, you’re unlikely to enjoy your time with TOHU. The rest of us are better off basking in the beauty of its screenshots like they’re works of art.
If you’re a fan of Bakugan, there’s no doubt you’ll get a kick out of Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia. It’s a great-looking game, and seeing those huge beasties in battle for the first time is quite a thrill. But the game’s dull and repetitive combat quickly loses its excitement, and the fact you’ll be looking forward to completing a mindless side quest simply to get a reprieve surely tells you all you need to know.
But Trollhunters lacks the polish and finesse of Shantae. Like the majority of TV or movie tie-in games, it ultimately feels a bit soulless and hollow.