Once again, it’s important to go into Stigmatized Property with appropriate expectations. This is an interactive short story, not a horror game epic; it will take you less than an hour for your first playthrough and a second run if you want to get the other ending (or an achievement that it’s not possible to get on your first run) you’ll doubtless be even quicker. While you’re having that experience, it’s absolutely, completely, delightfully immersive — and like any other short story, it’s something you can easily return to in the future if you just feel like enjoying that tale again.
For that reason, Inunaki Tunnel might not have as broad an appeal as some of Chilla’s Art’s more explicitly “horror” titles. It’s a much more subtly told story with an almost “gentle” sense of unease about it rather than in-your-face scares — but that makes it rather interesting to explore, especially alongside this prolific developer’s other work.
All in all, Tetris Effect Connected is a great addition to an already excellent game — and now it’s available on all platforms, everyone can enjoy it together, even across different platforms. World peace might be within our reach after all.
Like the other Zoo Corporation games, Pretty Girls Panic! is never going to be held up as some great masterpiece of gaming or anything like that — but it is a solid, enjoyable, arcade-style casual game that will keep you busy for a few minutes at a time when you just fancy a quick play with something.
So if you’re up for a few scares and a bunch of brainteasers to keep you busy, Tormented Souls comes highly recommended. Here’s hoping it’s a big success and affords Dual Effect and Abstract Digital Works further opportunities to explore the survival horror genre — ’cause they’re damned good at it.
This somewhat gentler approach, singular conclusion and short runtime — it probably won’t take you any longer than about 20-30 minutes to beat the game, even if you explore the environments thoroughly — has led the game to have somewhat mixed user reviews on Steam — but if you enjoy Chilla’s Art’s other work, Okaeri is worth experiencing. If nothing else, it’s a good indication of how their work has developed since 2019 — but that likewise they’ve always had a good understanding of how to create a powerful sense of atmosphere through relatively minimal visual assets and astonishingly good use of sound.
Some of Chilla’s Art’s games can be a bit of a hard sell to those who prefer a little more direct involvement and player agency from their games — The Caregiver strikes a good balance between the team’s more narrative-centric titles and their games that are a bit more inspired by survival horror specifically. If you’re new to the work of Chilla’s Art, this is probably a good one to start with — and as always, its brief length and low price means that you’re not risking much by giving it a shot!
And with that in mind, the permadeath side of things is actually rather effective; it’s a similar approach seen in games like Dark Souls, where repetition encourages you to sharpen your skills, spot new things and do a little better each time you try. Eventually, you’ll prevail — just don’t give up if you don’t manage it right away!
It’s a journey worth taking, though; the characters and story in Final Fantasy IV remain beloved of series veterans with good reason — and with Final Fantasy XIV’s next expansion Endwalker looking to be strongly inspired by Final Fantasy XIV, doubtless there will be renewed interest in this game. Just go in knowing what to expect — great story, solid but unremarkable mechanics — and you’ll have a blast.
Self-deprecating or not, DeathlyStillness is actually a surprisingly enjoyable, playable game even in its current limited state — and many of the 2,761 “Very Positive” reviews on Steam at the time of writing are encouraging Chen to continue development further, with many noting that with some additional content and mechanics, they’d be more than happy to actually pay money for the game.
There’s definitely still a place for games like Cruis’n Blast in today’s world, and I’m grateful to Nintendo for taking a bit of a risk on putting this one out there. It may not be to everyone’s taste — particularly given its lack of online modes and unabashedly quick-fire “arcade” format — but for those of us who have been in mourning for Bizarre Creations and Black Rock Studios for the past 11 years… well, it’s time to buckle up and have some fun once again.
GG Aleste II is a great game, and the fact it maintains the appeal of its predecessor while bumping up the challenge factor makes it an ideal shoot ’em up to move on to after you feel like you’ve mastered GG Aleste. While shoot ’em up veterans may still find it a little on the easy side compared to titles on more powerful hardware, it still puts up a decent fight — and perhaps most importantly, it’s an enjoyable ride from start to finish. And ultimately, to just have fun is the reason we’re all here, isn’t it?
For existing owners of Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Fantasy World Edition, the marginally improved gameplay makes this new version worth considering, especially considering its low price point. If you don’t own either and fancy a bit of casual poker fun, plump for this one unless you’re really in the mood for busty elves.
All in all, this was a thoroughly pleasant surprise to see appear on Steam and Switch — and a great investment for those looking for their latest fix of hack-and-slash action roguelike fun. There’s even a demo available on Steam (though not Switch, sadly) if you’re not convinced by my enthusiasm, so give it a go for yourself and see what you reckon.
Onryo could have absolutely been one of Chilla’s Art’s best games; it’s just a pity that the mechanical side of things lets it down so much, because everything else about this game is an absolute pleasure to engage with. If you think you can deal with its clunky mechanics, by all means give it a go; the sense of discovery as you uncover the mystery is absolutely worth it.
There’s plenty to enjoy here, for sure; it’s an extremely well-made game that provides a very authentic Mega Drive-style shoot ’em up experience that will particularly delight Truxton fans. The only real question is whether you’re up to the stiff challenge that Crisis Wing offers — but then, you’re a big strong gamer, aren’t you? What are you afraid of? Nothing, that’s what. Get in there and get blasting.
All in all, Actraiser Renaissance is a great game that serves as a wonderful introduction to Quintet’s work. It might perhaps have been nice for the package to include the option to play the original SNES version as well as the new version, but the new additions to the formula work extremely well and make the strategic aspect of the game feel much more fleshed out. This feels like a modern game now — even if it looks like a Saturn game — and once you let it get its hooks into you, you’ll want to see it through right to the end, if only to hear more of Koshiro’s magnificent music.
Slipstream seemingly wants to be liked and it wants to excite and thrill its players — but as soon as you get a little too close and present any sort of indication that you might want to get to know it a bit better, it gives you a solid punch right up the bracket and tells you to fuck off outta ‘ere, loser. It is, not to put too fine a point on it, one of the biggest cockteases in the entire arcade racer genre — a subset of gaming known for drawing players in with its spectacular visuals and exhilarating speed.
If you think you can look past these issues, sure, Hot Wheels Unleashed is definitely worth a pop. For everyone else, I’d say it’s one to keep an eye on quietly for a month or two, just to see what the updates look like — and if it looks like they’re going to start gouging players’ wallets. And maybe treat yourself to a copy of Cruis’n Blast in the meantime.
And while I most certainly wouldn’t say no to a “Pretty Girls Complete Collection” or something on a nice physical Switch cartridge, even as a dedicated collector of physical games I must say it’s nice to have digital versions of games like Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire always on hand — they’re absolutely perfect for those quiet moments when you have your Switch with you and a few minutes to kill. Just be careful, though; those few minutes can easily turn into a few hours!