Overall, as much as I adore the story and atmosphere of The Sinking City, it definitely feels like a budget title at times. If you can get past the weak combat, harmless jank, and enjoy a solid detective experience that won't hold your hand and throw tough choices your way, you shouldn't pass up on it. Even more so if you're a fan of Lovecraft. Because as the Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be and that's a good enough reason for me!
Although I had my share of frustrations with Spark 2 during my first playthrough, I'm sure repetition and better knowledge of level layouts would make for a much smoother second playthrough. Die-hard fans of the Sonic Adventure games are absolutely gonna have a blast looking for the fastest routes possible and it's still a solid experience overall. But, I just can't help feeling like it's a less polished experience compared to its 2D predecessor.
Any good they might have had are quickly swallowed up by a plethora of issues. The desperate or the gullible may find a glimmer of fun hidden somewhere in the pit.
Ultimately, I'm excited to see Respawn's plans for the future. Although Apex Legends is fairly light on content at the moment, after having played it for over a week now, it's become my new favorite battle royale game. Matches are quick enough that I never feel burned by a sudden loss and jumping back in with different legend makes it more addictive than any battle royale I've played so far.
Ultimately, I can't help but feel like the Senran Kagura series is at its best when it's exploring other concepts like water gun tournaments, cooking, and even pinball. There's just more room for creativity all around. Outside of the catchy and upbeat Japanese rock music, almost every aspect of Burst Re:Newal is extraordinarily low budget and mind-numbingly simplistic.
Some technical and control issues aside, I still think the 3DS version of Luigi's Mansion is a solid option for newcomers or for people looking to revisit this GameCube classic. Catching various ghosts and completing Professor E. Gadd's gallery is a perfect time burner on the go and Grezzo have done a solid job bringing Luigi's Mansion to the 3DS. I just don't know if I'd prioritize playing the 3DS version over the GameCube version in the future.
Everything about Captain Toad is overwhelmingly charming. The soundtrack is solid, with plenty of levels having their own unique themes, as well as a few with familiar tunes from previous games in the Mario franchise thrown in for good measure
Sadly, Evolution just comes off feeling like it was rushed out the door.
Jank and sometimes dumb mutant cannibals aside, what Endnight Games accomplished with The Forest with only a team of four people is simply extraordinary. It's one of the best survival games I've played in recent memory. Whether I was creeping my way through the woods alone at night or playing with friends during the day and showing the local residents who the true masters of their domain are, I haven't played anything like this that's been so fun and terrifying all-in-one in a long, long time.
A package which includes a gorgeous aesthetic and lonely atmosphere with a haunting soundtrack and overall sound design to match. Throw all this in with enough alien weirdness, science fiction elements, some unique puzzle concepts, and it still kept my attention to the very end.
Warhorse Studios took a big risk with this game and hopefully in the long run the technical issues can be addressed, because as of right now, they prevent Deliverance from reaching greatness. If you can climb over the mountain of jank and poor optimization then you'll be in for an incredibly authentic experience, that when it works, truly puts role-playing front and center in a fabulous way.
After clocking in over 200 hours across both games, on the same save file, I can safely say the Cyber Sleuth games are easily some of the best Digimon games in the franchise. Despite some minor issues, a fair bit of grinding, and while still nowhere near the production values or quality of the Persona series -- Hacker's Memory is another solid turn-based RPG and a damn good Digimon game that you shouldn't miss if you played the original.
Mom Hid My Game! is a tough sell, especially when its mobile counterparts are arguably a better experience (and free, no less). But, if you've got five dollars to spend and you're specifically looking for a charming puzzle-based escape game for your Switch or 3DS that clocks in a little over an hour, this might be for you. If you're like Fiddy however, with a lot livin' to do before you die and got no time to waste, maybe pass on this.
Aside from a few minor gripes and this re-release of the game not offering much else from the 2012 PlayStation 3 re-release (other than higher resolutions and the return of loading screen mini-games), Okami HD is still a near-perfect game. If you haven't already beaten or played it yet, then now is a better time than ever before...
Once the servers for this game inevitably go offline, with no way to obtain loot boxes, earn speed cards or trade tokens, I can't help but wonder if the casual consumer would genuinely ever have the patience to fully complete this game. Need for Speed Payback is another result of EA meddling in the concept of "games as a service" and taking an otherwise mediocre entry in the series and completely butchering it in the process to achieve this goal.
That said, here's hoping Overgrowth may still yet become something special in the long run. But, as of right now, after all these years, the game was only interesting for me for a few hours and felt like more of a fun novelty, or a tech demo, than an actual video game. While the gameplay and mechanics here are solid and the physics engine is impressive, the campaign on the other hand is extremely disjointed, short, and uninteresting in terms of presentation. By the time I had completed both campaigns, twice over, it just left me wishing they made better use of it all.
I think Necrosphere is a solid platformer with an interesting control scheme and mechanics based around them, but I personally don't think the Metroidvania open-ended level design does this form of extremely difficult gameplay any favors. But, if you're another masochist looking for an addictive and challenging platformer for a low price, Necrosphere might be your calling.
If you weren't a fan of the past Senran Kagura games and considered them far too raunchy, Peach Beach Splash isn't going to change your mind. But for me, it manages to balance fan service with fun and engaging gameplay; albeit not very challenging or complex gameplay, thanks in part to some of the worst AI I've experienced in a long while. If large wet anime chests float your boat, you'll be right at home with Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash.
In closing, Fishing Planet is a solid fishing simulator with plenty of depth and variety to its gameplay and mechanics that still make me want to come back for more. But the horrendous menu and UI on console, lackluster presentation, and occasional bugs and hiccups bog down the experience.
Nongünz delivers fast action packed platforming with roguelike mechanics and a punishing difficulty.