Midnight Deluxe is a very good example of a developer taking elements of a game that already exists and reworking them into something much better than the original. Almost everything you see on screen will look familiar to those who’ve played 36 Fragments of Midnight but it hardly matters when the game play is so utterly divorced from its predecessor. This is an atmospheric, relaxing and surprisingly enjoyable game about shooting a box into a hole.
Little Adventure on the Prairie is quite possibly the worst game you’ll ever pay for.
Swords of Ditto doesn’t do anything groundbreaking. The roguelite mechanics have been done many times before, the procedural generation has been done before, the limited in-game play time has been done before and the dungeon diving has been around for more than 2 decades. What Sword of Ditto does do differently, however, is wrap all of this together for the first time in such a neat “compact” package that’s bursting with charm and insane amounts of polish. Strangely, while Swords of Ditto borrows the best bits of those that came before it, the combined complexities that they give this game make it feel as original as any of its forebears. Its unforgiving streak aside, Swords of Ditto is a very good game indeed.
As Found Phone games go, Simulacra is one of the better ones. The dialogue is well implemented, the puzzles all play on the players in-built knowledge of how mobile phones work and there’s this disconcerting atmosphere to the whole experience.
It might lack a little originality but The Adventure Pals is a lighthearted adventure that’s as fun and as eccentric as its obvious inspirations.
Crypt of the Serpent King might come with a small price tag but like some many other things in life, you get what you pay for.
Omensight is a 3D action adventure game that has all the hallmarks of a PlayStation 2 3D action adventure made in the heyday of the genre but with the benefit of 20 years in technological and design advancements to spruce it up. Some occasional frame drops, a little bit of repetition and some occasional dodgy camera angles aside, Omensight is an edge-of-the-seat adventure that is hard to put down from the start until the credits roll.
Deep Ones is one of the most unintuitive games I’ve ever played that’s constantly undermining itself whenever it starts to become enjoyable.
A combination of roguelike repetition and a shallow plot line might have been enough to derail EverSpace had it not been for the enticing game play cycle, slick space combat and a balanced progression system which keeps you coming back for more. There’s a solid 20 hours of content here (at a leisurely pace, I hasten to add) but the game fills those hours with clutch moments of survival that tell their own story set among some stunning celestial vistas. EverSpace is far more accessible than Elite: Dangerous, is more enjoyable than Dreadnought and is among the most visually arresting space based games on Sony’s 8th generation console.
If you were to compare Space Hulk: Deathwing Enhanced Edition to many other modern day first person shooters at face value, it’d come up short in almost every regard. It’s clunky, slow paced, stereotypical and corny in the extreme but for those gamers who also have a love for 28-millimetre tall Space Marines and the world in which they wage war, this game offers something more. Space Hulk: Deathwing makes very little effort to be accessible to those who don’t know a foam sword from a power sword, instead opting to attempt to be the most authentic recreation of Space Marine Terminator combat to date.
Shift Quantum might not feature the most original aesthetic and feels only half committed to its narrative elements but those are only small drawbacks to an otherwise brilliant game. This is a puzzle game that's full of moments that'll make you feel like a genius, will make you say "Of course! Why didn't I see it before" and manages to curb the difficulty throughout just before it becomes frustrating. If you like a good headscratcher, I highly recommend Shift Quantum.
A number of glitches and the occasional obtuse plot point stop Vampyr from truly exceeding expectations but it’s a well crafted, expertly designed game that’ll likely be talked about for many months to come.
InkSplosion is fast fun but due to the lack of content and simplistic design, gets boring within an hour. The only positive selling points are a decent soundtrack and the fact that, for trophy hunters, it’s a quick and easy Platinum to unlock (much like many other titles from Ratalaika Games) but these are not enough to drag InkSplosion out of mediocrity.
Devious Dungeon is a weird combination of classical Roguelike mechanical elements and attempts to make the genre more accessible. Unfortunately, it’s a mix that results in a shallow, monotonous procedural platformer that might as well not be a roguelite at all. Visually pleasant but uninspired with fast paced combat that gets boring very quickly, Devious Dungeon is a game that I can only recommend to trophy hunters thanks to the easy Platinum on offer.
Rainbow Skies is a behemoth of an adventure that could last you hundreds of hours should it get its hooks into you. It’s a vast improvement over its predecessor with a more focused plot and a myriad systems which overlay to provide a deep, tactical adventure. It’s not without flaws but if you’re looking for something light-hearted and accessible while offering a challenge when you want it, you can do a lot, lot worse than Rainbow Skies.
It’s when you’re not in control of things – like in the snippet that I opened this review with – that the Jurassic World feeling really kicks in during this game. When your T-Rex is fighting Velocirators and your guests are running scared from rampaging Triceratops’ and you’re trying desperately against the odds to put everything back the way it was. It’s sublime.
Expertly created puzzles, a setting which is as equally enticing as it is unsettling, a thought provoking narrative, excellent music and top draw voice work combine to form a truly enjoyable puzzle game that’ll have me leaving a very positive Trip Advisor review.
For fans of the original Lumines, this will be a wonderful toe tap down memory lane. It’s everything that original game had with a few extra game modes in a neat package. A block dropping puzzle game with obvious quality and ingenious mechanics, this remaster has been created with respect for the original. It’ll be your personal taste and tolerance for the music you don’t like which will ultimately decide how much fun you have with Lumines Remastered.
The art style is charming, the music is excellent and despite telegraphing itself from early on, the plot to the campaign is enjoyable. It’s the game play mechanics which really shine here though so if you’re looking for something easy to play while being deceptively deep, Insane Robots should be your next port of call.
It’s such a shame a few technical issues exist because when Blacksea Odyssey is doing what it does best, pitting you against giant space beasties armed with nothing more than a toothpick, and you’re not caught in a mess of vines, this game is a tough but enjoyable title. It’s not as readily gratifying as other games in the genre and if you like a long tailed reward, it certainly has that whiff of Dark Souls inspiration in the finer points of its design.