Craig Edwards
Moonstone Island is a nice change of pace with its enjoyable farming and creature collecting. It was no surprise that I sunk many hours into it and still was eager to play more. It was one of those games where you are like “I’ll just do this then I’ll come off” but you end up spending a couple more hours on it. The art style was another selling point for me as I love these sorts of games, the card-based combat was interesting and worked well for me and I loved being able to collect spirits and look after them.
For my first Dragon Quest Monster game and first Dragon Quest title in a very long time, I have to say I had mixed emotions. You have this trailed and tested turn-based combat with the monster-focused gameplay loop which is enjoyable but then it feels ruined with the dull storyline and performance issue that makes playing this game on the Switch frustrating. The Nintendo Switch has been out for a while now, so making games perfectly for it shouldn’t be an issue.
Gangs of Sherwood quickly showed signs of promise with its fun spin on the classic Robin Hood tale and colourful combat but fell flat about halfway to the finish line with its lack of depth in certain areas (looting) and graphical bugs. The story is okay but nothing to write home about and the combat can quickly become repetitive after playing a certain character for multiple missions in a row.
Worldless took a different route when it came to the combat mechanics that helped make it differ from other Metroidvania, but I enjoy the Hack n Slash form of combat that is in Hollow Knight and Dead Cell. Don’t get me wrong the turn-base fighting was fun, it just took a while to get my head around as the tutorial wasn’t the best. There was a frustrating difficulty spike when you hit certain enemies that would leave me stuck for ages and unable to progress.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 single-player campaign does blow me away and feels like a rushed attempt at finishing the trilogy. What showed signs of promise in the lead-up to release with Vladimir Makarov making a return, I was excited to see what Sledgehammer Games had done. However, it instead ends up being a lackluster attempt to relive the glory days from twelve years ago. Some story missions had moments of enjoyment but it’s attempted to introduce new open combat missions designed as an interesting premise but doesn’t work when you put it into the campaign.
Overpass 2 wasn’t the game I was expecting. It is a tough racer to get to grips with as the punishing terrain and fragile handling had me getting frustrated and annoyed because it felt unnecessarily hard.
For my first time playing a Taiko no Tatsujin game, I wouldn’t say I did too badly having played both the Switch and PS4 version. The PlayStation 4 version sadly is hard to get hold of physically in the UK and doesn’t come with a bundle which is disappointing and even worse is that the Switch USB drum doesn’t work with it either. So having to buy the game and drum from abroad and have them imported is quite a problem personally.
Over recent years the DC Universe has had some rough patches when it comes to their films but this isn’t the case for the comics and games. Lego DC has had some fantastic heavy hitters in the Lego game series and has offered yet another fun pack game into the mix. Sure it had the issues with the camera angles (which seems to be present in every Lego game) and the lack of free roam in terms of map size but these were the only two things I could point out as its faults.
Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption really packs a punch. The whole idea of making a Shadow of the Colossus and Dark Souls hybrid is a risk that this game nails without a doubt. Sure it feels like more could have been added like maybe some levels you have to go through to get to the bosses but it’s not the end of the world. Having a mechanic that makes you weaker, not stronger is a nice twist and certainly makes the boss fights more tense the closer you get to defeating them.
Overall Agony is a good game, though it lacks a really scare factor after the first few scares it makes for some unique gameplay in a well-designed environment. I like the fact that it’s not linear, you can explore loads of different areas and do different things from what the main story is offering.
When I first loaded the game, I thought that it was going to be very childish and mediocre… but I was wrong. The art style is very colourful, unique, and has a hint of Minecraft to its worlds. Though simple and fun, the game allows for the player to create worlds that can inhabit different organisms. All it takes is the right temperature and moisture levels for life to blossom. It’s in-depth look at the evolution of the world is its big selling point, even taking into consideration the food chain and how if a predator hasn’t got enough prey it will become extinct.
Assassin's Creed Rogue was tones of fun and I personally am glad it got the remaster so that I had the chance to play it on current gen consoles. It was a nice chance to get to see Shay story in the whole series as well as a nice twist to play as a Templar.
The Witch and the Hundred Knights 2 was very enjoyable from the beginning. Be worried that with this type of game you’ll have to do a considerable amount of reading but that personally didn’t put me off, I loved hundred knight and I loved the hack and slash feel the game had.
Just like in the first Battlefront game in 2015 it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the graphical side of things. Naboo, looks stunning, Starkiller base from The Force Awakens look practically identical and when moving round the maps you get a sense of “I’ve seen this place before” or “this is the part in the film where…”. You can tell that a lot of effort has been put into making the levels really stand out and like the locations they are taken from.
Overall my time playing Yomawari: Midnight Shadows was mixed, at times I found myself really enjoying it and wanting to progress then other I just felt like I wanted to put the control down and not pick it back up. The story was quiet dark but at the same time made you feel for the two girls but not being able to fight back against the spirits in anyway was a huge bug bear for me.
The price currently sits at £7.99 for the game so again a bit much, though would highly recommend people to look out for it on sale, if you’re into puzzle games or just want something different because not going to lie the pros for the game out way the cons. You’ll definitely get some enjoyment out of this little indie game.
Personally I would have to say that for me the game didn’t disappoint and I will defiantly be looking into past games in the series and looking forward to future ones.
Aven Colony has shaped itself up well with the other city-building game that are on the market today. It offers a Campaign mode with a good story line and an array of different objects to help mix it up a bit as well as having the sandbox mode that allows for endless, customisable fun.