Henry Halfhead's unique concept and simple yet effective gameplay make it a great sandbox puzzler to cause mischief in. Despite wanting the game to go further with its concept and make the gameplay more ambitious, it settles for a heartfelt and relatable story instead, bringing more feeling into what you do as a result.
With intentionally difficult physics-based gameplay, Baby Steps can bring out the worst or best in you. If you're willing to gel with the QWOP-style controls for a sense of self-accomplishment, with an absurd but impactful story, then it may just be worth tripping over yourself for.
Flashy, inspired but flawed, Hotel Barcelona is a blood-drenched, frenetic but clunky action roguelite. Leaning towards style rather than substance, its creative story, breadth of replaybility and brilliant horror-inspired art direction make this one for the cultists.
Otherwar unsuccessfully pulls off being a tower defence game or bullet hell, and instead is just my hell. Slow waves of enemies, long periods of downtime, and a broken in-game economy that doesn't make working towards anything feel fulfilling.
Charming, spooky and just the right amount of cosy for the autumn period, Gloomy Eyes is a fun self-coop puzzler with an even better sense of style. It isn't without its flaws, like its gameplay being a little buggy and puzzles staying the same throughout, but the worldbuilding, visuals and tone are so inviting that you can't help but get lost in the gloom.
Hirogami has a bright world to explore and some interesting gameplay ideas to fold over. However, the art of it all is a little lost when the developers' over ambition doesn't come to fruition in the game. It plays old, feels like it too, and despite being a throwback to the PS2 era, it doesn't have the tact and precision to pull off this nostalgia trip.
Vlad Circus: The Curse of Asmodeus is the follow-up I wasn't expecting, and one I wish could have been better. The gameplay is lighter, the story less rich and the tone even more bleak than Descend Into Madness. If this wasn't attached to a good prequel, this would be overlooked.
A pleasantly competent cosy sim, Discounty combines light drama with supermarket running gameplay to make something very relaxing. However, it may be a little too relaxed as there's no progression tied to gameplay and no real room to excel at being a shopkeeper, giving you nothing to work towards with agency. Cosy sim fans will have a good time but not a great one.
Time Flies may be on the short side, but its quirky and funny list of things to do and surprising amount of attention to immersion transforms a quick jaunt into an impactful life lesson. Life's too short to worry about the small stuff, be a fly for a couple of hours.
Maestro passes the baton to you to be a conductor with outstanding results. The core gameplay is fine-tuned and authentic, with a soundtrack that's one for the ages - and not because it's a lot of old songs. However, with a lack of incentive to outperform yourself or peers, and no good way to play the game outside of going between songs for 2 hours, Maestro is slightly lacking in being an essential VR game.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skate 3 + 4 uses the same gameplay formula as its predecessor, making it almost as fun. 4's redesign feels intuitive, the soundtrack befits the new coat of paint and the core gameplay is heaps of fun. With that said, character creation and career progression is hollow and unfulfilling, with nothing "new" to get stuck into outside of its 19 levels.
TRON: Catalyst presents a myriad of ideas within its gameplay, but never utilises each facet astoundingly, leaving the game to feel lacking. Whilst nothing is bad about Catalyst, there isn't a moment that felt inspired and exceeded the bar of quality I set myself after the opening hours. If you're a Tron fan or new to the genres Catalyst apes, there maybe something for you here, but the code runs thin on this one.
Rooftops & Alleys has a great foundation of parkour gameplay. But with a handful of levels and no great variety of missions that'll have you tripping over your feet, this won't keep players around for long; unless they're hardcore into parkour.
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is bigger in every facet with more locations to explore, more characters to meet, more story to read and more systems to manage. But with an increase in sheer scale, my journey has felt less significant as a result. I'm a mouth piece of a story being told rather than a Sleeper choosing my path. Whilst that leads to something more definitive, it loses the feeling of being mine. Citizen Sleeper 2 is a sci-fi world that's hard to compare and powerful in its writing, audio/visuals and gameplay making it a must-play dice driven RPG overall.
Full Metal Furies is an incredibly enjoyable party game to play locally or online. It is more than worth a $20 investment for the estimated 15-20 hours of gameplay to finish the story your first time through.
A delightfully refreshing experience.
This game is giving a new meaning to "Fantasy Football"
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles is a fun indie game that gives us a break from the typical combat-driven games we play and draws us into a beautiful world.
Life should be more self-explanatory.
The Finch family is notorious for death and tragedy. Edith, the last remaining member of the family, returns to her house after years of a new life, in hope of revealing the many secrets and truths that lie within its rooms. What Remains of Edith Finch relishes in stories, so let's see if they're worthwhile to listen to.