Ultimately, that’s the feeling I leave Sonic Frontiers with. It’s not perfect and it could never be perfect with the chances it takes but ultimately the chances are generally the best parts of the game. I have not been this excited to talk about a Sonic game since Generations which was over a decade ago. Sonic is fun, and I think a lot of people will have fun with it. I hope the team expands upon what they built here because I genuinely believe the next game built off this framework could be amazing.
So yeah… Somerville kind of sucks. The best parts of the game are when it focuses on the alien invasion aspect. The worst parts are everything else. Honestly, skip this game. It actually makes me worried for what Playdead has coming next because they have said they want to do more than just 2D games too and if they play anything like Somerville I’ll probably skip it.
I wouldn’t even tell fans of the show to play it.
There’s supposed to be four Kirbys racing at all times and the lack of an online player base and the lack of four player split-screen multiplayer just makes it hard to recommend this game at all. It’s a good game marred by the fact that like a lot of great multiplayer focused games, the player base is lacking and the game suffers for it. I would give this game an 8 had it not been for the fact that the online player base isn’t very strong and I do not want to recommend a dead game to people. At least it has an offline single player mode I guess.
I would talk about the story but outside of simple details around the world when playing the levels, most of the story comes in right at the end of the game in what I felt was pretty sad for a game this happy. It has a happy ending though and I did like it. There’s a lot to be enjoyed by both kids and adults in Tinykin. It’s on Game Pass while I write this but I would absolutely buy this game again on Switch just to have it on the go so I could play it all again. I have not had this much fun with a 3D platformer since Super Mario Odyssey or Bowser’s Fury. I hope we see more of the Tinykin in the future because I think there’s a lot more we could see them do in a much longer, bigger experience.
That’s why I think it is a disservice to label Cult of the Lamb as a rogue-like game. That is not the point. The point is to manage a cult while working a day job that just happens to be murdering elder gods in the forest and there’s no babysitter in the neighborhood that would agree to take care of your disciples so you just trust them to not kill each other whilre you’re gone. The depth of the mechanics are to be lauded as I think it’s the best cult management game out there. It refuses to go for simple concepts like “drinking the kool-aid” to build faith and actually makes each character in the cult have their likes and dislikes and forces the player to figure out the best way to deal with the cult as a whole so as to not lose faith in the player. The art and sound design just bring this whole game together into one of the best games I’ve played this year.
Anyone who has played Resident Evil: Village and is looking for an inexpensive, well made horror game that was clearly made by fans of the genre will likely find a lot to enjoy. I also still think anyone who likes metroidvanias should give this a shot too. I can’t wait to see what Pulsatrix Studios does next.
Generally though this game only has so much to offer. If replaying stages doesn’t sound fun, then I would likely say skip Ground Divers! because there are only seven stages and that does seem a bit small. I personally think Ground Divers! would work better as a mobile game where pins are put down via the touch screen and other actions can be done via on screen buttons because while intense, most levels are done fairly quickly because of the built in time limit the enemies place on the player. It’s fun. I will pick it up again from time to time and for the price point I think it’s priced perfectly but I can definitely understand if a strategy game about gently guiding a robot to where he needs to be underground isn’t everyone’s interest. I think it successfully pulls off what it sets out to do.
Save big collector’s editions to Strictly Limited and let ININ handle the complete versions for release. Change the cover art or something between the two releases but maintain the same game on both carts. Even a full removal of the ININ physical release for a digital only release outside of Strictly Limited’s physical release would be welcomed if it meant I got to experience the full collection. Just be upfront too: explain that you’re the same company handling different release methods. If certain games come with a limited licensing deal be upfront with that information. Mistakes are going to happen, so why choose to make them.
Overall, Forgotten Land is just a great time with a mix of genuine challenge and simple fun. Like most Kirby games, I don’t think Forgotten Land is going to set the world on fire but it’s really good. Like a favorite blanket, Kirby is always a joy to come back to and I’m really glad I played Forgotten Land.
There’s plenty of little life improvements but to me, and I realize this is extremely biased, is where PokéMon peaked and to remake PokéMon Diamond and Pearl this well is quite something. I think it’s hard to find complaints with Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl outside of simply not liking the formula of PokéMon. There’s so much to discover and do that it comes very close to feeling like living in the world of PokéMon and I suppose that’s all I ever wanted. Let me compete with friends on whose PokéMon is the cutest, see who is the toughest, and then let us hang out in the dingy underground digging up fancy gems together. Maybe when we’re done I’ll save the world from some evil group and catch some legendary PokéMon too. It brings me back not just to my teens, but to the feeling I had when I borrowed my friend’s copy of PokéMon Red and for a game to continue this long and still hook me after all this time is more praise than I can necessarily articulate.
With plenty of small costume unlocks and new sayings to collect, Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain does have small hooks to make sure people come back day after day.
All I can really say is that I think the narrative is extremely well done and I should have expected that coming from the guy who also created Pony Island which I thoroughly enjoyed as well. The art design and the audio design are also top notch.
I’m not sure whether to recommend Happy Game or not. I think most people will be disappointed with its short play time and easier puzzles. Any fan of Amanita will definitely find joy in this new direction for the studio but will maybe be let down in comparison to past titles’ puzzles. In short, Happy Game is good, people should play it, but wait for a sale.
The Eternal Cylinder is a fever dream of a title that satisfies a lot of my tastes: exploration, puzzles, survival, lots of different abilities, truly alien landscapes, geometric shapes that desire uniformity through destruction of all of life, and hoarding. Oh, and quite a bit of heart. Nothing here feels so alien that I can’t feel something for this world except the familiar but nightmarish servants that stand out in this world. I think ACE Team has something really special here and I really can’t think of anything else that does all of what The Eternal Cylinder as good as The Eternal Cylinder does.
I simply don’t think this stands as tall as Super Metroid, Zero Mission, Prime, Fusion, or even Samus Returns. But to a Metroid fan it is worth playing and realize that these are problems I found with the game; other people haven’t had the same issues. However, to anyone who has never played a Metroid game before, I don’t think this is the place to start. I think it feels too different from the rest of the series (neither a good or bad thing) and the moments in the story that hit really well only do so because of everything that has happened before in previous titles.
All in all, EDF World Brothers is good, but it is also just EDF with a new coat of paint and I don’t need one every year or two. I want these titles to be special and had I not had an EDF title in the last five years (let alone two) I think World Brothers would have been more exciting to play. However, as a fan of EDF it is just another EDF game and honestly had I not been reviewing it I would have likely skipped it because past the coat of paint and new mechanics, it is just shooting giant bugs and monsters. With that I will basically say that this game is on par with EDF 5. It is still fun but nothing special.
I know Space Invaders is an important title and it still holds up extremely well, but I would have hoped Taito and Gotch Technology would put a little more effort into making a museum quality collection like those from M2 rather than just some titles that padded out a release. At least Space Invaders Extreme is still great.
It contains a wonderful story, one of the most satisfying final battles, some of the best humor in any Zelda game, plenty of completely optional side content, and some really unique gameplay that only Skyward Sword has offered. I have never been happier to say I was wrong about a game.
I don’t think anything is gained by playing either Famicom Detective Club that can’t be gained by watching a playthrough because the puzzles are at best throwaway and at worst barely present. These are inherently flawed games, but if somehow the idea of slogging through menus isn’t a turn off there are absolutely two great, down to Earth murder mysteries to be experienced here.