The developers deserve accolades for trying something new, but the game is just rife with far too many problems to recommend. Pathfinding and controlling is a mess, difficulty swings are incredibly wild, and despite all the cool pictures of stats and equipping stuff, none of it really matters. It was clear what it was going for, it just fell short of the mark.
It gets all the basics of the genre right, but it simply lacks any depth, and becomes an incredibly grindy only a few missions into the campaign. Interestingly, all the basics are there, it merely is lacking any exciting options, choices or selections; this is in addition to a very bad 'dead zone' tactical problem that is a huge contributor to the slog. Very rapidly a player will have seen everything there is to offer and there just isn't much beyond it. The game just starts to become frustrating the more it is played.
This is a type of game that, while experimental for the studio, really represents missed opportunities. Ranging from the extremely limited move set of the characters, lack of any new skills/moves, and a bit too much repetition, it leaves a strong feeling of how much better it could be. A heavy reliance on multiplayer likely dooms this, as the online population is relatively small, and the match-making is atrocious. Sad, as the graphics are great, and it could have been really fun with even a little bit more depth.
Truly exemplifying the maxim of 'too much of a good thing,' there is simply too much here that bogs itself down. The battle and strategic systems have some really cool and interesting ideas, but there is far too much... stuff that takes both of them down a notch. The strategic layer has way too many things to do with too much consequence, and the battle system takes too long, and is replete with a dizzying number of little things that must be taken into account, lest destruction result. It's really too bad as the core of the game is extremely solid, yet there is just too much in the way for it to shine.
Some pretty cool ideas and fun battle set-ups are largely handicapped by bad controls, and the campaign needs some overhauling with its length and unlock structure. These small things get in the way of the simple fun of watching crazy battles unfold. Ultimately, there are only so many things to try before it starts to become boring. Largely the battles are its strength, and far too often the game trips up on itself, when it would be better served getting out of the way.
There is everything here to make a great game. The only thing it really needed was a few more months testing things out. Notably, the graphics need some upgrading, and combat devolves into repetition very soon. Smoothing some of these problems out would easily push this into a very high recommendation. As it stands now it acts as a novel throwback if nothing else.
Invisigun succeeds in providing a good party, as well as single player experience. The gimmick of being invisible is not as important or prevalent as it might seem and given the nature of this, leads to a potential huge skill difference that takes away from a casual game it might otherwise provide. Graphically a little weak, it also does not have the same simple magic a game like Mario Party or Bomberman would have in drawing in casual players. With a group dedicated to learning its intricacies, it could be great fun, but it's a little too... out there for some plain fun.
Jackbox Party 6 has some great mini-games, and some decent ones. Far more adult oriented, its major downside is the higher degree of involvement and lesser payoff for some of the games. That being said, every single one in here is good, and some of them get some serious group laughs. Not as beginner friendly as some others, even a moderately committed group of people will find great fun somewhere in the five different games here.
There is nothing surprising here about MouseCraft. What you see is what you get, and unless the simplistic gameplay appeals to you, it is unlikely that there will be much here that the average gamer is interested in. Some of the puzzles are nice and all for a while, but ultimately, there are no true clever ideas or anything beyond just dropping varied blocks into holes and waiting for the mice to hopefully make it.
For a RTS where you do not attack the other player with units, there is a lot going on here. The raw amount of things to keep track of and options available, are in some ways overwhelming. The core of it all is great fun, and it is completely novel for a RTS to avoid just massing units and rolling out. The amount of stuff happening takes away some of the enjoyment, as playthroughs quickly get away from players if they are not using every option available to them. Finally, the pace is so fast that there is no enjoyment about surviving on these hostile planets.
Stellaris is going in a dangerous direction, even though this DLC adds some pretty cool things to its current state. The Origins are a fun addition, and federations are cool with their bonuses. The problem is the game is very quickly starting to become bloated, and with various changes, patches and more DLC, the "core"' of it all is rapidly being lost. It is losing its 4x status and slowly morphing into a type of MMO/RPR-type game that many of its original fans will likely not be a fan of.
There is little to recommend about this game. The gameplay is not engaging, with mindless clicking in boring gameplay loops, and the story feels like an endless scolding for something no one alive today even did, accompanied by an undercurrent of shame for supposed parallels to modern politics. Some interesting art is overshadowed by how outright simple and stupid most of the characters look. The not-so-hidden political agenda and modern criticisms to the game are so ham-fisted, it is very tough to recommend this unless one is in the mood for a moralizing diatribe.
Hardcore Mecha is completely surprising, coming from someone not a fan of mech stuff in general.
The series on the whole is a great throwback to the older Mana Khemia series. Ayesha is the weakest entry, graphically, story and gameplay wise, but things improve drastically with Escha and Logy, with a serious, "cool" factor to Logy, with the series coming to a very refined closure with Shallie. For JRPG fans that have any interest in those, they are a great pickup together. While not quite "traditional" RPG quests, they are very similar to the JRPGs that really first started getting popular in the West many years ago.
Great ideas and some outright fun is far too often marred by technical glitches, a maddening GUI, and simply overwhelming amounts of numbers and terms with very little information as to what any of it does. The originality of the game is cool but there are too many ideas were packed in without actually making sure they all work together coherently.
Even one amongst the games included is very enjoyable to play through, and having two in the package makes it that much better. Despite the huge battles of so many characters, it actually goes quick and, gives a much more chaotic yet satisfying experience rather than the "perfect" style Fire Emblem requires to play. This lacks many newer conventions, like managing relationships, as an example, and feels somewhat aged, but despite all this, it is still fun to play. The bundle is just so polished, that it's hard not to recommend.
There are some really cool ideas here, and potentially a really good game hidden under a mess that seems like it needed several more months of playtesting and hammering things out. There are just too many things like a lack of polish, a mess of a UI, the camera is hard to control, and bugs/glitches make the experience frustrating. It is sad because, while there are some cool things in here, it simply is not ready for release at this point. It needed way more time actually making sure the core experience is enjoyable, rather than fighting through nearly everything except for enemies.
Technically competent, and surprisingly well done, the simple lack of depth prevents this from doing any better. It can actually be completed in a few hours at max. Having a friend or playing online can extend the fun, yet the lack of content becomes obvious fairly quickly. The developer has promised more updates, which will hopefully come through, as the game has a good base to work with.
The core of the game is a very old-school RPG/dungeon crawling experience, for all its positives and mostly negatives. Unless not having a map and spending hours trying to re-roll viable characters sounds like fun, this one is better off left alone. The anime portraits look nice, but they are just dressing on a framework of something that simply does not stack up to better options in the genre.
With the pedigree and ideas going into this, Phoenix Point should have been much, much better than it is. The cool ideas are overshadowed by ever-present bugs, glitches, and hiccups that constantly get in the way of the player. Even excusing these, the ideas and presentation come off as incredibly bland very soon into the adventure. Little customization, little options, and little reason to care about your soldiers or base, round out reasons this is in need of massive updates and overhauls if it is to be saved.