LEGO Bricktales does only one thing, but it does it well: it allows you to play with LEGOs as you would do in your room, without placing constraints on your imagination. Its main limitation is a somewhat stubborn control system and a camera that is not easy to handle, but the final result repays the effort. The added value is a really appreciable technical compartment, which recreates small dioramas with enormous charm, based on historical LEGO sets that will lead to tears anyone who was young in the 80s/90s. It could mark the beginning of a new era for LEGO games, and that would be great news.
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Vertigo's main problem, probably, it'is his ambition. When you choose such a cumbersome source of inspiration, the risk of ending up crushed by it is real. The Pendulo game wisely chooses not to retrace the path traced by Hitchcock, but to borrow the main theme. Unfortunately, however, it manages to keep the interest high only in the initial stages, then a under-the-bar acting and questionable narrative choices prevail over originality. You could appreciate the attempt, not so much the outcoming.
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As Dusk Falls is a mixed bag. The story, while certainly not out of this world, provides good characters and a fair amount of drama, but the peculiar art style doesn't always succeed in conveying the right emotion. The voice-over, and especially the Italian dubbing, also occasionally suffers from the same issue. The multiplayer mode does make the game more engaging, but it's still an experience with very little interaction. Enjoyment might vary wildly depending on your tastes.
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Honestly, I feel like I can't do anything but completely pan Nightdive's efforts on Blade Runner Enhanced Edition: from a technical standpoint, the game is indefensible, with plenty of bugs, and certainly doesn't feel "Enhanced" compared to the original (luckily still available on GOG). Undoubtedly the lack of chunks of the source code and the format of the original assets did Nightdive no favors, but this is still a poor tribute to Westwood's legacy.
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There will always be a place for games like Freud's Bones, which have some imperfections, yes, but are also daring and willing to explore new themes. Fortuna Imperatore's debut game takes some considerable risks, such as having to explain psychotherapy to the player in order for him to untangle the main mechanics, but it hits the mark and churns out one of the most interesting systems of recent times. Not everything else is at the same level, but there is always a clear sense of the desire not to go down paths already taken by others: from a forerunner like Freud, one could not expect anything else.
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Made by a single developer, an industry rookie, FixFox really brings a good amount of ideas to the table. The main mechanics are quite simple, designed to be relaxing and reassuring. The outline, however, stands out for brilliant ideas and insights, which contribute to the creation of an intriguing context. Not everything is perfect, some aspect for example are a bit generic (music, especially) and some other may appear unclear at first glance. Its slow and somewhat repetitive pace might also bore more action-oriented players.
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I have to admit it: What Lies in the Multiverse hits the zeitgeist like few other games did. The entertainment world has a multiverse fever and Studio Voyager uses this concept to create a stimulating puzzle-platform where every solution is just a reality-switch away. But beyond the effective gameplay there's a solid narrative, that tells tragedy through irony and creates bonds between the player and his character.
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Even with all its limitations, The Last Cube strives to do one thing, simply one thing, and succeeds in its intent. It is a solid puzzle game that knows how to keep its idea interesting level after level, and when to stop. The challenge remains on a consistent level throughout the five worlds, and considering how small the team is, the slight technical missteps are forgivable. A good choice if you are into puzzle games.
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When I was young, my parents told me that patience is a virtue: I never believed them. WWE 2K22 taught me that was true. The two years hiatus gave Visual Concepts the time to make things right, tuning all the parts of the game that weren't good enough in the past. You can always do better, so some aspects (like the MyGM game mode) could be improved, but WWE 2K22 feels like a fresh new start.
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Artistic provocation that is more form than meaning or courageous exploration of the aesthetic limits of the video game? About an Elf is probably both, and that's why it's worth playing. Its five-hours mix of visual novel, RPG and point&click will be one of the surreal-est experiences you could have with a joypad in your hands.
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Summertime Madness is like a young artist, basking in his talent and quickly getting tired of his own brilliant insights, letting them fade away, while trying to set the tone with hermetic and indecipherable claims. Although there is a certain amount of brilliance under the surface, it is clouded beneath a layer of confusion. But of course not everyone gets to create The Witness at their first try, so if you are in withdrawal from puzzle games, Summertime Madness should be a partial relief.
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Just when you think you've seen it all and know it all, out of nowhere comes a Catalan studio that puts together a combination of genres so finely crafted that it leaves you speechless. Treasures of the Aegean might look like a metroidvania at first glance, but exploration is not tied to upgrades. All that you need is the ability to run as fast as you can and make your brain work just as quickly, because the sea is about the claim the island of Santorini once again.
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The Gunk is game full of charm, thanks especially to its wonderful art direction and the colorful alien world it created. Unfortunately, despite its short duration The Gunk does not manage to carry this sense of wonder all the way to the end, due to repetitiveness of environments and a gameplay that ends up being far too simplistic. It's still a valid title, especially for younger players; it just needed a little more to truly shine.
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Sometimes a good idea is all you need, and Shatter Ground got a great one. The gamble of combining turn-based strategy with a card game and with the stylish fighting of Superhot ended up working quite well. I personally found Fights in Tight Spaces' roguelite mechanics a little frustrating, but it is a matter of taste and in any case the game offers five different difficulty settings. One last praise goes to the artistic & technical aspects of the game, minimalist yet functional and pleasantly rich in details.
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White Shadows does nothing to hide his sources of inspiration: Limbo and Inside. A dark and obscure location is the right place to set a dystopian, anthropomorphic future story which can be read as a hermetic social metaphor. Though fascinating, White Shadows does too little to explain to the players where they are or what exactly it is that they're doing, and its very simple mechanics don't help. At the same time though, you often feel like you just can't leave, like when watching a Lynch movie.
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There are not that many space combat games out there, so Chorus could be a good pick if you like an action packed and ready-to-go game that doesn't require you to study astrophysics like Elite o Star Citizen. The drawback is that, mechanics wise, Chorus is fairly repetitive, and not that mechanically deep. It could still be a good choice if you're aching to shoot space lasers, but in a couple of hours you might realize you're becoming more of a space tourist than an ace pilot.
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Coming 27 years after its predecessor, Beyond a Steel Sky inevitably lacks the originality that made Beneath a Steel Sky such an instant classic, and a strong source of inspiration for many games that came later. Union City is now a 3D world, but it's still filled of clever puzzles and interesting characters, shaped around Cecil and Gibbons' view of society. It might not be as groundbreaking as the original, but Beyond a Steel Sky is still a good adventure that tries to offer a perspective on our society and how we should try to improve it without leaving anyone behind.
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Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy gets back to the classic singleplayer formula, steering away from the hybrid attempt of Marvel's Avengers and piecing together gameplay elements from Tomb Raider, Mass Effect and even Knights of the Old Republic to make a quite unique choral adventure.
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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl tries to be a challenger for Super Smash Bros. and aims for the weak spot of his opponent, showing off a stable and solid netcode. A good multiplayer and tight controls, though, are not enough to reach the stars. The roster is good and varied, but a little scarce right now (maybe DLCs will fill the gap) and characters lack characterization (no pun intended): a pity, because Nickelodeon's original voices and music would have added a lot of value to the game.
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A Juggler's Tale tries to find its space in the wide spectrum of similar games by impressing the audience with a truly suggestive and inspired aesthetic, a gorgeous front cover for a solid game. In just a couple of hours, it tries to establish a dialogue with the player, pushing it to reflect on serious themes such as freedom and free will, at the same time being aware of the paradoxes embodied by its mechanics. A good debut for kaleidoscube.
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