Frank Streva
It’s just a shame that the experience is over so quickly. Perhaps a premature ending is a fitting flaw for a game crammed so full of dick jokes, but at the end of the day you are still left wanting more.
While it’s definitely a dated game that really wants you to jump into Bandai Namco’s equally dated gacha multiplayer game, Code Fairy contains enough worthwhile content to stand on its own if you are looking for a new single player Gundam experience.
If you’ve never experienced an Expeditions game before, then Expeditions: Rome is a good starting point. It’s by far the most polished and refined game in the series, and features a variety of unique little ideas and mechanics you don’t really see in other RPGs. The first few months of the year are usually pretty slow in terms of releases, so now is the perfect time to dive into a lengthy RPG like Expeditions: Rome.
While my complaints are numerous, I still enjoyed Jurassic World Evolution 2 more than I was frustrated by it. It’s already better than the original in many ways, and with a few more patches and DLC, it will probably be a great theme park management game. For now, I’d personally recommend holding off to see how the game is improved in the coming months.
The shooting mechanics might not be as refined or satisfying as other FPS games on the market, but they get the job done. If you don’t mind the short length and minor technical issues, INDUSTRIA is a fairly enjoyable experience that you can complete in a single session.
If you are looking for a bright and colorful puzzle-platformer with some nice environment and NPC designs, then Unbound: Worlds Apart will probably scratch your itch for a few hours. What it lacks in mechanical and narrative originality, it makes up for by just being an all around solid and enjoyable experience while it lasts.
Still, despite its flaws, Battlesector is nevertheless a good new addition to the ever-expanding library of 40k video games. Whether you are a complete 40k virgin, or a long-time veteran of the tabletop game, you’ll probably find a lot to like here.
It’s probably the most polished game Streum On Studio has made yet, even if it doesn’t quite have the same level of depth and complexity as E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy. It’s both a pretty solid shooter, and a fairly good Warhammer 40k game overall; so long as you go in expecting a somewhat buggy and unpolished experience.
While there is a really good looter-shooter somewhere in Outriders, it’s still plagued with just too many issues to recommend right now. Perhaps one day it will be come a truly awesome looter-shooter experience, but for now its too frustrating for me to contemplate investing more time into it.
The gameplay is really simple; but tense, challenging, engaging, and the overall concept isn’t quite like anything else out there right now. When combined with its completely absurdist humor and story, Blind Drive offers a compelling experience worth playing through if you are looking for a very distinctive game that can easily be completed in one sitting.
If you are in the mood for a hefty visual novel full of compelling characters and don’t mind that the combat mechanics aren’t particularly deep, then you’ll definitely want to give the Utawarerumono franchise a shot.
The game certainly isn’t the most complicated or mechanically deep roguelite action-platformer on the market. It doesn’t have the giant build variety and in-depth combat mechanics of something like Dead Cells. That being said, Skul: The Hero Slayer still a great addition to the genre in its own ways.
Nodding Head Games clearly have a lot of passion for the subject material, and you can see that they definitely put a lot of heart and soul into Raji. With more experience and a better budget, they could probably make a game that is every bit as fun to actually play as it is to immerse yourself in. The abrupt ending teases at a potential sequel, so hopefully they’ll have another chance to improve upon what they have created thus far.
Even if you are absolutely desperate for a new action RPG experience, you are probably better off rolling up another character in Torchlight II or Grim Dawn over buying Torchlight III in its current form.
Still, there is no denying that Aquanox Deep Descent is a very flawed game that doesn’t live up to its pedigree. The modest budget and troubled development cycle are glaringly obvious in many places throughout the game, and there are a lot of janky mechanics and bizarre design decisions.
I don’t think Serious Sam 4 is necessarily a bad game, I just think that its disappointing in a lot of ways. It has been almost a decade since the last game, so I was expecting something that was a little more polished, refined, and well-thought out, even if it was “just another Serious Sam game.”
Saibot Studios clearly has a fair amount of talent and passion, they just need more experience and a greater budget to expand upon what Hellbound offers. Hopefully, the developers are able to keep at it and deliver a truly unforgettable game sometime later on.
There is no denying that Maxi Boost ON is a very fun, mechanically deep 3D arena fighting game, but it is overflowing with so much Gundam fan service that it might be pretty overwhelming to gamers that aren’t already into Gundam, or are merely casual viewers of the franchise.
If you would like to spend five hours ripping and tearing your way through scientists and security guards as a bloodthirsty tentacle monster though, then you’ll probably have a lot of fun with Carrion.
It’s just a shame that the game is undeniably clunky. The PC port is pretty poor in terms of controls, and there really isn’t any reason why it should be. With some improvements here and there, West of Dead could become a really good entry to the roguelite genre. I still had enough fun to recommend it, just be prepared for some janky controls and mechanics here and there.