If you’re skilled, you can speed through in a little over ten hours, though exploring every nook and cranny of the map and finding all of the collectables can take upwards of double that, especially considering there are two endings to experience. At any rate, Blasphemous is torturously fun, and one of the best the genre has to offer.
Overall, RAD is a great time. A simplistic roguelike with a humble, yet ingenious mechanic.
On the surface, Bear With Me appears to be little more than an amusing, story-driven, point and click adventure, infused with the tone and style of noir classics like The Maltese Falcon. However, there's much more at play within this clever episodic tale.
Overall, Doughlings: Invasion is a surprisingly fun time. Though it appears on the surface to be little more than an unpleasant looking clone of Space Invaders, its surprisingly deep gameplay elements, well sloped difficulty curve, and some banging tunes make it a simple yet effective bit of arcade fun for short bursts. Though players are unlikely to pick it up for more than an hour due to the lack of multiplayer or meaningful rewards for completion, that hour will at least be entertaining. Don't let the ugly graphics put you off; if you've got a spare bit of dough, it might be worth a look.
Overall, the Contra Anniversary Collection is a pleasant shoot down memory lane, but the duplicate games are frustrating additions, taking up slots that could’ve been filled by more unique titles.
Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection is a nice nostalgia trip, but not an essential purchase. Though all of the games bar Haunted Castle are good fun, none but the Gradius games and Thunder Cross truly stand the test of time. Considering the arcade games missing here, it's hard to accept this as a 'classics' collection, but for what you're given, you could certainly do worse.
Conarium is a good, plot focused and atmospheric walking sim puzzler. Though it's billed as horror, it serves to get under your skin, rather than producing any massive frights. That said, the world created is wonderfully realised and quite beautiful in its freakishness. The way that the game captures the otherworldly vibe of Lovecraft's work, and develops such an engaging story quickly, is something to applaud. Ignoring the poor voice acting, bad character models, and the odd frustrating puzzle, if you're looking for a disturbing, plot focused walking sim experience, or you're just a huge Lovecraft fan, you won't go far wrong here.
RIDE 3 will be loved by fans of motorcycle sims, but likely won't be the game to invite new audiences to the genre. The sheer number of unlockables is impressive and the extensive campaign mode is sure to give fans a lot to sink their, er, wheels into. However, some slightly sloppy visuals and the difficult to pick up gameplay will keep it reserved for that niche audience.
11-11: Memories Retold is an immersive, beautiful, and emotionally charged game. It's at its best when it functions as a playable film, with you making the major decisions. Where it falls down is in its clunky gameplay and story beats that are locked behind secret item collection. However, the strong celebrity performances and engaging story more than make up for this and create a really unique experience that is both thought provoking and enjoyable. As the subtlest World War game ever made, there's nothing more appropriate to play to commemorate the signing of the Armistice.
The Shapeshifting Detective is an interesting idea that seems to have love and care put into it. Unfortunately, it's a little too basic, and despite the gimmick of changing into other characters, becomes dull after about an hour of play. The actual narrative is an interesting case however, with additional hinted backstory for your main character, which is somewhat compelling. The visuals and tone are good too, but the hit and miss acting and slow pace make for a slightly underwhelming shapeshifting whodunnit.