For me, the highlight of the game was the door-based battles, which had waves of enemies teleporting in more open space. Even when I died I wanted to get back to them quickly to try out new strategies (more doges are always a great idea). Death's Door offers a good mix of combat and exploration but needs a few more systems to keep gamers interested to make progress and find everything the game has to offer.
The Momentum concept, designed to shake up a relatively classic turn-based experience, is interesting but does not affect the action enough. Black Lab has already said that they are planning to add more factions to the game, presumably with a focus on extra variety for skirmishes. The downloadable content for Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector needs to expand on the Momentum idea and add more unit abilities in order to make it a classic for the setting.
Despite the cliché story scenario, the game does have its surprising moments that can get you emotional rather quickly. At the end of the day, I believe Wings of Ruin's lighthearted narrative is perfectly suited for a Monster Hunter game that's all about hatching monsters to help you hunt the same monsters.
The dialogues are plain and the pace of the story is way too slow, with only a few moments you could actually call funny. The simple graphics do not bring justice to the fairy tale theme of the game, and overall Anna's Quest is far from the level we come to expect from Daedalic.
The patches are coming out steadily, the developers are trying to fix their mess, but in the end, Hired Gun leaves you with a bitter taste. This could have been a memorable game, yet Necromunda: Hired Gun feels like an ambitious project too big for such a small developer.
The biggest potential issue with the game is that it offers too much freedom and too little structure. It might drive players away if they feel that their progress is too gated. But I love the feeling of freedom that Boomerang X offers when it is at its best and the huge adrenaline spike that a good fight against seven waves can deliver, regardless of the result.
The entire trilogy sends players throughout this amazing sci-fi universe that feels alive and vibrant everywhere you look. Perhaps these games should have been remastered separately to get the attention they deserve, but having the entire trilogy in a single bundle that's perfectly playable nearly 15 years after the release of the first game is surely convenient.
The game also delivers on its tonal shift and twist and does things that a simple noir detective story could not. Backbone understands the value of good writing and works hard to make words matter. The development team has already said that it has more stories to tell in this universe and I very much want to see how they expand on the best elements of Backbone and how they can make the world even more intriguing.
The development team at Jujubee has also focused on the modern world, a period that not many titles in the genre try to tackle (Paradox has not yet moved much beyond World War II). Realpolitiks II might seem complex for newcomers but its mix of ideas and execution will work well for anyone who has even a little experience with the grand strategy space.
The problem is that the developers do not push the limits of the space they settled in. The companions and the special powers are attempts at this but limited ones. After three or four levels even the idea of battling new bosses failed to excite me about the game. Mighty Goose is another title that needs more than very good execution of core concepts to stand out.
If you are in your element when facing impossible odds, Green Hell is right up your alley. The abuse on players is relentless and creates an almost Stockholm syndrome-like experience. All the survival enthusiasts will keep coming back for more and more punishment.
Review code provided by the publisher.
The game does have a relatively clever connection between its mechanics and themes. Digging up the farm and digging up a life feel somehow similar, especially when it comes to seeing long-buried stuff in a new light. But the gameplay is too limited to offer anything more than a way to get story bits. And the narrative starts off interesting, delivers a good second and third day, and then collapses. Avoid The Magnificent Trufflepigs and just play Firewatch or Gone Home again.
As it stands now, even with the Day1 patch released, the Master Collection is lacking on every front. The games are still enjoyable, but there is nothing masterful in this collection, the publisher being content releasing a mere port instead of a remaster or alas, a remake.
Review code provided by the publisher.
The football management space needs more options and more innovation. The developers clearly try to focus on the match and the squad interactions while also offering more club-based features for those who want it. I liked the time I spent with We Are Football but it's unlikely that I will use it to play a ten-year-long Liverpool campaign anytime soon.
I love the ship and the personalities that reside on it, each with its own issues and secrets. I would love to see how the developers can expand it, maybe telling another story from a different perspective or by moving the protagonist into another space. Overboard! represents a clear way for the narrative and choice-driven adventure title to evolve in cool ways.
If you are a fan of the Lovecraftian universe though, you might leave disappointed. The game lacks all the heavy and tormenting atmosphere that made famous the works of the American author. Call of the Sea remains an adventure game that will be enjoyed by the fans of this genre.
Cycling, as a sport and as an activity, is growing. And there's no reason a video game built on its core concepts should not be incredibly popular. Both developer Cyanide and publisher Nacon need to evaluate their recent release and the history of the series to find a way to push it forward. If Pro Cycling Manager 2021 thrives it will be because of the fans and the community and not because of the two companies, which is a shame.
Devolver often delivers weird games that take familiar ideas or mechanics and deliver cool twists on them. Loop Hero is a very good example of how this approach can succeed. Sludge Life has good tunes and a new presentation style but it needed more in the way of either gameplay or narrative to deliver a truly cool experience.