Whether it's down to the sharp, intelligent writing, or fantastic hand-drawn style and animation, Spiritfarer has a charm that could be described as almost Disney-eque… well, maybe that would be true if the first passenger Stella encounters wasn't a chain smoking deer. That charm is without a doubt [i]Spiritfarer[i/]s best asset, and something that many will latch on to consciously or subconsciously when coming to their own judgement on its quality. Yes, it can be slow and repetitive, but that is also part of the point. The 2D take on a life-sim is a path less travelled for the genre, and unique in this instance. It creates an appealing world wherein the developer has gone to great efforts to flesh it out, and make it feel lived in. It all hangs together very nicely, indeed.
Streets of Rage 4 does a textbook job of balancing between the new and the old.
Tharsis is a time-waster. Nonetheless it is a time-waster that's thoroughly recommended wasting time on - particularly good for fans of strategy and decision-based titles.
The saving grace for Thunder Paw is that generally sprites are cute, and music hits the mark for driving progress forward without being too repetitive. Whether or not that's enough to entice is up to the individual to decide. There's conceivably a compulsion to play on and best the unfair challenge, particularly with an early monkey boss level, which required keeping up with an increasing pattern speed in spite of a gimped weapon range. One hopes it might be a worthy first attempt, and it is if that's the case, but otherwise it is just a bit "rough." An oddity indeed.
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a potentially great RPG, trapped under a less-than-stellar console port.
The Stretchers is a jovial, anarchic affair. It looks like a Dreamcast title and, in some respects, feels like playing one too. That comparison isn't meant as a pejorative to say it's dated, as it isn't, and certainly it has a charm all of its own
Return of the Obra Dinn is without a doubt a thinking man/woman's piece of crumpet. It is someone that you can take out on a date and have a riveting conversation with, but then scratch your head about some of the things they've said afterwards.