If you enjoyed prior Puppet Combo releases, The Glass Staircase will be as enjoyable. This is a very specific kind of horror adventure game that is like a very brief but hearty challenge. The story and lore are uninteresting and largely forgettable, but the few lines of dialogue there are for the characters are enough to figure out who they are. For its price, it’s a worthwhile cheap thrill that has a few good scares.
The content in Withering Rooms is comparable to what could be expected from a big AAA game. The various gimmicks and mechanics that affect how you play the game always make players consider what to do and how to overcome unbelievable odds. Countless outfits, weapons, enemies, and plenty of imposing boss battles will give gamers a lot of bang for their buck. If you ever thought Bloodborne needed to be 2D and about witchcraft, you have come home.
The Exit 8 is a unique and interesting experience, but not one of substance. The “hidden object” gameplay is very shallow and was designed to be picked up and played by anybody with eyes, thumbs, and index fingers. This is a novel and amusing distraction that works as intended and earns a few good chills when played in the dead of a silent night.
For a game that is about six hours, it is barren and wastes a lot of time by having players tediously walk through vast and empty environments or trudge through forced walking sequences. It is an unsatisfying experience that fails to live up to the original and you still can’t skip cutscenes.
It is a good sign when a tightly paced, dense horror game leaves players begging for more. It’s preferred than a game overstaying its welcome and feeling like you never want to play it again. Crow Country is compact, but I found myself feeling very cozy in its world, never wanting to leave.
Megaton Musashi W: Wired feels like it was made to cater to mobile gamers. While it is perfectly playable offline and alone, most of the features and the meat of the experience is the big grind online with players who rush to the end of every mission for loot.
What if Hotline Miami, but 80s anime and first person?
Playing El Shaddai portably feels right. The combat system is easy to get into and not having to deal with any camera system makes this game feel very accessible for action game newcomers. El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron HD Remaster is an audio and visual tour de force that you never forget. It makes sense why it was brought back after all these years.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes perfectly captures everything it set out to achieve. While the “love letter to JRPGs” phrase gets thrown around a lot these days, and sometimes makes me cringe despite my adoration for the genre, I have to hand it to Rabbit & Bear Studios. They made a promise and delivered with in amazing ways I never thought possible – Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is a love letter to classic JRPGs.
There are too many little things that Alisa gets wrong and it comes off as a fan’s attempt at making a horror game, rather than someone who truly understands the genre. The result is a very generic retro throwback.
This is a very mediocre shooter that plays it too safe and lacks the charm of the originals. There are far better options out there like Blazing Chrome or Gunlord X that will scratch that itch far better and those are priced more fairly than Contra: Operation Galuga.
Even with minor nitpicks, Dredge and its The Pale Reach add-on turned out to be one of the most enthralling experiences I’ve had in 2024 so far. It’s exciting, tense, full of mystery and wonder, and there is no other game like it.
Dredge is a totally innovative and creative take on the survival horror genre and manages to tell a compelling story without long-winded cutscenes or spoon-feeding it. The minor metroidvania elements to its adventuring also give players a lot of freedom to play at their own pace.
Highwater is not much of a strategy RPG and its story is boring. The adventure game elements are hopelessly bare and the battles are too basic to get any stimuli. It won’t interest children due to the lethargic gameplay and bleak premise, and older gamers will be desperately scraping for substance. It is a slow-moving and short game that looks and sounds kind of neat but is utterly lacking in every way imaginable.
The Cub is a solid cinematic action platformer that could have had tighter controls. Its audio and visuals are its biggest draw and while the story sticks to landing, the core themes of the narrative are utterly insulting. The misanthropic ideals it spews are shallow and the game would have been better off without it.
Good-Feel knew exactly who they were making this for and they succeeded, but it would have been nice if there were some substance for gamers who grew up with Peach too.
While a worthy spiritual successor, OTXO lacks the same underground charm that propelled Hotline Miami to success. Given the time elapsed since the Hotline games, OTXO feels like it could have benefitted from further refinement. With significant advancements in game design, some of the sloppier elements make it seem more like it came out around the same time as the Hotline series. Oddly, something so recent feels so behind.
With a bit of fine-tuning and rebalancing, Slave Zero X could be magnificent. It is already an audio/visual tour de force and the gameplay mostly works. If anything, Slave Zero X presents a compelling world with vivid imagery that sticks with you. It is no wonder why people still remember the original game and have fond memories of it.
Dungeon Encounters is a game that’s remarkably difficult to fault for its premise. It sets out with very specific intentions, and it achieves them, even if it frustrates players in the process. This isn’t your typical Square Enix fare; it’s tailor-made for hardcore RPG enthusiasts who savor the likes of pen-and-paper RPGs.
Alone in the Dark is hopelessly mediocre and rife with technical issues. While the bugs can be addressed, the generic gameplay and confusing story will always hold it back. There should have been some effort to include the original 1992 Alone in the Dark as an unlockable extra to add value to this remake, like how Splatterhouse (2010) had the 16-bit trilogy or how the Medievil remake had the PS1 game as an unlockable.