Despite the red flags, I was actually rooting for Concord. It could have been a fun new hero shooter, but it just feels lifeless and soulless. It plays well enough but there isn’t anything in here that would keep you busy for long stretches. It’s a shame as there is a solid enough core.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail had a lot to live up to following the excellent legacy left behind by Shadowbringers and Endwalker. It doesn’t always hit the mark with incredibly slow opening hours and odd choices that permeate the entire expansion but there’s a lot to like about it as well. The battle content, soundtrack, and some impactful moments all come together to help push up an otherwise struggling expansion and this makes it a mostly excellent addition.
MudRunner VR sees a fairly successful conversion to the VR space. The Meta/Oculus Quest 2 hardware is really starting to show its age, though. It’s incapable of larger scale maps or high fidelity visuals. What MudRunner VR does exceptionally well is recapture the core into a more bite-sized look into the MudRunner gameplay. Hopefully, this is the stepping stone to a more feature-rich VR title.
Destiny 2: The Final Shape sticks the landing on a rocky saga. Just as all hope was lost with the disastrous Lightfall expansion, Bungie somehow turned it around. A heartfelt and epic story that brings a ten-year narrative to its conclusion. It’s not perfect and it certainly falls into the trappings that have plagued the franchise since it first released in 2014, but it is a good time.
V Rising is not only an exceptional survival game but a great ARPG as well. With great combat, boss design mixed in with a healthy dose of well-balanced and meaningful survival crafting systems that make progression fun. This makes for a uniquely engaging experience that lets you live out the ultimate vampire fantasy.
Heading Out combines genres and styles which might sound incompatible at first glance, but did so in a very interesting manner, resulting in a truly unique roguelike experience. I, for one, really liked the presentation as well, with its slick visuals and soundtrack. It’s not entirely perfect, as the driving could have been more polished, and the pop-in glitches really took me out of the experience at times. That being said, it’s a game unlike any other out there, which wlll definitely keep you engaged through a good few runs.
It does have a lot of issues, but Outcast: A New Beginning also features its fair share of saving graces. It is flawed, but a somewhat good time in smaller bursts. It’s a shame its open world design felt generic, never succeeding at captivating me, because the core combat mechanics and admittedly great visual design did a lot of heavy lifting. It’s an unapologetic old-school game in its premise and content; it doesn’t try to be anything else, nor does it try to punch above its weight. Whether you think this is commendable or not is up to your opinion.
Alone in the Dark had the potential to be a truly great game; I was really rooting for it. All the ingredients are present for a great cosmic horror story with interesting characters and a horror environment that could have been one of the best in years. If that’s all you want, then I would recommend picking this up on sale. However, the lacklustre gameplay, bugs, and weak horror segments bring this experience down. Maybe this franchise should be left Alone in the Dark.
Despite some issues, Ereban Shadow Legacy is an entertaining stealth experience that takes a novel concept and pushes it throughout the entire game. Sneaking around in the shadows is always a good time for stealth fans, and this one will certainly satisfy that itch.
Children of the Sun is a truly unique game worth experiencing that had me hooked for its entire runtime. An engaging puzzle-centric design mixed with an addictive gameplay loop and extremely high replay value. If you are looking for something a little bit weird, then this is the game for you.
Buckshot Roulette is a very short experience, but one that is worth trying out. A uniquely interesting premise that will keep you busy for a couple of hours. Hopefully the developer can expand on this some more, as there is potential for expansion here.
If it wasn’t clear already, Shines Over: The Damned is a really bad game, which isn’t worth your money or your time, even if it lasts just half an hour. It’s a short, but definitely not sweet experience, completely lacking in scares, story, atmosphere, or neat ideas. To make matters worse, it costs way too much for something so short. The easy platinum trophy you can get from it is not worth the pricetag. At its worst, it was a frustrating gameplay experience. At its best, it was an experimental snorefest.
To put it plainly, Helldivers 2 is one of the best cooperative games in recent years. An uncomprisingly fun shooter, which may even stand up with the titans like Left 4 Dead 2, Monster Hunter World and Halo Master Chief Collection. Games like these, as well as Helldivers 2, are the ones I have spent hundreds of hours in, and will most likely continue to play for years to come. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to spread some managed democracy. Freedom don’t come free!
The Thaumaturge is a weird and unique game. It’s engaging from beginning to end, thanks to its great story and timeline based combat system that makes every fight exciting. It’s not perfect, and some pacing issues do slow the game down, especially in the side content, however, it is still well worth your time.
Skull and Bones isn’t the absolute shipwreck that many expected it to be. However, after such a long period of time waiting for this come out, never truly knowing whether or not Ubisoft had actually cancelled it, it’s hard not to be disappointed with this corporate and generic end result. This is a shallow, empty, lifeless experience, where its admittedly solid core gameplay cannot carry the rest of its disappointing elements on its own. There is still some fun to be had, sure, but this isn’t worth the current pricetag, especially with other, much better pirate-themed games available in basically every modern system you can imagine.
Phantom Abyss is an interesting temple runner game that provides fast paced platformer gameplay and an ever escalating level of traps as you move from biome to biome. Despite having interesting ideas that should have spoken to me and my tastes, I didn’t find myself hooked into the game as much as I thought I would. Nothing about it, from its online systems to some of its later levels, did enough to make it worthwhile.
Let me clarify that, whilst Silent Hill: The Short Message wasn’t exactly the kind of game we were all waiting for, it’s not entirely that bad. It’s a mixed bag of a horror experience, with a story which tried to deal with some heavy personal themes (not exactly new ground for the series, mind you), only to fall short in its execution. Regardless, it’s still worth giving a shot. There is stuff to like in here, and let me reiterate the fact that it’s free, and brief. It’s not particularly a risky investment.
Momodora: Moonlit Farewell kicks off the year with a great metroidvania title. The fantastic level design and art style make it easy to recommend to fans of the genre, despite some shortcomings. It provides a fantastic entry point for franchise newcomers, and what I’m confident in saying is a great sendoff for long time fans. Anyone looking for a solid metroidvania will have a good time here.
The Finals is one of the most interesting PvP shooters in a long time. A truly unique and refreshingly simple concept that worked out for the better. It is fast paced without being annoying and puts solid teamwork at the forefront of its main game mode. Although there is a lack of content and balance isn’t perfect, The Finals is well worth trying.
Anthology of Fear is one of the most mind-numbing and unremarkable horror games that I’ve played this year. It’s nothing more than a walking simulator, with very few actual moments of tension or effective scares. Not to mention a story that only serves to frustrate and confuse. There are so many better choices out there, so I recommend steering clear of this one.