Budget Cuts does a good job keeping you intrigued throughout its very short run time. There is definitely a fun gameplay hook of sneaking through offices and solving puzzles. Unfortunately, the adversaries are easily fooled and puzzles are a bit too simple.
There is an enjoyable aerial combat game here with a unique story and setting, but the grind and monotonous mission structures hamper it.
Unto the End is a clear labor of love from 2 Ton Studios and they created something great here. The mix of different styles and systems paired with the unforgiving nature is refreshing.
I was really hoping to be impressed with Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, but it unfortunately actively tried to ruin itself. It’s not poorly made, or glitchy, or unplayable, it’s just unbelievably mediocre. In fact, the best thing about the game is the real life documentary in it that interviews real vets.
I absolutely loved Blue Fire and think it is an amazing indie title worth your time. From its clear inspirations from the greats and its way of incorporating those action, adventure, RPG, and platforming elements into one game is fantastic. However, it does suffer that unpolished feeling of an indie.
PUSS! is a lot of flash, but little substance. The visuals are a treat for the eyes and it will leave you bewildered and talking about it. Unfortunately, once the the shock of the ridiculous visuals wears off, you’re left with a pretty basic game. A basic game that doesn’t even play all that well on the Nintendo Switch platform.
You can blow through this whole game in a couple hours and there is no reason to go back. In fact, you can platinum this game by level seven of world one.
There is so much to unlock and it’s all meaningful things that will change how each expedition plays out. That “carrot on a stick” roguelike gameplay is done perfectly here, paired with the D&D type tabletop gameplay. If I had one thing that would have made this better, it would be some player involved combat if chosen. You can’t even choose which enemy to attack first. This could have added to some fun factor and strategy in fights.
There is actually a decent amount of effort put in here even if it all didn’t land well with me. I did really enjoy the sections with Lusst’ghaa and the erotic sex parts didn’t seem over the top. In fact, the gore sections are what I thought could be toned down on. A lot of those sections felt like forced shock value and that type of horror doesn’t gel with me as well.
DARQ is an experience that I’m glad I finally got to play. It offers unique puzzles and mechanics within a macabre theme that I love. It really made an effort to create a seamless experience that had me playing all the way through and enjoying every moment. I will mention that it is quite short, but I don’t mind as it offered a tight experience that had me engaged the entire time.
Overcooked! All You Can Eat is an extremely good value offering a ton of content under a decent price. The visual and FPS improvements are welcome and it’s great having the entire series under one game. However, if you’ve been a long time fan investing in the series, there may not be enough new content to warrant another purchase.
Rising Hell is a surprisingly good game that took a simple level design idea and made it work with the roguelite genre. If you’re into demon slaying to heavy metal and enjoy the roguelite loop then this will be a title to pick up.
I don’t feel Biomutant is a failure since it still offered what I was expecting. A crazy RPG set in a weird setting filled with mutated creatures and fun combat. I definitely I got that. I also unfortunately got way more than expected, which ended up diluting the entire package.
I was really excited for Open Country and was hoping it would bridge that gap between arcade hunting and hunting sim. In spirit, this is what it set out to do and you can see that from the game. It’s just a shame that the execution just isn’t there. There is still something special here that I think hunting and survival game fans could love. However, it needs a lot of work from bugs, crashes, and overall balancing of its gameplay systems.
Chivalry 2 is a great time and the controls are intuitive enough to be able to jump in and chop down some enemies. While content is a bit light at launch and there isn’t any evolution to the mechanics for veterans, I can’t deny the frantic fun.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 is a game designed for my taste. It offers me a buffet of different gameplay options, tech, stealth opportunities, and sniping that I love. It mixes the action stealth gameplay and long distance sniping simulation very well, and while it may not be super exciting, it gives methodical players like myself something to obsess over.
Returnal for me is as close to a masterpiece as I think I’ve gotten. Despite a few small visual glitches, nothing that I encountered was game breaking. There were no crashes or any bugs that would force me to start a new run. Once I started playing, I didn’t want to put the game down. I was fully hooked into this world, into Selene’s story, and I wanted to fight my way out of there.
Death’s Door was a title I was looking forward to from the previews. I liked the concept, the gameplay looked good, and the characters looked silly and fun. However, I did not expect it to be one of the best games I’ve played this year. Beating the main boss and rolling the credits isn’t even the end. There is still more mystery to unfold and I haven’t been able to put it down. You absolutely owe it to yourself to play this title.
Despite some lackluster boss fights, the overall design and gameplay are solid, and I did really enjoy my entire time with it. Unfortunately, in its current state it is hard to recommend due to a lot of the glitches and issues I ran into, but with some fixes this is the “Zelda with guns” game you’ve always wanted.
Eldest Souls will not be a game for everyone. It will smash you and make you question if you’re any good at gaming. However, I never felt it was unfair in anyway and the sense of accomplishment after finally taking down a boss is immense. The combat has a surprising depth to it, and the gameplay flow is nonstop and pushes you to adapt.