Unfortunately, it just has too many issues with its gameplay to make it an enjoyable experience. It has some great ideas, but ultimately, it stumbles because it can’t decide what kind of a game it wants to be. Diehard fans of the genre might be able to overlook its frustrating controls, but most will get too annoyed to enjoy it.
Dordogne was not the game I was hoping for. The gameplay is awkward and tedious, and the story takes far too long to get interesting, then ends rather abruptly. The only area that did manage to live up to the hype was the art design. Unfortunately, after soaking up its breath-taking watercolor aesthetic, I found Dordogne to be less of a wild adventure, and more of a lackadaisical drift downstream.
It’s hard to recommend Frightence, mainly because there’s just so little of it. Clocking in at under an hour of playtime, with no replay value, it’s tough to make a case for it. The idea is great, but the game ends just as things start to pick up and become interesting. It leaves off with a “To be continued” message, which leaves me hopeful that there is a more solid game in the works. As it stands, Frightence feels more like a demo or prologue than an actual game.
It’s a shame because there are some really good elements in here and hints of a much stronger tale to be told. Maybe if it had been developed longer or had better funding, more of the story surrounding the village and its citizens would have been better fleshed out. The game itself is only about three hours long, so it could have definitely benefited from some extra chapters. As it stands, Draugen is a beautiful borefest that is better left abandoned.
Invincible Presents: Atom Eve could have been a great concept for a video game, but the end result feels more like a hollow cash grab. While parts of it are technically a new adventure, certain major story beats have already been covered in the comics and show, making this journey feel unnecessary. Your choices don’t really matter and the combat is as shallow as a puddle. If you’re looking for the thrill of the Invincible universe, I’d recommend just rewatching the show or reading the comics. Invincible Presents: Atom Eve lacks the punch and ferocity that makes Invincible so enthralling.
The Wreck is definitely not a game for everyone. Admittedly, it’s pretty tough to get through, for a variety of reasons. It has a somewhat slow start, which might turn some people off. It also covers several mature topics and themes, such as grief, death, self-harm, and toxic relationships. However, for those who love a compelling narrative, The Wreck has that in spades.
I wanted to like The Outbound Ghost, I really did. There’s clearly a ton of love behind its development, especially in the art and sound departments. Unfortunately, its story is completely underdeveloped and ends without much of it being resolved or explained. The combat is fun at first, and encourages creative combinations of Figments and their Aspects, but it does start to feel repetitive after a while.
On one hand, the story is interesting, at least interesting enough to have made me want to see it through to its conclusion. But on the other hand, it’s incredibly padded with unnecessary sections, rife with bugs and glitches, and has some distractingly bad lip syncing issues.
It seems to be at odds with itself as to what kind of game it wants to be. There are calm moments of catharsis and reflection, but this is undercut by enemy encounters and poor flying mechanics. Even the brief sections where you are allowed to walk around are frustrating because Mei moves like she’s wading through honey. There’s an interesting concept in here, but it’s lost under the shortcomings of the rest of the gameplay. There’s simply nothing memorable about JETT: The Far Shore.
There’s absolutely no challenge in I Am Dead, aside from the easily missable riddles. I understand that some games are about the journey and not the challenge, but most of I Am Dead is a bore.
For a game that was clearly inspired by Star Fox, I was saddened to find that it was devoid of the charm that made those games so great.
The only thing I can say for certain is in an ironic twist, all this game really made me want to do is drink a bunch of hipster craft brews. I might have actually gone out and bought a bunch after playing this game. Ok, I absolutely did. Cheers!
All Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty! managed to do was frustrate me. However, it did make me appreciate the controls in Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee more. Honestly, if you’re new to the franchise, it might even be better to just skip ahead to Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath. At least those gameplay mechanics feel like something more from this era.
The biggest offender is the fact that for a game designed to be played as a multiplayer experience, the multiplayer is absolutely dreadful. There’s no reason for it be as complicated to set up as it is, not to mention the fact that all players don’t progress their story unless they’re the host. This is a Final Fantasy game in name only and does not live up to the fond memories my nostalgia created.
I found Verne: The Shape of Fantasy to be a somewhat bland experience. This is especially disheartening because the premise was so creative. To me, it just didn’t live up to its potential. The story was too slow and predictable, and the gameplay was either too easy or too frustrating. To give credit where credit is due, it is a beautiful game, and I enjoyed learning more about Jules Verne, even if it didn’t necessarily add to the story.
It’s a casual experience, with some fantastic exploration, diverse challenges and tasks, a rich setting, and a surprisingly deep story. The entire game has been lovingly crafted and steeped in lore from New Caledonia. The only thing keeping Tchia out of the realm of greatness are the amount of bugs affecting it, at least on the PC version. With that being said, I wholeheartedly recommend playing it, as long as you either play it on a console, or wait until they’ve patched up the bugs on the PC version.
As a whole, I wouldn’t say Strange Horticulture is a bad game, just somewhat disappointing. I can see the appeal, but it’s honestly often boring. There are some truly great ideas in here, but nowhere near enough to combat the game’s tediously repetitive main gameplay loop. Having more puzzles, riddles, and even a few more visible environments I feel could have made Strange Horticulture a true gem of an indie game.
This is a tough one to recommend because, while there are plenty of worthwhile aspects, there are just as many shortcomings. If you’re a diehard JRPG fan and like a more mellow experience, then you might enjoy The Cruel King and the Great Hero‘s charm. However, if you don’t like games with excess amounts of filler and an overally lack of strategic challenge, then you’ll more than likely find this game on the boring side.
I’m fairly disappointed Blair Witch: VR Edition. Yes, it is definitely more immersive than Blair Witch, but a lot of that immersion is frequently broken by the horrendous pop-ins, clunky controls, and ridiculously short chapters. Regardless of playing it on hardware that is definitely showing its age, that still doesn’t stop the game from being boring most of the time.
The Corruption Within might have its flaws, but I’d still recommend it to anyone who likes classic point-and-click adventure games. It is short, only taking about two hours to beat while getting all the achievements, but it’s an engaging ride while it lasts.