Aaron Price
Flynn: Son of Crimson has been one of the few games in recent times I couldn’t put down once I got started. It was a perfect mix between great visuals, retro-styled gameplay, a challenging but never unfair level of difficulty, and an excellent progression system encouraging you to revisit past levels. This is a game I really want for people to find out about, as it would be criminal for a gem like this one to be overlooked by players out there.
If you liked Spelunky, welcome to Spelunky 2: “Spelunking With Friends”. The game feels the same, plays the same, and is basically the same. Save for a handful of quality of life changes that, for the avid Spelunky fan, may be great, especially if you’re interested in tackling these dungeons with friends.
If you are looking for a stopgap substitute for a 2D Zelda game, but with a bit more to offer in terms of depth and playability, Garden Story is the way to go.
Boyfriend Dungeon was far more enjoyable than expected. Sure, every character you meet may want to hop into bed with you in an absurdely thirsty way. There could have been a bit more variety in terms of enemies and areas, with me being hopeful that a potential sequel might fix these issues.
10 Second Ninja X is a great pick up and play game. It would also be a fun game to aim to master, similar to Super Meat Boy. With it launching on Switch, when is a better time to check this out than out, on the go, while you’re waiting for your coffee, or stuck on a bus? The pacing of the game works well for quick play sessions.
Dark Deity removed some of the most important parts of what makes these styles of games so loved. While the game itself is fun, and if you’re looking to scratch the itch that Three Houses may not have quite hit, Dark Deity might just do the trick. If you’re looking for that original, hard-to-master-might-need-to-restart-the-game type of difficulty instilled in your mind by the original Fire Emblem games, Dark Deity misses the mark here.
Overall, Pokémon Unite is actually a ton of fun, way more than expected at the very least. While the roster could definitely use a good injection of new monsters, there’s enough variety in the base game to keep you busy for a while. Plus, the sprites look great, so it is hard to moan too much about it. The different maps are great as well, all having their own wild pokémon and legendaries to defeat as you battle. Hopefully the player base sticks around, as with the right amount of love and care, Pokémon Unite could be a huge boost for the franchise as a whole.
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! brings some much needed quality of life changes to the original game. It also makes it much more accessible to people, no longer being PC only and bringing it to most consoles. If you’re into visual novels, horror, puzzles, or all of the above, this is a nice cheap one to check out.
Start to finish, Super Magboy is a ton of fun, and for anyone who didn’t quite like the disappointing gameplay proposal of Super Meat Boy Forever, this is much closer to the style you may be looking for. Filled with a ton of levels, and a pretty fair learning curve, Super Magboy is a perfect pick-up-and-play experience.
All in all, it’s a fun little diversion where you can pay off your debts while beating up some vegetarians along the way.
Arcaea has been a huge amount of fun, especially as someone who is a big fan of rhythm-based games. It feels great to pick up and play for a few songs, and plenty easy to do so. Personally, I found myself playing for at least an hour whenever I went to only play a song or two.
Long story short, KEMCO has, once again, published quite a unique and very enjoyable JRPG experience. While it may follow some simpler story bits, I actually appreciated its lack of over-the-top set pieces and emphasis on being laidback and easy to understand.
A game you sit down and play for ten to fifteen minutes a day minimum and help to build your cognition. If you struggle with problem solving, if you like puzzles, or if you just like to keep your brain active, Active Neurons 3 should be right up your alley.
With most story elements already being done somewhere else, and average at best, almost unplayable at worst gameplay, this is definitely not one recommended unless you’re a massive anime fan waiting for something new to come out.
Between memorable characters, dialogue options that will make you seriously think, and intricate battle systems, Fallen Legion Revenants is a great start of the year for fans of JRPGs and single player experiences in general.
Everything runs smoothly, the online connectivity works surprisingly well for a Switch game, and even the lack of a Switch keyboard can be mitigated by playing the game on handheld mode. All in all, it’s a competent port to probably the only console Among Us makes sense to be on.
Candy Crush essentially created the formula that Grindstone and so many others follow. It is just something that needs to be noted before walking into it though.
Another year, another Call of Duty entry, and while at this point in time Black Ops Cold War doesn’t stand out from the crowd, the roadmap Activision has laid out certainly looks interesting. With loads of free content coming soon, including new maps for Multiplayer and Zombies, the full potential of the game feels like it’s yet to be unveiled.
Bakugan: Champions of Vestroia is a pretty enjoyable few hours and certainly fun with friends. Just make sure they’re around the same area as you since you use your single player team to fight them. It’s not a massively long game if you just aim to play the main missions, but if you’re in it to tackle everything, you’ll add a fair bit of playtime.
It’s a faithful rendition of the hit series, translated properly in arcade format with a few twists of its own. It boasts good graphics, excellent voice acting, easy controls, and most importantly, couch co-op.