Ben Lombardo
Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos has a lot of obstacles in its way from becoming a solid gem worth your time. The first few hours are a bit of a drag to get through since the majority of this time you'll spend either hating the dialogue or hating the difficulty from the (more predetermined than random) RNG that this game employs. Trudge through this and you'll find that the learning curve gets easier, the writing simmers down a bit, but the difficulty still remains the same.
It's an ok VR title on its own that most should consider buying if they're new to the platform to ease into VR controls. Though the story is very bland and it feels more like a concept than a fully-fledged title, it's the gameplay that keeps you playing just that bit longer before you release how repetitive those levels are.
911 Operator really misses the mark. It's a good attempt at showing what a 911 operator may do, but you're effectively playing a mobile game on for the cost of a PC game.
Need for Speed Unbound is an arduous experience, and not one I'd recommend if you're looking for an arcade racer. The only good aspects are the refined handling system and the aesthetic customization of your cars, which is really brought to light via community creations. However, this experience is quickly overshadowed by the boring open-world, a meaningless collect-a-thon, unbalanced AI, and some of the cringiest story and dialogue I've experienced. It's The Room of racing games.
Cloudpunk started off unique and interesting; you're new to its world and are exploring it alongside the main character, Rania. Eventually, you'll realize it's only a cyberpunk delivery simulator with cringey voice acting and an even worse script. By that point, the game loses any redeemable qualities and becomes a burden to play. Just like the main character, and the mechanics, the game has little to no substance to offer.
Spirit of the North may look beautiful, sound beautiful, but is a confusing and boring mess. It tries too hard to be artsy while disregarding the importance of fun gameplay and an interesting story. During their short playtime, players are required to interpret the weak narrative and their overall purpose in the game. The only replayability comes from completing the collect-a-thon. However, that provides zero satisfaction to the player and has a hard time trying to stay relevant to the gameplay and story at large.
Aragami 2 is so ridiculously easy that you can breathe in its general direction and you've exploited some gameplay mechanic. It's great for those who like speedrunning, or those who might not have a lot of time in their day, but if you're hoping for the slow and methodical stealth gameplay of Aragami 1 then you won't find it in the sequel. Just like most developers (eyeing you Ubisoft over Splinter Cell) it seems working gameplay formulas mean bugger all.
Old Gods Rising is an unfortunate mess. While it has a story that immediately hooks the player, a world that's begging to be explored and understood, and boasts fantastic environmental sound design, the current state of the game is unplayable. The numerous bugs and glitches restrict this game from being a great title. Until those bugs are patched out, you're better off spending your money elsewhere.
Red Bow has a lot of potential to be great, but it's simply not. There are a lot of strange technical issues and downright poor creative decisions that make up for a dismal experience. While the story is effectively the only thing holding this title together, it's not nearly enough to warrant a recommendation.
There are not many games that are marred with so many issues as Flow Weaver. The gameplay is boring, the texture quality is akin to a PS1 game, the story is barely interesting, and there are far too many bugs and glitches to count. Trudging through the mess that this game is, the only redeemable quality is the dimension-hopping --- a great idea that definitely needs to be implemented properly. As for now, Flow Weaver is not one I'd recommend getting your hands on.
Abermore is an immense disappointment. The bugs and glitches can be cataloged so extremely clearly that it's incredible that this game even got released, let alone past playtesting. Hell, was it playtested? Why did this game get released even if it wasn't finished? These questions stuck in my mind as I played through this dumpster fire. Maybe this game will see all its bugs patched? Sure, but that doesn't mean that there's nearly enough interesting, let alone unique, content throughout the levels to warrant any recommendation from me.
I expected ELEA: Paradigm Shift to at least be an interesting and artistic game for the Nintendo Switch. As it turns out, it's no way near that level. Not only that, but it's plagued with problems in its controls, its visuals, and its gameplay. Though the beginning of the game showed promise, I was left with a resounding feeling of disappointment.