Khazan borrows heavily from Team Ninja’s work, both for good and bad (but mostly good).
A successful caper is only as good as the numerous ways it can suddenly fall apart.
A short and sweet platformer with tons of charm, MainFrames is excellent time all around.
Nomada Studio’s second game is utterly stunning and a pleasure to play as well.
Sony’s latest remaster further illustrates how needless this entire endeavor is.
Flintlock’s “Souls-lite” approach isn’t without flaws, but ultimately works.
A party-based Souls-like is an inventive idea, but Deathbound can’t meet its lofty ambitions.
It’s strange going back to Read Only Memories. There was a time I would have been ecstatic about a sequel. And now that one is here, I’m not sure how to feel. Neurodiver was an enjoyable return to this style of adventure game, but it’s also one that didn’t leave me with any strong feelings either way. I enjoyed what I played, but it didn’t leave a strong imprint on me either. It’s just… fine? Feels kinda anticlimactic. Fitting in some way given how long it’s been. A sequel could only quietly exist and be fine. 2015 was a different time. Read Only Memories hit differently then. It’s still good now, but less impactful than it was then.
The sequel to the excellent Lucah: Born of a Dream is a stylish action game that’s as heartfelt as it is intense.
Worldless captures the thrill of a good close fight.
With the inclusion of the original game and a set of new mechanics that slot in naturally, Bit.Trip Rerunner is a stellar example of a remake.
Atlas Fallen’s momentum system is a fantastic idea and works well, but the fights themselves aren’t interesting enough to keep up.
This small metroidvania has some of the best movement you’ll find in a game this year.
Bleak Sword is quick and to the point. Sometimes that’s all you need.
SEASON is a wonderful story about memory, history, and what we leave behind.
It does speak to where Rhythm Sprout‘s interests in difficulty tend to lie, though. It’s a game that has a clear interest in providing challenge wherever possible, and it’s very good at doing that. It thankfully doesn’t forget approachability in that pursuit, but your mileage may vary on its effectiveness. If you’re able to put up with some of the more demanding levels, though, Rhythm Sprout is worth your time.
The ease with which A Space for the Unbound can bounce between tonal shifts – the goofy and sincere, the difficult and moving, the supernatural and the grounded – without feeling at odds with itself speaks to the strength of both the story and the writing as a whole. It’s a carefully crafted game, one that succeeds at almost every turn, spinning a deeply moving and touching story all the while. After last year’s cavalcade of strong stories in games, with any luck, A Space for the Unbound will herald another coming of incredible stories in games this year.
With the addition of cross-play, Them’s Fightin’ Herds‘ console debut makes an already great game even better.. As more and more games steadily adopt that standard, for fighting games especially, it becomes easier and easier to grow and keep a community alive since there’s no worrying over which platform is the most populated, as has so often been the case for many fighting games over the years. Them’s Fightin’ Herds has already been getting by just fine, but now, so many more avenues to play, it’ll hopefully be able to thrive even more.
The Entropy Centre doesn’t dwell too much on the story, though. While the slow reveal of what’s going on is delivered well and the growing friendship between Aria and Astra works and is fun to watch, it’s much more focused on being a great puzzle game first and foremost, which it is unequivocally a success at. The Entropy Centre‘s light use of time manipulation serves as the basis for some clever and satisfying puzzles, easily putting it among some of the best of the genre.
In a time where games are frequently seeing full-scale remakes, often trying to replace the original works in the process, to see a classic come back out with only the smallest of changes made is welcome. And with the original game still readily available on Steam, Shatter Remastered Deluxe isn’t seeking to replace the original: it’s just an opportunity to bring the game back into the spotlight. If re-releases remain the best means to achieve that currently, then at least Shatter Remastered Deluxe takes the right approach.