Fans of Borderlands looking for something else to play are bound to eat New Tales from the Borderlands up simply because it’s got more of what’s trademark to the series: the same all over the place humor, colorful characters, and very polished presentation. But for those looking for a revelatory experience that could sit among Telltale Games’ best efforts might find themselves disappointed by the game’s detached lack of interactivity and hit and miss comedy.
Moonscars is a great game, but your enjoyment will come down to how much patience you have for its style of difficulty.
The core concepts for a good adversarial game are certainly present in Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. With a patch or three to fix the crashes that I ran into while playing the PC version for review, as well as the various issues that I mentioned, along with improving the overall online performance during matches could potentially make it a viable online game. And if you can find like-minded folks to play it with, it can definitely be quite a bit of fun for the little that there is to do in it.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is otherwise a fantastic PC experience that is sadly a slog on consoles due to clunky controls and a cumbersome interface.
The subject matter in Dropsy is shockingly deep, and in a similar way to Horace, a platformer I reviewed a while back, the more you play it, the more there is to uncover, and what might seem like a shallow premise at first eventually turns out to be anything but. Dropsy is just that. Layer upon layer of subtle storytelling in a way that’s rarely found in videogames today. I was moved by it and I’m sure you will be too if you give it a chance.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is an amazing cover-based tactical shooter that builds upon the excellent structure of its predecessor, adding new features that make it an even better game in every conceivable way.
A Plague Tale: Requiem is an absolute spectacle of a game. And it’s in almost every way a superior game to Innocence. It can be downright disgusting at times, but in the best of ways. Seeing the loving relationship that the de Runes share and the struggles that they endure during their journey, elements that were already so well developed the first time around and are just as good if not even better this time around help elevate Requiem to a level of its own among similar story-driven games. You won’t want to miss this.
To anyone looking for a starting point to the frankly intimidating saga that The Legend of Heroes might seem at first, Trails from Zero is as entry level as it can be. And it also provides even more of the rich backstory that those already into series are bound to eat up.
If this happened to be a budget game with an original take of its own, it would merely be a decent buy for on and off throwaway play, but as part of a very iconic series such as Valkyrie Profile, it’s a baffling proposition. Square Enix themselves have done a commendable job taking similarly traditional genre games such as Final Fantasy VII, essentially turning it into an action RPG with its brilliant remake. That only makes for an even bigger disappointment seeing how mediocre Valkyrie Elysium turned out in the end. It’s not a terrible game by any means, but it’s far from being what could be considered a worthwhile follow-up to the classic JRPGs that came before it.
Overall, it’s quite obvious that both of the Turrican Anthology collections should have just been one product to begin with. The bonus features such as the jukebox, re-recorded soundtracks by Huelsback, art museum that encompass a generous amount of flyers and covers, and extra emulation options, as well as the special Score Attack Mode – a new leaderboard feature that’s exclusive to both Anthologies – are identical between the two. Neither volume has a whole lot of content to warrant splitting them up into separate downloads. Then again, it’s undeniable that what they encompass, some of the best titles in gaming’s most traditional run ‘n gun shooter franchises, makes Turrican Anthology very much worth picking up regardless.
If you thought Shovel Knight was done and dusted, you’ll find that there’s still plenty of cooky ideas left to explore that involve digging and treasure hunting. Shovel Knight Dig is a simple twist on the formula to be sure, but it’s one that’s done incredibly well and is a whole lot of fun to play. I can’t wait to see what’s in store next!
MassiveHive Media’s Potion Permit is about as easygoing as a game about healthcare could be.
For what it is, Madden 23 will please veterans looking to prolong their videogame NFL careers in yet another season of play. The homage to the late John Madden is certainly a nice touch. On the other hand, a more welcoming presentation to newcomers would have worked to the game’s favor. As it stands, those just coming out of the draft might find themselves feeling lost as there’s not nearly enough in the way of easing in players who don’t have at least some passing familiarity with the series and how it plays.
For preservation purposes, as well as discoverability ones, this re-release of Avenging Spirit is incredibly valuable. Given that the general gaming audience probably haven’t even heard of it in the first place, credits are due to Ratalaika Games for doing the work that they’ve been doing with these. Avenging Spirit is easily my favorite among these re-releases so far, and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next out of their seemingly bottomless treasure chest of little known old hits.
With the hindsight that there is now, with spiritual successors to Pyro Studios’ work like Mimimi’s Desperados 3 getting it so right, I hope to heaven that whoever is minding the supposed new entry in Commandos takes heed and avoid the errors that were committed in both the original version Commandos 3 and were further worsened in this HD remaster. It could have been so much better…
If you’re at this point still in doubt if this compilation is worth getting, well, you shouldn’t anymore. The fact that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection includes the classic assortment of TMNT games in an easily accessible package is reason enough to pick it up. Now, add in Digital Eclipse’s extra efforts in making them better with the many different tweaks and online multiplayer, coupled with the insane amount of historical material that makes up the museum only go to cement that The Cowabunga Collection as a must-buy. That goes for just about anyone with even a passing interest in retro games, let alone a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. No ifs, ors, ands, or buts about it.
While I wouldn’t exactly call Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed awful per se, it goes to show that being too faithful when remaking a game can be quite harmful to the end product. The way over the top humor and juvenile tone, along with the potentially boring and definitely dated mechanics make Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed feel like a relic of the past and hard to recommend. For those who enjoyed its original run years ago when they were most likely impressionable teens, it might end up being more of an embarrassing memory than a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Murder at Castle Nathria is another strong expansion to the now venerable Hearthstone, but it doesn't address the game's core problems.
I did enjoy what I got to see of the characters that make up your new Saints crew, for as ridiculously all over the place as their personalities are. At the start of Saints Row, you’re already an established group of friends that had no business being as tight as they are, with the protagonist initially being cog in a paramilitary group’s machine and the rest individual members of each of the ruling gangs in town, all unhappy with how things are run and wanting to make something for themselves. It’s a silly setup and a tinsy bit more grounded and held back than usual Saints Row, but the idea of putting together a new crew would’ve made for an otherwise tremendous game. Sadly, Saints Row is a halfway reinvention at best, one that both fans and newcomers to the franchise are likely to be bored with due to how repetitive and by-the-numbers it turns out to be.
Cult of the Lamb’s strength lies in its core formula, giving you great rewards for quick sessions and even better ones if you decide to stick around for even longer. It might leave you dry when it comes to combat, but its management mechanics and adorable aesthetic are sure to please those looking for something more in their next roguelite, making joining this cult a no-brainer for sure.