A daughter raising simulator set in a post apocalyptic future is an idea I would have gotten behind if it had been competently executed. Unfortunately repetitive gameplay and narratively inconsistent plot left me wanting to abandon my daughter on the desolate surface of the earth.
As a retro throwback, Knightin misses the mark. Making a game based on the worst parts of its inspiration unsurprisingly leads to a mostly negative experience.
Overpass is as rough as the terrain they are trying to make you traverse. Badly implemented systems, boring gameplay and a slew of technical issues make this a painful experience from start to finish.
Whilst the story that surrounds Stella went over my head, the world it built combined with an outstanding soundtrack still managed to touch me in ways I didn't consent to.
Ion Fury is one of the best First Person Shooters to come out in years. Jaw dropping retro graphics, an awesome arsenal and action bursting from every seam, this is a must play.
Despite a few niggling issues, Dungeon of the Endless is an incredibly satisfying mix of Roguelike Dungeon Crawler, Tower Defence and Resource Management.
Many Faces is marred with a myriad of issues spanning graphics, mechanics, controls and overall content. This is a game to avoid.
Warborn is a game that teeters on the edge of brilliance. Poor AI and a few quality of life issues tarnish an otherwise great game. A solid TBS that can be enjoyed by newcomers and veterans alike.
Hunting Simulator 2 has many, many problems, but the biggest one being it is a hunting simulator. This inherent flaw starts you off on the wrong foot as the act of hunting is typically slow and fairly uninteresting. When that is combined with everything else the game stumbles with, you are left with a crawling simulator with guns in it. I cannot recommend this game to anyone but the most hardcore of hunters, and I suspect that audience won’t be reading a review about a videogame.
Maid of Sker is a competently made game (cornea searing visuals aside), but an awfully executed horror title. From start to finish it struggled to garner, let alone maintain, any semblance of interest of intrigue. The only scare comes from its title and the physical pain it caused was irritating to say the least. As a result, I can safely say that it is not a game worth your time, and you should absolutely give this one a solid miss.
Boomerang Fu is a fun little brawler, packing depth and style in equal measure. It’s let down by a lack of online multiplayer, but if you can get a few people together, then this is absolutely worth booting up from time to time.
I did not enjoy my time with Pathfinder: Kingmaker for the most part. DLC aside, if you wanted to play this game to completion you are looking at a whopping 200 hours or so of content, but when you factor in padding, bad game design, slow everything, and pacing issues then that 200-hour mark feels like a lot of wasted time – which is Pathfinder: Kingmaker in a nutshell really. What this game does well is dragged down by the myriad of things it does poorly. This is simply not a game I can recommend.
Overall Wintermoor Tactics Club is an alright game. The story is held up by solid dialogue, an interesting premise, and a cast of characters that are endearing enough to cover up some of the game’s flaws. Unfortunately, those flaws were ultimately too much for me to completely ignore and I left Wintermoor feeling disappointed. This is an incredibly accessible title for gamers who don’t have much experience with Tactical RPGs, however, if you’ve ever seen the box art for a TRPG, then you probably have enough experience to waltz through Wintermoor without breaking a sweat.
Overall Space Crew is a wonderfully addictive little gem. Whilst the games loop can be a tad repetitive, this is an ideal game to take on the go. I’ve sunk an uncomfortable number of hours into this one, and most of that has been in short bursts of stress-filled glee. Space may indeed be the final frontier, but Space Crew boldly goes into its boundless depths and invites you to come along on a jolly adventure.
I enjoyed my time with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The combat might be clunky, the stealth might be an afterthought and the game might be rougher than a scouring pad, but the game’s story, characters, themes, and world more than made up for these shortcomings. Eivor will go down as one of the better protagonists in the series, and her saga is one that is certainly worth experiencing…ideally after the game has had a patch or two.
Wonder Blade is far from a bad game. In fact, it was a very enjoyable experience for about an hour. The overall lack of polish in the games finer designs undermine its smooth gameplay and gorgeous visuals, whilst the absence of multiplayer hamstrings its longevity. With a bit more spit and polish, and a couple of mates brandishing Joy-Cons, this could have been quite the hidden gem. Alas, it was not to be.
Woodsalt is a mystery wrapped in an enigma tied together with a riddle. A bizarre little title that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be, and therefore has a tendency to elicit a sense of confusion as to why it exists in its current form at all. Its story is genuinely interesting at times - despite pacing issues - but I think it would have been better served as a visual novel. What really killed the game for me, however, was the numerous bugs that took me out of the experience. They halted progress and inevitably broke the game and prevented me from achieving even one of the many endings this game seemingly offers. In its current state, I simply cannot recommend it. If it ever gets fixed, then this might be worth a look
Kowloon High-School Chronicle is a hard game to recommend. It’s old in a way that makes it unpleasant at times, but the core concept is rock solid. Once you get past that initial wall of text, you’re in the clear. That being said, there are much better dungeon crawlers out there, and Kowloon is not good enough to recommend over them. What it has in spades, however, is a theme that is quirky, endearing, outlandish and totally unique. I would wait for a sale before you pick this up, and even then, only if you really appreciate Japanese-Indiana Jones-Anime-Horror-Comedies.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest may have a run-time shorter than its title, it might fumble some of the characters, but it absolutely nails the landing. As someone who is relatively new to Visual Novels, it has opened my eyes to the potential of the genre, the scope in which the genre can encompass, and kept me engaged cover to cover. If you want less anime tiddies, and more gritty, grimdark monster mashing, then I cannot recommend this title enough.
Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town is a mixed bag, to say the least. Its strengths don’t necessarily lie in its qualities as a game, but its inclusion in a genre that is inherently addictive. The formula the genre uses has been refined and mastered to the point it has become quite the potent drug, and Olive Town can administer that narcotic effectively when it wants to. The issue is, I found it didn’t have any staying power. I was hooked whilst I was playing, but once I put it down, it was a real struggle to pick it back up. There were just too many niggling little issues that hindered my enjoyment long term. As far as farming-sims go, this one is passable and worth checking out if you have exhausted other, better games in the genre.