Picklock is a fun little indie puzzle game, but, unfortunately, its execution is significantly marred by the grating issues discussed above. The game just feels unpolished and also too short after its abrupt ending. For the most part, Picklock is just a series of missions to beat. You can try to get a perfect run on each one, but this won’t add much extra gameplay. I beat the game with all missions cleared with a perfect score in around 5 hours. In addition to being short, another issue is that all of the stuff you can buy is just cosmetic and has no real effect on the game. Getting a new car just changes what car you see in the cutscenes when you go to locations on the map. Redesigning the interior of your house just changes how it looks. The four exotic properties you can purchase are just static scenes showing your character relaxing, with one or two other animated characters, and maybe some animated water. All you can do when you go to one of these places is listen to a relaxing, tropical themed music track until you decide to open the pause menu and leave. They are accessed via the real estate agency in town. Some players may also be annoyed that once you’ve gotten all the money you can in the game, it’s not enough to get everything. As a result, you’ll have to forego at least one thing in the shops. If you’re interested in the game, it’s one that you may want to wait for a sale on. Picklock is available on the Nintendo eShop for $7.99, as well as on Steam.
The game world doesn’t really come alive as much as it could. Side missions in particular start to become a matter of rinse and repeat, with some bizarrely sending you back to fight at a location that you just recently cleared out in a previous mission or side mission. There are enough places in the world that this shouldn’t be necessary. Defiance 2050 is essentially a remake of the original Defiance on a new engine, including the missions that were themed around the TV series that aired on the Syfy channel before it got cancelled. Defiance 2050 is available as a free-to-play game on Steam, and via Trion Worlds’ own launcher, called Glyph. There are of course in-app purchases as well. Do you have enough bravado to take on hellbugs, raiders, or even both at the same time to save the world?
You’ll probably spend at least 15-20 hours or more, depending on how much you get stuck and how badly (and whether you use a guide). The game doesn’t have very much replay value either, and the Switch version does not have achievements like the others do. I greatly enjoyed the charming art style and music during my 15 or so hours with the game, but the gameplay just doesn’t live up to that at all. Candle: The Power of the Flame is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99. Can you help Teku save the world before it falls to greed once more?
Pawarumi has an interesting combat system that takes a little getting used to, but it’s fun once you do. Having to always restart from the beginning of the game upon death makes it certainly more repetitive, though. However, its greatest flaw may be that it handles difficulty in a much more punishing way than Rolling Gunner does. That game is a bullet hell, and yet much less grueling than Pawarumi. If you don’t like punishing difficulty, then you will likely want to pass on this game. If you’re a fan of the genre and harder games in general, then it may be a good fit for you. I’ve spent about 4-5 hours blasting through foes so far across two difficulty levels. The game is available on the Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Xbox One for $14.99. Do you have what it takes to get all three story endings, and uncover a dark secret?
Golden Force attempts to relive the retro gameplay of yesteryear but, in some ways, falls on its own sword due to a number of issues. It is marketed as “Old school difficulty (but not so frustrating).” This ends up not being quite so true because of the aforementioned gameplay and technical issues, which range from instances of poor level design to noticeable frame rate issues. If you are not hardcore, then I can’t recommend this game due to the punishing gameplay. If you’re interested, I’d say this is probably one to grab when on sale unless you’re sure you’ll enjoy it. Some of the special collectibles are very hard to find, and between that and improving your performance on each stage, it will keep you busy for a long while. It’s certainly not the best retro-inspired title out there, as there are certainly a number of others that play better than this one. Golden Force is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99, as well as on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It is also coming to Steam sometime in Q1 2021.
Overall, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted can be a fun game in spite of its flaws. I imagine most players will want to play it in a darkened room for improved atmosphere, but you’ll get used to the jump scares fairly quickly. I like horror games, but I personally have no desire to play them in VR! So I really wasn’t too bothered by this version of the game not being in VR. If you really want to play this one in VR, you can get the original Steam version of the game, which also happens to be cheaper. The Nintendo Switch version is available on the eShop for $29.99. It is also available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. I got through all of the normal mode levels and collected most of the Faz Tokens in around 10 hours or so, but there is a lot more content in hard mode. A few of the Faz Tokens and cassette tapes are hiding in hard mode too, so there is a bunch of additional gameplay beyond normal mode. Can you survive the night and avoid the rogue animatronics that are out to get you from the shadows?
Planetoid Pioneers is a pretty fun and cool little game, made by the same folks that made Cortex Command. The game has no time limits and allows the player to explore and build freely, so you can progress at your own pace. The Primoid can take 10-20 hours or more to complete, depending on how much you focus on progression as opposed to playing around with exploration, building, and physics. The other levels will add to this, and the Steam Workshop can make your play time nearly infinite. Planetoid Pioneers is available on Steam for the higher price of $19.99 now that it’s out of early access (was $9.99 before). The game’s current technical issues drag down the experience significantly, but hopefully the developers will get them ironed out as they continue updating the game. For now, it seems they may have left early access a bit too soon.
X-Morph: Defense‘s blending of shooter and tower defense is a cool idea that works well on its own. However, the game often feels frantic, as it’s not uncommon for it to make the player feel spread too thin and unable to deal with everything that’s happening all at once. You have to watch your map for new attacks, patch your defenses mid-battle sometimes, regularly collect debris of fallen enemies in the heat of battle to get more resources, and also keep an eye on the map for incoming artillery that will destroy your towers and generally be a big pain in your behind. So you’ve got a lot to manage at times! The game can be a blast when its fun, but other times it can feel quite unfair. It took me about 20 hours to get through both the main campaign and the DLC campaign. If you like a challenge, there is plenty more play time to be had on higher difficulties, and even more if you go for a gold victory on every mission. X-Morph: Defense is available on Steam for $19.99, and it is also on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The European Assault DLC campaign is $4.99. Do you have what it takes to hold off the human assaults and secure the resources buried deep in the Earth for the benefit of alien kind?
Without Escape is a pretty short game overall. It makes up for this with a little bit of replayability in the form of five additional endings to get. The game has a handful of achievements on Steam, too. The replayability does suffer since every playthrough is nearly identical, with the exception of some extra areas you can find to get some of the endings. If you know what you’re doing, you can blow through a playthrough in under an hour. I’ve spent two to three hours in the game with one complete playthrough and part of another. The game is available on both Steam and the Windows 10 App Store for $6.99. You can also get the soundtrack for an extra $1.99. It’s entertaining for a while, but it’s not a game you will play very many times. Can you find and solve your way through every obstacle and uncover the bizarre truth of what’s going on in your home tonight?
Hexologic is a simple and enjoyable little number puzzle game. It’s very easy to get into, but beating every puzzle is not so easy. There are a handful of Steam achievements to get in the game as well. There are 60 normal levels and 15 of the harder special levels. I got through all 75 levels in a bit less than 5 hours. That was across multiple play sessions, though. Hexologic is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS. You can get it on Steam for just $2.99. The one downside is that the game feels like it’s over too soon, but it’s a fun little game while it lasts. Can you beat the game and defeat all 15 special levels?
The environments and especially their backgrounds are very nice to look at, and the story plus lots of lore and vague hints add tons of depth. However, it also creates an information overload problem for players. The first game had this issue too but not as much. I spent about 50 hours in the Eg-Lana ruins on this Indiana Jones-style adventure. La-Mulana 2 is available on Steam for $24.99. The game will also be coming to consoles, with physical editions in the plans, too. Can you survive the very deadly Eg-Lana ruins, or will they be your grave?
Overall, Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is an interesting, though fairly short game. The campaign took me 12 or so hours to complete, however, the game has a number of difficulty levels, with the highest being Mythic mode. You could spend a lot more time in the game working your way up to, and trying to beat that mode. For the Steam version (which this review is based on), there are 31 achievements as well. Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is also available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. You can get the game for $24.99 on Steam. Can you outwit the Nazis on the battlefield, and put a stop to their insidious plans?
Lovecraft’s Untold Stories can be a fun game, but its brutal difficulty will turn off many players, especially after you unlock additional characters. There are three difficulty levels, but the game can be pretty brutal at times even on the lowest one. The game’s lack of any way to save at will mid-level (short of finding the new checkpoint machine) will also turn off some players. It can easily take you 10-20 hours to clear one character’s story, depending on the difficulty setting and the character you’re playing as. As the starter character the detective is the easiest, so he may well take you less than 10 hours to beat. I have spent around 30 hours so far with several different characters. There are two more that I still haven’t encountered to unlock yet. It should be noted also that the developers are planning to continue adding to the game now that it has launched (on January 31st). Lovecraft’s Untold Stories is available on Steam for $14.99 or on Gog.com for $12.99. Do you have what it takes to survive the hellish nightmares that await you in Lovecraft’s Untold Stories?
Dark Devotion was a game I didn’t think I’d like at first, but then it drew me in. Still, I think that overall it’s not really a game for me. A lot of players will have a hard time with it because of it being a Souls-like with rogue-like elements. So many players might get stuck unable to make progress, or eventually quit as the game wears down their desire to keep playing. I definitely like the dark story, though. I’ve got well over 30 hours in the game at this point, but there is a lot more gameplay than that if you try to unlock everything in the forge or go for all the achievements! Dark Devotion is available on Steam and the Humble Store for $19.99. It is also coming to Nintendo Switch and PS4 this year. Do you have what it takes to make it to the deepest depths of the fallen temple, or will its dangers and secrets be too much for you?
Overall, Out There: Ω The Alliance can be a fun little exploration game, though it is at times overbearing. The latter will be especially true for players new to the genre. The game started life as a mobile title (Out There: Chronicles), and later got a PC version that can be found on Steam (Out There: Ω Edition). The new Switch version is the definitive version, with three new ships and some new bits of random story text added in. Survival is not easy as you drift through space. You are pretty much at the mercy of the random number generator. I’ve spent more than 10 hours flying through randomly generated galaxies and reached one ending so far. I’ve been close to getting another one several times, but my luck keeps running out a bit too soon. The rest of my journeys saw me die much sooner. Out There: Ω The Alliance is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $14.99. Can you survive the perils of space, or does death await you in the next star system?
Overall, Heroland is a fun little game. After a while it starts to become a bit grindy, though. You need engaging gameplay when things get grindy, and I feel like this game falls a bit short in that area. The tours feel more bland when you are just replaying them, and they take a bit too long due to the relatively slow pacing. The story dialogue only happens the first time you do a tour, which makes subsequent runs a bit faster. There are lots of hero characters to unlock and level up. The game also has tons of treasure items to collect (plushies, weapon replicas, and furniture for your room). So there is definitely plenty here to keep you busy for a long while. Heroland is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $39.99. You can also find it on PC (Steam) or on the PlayStation 4 store. Can you uncover Heroland‘s dark past, or will you be forced to work here for eternity?
3000th Duel blends metroidvania and souls-like, but this leads it to alternate between fun and annoying with how some bosses will seriously block your ability to make progress. If you aren’t into difficult games, then some of the bosses will likely spoil the experience for you. Some of them can feel incredibly cheap on your early attempts, killing you in seconds numerous times when you meet them. As you progress, you get to build out your character’s stats in the way of your choosing via the level up statues. Combine that with the myriad of weapons, occults, and items you’ll find, and you have a ton of options for how to build up your hero and play the game. You also can’t unlock the entire skill tree in one playthrough, since the the hero’s max level is capped at 99. So there is plenty of replay value here. I’ve spent over 15 hours in this labyrinthian world so far. 3000th Duel is priced at $14.99 on the Nintendo Switch eShop, and you can also find it on Steam. Are you tough enough to survive and uncover the shocking truth about your own identity?
Tormented Souls is a classic survival horror romp through the bowels of the Winterlake Mansion. Beware, as the place is infested with hostile terrors that will gladly end you. The game stays pretty true to the play style of the classics in the genre. It is a pretty decent survival horror adventure, though you might find it on the difficult side, especially if you’re new to such games. You can complete the adventure in 10-20 hours depending on how much you die. The game also includes three different endings to get. While Tormented Souls is currently available for $19.99 on Steam, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5, it will also be coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 soon. Can you uncover the fate of the missing twins, or will you perish along the way?
I have enjoyed my 25+ hours with Garden Story for Switch so far. While I have cleared the story, there are still a few upgrades I don’t have, and more cosmetic unlockables to get for Concord to wear. The game is a very chill, relaxing adventure, aside from the bosses which are more hardcore for some reason. However, casual players can still enjoy it using the option to disable death if they so choose. I prefer not to use such an option unless necessary, but it’s a nice inclusion if you want it. The game is marred by a few relatively minor flaws, like the previously mentioned inventory issues. However, it’s a rather unique and enjoyable little journey overall. You can nab Garden Story on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99, and it is also on Steam. Can you help Concord, the unlikely grape hero, restore peace to an ailing grove?
Spiritfarer is a fun little game, and it will keep you busy for quite a while. I’ve been playing for over 30 hours, and that’s not 100% completion of everything in the game. It tells a touching tale about death, but does so while not being sappy. The game also features a number of Steam achievements. Overall, it’s still a pretty good game, though. Spiritfarer is available on Steam (and other platforms) for $29.99. Can you help all of the lost souls pass on and reach the end of your own story?