Queeny Army is set in the war-torn city of San Romero, and tells the story of a group of young women who have escaped an adoption house. After escaping, the group goes on a revenge rampage against the corrupt enforcers who murdered their classmates and school director. Playing as one of the twelve escapees, all of whom trained under the armed forces’ former commander and each have their own quirks and abilities, you’re tasked with overthrowing the syndicate leader who seized control of the government.
Forza Horizon 5 drops players into the beautiful setting of Mexico where the sun will shine, but where it can also be treacherous as players will also have to navigate through thunder and sandstorms. As they progress through various events, players will be called upon to drive around various areas of Mexico expanding the Forza Horizon festival across the country and opening new types of events; races, off-roading, sprints; just to name a few.
Super Soccer Blast: America vs Europe is an arcade-style soccer game featuring a bevy of teams representing various countries. This is a by-the-book kind of soccer game; you can shoot, pass, tackle/steal the ball from opposing players. All fizzle and no steak as they’d say. Additionally, you can easily spot your player as he’ll be the one with the blue arrow above his head, so that’s quite helpful given certain visual shortcomings explained below.
TOHU tells the story of a nameless girl; simply referred to as The Girl throughout the adventure, who can transform into a hulking robot at any time. Oh, and she also lives on the back of a fish that’s floating through the cosmos. One day, you find out that the MacGuffin (whatever that is) that’s keeping your home alive is dwindling down. You need to find resources to keep your home planet alive all the while being hunted down by a mysterious hooded figure looking to put a damper on your plans.
Sonic Colours Ultimate is another chapter in the long-running feud between Sonic and Dr. Eggman. This time around the antagonist has built a gigantic intergalactic amusement park with crazy rides and attractions. The one caveat being that Eggman is powering his theme park with captured aliens called Wisps. It’s now up to our favorite hedgehog to overcome the amusement park and save the Wisps.
Knockout Home Fitness is a game that acts like a personal trainer where players, using the joycons, will mimic the avatar’s movement in hope of creating a combo by hitting the targets displayed on-screen with the best timing possible. As with any game of the genre, there are precautions to take and you need to make sure that you don’t hurt yourself as there is no physical personal trainer to stop you from making mistakes.
Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions is a full-on arcade boxing game; the opposite of the boxing simulator Knockout Kings, which later became the critically acclaimed Fight Night series. You can select Arcade mode, where akin to fighting games, you select a character and fight your way to the boss while experiencing a paper-thin story. Or you can also jump in Versus mode against an A.I. or a buddy.
Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure tells the story of our titular character who embarks on a quest to find his best friend Bob who’s been missing. While this sounds pretty straightforward, our little Alfonzo decides to collect as many fishes as he can on his quest to find his missing friend. Why do you ask? Well, it’s simple fish is Bob’s favourite food. So why not gather a snack while searching for your best bud.
Side-scrolling beat’em ups are going through a renaissance at the present time. Spearheaded by the nostalgia driven Streets Of Rage 4 there’s been no end of titles released to try and capture the same feelings. The latest of these is Mayhem Brawler. Developed by Hero Concept, Mayhem Brawler takes everything that makes the genre great and adds a supernatural twist.
Cook, Serve, Delicious! is a restaurant simulation/arcade game where players are tasked to (you guessed it) cook and serve various meals to the plethora of NPCs that will come knocking. The series first saw the light of day back in 2012 with an initial release on PC via Steam, followed by mobile ports. Players had to wait five years for the first sequel, Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2, which released in 2017 once again for PC (via Steam) and also marked the series’ debut on MAC devices.
Once you’re done with the game’s main story, the fun doesn’t end there! You can revisit the story in order to unlock the plethora of portraits, clothing for the girls; you can also jump into a “fantasize” mode where you’ll need to get the girls into the right position in order to… “observe” them.
The game’s boss battles are incredibly fun and intense; when first trying to take them down, you’ll fumble a bit and get your ass kicked; especially when you have a sliver of the boss’ health. But once you get into a groove and learn the enemy patterns, they are definitely some of the most fun boss battles envisioned. They feature a perfect blend of fun and challenge.
Katamari Damacy ReRoll has one of the most original, quirky, and unique presentations. The game is very much color and cute; the Prince looks to be made of various shapes while in the few cutscenes we get, the characters are all blocky; which is quite humorous.
Aside from the visual upgrade, the Special Edition of the game allows players to play as Vergil, Dante’s brother. While you’d expect a new perspective or shorter storyline from Vergil’s point of the view, it’s basically the same game minus the cinematic cutscenes; same areas, same bosses.
DiRT 5 is a mix of arcade-style racer and racing simulation. While the driving isn’t as stiff as typical racing sims, it doesn’t require careful manipulation around corners and also while stuck in a pack of vehicles.
Never been a huge fan of the Metroidvania genre, but Minoria (along with Touhou Luna Nights) came out of left field to surprise and sink its teeth in me. The simplistic combat mixed with the various Incenses, gothic setting and its haunting score and the challenging boss battles makes for a great game. It won’t be a cakewalk and does require a bit of mastery of the dodging/parring, but within the first hour, everything feels right and clicks. If you can tolerate backtracking through the map and the deep exploration, Minoria is a must-play.
Mask of Mists is a great and fun addition to the RPG genres. Fans of the genre should definitely give this game a shot; sure it’s not as huge as Skyrim or The Witcher 3, but sometimes it’s a nice diversion doing something smaller. It’s not perfect as you’ll possibly lose a bit of time going around in circles trying to figure out what to do, but it’s a peaceful game to lose yourself into.
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is one of the most enjoyable and tension-filled walking simulators I've had the privileged of reviewing. The game doesn't necessarily rely on scares at every corner, but rather builds tension with what-ifs could happen around the corner. While the pacing isn't ideal and makes the game feels rushed earlier on, it makes up for it in the latter parts of the game. With Halloween coming soon, this is the perfect time for this gem.
Friday the 13th Killer Puzzle is definitely a surprise game for me this year. I’m not a huge fan of puzzle games, but I love the Friday the 13th series so I was a bit wary of it; turns out this is definitely one of the best games I’ve played this. It’s fun, addictive and easy to pick up and play. It’s the perfect game to play to relax. Despite the limited weaponry and odd kills for some weapons, I highly recommend Friday the 13th Killer Puzzle if you’re looking for something different.
Johnny Rocket is a game to be avoided at all costs. It’s short, frustrating, cheap and full of questionable design. Cheap and unpreventable enemy attacks, questionable detection issues, unresponsive jumping, boring bosses, zero replay value, the only redeeming quality about the game is its unique visual presentation. I guess it’s something right? Given the amount of better run n’ gun available, don’t waste your time with Johnny Rocket.