So is Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition worth your money? Only if you have the time and patience. The games rely heavily on nostalgia and can be a great reason to bring back classic games, but these should’ve stayed where it once was. The PC centric controls don’t apply well to controllers as it makes the simplest things cumbersome, the presentation is dated and it requires a lot of time and dedication. It’s easy to be overwhelmed with the number of things to manage/remember. If you stop playing, it’s easy to forget not only where you left off, but how to play the game. Unless you were a fan of the original a fan of nostalgia, save your money.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is an experience. While yes, it is a videogame, once you’re done with it, it feels more like an experience; as if you attended a concert. Sayonara Wild Hearts is a very simplistic, addictive game suited for any gamer. It’s a unique rhythmic gaming experience with simple gameplay easy to pick up and play. If you’re looking for a fun, relaxing, albeit a bit short, gaming experience, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a must play.
Music Racer is a great concept on paper, unfortunately it fails in its execution. It looks great; the retrowave visuals lends itself perfectly to this type of game, unfortunately the game is boring, tedious, and frustrating. The soundtrack is meh at best; nothing really stands out. Little to no gameplay; it’s hard to recommend this rhythm based game in a world where Xbox players can get AVICCI Invector instead.
Dragon Sinker: Descendants of Legend feels like a mis-step. The idea and concept are interesting (and they definitely were a part of me wanting to dive in), especially for fans of classic RPGs, unfortunately the formula falls flat. The overall package is enticing enough, but the poorly balanced battles is a major turn off; coming across overpowered enemies right off the bat will be nothing be frustration to players.
As a huge Mega Man fan and considering the similarities (I actually devoured the previous Gunvolt game on Switch early last year), I tried very hard to enjoy Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX. The presentation and the feel of it felt like I was playing an homage to the original Mega Man X game, however the lack of tutorial and absurd combat drags it down. It’s really fun until you reach a boss; trying to randomly manage your sub-weapons while bosses do exaggerated damage is annoying. If you have the patience to figuring out an overly complicated combat system, there’s a chance you’ll enjoy; otherwise you might want to check out Metaloid Origin instead.
Oniken is a great love letter to classic games from the 8/16bit era such as Ninja Gaiden, Contra, Shadow of the Ninja; and al. While it is a fun and challenging game, sometimes it can be too challenging for its own good, mostly because of the sometimes insanely over the top difficult bosses. Old school gamers will revel in the challenge while others might be put off by the difficulty and stiff checkpoint system.
It’s clear as day that Metaloid Origin was inspired by Capcom’s Mega Man X series, it’s not to say it’s a bad thing. The game’s unique mechanics such as level exploration, self-guided upgrade mechanic and more approachable difficulty makes this game a fun diversion. Add three playable characters on top of it all and you have a great little gem; Not only harcore fans of Mega Man games can have a fun time, but any fan of platformers will enjoy this game.
Story of a Gladiator is definitely one of the best indie games I’ve played in 2019. While the premise sounds simple and repetitive, the execution gives it depth: the upgradeable equipment (armor, weaponry, shield), the plethora of skills, the use of amulet, pets, foods; Story of a Gladiator is a simple, yet complex game that’s easy to pick up and play. I highly recommend this game.
The idea behind Gozalo! is a great one; provide gamers a friendly pick up and play soccer/football game for those who feel like the FIFA or PES series might be too daunting. Unfortunately, the game is a missed shot. Despite being filled with content and its friendly approach, the A.I. is frustratingly rough around the edges; the opposition can often come off as insurmountable while your teammates are dumber than dirt. If you have the time and dedication, which ironically could be used for a soccer sim, you can end up enjoying Gozalo!, however this is the perfect party game to play with friends.
Simulacra is definitely a game not to be missed. The game is a twisted take on a missing person case and it creates uneasiness and skepticism throughout. Nothing is black and white and every decision will lead you down a tailored ending. Sure, there’s a few nuisances such as always having to re-type everything and a few times, trying to figure out what to do next can lead to frustration, but the premise and the game’s design make up of it. Don’t sleep on this unique experience.
Old school gamers and players looking for a challenge can do no wrong with Valfaris. It’s basically a love letter to classic run-and-gun games from the golden era of gaming. It’s fun, hard and frustrating, but like most games of the genre, you learn from your mistakes and that allows you to reach the next level. Definitely one of the best, most challenging, experience of the year.
So Lonely Mountains: Downhill worth your time and hard earned money? In short, yes. Despite the frustrating controls which hinders this game’s easy to pick up and play gameplay, once you graps your head about the arkward controls, there’s a fun ride to be had here. The unique presentation and nature rustling will alleviate the game’s cumbersome controls; if you get fed up with the control, just consider this a nature based crash test dummy simulator.
Worse than Death is an interesting Silent Hill-esque 2D horror title perfect for the upcoming Halloween season which sinks its teeth into you. While it does feel a bit short and simplistic (it was ported from Mobile after all) and the visuals look a bit rough around the edge even for an 8bit title (you might want to check out Claire), Worse than Death is a fun, albeit short experience sure to give you a scare or two.
While I’m generally a fan of visual novels, A Winter’s Daydream comes up a bit short. While I do enjoy unique story telling such as this and the genre as a whole seeing as it’s perfect for a relaxing gaming session, the lack of voice overs and replay value makes this hard to justify. The story is fun, unique and touching, but once you’ve experienced it, there’s no incentives to replay it. Die-hard fans of the genre will undoubtedly want to experience A Winter’s Daydream, however there’s better visual novels out there for first timers.
So the question is: Is Ghostbusters The Videogame Remastered worth the investment? Absolutely. While this is kind of a love letter to long time Ghostbusters fan, it’s also a competent shooter for fans of the genre. The intricacies to hunt down ghosts brings a bit of variety to the genre compared to most shooters where you simply run and gun. As much as I’ve enjoyed the game, with the removal of multiplayer and lack of additional modes, it’s a missed opportunity to improve an already enjoyable experience. Thanks to its budget pricing, it’s definitely worth investing in.
One Night Stand is a very unique, albeit short, visual novel experience. While it’s short length can be seen as a detriment, it makes it the ideal visual novel game for players who have been hesitant to dabble in this unique genre. Despite its few shortcomings, I do recommend One Night Stand: it’s fun, can be played in a single sitting and the decent quality of replay value. It also gives players a chance to experience the awkwardness of a one night stand… without any serious consequences.
Fight N’ Rage is a great addition to the beat’em up genre. Fast paced and over the top, it’s sure to appeal to new gamers while reaching old school gamers who grew up on Streets of Rage and Final Fight. However, in order to stay faithful to classic beat’em ups, there’s plenty of cheap hits and there’s a lack of depth combo-wise, especially compared to recent River City Girls; however the amount of content to unlock will keep you hooked and busy for the foreseeable future.
River City Girls is definitely one of the best gaming experiences of 2019. The game is perfectly balanced, addictively fun and with an enticing soundtrack, old school and new gamers alike are sure to enjoy this title from a classic genre.
In today’s gaming age, it is really difficult to recommend Metal Chaos Wolf XD to anyone else besides FromSoftware’s diehard fans. The game itself hasn’t really aged well and due to some outdated mechanics, it will turn off a lot of gamers.