Genghis Husameddin's Reviews
FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a lot of fun! There’s plenty of things to do and they all play into one-another quite well. It’s not a slow-life game by any stretch of the mean, but it is a grindy one and any grindy game that manages to actually pull me back in post review obligations deserves nothing more than a hearty recommendation from me. ■
I think Disney Illusion Island is built on a solid foundation, but sadly everything around it (be it level design, art, and objectives) are underwhelming. This is a game for the Disney faithful at best, because even for young children, there are an overwhelming amount of fantastic 2D Metroidvania titles to choose from. Unless you really like Donald Duck (and I solemnly raise my hand for the walking TNT box!), Illusion Island likely isn’t going to be worth your time. ■
It’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun in a cooperative-focused title, and I think POPUCOM has found a great balance between difficulty and player choice without sticking around for more than it has to. Throw in a lovely presentation, and you’ve got a fantastic cooperative puzzle-platformer that can be enjoyed by all.
There’s a pleasant puzzler in Projected Dreams, thanks to its visuals, music, and simple game design. Who knew making shadow puppets could make for an enjoyable afternoon? An easy recommendation for everyone.
Sadly, ca11 me here!’s gameplay is fairly one note. That is, once you’ve played the first round of its minigame, you’ve played the whole game.
Palia’s multiplayer-based life simulation experience is a unique one, something that sets it apart from other games in the genre. It’s got solid mechanics, an interesting lore, and a welcoming community. It’s a game best enjoyed in short bursts, but that can’t stop you from building the life of your dreams.
A variety of challenges will keep new players in the genre busy and older ones entertained through the game’s mix of comedy and tragedy. Quite literally, a good time for all ages.
This is purely a time capsule that plays really well on the go, perfect for anyone who owned a Lynx and folks who love retro games. The collection’s titles run accurately and bonus functions like rewind and save states along with digitised versions of their box arts and manuals make The Epyx Collection: Handheld worth a look. ∎
StarVaders is a wonderfully addicting game, one I didn’t expect to be a highlight of mine this month. The underlying mechanics present can make or break a run in a multitude of ways, the bosses are frenetic and can really pose a challenge, the runs don’t overstay their welcome, and it’s got the visuals and music to boot.
LUNAR Remastered Collection is a set of games I think can be enjoyed by anybody, particularly those who have a love for old-school, adventure-focused anime and JRPGs alike.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened is a fantastic remaster of an already great game. The other two campaigns, “Road to Gehenna” and the new “In the Beginning”, offer additional puzzles that will really wrack your brain on top of being able to hear more from Elohim’s architect and the mother of all that came after.
Sports: Renovation is a cool take on the cleaning simulation genre. Its love for sports emanates in just about every corner of the game, across multiple levels. It can be clumsy at times, but it’ll eat up your time like no tomorrow. Put on some headphones, learn about sports, and scrub those venue floors clean.
With Gal Guardians: Servants of the Dark, there’s a solid solo and fun cooperative campaign that offers a good 15 plus hours of action, depending on how often you get lost. Level design has improved since the last game, humour is on-brand with Gal Guardians’ preceding series of games, and movement feels great. Here’s another Metroidvania I can recommend to the newbie and veteran alike. ∎
I’m really happy with the features that are available in inZOI right now and I’m really looking forward to what will be added in its future. Right now, I hope the developer can resolve some of the more basic but key features such as more hair styles and presets for body characteristics. This is a really charming game (fluffy cats and their ability to help aside) and I’ll be coming to inZOI very often over the coming months for further impressions and to follow the game’s progress. If you’re a life simulation fan, you’ve got to try out inZOI. ∎
Atelier Yumia’s first bout is a fun, open world crafting game that offers more than just clearing icons on a map—its verticality while offering player creativity through movement and housing tools make for a good time. It’s everything its developer has been building towards, and I’ve come away quite impressed with what they’ve got to offer.
Ivy Road brings up the question “is something wrong with me”, something we all might ask ourselves at one point. You’re probably narcissistic if not. It’s a question lots of stories ask and, for many, said stories never really answer the question in any satisfactory way. Wanderstop instead opts to do what we all do when faced with questions like this—trudge about, skirt the line, use lots of adverbs. And for what it’s worth, it’s a refreshingly grounded take on the matter. Yes, something might just be wrong with me and will likely be the death of me. Can something be done about? Maybe. A bit of self-awareness never hurts, though.
FAIRY TAIL 2 is best left for fans and potentially players of the first game. A fun combat system and entertaining character interactions are strained against a linear, dull boss rush adventure with poor performance and weak sidequesting. I don’t think I can call this game an RPG in any capacity. ∎
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii brings about solid 3D brawling combat back to the series alongside tonnes of minigames, fun pirating sections, and intense set piece battles the series is known for. It’s more Yakuza—are you going to say no to that?
MACROSS -Shooting Insight- may ultimately be a good fan service title, and it has the modes to boot! But too many cardinal sins add that make for a rather frustrating shoot ’em up experience.
Big Helmet Heroes is a charming little cooperative beat ’em up that’ll be a delight to smaller family members and parents alike. A lack of unique objectives throughout most of the stages might be a bit of a bore and visibility issues can sometimes frustrate, but there’s enough here for an amusing local coop experience. ∎