Kurtis Seid
A foul crime requires a fowl cop to solve it.
The Forgotten City offers a lot of great replay value for those looking to solve compelling story puzzles in multiple ways.
Century: Age of Ashes is a great objective combat-based game for those looking to have exciting dog fights. But like most online multiplayer games the enjoyment will always be swayed by teammates and opponents.
The PlayStation 4 (and other consoles) release of the game adds in new extras to help pad out content. This includes hidden rooms containing star constellations, collectible chess pieces, and interacting with every fire alarm and fire extinguisher inside Somna Sculpt.
Chernobylite can be very enjoyable for players who want to take on the role of team leader and savior. While exploration will be crucial at first, as the base grows in size, players will be spending much of their schedule staying behind, sorting supplies, and simply manning the fort. Players that instead want a deep combat-focused game will not find it here.
Chivalry 2 embraces how absurd its massive chaotic battles are and it's an incredibly fun, objective-based first-person war game. Players should remember that they won’t find the melee finesse of something like For Honor or dominate the whole map solo. Every match moment will be an over-the-top action sequence, where bodies will fly, characters roar with laughter, and nothing will make any real sense.
Wavetale is impressive and extremely fun for those who enjoy high-speed traversal. It lacks challenge when it comes to combat, but it also means it doesn’t take much to return to exploration. There is a lot of extra stuff to do besides the main story, though it only results in more cosmetics. Those looking for a rather casual adventure game will love Wavetale.
Steamworld Build has reasonable, average length load times when first starting up. It is impressive that it is seamless to switch between map times with no slowdown or bugs. However, outright crashing is still possible. This tends to happen when first opening a map or exiting back to the main menu. SteamWorld Build is a great sequel for those who liked the previous games in the series.
Unrailed! is wacky fun with friends, but infuriating with strangers.
The setting and story of Encased have a lot of hooks that will keep any RPG lover engaged. With both the choice of five backgrounds and many dialogue choices, the game has high replay value.
Prison Simulator is a great representation of working in a prison and seeing the life of an inmate. There are lots of possible schedules, events, and freedom to interact with NPCs. But most of them will eventually become an ordinary routine.
DayZ is far less a game and more an open toolkit to make a unique but unpredictable adventure. Some might find an extremely intense survival adventure. Others may feel the mixed excitement, terror, and loneliness of relying on strangers.
The two aspects of combat and city building seem to clash against one another. This is partially due to the real-time gameplay and the overall imbalanced economy. Players will either find themselves only gaining enough supplies for their war effort - akin to RTS games like Warcraft - or having a stable society that doesn’t go out and conquer. But, those that like this oil and water non-mix will have great fun with Frozenheim.
SIGNALIS never lets up from feeling completely strange and unsettling. This works great in the context of a terrifying and disturbing alien world. However, this bizarreness stretches into archaic gameplay designs, a muddled story, and strange visuals. It feels like genuinely stepping into the past of the late 1990s, both for better and worse.
IXION can be extremely overwhelming and punishes players for not having nearly precognition levels of foresight. Still, once these roadblocks are understood and avoided, the game can become an excellent and welcome challenge. IXION is defiantly for survival fans first, while city planners may find things a bit more aggravating.
Boti: Byteland Overclocked isn’t a massive grand adventure but a short and sweet romp through more concise levels. You should treat it more like the 3D stages of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time than an open sprawl like Super Mario Odyssey. Unlike those single-player games, Boti: Byteland Overclocked is very much balanced around two-player functionality.
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is great for existing fans that want to know more about their favorite characters and possibly the deeper universe.
The PlayStation 4 version of Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Definitive Edition appeals to an interesting niche: intermediate Pathfinder fans who don’t own or can’t run the PC version. The console port is noticeably inferior, but still an adequate representation.
Players looking for a whimsical and intriguing puzzle game will get the most enjoyment from Tetragon.
There really isn’t much of a story hook at all, nor do you make any key choices of what happens. Instead, Stolen Realm should be completely approached like a loot RPG such as Diablo 4. You are here to grind, make builds, and get progressively stronger. This is great for fans of dungeon crawlers who don’t really need anything else. But if you prefer a strong plot or setting, Stolen Realm doesn’t have it.