I’m a sucker for survival games, so when the opportunity to review The Long Dark came through I jumped at the chance to review it. Playing The Long Dark on the Nintendo Switch isn’t my first experience with the game. I had previously played the game during its early access state on the Xbox One way back in 2017/2018. Back then The Long Dark was just a shell of what it is now and only contained two explorable areas and none of the episodic story.
Rez Plz is a pixel-art puzzle-platformer that brings a new twist to the co-op formula. The goal of Rez Plz is to kill your brother to then solve the various puzzles and dungeons. It’s a simple yet delightful adventure that aims to stand out from the crowded puzzle-platformer genre through its humour and unique gameplay.
Tropico 6 is a city builder that places us in charge of a little slice of island life. Do we rule this island as a benevolent leader, one who is kind and caring? Or do we rule with an iron fist as an evil tyrant, one who’s not afraid to get their hands dirty? That’s what makes Tropico 6 appealing. We’re given the tools but not told how to use them.
Back in the 1980s when Transformers, G.I. Joe and He-Man and The Masters of the Universe ruled the roost, there was also a range of toys that brought sci-fi and dinosaurs together in spectacular fashion. Zoids hailed from Japan and ended up encompassing the world with its impressive range of wind-up mechanical creatures.
The Otterman Empire is a pretty simple game, both in terms of gameplay and design. With its simple character and level design, The Otterman Empire feels like a homage to the video game heyday of anthropomorphic animals appearing in everything. On the surface The Otterman Empire even feels like a Gamecube or PlayStation 2 game, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Those of us wanting a simple couch multiplayer game will find a lot of The Otterman Empire appealing despite its apparent flaws.
Road to Guangdong is a game about the importance of family and how traditions get passed down throughout generations. Set against the evocative backdrop of 90s China, we take on the role of Sunny. Sunny has just inherited the family’s restaurant, which has fallen on hard times. As a last ditch attempt to save the restaurant, Sunny and her Great Aunt, Gu Ma, set off on a road trip in search of long-lost relatives that hold the secrets that could reverse the restaurant’s failings and bring the customers flooding back. As Sunny and Gu Ma set off on their journey they have to contend with not only the generation gap between themselves, but also their choice of transport – Sandy, the family’s old beat-up car.
Death and Taxes is a puzzle game where you play as a newly spawned Grim Reaper. Set in an office building we are given the task of deciding who lives and more importantly who dies, through the admin of quite a lot of paper work. With a new quota of who lives and dies being set each day we can choose to either ignore these or follow them dutifully. However there are consequences…
If you are a frequent listener to music then you would have heard of muscian Tim Bergling AKA; AVICII. The Swedish born DJ has produced some of the greatest tracks of this generation and has had multiple number one hits with tracks such as – Levels, I Could Be The One, Hey Brother, Addicted to You and SOS.
When we think of post-apocalyptic games, the Fallout series is the one that most people think of. With its (now) first-person gameplay, hunting down Ghouls and Mutants, to collecting loot and doing quests for its quite often bizarre cast of characters. However Fallout owes a lot of its gameplay to a franchise that’s been quietly hiding in the background waiting for its time to re-emerge from its slumber.
Heroes of Hammerwatch is set within the same universe as 2017’s Hammerwatch. With the original release of Hammerwatch developer Crackshell delivered a game with satisfying combat and progression with a great pick-up and play style, whilst also catering to those of us who strive for a greater challenge.
Binding of Isacc meets Enter the Gungeon when Neon Abyss struts into town. This spectacular Roguelite has you literally falling into the abyss whilst hurling an endless stream of bullets, lasers and bubbles at a never ending supply of squishy monsters.
I’m a big fan of platform-adventure games such as Metroid and Castlevania. Their simple yet challenging gameplay has always been a lure to me ever since I first discovered Super Metroid and Super Castlevania IV way back in the 90s on the SNES. The Bloodstained series is considered to be the spiritual successor to Castlevania with both series being developed by Koji Igarashi. Igarashi conceived the idea of Bloodstained after his departure from Konami in 2018 and was prompted by many requests by fans for him to produce another “Metroidvania” style game. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 is the third game released in the Bloodstained series so how does it compare to its already well received brethren?
Catherine: Full Body is to an extent both an expanded and a remake to the 2011 game Catherine. Developed by Atlus, Catherine is a tale of one man and his incredibly complicated love life. It’s a bizarre game filled with Demons, Sheep and a love triangle. While Catherine is a fine game and doesn’t necessarily need a reboot or remake, Catherine: Full Body takes everything from the main game and improves on it in every way.