Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden falls short of its potential. Its central protagonists lack the chemistry and development to make meaningful choices feel impactful. Its combat and exploration feel like they've been lifted from better games, barely iterating on established formulas and, in some cases, making them worse. While there are some enjoyable side quests and the occasional glimmer of hope in the main subplot, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden never reaches the heights it should.
Stellar Blade is an unremarkable thrill ride, one with a forgettable story marred by predictable twists and a lack of compelling character development. While it's a visually stunning experience, it's let down by its lackluster cutscene direction and inconsistencies in the character animation. Fortunately, its combat is stellar, offering a rich and varied set of systems that feel endlessly fun. Similarly, exploration is rewarding, albeit a little clunky. If you're looking for a combat-focused experience, then Stellar Blade's 20-25-hour runtime will surely suffice. However, don't expect to come away having had a memorable time.
My Time at Sandrock is an exceptionally content-rich game with a satisfying gameplay loop, exciting narrative, and a mostly compelling cast of characters. Unfortunately, it is let down by the Nintendo Switch port, which is so fundamentally flawed that it ruins the entire experience.
Paradise Lost is a frustrating experience. While its hauntingly atmospheric environments are a joy to explore, its lacklustre narrative betrays its phenomenal premise. The lack of interactable elements means its already slow-paced gameplay is a slog to get through. Its all too cryptic narrative leaves much to be desired, taking away my care factor for the story's outcome. This is a stunning game with a lot of potential, but it ultimately fails to meet the heights it should.
The Medium looks pretty, but outside of that, this game is not special.
All Walls Must Fall had serious potential to be a mind-bending, time-shifting, techno-infused, XCOM clone, but unfortunately falls flat. Ultimately, I wish one wall had stayed up: the one that puts me very, very far away from this mess.
While A Long Way Down has some interesting ideas, but its lack of direction or focus makes progressing through its long-winded levels a chore. None of its unique ideas ever feel substantial enough, and it never did enough to hold my interest for very long. A Long Way Down is far from terrible, but it's not worth your time or money.
The MW3 campaign gets by on Call of Duty's expertly refined gunplay and little else. Its nonsensical narrative comes across as pitiful and dull, further hindered by the uninspired mission design that never extends beyond "go here and shoot them." Purchasing MW3 for its campaign is a massive waste of money, let alone time.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is everything that is wrong with remakes. The game fails to innovate on the antiquated design of the original title, and instead, it only offers superficial improvements.
Monster Harvest is a mostly forgettable title that will only really appeal to those who are incredibly fond of the genre.