Aeon Drive is an otherwise solid experience with nuanced mechanics. The biggest areas where the game struggles are, luckily, in the smaller details such as the lack of hangtime and forgetting to include a mechanic in the tutorial that, thankfully, didn't hinder the gameplay until the end. With its comfortable three-hour playtime, native speedrunning leaderboards, competitive mode, and charming personality, Aeon Drive is definitely worth checking out.
While this left a sour taste in that moment, it just serves as a warning to save the game frequently, because the devs are actively fixing many of these issues for launch and these hiccups shouldn't get in the way of playing Sable. It has a beautiful story to tell about the ups and downs of growing up and leaving home for the first time, with plenty of lovable characters and unique moments to experience along the way. With its beautiful design, surprisingly deep lore, and comforting soundtrack, Sable provides a joyful and inspiring escape that would be a shame to miss out on.
Minor annoyances aside, WWZ: Aftermath is fun, replayable, and challenging. As an added bonus, current WWZ owners can upgrade for $19.99 instead of paying the full $39.99 and carry over their progression and other save data. Overall, World War Z: Aftermath is a refined and replayable experience that offers a slew of content for half the price of its competitors.
There are some fun nods to its inspirations, such as having an area puzzle that mirrors the Ocarina of Time's Lost Woods puzzle; it even has a race and city called "Neptyn" that look a lot like the Zora and an un-frozen Zora's Domain respectively. While these references are clear, both in its design and gameplay, Flynn: Son of Crimson has a very defined sense of identity and has many unique features that set it apart from its inspirations. Flynn: Son of Crimson is absolutely worth checking out as every second spent in its beautifully designed world is one well spent.
In its current state, everything the player experiences in the first 15 minutes is all that Hanako has to offer. That said, there is a supportive community beginning to form around Hanako who will hopefully continue to support the project in its post-launch development. Hanako has had an incredible journey thus far and though it's struggling to keep up with the times, it has the potential to pull a No Man's Sky and turn itself around to become the Hanako: Honor & Blade that +Mpact Games envisioned 14 years ago.
Hindsight is a poor game on a promising foundation
Overall, Lake tells a beautiful story, has nuanced and interesting characters, and has an environment that feels comforting and inviting. What detracts from the experience is, unfortunately, the game's tedious tasks and slow pace. This combination makes it hard to leave the experience with a clear opinion about the time spent in Providence Oaks, but what is clear is that Lake will absolutely satisfy players who feel like they need to escape and spend some time taking it slow and easy.
Overall, Clid the Snail is a beautiful game with tons of personality and a world that begs to be explored, but the combat and gameplay is so frustrating that it makes doing so a huge a chore. The good news is that it only takes a patch or two to fix the weapon damage and rolling issues if they're viewed by many as a source of frustration rather than challenging, fair combat. While it's not the best experience right now, players should absolutely follow its post-launch development, because Clid the Snail oozes, like so many of its menagerie, with the kind of potential that could make it an excellent entry into its genre with some meaningful tweaks.
Overall, Recompile is a mixed bag that struggles to balance each aspect of its design.
Overall, The Ramp is exactly what it says it is. It's designed from the ground up to entertain its players with a simple gameplay loop that can be enjoyed for a couple minutes or a couple hours. That simplicity not only makes it easy to pop in and out of, but its mechanics are incredibly addicting, and setting personal challenges becomes most of the fun. Given its low price and the hours of fun it provides, The Ramp is absolutely worth picking up and dropping into whenever one gets the urge to shred.
Greak is yet another great Metroidvania that manages to make the genre feel fresh and empowering. While the world of this story is dark, the feeling players are left with is one of joy, and its well-paced runtime leaves room for both a sequel and replay value. Ultimately, the most disappointing part of Greak: Memories of Azur is that it ended at all, and it's a must-play for anyone who finds the genre intriguing.
Overall, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT remains a wonderful, fast-paced, and addicting experience. While it has plenty of room to grow, it holds its own against competitors like Hunter’s Arena: Legends and offers a polished experience to those who choose to join the fight.
Overall, Seed of Life is a game with unique ideas and wonderful worldbuilding, but it needs to heavily refine the parts that matter most. In its current form, Seed of Life is a fantastic proof of concept prototype but an easy to skip final product. While it doesn't take long to beat, due in part to the ability to navigate the world in unintended ways thanks to easily exploitable bugs, it leaves a lasting negative impression that could have been avoided with a little more time spent developing out from its early promise.
While there was never anything frustrating enough to make someone want to stop playing the game, the lack of new mechanics as the game goes on makes it hard to come back. It's a shame because Glyph is truly a beautifully designed game that could become a great title to speedrun, so long as future updates make Glyph easier to control. Ultimately, Glyph is a beautiful game that fell short in some pretty important places, but still deserves a chance from those looking for a relaxed gaming experience.
Nevertheless, Where the Heart Leads is worth picking up and playing as soon as possible. The story it has to tell is carefully crafted, emotionally vulnerable, and will stick with players long after the final lines of dialogue fade from the screen.
Shipwreck Escape feels like it's actively fighting against the mechanics that it promotes. Some of the puzzles are actually pretty good, but even the best puzzles are overshadowed by the fact it takes 5-10 tries to figure out what it actually looks like. There are some other non-gameplay issues such as not saving key mapping when exiting and reentering the game, so it has to be changed every time the game opens. Puzzle games are supposed to balance being challenging but fun, but Shipwreck Escape just feels frustrating and unfair.
Destroy All Humans! is beat for beat a remake of the original title with the exception of one new mission that manages to blend right in with the rest of the game. The biggest concern with this port is that it crashed a number of times and there never seemed to be a consistent reason for why - hopefully this is something that will be addressed in early updates. While it's awesome to see Switch players get access to this cult classic and all its new content, it would be better to purchase the port on another console if possible, as doing so will likely provide a more consistent and enjoyable experience.
Overall, Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection is fairly whelming and often aggravating. For those looking to replay one or all of these titles, it may be better to buy the original titles on their own, simply because the quality of the Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection experience doesn't match its price tag, while those who don't mind the cost will find only a serviceable group of titles in a series that had produced much better.
Overall, Guilty Gear Strive is a fantastic entry to the series and to the genre itself. For long-time fans of the series, the story and gameplay will only reinforce the parts of Guilty Gear that have kept them playing and following along. For both those new to fighting games and seasoned veterans, Guilty Gear Strive presents a satisfying system that balances accessibility and mastery with care and confidence.
Howard's journey ends far, far away from where it began and each step continuously develops the emotional investment for everyone in this world. While there are minor mechanical issues such as the "interact" input not always being immediately responsive, each element of Backbone is polished and expertly crafted. Backbone is a must-play GOTY contender that deserves every bit of mainstream recognition it receives, and exceeds the usual reach of its genre, making for a compelling experience that even those with little interest in point-and-click adventures will find difficult to put down.