Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 is a game that should not have been released, even after being delayed multiple times. The developers secretly removed the cooperative feature, which is a sly move on their end. The game as it stands now is riddled with bugs, janky mechanics, quality of life issues, and should not be purchased as is. It is an insult to the fans of the first game.
I played Gungrave G.O.R.E with zero knowledge of the franchise, and I reckon that is for the better. I would be infinitely more disappointed going into this game as a diehard fan of the series and seeing what a disservice G.O.R.E does to the Gungrave name. It’s astonishing to see Iggymob charging $50 for a low-budget, niche game riddled with unoriginal gameplay, multiple soft-locks, atrocious level design, and laughable voice acting.
INDUSTRIA is a flawed experience that needs much more time in development to fix all the bugs and polish up the gameplay. While it introduces a world filled with interesting lore and backstory, it lacks substantially in all other categories.
I had a lot of high expectations for Dolmen, considering the premise and gameplay genre. Unfortunately, it botches just about every aspect of being a Souls-like game. There were many concerns that I could look past in the demo, but are inexcusable in a full release. Not only are the technical mechanics poorly implemented with inaccurate hitbox detection and animations, the artificial difficulty and long spans of nothingness make the game frustrating for all the wrong reasons.
Death or Treat is a 2D action hack-and-slash roguelite that shows a lot of promise being an indie developer's first project. The game's adorable visuals can only carry it so far, as the experience is boggled down by uninspired gameplay mechanics and technical issues.
It’s hard to recommend this de-mastered port of Alan Wake on the Nintendo Switch due to how inconsistent the frame rates are and how downgraded and blurry the graphics are. Considering this title is readily available and cheaper on so many different platforms, you are far better off enjoying this classic third-person horror shooter on a PC, PlayStation, or Xbox. If the Switch is your only option or you value portability, then I guess this version is somewhat viable, but just keep your expectations in line. At least it’s not a Cloud port, right?
Isonzo is an honorable attempt at creating the historical events of the battles between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies. The multiplayer-only component with concern for long-term player base sustainability, alongside a multitude of user experience gripes make it an unremarkable experience.
Redout 2 is a game that looks amazingly sleek and fun through pictures, descriptions, and videos. The facade is dropped when you actually play the game for yourself, and find a slew of poor design choices, unnecessary difficulty curves, incomplete features, and repetitive gameplay. This doesn't even include the atrociously implemented HDR that burned my eyes and gave me a headache. Even if you're a fan of the genre, I recommend sticking with the first Redout until this sequel is heavily patched or discounted.
Eternal Threads is a narrative driven, time manipulation game that ends up being nothing more than a walking simulator and cutscene watcher. If you're into making some binary decisions to alter some future events on the timeline, then I recommend checking out the demo first. This game is much better watched, because it's just not fun to play.
Martha is Dead had all the right ideas, touching upon themes of loss, war, and personal identity in a meaningful way in a horror game. It unfortunately failed to deliver on an experience that cohesively weaved together those great ideas, along with a slew of technical and performance issues.
If you enjoyed Fatshark’s previous projects on Vermintide and its sequel, or you’re just an overall Warhammer 40K fan, then you will feel right at home with Darktide. As long as you can dig past the rough state the game is in right now with unfinished content and performance issues, then there’s truly an addictive and satisfying cooperative horde shooter lying underneath all those corpses.
Shadow Warrior 3 is oftentimes a lot of fun, especially if you're keen on dirty jokes, visceral violence and stunning vistas. However, repetitive gameplay and a lack of overall content bring the experience done.
There's not a lot of negative things I have to say about Mad Head Games' Scars Above, but I don't have a lot of positive things to say either. It's an aggressively average experience brought down by performance issues and lack of important accessibility features. Even where color is present, this game drowns in dullness.
Counterplay Games did a commendable job enhancing, tweaking, and extending Godfall into one complete package. The core issues are still there though, with poorly implemented combat, boring narrative, and endless grind. But for the amount of content you are getting at a finally reasonable price-point, it's worth a try for those that are into the looter genre. At least it's pretty!
Amazon has done a decent job with New World with its exquisite visuals and overall environment. They just need to smooth out those rough edges and implement some mounts!
Fallen Leaf and Black Drakkar Games have done an exceptional job conjuring up a slow-burn, suspenseful narrative thriller, largely in part due to the impressive visuals and big-name voice cast. You can easily finish Fort Solis in one sitting if you lose track of time, much like a movie, but the high price tag and painfully slow walking speed make me hesitant to recommend it to everyone. But hey, if you’re into high-quality walking simulators, then this might be the next game for you.
If you think about what Frogwares had to go through this past year in Ukraine, it’s an amazing feat that Sherlock Holmes The Awakened came to fruition. Sure, the game doesn’t break any new ground, but the team did it, and it just works! This crossover between Lovecraft and Sherlock is a dream come true for a detective and horror fan like myself. Even though The Awakened re-uses many of the same assets and engine and suffers from some of the same frustrations as Chapter One, it still remains a compelling detective experience from start to finish. There’s plenty of madness to lose your sanity to and lots of cases waiting to be solved!
As Luminous Productions’ first project after being formed from the developers of Final Fantasy XV, Forspoken is a remarkable yet flawed experience. There’s so much potential here, with an outstanding magic parkour system and a beautiful open world. However, it’s clear that the ambition was a little too high for this studio, as there are just too many incomplete (but great) ideas at work here that just don’t come to fruition.
Valkyrie Elysium could have been something great, with its excellent narrative backdrop built on the basis of Norse mythology. As per usual with Square Enix titles, the art direction and soundtrack are outstanding and leave me wanting more. The fast, fluid, and satisfying combat system is what carries an otherwise mediocre title bogged down by washed out visuals and uninspired level design.
While it may not have a lengthy playtime or genre-defining mechanics, Choo-Choo Charles is nonetheless an impressive project created by a single person. If you're craving some dumb spooky fun centered around upgrading your own train whilst trying to derail a demon spider locomotive (a very specific craving, indeed), then look no further.