Neptunia – Game Maker R:Evolution is a drill set you keep jotting down even though you understand it because the teacher thinks you’re stupid and need to study harder. Now you haven’t learned anything new and you hate math, and I’m walking away from this game before I really start to dislike Neptune.
Musashi vs Cthulhu would do well from having something more to it – there’s apparently talk of a story mode or multiple characters – but it does okay for what it professes to be. A simple, repetitive, and ultimately points-driven game of fast fingers and split-second decisions. I feel like it’s not a bad pickup to make, but know what you’re getting, and be ready to put it down and probably forget about it the second you finish. There’s nothing wrong with that, but this is definitely one game where the excitement of monster slaying wears off in a flash of steel.
It was sweet, good-natured, and the directionality allowed me to just enjoy the interactions without worrying about saying the wrong thing and getting a bad ending. The score is lovely, the character design is bright and engaging, and the settings change enough to have plenty of variety.
Outside of that all, Please Leave Me Alone, I Need to Poop is a short joke, not overpriced or overstaying its welcome, but is decidedly hard to motivate players into unlocking everything.
It’s a disheartening game that is tedious, seemingly random and honestly runs so terribly slowly on console. I Am Your President is trying to poke fun at the establishment and probably provide some spoof-esque humor, but the delivery is underbaked, flat and just a slog. For Americans, unless you’re already a zealot about the elephant or the donkey, this isn’t going to ingratiate the political circuit to you any further. If you’re from outside the U.S., I cannot imagine the appeal of this game in any capacity.
Maybe it was too difficult to incorporate, maybe it made the game too easy, I couldn’t tell you. What I can say is Rainbow Cotton is the magical girl wrapped version of a Cybertruck. Quirky and odd, the novelty wears off when you can’t control it and it ultimately crashes and burns, killing you with design flaws that the creators were well aware of.
Having said all that, Horrific Xanatorium had its moments, regardless of how short they were. The art styling was good (though I LOVED the pixel art in the credits), the concept was mostly well realized, and this is a really good first work from an up and coming designer and writer. The moments of hallucination, the fears and the inability to distinguish fact from fiction all nestled into my brain quite nicely, and I’m thrilled to be sure that I’m really here.
There’s charm, there’s cuteness, there’s a generous difficulty curve and there’s a plot that passes the Bechdel test. This is the right step forward for Peach into the spotlight, and I hope Showtime! is the first of many more adventures to come.
The major issue is, for something so potentially grand and promising, there’s just no fuel to keep the fire going. You find handfuls of tinder and the occasional decent stick to build a little heat, but when the most exciting moments come from shooting massive spiders and finding innovative ways to run around the map, it’s just a bit of a splodge that doesn’t ever quite find its shape.
I feel The Hungry Lamb is for a specific audience, though I can’t quite align with whom that might be. It’s not thrilling enough to land in constant VN recommendations, it’s got uncomfortable relationships which will put most people off, and the endings never hit the high note that satisfies everything.
Overall, I think Stitch is an ultra quaint title that oozes warmth and welcome in gameplay and visual presentation, and is just such a decompression tool after a long day doing literally anything. It gives me such joy and relaxation to bring together the numbers and colors until I’ve made a bicycle or a nutcracker or whatever. I’ll do Christmas puzzles in April, it’s fine and the game doesn’t judge me. Unlock more and more pieces, don’t wait for power ups or villains because there are none, and just keep making yourself happy.
It’s a clever little title, handles well on the Switch and comes in at the same price as a Happy Meal. While it won’t blow away critics at the end of the year, The Exit 8 is memorable and serves as a good proof of concept, like how P.T. once captivated players across the world with unspeakable dread.
It’s not a terrifically long title, but it’s got heart and a proud showing of individuality in both concept and execution. But having the game become so difficult, not because it’s intended to be, but because it’s performing poorly, reminded me less of Goodboy Galaxy and more of Faceball 2000. If there becomes a more economic way to get the straight Gameboy version, I highly recommend that and think it could be exciting for retro enthusiasts and modern players.
While not a game that I can play for an exceptionally long time, Freedom Planet 2 has a charm and appeal that cannot be denied, and makes for a fantastic sequel to an ambitious original. Excessive exposition moments drag down the momentum, but you can jump right back in with surprising vigor.
Perhaps that’s one of the grand takeaways from Sakramazuzu: there are many questions that both the living and the dead harbor about the Great Beyond. In a tale about existence and meaning with its own quirky styling and approach, it’s natural that we all find something that sits uncomfortably in our own minds. It could be that I, myself, am beset with an awkward position when a conversation lulls and thus need to talk, and I see that reflected in Zuzu and am unhappy with that lens. Or, perhaps, I just need a game to do something other than talk AT me in the middle of trying to discover a bigger purpose.
The Gap doesn’t drop breadcrumbs to lead players to the end, it uses megaphones to scream answers at you while also keeping you completely in the dark. It’s like if Verbal had started his conversation with “I’m Keyser Soze” but then been frustratingly vague about what he was doing on the day in question. The result is something that’s an interesting and big swing in the world of game storytelling, but it only gets a piece of the ball: it doesn’t connect enough for a homerun.
For decades, I’ve chased the high that games of my childhood delivered, but I could never quite scratch the itch. But the combination of elements – the discovery, the combat, the upgrades and the world itself – made me excited to dive into Minishoot’ Adventures each and every time. It hits upon all that I love and does it with grace and aplomb, and I cannot recommend this game enough. A treasure in a modern world of titles, it doesn’t do retro through pixel graphics or bananas difficulty: it’s retro because it makes you feel like a kid again.
When it comes to Match Village, here’s what I can say: it’s here, it’s cheap, it’s decent enough as an engagement piece and you can suggest it to anyone without the risk of offending them. Looking for something else to occupy your thumbs while you and a friend/loved one/forced roommate move through the latest season of Survivor? Then come make some cozy pairings with Match Village, and see how far you can move your island along before you decide to get up and move on from it.
So come dive in if you’re looking for a new and sometimes hilarious way to kill people, because that was the majority of my enjoyment of Bio Inc. Redemption. It’s creative, the execution is decent, and it’s certainly a title that stands out on the Switch. However, if you have any interest in actually helping people, I recommend to avoid this title, simply because it will aid in making you cynical of how much someone is willing to help themselves before asking others for help.
If you can parse down the file size significantly, change the interface so you aren’t using a floating mouse cursor, lower the unlock price tags and polish the performance overall, this could be a fun little title regardless of your familiarity with Warmhammer 40,000. As it stands, Dakka Squadron is boring, repetitive, painful and a waste of time, especially if you aren’t out here just to screech a line from a game while others hoot in acknowledgement.