It’s a dark tale about a broken man and a total disregard for everything that goes into a player’s time and money. If you’re properly gelded against cynicism, you might enjoy the graphics, soundtrack and some of the better combat moments. Otherwise, you’re stuck in the same paradox as Thorn: unable to admit that it’s all been a lie.
The story, the music, and the interface are all great. You can spend way too long trying to work out the details yourself, or find a fast track to solving the crimes and getting the best ending possible. Again, I have to stress this, I didn’t get a crash, just general disappointment over the terrible menus and the janky performance. But I can’t promise you won’t, and I don’t want anyone to be disappointed in this game.
Jumping online to play something, fair enough, that’s everyone’s responsibility. But Chinatown Detective Agency is asking players to commit, unfailingly, with the penalty of wasting your own time. That’s a stopper for me, and I think that it should be for anyone else who has a life outside of their computer.
While it’s far from the worst visual novel I’ve ever played, I think you need to want something sweet and lusty in order to fully enjoy it, and I have a hard time getting into that headspace while holding my Switch. Come for the premise, stay for the game icon of two women kissing on your Switch home screen, and then enjoy a ton of maid outfits that only fulfill a fetish incidentally, not purposely. But please remember: if a woman kisses you and then demands you go out in a storm to look for her doll, something has gone wrong with your life.
Here’s what I’d say: if you’re the type of person who consumes this sort of pulp-grade mystery story, then you’ll have a fun time. There’s enough meat here to spend a full day with, the ambience of the voices and music are good, and the first time through the pieces make sense. If you’re looking for a long-time investment with a game, you seriously need to look elsewhere.
I went into Horatio Goes Snowboarding with an expectation on where the game would take me, but I never expected a cross between Papers, Please and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Philistines will only see a simple arcade game, but I’ve peeled back the curtain to witness the true message within, and it’s a glorious indictment of the world around us.
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.
For an indie game that has so many ideas and potential, A Void Hope delivers a short, neat package that doesn’t invite replay or inquest. I can’t even tell if it has some kind of apolitical stance on diseases and vaccines because the dialogue is very dramatic and then just gets resolved without consequence. It’s got its moments, but there isn’t anything here that drives me to demand people play it.
For a couple of bucks, Suika Game is a cute little distraction that you might get wildly addicted to or you may just run through twice and then forget about. The online high score list shows that the competition is real, so know what you’re getting into before considering streaming. There aren’t any glitches or bugs, so, honestly, the polish makes it worth the price tag, even if there’s a high chance you’ll just let this game rot in your refrigerator after the initial excitement fades away.
I would absolutely recommend it to gaming historians who want to see examples of solid pixel art and design during the coin-operated heyday. It’s punishing at times, so hardcore gamers can go off on a lark to try and accomplish it without turning on the cheats. But as an individual set piece, I can’t say I’d want to play it again. Such an obtuse title not being part of my regular rotation should hardly come as a shock, man.
I hope that we see further building on this idea from Lizardry in the future: a version with voices might actually be better, since I’m more of an audio learner than a visual. But, as it stands, this experiment in connection and communication is neither satisfying nor dissatisfying: it simply is, and I can appreciate it as such.
It’s not a particularly long play, and it does have a fair amount of replay value, so there is some inherent worth for Buddy Simulator 1984. What it seeks to do and what it actually does, while I suppose that could be subjective, are two very different things. I didn’t hate the game by any stretch of the imagination, but it became a bit of a chore to get through in the end.
The name Wildcat Gun Machine feels like it should evoke something positively thrilling and explosive, like the movies and games that clearly inspired this twin-stick shooter. Instead, you just nod along and play, hardly getting more irritated than modest frustration at an untimely death. But there’s no permadeath, no chance to lose it all, and no moment that delivered a Woah. Instead, you charge ahead, shoot, upgrade, and shoot some more. For some, that might be enough. But while I was waiting for Wildcat, I just got a tabby.
Castle Morihisa is a pretty facade with some unique ideas and the skeletal integrity of an arthritic horse. It might carry you a short distance, but it’s going to collapse, and definitely before you get to where you want to go. Some players might find satisfaction in conquering a game that feels stacked against them, but that’s just not my cup of tea.
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.
The floaty controls and repetitive music aside, I thought this was a decent dip in the metroidvania arena. Fearmonium is a creepy little romp that’s worth a few days of amusement and some further discussion, but it lives and dies by its very notion. If you seek greater meaning of the trauma and horrors, then you’ll remember it far longer. While it might disturb and captivate you in the moment, it could fade when you walk away from your console.
There’s a lot of compelling arguments, tons of bad endings to run into facefirst (almost gleefully) and a fairly decent hero/villain dynamic. And others may not be as pissed by the twist as I am, so that might even work out for you. I’ll keep going to find all the bad endings, as several do take some real work to uncover. But, once I’ve got everything set, I’m certain that my final logout from Archetype Arcadia will be permanent.
I sincerely appreciate what went into bringing this to modern consoles, and I feel that Empty Clip Studios did a fantastic job with Gargoyles Remastered. It looks and sounds magnificent, and the quality of life additions make the game actually playable, though with the feeling of a Prince of Persia throughline as a result. However, the barebones game, the lack of any voicework and the emptiness of accomplishment at the end creates a hollow feeling. This really does feel like eating cotton candy: sweet and visually pleasing, but it just will not fill you up.
Honestly, I would much rather pick up Diorama Dungeoncrawl and wallop my way through a fistful of screens than stare at the average puzzle game on my smartphone, and these fun, engaging experiences require buttons and joysticks to fully appreciate. It’s a quaint little bit of brutality, and I would absolutely recommend it to someone who’s looking for a bit of an afternoon romp. Hammy, violent and detailed, this diorama gets first prize.
I might be the outlier here, but I just don’t enjoy 30XX in the way that I liked 20XX. The first game had charm, excitement and felt like a real love letter not just to Mega Man X, but to the entire genre unto itself. Much like A Robot Named Fight, it brought something unique to the table that also was clearly rooted in inspiration. 30XX feels like a side step, where things change but don’t necessarily improve.