Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse is sort of a weird game in that it is both undeniably great and a little bit disappointing at the same time. It is a poor spot to jump into for newbies and yet returning veterans might be a disappointed by how much the game repeats itself. While it might not be the best Shin Megami Tensei title out there, it is still very enjoyable from start to finish. Boasting an interesting (if a bit convoluted) story, and addictive combat system, and more demons than you can shake an evil stick at, there is plenty to sink your teeth into here. There is just a great balance of depth and accessibility here, and hunting and fusing demons is great, addictive fun. It might not be doing much to reinvent the Shin Megami Tensei formula, but then again, it didn't really need to.
Ultimately, I Hate Running Backwards is a fun, worthwhile experience. At the same time, though, it is largely a fleeting sort of fun. For some reason, it feels eerily reminiscent of those mobile games that people play in brief spurts while waiting for something better to do. It is that same kind of hectic, fast-paced fun that sadly doesn't really last and is forgotten about almost as soon as it gets turned off. It is sort of the videogame equivalent of being chased by a bear. Heart pounding, thrilling, but once you get away, you are just sort of glad it is over. This is just a couple steps shy of greatness, and even with its failings it is probably worth checking out for fans of shmups.
TerraTech is by no means bad, and there's a lot to like and have fun with in it. The car creation aspect is wonderfully creative, and it's a lot of fun building up the car (or weird shambling monstrosity) of your dreams.
This isn't quite Portal 2 levels of co-op bliss, but it comes somewhat close, and manages to be a decent way to kill a weekend with a friend. The puzzles aren't quite as good as the previous two titles in the series, and they would occasionally vacillate between being too easy or too vague. That winds up hampering what was otherwise a perfectly enjoyable experience. Still, if a fan of co-op gameplay and puzzle-solving, this is a borderline must-buy, because there are so few titles out there that satisfy this particular niche. We Were Here Together falls just short of the snowy peaks it was aiming for, but it is fun and interesting, and really stands out for emphasizing co-op puzzle-solving in a way few games have. So, go out and have some fun. Together.
Embr is, in a way, a lot like its namesake. It burns bright while it lasts, sure, and it is initially a lot of fun to run around putting out fires and dealing with the general chaos of the game. Unfortunately, it burns out quickly, and soon all that is left is the faint glow of the once bright fire. At this point, this just doesn't have any sort of staying power, and the novelty of the whole experience wears off very quickly. This isn't a bad title, and even with its shortcomings it is worth the time for a quick play-through. Perhaps it might even warrant a second one some time down the line, but this is the sort of game that could've been much better with a few more ideas, and maybe if improvements come in the future this could truly be a great experience. For now, it doesn't quite generate the heat it was hoping to.
While Tandem: A Tale of Shadows does feel like it runs out of a bit of steam by the end, overall this is still a fairly entertaining little puzzle adventure. There are plenty of places for improvement, and both the story and the gameplay really could have used a bit more refinement if this was to become something truly special. But even if it is a little rough around the edges, the biggest impression the game is going to leave behind is just how clever its puzzles are. It is the core gameplay that saves the game, even if the stuff around it might not be all that impressive. Even when the game starts to drag and become a bit more predictable, the puzzle platforming is fun enough to warrant seeing everything through until the end.
There is some initial appeal in Squids Odyssey and its simplicity is mildly entertaining if played in bite sized sessions. Ultimately, however, both the strategy and RPG elements of this strategy RPG fall flat.
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas certainly isn't a bad game, but it gives the impression it wanted nothing more to be like Zelda, and because of that, that's all it really is. It feels like Zelda-lite, a sort of homage to the classics that follows the pattern well enough without infusing enough charm on its own to help it stand out.
With some deep mechanics and a level of micromanagement that would make even the most compulsive of table top gaming aficionados blush, it is quite easy to see how well Blood Bowl 2 would work as board game. It is for some of these very same reasons, however, that Blood Bowl 2 is somewhat less satisfying as a videogame. The random nature of the dice rolls can lead to some serious frustration and the action is so slow and plodding that it is definitely not the kind of game someone can just jump in and play. There is certainly going to be a target audience that appreciates what this offers, and what Blood Bowl 2 does well it does really well. Grab a six-sided die, then, and some extensive spreadsheets to keep track of stats, because everyone knows it isn't a real American Football game without either of those two items…
The lack of true variety from floor to floor makes it suffer, and the true randomness found in all the best roguelikes feels a bit weakened as fire is the only foe to be tackled throughout. It is an enjoyable distraction, but is nowhere near as insanely addictive as The Binding of Isaac or Spelunky. Flame Over is a fairly enjoyable distraction, but fails to bring the necessary heat to make this a must play.
Everything is great except for when it is time to get to the actual "game" portion, and here Unravel sort of, well, unravels.
There is a lot to like about The Magic Circle: Gold Edition. This is a really original story, and a clever way to tell it. It might be a short experience, but there is a lot of charm packed into this tiny little package. Additionally, the basics of the gameplay here are quite clever, and it ties back into the story almost perfectly. It is in the execution, though, that things fall apart, and this is one of those games that is a far better experience than it is a game. They never figure out a way to integrate the gameplay into anything cleaver, and all of the puzzles here are extremely basic and not very interesting. This is one of those games that is very easy to root for, but less easy to actually enjoy. It is still probably worth playing through one time just for the story, but don't expect to get too much else out of it.
Trillion: God of Destruction is a weird mix of good and bad ideas that makes the game this bizarre, fairly entertaining slog to get through. There is a lot to like here, between the fun characters and pleasing mixture of different gameplay features. At the same time, though, there is no denying the management features really start to drag after a while, and the combat is not nearly as entertaining as it could be. There is absolutely a target audience for this that will eat it up, but it is not really a broadly accessible title considering all the niggling little imperfections. The God of Destruction surely offers up plenty of challenge, but it would have been better if one of his more effective tools was not mind numbing repetition.
This is one of those games where there is almost an equal amount to love and hate, so depending on what people prioritise this could either be a great experience or a dreadfully dull one. The boss fights are incredible, the world feels alive, and there is something soothing to the exploration. At the same time, though, the exploration segments tend to carry on for too long and without much interesting happening along the way, so a lot of the game feels like padding. By the end, some players may be desperately trying to rush on through just to get to the next boss, because that is really the only part the game does exceptionally well. Jotun: Valhalla Edition might not be entirely heavenly, but there is certainly enough here to keep it away from damnation.
While Has-Been Heroes can draw someone in really quickly, it will wind up losing them just as fast. It's fast and fun, and the mix of roguelike and pseudo-tower defence elements actually work quite well together. The core concept here is entertaining enough, but the lack of variety winds up souring the experience sooner than it should.
There is obviously an enormously high bar for the LucasArts adventure game catalogue, and Full Throttled Remastered doesn't quite hit that standard.
Piczle Lines DX isn't a bad game. In fact, it does what it wants to do almost perfectly. There are a ton of puzzles here to solve, from the small bite-sized ones that can be solved in minutes to big, sprawling challenges that can take hours. Unfortunately, it is simply that the underlying concept here simply is not that interesting. This is a boring kind of puzzler, and feels a bit like putting together an actual puzzle over and over… and over again. There is probably a niche for this, a certain kind of puzzle enthusiast that likes these slower, more plodding experiences. A vast majority of gamers, however, are going to lose interest fast because it only really has one trick that it does repeatedly. Piczle Lines DX is a perfectly adequate experience.
Raiders of the Broken Planet is slowly moving into actual 'good game' territory, but it sadly might be too late by now. Wardog Fury is a nice expansion and the asking price seems well within reason. Unfortunately, the way the game is set up, and the paltry playerbase, makes this hard for someone to jump into. This is a bit of a strange game to review because most of the major issues here are infrastructure-based and the action itself is actually fun. It is a release that a lot of people will want to like, but it doesn't always seem like it wants people to like it. It is hard to say for sure if the entire experience is worth it without playing the other campaigns, but Wardog Fury by itself is enough fun to warrant a look. If you can find someone to play it with, that is.
A Pixel Story has the potential to be great, but falls just short of capturing that potential.
The first two Shenmue games are undeniably very important, but they fall just short of being great. They are undeniably unique, even all these years after their release, and the best thing that can be said about them is that they are interesting. It is a really fun world the games put forward, and it is great to explore and figure out where to go and what to do next. At the same time, though, they don't necessarily play that well, and they show their age in a lot of unfortunate ways. This is definitely more of an acquired taste, and it is probably best to say that these are better experiences than they are video games. They're worth checking out, particularly for someone that has fond memories of them on the Dreamcast, but be warned that there are some warts that need to be looked past before you dive in headfirst.