F1 2021 is a fantastic entry in that excels it’s predecessors in terms of gameplay, customisation, audio quality and visuals.
Unrailed! on the Switch is a very fun time sink when you fancy a quick game of something before upcoming plans. There is a great core game here with a very enjoyable look, but it’s initially let down by the lack of player communication mechanics, which prevents new players from understanding the game’s intricacies and learning from experienced players without actively leaving the game in pursuit of external materials. Once you do overcome this hurdle, however, you are rewarded with the true quality of the game being presented to you, and you’ll very quickly find yourself engrossed even for just the short time span you intend to play for.
Forgotten Fields is a very charming, warm game that I highly recommend. If you’re looking for an inspiring, emotional, and heart-warming story with personality-filled characters and humorous writing, it’s here in spades. The minimalist but stylised graphics are very appealing, though the character models do need some improvement and some idle animations would be appreciated. The gameplay has some fun quirks but is quite simple overall, with some intuitive issues such as getting stuck on terrain, but those are very easily overlooked. I, personally, am now considering picking up Frostwood’s first release, Rainswept, as I enjoyed Forgotten Fields so thoroughly. It’s also nice to support an independent creator who clearly has a passion for well-written narratives and emotionally-driven themes.
Taxi Chaos sought to emulate a 22 year old classic, thus having 22 years to learn what made Crazy Taxi great. Despite this, Taxi Chaos falls flat and fails to recapture the thrills and high-speed gameplay of its progenitor. At its high price point on the Nintendo eShop in relation to the content within, I cannot recommend Taxi Chaos in its current, shallow state.
Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia is a good Strategy/Tactical RPG. But that’s all it is, it’s good but it doesn’t innovate over its contemporaries or bring anything new to the table. The main motivation for continuing is to see your nation succeed but the game does make that difficult with the repetitive but solid gameplay and frequent losses of high-level units sapping your motivation after extended periods of time. I would recommend Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia to those looking for a more typical tactical RPG experience if you’re coming off the back of a more introductory title such as Fire Emblem. If you’re a seasoned tactical RPG player, I would not go into Runersia expecting anything new compared to previous titles you may have played.
So, if the gameplay isn’t ultimately worth playing the game to completion, the story isn’t worth experiencing, bugs cheapen the gameplay, and the art style is the only thing trying to redeem the experience, is it worth the buy? Well, at a nerve-wracking £15 on Steam and an eye-watering £25 on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, I cannot recommend it at the asking price due to the gameplay annoyances, lacking story, and remaining bugs. Many of the annoyances may feel cheap, but this beat ‘em up certainly isn’t retailed as such.