Truth be told, Saviorless will appeal to those who are willing to look beyond the simpleness of its gameplay and at the heart of gold buried within. However, for a majority of the gamers, it might be a slogfest with no appreciable outcome. If you’re into niche indie titles like GRIS, then Saviorless might be your cup of tea. That said, I do wish for this game to become a stepping stone for its development team so that they can produce better titles in the future.
Highwater might be a bit rougher around the edges, but it does have a heart with the way it portrays humanity surviving in a watery wasteland via its simplistic blocky art style, minimalist surroundings, and moody yet calming European indie music. The gameplay loop ‘might’ become frustrating in the later stages when the frequency of battle increases, but they offer enough challenge to make you think tactically. In short, Highwater is a decent game if you’re in for the summer vibe and can’t visit a beach.
Among all the AAA blockbusters of Q2 and Q3, Wandering Sword was released, sandwiched between Armored Core 6 and Baldur’s Gate 3. However, it is slowly garnering attention from hardcore RPG fans. With a well-thought-out narrative, it might even hold a newcomer’s attention, but the plot takes some time to get into gear. That and the nigh easy combat might put many off if they are looking for a challenge. Despite these issues, Wandering Sword is a must-play entry in every RPG lover’s book.
If only Fort Solis was half as good as its trailers. One would expect a mind-boggling psychological thriller set on an isolated Martian colony, but there’s barely anything until three chapters into the game, and there are a total of four chapters! The only plus point of Fort Solis might be its extremely short length, (because you’d be screaming for this game to end), but the lack of sprint coupled with tedious walking sequences would make it a slow burn. TL;DR… give Fort Solis a hard pass, even on sale!
Very often for AAA games, the hype is built months prior to their official release. There will be story trailers, gameplay footages, interviews with the developers, months of drip-fed content that would build up an idea of what the final product might be. However, very often it so happens that the final product is different from our expectations if not far removed. The game’s actual quality becomes an afterthought in a series of marketing campaigns and publicity cycles. However, when games like Hi-Fi Rush are shadowdropped, the minimalist strategy essentially forces the title to speak for itself. Audiences judge the title on how fun it is to play; it’s the purest test of the product. And Hi-Fi Rush passes this test with flying colors. The love that the ex-Platinum Games developers, now in Tango Gameworks, poured into the game, it shows! It’s got pop-culture references from Jojo’s Bizzare Adventures, Pokemon, Xenogears and even Twin Peaks!
Overall, Mahokenshi is a great deck building strategy game with easy to grasp gameplay, decent enough plot and beautiful artworks. The cards are varied enough to keep the ball rolling―the more time you spend on the map, the more powerful cards you get with challenging enemies. I would see, Mahokenshi might be a good stress inducer rather than a buster, as you’ll have to think carefully at every step. That said, prepare to die a lot!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has both pros and cons blended together. For every fleshed-out character and voice line, we have a mediocre plot. For every tactical gameplay, we have a lack of explosive set-pieces, and for every Co-op mission, we have a grindy multiplayer where 14-year-olds describe how they had consensual intercourse with their mother. All in all, it’s a good game but it somewhat feels like it’s similar to the earlier Battlefield games (except 3) where the maximum focus was on the multiplayer instead of the main campaign. That said most of the multiplayer content will be drip fed to you over the course of the next two years. If only the devs could reduce the number of bugs in this game as it’s too much for a meagre 6–7-hour campaign. However, if you’re in only for multiplayer, it’s quite good.
Sunday Gold is a satire of real London through and through, clad in an aesthetic colour pallet. The plot might seem exaggerated—cybernetic animal bloodsports, secret cyborg labs, billionaire vampires gutting an over-industrialized city—however much of the stuff is based on real-world scenarios. If you read the newspapers, emails, notes and magazines in the game, you’ll know what I’m talking about. However, the game still lacks in-depth combat, even becoming tedious at times especially when you can’t catch a break from random encounters while ending your turn. Despite all that, I would totally play a sequel starring these ragtag trio again.
If you’ve completed the base game and still looking to cure that Ghostrunner itch, you can find respite in the Ghostrunner Complete Edition till the sequel drops. Project_Hel is as intense as the base game with an equally thumping OST albeit being very short. Not to mention, it gets repetitive after a while just like the base game. Even with the addition of new game modes, you won’t find anything revolutionary to justify the pricing of the Complete Edition. However, if money isn’t the concern, then for me it’s a recommendation
"Despite all its austere demeanor, Vampire: The Masquerade- Swansong is collectively a conversation simulator, a detective game, a classically styled adventure puzzler or a discount Hitman game. Look how Disco Elysium builds its dialogues around the various perks and skills you unlock, which are used in almost every conversation with the NPCs. Swansong, sadly, delivers neither. Its writing is pedestrian, often incoherent, and its supporting systems are underutilized, adding little flavor to distinguish the three playable characters."
What on first glance I thought that Winter Ember can beat most indie stealth games out there, that thought evaporated soon because pretty quickly the game started to feel repetitive as it never introduces any new mechanics. Also while the levels themselves are cool they also have interesting design choices, where you just loop back to the same point like in metroidvania games. Normally this is okay if its an occurrence here or there, or if its essential to the mission, but after a while it feels off In other words, give it a pass.
In a world where hyped AAA games are a letdown if not a complete disaster (*cough Cyberpunk 2077 *cough Battlefield 2049), Dying Light 2 rises from the ashes delivering every single thing as promised and marketed. No misleading trailers, no misleading mechanics, nothing, and in fact it is really a better version of Dying Light (minus the downsides I mentioned earlier). Techland has already revealed its future roadmap and the first free DLC is going to drop very soon. And judging by their track record, providing content for Dying Light 2 will be Techland’s new labour of love. Not to mention the tons of eccentric uber-powerful weapons and Easter Eggs (like the famous Left for Bread) that the developers might have snuck in. Once the updates roll out to fix a few glitches here and there, I’m gonna drop into the coop with my homies just like I did with Dying Light and its DLC The Following because Dying Light 2 is going to be a major GOTY Contender of 2022.
To be honest, I can’t really wait to jump in with my squad into the incursion zones because of the intense survival atmosphere that Rainbow 6: Extraction evokes. In my playthrough, there were scenarios where one of us deployed smoke and the other took down the targets, one of us manned a turret while the other two tried to free the MIA operative. The enemy and weapon types are varied enough, each with their own pros and cons and that encourages familiarity with every single gun, something which R6:Siege veterans might prefer. The game is coming to Xbox Game Pass on Day 1 and as per Ubisoft, more DLCs and Expansions will come. Possibly more locations and other operators from R6:Siege‘s roster. The player base is bound to increase in the coming weeks and R6:Extraction might as well be the first sleeper hit of 2022.