Sunday Gold has a story that is set in an interesting world, but its focus on a singular plot point, while entertaining, makes other content feel disjointed.
This ease and accessibility may be welcome for newcomers, but for veterans the main appeal ends up being the nostalgic views and sounds, while character development and overall plot are hindered by sparse words that leave little impact on their own. For a Vast Future feels like a fun walk down memory lane, albeit a breezy and brief one.
It is fun to see the lengths a dark theme like this will go, but there’s little light to be found beyond the thrills of surviving to fight another day.
Long Gone Days is ultimately a case of tempered expectations. The combat and visuals have little details that show a lot of care has gone into everything. The scope of the story is where the snag comes in, as too many hard-hitting moments get lost in the brisk pace that it attempts to juggle everything, making many of them fall flat in execution.
The gameplay loop is so richly varied that finding new ways to break the game with a build is always entertaining, it is just a shame that the presentation surrounding this gameplay is so lackluster.
With no payoff to the game-hopping the release feels longer and is just a detriment to two otherwise average games. If neither game has been played before this is a handy collector’s pack but there is no real need to delve too deeply for returning players unless a collect everything attitude is undertaken.
A colourful cast of playable characters, along with entertaining combat highlighted by the ability to devour enemies to gain new skills, are countered by plot threads that just end suddenly and bring the otherwise adequate story to a halt, as well as restrictive end-affecting mechanics that make the pacing fall flat. It amounts to an average game that has some fine moments but is murky to wade through.
Making it to the big top is a mechanically sound journey with a lot of great characters to choose and varied enemies making each combat fun. Unfortunately, the journey to each combat is fraught with graphical gaffes, sound repetition, and story doled out in odd intervals.
Loot River‘s mileage will vary, with refreshing timing-based combat it can feel like a fun distraction or a listless drift down the river.
This is a game that is very dense, with a time-consuming interface and a story that tries way too hard to be something grand, throwing strained dialogue and empty contrivances together to the point where most of the meaning is lost.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader successfully encapsulates the vibrant and rich universe, while falling short in other areas. Bugs, glitches, and loading times pad a lengthy, yet enjoyable, adventure to ridiculous levels. Patch work may be incoming, but it’s currently a fight against aggravating qualities rather than an experience that immerses players.
The game is ultimately a passable, but not fully realized, experience with the novel gameplay the only element that stands out. It is likely worth a look for those with whom the style resonates, just be prepared for fast thinking or copious use of the pause button.
Due to an erratic AI and far too many glaring technincal issues, Necromunda: Underhive Wars will appeal to a very narrow audience who cannot get enough of XCOM-style games.
Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards simply plays things too safe in creating a game that is functional but not interesting.
There is scope for the humour to work, but factoring in fighting with the camera and struggling with the controls the whole experience is just not worthwhile. In a self-fulling prophecy, Naomi points out a lot of faults in games that The Good Life just blithely repeats itself.
Slay the Princess certainly isn’t shy about beating the player over the head with a surreal combination of elegance, raw emotion, and tense uncertainty. Fans of psychological or philosophical quandaries that aren’t too squeamish at the sight of blood will have a field day with this title.
This is the textbook example of exploration and every point of interest begs to be found as it creates a cohesive and captivating experience that is a constant feast for the adventurous soul.