Axel Cushing's Reviews
If The Fool's Apprentice is not a shovelware scam, it is for sure and for certain an exercise in futility. It makes no attempt to connect to the player or respect their time with basic functions that even the worst mobile games take for granted. Save your money and your blood pressure.
There is nothing genuinely praiseworthy or notable about Detective - The Test. It's not a game. It's barely an idea for a game. This low-effort, uninspired, and unappealing project may be the latest in a long line of similar titles, but it shouldn't be.
Even as a console port, IXION is a miserable experience. Obtuse systems, bad narrative design, an all-too short campaign which grinds the player's face in misanthropic loathing - none of it is worth the price tag.
Enotria: The Last Song definitely veers away from the typical gloomy Gothic look of the typical Soulsborne, but doesn't commit to the bit completely. Iffy combat, unhelpful menus, and lousy balancing make for a miserable experience. If you're trying to find the worst example of the genre, this one's a contender.
Artistically impressive, mechanically abusive, and narratively bankrupt, The First Descendant is (and likely will be for years to come) the defining example of how not to create a loot shooter.
Sovereign Syndicate does something impossible: it makes the notion of an urban fantasy Victorian England with Jack The Ripper boring and tedious. Visually impressive, narratively godawful, this is one tour through Whitechapel you can safely skip.
Fellowship has a whimsical visual appeal but seems to take a pleasure in making you fail and impeding your efforts to advance.
Wandering Sword promises sweeping wuxia action in a classic JRPG-style tactical RPG. Instead, it delivers a five-fingered death punch of bad localization, obtuse systems, and terrible save management.
Being re-released on console has not done "Du Lac & Fey: Dance of Death" any favors. The efforts of its well assembled vocal cast can't overcome the weak visual appeal, awful controls, and shoddy narrative work.
Fans of the anime series or manga may eat it up with a spoon, but "Made In Abyss: Binary Star Falling Into Darkness" is less an action-JRPG and more of a misery simulator which equates willingness to blindly accept the painful systems as "enjoyment." If you're not a fan of the series or a glutton for cruel and unusual punishment, pass this one by.
Void Sails tries to take a slightly lighter approach to the often grim and disturbing Cthulhu Mythos, and ends up becoming a sub-par adventure with lovely art, inconsistent writing, and punitive gameplay mechanics.
Chains Of Freedom promises a lot both mechanically and narratively, but fails to deliver. Functional, but not exactly fun - there are better options out there for getting your tactical RPG fix.
Drova: Forsaken Kin tries to mimic the "Nintendo Hard" action RPGs of yore, and succeeds to its detriment. If you're the sort of masochist who loves stunt challenges in Soulsbornes, you might find the 8-bit aesthetic and obtuse systems enjoyable. If you're not, then not so much.
It's hard to say what Astor: Blade of The Monolith wanted to be. Action-RPG? Open world adventure? Techno-fable? Biting social commentary? Whatever it's ambitions, the end state is a pretty looking piece with little in the way of challenge or narrative depth.
The Planet Crafter can't seem to make up its mind about what it wants to be. The survival mechanics are iffy, the narrative elements spotty, and the "chill" vibe it's shooting for misses badly. Avoid this particular rock.
Three years in Early Access has brought "Re:Legend" to a highly polished visual state, but hasn't found the right balance between the disparate game systems it's trying to weave into a cohesive whole.
Everafter Falls certainly takes some notes from similar games in the genre. At the same time, it feels oddly constrained and vaguely incomplete. If you're wanting to try a different flavor of Stardew-clone, this one might be something of an acquired taste.
Graven tries a little too hard to bring back the glories of early 90s shooters and gets the look right, but doesn't seem to realize the gameplay's retrograde complications dampen the potential enthusiasm.
Everspace 2 brings gorgeously rendered ships and a middling story, but can't quite make up its mind about being a space sim or a loot shooter RPG. Visually impressive, narratively and mechanically constrained, it could have been so much better.
While Aliens: Dark Descent adds an interesting RTS-twist to the typical tactical RPG, and nails the visual aesthetic of the film, the not-quite polished systems and underwhelming plot diminish what could have been one of the best games of the year.