Victor Vitório's Reviews
Mina the Hollower shines in its building of a detailed, complex world that rewards the attentive gaze of explorers with pleasant surprises and benefits. However, its many difficulty modifiers don't help much for those who have trouble figuring out the paths, since the game's main issue is the lack of a useful map. This demanding and meticulously crafted adventure may end up dividing the audience, pleasing those who find satisfaction in exploring and progressing on their own and alienating those who prefer a more directed and convenient experience.
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Unambitious, but complete in what it sets out to do, Grumpy Jack is a minivania with good pacing and content appropriate to its short duration. Although it doesn't take full advantage of its sword and magical shots combat, it's fun, humorous, and encourages us to explore every corner of its map, ideal for a couple of light gaming session over a weekend.
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In a way, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is easy to evaluate: if you're willing to be captivated by either LEGO or Batman, or even if you just want to enjoy the simple fun of playing together with a dear one, there are plenty of reasons to join in the romp of defending Gotham on the Bat's long life journey. On the other hand, those expecting in-depth character and gameplay development should look elsewhere.
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Strange Antiquities puts us behind the counter of a shop, researching, discovering, identifying, and selling mystical items in an ingenious and very enjoyable puzzle experience. We’ll consult the various arcane resources at hand, enveloped in the atmosphere of a central mystery, making the experience especially ideal for those who enjoy puzzles and occult fiction.
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Beautiful and fun, Clockwork Ambrosia takes a retro approach to build a vast and demanding exploration experience, with little help in finding the next destination, which can be frustrating for those who don't want to feel lost. The combat is interesting because of how we can modify weapons with many accessories, encouraging experimentation to test what is most appropriate for different situations.
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With equal emphasis on narrative and sequences of puzzles, Call of the Elder Gods makes good use of the Lovecraftian legacy, reinterpreting it with a presentation that dispenses with horror and prefers the mystery of adventure. It's a game that seeks to be enjoyable, without the pressure of fear, time constraints, or overly complex puzzles, being challenging only to the extent that it makes us think a little, even if its tools and talkative characters can be overly didactic.
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With its strengths lying in well-executed, precise platforming gameplay, Before I Go manages to make good use of simple resources to not only create an aesthetic atmosphere suitable to its existentialist premise, but also to offer a great exploration experience. The combat doesn't achieve the same success in design, with bosses that leave something to be desired, so the recommendation is entirely geared towards those who value challenges involving precise traversal and movement in a Metroidvania.
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Beyond its obvious beauty, Constance stands out as a Metroidvania with an emphasis on platforming and fun bosses. Although the world's presentation makes it seem smaller than it actually is, there's plenty of content for those eager to discover secrets and challenges in optional segments. In the end, it's a great Metroidvania that suffers from failing to create a solid connection between the two narrative threads that weave its story about mental health, making it more superficial than the proposed theme requires.
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Gecko Gods is an enjoyable open-world exploration adventure. The central gameplay element is free climbing: on the role of a gecko, we can walk across all solid surfaces and solve puzzles that allow us to progress through the campaign. However, the general simplicity ends up with an air of superficiality and leaves one wishing that certain aspects were better in-depth, such as the world's story, the variety of environments, and the level design challenges.
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With the nostalgia of childhood dreams, Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland builds a visually excellent presentation with great attention to detail. Beyond its beautiful appearance, the nonlinear world and efficient map are great invitations to explore this Metroidvania adventure, which has heavier movements than I would like, but which, overall, offers a true delight both for those who are still in childhood and for those who remember it.
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Raider Kid and the Ruby Chest is a delightful Metroidvania that seeks to evoke the charm of the naive adventures of the Game Boy Color era. At four hours long, the level design is meticulously compact and efficient to make the most of its brevity. Aided by a well-made map and useful mechanics, this fun game maintains a good pace of progression and discovery of secrets.
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Even without being a direct sequel to the first title, Grime II continues the theme of creation, consumption and destruction, flavouring it with grotesque art direction and an obsession with hands. It may rely more on rocky caves than I'd like, but the most beautiful areas shine with their fascinating strangeness. The sheer amount of content can be a blessing, especially the excellent cast of mandatory and optional bosses, although it falls to excesses in both gameplay systems and the extension of complex anthills like areas, and with occasional technical problems.
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Tombwater is a well-crafted blend of top-down soulslike, horror, and western setting. Even though its limited map doesn't offer much help for planning backtracking, the diversity of locations and how they intertwine to form a greater whole, dotted with secrets to discover, makes exploration one of the highlights of this fun pixel art eldritch adventure.
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Six years after its initial release, New Super Lucky Tale remains a fun and dynamic 3D platformer. However, its current arrival on PS5 feels like a missed opportunity to smooth out its rough edges, failing to take advantage of the enhancement capabilities that would have justified this port. This version is certainly recommendable for those who have never played it, but for those who already own it on PS4, the paid upgrade offers no relevant novelty for a new foray into that world.
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As a huge pleasure to play, Minishoot' Adventures builds a very fun gameplay loop that is intuitive and very efficient in everything it sets out to do. With a well-designed world to explore, many secrets to discover, upgrades to strengthen yourself, and options to adjust the difficulty of the intense bullet hell combat, it's a delightful experience that focus on what it does best.
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There's something appealing about Hunt the Night's visuals and atmosphere, as well as fun in its fast-paced and dynamic combat. However, issues with bugs, text layout, different commands on the same button, lukewarm dungeons, and the lack of a map system hinder the experience and prevent it from standing out.
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Resident Evil Requiem brings a lot of familiarity, but also dynamism by embodying in the newcomer Grace and the veteran Leon two different approaches in one campaign, alternating between the fear of survival horror and the empowerment that invites us to engage in direct and confident action. These two distinct facets are already known, but together they form a whole worthy of both resuming the main story of the series and serving as a viable entry point.
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ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard uses simple magnetic color mechanics to create puzzles that, while not impressive, at least maintain interest. The same goes for its satirical story about labor relations, in which we play as a tester trapped in a leonine contract of dangerous experiments and are guided by the very well-voiced sadistic bosses. For those who have trouble visualizing the colors, there is an accessibility option that uses symbols on the puzzle objects.
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Super Bomberman Collection offers plenty of simple, straightforward fun, whether for a solo player, two players in the campaign, or even four in competitive battles. It features five classic games with useful quality-of-life tools, all beautifully packaged in an impeccable presentation that showcases their history with plenty of extra content, including two NES games as bonuses.
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With captivating pixel art and a world full of paths and secrets, Under the Island succeeds in building a great sense of exploration and manages to give the player the freedom to discover things on their own without leaving them lost, providing plenty of help for those who need it. It's a competent, charismatic, and fun Zelda-like, but it may disappoint those looking for exciting combat.
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