Alone in the Dark plays more of a moody psychological thriller with a heavy emphasis on puzzles rather than a traditional survival horror experience. That combined with the plethora of technical issues hold another remake of an original masterpiece back from reaching its true heights.
If you can look past the many shortcomings of this imperfect game, then there's an experience here that contains some truly profound and meaningful messages. The unique take on traditional turn-based combat, the emotionally dark narrative, and the excellent musical soundtrack are the true rewards beneath poor dungeon design, an unimaginative causality link mechanic, and unclear objectives. The Caligula Effect: Overdose is a charming and worthwhile albeit niche JRPG as long as you go in with the correct expectations, given the game's low budget. Just know that this 2023 PS5 native port of the game adds absolutely nothing new to the 2019 PS4 version.
Green Hell VR on the PlayStation VR2 is a competent and immersive survival simulator set in the gorgeous but deadly Amazon forest. It's a downright shame that this version is just a copy-pasted port of the Meta Quest version, and doesn't include many of the complex features that the PC VR version contains. Nonetheless, the game is a worthwhile hardcore experience for those who have never played any version of Green Hell before. For anyone who has, it's a tough sell. All I can say is, what a missed opportunity to take this game to new heights.
Achilles: Legends Untold is a serviceable indie Soulslike experience with an isometric camera angle that doesn't introduce anything revolutionary. Don't be fooled by the Diablo-esque visual style either, because this is not a dungeon crawling looter. There's no doubt that the game is in a much better state than it was in Early Access, but it still suffers from some core issues with its gameplay mechanics.
Despite its incredible art direction and pixelated visuals, The Last Faith fails to encapsulate what makes its inspirations so brilliant. The plethora of poor and frustrating game mechanics and design choices, combined with technical performance issues and lack of accessibility options, makes this one of my biggest gaming disappointments of the year.
At the end of the day, I ask myself these questions about Quantum Error given the many genres it is trying to tackle. As a shooter game, is it fun? No. As a horror game, is it scary? Nope. As a firefighter simulator, is it cool? Sometimes I guess. Would I recommend this title as a full priced 60 dollar game? Never. TeamKill Media has done a commendable job being only a team of 4 to come up with something this massive and ambitious. However, this is another sad case of biting off more than you could chew. This might be up your alley if you're into janky, B-movie messes.