Gaming-Village's Reviews
Like the protagonist Alan, two souls—well—dwell within my breast when I think of Time To Wake Up. On one hand, I have rarely played an ego-adventure that interweaves its gameplay so organically with level design and narrative. Even though the game plays out largely linearly and with little challenge, the shifting episodes in this trauma-processing dream provide a great deal of variety. On the other hand, Time To Wake Up hinders itself realizing its potential. Many elements only scratch the surface. The visual level design and large parts of the narrative lack the courage to give themselves a truly distinctive spin. And the narrative center surrounding the radical book falls far short of its possibilities. Nonetheless, while writing these lines, I promptly added Eye Blink Twice's upcoming project, Up or Down?, to my Steam wishlist. Because Time To Wake Up made it abundantly clear to me that we can expect quite a bit from this studio in the future, even if the adventure itself, standing on its own, still stumbles a little.
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Toodee and Topdee has a creative game concept and an entertaining atmosphere. Unfortunately, the level design is somewhat inconsistent, offering alongside some truly clever levels also quite a few that come across more as tests of patience than as elegant challenges. For players seeking unusual game ideas, Toodee and Topdee is nevertheless a good choice.
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The Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition delivers many hours of entertainment. Even the base game was convincing on its own. While the free Legends Co-Op Mode added to the package isn't really meant for someone like me who prefers single-player gameplay, there's now additional solo content too with "Echoes of Sekigahara" and "Most Wanted." I was happy to return to Ezo.
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At the start of the game, I was actually quite skeptical that the rogue-like approach might eventually get on my nerves. But now, after almost 40 hours of gameplay, my enthusiasm hasn't faded one bit. Even though I've finished the story! I think it's simply because I find the gameplay so fantastic that I can actually enjoy the rogue-like concept even more than with other games in the genre.
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Birushana: Winds of Fate is a very well-executed fandisc to Birushana: Rising Flower of Genpei. The overall atmosphere is somewhat more relaxed, with more room for silly moments, which prevents critical elements like lack of communication from feeling too heavy-handed. The epilogues provide a good framework for fluffy moments and slice-of-life experiences with their straightforward conflicts. The alternative routes are generally a bit more serious and offer more battles, though they still include plenty of humorous scenes. My favorites, Noritsune and Tadanobu, won me over once again, and now Shigehira has joined their ranks. With the minor caveat that prior knowledge is highly recommended, Winds of Fate is definitely worth playing.
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I've already put quite a few hours into Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising Legendary Edition. The combat system is accessible while still maintaining a certain depth, particularly against human players. Against computer-controlled opponents, however, one can sometimes exploit certain weaknesses, which is a bit of a pity. The story mode was entertaining, and I've played through arcade mode several times. With forty fighters in the Legendary Edition, there's also a decent amount of selection. Personally, I don't need the additional accessibility options in the form of Smart or "Super Ultimate" controls, but they might suit some players.
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Bug Fables boasts a dense gameplay experience with many solid ideas, both regarding puzzle design and world design. The story has some powerful moments, even if the main plot stays simple. All three main protagonists as well as several supporting characters feature interesting backstories that players uncover—partially optionally, partially as a necessity of the main storyline. The visual style naturally bears a strong resemblance to Paper Mario, yet manages to stand out with compelling character design and diverse area designs.
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Drop Dead: The Cabin makes survival difficult in all the wrong ways. Objects are often only with great effort can be picked up, and repeatedly the technology severely restricts me when I'm trying to escape death. While the zombie types are well-distributed, too many zombies get stuck in the environment. For a roguelike, the survival shooter offers very little variety.
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So my journey didn't end on that single night of disillusionment. At least, not when I wanted to accuse the game of its poorly-paced gameplay and meandering finale. Instead, the following days carried me further through the world of the Sisters, back into my own memories and those of the Allmother. Thanks to its excellent writing, 1000xResist matured into a genuine major highlight of the year for me. It resisted my initial thoughts yet built upon them, crafting a new perspective, a new world—a world with one of the finest narratives of recent years.
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Farming Camp's strength lies in the story centered on Alessandra, who is determined to win the camp competition, and in the evolving daily life at camp. The farm work itself is mostly laid-back, and time management is straightforward despite the many opportunities for optimization. However, the fun of the game is marred by occasional bugs and the lack of consistency in how performance is rewarded.
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Yeah, I've really enjoyed Hot Wheels Infinite Rush so far. Because of its massive scope, I'm nowhere near finished (especially not 100%!), but I'm definitely still up for it.
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I'd really like to be kinder toward Dreamcards. I appreciated the underlying, highly complex systems. Particularly the separation between deck cards and the stock of additional creatures, as well as accumulating resources instead of engaging in combat activities, worked wonderfully well for me. And the wealth of ideas within its systems is impressive. At the same time, though, this approach steers Dreamcards into serious pacing troubles. Deckbuilding becomes enormously repetitive, and the few duels play out almost identically by the third attempt. Hardcore deckbuilding fans will find plenty to enjoy here; everyone else can look forward to future projects from Soneka Games.
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With its numerous pacing issues and monotonous presentation, Donutal does a bit too good a job of masking its strengths beneath the adventure's surface. The worldbuilding—particularly the diverse alien cultures—is genuinely excellent and breathes real life into the characters. The duo interview system, which could certainly mature into an entirely gameplay highlight of its own in a (spiritual) sequel, offers unique moments on both the gameplay and narrative fronts. And when the game's messages and themes appear more important than ever in today's times, I can only wholeheartedly recommend Donutal.
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In the end, Elden Ring is a game that divides opinion. Some simply can't come to terms with the Soulslike principle itself. Some wish there were more Dark Souls in it. Others, less Sekiro. And so on and so forth. Yet for all Nintendo Switch 2 owners, especially those who haven't yet gotten to play the game, it's worth a look. Whether in handheld mode or docked, both ways of playing are fun (for me), and technically the game has been solidly ported. Elden Ring is without a doubt one of the greatest games of this generation. And with the Tarnished Edition, more gamers can now form their own opinion. Personally, I can only recommend it.
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Quite unusual for me, but the battles against bots did leave me rather underwhelmed at first. Still, during the fun multiplayer sessions, I can look past few number of moves. Add to that the overall charm and fairly solid polish, and Royalty Free-for-All is indeed a fine game—especially at such a low price.
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Before you reach straight for your wallet, take a moment to look inward: Why did you actually like its predecessor so much? The exploration, combat system, and entire roguelite aspect have been significantly expanded, while the streamlined shop system has lost much of its depth and almost lends itself to automation. For me, this makes Moonlighter 2 a pretty good game. At the same time, however, it loses the uniqueness that made its predecessor so special - something I greatly appreciated.
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In the musical RPG Console Archives Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess, the game manages to break up the triviality of its predecessor's battles. HP and monetary costs for different attacks are also an intriguing approach and work well in their implementation. In a genre so heavily reliant on text, the absence of a localization can moreover be a hurdle. While the German translation of the Console Archive menu isn't particularly good, at least the basics and structure of the combat system, as well as character backgrounds, remain understandable. The increased number of musical numbers entertains every time, and the story is full of humorous moments, but also more serious themes. However, the dungeons feel even more repetitive and noticeably detract from the overall impression.
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Admittedly, the additional content may not introduce much that’s fundamentally new, and the story content is also somewhat limited in scope. But I welcome the more focused level design and a few new possibilities with skills, boosters, and more.
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Flying is rather slow, and even though the game has a calming effect, it sometimes feels a bit too slow. The landmarks are a nice addition to the gameplay and can be explored at a leisurely pace as their number increases. I didn’t quite warm up to the rooftops, though, because there are hardly any clues. Furthermore, there’s hardly any progression between the different maps, since parameters like the number of pigeons ultimately have little noticeable impact on the experience. The pigeons’ dismissive remarks are amusing, and there’s something meditative about the search itself.
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That’s why, for players, the “curse” of the yo-yo is actually a blessing in the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition—a top-down action-adventure game featuring interesting puzzles, fun jumping sequences, and fresh yo-yo abilities that keeps you thoroughly entertained from start to finish.
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