Gaming-Village's Reviews
Even though stealth games are not among my favourites, I still found Aragami: Shadow Edition quite entertaining. I chose a rather brutal approach: waiting for enemy movement patterns, warping between nearby shadows and striking, hiding the bodies again, and returning to the darkness. If a guard became alerted, I would eliminate them with an ability and make them disappear as well. The fact that enemies show no concern for missing people or bloodstains? Well, for me that was secondary—the fun came first. I also liked the idea of displaying shadow energy and selected abilities through markings on the character’s cloak. With a mostly slow and cautious playstyle, I was able to progress through the game quite comfortably. Of course, this does make the pacing suffer somewhat. At times, I also would have preferred more generous checkpoints. In the Nightfall campaign, I had to abandon my approach of eliminating as many enemies as possible, as the difficulty became too high for that style of play. Additional challenge is provided by the third difficulty level and optional medals. Unfortunately, performance issues slightly detract from the experience. I would also have preferred full voice acting, as it would have supported the atmosphere better. At times, it is also not entirely clear why certain areas—such as rooftops—cannot be reached, even though they appear to be within range and sufficiently shadowed.
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Castle on the Coast is a lovingly crafted 3D platformer packed with humour and excellent level design. I was thoroughly entertained during the three hours or so it took to complete the game. However, the fiddly gameplay, performance (on the Switch) and the stunt car level are fairly significant drawbacks, meaning that, overall, the game is only recommended for fans of the genre.
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As it turned out for me, AI: The Somnium Files is not the psycho-splatter experience I had initially imagined in my mind. There are a few moments that gave me a slight feeling of nausea, but overall that is negligible. Instead, alongside the tension and oppressive scenes, there is also plenty of humor, a fair amount of absurdity, and quite a lot of sexual thoughts—especially from the protagonist. Overall, I felt well entertained.
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[...] Apart from this flaw, Counterspy is a very entertaining stealth game that’s easy to pick up at the start and has simple controls. The procedurally generated levels offer plenty to discover, but do become a little monotonous over time.
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Blue Reflection: Second Light met my expectations and has become, at least aside from the complexity of certain features, a sequel that feels more polished overall. My expectations were even exceeded when it came to the quantity of optional scenes, which often managed to put a smile on my face.
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A Plague Tale: Innocence is a quite entertaining roughly ten-hour journey in plague- and rat-infested medieval times. The stealth system and level design as well as enemy distribution are mostly forgiving enough that even for people with less patience or talent for stealth, it does not constitute a significant obstacle.
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In many places, the love for detail is perceptible, the visuals are good, and the silky-smooth, playful idea makes you want more. Yet I must also state that at the same time it is not a good game. The simple concept is rarely fully explored; instead, A Juggler's Tale hangs itself narratively and gameplay-wise on a silk thread, which only very rarely stands under tension.
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Astria Ascending is a lovingly staged JRPG that tells an interesting story in the cutscenes. The interactive game sections, however, unfortunately repeatedly interrupt the narrative flow, which can be somewhat frustrating. The controls and combat system are solid and reflect that the developers understand how a classic JRPG is supposed to feel.
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Daemon X Machina stands out thanks to its metal soundtrack and full English voice acting. The world-building is interesting, but often consists of little more than hints. With its characters and numerous factions, there is a great deal of untapped potential to develop the story further.
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Crown Trick has few weaknesses. In fact, my only criticism is that you have a bit too little control over the build, and it relies a little too much on luck when it comes to getting good weapons or suitable relics.
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I had a lot of fun during those few hours, even though issues with the theme and gameplay occasionally reminded me that this game has more potential than it does inherent quality.
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Overall, art of rally offers a wide variety of tracks and cars that become faster with each group. The game is well suited for beginners but also provides sufficient opportunities to improve oneself.
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Whoever is interested in the game should be able to endure due to the high difficulty level or have no problem grinding sometimes. In some respects it is unfortunately a step back compared to the predecessors, but the exciting tactical combat system makes the game worthwhile nevertheless. A few minor improvements such as a map in the dungeons and an easier difficulty level would make Bravely Default 2 significantly better.
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Principally, A Monster's Expedition is a very cleverly designed game which extracts an immense amount from its basic mechanic. Furthermore, for persons seeking a head-heavy challenge, some island puzzles are a true feast. The atmosphere, whether through humorous comments on humanity or meditative music, is also very pleasant and calm. Unfortunately, the game's pacing does not work. The museum is at home on too many islands, and soon a repetition of the always identical gameplay loop sets in. Since from this phase on the main path of the game the difficulty stagnates and the puzzle design offers no great variety, much idle time and monotony are the result.
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Nevertheless, in my view, gameplay and narrative here only partially harmonize with each other. There are some nice ideas in the game design, but these are hardly expanded upon within the short playtime.
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Balan Wonderworld is primarily an interesting choice as a creative curiosity for genre fans, but unfortunately fails to package the many good ideas it contains into a polished whole, leaving players less inclined towards the genre out of luck.
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Chicory: A Colourful Tale isn’t equally suited to every type of player. Whether it’s the story or the childlike design of the world, the lack of challenge or minor flaws in the controls and gameplay, each of us would probably find one or two flaws in the game. Yet Chicory is much more than the sum of its parts. Instead, the different layers interlock and interact in such a way that the work as a whole forms a distinctive and unique puzzle. It is this quality that makes Chicory: A Colourful Tale stand out from the crowd within the medium of video games.
Review in German | Read full review
Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny has something to offer for different player types. Those who mainly want to advance the story can do so without being intimidated by the multitude of features. Anyone seeking more challenge can carefully increase enemy strength via the Cheat Shop. And those who wish to thoroughly train and optimize their team will find ample opportunities—and tougher opponents—especially after completing the story.
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Overall, Astro's Playroom is a rather short but consistently entertaining platformer with creative level design, many fun gimmicks with the DualSense controller, and a sympathetic presentation. In my opinion, Sony could have placed the game on the shelves as a budget title without any changes and still created a must-buy for the console launch.
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With its life simulation game *Cozy Grove*, developer Spry Fox has created a little oasis of relaxation, designed to let players explore the stories of ghost bears over a period of several months, investing just half an hour a day.
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