Gaming-Village's Reviews
Dracamar is a solid 3D platformer featuring surprisingly long levels and a generally grounded level design. Due to its low difficulty and straightforward structure, it is especially well suited for younger players and newcomers to the genre. Aside from a few minor technical imperfections—particularly in relation to culling—the game is presented in a generally well-executed manner, giving Dracamar a polished enough overall impression. This makes it a recommendable entry in the genre.
Review in German | Read full review
Kingdom’s Return: Time-Eating Fruit and the Ancient Monster was completed in about seven hours after all missions were finished, so it is by no means a time-consuming experience. The combat system is accessible, and the city-building mechanics are equally uncomplicated. However, this also means that some players may miss a sense of depth, and the story itself remains more of a thin framework with minimal presentation. The pixel art style is appealing, while the music, unfortunately, did not leave a lasting impression. Overall, Kingdom’s Return: Time-Eating Fruit and the Ancient Monster is a pleasant title for in-between sessions, but it could benefit from a greater sense of depth.
Review in German | Read full review
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a very amusing life simulation that unfortunately also relies heavily on repetition between its more absurd moments. The character creation system offers plenty of options, missing only a few small additions. User-created content can further expand the experience, and it is easy to design through stamps and templates. At times, however, the game leans a little too heavily on self-created content, which then appears disproportionately often in minigames. As a result, dialogues sometimes differ only by a few words, which slightly reduces the overall entertainment value. Nevertheless, even hours after seeing the credits roll, the game still manages to surprise with new scenes, dialogues, and interactions, and I am still busy populating my island with additional characters. All in all, this quirky simulation is definitely worth a look.
Review in German | Read full review
Now things get particularly fascinating (at least for me—maybe not so much for you, who knows): I started this text under the assumption that Gambonanza is a pretty solid game with lots of creative ideas and a stable roguelite foundation, but one that didn’t fully win me over because chess and I apparently don’t quite get along. And now here I am, and while writing this I’ve already launched the game twice. My thoughts about it have actually made me want to give its somewhat more complex style of strategy another try. Gambonanza therefore seems to be doing something very right after all.
Review in German | Read full review
I don’t know whether this is good or bad, but as someone who usually isn’t a fan of shooters, Mouse: P.I. for Hire is one of the best shooters I’ve played so far—maybe even the best. It’s actually a bit of a shame that going for 100% completion isn’t very appealing, and that resources spawn far too excessively on normal difficulty. I’d also say the game feels a little too long. But aside from that, almost everything about it feels close to perfect for me. The cartoony black-and-white art style, which still doesn’t try to be child-friendly, adds a tremendous amount to the experience. The fact that I even enjoy the gunplay here is still surprising. The great story and small side activities also round things off nicely.
Review in German | Read full review
However, I would have liked a bit more polish in a few places. When I analyze a relic for the first time and am then told that I’ve already used this combination before, it initially feels quite confusing. Not all elements were consistently clickable either, and I often had to adjust the camera perspective more than should have been necessary—especially when nothing was actually overlapping my cultists that I was trying to select. But that said, I didn’t encounter any major issues that significantly impacted the overall gameplay experience during my time with the game. In fact, I consider this short, snappy structure to be one of its greatest strengths. Combined with a very charming and well-executed pixel art style and consistently entertaining humor, I can only recommend All Hail The Orb to fans of idle games. The updates feel cleverly designed, with individual goals always kept within reach without becoming frustrating. I can easily imagine All Hail The Orb being expanded further over time. If that happens, you’ve got my mouse—and my cultists.
Review in German | Read full review
Arcade Archives 2 Rave Racer is a superbly executed port of the original arcade hall game. However, unfortunately, I cannot rate it well (albeit narrowly) when I consider the scope of the game. Of course, HAMSTER can't help it that the original offered so little content, but conversely, nothing would stand in their way—for example, to make a bundle from Ridge Racer up to Rave Racer.
Review in German | Read full review
Ancient Farm is a rather uneven farming simulation. The fact that I am mostly alone on my farm—apart from the occasional trading ship—does not bother me at all. The tutorial is quite extensive, but beyond that there is a lack of incentives to engage with the various gameplay systems. In particular, the acquisition and use of water is overly complicated, requiring too many tools. On top of that, these tools break far too quickly. The seasons only differ in terms of which crops can be grown, which makes the overall experience feel somewhat shallow. As a result, the game comes across as a bit thin, and I can only offer a limited recommendation.
Review in German | Read full review
Anno 117: Pax Romana will not disappoint those who already enjoyed the previous entries in the series. Of course, there are a few bugs, but everything important runs smoothly and feels very well designed. At times, there is simply nothing more satisfying than watching your own island go about its work and hoping that no production chain breaks down right in front of your eyes.
Review in German | Read full review
Audio Trip is a successful VR rhythm game with a particularly wide range of motion. The campaign is well-suited for getting familiar with the songs and is also worthwhile due to the unlocking of modifiers. The music selection is very catchy. What bothers me are rather small things, so I can recommend the title well.
Review in German | Read full review
April Grove builds its woodcutting loop quite effectively, with skill upgrades, increasingly difficult trees to fell, and a gradually expanding movement range. However, the integrated idle mechanics make the grind feel somewhat excessive, as the game does not automate progression enough for its cutting requirements, while at the same time the automatic woodcutting is too slow to fully satisfy active play. In addition, side characters and the surrounding world lose much of their significance over time, fading into the background. As much as I enjoy chopping and collecting wood, the slow progression makes this woodcutting simulation unsuitable for everyone.
Review in German | Read full review
The fact that I personally felt rather emotionally distanced is a shame, but I don’t hold that against the title. What is actually more problematic are the obstacles present in each subsequent playthrough after the first. Repeated sections can usually only be fast-forwarded slowly rather than skipped entirely. With a single ending, this would not be much of an issue, but with a total of four character routes, large portions of the playtime end up consisting of repetition. This is especially unfortunate because the individual routes can be quite compelling, yet overlapping events significantly lose their impact. In a sense, it makes it difficult to find a way forward.
Review in German | Read full review
Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer is a successful implementation of the arcade classic at a fair price, which can be wholeheartedly recommended to arcade racer enthusiasts who are aware of the game's limited scope.
Review in German | Read full review
Tatake! Big Fighter offers intense arcade action with varied enemy and level design, making it a solid choice for arcade shooter enthusiasts. The ability to switch between the two forms is unusual but gives the game a successful individual touch.
Review in German | Read full review
I had fun with the new Atelier title this time as well. The open world invites exploration, and the characters, style, and music are appealing. Unlike Yumia's more adult design compared to other series protagonists, she fits in character-wise, yet she is not yet in the middle of her life.
Review in German | Read full review
At least Albatroz is a short experience—within about eight hours you’ve already seen most of what it has to offer, unless you accidentally spent the entire time walking in the wrong direction… I cannot recommend Albatroz, primarily due to its poor technical state. Rarely have I encountered such a rough implementation. Long loading times, bugs that obstruct progress, stuttering, and even complete freezes all contribute to a consistently negative experience.
Review in German | Read full review
Amanda the Adventurer 2 definitely has a distinctive core concept that I have not really seen in any other game—apart from its obvious predecessor. The “horror” could certainly be much more intense, and it would also be helpful if it were easier to get into the main gameplay experience more directly. Aside from that, however, this analog horror puzzle game already gets a lot right simply through its idea alone. I am hopeful that future entries will further refine and expand on this concept.
Review in German | Read full review
Astral Blade is not a paragon of an excellent representative of the genre; for this, it lacks enemy variety and the fun is already over after approximately ten hours. But graphically it is beautiful and reminded me in places of Ori, without naturally reaching its class.
Review in German | Read full review
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission is a playful, lovingly designed 3D Jump & Run that sometimes gets a bit too lost in its own gimmicks and thereby loses comfort.
Review in German | Read full review
Age of Mythology: Retold is, in my view, a fantastic time capsule of a genre that has become almost lost, especially among major publishers, even if the 22-year-old game still shows some minor flaws. Yet it never truly drew me in. While playing the missions, I often felt more like Sisyphus, endlessly rolling his boulder uphill again and again. Or like Tantalus, because all the mythology, monsters, and gods looked so enticing, yet never quite managed to fully satisfy me. This may sound harsh, but Age of Mythology: Retold and I—we were not great friends. I can recognize its qualities and its deeply layered systems, but I don’t truly feel them. On a personal level, this is probably the “worst” verdict I can give. Or, more simply, it is a genre game for fans of other genres.
Review in German | Read full review