Gaming Nexus
HomepageDamsel is a fun arcade-style platformer/shooter/speedrunner/whatever genre you want to call it. The comic-style motif is a nice concept that I haven't seen for a long time and the gameplay is pretty fluid. The darkness of the stages and the similarities between the three game modes kind of bring the game down a little, but it's still an enjoyable outing for the Nintendo Switch.
GORN makes a gory, bloodfest type of fighting into a fun pastime that can also serve as a fairly good cardio workout. While there are buckets of blood and dismembered body parts flying around, it is designed in a way to make what would normally be prohibitively gross into something so fun that you will find yourself laughing at the incredible mayhem that surrounds you.
Million to One Hero is a well-polished game in the "custom level creation" genre (is that a genre…well it is now). The controls are fluid and you'll have to employ a lot of skill to finish some of the creations players can come up with. The level creation itself is pretty robust, though it would have been nice if some of the icons were a little bigger on the screen, and combining levels into a mini-adventure is a nice touch. If you're a fan of 2D platforming and level creation, you'll find a lot to do in Million to One Hero for a satisfying price.
Ion Fury made me feel like a kid again and it's not just nostalgia that makes the game great. The is classic run and gun FPS action at it's purest and despite running on 20 year old tech, it's still a hell of a lot of fun and is one of my favorite games of 2019 so far.
I can’t say enough good things about Rebel Galaxy Outlaw. It’s a sucker punch aimed at all the bloated, morbidly obese space sims out on the market today. Yes, there’s room for them, too. But Outlaw distills the ‘90s space-combat and trading sim into a great-looking, great-playing game for a new generation.
Solo: Islands of the Heart seems like it's trying to be your counselor. Go to an actual counselor. The gameplay is calming, the scenery is cute, the colors are vibrant, the design is unique, and the puzzles require a good amount of thinking without being too easy, but its attempt to analyze a real human person with pre-determined questions starts it off teetering on the wrong foot. It never quite regains its balance.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood takes one of my favorite FPS series and ruins it with repetitive grind, bloated FPS mechanics, a broken, mandatory co-op system and a frankly insulting story. Don't touch this one with a ten foot pole.
This content is pretty much dedicated to the Attack on Titan faithful. It's not enough content to justify a whole new game, but it does a good job at being a pretty beefy add-on, but the high cost of entry makes it a tough sell.
While the game itself is really quite good, the lack of gameplay options and lack of thought into porting over the control scheme make for an average experience overall. This is a port that feels very much like one done with the absolute minimal effort required, and that's just not good enough for 2019 when so many other games this year have done so much better in this same PC to console space.
Sea of Solitude is a game not to be taken lightly—the content warning at the beginning attests to that—but well worth the tumultuous ride.
If you can imagine Asteroids meets Frogger in Space, you have a fairly good idea of what to expect from LOST ORBIT: Terminal Velocity. The game play is entertaining and the difficulty levels ramp up at a reasonable slope. The storyline doesn't bring much to the table, but the game mechanics stand on their own just fine.
Rudimentary in visuals, content and gameplay, Boxing Champs barely qualifies as a free phone game, much less a 15 dollar eShop title.
Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled is a refreshing take on the aggressive kart racing genre. While it’s certainly not perfect, it’s packed with content that can keep the player engaged for a long time.
Blazing Chrome is a great throwback to games such as Contra; simple run-and-guns with swarms of enemies, awesome boss fights, special weapons, and a great soundtrack to go with it. With fluid controls, multiple difficulties, and a stage select so you can pick which stage to tackle in any order, Blazing Chrome is definitely worth picking up if you’re into Contra-style games.
A remastered game is still the same old game, but with prettier graphics. Current owners of Sniper Elite 2 probably won't find better graphics to be worth a purchase, but new players wanting to start the venerable series near the beginning might want to give it a try.
What goes down must come up. The Sinking City is more than the sum of its glitchy b-game parts. Balanced detective work makes up for shoddy gunplay. A gruff and well-realized cast makes up for brain-dead AI. This is unironically a highwater mark for both detective fiction and Lovecraftian Horror in video gaming.
Riverbond is a simple game that follows a blueprint. By mixing up characters, weapons, and environments, Riverbond does a decent job of reiterating this predictable path in such a way that each level is still a unique world – which is necessary to keep the player engaged and entertained. Overall, gameplay is easygoing and doesn't require much effort or critical thinking, making Riverbond a solid option to power up and knock out on a slow day.
Despite this score appearing low. I freaking love this game. But I would be remiss if I didn't point out the flaws that felt more common than the shard drops in the game's early going. I'm really hopeful for the future of this title, because I don't think Iga would be willing to let this game (Blood)stain his legacy.
Warlocks 2: Godslayers is enjoyable for the most part, but the difficult and tedious combat can take the fun out of the game for some people. The game is definitely geared for multiplayer as the combat can be overwhelming during solo play. Beyond that there are a few minor performance hiccups though it doesn't normally affect any major gameplay. If you can get past that and the difficult-at-times combat, you'll find an enjoyable and humorous game with some interesting gameplay mechanics and even more interesting writing.
F1 2019 encompasses the breadth of experiences, car choices, track choices that provide a far deeper experience for the player than would be available in a generic sim. That depth truly demonstrates the complexity of not only the hardware, but the ever-changing conditions during a race.