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King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is a clear departure from the King Arthur titles that Neocore Games is known for. It’s not just the new setting, but also the combat mechanics and the management aspect of your base of operations that makes the game very engaging.
Galactic Civilizations IV has a solid foundation, in terms of mechanics and presentation, but needs to add polish. I like the wide-ranging customization offered at the start of a campaign and how the early game moves. But the experience needs more excitement for the middle game and extra variety in terms of events and challenges.
Ghostwire: Tokyo is clearly not for everyone. Although it’s not particularly scary, it can definitely cause fatigue due to the haunting, unnerving atmosphere. More often than not, the game feels very depressive, but it’s impossible not to recognize Tango Gameworks’ ability to create unique, interesting worlds to explore.
Trolley Problem, Inc. could be the first entry in a series of philosophy-focused gaming experiences. It does a good job of adding a layer of solid presentation to thought experiments, some centered on classic ethics, and some linked to modern life issues. The idea of comparing choices with the developer and other players is also a solid one. I also appreciate the in-depth reading list provided and how references are offered for each dilemma.
Royal Frontier is a simple game that can serve as an introduction to the rogue space but does not have the unique or interesting elements of the best of its genre. Combat is interesting at first but becomes rote very quickly. Unlocking new blessings does not feel important or cool enough to keep players engaged.
Insurmountable gains a new gameplay layer with the 2.0 update, which gives the experience a clearer structure and players more clear goals to aim for. Climbing peaks, with limited resources and careful planning, continues to be compelling. There are plenty of strategies to try out, many events to deal with, some mysteries to untangle.
Circle Empires Tactics is an interesting take on strategy, with a focus on small engagements and careful preparation. I like the fact that the options to restart an engagement is always available, allowing players to try out ideas and push for success. The repetitive nature of the entire experience can only succeed if the price for failure is small and the developers understand this.
Despite the optimization issues, the network problems with the Shift servers that cause momentarily framerate drops, the fact that there are some unexplainable crashes and various bugs, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a truly wonderful experience for all Borderlands fans. It is different enough, so veterans won’t see it just a reskin, and familiar enough to get lost in the game world.
Forgive Me Father is a good first-person shooter that, despite embracing the retro concept, does not rely on nostalgia to draw players in. I played it relatively cautiously, conserving ammo when I could, and I didn’t feel like the madness system worked against me. But the game is at its best in the big arena fights, with big groups of enemies, a shredding soundtrack, and no option but to take the fight to them.
Nightmare Reaper is a good retro FPS experience that will be incredibly satisfying to all gamers who liked the genre since Wolfenstein and have kept up with its recent evolution. Shooting enemies, juggling weapons, and looking for secrets, all these ideas work well. There’s enough difficulty to make progress a challenge without too much frustration and death is never the end.
At the end of the day, Agent Intercept is a fun game to try on a rainy weekend day, but I don’t think too many people would play it again after completing the story mode. And unfortunately, this doesn’t take more than a few hours once you learn how to be a lethal agent.
Weird West has a great set of gameplay mechanics that don’t always deliver the best experience. The five-character stories have great moments, although the side-quests are often more engaging. You can take down an important enemy in three ways or more, but the chaotic aftermath might be impossible to handle. Using all the money obtained from a job to replace bullets and medicine is not a way to make progress.
Beholder 3 has a few good ideas that fail to shine through the limited and repetitive mechanics. Some conversations, especially some with family members, elicit emotion and create genuine dilemmas. But I never was interested in the tenants, their problems, or my co-workers, and always played Frank as a survivor who can’t and won’t try to make the world a better place.
35mm tries hard to be more than just a walking simulator. It stumbles in this endeavor and forgets that a good walking simulator can still be a pretty entertaining experience. The game falls short of the experience offered by popular titles in the same genre like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture or What Remains of Edith Finch.
The Ascent is far from perfect. It has so many issues that normally I would not give it a second look. Despite all the issues and the fact that the gameplay is pretty basic, the story completely forgettable and it lacks any depth, I had fun with it and once I started playing it I was lost to the rest of the world.
Gunborg: Dark Matters is in many ways a fun game not only for those who have already fallen in love with platformers but also for those who are new to this genre. In many, it’s a fun yet extremely challenging side scroller whose only shortcoming appears to be the very short story and the weird control system that takes some time to get used to.
The Last Cube is a solid puzzle and platforming mix, with a focus on solid planning and careful execution. I like the pure nature of moving through the levels, constantly trying to keep in mind which face of the cube can interact with what element of the environment. But this is an experience enjoyed in small doses before the drabness of the universe gets to you.
Young Souls is a solid beat-em up that intelligently adds role-playing ideas to enhance its core gameplay. The bosses are well-designed and mostly fun to fight, especially if the player wisely diversified what the pair can do. The narrative is not groundbreaking but gives players plenty of interesting moments and cool banter (again, with plenty of swearing that can be filtered out).
République is proof that mobile games can have depth and can be as complex as their PC or console counterparts. Despite the many improvements it brings, the Anniversary Edition cannot shed its touch screen heritage and the control on the gamepad is still cumbersome.
Hero’s Hour shows how compelling and fun the Heroes of Might & Magic formula can be when a developer gets the core mechanics right. It takes a little time to get used to the real-time battles and the limited direct control, but the formula works well and delivers interesting choices and solid challenges. There’s a lot of variety when it comes to both maps and setup options, while the AI knows how to play to win.