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Wielding enough creativity and originality in its approach, Penny's Big Breakaway is a classic case of the good of its premise outmatching the occasional bad of its execution. As annoying the technical state in parts is, let alone some of the misjudged application of additional, incentivizing challenge runs a greater risk of putting players off entirely. Even so, flawed and lacking a touch of polish it may be, Evening Star have done well establishing a new IP that is not only reminiscent of past years, but eagerly wants to build something new out of it. What it ends up creating may not be the most fluid or immediately-enticing take on traversal, but Penny's Big Breakaway is a small, but promising start crammed full of fresh ideas and endearing style alike.
Dicefolk has truly amazing combat that makes great use of its rotation and dice mechanics, and it's bolstered by a ton of impressive designs in tthe Chimeras, each packing their own skills that are fun to experiment with as you craft your dream team and playstyle. Unfortunately, the lack of any interesting story hinders the experience and can easily leave you wanting more. Still, as long as you desire a unique spin on the traditional creature-collecting formula and the battles associated with it, Dicefolk can still be worth checking out, even if the odds of you enjoying the game for longer periods may boil down to a dice roll.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is what sheer simple fun Mario vs. Donkey Kong really is. It's so simple in concept, but never really gets old or tiresome as they keep building up new ideas along the way. It's hard not to keep obsessively going to see what challenge is coming next. There might be moments where it's easy to get stumped, but it's easily fixed simply by looking around and re-examining the options to come to the proper solution. If there's anything that's a downside about the title, it's that we only wish there was even more to play. Hopefully this entry puts it back on the map for Nintendo and they consider expanding upon it even more in the future, as it's a delight and well worth picking up for all those who love charming, puzzling adventures that won't overwork the mind too much.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a big step in the right direction that’s unfortunately held back by graphical anomalies and open world tropes. It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride that’s heavily back loaded. It'll pull on your heart strings and make you invested in each character more than ever before. It helps that all the memorable moments from the original are not only retained, but strengthened thanks to the graphical prowess of the PlayStation 5. Combat also remains highly engaging, with slight modifications that only enhance the experience further. Unfortunately, Rebirth is also marred with baffling design choices that stifle its greatness. It's filled with mini-games that thankfully are mostly in side quests, as their controls and function leave much to desire. At the very least they will keep you interested as it never gets stale. On top of that, while most of the graphics will have you impressed, low resolution textures and geometry are spliced in the most confusing of ways, only pulling you out of the immersion. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has its share of issues that prevent it from greatness, but whether you’re a dire hard fan or relatively new to the saga, this remains an RPG for the ages.
Overall, Promenade is a beautifully-crafted adventure that delights players with its stunning visuals, immersive sound design and charming gameplay mechanics. Promenade is a must-play title for fans of platformers and adventure games with its captivating artistry, engaging narrative and dynamic gameplay.
Wielding nothing more than a deck of cards and a poker-themed twist on proceedings, developer LocalThunk has conjured something incredible and awe-inspiring with Balatro. What starts as a relatively-novel twist on the deckbuilding format quickly blossoms into an experience that's equal parts methodical, experimental, chaotic but satisfying all the same. A game that rewards clever thinking, mathematical meddling and having the courage to be just that bit braver in uncovering just how far one can push its systems at play. Wherein success and failure alike stand as equally memorable moments to build off. A paradigm for what roguelikes and deckbuilders should aspire towards, Balatro is addictive, expertly-crafted and the new front-runner for what is easily the best gaming experience of 2024.
Launching a live service game in today’s environment is a risky proposition. Not only are the market leaders incredibly entrenched, but launching a brand new one without a satisfying gameplay loop, content variety and character could doom a game right out of the gate. Helldivers II bucks the trends with highly satisfying gameplay, a good variety of planets to explore and objectives to complete, unique hooks and hilarious improvised moments. Gunplay is punchy, smart and requires some thought to be effective, though it can also just be chaotic fun. Unique hooks like the Galactic War where you’re just another cog in the war effort rather than the “Chosen One” adds more stakes to every match. It’s also fun to hop into a match with friends and unleash all forms of chaos. It’s not perfect with Helldivers II unable to escape every Live Service pitfall. Progression feels unnecessarily padded with multiple currencies to juggle, the fun factor doesn’t extend to playing solo and technical issues plague the post-launch week. Still, Helldivers II delivers where it matters and leaves us excited to see what Arrowhead can bring to the game next rather than leaving us pondering if the game can be saved. Helldivers II is one galactic conflict players can happily dive into.
As promising a foundation there may be here, Foamstars sadly finds itself buried beneath a malaise of lackluster content and an underdeveloped world alike. Occasionally enjoyable and suggestive of greater potential the foam-centric mechanics can be, as both an offensive and defensive tool alike, it's everything going on in and around the core gameplay, that ultimately makes the experience feel hollow and at worst, jarring to deal with. From its all-too-cheery presentation, to its laughably one-dimensional attempt at instilling personality into its world and characters. Right down to the horrid monetization practices at the very start of its life-cycle. A commitment to further updates and new content may stave off a small amount of concern, but it's hard to see where Foamstars' longevity will land. By no means the worst attempt at a multiplayer-centric experience by way of its handful of hopeful, admirable elements here and there, but still one that could've been far better given the promise.
A psychedelic metroidvania game with hints of time loop and roguelike mechanics, the game sees you seemingly having crash landed on a massive structure known as the Sarcophagus, which houses the ominous being known as Ultros. Making use of alien gardens and biology in order to further one's skills, players have to fight their way through to break the loop, or maybe find hidden pacifist solutions along the way instead.
Persona 3 Reload is a fantastic update on the classic, but some design choices make it hard to declare it a definitive version. New voice acting, graphical facelift and improvements to combat make this version of Persona 3 feel contemporary and an absolute joy to play. The omission of The Answer epilogue and the choice to play a female protagonist that were included in other versions of Persona 3, however, can make this version feel incomplete. But aside from the additional content being excluded, Persona 3 Reload is a great example of how to remake a game in a way that appeals to modern sensibilities without alienating the original fan base.
Set in the quirky fantasy kingdom of the Sprawl, the 12-year-old Lil finds themselves covering for their dad one day, taking over for his duties as guardsman. Now this one gig will help set off a chain of events that could determine the Sprawl's outcome, in this Papers, Please-inspired comedy adventure game.
The sad thing is that Silent Hill: The Short Message has a lot of good story ideas, characters and world-building, but then proceeds to waste them on completely unoriginal, shallow gameplay. It paradoxically wanted to move ahead and tackle more mature themes and stories, yet has gameplay that feels blatantly regressive, settling for the most generic aspects of modern horror games. If this is the direction that the franchise wants to take, then it's headed straight for a cliff. Hopefully the likes of No Code will be able to salvage things with their side games later, but for now, you can easily skip over The Short Message.
Anomaly Agent is a riot from beginning to end. It challenges you gradually and features a tough, but fair approach to fast-paced action-platforming and combat. Having fluidity in movement allows the gameplay flow to be smooth from each kind of action the player engages in and no stages ever outstay their welcome. Having different kinds of combat and platforming on display from area to area helps keep things fresh too. Visually, it accomplishes its goal of evoking the '80s while still featuring lighting effects that weren't possible in the era while the soundtrack offers a satisfying blend of synth and rock to change the mood up whenever it's needed. Anyone seeking fast-paced thrills should check out Anomaly Agent.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink has a short and sweet story campaign with the potential for endless grinding after the main credits roll. The story is an enjoyable ride from start to finish that blends a captivating story filled with interesting crew members and exhilarating action-packed gameplay. Most of the characters' backstories are revealed through Fate Episodes in town and watching these stories adds a great deal to how invested the player can get in their individual stories. The content after the main story promises countless hours of completing increasingly more difficult missions to extend the life of the game. These missions after the main campaign deliver story content at a much slower pace, however, and after a certain point these activities amount to little more than grinding for better resources. Multiplayer helps with these missions, but most players will likely move on before completing all the content the post game has to offer. But up until that point, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is an incredibly fun adventure.
Home Safety Hotline is a unique game in both the adventure genre and the horror genre, using deduction-based gameplay to great effect as folks attempt to decipher just what kind of gnome or fantastical fungus is plaguing each caller. While it could have been tougher, the cleverly-designed blend of supernatural phenomena and sharp comedic writing with a nicely dark edge will keep players hooked until the end. The prospect of working at a call center for things that go bump in the night sure is terrifying (although that goes for any job at a call center, period), but here, it's a job worth tackling.
A game that's celebratory not just of the characters and the world it's focused on, but too the fanbase that's helped build it up to this point. Even a terrible voice casting choice and handful of other small nitpicks aren't enough to hamper too much of the experience. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth bets big -- in both gameplay and narrative alike -- and unsurprisingly, has won big once again.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown combines elements of the classic 2D games with the 3D reboots to create a solid metroidvania. In fact Prince of Persia translates to this genre so well it's surprising it took until 2024 to happen. The gameplay is a mix of fighting, platforming and puzzles that are balanced in a way where things never get stale. Many of the obstacles Sargon faces will present a challenge and only the most skilled players will make it through without falling prey to a trap at least once, but none are so challenging that they can't be overcome with a little perseverance. The same can be said for the combat, where learning the intricacies and nuance of the combat system is an important part of winning against the challenging boss fights. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown may not revolutionize the genre, but it's one of the better metroidvanias to come out in recent years.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince forgoes complexity in favor of creating an accessible and enjoyable gaming experience.
What makes While the Iron's Hot work is a combination of a pleasant series of tasks and quirky, entertaining characters in every new town and point of interest.
Radiant Silvergun is considered a classic for a reason, and it holds up today as strongly as it did on release.