Niche Gamer
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NOVA DRIFT is highly recommended to fans of twinstick shooters, even if it may not seem like their cup of tea. And for those of you with a Steam Deck – oooooh boy is this a perfect fit. It’s slick, it’s stylish, it’s polished. It’s cheap too. Go get it.
Demonschool brings fresh and engaging strategic ideas to the popular Persona-like, school-focused RPG genre, but it’s held back by an overwhelming number of game-breaking bugs that desperately need fixing. After waiting three months for improvements following its initial build, I’m completely baffled that the same problems still plague it.
You do not need to play the original game to enjoy this one, but playing through it does give you a deeper appreciation of the game’s backstory and lore, which you do not get from playing just the second game.
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When Scurge ends, it says “to be continued”. Obviously, that never happened and is a promise that will likely never be fulfilled. At the very least, gamers can get a glimpse of missed potential and see where Orbital Media’s hopes and dreams ended and wonder how they could have been improved in a sequel that they never made.
The puzzles are designed to resist brute-forcing, and hitting a wall is an intentional part of the experience. Dual Effect clearly did their homework, showcasing a deep understanding of classic survival horror. Their confidence in crafting intricate puzzles and captivating aesthetics makes them a worthy successor to the genre’s iconic classics.
Add everything up and include a season pass that you probably won’t care enough to finish if you buy it and you’ll find that Painkiller 2025 is literally just an attempt to cash in on a franchise that’s been stuck in limbo for no other reason than to hopefully make a few bucks on an established name. Perhaps if there’s a true single player mode added the decent at best gameplay loop might be enough to hook players for a few moments, but in its current state, you’re better off playing any other three player shooter, like Abyssus.
I really wanted to like Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and at PAX, I thought it had a lot of promise, but after playing it, all I’ve felt is disappointed and wish that I had my time back, maybe to replay Arceus or an older game in the franchise.
Full Metal Schoolgirls can be a grueling experience. It doesn’t have great combat, but it looks great and the gimmicky rogue-lite mechanics are cleverly designed enough that it sinks its hooks in you… in small doses anyway.
The best feature in Hotel Barcelona is easily its personality and style. The game is oozing with character despite its shortcomings. The outrageous climax completely won me over, and even though I didn’t need to, I kept coming back for more because I grew to love the characters and that God damned hotel.
The game boldly embraces girl battles, complete with dynamic cutaways and iconic “beam struggle” climaxes. If the storytelling were more compelling, this could easily be Inti Creates’ best title to date.
Little Nightmares III is one of 2025’s biggest disappointments. The misplaced focus on co-op hurts the main adventure while also being sleep-inducingly boring. To add insult to injury, the big reveal is so painfully stupid, you’ll wonder if it’s an elaborate prank.
Everything just feels “right” in Replaylee. It makes the vanilla game look like a rough draft and like this was the game they intended to make the first time. It took a long time, but it’s finally here; this is the “Banjo-Threeie” fans have been hoping for.
If you were a fan of Jackbox Party Pack 4, 5, and 8, then you will have a great time playing these games with your friends or even complete strangers. Some of the game modes are not optimized to be played in a loud environment, but if there is a will, there is a way.
These days, The Evil Within 2 is dirt cheap, and if you play it on a Series X, it gets a nice frame rate boost to a consistent 60. It looks on par with the likes of Alan Wake II, but you won’t have to contend with obnoxious characters and agonizing pacing. This was a solid sequel that should have gotten more love.
Blood West offers flexible, skill-driven mechanics. Whether players approach it with stealthy backstabs or gunslinging headshots, the open-ended levels encourage creative approaches in an imaginative setting with plenty to see and do. It isn’t the most polished or evenly balanced, and the tone can feel more comedic than horror. It feels more like Evil Dead than Bone Tomahawk.
Ultimately, I admire the ambition of Bye Sweet Carole but I can’t help but feel the execution falls flat. The Disney art style really carries a lot of the game’s good will but I feel like it doesn’t live up to its own hype.
If you enjoy fast paced mech suit flying action with cannons, laser swords, and jets to improve your movement, Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is the model you want baby.
Final Fantasy Tactics is a legendary game, and possibly, if not the greatest strategy RPG to ever exist. It’s sad to say, but it deserved way better than this. There’s rumors of a potential sequel that may happen but if Creative Studio III is behind it, I worry about its direction.
If there’s any complaints to make about Ball x Pit it’s that there’s not more game here. Only having eight levels means you’ll revisit a lot of the same sights and you might eventually get bored of the repetition.