Niche Gamer
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Pragmata is a nearly flawless achievement. It is a game built on a bold mechanical concept, executed with precision, and elevated by a central relationship characterized by extraordinary emotional intelligence.
As the game is now, Marathon will be something that gamers visit from time to time when they are looking for a change of pace, but compared to other games in the market, it feels like it will get lost in the shuffle.
While Aether & Iron might be a fun tactical RPG with beautiful visuals, there are a few things that hold it back.
In the end, I still think Wardrum is worth trying for players who already enjoy rhythm games, tactical RPGs, or roguelites.
For a small indie title this is perfectly respectable and I wish the devs all the luck in their future projects.
While MOTORSLICE starts out great, it can get unwieldy the longer you play it (read: it became too difficult for me). Despite this, MOTORSLICE can be quite fun with its clear, singular vision and brutalist style.
Ultimately, Bobo Bay is a game for two audiences. It’s a love letter to the Chao Garden that many of us grew up with and remember fondly; but it also stands on its own as a fresh title for the cozy games crowd who maybe never played SA2. If you play the game, give yourself time to breathe, relax, and enjoy how cute and thoughtful everything is you’ll be alright.
Ground Zero is one of the best resi-likes out there. In many ways, it’s superior to the games that it inspired, with deeper gameplay and jam-packed with content. Not everything works perfectly, like when the game occasionally glitches and enemies get stuck in a looping animation after they die. It’s nothing a patch couldn’t fix, but it’s still strange to see something like that in an otherwise polished game. Thankfully, it isn’t a rogue-like.
While Kingdom’s Return isn’t a bad game, at Inti Creates, “not bad” simply isn’t good enough.
Manafinder isn’t going to impress any RPG veteran or anyone looking for an original idea. There are better games made with RPG Maker out there, like Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, which was elevated by its tenderly written and gut-wrenching story and complex job system. Manafinder is just kind of alright, and at least it isn’t a roguelike.
For such a crude-looking and sounding game, Faith: The Unholy Trinity is shockingly effective. It demonstrates how minimalistic game mechanics can be made deep through creativity and how simple imagery can still have a strong impact. Modern gamers might be turned off by the intentionally retro design, but those willing to give it a shot will discover that Faith has a way of getting under your skin and festering.
The story itself is passable for a noir tale, but the game feels like it’s more about references to other games. If you like noir-style games and wacky boomer shooters, then you’ll enjoy MOUSE: P.I. For Hire. At the end of the day, I did have a lot of fun with the game, even with its cheesy one-liners.
It’s important to compare this to Ys X: Nordics, a game that also made a significant impact. While Nordics is a solid title, Revelations in Celceta, presented here at its best, is truly exceptional. Returning to Celceta is a journey you owe to yourself.
If you’re upgrading from the base game and didn’t buy Vessel of Hatred, you’ll be thrilled to find out that it comes included if you buy Lord of Hatred, which makes the $40 asking price a bit easier to swallow.
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The only drawback of Super Meat Boy 3D is that it may alert tourists due to its heart-stopping difficulty. This may be a problem because tourists are loud and ruin the fun for people who enjoy their games spicy and intense. If you squint your eyes, it kind of looks like you are playing Super Mario in hell.
By far the best thing about Ascendance is that it didn’t brick my console. This game is a complete betrayal of the franchise and was not worth dragging Michael Bell out from his crypt to read for such a disappointing revival. Take away the Legacy of Kain branding, and you’re left with a subpar action platformer that has nothing going for it.
At the end of the day, Replaced is a game that I was only interested in because of the cyberpunk elements, but after many hours of playing it, it won me over in many ways. The hypnotic soundtrack and breathtaking visuals make Replaced a must for fans of cyberpunk or dystopian themes.
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The art and visuals hold up exceptionally well, as expected from WayForward’s pixel artists. The story and dialogue are nowhere near as clever as it aspires to be, and it’s a generic plot, but Psyme’s presence makes up for it. It never goes beyond being more than a collection of references that the developers really liked or grew up with.