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Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection is an odd case. As a collection and as a piece of digital preservation, it’s brilliant. There are lots of interesting bits of bonus content, tight emulation, and pleasant visuals. It’s just that the Bubsy games themselves aren’t very good to begin with.
Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game is cute, and its puzzles really put your comprehension skills to the test. Beyond that, however, it doesn't have too much else to offer. It's an interesting experience, but one that ultimately ends up feeling rather bland.
Lost Soul Aside has ultimately left me feeling empty. Its most frustrating aspects are ones that don’t necessarily impact the actual gameplay, but the gameplay itself, while good in its best moments, isn’t enough to save this game. The end result is a forgettable and frustrating action game that I can’t recommend to even the most ravenous stylish-action fans.
Echoes of the End really struggles to provide a satisfying experience. Between the combat and the puzzle-solving, Echoes of the End is not a very satisfying game. I believe the developer realizes this, and I hope they’re able to realize their vision to great success, but, for now, I can’t recommend Echoes of the End.
Cronos: The New Dawn is a great survival horror game, utilizing its tough and grueling combat to complement the grueling and unforgiving atmosphere of Eastern Europe in the 1980s. It pushes the staples of the genre, like inventory management, to their extremes, without feeling overly difficult or unfair. The narrative won't blow you away, and it doesn't answer some of the more compelling questions its sci-fi story sets up, but you always want to learn more and find the next piece of information. It's not quite transcendent in the way some recent survival horror games have been, but it's a great time and absolutely worth diving into.
Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots features plenty of golfing goodness that will please anybody who likes to take to the green. It likely won’t make golf more appealing to anyone who doesn’t already enjoy it, but the variety of modes and playable characters and caddies make it into a title that will devour the time of any enthusiasts.
All in all, Helldivers 2 is a fantastic game. The way it blends its live-service aspects with the overall narrative is a breath of fresh air. Helldivers 2 is filled with plenty of cinematic moments that'll often leave you on the edge of your seat. It's great to see Sony and Xbox get along because consumers like you and I can now enjoy more games on our platform of choice.
Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion makes a big change compared to the first game, and it paid off. The game proudly displays its own ideas and molds the gameplay to be something between the usual mecha style and an action RPG that stands out among the pack. There are a few questionable design decisions, and maybe some lost potential with the lack of endgame, but I loved my time with my Arsenal and hope they are planning for more.
Metal Eden is a fantastic, high-octane FPS that, even in its short campaign run time, occasionally strays too far from its core combat loop. A lack of any additional game modes, not even a new game plus option, does make this package feel a bit lacking, as I wanted to do more when credits rolled, but didn't have any options besides running through it again. The narrative takes up far too much time, and the dialogue during missions is overly dramatic in a way that is quite grating, but the core combat is more than enough to make me happy with my time playing.
There really isn’t much more to say about Tamagotchi Plaza. It feels like a throwback to the cheap cash-grab minigame collections of the Wii era—a game trying to skate by on name recognition and little else. Who needs fun when you have a Tamagotchi, right?
Dividing a game into five separate genres could be a recipe for disaster, but Shuten Order turns it into something brilliant instead. While some routes are stronger than others, each is enjoyable in its own way, with different gameplay mechanics and structures. Despite some flaws and typos, everything came together in a satisfying way that made Shuten Order a great experience overall.
Varlet feels like a turn-based RPG that is simultaneously doing far too much and far too little. The story is overly complex and long for the game's 16 hour run time, which also takes away from the development of its cast of characters. On the other hand, the dungeons lack personality and variety, and the combat is truly one note, leaving a ton to be desired. I cannot recommend Varlet for anyone, as it doesn't have anything it truly excels at, and far too much that it utterly fails in.
Catto’s Post Office is an adorable, pun-filled, heartwarming, and sincere game, aware of how aspects that might seem small or microscopic in the grand scheme of things can still be extremely important to certain individuals, especially to a sensitive Postcat like Catto. The game made me feel as if I was watching an animated show on TVOKids, Treehouse TV, or Teletoon–sometimes your soul just needs that sort of nourishing game experience.
Time Flies is a profoundly poignant game, allows you to look within yourself and especially with factors that are at play for each person, to hammer down that sonder, if you still have yet to obtain that sense of clarity, or if that sliver of reflection needs to continue growing. Being able to mix gameplay hilarity with the looming death that is ever approaching in this stylistically hand-drawn black and white world fascinates me. Just because you are as tiny as a fly in this game, does not mean your impact on its world is also tiny.
I could go on and on gushing about how much I truly love SHINOBI: Art of the Vengeance. From its stylish, quick-witted gameplay and challenging experience to its beautifully designed character portraits with maps, I scrape to uncover each secret until I reach that 100% completion. Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap was one of my first games I played on the Nintendo Switch that introduced me to this developer, and Lizardcube has done it again with this Shinobi rejuvenation’s smooth and sleek gameplay.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is a pleasant and relaxing farming simulator that mixes up the usual formula in an interesting way. The pacing is a bit wonky towards the beginning and can feel a bit repetitive, but playing at your own pace helps to make this a worthwhile game to kick back with.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is an outstanding remake of one of the medium’s finest works. The story is timeless and gripping, the gameplay has been improved upon without losing any of the original’s charm, and the visuals are extraordinary. I’m so glad that one of my very favorite games of all time has been brought to modern consoles in such a loving and wonderful way, and I hope to see the rest of the mainline Metal Gear Solid series get this very same treatment in the future.
Fans of Western RPGs, Dungeons & Dragons RPGs, and CRPGs will find much to enjoy about Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition. Players new to the game and preferring to play on console, this is the only way to play it, and it’s a deal considering how much content is in this game. But if you’re on PC, a modded version of the original might be better.
Herdling tells a poignant tale using simple mechanics, alternating light environmental puzzles with more treacherous gameplay. Some players may find the potential for animal harm in the game upsetting, but the emotional core of its story would ring hollow without adversity.
Regardless of the multiplayer woes I faced, having a small group that played together regularly kept the game fun and fresh. If you have a reliable friend or friends who can play with you, Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is a very fun game. If not, it can still be fun for a solo player, but a lot of the magic from co-op, one of the major draws to the game, is completely lost.Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap is a lot of fun despite the massively overlooked quality-of-life features that are missing from the game. A few small updates could really put a shine on this otherwise flawed gem.