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Midnight Fight Express has a lot of personality and can be fun for a bit. However, when a game is built almost entirely around combat, you need that combat to feel great, and here it just feels okay. Its various attempts to provide some variety are noble, but meet with mixed success despite some really cool set pieces. A great soundtrack kept me going until the end, but those wanting an irreverent brawler aren’t lacking choices in recent years, and Midnight Fight Express never fully manages to stand out from the crowd.
While it doesn’t end as well as it starts, that doesn’t ultimately change how much I love Xenoblade Chronicles 3. With fantastic characters, deep combat, and an enormous world to explore, it was more than worth pushing through those final hours to see the ending to one of my favorite RPGs in years. Monolith Soft have the Xenoblade series back on the right path, and I can’t wait to see where they go next. I just hope next time they have the confidence to end their game when it’s ready to end.
I had an absolute blast with GigaBash. Despite this, solo players need not apply. There just isn’t enough content here to justify the investment. Still, that’s not who GigaBash was made for and for the target audience, Passion Republic Games have delivered. If you regularly have friends to play with, there are few games released this year I would say are more worthy of your time and money.
While it isn’t going to be an easy sell for many due to the difficulty spikes that arise in the form of its demanding bosses, I ultimately came away from Book Quest satisfied with the final product. Sure, it wasn’t the laid-back, Zelda-clone I was expecting and presented a challenge that came as a shock, but that was ultimately the best thing about it. If you can look past the, at times, inconsistent hitboxes, and frequent audio bugs, then Book Quest provides a satisfying evening’s worth of, at times, hardcore action that I hope finds an audience.
Ground Divers’ cute looks hide a game with surprising depth. While there aren’t very many stages, they quickly start to require a great deal of strategy and planning which can be a lot of fun. It isn’t a must-play, but those looking for a charming puzzle game where resource management is key, and they’ll need to use their heads should give Ground Divers a look.
I still really enjoyed my time with Dungeon Munchies. It’s a unique game with a truly twisted and delightful sense of humor. Combined with a unique cooking mechanic and tons of ways to customize your experience, I feel it’s a game any fan of the indie scene should check out. I just hope developer maJAJa is able to implement some tweaks to improve the experience, or use what they’ve learned from this game to make their next one even better.
Unfortunately Aniquilation squanders an interesting concept with poor level design that does its best to ensure that the various mechanics at play are nothing short of frustrating the majority of the time. There is some fun to be had if you can endure the frustrations and fight your way through to the later stages of Aniqulation’s levels, where the environments open up and it becomes more apparent what the developers were going for. Sprinkle in the technical issues, and Aniquilation is difficult to recommend to anyone other than the most dedicated of twin-stick shooter fans.
Lost Epic didn’t quite live up to the standards that I had set for it when I had played it last year… but it was still good! Flaws aside, Lost Epic is an Metroidvania Souls-lite that’s every bit as charming as it is challenging. Sure, there’s still some work to be done here and there, but I’m confident they’ll get there in time.
South of the Circle definitely looks and feels like it was made by a BAFTA-winning team, which means that players should know they’re walking into an artistic endeavor instead of an action-packed adventure. Sure, there’s action, and there’s adventure, but it’s more of a passive movie than an active experience. As long as you set your expectations accordingly, South of the Circle will thrill (and chill!) anyone looking for a unique setting and exciting story.
NOEL The Mortal Fate tries to do a lot all at once, and for the most part, it succeeds. It’s a seriously scintillating visual novel with interesting gameplay mechanics that really pushed the limits of what RPG Maker could do. Unfortunately, some of those gameplay mechanics handled strangely at times, but that can mostly be forgiven considering the gripping story that unfolds on-screen. If you’re a visual novel fan and want to curl up with a good story on your Switch, NOEL The Mortal Fate is a deal you don’t want to pass up.
RimWorld Console Edition is a fantastic addition to anyone’s game library, regardless of whether or not they’ve played the PC version. When the only criticism of the game is that it doesn’t go on sale very often, you know you have an absolute winner on your hands. I wish I could have seen all the text better without having to scoot so close to my TV, but the fact that it’s my only complaint in an otherwise addicting and enjoyable experience speaks volumes. If you’re looking for a game that breaks expectations in terms of depth and discovery, RimWorld Console Edition will sate that storytelling hunger.
Godlike Burger is not for everyone. If you love roguelikes, have a controller handy, and possess a morbid sense of curiosity, Godlike Burger could easily entertain for hours on end. If you want a clear sense of continued progression and are loyal to the ol’ mouse and keyboard, I can’t recommend Godlike Burger to you. Like a Portobello mushroom burger, this one’s a bit of an acquired taste, so your first bite is only going to be enjoyable if you know what you’re getting into. Godlike Burger may be every health inspector’s worst nightmare, but for the roguelike fan seeking a fresh batch of novelty, a nibble of the forbidden meat may be too tantalizing to resist.
I was really hoping for more from Sofiya and the Ancient Clan. While it wasn’t all bad, it’s still a disappointing platformer with boring combat to boot. Sure, the artwork is fine, even Sofiya’s amorous journal entries. It just doesn’t do enough to make this a better game, despite the surprisingly enjoyable music. If you like platformers and want something inexpensive, you might enjoy this. If nothing else, it’s a very short burn that can be completed in a lazy afternoon. For everyone else, stay away from this absurd little witch.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms offers solid brawler gameplay and an open world that you can get around conveniently. Combat feels impactful, and the story even has its moments. Unnecessary complexity, slippery platforming, and a tone that never quite hits make this a game primarily for the series’ faithful and big-time brawler fans who have played most of the genre’s more successful recent releases.
The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass Wave 2 may not be filled with classics, but there are no truly weak maps here, and there are several that sit comfortably among the upper echelon of the game’s track list. Waluigi Pinball alone would make this a worthy set of levels, but Mushroom Gorge, Kalamari Desert, and Sydney Sprint will all be maps I’ll frequently vote to race on in the future. I’m glad to see these releases getting stronger and can’t wait to see what Nintendo has in store for Wave 3.
Bright Memory: Infinite is a shining example of the power of development tools when placed in the hands of someone who truly knows how to get the most out of them. With its AAA production values and polished gameplay, it provides an evening’s worth of action that entertained me in a way that the genre has struggled to do since Respawn’s underappreciated Titanfall 2. If you’re comfortable with dropping twenty dollars on an experience that you know will be over in a couple of hours and are willing to overlook the messy narrative in favour of the excellent gameplay loops, then Bright Memory: Infinite is absolutely worth supporting.
At the end of the game, I really felt like there could’ve been a lot more Quintus and the Absent Truth. The acting felt flat, the themes weren’t as fleshed out as they should’ve been, and the only truly scary thing here is how short the whole experience was. I really wanted to see this succeed, as the art style brought some unique potential, but sadly the experience needs a lot more refinement to be as interesting in execution as it was in premise.
I truly hope that Sword and Fairy: Together Forever finally releasing on consoles gives the series the boost it needs towards more widespread recognition globally. It’s a fantastic title with some of the deepest lore to grace the genre in a while, which also manages to back up its compelling narrative with combat that is a joy to engage with. In a summer that has sorely been lacking in epic RPGs for genre enthusiasts to get stuck into, Sword and Fairy: Together Forever not only helps fill that void but does so with a level of style and heart that begs to be experienced.
Endling – Extinction is Forever is a powerful game. It deftly highlights human greed, corruption, and our unique knack for environmental devastation. At the same time, it offers glimmers of hope and redemption, tiny bright spots that manage to shine through the encroaching darkness. The trials and tribulations of the traumatized fox at the heart of the game will leave your heart aching and bruised, and you’ll be left somehow simultaneously saddened and enraged. Such sorrowful fury is meant to be a powerful motivator: use it.
It’s hard for me to fault Live A Live too harshly for its ending, though. I’d have been perfectly satisfied if it had simply been seven separate stories, and each of these is well worth playing through even after all these years. There’s so much creativity and joy present that anyone interested in class RPGs owes it to themselves to give it a try.