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Defend the Rook is a great example of what happens when you have a really solid foundation but ultimately don’t end up doing much with it. While I enjoyed my time with the game I couldn’t help but feel as though I was playing some kind of extended demo. Yeah, it was fun, but it got same-y really quickly. And that is definitely not good when it comes to roguelikes. Would I recommend Defend the Rook? I’m not sure, honestly. I guess I wouldn’t steer you away from it if you wanted to buy it, but, unless they start adding content (which they should because what they have is fun!), I don’t know that I’ll be chomping at the bit to suggest it to people that I talk to.
The Cruel King and the Great Hero is my current contender for GOTY 2022; although it’s only April, I just don’t see this changing. With its wonderfully whimsical aesthetics, glorious soundtrack, blossoming world-building and character development, and delightful turn-based combat combining action and slight brainteasers, it cannot be overstated how phenomenal The Cruel King and the Great Hero truly is. It’s probably the only game I’ve ever consciously desired to give a standing ovation, tears welling up in my eyes as the credits rolled. The sum of a thousand tiny details done correctly, The Cruel King and the Great Hero achieves greatness through the lens of a bold and brave young girl, following her heart and her dreams, with her supportive dragon dad by her side.
While many of your actions are said to have an impact on the game, in practice, that impact is fairly minimal. It all comes together in an ending that also feels far too convenient, not seriously reckoning with much of the themes the Road 96 brings up. In the end, it feels like Road 96 doesn’t have nearly as much to say about these topics as it thinks it does. It sticks the landing when it comes to its individual characters, but much less so regarding the overarching plot. Still, those character stories are engaging, the mini-games you’re thrown into are consistently fun, and Road 96 looks and sounds great. It all makes for a trip that’s worth taking, as long as you know what to expect.
Wife Quest‘s cutesy aesthetic and straightforward mechanics belie a competent yet surprisingly difficult platformer. You’ll need to approach this adventure with patience and dexterity (and an appreciation for a bit of ham and lewdness certainly wouldn’t hurt, either). If you’re up to the occasionally unforgiving challenge this platformer offers and don’t mind some fanservice here and there, then this is a quest well worth undertaking.
MLB The Show 22 continues to offer a solid baseball game that is a lot of fun to play. San Diego Studio has the basics down, and while they iterate on them each year, they don’t break what’s working. When so much around the core gameplay has grown stagnant, though, and players are being pushed to spend so much ongoing money to have the best experience, it becomes a lot harder to recommend to all but the die-hards.
Dungeons of Dreadrock is a bite-sized game that I’m sure would work perfectly as a bit of entertainment while waiting for a bus or train on its native mobile platform. However, it’s also great on the PC version as something to gently work out your brain while enjoying the fun narrative and very vibrant pixel-art graphics. This innovative puzzler combines clever yet accessible puzzles with a dash of humour to create a very enjoyable experience. Instead of just putting square pegs into round holes, you genuinely have to think outside the box, and finding the solution is always surprising and entertaining. Dreadrock is a dungeon well worth delving into.
I’ve scrutinized Coromon pretty thoroughly, I’m not going to deny that. But I don’t think that my decision to do so was unfair. When you’re going to directly compare yourself to something that’s already been established, you open yourself up to the criticism, both positive and negative, that comes along with it. And, truly, there was a bit of both when it came to my outlook on Coromon. Was there a bit more negative than positive? Sure. I think that this game has a way to go (perhaps via means of a sequel) before I could truly say that I’m satisfied with it. But is the potential there? Yeah, absolutely. Between the gorgeous creature spritework and the way that the game simultaneously handles stat distribution and “shiny” hunting via the Potential system, there are some true moments of brilliance tucked away with in this game. And I’d like that brilliance to, *ahem*, shine bright. But it’s going to need some work to get to that stage. And only time will tell if it ever actually gets there.
No Place Like Home will draw you in with its adorable illustrations and novel premise; for fans of wholesome games, cleaning simulators, and base-building, the allure might actually work like a charm. For everyone else who’s had their eye on this post-apocalyptic farm sim, you may want to give it some time before it’s truly ready for release after a little more polish. I’m confident that, in a few months time, No Place Like Home will be cleaned up and in a much better state to receive players. Until then, keep this on your Wishlist and keep fighting the good fight against climate change to ensure Ellen’s present is as far removed from our future as possible.
A Memoir Blue is like a mother’s love for her daughter — quiet at times, turbulent at others, but all-encompassing and soothing when our hearts are heavy. It is a powerful reminder of how far our mothers will go to keep us whole, to give us more, and to do the best with the cards they’ve been dealt. A Memoir Blue is the best game focusing on mother/daughter relationships ever made, and if you love interactive storybooks and have tissues at the ready, I’m sure you’ll agree. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go call my mom.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is excellent, but it’s not for everyone. If walking simulators aren’t your speed, I don’t know if this is going to be the one that’ll change your mind. But if you’re a huge fan of liminal spaces and esoteric musings, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is absolutely for you, but I recommend it in small bursts. If anything, it’s reminded me that sometimes it’s not the answer that matters, but the fact that we’re asking questions is enough. Thanks, disembodied low poly heart particles in the middle of the woods!
Flynn: Son of Crimson was ultimately worth the wait. If you’re a fan of retro-inspired games that harken back to the ’90s, I’d check it out.
In conclusion, Contagious Memories is not an experience I could recommend in good faith to even the most ardent of survival horror fans. My lingering thought as I put the game down and began writing up this review was, “who is this for”? If you want a classic survival horror fix, then there are much more appealing options out there, including the greats that Contagious Memories imitates cheaply. And if you’re looking for a more modern take on classic survival horror as, Contagious Memories purports to be, then go and play the excellent Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes. In any event, my advice would be to avoid Contagious Memories at all costs, as it is more likely to harm your love of the genre than anything else.
As a massive fan of the original game, I had high hopes for The House of the Dead Remake. Unfortunately, this one mostly misses the mark as far as updates go due to its constant performance issues and control schemes that range from merely unsatisfying to downright frustrating. While extras like the Horde mode and in-game achievements are welcome, it’s hard to imagine many players will want to trudge through the experience all over again after wrapping up the main story once or twice. If you’re dying for an arcade-style shooter to plow through with a friend, The House of the Dead Remake might keep you busy for an evening. Anyone else would be better off letting the dead rest.
There’s so much good going for Janitor Bleeds, creating plenty of scares with its well-executed main concept of having to play an arcade game while stalked by a mysterious entity.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments is one of the best Sherlock Holmes games available on the Switch — and maybe even ever released. The sum of many outstanding details working together seamlessly, it has uniquely clever mechanics that really drive home that “wow” factor — the added morality behind choices is a breath of fresh air in a long-standing series that usually relies purely on logic. Although the Switch port performs wonderfully, the game itself is starting to show its age in a few areas; with that being said, there are just too many little details that still keep this 8 year old game competitive against newer releases. If you’re a fan of mystery titles, getting Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments is simply elementary!
Big Bang Pro Wrestling looks great, and parts of it hold up really well, even 22 years after its initial release. Its gameplay is a somewhat odd mix of simple mechanics, which require a bit too precise of timing and positioning, but get some friends together who loved wrestling in the era it was originally made, and I’m confident you’ll have some fun.
Z-Warp isn’t exactly breaking new ground, but it offers enough of a unique feel to pull in SHMUP fans looking for something new. Once you figure out how its mechanics work, they’re a lot of fun and kept my attention much longer than I initially expected. It’s the sort of game that makes you say “one more run” so often that you’ll think you’ve traveled through time.
There was so much room for 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim to just not work. So many threads are weaved together in a way where, by far, the most likely outcome of the whole thing should have been an interesting failure. That it instead sticks the landing, weaving together a plot that has no business being this moving and satisfying, is astonishing. If you’re at all interested in visual novels, or adventure games, or science fiction, and you don’t play 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, you must be suffering from brain overload.
Syberia: The World Before is a very mixed bag. With wonderful characters, terrific sights, and a beautiful story, there’s a lot to recommend about it. Unfortunately, that story relies far too much on happenstance, and the more you think about it, the less it makes sense, but if you can suspend your disbelief and just go with it, you’ll find a game that will please long term fans of the series and create some new fans as well.
While it may lack the extra content fans of the series might expect to find, Lost Judgment: The Kaito Files is easy to recommend to armchair detectives looking for another exciting case to crack thanks to its satisfying combat and developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s masterful storytelling. If nothing else, it definitively shows that if the contract issues surrounding actor Takuya Kimura prevent him from reprising his role, the Yagami Detective Agency would still be in perfectly capable hands.