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Deep Silver and Volition have something really special with the Saints Row franchise, and it honestly doesn’t get any better than Saints Row: The Third Remastered.
Fundamentally, Tales From Off-Peak City is a walking simulator with some pretty straightforward puzzles thrown in. It lets you explore its surreal world at a glacial pace, but never gets boring. Unlike many walking simulators set in more realistic worlds where a lot of time is taken up traversing more mundane scenery, this is a world where practically every building and locale is a work of evocative art. If you’re a bohemian beatnik type looking to take a walk down the road less traveled then Off-Peak City is a vibe you can jam to.
A seemingly casual experience that sucks you in once you start, Ancient Enemy is the perfect game for players who don’t have a lot of time on their hands but still want a solid gaming session. If card-based RPGs are your thing, you’re definitely going to want to add this to your library; if you’ve ever wondered about the genre, this is the perfect title to wet your beak.
Obey Me is initially a fun game that soon devolves into an infuriating experience. With lots of weaponry and interesting level design, it becomes more enjoyable once you get the hang of its quirky combat mechanics. This interest, of course, only lasts until you get to the game’s final stages, where the final boss fights become incredibly frustrating, and the game becomes outright unpleasant to play.
As someone who tends to get a lot of enjoyment out of rail shooters, Star Horizon is a game I had high hopes for. And while I feel some features, like the storytelling and upgrade system, fall a bit flat, the core shooter experience can be pretty fun in short bursts. Sadly, in its current state, it’s impossible to recommend a game that is, as far as this reviewer can tell, entirely unbeatable at this time due to a game-breaking glitch.
While not quite as good as the Taito’s recently released Bubble Bobble 4 Friends, Ghost Sweeper is a fun little puzzle-platformer that’s well worth the modest $5 asking price. If you’re a fan of Solomon’s Key or merely looking for a fresh dose of arcade-inspired action, you can’t go wrong adding this game to your collection.
As someone with a lot of nostalgia for the BUILD era of PC first-person shooters, I had high hopes for Ion fury on Xbox One. Sadly, this port’s abundance of glitches, bizarre performance problems and a lack of optimization for consoles make it too frustrating to recommend. Perhaps with the magic of post-release patching, the worst of these kinks will be ironed out. However, at the time of this writing, today is not that day.
I’m still not sure that you can ever really call a rhythm game “perfect,” but Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix is as closest to perfection as I’ve ever seen a rhythm game get. As much as I’m aware that Vocaloid music isn’t for everyone, I honestly can’t help but recommend that anyone into rhythm games do themselves a favor and at least give this game a chance. You’ll only be hurting yourself in the long run if you don’t!
Ministry of Broadcast is a game like no other. Strangely cerebral and creatively deranged until the last possible moment, Ministry of Broadcast will absolutely challenge the platforming fans while providing endless amusement and frustration to the problem-solving crowd. The overall storyline may not make the most sense, but the immersion is definitely there and you’ll be too busy trying to get through it alive to pay much attention. Above all, you’ll walk away from the experience wondering if you really beat the game or just survived the ordeal. If you’re a fan of platformers, pixel art, or just really want to give your brain a brutal workout, you must pick up a copy of Ministry of Broadcast.
When it comes down to it, Bohemian Killing is an excellent example of a game that relies too much on concept, and not enough on execution.
SNK Gal’s Fighters on the Switch isn’t the most ambitious port out there, but that’s okay. Two decades since its original release, it’s just as addicting as it ever was. If you’re looking for a lighthearted retro fighter to add to your Switch library, or just want to experience this obscure gem in the Neo Geo’s 30-year history, then there’s no better time than the present to give SNK Gals’ Fighters a shot.
Of course, brevity is par for the course when it comes to ports of classic coin-op titles. But even so, many other games in the SEGA AGES lineup will keep you busy for considerably longer than this release. Still, if the game’s brief runtime and relative lack of replayability don’t bother you, SEGA AGES G-LOC: Air Battle is a great way to experience one of SEGA’s more overlooked gems from the glory days of arcade gaming.
Stela is the sort of dark and moody platformer you’ll want to play after being saturated by colorful traps in Super Mario Maker 2. It does nothing new, and don’t expect to walk away from the experience with a new sense of profound realization. Nonetheless, you’ll enjoy the time you have with it, even if the ending is disappointing and the game requires a fair degree of trial and error.
Online woes aside, Streets of Rage 4 is the gold standard for what a beat ’em up should be and a triumphant return to form for the series. The road to its release has been long and at times uncertain, but Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, and Lizardcube have managed to deliver a game that was well worth the 26-year wait. With stellar visuals, an unforgettable soundtrack, and a wealth of modes to enjoy, this is one game you need to have in your collection.
SEGA’s Sakura Wars reboot marks a welcome return for a series that’s gotten criminally little exposure to western audiences since it first released nearly 25 years ago. While the game’s real-time, hack-and-slash approach to its combat left me wanting more, the superb writing and lovable cast of characters kept me glued to my controller right to the very end. And with multiple endings and romance options to unlock, I hope to do it all again very soon.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a helluva ride, and whether this is your first foray into the world of Final Fantasy of you’ve been an FF fan for decades, there should be plenty here to like.
If you’re the sort of person who solves Rubix cubes with one hand while finishing crosswords with the other, you may find Filament to be an entertaining diversion, and jolly good for you! Speaking for myself, I tend to like a little bit more sizzle in my steak. Maybe I’m just a twitchy dopamine fiend who needs to blow something up or have sex with an alien every few seconds to hold my interest, but as Popeye would say: “I yam who I yam”.
With a colorful cast, incredibly high replay value, and diversity for miles, Later Daters is a surprisingly deep dating sim that unfolds over time. I personally feel it could do with a bit of better marketing in terms of communicating that this is, in fact, a partially finished game; additionally, with LGBTQ+ representation featured more prominently than most games that offer such narratives, the trailer and descriptions could stand to present just how much this aspect of diversity takes the driver’s seat (and they’d certainly benefit from it as it’s a selling point). Nevertheless, Later Daters is a total catch that serves as an important reminder that love knows no age.
As a big fan of the shoot-’em-up genre, I had my hopes up for Galaxy Warfighter. Unfortunately, the game just doesn’t do anything to hold the player’s attention. Truth be told, you can see everything the game has to offer in the time it takes to watch or read this review. For a quick-fix free-to-play mobile game, that might be acceptable. But for a title that’s currently going for $7.00 on the Switch eShop and Steam, that’s just inexcusable.
I feel like that my whole “playing games that feel like real life” analogy that I made during the beginning of this review might be a bit off the mark. And that’s because, after finally getting to the end review, I realized that STATIONflow is nothing like using an actual subway. It’s simple, straightforward, clean, easy to understand, and has a very soothing soundtrack on constant rotation. But, eh, I suppose that that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that STATIONflow is pretty fun. I’m not sure that it’s going to draw in anyone who wasn’t already a fan of this kind of thing, but that’s not the end of the world. If you like architecture and are looking for something to do to pass the time, you might want to stop by ol’ STATIONflow and see what direction it takes you.