Gamer Escape
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The successful execution of these elements is almost enough to distract you from the game’s highly basic and low-impact gameplay for a while, but not entirely. Even with the introduction of more minigames and narrative situations, the game remains a highly consistent experience for better and worse. Still, if Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town looks like a game for you, chances are good you’ll have a great time settling in and immersing yourself in its simplistic charm.
Atlus clearly decided to mark their 35th anniversary with a bang. With Metaphor, they took one of their most fan-favorite formulas and transitioned it to an engaging, top-notch fantasy experience, with only a few, quite minor, stumbles along the way. JRPG fans the world over will delight in this well-crafted experience, even if a few of the most die-hard Persona fans might find issues with the battle system.
If it weren’t clear by this point, I did not care for Card-en-Ciel as an aggregate. Not because it’s a bad game, because the core game parts are actually pretty good… but every single part around that game makes me not want to bother engaging with it any further. I like the ideas on display but I also do not want to play this game. The annoying stuff makes it feel actively hostile and unappealing. It’s easier to just not.
Still, at the end of the day this is an approachable and enjoyable entry into a genre that doesn’t really get a lot of love these days. If they manage to optimize things enough to fix the performance issues you could probably consider it a 9 from me, but as it is I can only mostly recommend it.
What we have is still a beautiful experience with both heart-warming and -rending moments. A game that is just as solidly built as Nomada's previous work, with some new twists that show them sticking a few toes out of their comfort zone. But it's impossible to not compare it to Gris, a game that still rings in my mind to this day, and I don't think Neva quite reaches the same heights.
Celestia: Chain of Fate has a bland story that throws the most important elements of the genre out the window. It strips you of your feelings of connection and accomplishment with your love interest due to there not being dedicated routes, and even the base story does a poor job of standing on its own. The characters can be fun to get to know, as long as you keep your expectations of them low. Add on to that the visuals and music are nothing to write home about and it’s just one big chore. Honestly, there are so many titles out there for the same price tag that I’d suggest leaving this one for the Steam sale or something.
While not every pack is loaded with hit after hit, Naughty Pack brings enough solid content to players that some might excuse the fact that they’re leaning into reliable properties. It may not be an evolution of the concept, but it is a fun and goofy aside to the main games that will satisfy those looking for a little spice in their party game repritoire. My hope is that this will be a jumping off point for more spicy shenanigans in the future.
There’s an awful lot of content and mechanical ambition in Outlaws with its reputation system, and it’s fun enough to experience most of it, but it still isn’t able to prevent things from blending together once you’ve spent an extended amount of time with Kay and her crew.
Overall, Love, Ghostie is exactly what it looks like on the tin: An adorable little slice of life full of charming characters you’ll get to know over the course of your adventure. While it doesn’t take long at all to reach the credits, the real fun comes from seeing all the various combinations, which greatly increases the run time. It’s not especially deep or demanding, but not everything needs to be that way. It’s cozy, and sometimes that’s precisely what one needs.
Some of the difficulty is good, and some of it is bad. If you’re into games like Dark Souls and Elden Ring, you will probably have a good time with this. But if you’re new to the “Soulslike” genre and looking for a challenge, you might want to start with one of those games first, lest you be frustrated too easily by the unfortunately fairly numerous stumbles Deathbound takes. It leans more good than bad, with a creative party system and mostly satisfying combat, but ultimately, I think only existing fans of the genre are going to last long enough to complete it.
I don’t think Cat Quest III is going to blow anyone away, but I think it is entirely worthy to be in this franchise. Do you like fun action RPG games that focus on solid, simple game mechanics? Do you like cats? Do you enjoy exploring and finding things to do in the world, searching around for a bit, and then going through the game again? Then you’re going to get your money’s worth and more from Cat Quest III.
Volgarr the Viking II is straightforward, challenging, and addictive. Its levels and mechanics are sharply honed to allow players to perfect their usage of Volgarr’s limited toolkit while traversing stages that ask them to utilize it in a myriad of different ways. There’s more variety, more for the player to earn and discover, and perhaps most importantly, more options than ever for players to tailor the experience to a level of difficulty they’re more comfortable with.
Aero the Acro-Bat shows flashes of a good platformer, but the foundation laid by its original developers might be too big of an obstacle for some modern gamers. The door price may be low, the rest of the franchise is on the way, but this game isn’t going to please everyone. If you can stomach the rough edges it comes with, there is enjoyment to be had. Just don’t go in expecting it to meet the level of the more legendary platformers of the era.
If you’re looking for an engaging science fiction story about identity, mind, and personal values in a society that seems to value none of the above? I would recommend this one without reservation. Good work, Minds Beneath Us. You impressed me.
When I first went into the Riven remake, I really wasn't sure if I would enjoy it or not. I had only played Myst once back when I was ten or so, and I couldn't make heads or tales of it back then. Seeing fans of the game talk about its difficulty had me nervous as well. But once I found myself immersed in the world, everything just kind of...clicked. Riven isn't an obstuse puzzle box like I expected. It's a surprisingly fleshed-out world. One of seeming loneliness, one of mystery, one that wound up being absolutely enthralling. One that absolutely won't be for everyone, but if it manages to hook you in, good luck getting it to let go. Riven is a game that demands your full attention, occasionally to its detriment. If you aren't locked in and focused, it is easy to lose the trail the game is gently leading you on. But if you can give it your time and attention, it will take you on an unforgettable ride.
Dread Delusion offers an interesting universe and a gorgeous art style, but both are thoroughly wrapped up in a mechanically thin and ultimately unsatisfying RPG experience. The Oneiric Isles capture the spirit of the RPG worlds of the past, and there’s a wide breadth of content and characters to learn more about throughout them, but Dread Delusion’s decided lack of difficulty, one-note combat, and widespread balancing issues actively distract from its highly enjoyable world.
However, if you like to march through corridors, blow through your enemies, and maybe get a few one-liners in along the way? Phantom Fury is going to be a good time. It's a legacy throwback that has done its homework, and while it didn't delight me it also never made me want to throw the dang thing in the garbage. It's some good lightweight fun. Let's just hope that this time around the title avoids becoming the main character of controversy, hmm?
As it stands, ArcRunner is not a bad game. I don’t think it’s truly dire by any stretch of the imagination, even with the font being kind of awful. But it’s just not a very good game either. It’s fine. And just fine doesn’t get much more than a tepid recommendation. There are a lot of games in this genre, and a lot of those are more fun to play with
If you’re fan of snappy, unique puzzle gameplay and short time commitments, Children of the Sun is going to absolutely be your jam. By consistently introducing new gameplay twists and building on its complexity, it creates an addictive gameplay loop where each stage asks the player to do a new kind of problem-solving and utilize the tools they’ve unlocked in a different way. Your mileage may vary depending on how much you enjoy trial and error, and the game could certainly have kept the ball rolling for longer than it does, but Children of the Sun remains a highly unique experience that’s well worth your time.
At a $15 price tag, it feels like a light weekend thing, something you can drill through in a few nights of idle play and then pick up again whenever you have a hankering for something similar. That’s… what it wants to be. And so I have to kind of give it up for that. There are frustration points, sure, but if you like this style of platformer it simultaneously doesn’t feel like something that’s been done a dozen times before and is fun to play start to finish. Not every game manages that.