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D-Pad Studio's Owlboy is everything you love about the indie game industry: a pixel-art visual masterpiece that is supported by a solid story, gameplay and amazing soundtrack. It's available on Nintendo Switch and PC, and you should definitely get it, with no regrets.
Now available on the Nintendo Switch, Pac-Man Championship Edition 2+ won't win awards for its innovation, but it's a great way to be introduced to the series which is a pure and simple arcade game. The folks at Namco Bandai have managed the feat of not only rejuvenate one of the greatest classic games, but to add a little something fresh to it, and one hell of a fun soundtrack.
Painfully hurt by the lack of voice-chat capability on the console, Payday 2 is nevertheless a decent port of the game on the Nintendo Switch, with close to complete amount of DLCs from previous platform, and one hell of a fun experience playing with friends locally.
A cross between a history book and a hack-and-slash RPG, Kingdom Come: Deliverance sets out to make a medieval themed game that is as historically accurate as humanly possible. It commits to the RPG system by offering roleplaying and not just combat with bits of dialogue sprinkled in, and it really immerses you in its setting. It has some rough edges but these shouldn’t distract from what is fundamentally a great game experience.
Taking gameplay mechanics and foundation of its spiritual predecessor, Metal Gear Survive is an interesting mix of survival, resource management and action game. Its constant internet connection, lack of variety and sub-par technical performance might push away some players, but it's still a solid game that could get better if properly updated over its lifespan.
Attack of the Earthlings is terrific indie strategy title that pushes you to be careful and manage your turns and resources. It’s morbid and overly violent at times, but it’s surprisingly clever and charming at the same time, and you get the sense that it has a lot to say.
The magic of Secret of Mana seems to have faded during its transition to HD assets. Beyond a graphical upgrade that will certainly not please everyone, it is especially the old rhythm of the combat and lack of difficulty that make the adventure much more bland than the original. If you played the original, I would advise not to tarnish your memories with this so-called upgrade.
Dynasty Warriors 9 might have managed to reboot a franchise that has been criticized for so long to not take enough risks, but gets hurt by its unmatched technical upgrade and repetitive gameplay. It's still at the root of it a Musou like all games, regardless of its open world setting and added RPG mechanics, but its niche appeal, painful framerate drops and crude textures will probably only make the game stand out in its own genre.
A beautiful journey to reflect on life and the consequences of your adult choices, Old Man's Journey is a fabulously well drawn and animated interactive novel from Broken Rules studios. It might be too easy, and lacks on the gameplay front to justify the buy for some, but it's still a sweet, yet short-lived experience.
With a witty humor, great artistic direction, and award-worthy soundtrack, The Darkside Detective is a wonderful debut title from Spooky Doorway. While a short-lived experience due to its easy difficulty, it's a great start for this young studio, and I'm eager to see more.
Night in the Woods is the good kind of narrative game, full of rich and deep topic, topped with a simple gameplay and witty humour. A short experience, but a must have for those of you that never played it when launched back in early 2017.
Typoman: Revised is a fun title from German based studio Brainseed Factory, that blends simple platforming game mechanics and word-based riddles, topped by one hell of a soundtrack. It's a great grab for its price, but might be too difficult for non-native English speakers.
With its addictive gameplay, added content, Mercenary Kings Reloaded Edition is a generous run 'n gun title that pays homage to the Metal Slug franchise. But sadly, the game can become tedious and boring if played alone, due to having to go back to the same levels over and over again, which can be fixed if played with friends thanks to its 4-player coop mode.
Tesla vs Lovecraft is another classic from top-down shooter pros 10tons and it’s a must-have for any fan of the genre. Its absurd premise makes for some great lovecraftian horror action, and its balanced gameplay makes it one of the best indie shooters this year.
Space Dave! is a great little action title that lets you jump in for some quick and chaotic Space Invaders-esque mayhem. It might not have much depth beyond its running and gunning, but it definitely has a ton of fun in a byte-sized package.
The Longest Five Minutes has the allure of a JRPG, yet hiding an interesting and quick visual novel experience that might entertain some players. An interesting gaming experience, but not deep enough for JRPG fans.
The Seven Deadly Sins: Knights of Britannia is a disappointing game for fans of Nakaba Suzuki anime, and doesn't have enough to even appeal to fighting or action game fans.
Civilization VI: Rise and Fall is a satisfying expansion to Sid Meier's 4X turn-based game, adding enough core gameplay features, civilizations and leaders to renew the gaming experience. Don't expect a groundbreaking change, as this is not a sequel, and some of the old faults are still there like difficult UI or the strange AI when it comes to warfare decision and weird diplomatic moods, but it's still a notable expansion.
Under Night in-birth exe: late(st) has been a fun discovery for me, in a genre that is full of big impressive franchise names. If the fans of the franchise are rare or rather niche, the game is still a fun addition to the fighting game repertoire, even if it lacks its personality and is overall crude visually for this generation.
If you are a fan the Final Fantasy saga and fighting games, then Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is definitely for you. Sadly we can't recommend this game just one style of gamer, as the deep strategic RPG mechanics and 3v3 fighting format is not for everyone, but it's still a gameplay that is richer and deeper than it seems.