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I thank the team at Broken Rules for delivering a well-crafted title with such attention to detail and applaud them for tackling topics that are not often highlighted in games. I look forward to seeing what they are working on next.
If you pick up one game through the first half of the year, this one has to be right up at the top of the list. Killer Frequency tries something I have never experienced, and hits every single ball out the park. I haven’t been this excited for gamers to get their hands on a game in a long time! Especially with this one being such a fun game to play through.
Overall Medieval Dynasty is a great title that has a few flaws that stop it from being fantastic. The lack of excitement at times and the slow progression will likely put off some gamers. If you can get past that then you are in for a much better time. As you go forward you do unlock much better items and buildings so stick with it.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp takes a strategic classic and modernises it – the fact that it is so close to the originals just confirms how wonderful they were in the first place.
Overall, Dungeon Drafters is a unique and engaging game combining deckbuilding and crawling. If you’re a fan of strategy games, deck-building games and/or rogue-lite games
Even though Bum Simulator is short for an open-world game, I really enjoyed my time with it. It doesn’t take itself seriously, which is refreshing in an industry where every game has to be serious.
For those who are huge fans of Front Mission titles or turn-based games. Then I think this is most definitely something you should add to your list. However, if you are on the fence then it might be worth waiting for a price drop.
With an abundance of tables available, each with their own mini-games and features there is a crazy amount of fun to be had. You could even co-op with the family and try to beat each other’s scores. As it is controller compatible it also makes this title extremely accessible.
While a very accomplished title in many ways, Teslagrad 2 ultimately doesn’t quite hit the heights of its predecessor. For me, this was down to not being grabbed by the story in the same way as the original and feeling very regular frustration with some of the platforming.
I really enjoyed playing through The Last Case of Benedict Fox. I fell in love with the overall visuals and world design. The story has kept me interested but does seem to fail when it comes to pacing. I feel as if I still haven’t discovered anything even though I have sunk just over ten hours in. As mentioned above, I enjoyed the boss fights but have only fought one. It’s a shame as the game shines in its design, and you sadly end up fighting the same types of mobs repeatedly.
Shardpunk was a passion project for Clockwork Pile and it’s always a great pleasure to see someone’s passion bloom into something wonderful.
There are around 5 hours of gameplay as you go through the various chapters. Some chapters take longer than others depending on whether you have been standing in the right places to gather clues! The timelines are also varied with some chapters playing a longer scene than others.
Jedi Survivor has been fun to play, I did find some enemies frustrating to fight, such as the Rancor, but it was a fun kind of frustration. The gameplay is simple and not too demanding for new players, and the story has kept me interested thus far. I wish the worlds would maybe have some side quests for players, as the worlds can seem quite empty. I did hear the PC port had a lot of issues, and luckily the PlayStation port runs pretty well. I’ve had one major crash and a few frame drops but nothing too game-breaking.
Sherlock Holmes The Awakened provides a great story especially if you are a fan of the H.P. Lovecraft style. It is not as polished as Chapter One however that is partly due to the difficulties the studio faced in trying times. This may be because of quite a few of the problem areas in the game, the complete lack of navigation is at the heart of the game. When you have a map that doesn’t actually show your location it isn’t anywhere nearly as useful aside from fast travel.
One Up Plus has come up with a little gem of a game, and despite its faults, it plays well, looks pretty and provides a challenge. Defend the Rook definitely ticks more than its fair share of boxes and I am really excited to see what is coming out of the studios next.
Oni: Road to be the Mightiest Oni was a pleasure to play overall. Its balance of narrative and action didn’t ever seem to weigh heavily on either side. The music choice, while feeling fresh and modern did however seem a little out of place.
Contraptions 2 is a fantastic little game for £5.99 that gets the old grey matter working. Once you have the basic physics understood then solutions to puzzles can be as easy or as difficult as you make them.
I feel like I’ve been quite harsh. Papertris certainly isn’t a bad game and it definitely achieves what it sets out to do, it’s just not very exciting.
Lunark is a brilliant throwback to a genre that has been lost to the ages. While tipping its hat to its inspirations it also manages to carve out an identity of its own.
For a game that is actually a personification of depression, OTXO is a really fun game to simply sit down and play. With fun game mechanics, blood splatters galore, and an interesting storyline, you can’t really ask for much more. Can you find the best build for your gameplay and rescue your lost love?