FingerGuns
HomepageFingerGuns's Reviews
Perhaps the cosiest of cosy games, Tiny Bookshop revels in its serenity, offering a gloriously tempered adventure that brings you into a story you'll want to live out yourself. If you know your books you'll be instantly hooked. For the rest of us, Tiny Bookshop is difficult to put down once you begin, much like the novels you'll be selling in this delightful game.
Mafia: The Old Country strips back much of what weighed Hanger 13's previous entry down. While the story and gameplay rely solely on solid and well-trodden tropes in a much more linear design, the intense focus on great characters and a gorgeous Sicilian setting make this a leaner experience that's worth the lower price of admission. This Mafioso family has a long way to go to re-establish its place at the head of the table, but the beginnings of its criminal enterprise are promising.
A bitesize RPG with some incredibly gorgeous pixel art, Artis Impact has a quirkiness and charm that will either win you over, or frustrate you beyond belief, but it’s odd systems and largely unrealised combat system will exasperate regardless.
Dripping in Lovecraftian and Papers, Please! inspiration, Static Dread: The Lighthouse forgoes the generic focus on monster shooting, instead drawing you in and challenging your sense of reality with difficult moral decisions, stress-inducing gameplay and an unsettling, ever-deteriorating environment. Few games capture the essence of H.P Lovecraft's particular blend of madness from unknowable knowledge, but this Old Great One does.
Time Flies may be on the short side, but its quirky and funny list of things to do and surprising amount of attention to immersion transforms a quick jaunt into an impactful life lesson. Life's too short to worry about the small stuff, be a fly for a couple of hours.
Spy Drops desperately wants to be an authentic homage to the original Metal Gear Solid, but fails in almost every aspect. Riddled with issues, from the camera, to the AI, to the level-breaking glitches, there's simply little redeeming quality to this low-effort copy. Just do another re-run with Solid Snake himself and save yourself the pain of this.
Eriksholm the place is a beautiful creation, full of detail and complexity. It’s a shame that Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream lacks the same kind of complexity. With only a handful of stealth tools or route options, it feels like a guided tour of the city rather than a stealth adventure where anything could happen.
Another drop in the Soulslike well, WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers is if anything a spirited and colourful take on precedings. But lush visuals and a smattering of some tweaked mechanics don't really do much to differentiate from practically any other offering in the difficult action-adventure genre. One for the devout, perhaps, but nothing new to those that are getting Souls fatigue.
The Edge of Fate is a desperately disappointing follow up to The Final Shape, offering little to nothing of value to the overall Destiny 2 experience. A forgettable story, lifeless new locations and joyless mechanic additions, this is a sad indictment on Bungie's current place in the industry.
Maestro passes the baton to you to be a conductor with outstanding results. The core gameplay is fine-tuned and authentic, with a soundtrack that's one for the ages - and not because it's a lot of old songs. However, with a lack of incentive to outperform yourself or peers, and no good way to play the game outside of going between songs for 2 hours, Maestro is slightly lacking in being an essential VR game.
Birdigo captures that feeling we all felt when we played Balatro for the first time, but gives it a Wordle/Scrabble-esque remix with a narrative about migrating birds. On paper, it probably shouldn't work but John August and Corey Martin have created a game that is quite frankly unputdownable. A glorious puzzler with roguelike mechanics, Birdigo's talons will hook you in and not let go.
Few games can compare to the unsparing and ferocious intensity that permeates through every part of Ready or Not's gameplay or presentation. The more controversial themes and imagery will likely be as stomach churning for some as the often times inconsistent AI and multiplayer experiences. Yet I still found myself returning to duty to bring order to the chaos. Ready or Not is a tough and unforgiving game, but one that's simultaneously rewarding and stressfully evoking.
Powerhoof deliver one of the most engaging and compelling tales you're likely to experience this year. Joining Mick on his journey filled with emotional stakes, peril and thematic intrigue is a pleasure, and one I'd encourage you to embark on for yourself. Aside from the occasional technical issue, The Drifter is a wonderfully crafted noir point-and-click adventure from start to finish.
Like any creative 4-chord song, Fretless - The Wrath of Riffson makes good on the promise of a turn-based RPG that melds a great tune with a stylish bassline. Also much like a 4-chord song, it quickly becomes easy to predict and master, lacking that extra depth to elevate it beyond its accessible design. Even so, it's hard not to play it without a smile on your face and an appreciation for its colourful visuals.
From a solo player's perspective, Phantom Squad is a frustrating and unbalanced trial of patience that doesn't pay off enough to make it worth it. Rope in a couple of friends to squad up though, and the game completely transforms into an intense, intricately designed and frantic sandbox to have a blast in. Just make sure you don't go it alone, this unit was meant for a team, not an individual.
Your Personal Chill Apartment works best as a tool in your daily life, rather than a game in the traditional sense. Reward yourself with new products for your apartment as you go through your daily life and create the quiet hub of your dreams. With lovely visuals and ambient music it's a relaxing, enjoyable experience, but the lack of depth or replayability will mean this is a one or two hour effort that offers little outside its core mechanic.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skate 3 + 4 uses the same gameplay formula as its predecessor, making it almost as fun. 4's redesign feels intuitive, the soundtrack befits the new coat of paint and the core gameplay is heaps of fun. With that said, character creation and career progression is hollow and unfulfilling, with nothing "new" to get stuck into outside of its 19 levels.
At its heart, Front Mission 3 Remake is a mostly-faithful adaptation of the 2000's original. It retains the same tactical mech action, with some smoother transitions and polished graphics. But with the looming accusation of AI asset usage, and not much else being done to draw in newcomers, it may be a slightly harder sell than expected.
Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition launches a decades old crusade to reclaim the glory of 2002 and by all the knights and eunuchs does it succeed. An incredulous bounty of new content, alongside gloriously enhanced visuals and quality of life improvements make this an almost impenetrable castle. Storming the walls and setting kingdoms aflame has always been spectacular, but Firefly Studios have set a new gold standard for their own series, and for remasters everywhere.
TRON: Catalyst presents a myriad of ideas within its gameplay, but never utilises each facet astoundingly, leaving the game to feel lacking. Whilst nothing is bad about Catalyst, there isn't a moment that felt inspired and exceeded the bar of quality I set myself after the opening hours. If you're a Tron fan or new to the genres Catalyst apes, there maybe something for you here, but the code runs thin on this one.