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What could have been a fun and entertaining 2D slice of action instead falls into drab, unfairly punishing territory. The Skylia Prophecy could have done its homework, rather than crib the worst parts of older, more difficult platformers.
Brief and concise, but being no less affecting for its brevity, Before I Forget is heart-breaking and uplifting in equal measure. The framing of the story induces a genuine sympathy and understanding of what those who suffers such conditions go through, but successfully stops short of crossing the line into patronising schmaltz. I urge all of you to experience it for yourself and make sure you avoid spoilers for maximum effect. I cannot recommend this enough.
Flipping the dungeon raid on its head, Legend of Keepers is a roguelike-strategy game hybrid that’s worth your time. It might have its tongue firmly pressed to its cheek at times but underneath its irreverent exterior is a deep and engrossing tactical gem. This is once corporate ladder you might want to synergise with.
MotoGP 21 is undoubtedly the best looking game in the series. It also makes fantastic use of the DualSense controller on the PlayStation 5. For every step forward this game takes forward though, it feels like it takes a step back elsewhere. It’s still a very challenging but equally rewarding motorbike racing game and worthy of carrying the MotoGP name. The iterations without value adding innovations are starting to take their toll.
Lasting a few fun hours, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a simple but effective Zelda-like adventure in a colourful veggie-filled dystopia. However, this salad dodger’s gameplay is derivative of dozens of other better games, and it doesn’t really do anything to explore its novel concept.
On the surface Poison Control looks to be cut from the same cloth as Persona, brimming with cute characters, witty script and changing hearts. But under the poison mires you need to clear and the poor shooting, the gameplay lacks polish and chokes on repetition, and the story often descends into caricature and mishandles a sexual assault. Its style is really only skin deep.
If you’re a fan of Philip K. Dick’s seminal work, Silicon Dreams is absolutely worth your time. It’s not the most interactive game but it expertly explores some thought provoking themes that are synonymous with Blade Runner via an engrossing game play loop and well crafted dialogue. It’s only 4 hours long but you’ll want to play this game twice.
It may look deceptively cute, but El Hijo hides a level of stealth cunning to rival its peers in the genre. Not so much difficult-to-master as tempering your own patience, the reward for persevering is ultimately worth sticking it out.
If you happen to have a pre-school fan of Pocoyo in your home, this is one party you might want to RSVP too. Pocoyo Party expertly encapsulates the thematic feeling of the show to feel like a natural extension of it. It doesn’t contain a massive amount of content and a few of the mini-games aren’t as well thought out as the others but what is here is accessible and designed specifically for the fun of players aged 3-5.
A colourful, family friendly 2.5D platformer that makes no effort to hide its inspirations, Stitchy In Tooki Trouble delivers a few hours of well-crafted gaming. For older players, it’ll feel like a blast from the past that’s over just as quickly as it began. For younger players though, Stitchy will keep them engrossed for longer with forgiving systems, luscious worlds and slick platforming play.
When Demon Skin works, it works pretty well – it’s a nice-looking title with an interesting story and some combat mechanics that set it apart from other similar games. Unfortunately, its missteps are just too impactful on the overall experience to ignore. If you have the patience of a saint, you might find enough here to enjoy. If time is at a premium, and you don’t fancy the slog, I just can’t recommend it. A real shame.
Whilst it captivates with its beautiful aesthetic and whimsical score, TASOMACHI: Beyond the Twilight offers little else. Awkward platforming, directionless plot device and lack of any real substance leaves little to the imagination, let alone drive to continue.
Almost everything about Rain On Your Parade is geared towards giving the player a good time. A mischief simulator packed with wise cracks and pop culture references, it’s a lot of fun to play. Not all of the humour lands but enough of it does to make this an easy recommendation to anyone who liked Untitled Goose Game.
There are a number of technical issues which blight Forgotten Fields but there’s nothing here that couldn’t be addressed over time and with patches. The core of the game, featuring a very human and relatable story mirrored in a literary fantasy one, shines bright enough that those who can forgive a few glitches will find something unique and interesting here.
Vibrant, colourful, much deeper than it looks on the surface and doesn’t outstay its welcome, Say No! More is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. You’ll likely only play it once and it’s not a hugely interactive game, but if you like a game with a layered narrative, this will certainly deliver.
What The Dub?! takes a simple and enjoyable concept and builds a whole party game from it. There’s no deviation from the premise, for better and and for worse, and the game doesn’t leave a lot of breathing room between rounds. With a few creative jokers to play with though, this game gives you all the tools to have a very fun night in.
With a fun addictive gameplay loop, Astro Aqua Kitty is often a purr-fect sequel. It features expanded level design and enhancements over the original. If you liked the first, you’ll like this, but seven out of ten cats would say it’s missing anything to truly make it memorable, rather than just a quirky shmup.
Ultimately, while 8Doors: Arum’s Afterlife Adventure is a competent enough addition to the Metroidvania genre, with a decent story and acceptable gameplay, it doesn’t do enough with its potential to rub shoulders with the giants of the field. If you’re mad for these types of games, you can do much worse. However, if you’re only interested in something more unique, this probably isn’t interesting enough to do the job.
A few annoying glitches can’t spoil the ground-breaking, emotional journey of Before Your Eyes. An imaginative control method is used in ingenious ways to tell an occasionally uplifting but ultimately heart wrenching story. It’s only a few hours long but that’s more than enough time for this game to get under your skin and leave its mark.
A low effort and badly optimised affair, Danger Scavenger offers little in the genre of games it’s trying to tap into. Leave it on the scrap pile and dig up some gold elsewhere.