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MIO: Memories in Orbit is outstanding. Douze Dixièmes have managed to nail the difficult balance between teaching players just enough while still stepping back and letting the player learn on their own in a world crafted to support them. The platforming is precise and challenging, but every obstacle is fairly designed, rewarding skill and perseverance. With a backdrop of gorgeous art, standout music and thoughtful world design, MIO: Memories in Orbit is a phenomenal example of just how good Metroidvanias can be.
Cassette Boy is a quaint and at times interesting in its nostalgic recreations and core mechanical hook, but I just wish it offered more substance beyond pastiche. It’s one thing to faithfully recreate the atmosphere, aesthetics and mechanics of bygone platforms and games, but it’s another to make a cohesive, interesting and thoughtfully designed game in its own right, and it feels like Cassette Boy got its headphone wires tangled at the first step. If you have a gut positive reaction looking at the trailers and screenshots, then by all means, revisit this little Walkman to your heart’s desire, but for anyone looking for slightly more substantial puzzle or adventure systems, it might be worth waiting till this particular boy gets a CD player.
Kejora is a short and simple game with an animated art style reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films and the books I read in school to help me learn different languages. Despite its efforts and how much I thoroughly enjoyed the introductory act and the larger themes, questions, and ideas, the limitations of its clunky gameplay, declining quality of its story, frequent bugs, and an immersion-breaking lack of sound effects left me less engaged, indifferent, and bored by the end of it all.
I can’t overstate enough that I imagine Angeline Era is what it would feel like for Nihon Falcom to return to Ys’ bumpslash combat. It is an unbelievable triumph, success and love letter to the RPGs of yesteryear. What’s within is a superb refinement on the niche ‘bumpslash’ combat, providing ample fine-tunings to make you feel well-equipped and versed in how to tackle its challenging arena gauntlets. With that comes a magical world filled with a uniquely non-linear story where you’re unearthing the path forward and discovering the potential of its universe, your very self. It is peak comfort food RPG goodness, and a must-play for the retro lover in you. Join me in the task to bump the world.
Dogpile is a casual and secretly addictive roguelike deckbuilder that draws you in with dogs and keeps you with its gameplay. You can easily spend hours figuring out the best strategies that help you achieve the highest scores. Some major flaws hold the game back as they significantly disrupt gameplay. Give the game a chance, and you can fall in love with it, but be aware that it’s not perfect.
Overcoming a lacklustre start to its story mode with some bugs and other minor issues, UNBEATABLE manages to become an incredibly memorable and poignant journey. Eloquently exploring themes of community and the blood, sweat and tears that come with creating art, it winds up being a stylish adventure with a lot of heart and a fantastic celebration of all things music and rhythm games. Playing it almost feels like you’re in the middle of a mosh pit, receiving blows and elbows to the face as you watch your favourite band. You’re getting knocked about, and your footing isn’t always stable and able to keep up with the noise, but damn if it isn’t some of the best and most passionate things worth living for.
Skate Story is a sensory feast of crystalline visuals, psychedelic sounds and rapturous movement. Its story may get in its own way a few too many times to be a completely propelling experience, but the audacity of its meditations on vulnerability and drive through both its premise and style nonetheless make Skate Story feel like a love letter to skateboarding as a craft. This is a very special skateboarding game that, in those moments when its style, mechanics and ideas all click into place, shines brighter than a diamond under moonlight.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is polished enough to function, familiar enough to feel safe, and dull enough to be skippable. There are a few nice surprises in here with fan-favourite returning maps and an interesting direction the co-op campaign goes into if you’re already invested, but little reason for anyone else to jump in.
ROUTINE is a frightful time on the lunar surface. While the narrative doesn’t entirely hit due to a lack of memorable characters, the sense of immersion and beautiful visuals carry the scares. ROUTINE is a game for horror aficionados who don’t mind basic gameplay and the occasional puzzle, even if some clues might be hidden slightly too well.
It’s so good to know that the long wait for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was worth it. Retro Studios knows what’s important to their flagship series and sticks to it, bringing us a classic Metroid adventure featuring fantastical alien worlds full of creatures to fight and upgrades to find. The combat is tight, the bosses are epic, and the Galactic Federation characters are only mildly annoying. It’s been a long time coming, but our favourite bounty hunter is back just how we remember her, and better than ever.
Octopath Traveler 0 is a fascinatingly unique RPG, taking the skeleton of a free-to-play mobile RPG and adding enough substance through a detailed town-building feature and deep party and skill customisation to make it the most mechanically engaging Octopath Traveler game yet. While the plot isn’t the most compelling, it was good enough for me to want to see where each arc was leading. Whether you’re an Octopath Traveler fan or a series newbie, Octopath Traveler 0 manages the balancing act of being a great jumping-on point while also providing enough fan service that just about any RPG fan will have a great time with it.
A love letter to all our favourite mystery series of the past, Detective Instinct: Farewell My Beloved is easy to get engrossed in. With expressive characters and a gorgeously rendered environment, fans of mystery games will love letting the tale unravel with intuitive ‘talk and search’ gameplay. It tackles tricky societal themes with moderate success, only falling short in the later chapters with some missing emotional stakes, but otherwise wraps up its bite-sized revelation with thoughtful grace.
Ultimately, Rue Valley is a frustrating experience, with too many loose ends and unresolved arcs at the end of the game. It’s unable to make the most of its excellent setup, faltering in the mid and late game stages as you’re forced between slow montages and extremely specific puzzle sequences. It’s a game with great writing and some truly fantastic ways of exploring depression and mental health, but it mechanically falls flat.
As an interactive archive of gaming experiences, Simogo Legacy Collection sets a new bar for quality. Presenting a variety of fun, cleverly designed games in a gorgeously polished package, it’s a delightful way to enjoy the development team’s earliest works and piece together the DNA of their more recent masterpieces. Year Walk and Device 6 alone are well worth the price of admission – a must-play for indie game lovers.
Winter Burrow is positively blanketed in charm and whimsy, but looking below the surface reveals survival gameplay at its most basic. Interesting characters and the aesthetic appeal can’t fully compensate for the repetitive gameplay and oddly lacking mechanics. Dressing up mice in little outfits is fun, but ultimately can’t save a game so torn between two core concepts.
Demonschool gets high marks for its inventive and tightly designed combat system, but what really sets it apart from the rest of the class is how assured and cohesive its overall design and presentation are. While its attempts at variety and RPG depth come up a little short, Demonschool is nonetheless a vivid, stylistic mesh of Argento and Persona that, alongside strong writing and a fun cast, was a great companion over a semester of time. Come for fun innovations in turn-based tactic design, but stay for the humour, aesthetics and characters.
Complex in some ways and relaxed in others, Anno 117: Pax Romana is a satisfying and creative citybuilder that is easy to spend hours on. I loved my time donning the toga of a Roman governor. While some might miss a deep combat system, I find very little to dislike about Anno 117: Pax Romana that couldn’t be fixed by switching to the PC version with the benefit of a keyboard and mouse. Maybe just wait until they’ve patched that AI art out.
Kirby Air Riders is a surprise contender for kart racer of the year. Excelling well beyond its cult predecessor, the pink blob’s latest adventure is filled with some excellent and surprisingly deep racing where your skill, expertise and management are what put you ahead of the pack. Its courses are gorgeous and intricate, City Trial is aptly chaotic, and the brand new Road Trip mode is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure filled with strategy and risk vs reward events. With a lot to see, tick off and do, along with accessibility options to refine your experience, Kirby Air Riders is crafted to be the kart racing event of the year. Eat its dust, Mario Kart World.
The Berlin Apartment is certainly a nice tribute to the history of the titular city. With gorgeous scenery evolving through time that tells the tales of its residents, the apartment is a delight to explore. However, a more intriguing main narrative or engaging gameplay mechanics would’ve been a massive boon for the game. A gorgeous art style and heartwarming sentimentality make The Berlin Apartment an enjoyable experience, albeit one that struggles to stand against the genre’s best.
Possessor(s) is hauntingly beautiful. It’s a stunning world that begs to be delved into with curiosity. Luca and Rhem’s dynamic is an absolute standout, with an excellent balance of snark and heart between the two. It’s almost to the game’s detriment, as every other NPC (besides the antagonist and one of the eye holders) falls flat in comparison. Movement feels great, as does combat, for the most part. Some unfair enemy design and stun issues drag the experience down, alongside moments where progression stalls, especially if you miss the unclear whip skill interaction. Despite this, though, Possessor(s) still manages to shine with genuine merit and contains a beautiful story well worth seeing through to the end.