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If it interests you, South of the Circle is a game worth playing at least once. But while I can tell that some heart was put into it, it does feel like one of those artsy games trying to seem deep. Other than a few instances, South of the Circle made me feel empty, thinking of how it could have been meatier. It's also priced a bit high for what essentially is a movie with little gameplay.
Spidersaurs is a beautiful homage to a bygone era of over-the-top '90s cartoons and challenging platformers. The game does enough to make it feel distinct from similar games, adding in special abilities and beautiful art and voice acting. The game is a challenging yet short experience. If you are a fan of Contra, you won't be disappointed.
Endling: Extinction is Forever is a good game for survival fans and another reminder that humans suck. The story evokes a lot of emotion and tough choices. Overall this is a bitter-sweet game. The story is bitter, and the gameplay is sweet.
Train Valley is a relaxing simulation game that still makes you think. While you won't suck hours and hours into it in one sitting, it'll always be fun to return to.
Running on Magic is a runner platformer that puts players in a challenging but light-hearted race against the Grim Reaper himself. Its whimsical presentation and procedurally generated levels keep things interesting for its somewhat short lifespan, just don't expect it to be more than it claims to be.
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series does a great job of grouping two beloved but not well known games together in a package that works well on Nintendo Switch. The games have a charming visual style and a gameplay simplicity that I greatly appreciate. That said the game does have some unforgiving late game platforming that randomly pops up for no reason, some annoying voice over work, and a lackluster celebration for, you know, what's supposed to be a series milestone. There's enough fun to be had with Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series to recommend this game to anyone who enjoys 2D platformers or someone who's looking to rediscover two classic games deserving more attention. Hopefully, this will lead to Klonoa seeing either a new game or the Game Boy Advance games being remade.
Overall, The Hand of Merlin is a tactical game that plays well if you can look past the long loading times and user interface issues. While it initially put me off with its complicated menus, the decent visuals and engaging battles are fun once you get the hang of them. It's possibly a tad on the expensive side, but fans of turn-based strategies will likely find some subtle enjoyment here.
Time on Frog Island is a puzzle game in which you trade items with villagers to repair your ship and head home. With no real dialogue or map, finding these items is entirely up to your exploration skills. With a touching story and a cute art style, this game is definitely one you can sit down and enjoy for a few hours.
XEL has the potential to be a great game, but too many elements are left unpolished. Hopefully, a patch will be able to fix these issues, and then it may be a solid adventure game.
APICO might start off slow, but it becomes intriguing pretty quickly. It's a chilled experience that allows you to complete the game at your own pace. The crafting and building features are easy to pick up on and enjoy, allowing you to design the island to your liking. But what makes APICO stand out is the beekeeping aspect, breeding different bees to get desired traits and ultimately discovering new bees. The game sneaks a bit of science in the fun, and I'm all for it.
Overall, Long Live the Queen puts your strategic thinking to the test in a deceptively simple game with many layers. It’s fun and addictive with a great aesthetic, and is highly recommended for fans of point-and-click adventure games with a visual novel slant.
Mothmen 1966 manages to blend a creepy yet oh-so-fun tale into the visual novel formula, with a sprinkle of choose-your-own-adventure and puzzles to create a retro story that I had a really, really fun time with. Despite the clunky controls in the puzzle sections, Mothman 1966 has more than enough to entertain you in its bitesize narrative – I only wish there was more! Thankfully, LGB Game Studios has announced Varney Lake coming later this year. Sign me up!
While I can appreciate the wonderful gameplay and can truly be impressed by the fact the game was made by one person, it's simply not enough of an experience to justify a purchase. The game's nonsensical story is extremely hard to follow to the point where I just stopped caring. It might be impressive looking, but frequent glitches, enemy desponds, and broken checkpoints frustrate the experience. It's also over way too soon. Maybe if it goes on sale and more of the major glitches are fixed, then I would say try it out if you're interested in first-person shooters and action games. For everyone else, it might be best to leave Bright Memory Infinite alone.
I found Autonauts to be tedious at first, then really fun, then exhausting. It's a fun challenge, but in the end, I just wanted to build a robot to tell all the others what to do so I could sit down and read a book.
Krut: The Mythic Wings is a very pretty but brutally difficult action platformer based on Thai mythology. The game can be completed in under 10 hours, but the bulk of that time will be spent tediously grinding for better gear to advance past even the common enemies. For the hard-core gamers only.
With the lack of true musical and aesthetic variety, and either too easy or too challenging difficulty modes, LOUD feels like how my dad describes my music taste – just noise, with no substance. At the heart of LOUD is a fun arcade-like rhythm game that falls short in comparison to many other releases of the same genre. Big props for the Soccer Mommy shoutout, though
Overall, Card Shark is a unique title with an interesting animation style and equally interesting cheating concept; all set far from today's modern world. These elements combine to create a fun and engaging game that will leave a lasting impression.
Forklift Extreme is a short and sweet simulation puzzler. It'll keep you entertained for a while but won't give you much reason to return to it later.
Like many of the adventure puzzle games after which it's patterned, Lamplight City comes across as a bit lackluster in both story and presentation. Retro adventure gamers may enjoy working their way through it, but I wouldn't bank on it.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes carries enough of Three Houses to appeal to that game's fans even if they're not into the hack-and-slash of Musou games. Warriors fans should like it, too. If your Fire Emblem fandom reaches further back than the 3DS, however, you'll once again have to grin and bear all the fluff.