GamePitt's Reviews
The fact that Rage in Peace is Rolling Glory Jam’s first game they have created is truly unbelievable. You can literally feel the passion that every member of the team has for the game as you play this wonderful indie title. Sure, it has its moments, which feel cheap, when the difficulty gets to a point where you have to either focus really hard to conquer that section or just walk away and take a break. However, wanting to know how the story concludes is what pushed me through those tough parts, and I am glad it did. I plan on keeping an eye on this studio in the future!
Transpose is an innovative and unique puzzle game which is further enhanced through the magic of Virtual Reality. Take control of many parallel versions of yourself as you operate them all individually, yet at the same time, in one of the most mentally-challenging and interesting VR games of the year. The puzzles begin nice and easy but soon become rather tricky and advanced. There's a lot of trial and error involved and I wouldn't recommend those with a short attention span or no patience play the game, as it will only frustrate you. However, those out there who love a good mind-bender in which you have to plan multiple moves in advance so you can create an army of robots working together to create a single solution – you're in luck!
The Shapeshifting Detective is yet another really fun and innovative whodunit from D'Avekki Studios. At a glance, you may think it looks like a simplified FMV adventure based on their previous game due to the fewer number of questions you can ask and the removal of the manual questioning mechanic. However, the removal of that has allowed the developers to create many more branches and outcomes as they know the choices you can make and plan accordingly. My advice, play the game through to the end about three or four times, make different choices, refuse to talk about certain things, and be a complete nob to everyone instead of being nice, you'll end up with a few new and often hilarious dialogues.
Castlevania Requiem: Symphony of the Night & Rondo of Blood will have some appeal with nostalgic fans wanting to replay the game on the PlayStation 4. The lack of new features may disappoint them though. Those who are new to Castlevania, or with little interest in the series, won’t gain the disappointment I felt in regards to the voices – yet they also may not thoroughly enjoy the old-school mechanics when there are much better modern games out there which look and play much better. It’s still a decent addition to the PS4 library but will leave old fans wishing that more love and attention was put into the remaster.
Hello Neighbor is a rather interesting puzzle game with stealth and ‘horror’ mechanics present. This is another game where I’m on the fence when it comes to recommending it. It looks okay but still feels like an Early Access title with its controls and overall presentation. However, I did get enjoyment out of figuring out what I needed to do and pissing off the neighbour by throwing things at his face over, and over again. I think the game may be a bit mild for hardcore fans of the survival horror genre, but also a bit too reliant on stealth and running away for the casual gamer.
8-Bit Armies is a fast-paced and simple looking version of more advanced and realistic RTS games. Despite it looking rather cute and innocent, there's a lot of pixel mayhem to be had in this rather mechanically deep strategy game. Sure, you'll be whizzing through the missions quite fast at around 10-15 minutes each, but you'll be returning to them once you've unlocked more units so you can unlock more of the elusive stars. The ability to perform Cross-Play with the other two games in the franchise (when they come out) is a great concept, I just wish more people were playing it online
LEGO DC Super-Villains is more of the same yet more polished and all-around better in every way. From it’s iconic visuals and gameplay to the inclusion of new aspects such as creating a character to appear in the cutscenes, it shows that the developers have really taken their time with this game and made it with a lot of care and passion. The voice acting is among the best I’ve heard – this lends itself to the fact that the majority of the voice actors are reprising their roles from the various DC animations such as Mark Hamill.
If you don’t buy Death Mark then expect to wake up tomorrow with no memory and a scar on your arm. This visual novel is among the best I’ve played this generation with its dark themes, horrific imagery, disturbing sound effects and overall feeling of uneasiness. The whole experience, from start to end, will last you around 20-25 hours if you read all the dialogue options and play it blind from beginning to end. Add about 3-4 hours on top of that if you unlock the bonus chapter and even more if you have to replay the game to unlock the other ending to each chapter. Death Mark is an adventure visual novel so expect puzzles, riddles, exploration and traps.
Word Sudoku By POWGI is yet another great puzzle game from Lightwood Games which will have you scratching your head. Not only do you get 240 puzzles which can be played as standard numerical Sudoku puzzles, but you can also play them all as 9-letter words instead. Each puzzle should take you around 10-20 minutes to complete, so you’re looking at many, many hours of entertainment for one low price. As you get the same puzzles on the PS Vita for free as part of the Cross-buy program, why not do all 240 puzzles as words on your PS4 and numbers on the Vita – that way it feels like you have two completely different games (this is what I’ll be doing).
>observer_ is a fantastic cyberpunk horror game with a hint of stealth and mind-fucking. The story is all about finding out the truth, leading spontaneous investigations, and trying to lift the lockdown on the building. However, this will require you to hack into the memories and nightmares of dead bodies as well as explore the run-down apartment building as you scourer for clues and evidence. Not everything is as it seems, some things will disturb you, you’ll get hit with moral choices, and you will get creeped out.
Yomawari: The Long Night Collection is a survival horror game that is unique because of its gorgeous, and cute, art style. It looks so innocent, but it packs the punch of a deep, depressing story mixed in with sheer horror as you never know when an enemy is going to jump out at you. Both stories follow a very similar plot with the same mechanics and emphasis on stealth - at times it feels like Yomawari 1 and 1.5 rather than 2. You'll also find yourself becoming more and more frustrated as you continue to die over and over again.
The Jackbox Party Pack 5 never fails to entertain when it comes time to gather up friends for a fun evening of video games. From the tried-and-tested return of You Don’t Know Jack, to the new and wacky party games, every iteration in the franchise is a joy to put on when you have a few mates around and fancy a great time. There are plenty of moments where you’ll be caught off guard with how silly it can be and how stupid it makes you behave. Definitely a must-have for anyone that likes party style games!
Project Highrise: Architect’s Edition is one of the best resource management simulation games I’ve played. The 29 Scenarios will keep you busy for hours upon hours as you work your way through them and aim to obtain all three medals in each case, but the sandbox mode is where you’ll spend the majority of your time. You’ll easily lose an undetermined amount of time as you strive to build the best tower you can, based on the knowledge of all your previous failures. Every playthrough will be a new adventure for you, with the same challenges yet an infinite way to go around completing them.
Nickelodeon Kart Racers is a great addition to the family-friendly kart racing genre. Visually, it’s very colourful, the characters are all well represented and there is a lot going on but not too much that it becomes a distraction. While lacking an online mode, the fact that it has a local 2-4 player mode is amazing and can be played by families and friends as they see who can emerge the victor.
Neverout is a well thought out and tricky puzzle game which is playable in both VR and Flat mode. With a similar concept to Cube, the film from 1997, each new ‘room’ you fall into offers a new challenge which you must overcome in order to progress further and get out of this prison! It offers a decent challenge and some of the puzzles are rather cryptic which may take you a while to work out the solutions for. Puzzle fans will love the challenge and casuals will enjoy the experience, especially if you don your VR headset and play it fully immersed within the 6×6 grid-based environments. Either way, Neverout is certainly one to pick up if you like your puzzles!
The Uncertain: Episode 1 – The Last Quiet Day shares a post-apocalyptic future most of us would like to see stay fiction. Our savior, RT-217NP, is a glimmer of hope in a dark world for humanity. His curiosity and desire for a more meaningful purpose will lead him on an action-packed journey filled with unique techy puzzles, a gang of misfit robots and high-speed hovercar chases. Envelop yourself in this latest addition to every sci-fi geek’s collection.
911 Operator is an interesting game which truly shows what it is like to be the person at the end of the phone who has to direct emergency crews around cities. This won’t make you envy the job but hopefully, give empathy. The game suffers from the repetitive nature of the missions, but I don’t think anyone is an expecting fast high-octane action. For the price, I imagine fans of strategy and simulation games will get the most out of this title!
FullBlast is a cool vertical shooter which offers a decent amount of content if you opt to play all the levels. The 3D environments make for an interesting battlefield, especially when the screen begins to rotate and you see all the buildings below spin around as you’re taking out the alien invasion. The music is almost a Rock compilation and fits the mood perfectly, it really gets you pumped for showing these E.T.s who’s boss! Just like other Ratalaika Games titles, I would advise you to carry on playing after the 30 minute platinum as the game only gets better as you progress through all 12 levels.
Jack n’ Jill DX is a super addictive single-button game in which you can’t stop until you find your partner. Spread over 140 levels and seven different ‘worlds’, if you’re aiming to complete the entire game and get all the in-game trophies then expect to be playing for a decent amount of time. If you’re only here for the PSN trophies, you’ll have the platinum within 25 minutes and the game is fully Cross-buy supported with the PS4 and PS Vita. Utilising the in-game coins, you can dress up your character and even change the screen tint from Gameboy green to Pokemon red/blue tints – which all look great.
Heavy Fire: Red Shadow is a very simple arcade shooter which anyone can pick up and play. The whole campaign can be completed in one sitting, as you work your way through four various locations to unlock new abilities which make you god-like. The endless mode will provide a bit of extra enjoyment as you compete for the top spot on the leaderboards, whilst utilising all of your previously acquired abilities. Unfortunately, After putting in about 4-5 hours into the game, I don’t see myself coming back to the game that often. I felt I’ve seen everything there is to see and reached the peak of what it has to offer.