Worth Playing
HomepageGhostbusters: The Video Game Remastered is a double-edged sword. It does a lot of things right with the story and atmosphere, but the gameplay is mediocre to good, with many flaws around the companion AI, which often ruins the experience. Since the fun multiplayer component of the original release isn't included yet, this game is only for serious fans of the movie or the original game.
Felix the Reaper is a fun puzzler that nails some of the most important aspects: difficulty, level design, and style. While the environments may not be as varied and the controls not as well executed, the title works well and should be on the radar of anyone who's fond of solving puzzles as a dancing Grim Reaper.
Ultimately, Siege of Centauri is fine. Its mechanics are solid enough, it does everything else decently on-screen, and the pyrotechnics are spectacular to see. It just doesn't feel like anything special, from the abilities to the story to the units to the towers. It's the kind of game that you wouldn't mind playing but won't rush out to buy immediately, making this difficult to recommend unless you devour every game in the tower defense genre.
They Are Billions boasts strong central ideas about pulling yourself up by your bootstraps to industrialize in the face of grave danger. This is done incredibly well, from the aesthetics to the music and especially the upgrade trees. All of these work in tandem so well that it's cool to see, but unfortunately, the follow-through for the console version isn't done well enough. This on its own is pretty damning, and coupled with the strange aesthetics makes the game considerably less enjoyable. The PC version may run better with the controls, interface and menus.
Super Neptunia RPG negates the positives that it brings about. The fresh perspective that comes from being a classic 2D RPG with a simple battle system clashes with the unintuitive and unresponsive platforming. The presentation is beautiful, but the performance is hampered when compared to its predecessors. The ability to explore also seems nice until you realize that the streamlined side-quest system has been replaced with the more time-consuming method of visiting each quest-giver individually. Fans of the series may still enjoy it.
There's a good chance that the game will improve in the next few months or a year, and at that point, players can easily jump into the game and enjoy the hell out of it. At launch, however, Breakpoint makes sense if you want to get into a looter shooter that isn't full of fantastical weaponry or you aren't playing The Division 2 anymore.
As a fan of the movies and a fan of creative approaches to games, I've had my eye on John Wick Hex since the day it was announced. Its bizarre approach works satisfyingly well in the context of how John Wick would think in the same situations: risk versus reward, careful observation and planning, plays and counter-plays. It is a simple game to understand yet rewarding to attempt to master. It also makes a compelling case of how great movie-inspired games can be if developers really think outside of the box.
Alas, Concrete Genie is far less than the sum of its parts. A strong early game is lost by a bizarre late-game twist that undoes a lot of the charm. If it had just focused on the genies or had been about combat from the start, Concrete Genie would be a much more cohesive experience. Instead, the game has a lot of good moments but ends on a particularly dissatisfying note. There's still a lot to enjoy, but the flaws stand out as brightly as the strengths.
Indivisible was incredibly close to being the best indie RPG I've ever played.
After all is said and done, Toki is a labor of love taken on by Microids to refresh and rebrand a game that's been largely forgotten.