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Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs is full of interesting nuggets of narrative revelations for fans of the long-running Utawarerumono visual novel series, but its pacing problems and lacking quality make it much less suitable for newcomers than it should be.
Baldurs Gate 3 is an exquisite example of a role-playing game, and an incredible recreation of the Dungeons & Dragons experience. It is, in a word, unmissable.
A mixed bag but worth buying just for Metal Black, New Zealand Story and Liquids Kids. It's a shame the rest of the compilation has been padded out with obscure titles such as Dinorex and Ben Bero Beh when TAITO have so many classic titles such as Operation Wold, Chase HQ and Mr Do! Perhaps we'll see them in Taito Milestones 3.
Sea of Stars has clearly been made by people with a deep and abiding love of JRPGs. That level of passion is hard to mimic, and the result is a heavily playable game with morish visuals, a cracking story and deeply considered level design. However, while it is very good, it isn't quite perfect. Combat needed to be deeper (or at least escapable) and while the dynamism was a great touch, it wasn't enough to carry it all the way through to the end.
The long-awaited return of FromSoftware's mech-filled series, Armored Core 6 delivers on a lot of what fans will have been hoping and dreaming of. Building and customising mechs is engaging, missions are action-packed and it looks gorgeous, but it's undercut by swings in difficulty for boss fights and an all-too-familiar story.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew is a challenging tactical game with a fun story and characterful crew. The varied missions do a good job of giving you plenty of options for how to tackle them, leaning into different crew abilities. There's a few rough edges, but Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew's treasure hunt is well worth partaking in.
Immortals of Aveum is the epitome of a good game. The characters are well-acted and the world design is fantastic. The story though feels too safe and there's no real wow moment. While the combat is fun too, you'll have seen the majority of enemy types quite early on, and combat does become repetitive.
Fort Solis aims for big-budget horror but fails to deliver on all fronts. I don't mind short games in the slightest, in fact, I welcome them, but Fort Solis felt like four hours of my life I will not get back. Unless you have money to throw away, you should probably give this one a miss.
Madden 24 takes some big steps forwards in terms of the underpinning technology, and it continues to play a good game of American football. For all those steps taken technically, it feels as those the rest of the game has stayed firmly in place, and there are far too many bugs to hinder the experience at launch.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time back with The Penitent One and would heartily recommend it both to fans of the original and newcomers alike. There are enough changes to make it feel like a new title whilst still having continuity in setting and aesthetic.
Affogato manages to create a rich and flavorful blend of visual novel, tower defense, and social RPG. It may be lacking in side-activities, but what's there is special, and definitely worth digging into if you're looking for something new.
With a swish of the sword and a bit of improvisation, En Garde! is a fantastically fun action-packed adventure with a distinctive flair. Sure, it's a little bit short, but that doesn't make it any less sweet.
Personally, I found the 'grim' nature of Gord just too nasty, the developers often shocking for the sake of it, rather than doing so to support the story or gameplay. Still, there's a lot to admire about Covenant's creation, with the game offering a compelling and tense survival RTS experience. Only really worth picking up on PC, mind.
It's a clichéd line but that doesn't stop it from being true: if you loved Moving Out then you'll love Moving Out 2. It's a whole lot more of the same chaotic multiplayer action you've come to expect. Sadly, when you get your mates around to play, you'll likely just focus on the early levels, as the game once again loses its way and gets far too hard in the latter stages. A focus on straight-up non-stop silly fun would be much appreciated if there's a Moving Out 3.
Venba is a small game with big heart that really captures a lot of the experiences that immigrants and their children go through. It tells a simple story, but layers it in complex and engaging themes. The cooking sections could have been a bit more involved, but, but Venba is a game with a great look, great soundtrack, and provides an experience that people should play to understand a world and perspective that is unfamiliar to them.
Legend Bowl is a fantastic retro-infused football game with a host of fan-friendly ideas that truly shows the passion of its one-man development team.
When I first heard of Stray Gods, I was intrigued. A video game musical might not totally work, but at least it would be interesting to play, I thought. How wrong I was. The concept of Stray Gods is the most interesting thing about it, but the execution is boring to the extreme. If you want a fun musical video game experience, you're better off watching Singing in the Rain whilst repeatedly changing the volume on the remote. That way you'll have better songs, a more enjoyable story, more interactivity, and a greater sense of player control than Stray Gods provides.
Atlas Fallen is at its best when you're fighting huge enemies with your carefully constructed (by trial and error) build, but when you're repeatedly fighting the same enemies, when the story falls flat, and the environments blend into one, it starts to get dull and frustrating quickly.
There's a lot to love with FUGA 2, and the game is incredibly rewarding if you commit to the experience. It's an improvement in every possible way on the original and provides an impactful and heart wrenching story with engaging gameplay throughout. If you played and loved the original game, this is an absolutely essential purchase, and even if you didn't, this is turn-based strategy done very right. Just don't you dare let Boron get loaded into the Soul Cannon, you monster.
Thronefall may be a minimalist strategy title, but it is big in heart and has a lot of depth to it. It is a game that is simple to play, but will challenge you at every turn. It is incredibly tough to put Thronefall down as it has that one more turn feel down to a tee. The challenge will be offputting for some, and there is a possible bug of enemies running around a wall, but other than that Thronefall is worth your time.