Noisy Pixel
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Abyss of the Sacrifice is a strange game because it’s got so many elements I absolutely adore. It’s a story-heavy experience with multiple protagonists and a unique setting but manages to constantly interrupt progression and not take advantage of its own systems. The puzzles are fun, but they were integrated only to hinder the overall pacing. You’ll probably have more fun if you want cute girls starring in a puzzle game instead of thinking about its other elements.
Fatal Fury: First Contact may not make you a fan of the NeoGeo Pocket fighters due to its lack of additional content, but there is a rather enjoyable fighter for those looking for a nostalgia trip. The animations and pixel designs are gorgeous, but I couldn’t help but want more to do.
Don’t let its presentation fool you, Omori is an adventure into some dark themes of loss, growing up, and fear of change. These are easily relatable elements uniquely projected to players through its expert story presentation and character writing. You feel yourself immersed in this world and with these people to the point where you want so bad to see their adventure through until the end. Luckily for us, this is one experience that you can’t easily grow out of.
Neoverse doesn’t have a reason why these women jump through portals to fight monsters, but who cares with a deckbuilding roguelike system this addictive. Its high difficulty will force you to stay on your toes, but there’s enough here to keep playing for hours. Still, if you can’t get past the lack of narrative, uninspired rewards, and design, then you might want to play something else.
Super Meat Boy Forever is clearly a lovingly designed sequel to the original hard as nails platformer. It takes on a new genre but still retains some familiar beats to keep players coming back for more. It might not be the sequel some fans were waiting for, but on its own, it’s an addictingly well-designed platformer for a modest price.
Cyberpunk 2077 is an expansive and entertaining journey, but one that feels like it comes with a ton of caveats. Exploring Night City and seeing all it offers can be a blast but is usually accompanied by some glitches along the way. Combat, while not revolutionary, is still very satisfying and never gets old. There is a great game here, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like it lives up to its full potential with its performance issues.
Pretty Princess Party is, at its core, an incredibly casual game. It’s a low-stakes and low-effort title that lets the player use their creative potential should they decide to get involved. If you’re a parent looking for a safe title for kids to play to explore their skills and reaction times, this is a solid pick. Otherwise, I don’t really know who’s going to play this game. On a more positive note, It’s got fewer bugs than Cyberpunk 2077.
Mercenaries Blaze: Dawn of the Twin Dragons is a great entry in this SRPG series that takes retro systems and adds modern elements to make it stand proudly next to the greats. Its story doesn’t stick, but it also attempts to tackle some significantly difficult topics. Thankfully, the battle systems and accessibility options are sound and make this game a joy to experience.
Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend is a great piece of retro RPG history made readily available for modern gamers. The added options add a layer of accessibility lacking in the series, but it still retains its minimalistic design and leaves progression in the player’s hands. Bottom line, this is an amazing collection for RPG fans, and you won’t be disappointed spending an afternoon pretending your switch is a Game Boy and going on an adventure.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light provides a look back at the humble beginnings of this SRPG series that continues to find new fans to this day. It shows its age in systems and visuals, but the added options to speed up the experience and save anywhere makes it accessible for non-seasoned retro gamers. This is a game that I’m glad made it to this generation, at least to preserve its official western release.
Tanuki Justice is an enjoyable and welcome retro release, one that recaptures the magic of ninja action games like Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden while adding some bullet hell shenanigans to provide a different type of challenge. There are some mechanical imperfections and omissions which do hamper the intended fast-paced ninja action. Still, the experience as a whole tends to shine through thanks to its vibrant presentation and strong level design.
Call of the Sea is a puzzle adventure that should be played by all fans of the genre. Its writing and environments are strikingly immersive as the player and Norah find themselves traveling deeper down this rabbit hole of mystery. There are moments of confusion in its design, but all the tools are present to explore this beautifully charming adventure; my only wish is that it was longer.
Immortals Fenyx Rising is an entertaining open-world title with tons of explorative depth, combative choice, and gorgeous visuals. The writing’s urgency to be as funny as possible is a bit of a turn-off, but beyond that, this is a standout adventure. While not a genre revolutionizer, Immortals Fenyx Rising plays to the genre’s strengths and can easily grant players dozens upon dozens of hours of great fun.
Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 is a brilliantly fun and addictive experience that all fans will quickly sink hours in. The game doesn’t deviate too much from its predecessor, but the campaign and Skill Battle mode provides hours of unique Puyo Puyo and Tetris enjoyment. Only hardcore fans may notice the updated systems, but this is still a very accessible competitive puzzle game for all fans of the genre.
Monster Sanctuary might not look like any monster-collecting RPG you’ve seen before, but its blend of genres creates a fun and exciting adventure for hours. The more you put into the game, the more you’ll find to love about it. I do wish there were easier ways to track navigation and some additional options to speed up the battles, but this is a genuinely fun game that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
Drawn to Life: Two Realms could have been a little more. The concept of making it into a puzzle platformer is interesting, but the challenges can go from a walk in the park to asking for advanced comprehension in an instant. Further, some small quality-of-life issues make progress feel slow and slightly cumbersome. Nonetheless, it can offer a good deal of fun for fans of the genre and people who have been dying to see the characters again.
Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack is a quirky and adorable game that I wasn’t expecting to come west. The adventure itself is almost complete nonsense, and the gameplay is more mindless than fun. Still, the large list of playable tracks and the fun cast of characters make it charming in the most obscure way. I wouldn’t say it’s for everyone, but it’s also a game about talking Taiko drums, so I don’t know what else I expect.
Haven took me by complete surprise with its relatable characters and emotional love story. Gliding from island to island is endlessly fun and is a great way to take in its bright art direction. While there are some performance issues, the overall story and exploration had me hooked from beginning to end. If you’re looking for a romantic and fantastic narrative Haven has a beautiful world ready to explore.
Per Aspera offers a surprisingly emotional narrative that explores the thought process of an evolving AI programmed to assist humans in colonizing Mars. The symbiotic gameloop of creating structures and growing your presence on the surface while hitting key milestones is cathartic. I was easily immersed in this experience, but only after some trial and error trying to understand how it all worked due to a limited tutorial.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos presents some exciting advancements in the VR visual novel space. It excels in creating a world with characters you care about across some emotional and action field story beats. I think a lot of feedback was brought into this project from the developer’s previous games, which have made it a stand-out adventure title and a must-play for VR owners.