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Harvestella is far from being the most impressive and innovative mixture between a farming simulator and an action RPG, but it’s far from being outright bad or worthy of being ignored, either. It’s got some neat redeeming factors, namely its phenomenal soundtrack and relaxing farming vibes, while suffering from an uninspired combat system, and some really poor pacing problems.
Why fix what isn’t broken? For some reason, Cobra Kai 2 decided to go off in a whole new direction from the original game, which was on form and simply just needed a touch of polish. Instead, here we are with something that is so out of left field, and so horrifically broken, that playing it felt more like a chore than a hobby. Hopefully, if a third game ever comes to fruition somehow, I hope there is a long, hard look at what that game should be, and maybe just a touch of quality assurance.
The Callisto Protocol has all the right ingredients for what could have been a phenomenal action-horror experience. Sure, it was still a great time, but repetitive combat and enemy designs mixed with a lacklustre story leave for a somewhat underwhelming experience but one that was dripping in atmosphere and phenomenal visuals. It’s not a disappointment per se, but maybe wait for a discount before tackling this one.
BLACKTAIL is one of the biggest surprises of the year. It’s a game that pulled me into its mysterious and beautifully crafted world, filled with plenty of mysteries to discover. BLACKTAIL is a constantly engaging experience with only a few minor drawbacks.
Players ready for the second or third choices need little else to bring them into the experience. However, if you want to piecemeal Samurai Maiden, you’ll lose steam quickly and get distracted by long dialogues between fights and stages. Personally, I went right down the middle, and I think that’s the best course for everyone. It’s fun, it’s funny, and it keeps me coming back for more, and that’s all I want in a game.
Is there anything else that needs to be said? The The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was nearly perfect back in 2015, mostly hampered by bugs (which have already been fixed) and the hardware they were running on. The hardware issue is no more, with these next-gen versions letting you play these games the way they were intended to be experienced, with nearly no loading times, improved visuals, and a much sexier framerate. Is it worth revisiting it yet again? Absolutely! It might be a nearly 150 hour long RPG (counting the expansions and Gwent, of course), but it’s just way too good to be set aside.
I laud Floodland for being a shockingly niche game, aiming to please a very minute and specific subsection of gamers into survival, city builders, and strategy simulators all at once. It is flawed, being way too slow before it becomes really interesting, not to mention some performance issues, but it does indeed succeed at what it was developed for. It’s just a really hard sell for anyone besides this very specific niche of gamers, and not enough of a “city-builder” for those who are into the genre in particular.
Session: Skate Sim is one of the most rage inducing games I have ever played, and not because I didn’t want to try and learn to get better. It simply felt like overcomplication just for the sake of it. The inputs make sense, what they show on the trick sheet make sense, but it just doesn’t translate into the game.
It might be a bit frustrating in the beginning, given how punishing its first few hours are, but once you rack up some cash to afford new parts and cars altogether, the game becomes a blast. It may not have received the biggest marketing budget, and being borderline stealth released in December did it no favors, but do not miss this one out. It’s one hell of an entertaining racing experience.
I had such high hopes for Gungrave G.O.R.E. and it peaked with the intro cutscene, but it all fell apart from the moment the gameplay started. The worst part is I continued to play mostly in hopes it got better, but also because I just wanted to see more cutscenes. In the end through, Gungrave G.O.R.E. just didn’t feel like a game that respected the time of the people playing it, and didn’t respect the fans who returned from the PS2 days.
This shift back to the franchise’s original premise makes it a much more compelling game, albeit one that is steeped in a lot of the same issues. Despite being a huge improvement, it’s unfortunate Hello Neighbor 2 can’t find its footing, as it stumbles from one encounter to another without any real cohesion.
This feels like a game that really speaks to people who were in the sweet spot for certain points of the release window. If you played this on the DS as a younger person, it’s great to revisit it. If you really enjoy Front Mission titles and want to appreciate the first game, it’s perfect. If you’re an absolute turn-based, grid based, isometric combat beast and can’t wait for the Final Fantasy Tactics remake, this scratches some itches, though in a lesser way. It’s fun, it’s comprehensive, but it’s just not…great.
Bravery & Greed is a great new addition to the roguelite genre. It has a lot of pros, specifically being able to play co-op and attack each run in such a different way every time. The cons are the less than stellar distinctions between the different dungeons, and the less interesting soundtrack.
Beholgar is just… there. It’s not a terrible metroidvania, but it’s severely lacking in notable elements that make it positively stand out among a sea of other indie metroidvanias in the market. Not even the fact this is the closest to a Conan metroidvania we’ll probably ever get seemed to pique my interest at the end of the day. All in all, it’s not an offensively bad game, far from it, but it’s very unmemorable.
For those who were already used to expecting actual mechanical improvements in each WRC iteration, WRC Generations might be a bit disappointing, as it is, for the most part, more WRC 10. That is to say it’s more of the (still pretty good) same. It makes up for its lack of innovation with a sheer amount of tracks and cars at your disposal, in a “greatest hits” kind of way. Even though it’s slightly less polished than WRC 10, I still absolutely recommend checking WRC Generations out.
Soccer Story has an idea worth fleshing out but is let down by appalling stability. The gameplay loop has fun moments, but unintuitive buttons fight against that, keeping it from excelling. The football notion has me smitten, and I felt nostalgic for my childhood due to a specific quest with goal lines constructed by adjacent objects. The caveat here is that it desperately needs tweaks and reworked controls.
It’s a game that I genuinely believe to be one of the greatest JRPGs I’ve had the pleasure to play. If there was never another Xenoblade game (although let’s face it, there will be though), I would be perfectly satisficed with this momentous well-crafted conclusion.
Espire 2 is exactly what I want in a VR game. A stealth infiltration game that makes you feel like a badass. It has some fun sandbox-like environments that showcase some of the best VR gameplay I’ve had the pleasure of playing. However, it’s not perfect thanks to a lacklustre story, terrible AI, and muddy visuals. Despite those issues, it’s still very much worth your time.
I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by The Devil in Me, mainly because the past two Supermassive games were both so outstanding. The controls and visuals took a big step backward, with the controls in particular being extremely annoying. It feels like they rushed to get The Devil in Me out before it was fully ready, which is odd considering they already had two very successful titles released over the course of a year.
New Joe & Mac reminded me a lot of Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection. It has its audience of retro arcade platformer enthusiasts who will be drawn towards gorgeous visuals and what they call “challenging gameplay”, but at the end of the day, it’s a brutally unfair game filled to the brim with difficulty-increasing mechanics implemented in order to extend its duration. It has its charm, I won’t lie, especially with these gorgeous visuals, but this isn’t the easiest of recommendations.