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I’m trash at bullet hell games, but I love to try and I love to fail. Castle of Shikigami II makes me feel like a glorious disaster, and it’s so much fun in the process. It’s got the heart and excitement of something visually-novel adjacent, and it’s got the chaos and erratic heartbeat moments of a proper danmaku. Take some time and dive in, but be warned: it’s hell, and a controller is not going to be your friend. Get ready to ride the keyboard, cowboy, we gotta save Tokyo.
Dungeon Munchies has one really clever idea, which, sadly, doesn’t make up for how mundane the rest of its gameplay and presentation are. The novelty of cooking parts of your fallen enemies and acquiring their powers wears off quickly once you realize the rest of the game is still an ugly platformer with really simplistic combat.
On one hand, the story is interesting, at least interesting enough to have made me want to see it through to its conclusion. But on the other hand, it’s incredibly padded with unnecessary sections, rife with bugs and glitches, and has some distractingly bad lip syncing issues.
The first Hollow was so bad that there was just no way a sequel could be worse. I will say that, somehow, Hollow 2 surpassed my expectations, but only because they were pretty low to begin with. Granted, it is not entirely bad, and can be enjoyed by space horror aficcionados, those craving for a Dead Space-esque experience on-the-go. Just bear in mind that this game is still severely flawed, suffering from a bad framerate and janky combat sections.
More than just a fantastic killer app for the Oculus Quest 2, Resident Evil 4 VR is a killer app for virtual reality in general. Unlike Half-Life Alyx, this is a phenomenal shooter available on the cheapest, most readily available, and most comfortable VR system in the market. It features everything you have always loved from Resident Evil 4, but in a brand new perspective that turns what was already fun and immersive into something even more intense and memorable.
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon isn’t some haphazardly thrown-together spin-off. It’s the real deal, blending both puzzle and roguelite genres perfectly.
Loop Hero is a faithful release on Switch that plays well both with controller and with touch screen. The game is completely up to date, and for anyone who didn’t stick with it on PC, it’s a great game to play on-the-go and be able to stop or pause whenever needed. Even though the PC version game out nine months ago, I’m likely to have spent more time playing on Switch already, accessibility really does Loop Hero favours.
I went into Horatio Goes Snowboarding with an expectation on where the game would take me, but I never expected a cross between Papers, Please and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Philistines will only see a simple arcade game, but I’ve peeled back the curtain to witness the true message within, and it’s a glorious indictment of the world around us.
I like to walk away from games with something to take away, something to remember my playing by. Unreal Life has left me thoroughly disquieted, filled with ideas about what it means to connect, to be a part of someone’s life. How much our own illusions can protect us from what might seek to harm our livelihood, and how fragile a person can be, even if we feel the change is minor.
Enemies and locations do eventually get kind of repetitive, but the combat is what you come for and it’s what makes you stay. VR needs more games like this, ones you play because you just wanna have some harmless thoughtless fun.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun – Aiko’s Choice was a surprising release five years after the original’s debut, but I’m glad it exists. Whilst it doesn’t tread any new ground, it doesn’t need to, thanks to its excellent level design and gameplay that still fresh and rewarding.
Scarf is a good game, but not one that left an impression. I played it, enjoyed it while it lasted, but once I was done with it, all I could think about is that I would have enjoyed it a lot more three years ago, back when it was first announced, and back when 3D indie plaftormers were still a niche, a breath of fresh air in the market.
Does Halo Infinite reignite that Halo passion? For the most part, yes! I will admit that there is a lot of frustration regarding the decisions in multiplayer and a rather static open world. However, the core gameplay experiences keep Halo Infinite fresh and one of the best first person shooters in years. Halo is back!
Aspire: Ina’s Tale was an engaging and delightful experience. That being said, don’t expect it to be a necessarily happy romp, as most of it is quite melancholy. The ending might not have been the biggest surprise, but the journey was well worth it. The characters, tone, atmosphere, and music made Aspire: Ina’s Tale a memorable adventure.
Sadly, as expected, this PS5 version of Serious Sam was a disappointment. There is a really fun shooter buried underneath this pile of glitches, framerate issues and boring story-driven sections, but it’s nigh impossible to overlook all of those setbacks.
The Rush Duel format is a welcome change of pace after having to deal with all that Synchro / Pendulum / XYZ nonsense, but it turns the overall Yu-Gi-Oh metagame into something way more simplistic than the fun strategic madness it once was. Think about that before considering buying Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale, as this format will not please everyone.
It’s yet another bite-sized Recharged version of an Atari classic, but one that actually looks good enough, has an okay soundtrack, and feels like the perfect balance between retro and modern, all thanks to its mixture of vector graphics and a ton of neon particle effects.
Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain is some of the most fun you can have with plain edutainment, as it cleverly hides its educational aspects under a layer of competitiveness and a cute but friendly presentation. It’s a bit expensive, and I think its amount of minigames is a bit subpar, but it’s a very enjoyable experience if you tackle it for around 10 minutes a day.
If you’re looking for some childhood nostalgia, look no further than Monster Rancher 1 + 2 DX. If you have never played these games before, this will probably do absolutely nothing for you because, to be honest, these games are much more sluggish than they ever felt back around release. Welcome to the joys of the evolution of gaming. Some games can withstand the test of time, others can not. Monster Rancher is unfortunately a game that should be returned to solely for nostalgia’s sake.
As someone who played the Sam & Max games back when they first released, I am really loving diving back into these wacky adventures with all of the new quality of life upgrades. I highly recommend Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space Remastered for fans of the series. If you’ve never played them before, but like point-and-click adventures and have a twisted sense of humor, then I highly recommend them for you as well.