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To anyone looking for a starting point to the frankly intimidating saga that The Legend of Heroes might seem at first, Trails from Zero is as entry level as it can be. And it also provides even more of the rich backstory that those already into series are bound to eat up.
Despite an underwhelming story, this is a solid, accessible, and compelling take on the Soulslike formula.
It’s worth seeing for the unique setting, but its brevity, lack of character and worldbuilding leave The Plague Doctor of Wippra feeling rather underbaked.
If this happened to be a budget game with an original take of its own, it would merely be a decent buy for on and off throwaway play, but as part of a very iconic series such as Valkyrie Profile, it’s a baffling proposition. Square Enix themselves have done a commendable job taking similarly traditional genre games such as Final Fantasy VII, essentially turning it into an action RPG with its brilliant remake. That only makes for an even bigger disappointment seeing how mediocre Valkyrie Elysium turned out in the end. It’s not a terrible game by any means, but it’s far from being what could be considered a worthwhile follow-up to the classic JRPGs that came before it.
Dome Keeper is a labour of love for developer Bippinbits, a two-person team based in Dresden who are also a couple. According to publisher Raw Fury, it was in profit from day one and it is easy to see why – this is a simple game, but one made to a high standard. Its pixel art, wealth of upgrades, and clever sound design are all praiseworthy. Those looking for a deeper roguelike experience should look elsewhere, but ironically Dome Keeper is ideal for players in the hunt for something a bit more surface-level.
Overall, it’s quite obvious that both of the Turrican Anthology collections should have just been one product to begin with. The bonus features such as the jukebox, re-recorded soundtracks by Huelsback, art museum that encompass a generous amount of flyers and covers, and extra emulation options, as well as the special Score Attack Mode – a new leaderboard feature that’s exclusive to both Anthologies – are identical between the two. Neither volume has a whole lot of content to warrant splitting them up into separate downloads. Then again, it’s undeniable that what they encompass, some of the best titles in gaming’s most traditional run ‘n gun shooter franchises, makes Turrican Anthology very much worth picking up regardless.
If you’re looking for a thoughtful horror story with plenty of worldbuilding, The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow has it in spades.
Sunday Gold represents a bold effort to teach the old dog of point-and-click adventure games some new tricks. While there are some flaws and frustrations, BKOM Studios’ experiment has been broadly successful and players who would never normally touch an adventure game may well enjoy this one. In any case, Frank, Sally, and Gavin are likeable new characters who hopefully will get to humble the rich and powerful once again.
If you thought Shovel Knight was done and dusted, you’ll find that there’s still plenty of cooky ideas left to explore that involve digging and treasure hunting. Shovel Knight Dig is a simple twist on the formula to be sure, but it’s one that’s done incredibly well and is a whole lot of fun to play. I can’t wait to see what’s in store next!
Ultimately though, No Place for Bravery is so heavily indebted to its influences that it never carves out a real identity of its own. A game that should lean heavily on its combat, and on telling its story, instead becomes bogged down with frustrating traps and repeatedly going over the same ground. The reliance on opaque systems and too many written lore extracts also detracts from the accomplished visuals and sound. In a market increasingly crowded with games drawing from the same well, it isn’t clear that there is a place for No Place for Bravery.
Return to Monkey Island is more Monkey Island, and if you’ve been missing out on that for years, this is an excellent return to form.
Wayward Strand is certainly worth a playthrough or two to see the various stories and conversations you missed the first time around, and the heartfelt, caring atmosphere it fosters will help to raise your spirits.
MassiveHive Media’s Potion Permit is about as easygoing as a game about healthcare could be.
As more and more games take inspiration from the Souls games and play with those mechanics, I hope more consider taking Thymesia‘s tack of seeing what removing a fundamental aspect has. The Souls-like designation is more than just mechanics at this point, I think, and seeing more games challenge what genre entails is something I’d like to see. Thymesia‘s choice to remove stamina is odd on its face, but the results speak for themselves.
Neither of the two layers in Circus Electrique would satisfy on its own. Of course, neither needs to – Zen Studios have built a game where two connected sets of systems continually reinforce each other. The result is an engine which keeps generating new problems and possibilities, sustaining the fun for hours on end. The combination of management and tactical elements might appeal to a relatively niche audience, but for that crowd Circus Electrique may be just the ticket.
But also like Mario Party, the actual competitive aspects are moot. Kirby’s Dream Buffet is a party game first and foremost. These sorts of games aren’t meant to be super balanced competitive experiences, but something you can just load up and have some fun with and maybe get a few laughs out of. To that end, Kirby’s Dream Buffet is successful. It’s rather slight overall – you can easily get your fill in just a few games since there isn’t a whole lot to it – but enjoyable even so.
For what it is, Madden 23 will please veterans looking to prolong their videogame NFL careers in yet another season of play. The homage to the late John Madden is certainly a nice touch. On the other hand, a more welcoming presentation to newcomers would have worked to the game’s favor. As it stands, those just coming out of the draft might find themselves feeling lost as there’s not nearly enough in the way of easing in players who don’t have at least some passing familiarity with the series and how it plays.
For preservation purposes, as well as discoverability ones, this re-release of Avenging Spirit is incredibly valuable. Given that the general gaming audience probably haven’t even heard of it in the first place, credits are due to Ratalaika Games for doing the work that they’ve been doing with these. Avenging Spirit is easily my favorite among these re-releases so far, and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next out of their seemingly bottomless treasure chest of little known old hits.
With the hindsight that there is now, with spiritual successors to Pyro Studios’ work like Mimimi’s Desperados 3 getting it so right, I hope to heaven that whoever is minding the supposed new entry in Commandos takes heed and avoid the errors that were committed in both the original version Commandos 3 and were further worsened in this HD remaster. It could have been so much better…
Gerda: A Flame in Winter is a deeply emotive tale of love, loss and resistance set in the closing months of the Second World War.