GAMES.CH's Reviews
Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a visual treat for fans of the Metroidvania genre. Though it may have a few rough edges, it definitely provides a challenging yet fun experience.
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Building your own team could be a huge benefit for F1 Manager 2024. But because of the too risky finance system, is too easy to run into problems you cannot correct later. Beside that, F1 Manager 2024 is more or less the same game like last year, but with some minor improvements on- and offside the track, making it just a little bit better than its predecessor.
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Fate Seeker II is simply overwhelming in most aspects. With 20 fighting styles that each sport an enormous amount of attacks and combos, a plethora of side activities and a main story with more important characters than I could count it is just a lot. But a lot of this works surprisingly well despite all of this. The puzzles and investigations are especially great as is the main story and its cast once you start to see how everything and everyone is connected in one way or another. Unfortunately the combat itself is mostly dull, the English translation feels a bit shoddy and the technical aspects are middling at best. And yet it is an oddly compelling title that offers an interesting look at a different type of game from China.
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Dungeons of Hinterberg' combines three genres into a lovely package. The smart and varied puzzles are very entertaining without ever getting too complex or samey. The action-RPG is very solid but the unwieldy camera and rather boring gear system make it an uneven and only sometimes uninteresting aspect of the game. The social-sim isn’t very deep but makes that up very easily with a super charming and well written cast of characters. If somebody is into all of these things then Dungeons of Hinterberg is a very easy recommendation because it combines them with a good anti-capitalistic story, pretty visuals and a very soothing soundtrack.
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We had hoped for a little more from "Flintlock: Siege of Dawn". The result is not a complete disaster, but it is lost in the middle of the big action-adventure and Soulslike productions. The witty fights and the brisk movement options speak for "Flintlock". Thanks to the variable difficulty level, you can quickly find your way into the game and have fun in combination with the well-implemented controls. However, "Flintlock" also runs out of steam just as quickly: The character system has too little effect on the progression. The story lacks interesting twists, characters and big moments. "Flintlock" is suitable as a beginner's Soulslike, but in the long run "Dark Souls" or "God of War" will not be able to offer spoiled core gamers.
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Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition delivers a very nostalgic challenge. If you have the option to play against other players in local multiplayer with up to eight participants, you can have many hours of fun. If you're close to pro level, that's additionally the case in the two asynchronous challenge modes Survival and World Championship. But if you play solo (not being a pro) after maybe five hours you've seen anything the game has to offer.
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Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is the much needed risk so much of the games industry refuses to take. It’s an artistic gem that despite some rough edges bursts with creative ideas and a very strong vision. While it may not appeal to everyone, this has all the ingredients for a cult classic.
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Darkest Dungeon 2 forgoes the traditional route of making a sequel by adding more of the same and instead turns the entire formula on its head. It addresses some criticism of the first title with its changes, while creating frustration in new places with the overhaul. It’s far from a perfect game, but the dripping, gothic atmosphere and presentation still make it more than worth the while to at least try and bring a glimmer of hope into the endless darkness.
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Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is a great expansion that has a lot to offer. The graphics update is really good and the Final Fantasy music is still a masterpiece. The main story questline is okay, but unfortunately not as outstanding as players had hoped. Nevertheless, the new world of Dawntrail is worth a look for every MMO fan, as there are new dungeons, new jobs, new decorative items and much more.
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SPYxANYA: Operation Memories is a short-term very cute activity for fans of anime with children, which unfortunately mainly suffers from the repetitive gameplay and lack of story.
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With the Scripture, the developers have brought a clever system into the game, which on the one hand does not affect the previous game balance too much, but gives the player some freedom and room to experiment. "Gold Road" also convinces with many funny side missions and a rich scope, so we don't blame the developers for the fact that the new companions will only be added to the game in a future update this year. Unfortunately, many things now seem very routine and familiar, so that playful surprises in particular are few and far between.
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The core mechanics with the backpack are ingenious. It's not unique, and there are now several games with similar mechanics, but it remains fantastic. Packing your backpack as skillfully as possible and creating a deadly build for your character is fascinating over and over again. Unfortunately, most of the other aspects of "Backpack Hero" are mediocre at best. The story is boring and becomes almost unbearable due to a miserable font. The construction of Haversack Hill is confusing and unnecessarily complicated. The fights sometimes lack balance, which is why you are quickly too strong or too weak. In addition, the menu control with controller and virtual mouse cursor is neither pleasant nor intuitive. Nevertheless, the core mechanics manage to entice you again and again with another run and have fun with it.
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Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon has been a great game on 3DS with highly varied gameplay with action, exploring, puzzles and humorous staging. With the HD version on Switch all these strengths remain, while Nintendo ensures contemporary graphics including the visual update.
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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree inspires above all with its memorable boss battles, which are as relentless as they are graceful, and its superb art direction. Those who already loved FromSoftware's open-world epic will fall in love with the action RPG all over again with this DLC.
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Still Wakes the Deep is just the best game from The Chinese Room so far. The gameplay is not very demanding and strictly linear, but delivers a high variety for this kind of games. The main thing is, that the horror-trip on a Scottish oil platform provides a compelling experience with mostly perfect sound delivering a strong atmosphere from the start till the end.
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With "The Final Form", Destiny developer Bungie is taking no risks and presenting an expansion that builds on the strengths of "Destiny 2". Awesome gameplay with gun and space magic that feels as fresh as it can be after more than 6 and 10 years respectively due to a new focus and a new race of enemies. If you like this gameplay or story, you get a fantastic conclusion to the first saga of the universe. Even though the game is slowly showing its age more and more, it is still a lot of fun and if you only want to get involved in the game once a year and don't feel like the live content, you should not miss this expansion.
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Retropolis 2 is a very successful indie game. It pleases with good puzzles, a coherent game world and an exciting story. If the whole thing gets bigger in scope, we might even have a system seller with part 3.
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The Monster Hunter Stories Collection for PlayStation delivers around 70 to 80 hours of pleasant gameplay with fine round-based combat and a motivating character system. The remastered version of part 1 increases the experience by some nice visual improvements and benefits a lot from the totally new voiceover. It’s not on eye level with current productions, but that does not affect the atmosphere too much. The second part Wings of Ruin is still the better game with a richer world and a more complex combat system. But if you already played it on a PC or Switch, you do not experience much new. In total, the Monster Hunter Stories Collection is a rich compilation of two games, you should play if you like the Monster Hunter series and round based combat.
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The Monster Hunter Stories Collection for PlayStation delivers around 70 to 80 hours of pleasant gameplay with fine round-based combat and a motivating character system. The remastered version of part 1 increases the experience by some nice visual improvements and benefits a lot from the totally new voiceover. It’s not on eye level with current productions, but that does not affect the atmosphere too much. The second part Wings of Ruin is still the better game with a richer world and a more complex combat system. But if you already played it on a PC or Switch, you do not experience much new. In total, the Monster Hunter Stories Collection is a rich compilation of two games, you should play if you like the Monster Hunter series and round based combat.
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For us, there is no doubt. "Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengence" is the definitive version of the game. The relatively small improvements in usability alone make the game completely different. Not to mention the general overhaul of the story, which means that the game allows two distinctly different playthroughs and thus offers an enormous scope. In the overall package with a very strong visual identity and a legendary soundtrack, "Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengence" is an absolute must-have for all fans of JRPGs, whether they are familiar with the series or not.
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