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Woodsalt is a mystery wrapped in an enigma tied together with a riddle. A bizarre little title that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be, and therefore has a tendency to elicit a sense of confusion as to why it exists in its current form at all. Its story is genuinely interesting at times - despite pacing issues - but I think it would have been better served as a visual novel. What really killed the game for me, however, was the numerous bugs that took me out of the experience. They halted progress and inevitably broke the game and prevented me from achieving even one of the many endings this game seemingly offers. In its current state, I simply cannot recommend it. If it ever gets fixed, then this might be worth a look
By their very nature, visual novels are some of the longest story-driven games out there. They are made to engross you into their worlds and become attached to their characters. DareSora fails in all of those aspects. It may look and sound pretty, but it’s only skin deep. For those of you who are still curious, I have some bad news. DareSora can no longer be purchased on the Steam store, but honestly, you’re not missing much. There are an infinite amount of better VNs on the platform that are more worth your time and money.
Maid of Sker is a competently made game (cornea searing visuals aside), but an awfully executed horror title. From start to finish it struggled to garner, let alone maintain, any semblance of interest of intrigue. The only scare comes from its title and the physical pain it caused was irritating to say the least. As a result, I can safely say that it is not a game worth your time, and you should absolutely give this one a solid miss.
A daughter raising simulator set in a post apocalyptic future is an idea I would have gotten behind if it had been competently executed. Unfortunately repetitive gameplay and narratively inconsistent plot left me wanting to abandon my daughter on the desolate surface of the earth.
Many Faces is marred with a myriad of issues spanning graphics, mechanics, controls and overall content. This is a game to avoid.
Hunting Simulator 2 has many, many problems, but the biggest one being it is a hunting simulator. This inherent flaw starts you off on the wrong foot as the act of hunting is typically slow and fairly uninteresting. When that is combined with everything else the game stumbles with, you are left with a crawling simulator with guns in it. I cannot recommend this game to anyone but the most hardcore of hunters, and I suspect that audience won’t be reading a review about a videogame.
While the core idea is very intriguing, the execution left a lot to be desired. It was frustrating.
It pains me as a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan to have written this review, but in an age where titles like Turtles in Time and Shredder's Revenge exist, Wrath of the Mutants just isn't worth any more than the quick 10-minute play I gave it on those half-broken sticks back at the arcade.
Kingpin: Reloaded could have been a great way to experience a cult title, but frankly it's a poor, missed shot of a remaster in its current state. The excessive use of bloom and texture smoothing does a number on the aesthetic of the game, and at times hinders players. The core experience of Kingpin: Life of Crime is still a fun and unique few hours and there is still fun to be had if you enjoy classic shooters. The poor performance does this remaster no favors. Even with the option to play the “original” mode available, the changes made to the core systems of the game and performance issues persist. More patches are needed before I could even suggest playing this version over the original.
If Detective Pikachu Returns’ goal was to make a mystery game that any kid could enjoy, then it’s almost a complete failure. This is most certainly no Professor Layton, nor is it anywhere close to that pedigree in any category. The mysteries are robbed of all of their catharsis because the game doesn’t ever trust the player’s intellect and intuition. Not that you may want to see the story to its end when the main narrative can’t make up its mind on what it wants to be. For only a very brief stint of time was I invested, but then I soon realized that I already saw everything that it had to offer. Its few bright spots in character interaction and charm couldn’t hide that. This isn’t a broken game, but it’s something I found worse: it’s boring.
Gears of Dragoon: Fragments of a New Era is a frustrating game. The narrative has some interesting ideas and worldbuilding, and it’s much better than the standard for eroRPGs. Unfortunately, the story isn’t really the focus here. Most of your time will be spent exploring the Dragonschaft, engaging with incredibly dull combat and progression. The mystique of the labyrinth is undermined by how boring it is to spend time in. The eroge elements are alright, but they’re definitely not worth the slog. I didn’t enjoy the majority of my time with Gears of Dragoon: Fragments of a New Era. I don’t think many people are likely to enjoy it. Whilst I was fairly engaged with the story, and the translation team did an excellent job with the script, it was constantly interrupted by the tedium of the gameplay. If you’re looking for a DRPG, there are many better options. If you’re looking for an eroRPG, there are many better options. Even if you’re looking for a solid story set in an interesting fantasy world, there are many better options.
If everything works properly, To The Rescue! is an average casual management sim with really cute art and chirpy music. I appreciate the work put into this game, including settings that allow players to fine-tune various aspects of the game to get the optimal difficulty level for themselves. The game could be more fun if its Shelter Construction provides players with more creative freedom. Including more unique visitors with meaningful or educational storylines could have been impactful too. However, as it stands (v1.0.7), To The Rescue! is so buggy that the bugs have overshadowed the actual game content. But all is not lost; the developers have been hard at work squashing the bugs since release. Thus, for those who wish to check out this dog shelter management sim, especially in its intended form, I’d advise waiting a bit longer.
Sadly it is very tough to suggest anyone picks Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl in the state it is in currently. It is very bare-bones in content, unbalanced, and feels soulless and cheap. Apparently, the developers are looking to further add to the game post-release but this model makes it feel like an overpriced Early Access run. The basics just aren’t here for the game, and I can’t help but feel that between the memes and rollback inclusions, they just doubled down on meme culture to sell copies of the game and hoped the fighting game community would stick with it.
Battle Axe is a game that contains around 40 minutes of unique content and struggles to keep its gameplay interesting for even half that. It’s boring, repetitive, short, and uninspired. It also comes with a shockingly high entry fee of £25 (or $30 USD), which is beyond egregious for the amount, and quality, of the content on offer. Visuals, controls, music, and big-named contributors are not enough to save Battle Axe from crushing mediocrity.
Fallen Legion Revenants feels like a game that actively fights itself. There’s a lot of potential here but it’s squandered by superficial ideas. Prolonging the combat with damage sponge bosses is a cheap way of doing it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind when this is the case. It’s the tedium of the system as a whole that has me scratching my head. Sadly, none of the potential this franchise has was realized with this entry.
I love beat’em ups and had an absolute blast with several others. My main reason for not being swept away by Double Dragon Neon is it lacked the same charm. The vibrancy was not there and neither was the personality. For these reasons and more, I can’t say anything else but this isn't recommended.
I did not enjoy my time with Pathfinder: Kingmaker for the most part. DLC aside, if you wanted to play this game to completion you are looking at a whopping 200 hours or so of content, but when you factor in padding, bad game design, slow everything, and pacing issues then that 200-hour mark feels like a lot of wasted time – which is Pathfinder: Kingmaker in a nutshell really. What this game does well is dragged down by the myriad of things it does poorly. This is simply not a game I can recommend.
As a retro throwback, Knightin misses the mark. Making a game based on the worst parts of its inspiration unsurprisingly leads to a mostly negative experience.
I think The Lament of a Lifeless Star has some interesting ideas about what it might mean to live past the end of the world. Unfortunately, the execution is uneven and most of The Lament of a Lifeless Star’s runtime is squandered on tropes and trivialities. The final act is better, but it’s too little too late to redeem the overall experience.
If you want to see a busty ninja or two humiliated and violated by all manner of creatures, Taimanin Asagi has its issues, but is something you might appreciate. It has its charms, especially when it comes to the artwork. Just don't go into it expecting much in the way of story or the same standards as modern visual novels.