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All in all, most of the issues addressed above happened in the second half of the game. Vaporum almost literally felt like it lost steam the farther I progressed. Which is, personally, the most disappointing aspect. The beginning and most of the mid-section was where I had an actual wonderful time, where the later half continually soured my perception. There was definitely heart put into the project, which only serves to disappoint me even further. The game is priced at $19.99 on both Steam and Humble Bundle, whereas it’s priced at $24.99 on Switch, PS4, and Xbox One. I am not sure why there are two different price sets, but even at $19.99 I recommend for the game to go on sale before purchasing. I appreciate Fatbot Games’ attempt, especially at the beginning, but I can’t in good faith ignore the second half of the game.
I won’t say Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists ~Ateliers of the New World~ is a bad game; it’s just not a very exciting one. The game looks good and has a wonderful soundtrack, but the gameplay is just kinda boring. After around 25 hours of playtime I was totally burned out on the city building. The lack of exploration, way dumbed down alchemy and combat really hurt this one. It is wonderful to see all your favorite alchemists from previous games hanging out and having fun together. These interactions are pretty much the highlight of this game, and everything else is lacking. At $59.99 I would only pick this up if you are hardcore fan of the Atelier series. For everyone else I’d recommend you hold off for the upcoming Atelier Lulua ~The Scion of Arland~ to get that alchemy fix.
Having said all that, it’s impossible for me not to recommend Katana ZERO. Not only is it a great game, it’s a perfect example of why I have such faith in indies. For $14.99, you get a fantastic and unique action platformer with some of the most phenomenal boss fights I’ve ever experienced. Sure, it could be longer and the plot could make more sense, but it’s still a wild and satisfying ride. And when you factor in how one ending hints at a sequel, it’s very possible my minor complaints could be cleared up in the near future. I’m really happy Askiisoft and Devolver Digital brought this gem to Switch, and I can’t wait to see the next game they have up their voluminous sleeves.
I think the developers largely succeeded in achieving their vision for Rym 9000, so I don’t want to come down too hard on it. It’s not like there are any bugs or real problems with the game, the speed of the ship and the art style just really make it not a game that I enjoyed very much. The 5 stages do offer some good variety, even if the game is rather short. While it may take less than an hour to play through the game, you are very unlikely to be able to complete it until you have put in at least 5 to 10 times that amount of time. It’s hard to argue with the $7.99 price point, the game is worth it for the soundtrack alone. But if you are going to actually play the game, you may want to watch the trailers, which will give you a better idea of how the game plays than I can with screenshots or description. Even if it didn’t work overall for me, I have a lot of respect for the developers bringing a different artistic aesthetic to a very crowded genre.
All in all, I really enjoyed SteamWorld Quest. Despite the linearity and a few small issues, this is a game I can easily recommend. Even though there’s a lot of different teams you can bring to battle, there is no wrong group, though I found Copernica, Galleo and Orik were an amazing team. You can’t go wrong with amazing damage output, shields, regeneration and a magical onslaught. More than anything, I just wanted a little more of the game, though given the way it ends, I expect we may get a Quest sequel. For $24.99, you’ll get a really enjoyable RPG with a lot of customization options. If you’re a fan of Image & Form or just like deck building RPGs, you owe it to yourself to give this a shot.
By and large, Where the Bees Make Honey is more of a linear, semi-interactive series of stories than an actual game. I didn’t find any of them to be particularly engaging or meaningful, though I again take no pleasure in saying that. This is a rather short title clocking in at around 3-4 hours, but it tries to pack a lot into that short span of time. A few reviews back, I was rather preachy about the concept of games being an art form. While I don’t intend to get back up on my soapbox, I must say that I think this game was trying just a bit too hard to be artistic and different. The concept of playing through childhood memories in fantasy worlds based on them sounds great, but I feel that none of them correlated and they were way too linear. If your intention is to hearken back to the joys of being a child, then the ability to explore is very important. The gameplay was indeed varied and took on many different forms, but the execution of each (with the exception of those Fez-like levels) was very disappointing. Had the existence of constant bugs and glitches not been present, I could have justified a slightly higher score. I appreciate the great deal of effort that I’m sure went into making this title, but unless some serious revisions are made, I can’t recommend picking this one up, even at its current price point of $9.99.
At the end of the day, The World Next Door is still an incredibly unique title. Mixing fast paced battles with wonderful characters and a rather curious story, it’s a standout indie game you should be giving a look. I clocked in six hours when I culminated my playthrough. No doubt you’ll get your money’s worth in multiple runs at the base price of $14.99. A congratulations to the developer on the launch and may they learn from this to make even better games.
All in all, I spent over 15 hours going from Zama to the farthest reaches of the game’s world and back. It’s extremely ambitious for Kiro’o Games to dive into the deep end with a game of this scope right off the bat, even with the framework they built up from years prior. Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is a game which shows tremendous heart and dedication to making a legitimately fun and beautiful game, but also some of the pitfalls of a developer’s first big title. That said, in spite of the technical issues, I do recommend playing Aurion. It’s available right now on Steam for $14.99. For those who want more of the lore behind the game, there is also a comic which delves deeper into the game’s events.
If one were to judge Neo Atlas 1469 on its title and cover art alone, it might be tempting to categorize it as just a generic eShop title. That couldn’t be further from the truth, though. In my roughly 27.5 hours playing though it, I found it to be a very enjoyable and entrancing game. The core gameplay was admittedly a bit repetitive at times and lacked much difficulty, but I found myself on multiple occasions thinking “just five more minutes” only to find myself saying the same thing five minutes later. With its procedurally generated world mapping system, it’s weird clashes of different styles, and its ability to prey upon my completionist instincts, I walked away feeling very satisfied. Without having paid the full $49.99 price tag myself, it’s hard to say if that is a reasonable price or not. What I can say is that this is one of the more unique titles that I’ve played in a good while and it offers a great deal of replayability. Everyone has different tastes, but if you enjoy mapping things out or playing games that involve a fair bit of micromanagement, this one’s worth taking a look at.
Is this an EDF game that EDF fans will enjoy? Honestly, I ended up feeling fairly disappointed. Which is a shame because I think there are a lot of neat ideas here. Weapons feel rather underpowered across the board, and enemies just have far too much health for their own good. Couple this with incredibly annoying AI, and it’s just a very frustrating experience. Suffice to say, it’s pretty lackluster compared to the mainline EDF titles. The game took me 10 hours to beat, though I put about a total of 30 into it with harder difficulties. At a $60 price tag, I can’t really recommend it. A sale might make this a more tempting offer. Overall, if you’re looking for a good EDF game, I’d give this a pass and look into the mainline titles instead.
In the end, I did enjoy Yoshi’s Crafted World, though that was never really in doubt. But unfortunately, in many ways Yoshi’s Crafted World felt like a step back from Woolly World, which in many ways felt like the better game. It’s far from bad, and even is challenging enough that I died a handful of times, but it just felt like it was playing things too safe. It might be better if I had tried the two player mode, though I tend to doubt that would have influenced me much. For $59.99, I do feel you’ll get your money’s worth, as I easily spent 10 hours beating it and many more trying to unlock everything. But your mileage may vary for how motivated you feel to unlock everything the game has to offer. If you’re a fan of Yoshi, I’d say it’s worth buying, but if not, you may want to try another Switch platformer.
I have no complaints about this game. There is perhaps room for improvement in a sequel, but this is a masterpiece. It’s extremely unlikely that there will be a game to come out this year that will unseat this game for my game of the year. Of course, as a Soulsborne fan, that was a likely outcome. But even I was surprised at how well this turned out. Honestly it is pushing on Bloodborne to take my favorite FromSoftware game. But time will tell, I do still have 2 more endings to go before I have the Platinum trophy. For my first time through, exploring absolutely everything and defeating every single boss and mini-boss available, it took me just over 60 hours. Of course, the game can be finished in much less time than that if you know exactly where you are going and you don’t take the time to farm all the materials for every Prosthetic Tool upgrade (except two which will require NG+ to get more Lapus Lazuli). Either way that is a whole lot of game for the $59.99 asking price. I would have easily payed double for the game. But if difficult games are not for you, or if you are totally turned off by being a ninja, then this may not even be a game for you no matter the price. The game is punishing, but for those with the courage to put in the time and effort, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice will reward you for it.
Overall, I really enjoyed 428: Shibuya Scramble. The story is excellent; incredibly engaging, getting my very emotionally invested in all the characters especially as things ramped up in the later hours. The writing style perfectly combines seriousness and occasional lighthearted jokes when appropriate, making it enjoyable even during relative downtime. None of the main characters stand out as particularly weaker than the others, and each of their stories carries the same weight and quality all the way throughout the game. That’s a long way, too; completing everything took me just shy of 50 hours, with just playing through until the end of the epilogue taking just over 40 hours. Even though it’s on the longer side, it still kept me fully engaged through all of it, and is definitely worth the $49.99 USD, having easily earned the respect it has among visual novels. If you’re at all interested in visual novels, mystery and detective stories, or you just want something exciting and different (there’s even a demo on PS4 if you don’t want to take the full plunge right away), I can’t recommend 428: Shibuya Scramble highly enough.
By the time the credits rolled, I had spent about 4 and a half hours and gotten 80+ deaths in Mechstermination Force. While I rather enjoyed it overall, there were some features that held it back from perfection. And also, though the final boss is beyond epic, it too suffered from the same complaints I had about earlier battles. But for the base package, I feel you get a lot for your money. My main frustration is that once it’s over, there’s nothing left to do, other than trying to beat the bosses without taking damage to acquire medals. Thankfully I’m not quite that masochistic, so I think I’ll pass. That said, for $11.99 it’s easy to recommend to fans of hardcore games, though I can’t say the same applies to those who identify as more casual gamers. But if you love giant robots and are up for a challenge, Mechstermination Force is the game for you!
Overall, National Park Girls is a unique must-read experience. My only problem is the length as I find myself wanting to read more and felt that where it ended was a bit anti-climactic. However, my interest is at a high and I’m counting the days until the next episode comes out. National Park Girls is out now on Steam for $4.99, and after clocking 100 minutes in this adventure I can say it’s worth every penny.
Overall, the Braveland Trilogy is very middling as far as quality is concerned. Each game is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just not compelling. For fans of the genre, each game can serve as an okay distraction while on the go, where each adventure ranges from three to five hours of total playtime. There is also the option to duel with friends, but unfortunately I was unable to test this feature out. However, for $14.99, it’s perhaps wise to wait for it to go on sale before purchasing. Best of luck to Tortuga Team in any future endeavors, as they can easily improve on what is established here.
All in all if you own the PlayStation 4 version of this you can get the new content via DLC, so you’ll probably want to skip this. If you don’t own the PlayStation 4 version, are a huge Girls Und Panzer fan, or just want to play it on the go, this is a great option for you. It does come at steeper price than usual with an import running $72.99 on the Switch. You can snag this on PlayStation 4 from Play-Asia for much less at $38.99. In the end, no matter which version of this you buy I think you’ll have a lot of fun and I do recommend anyone that is a fan of the series or that loves tank combat games to check it out.
Considered as a whole, Blaster Master Zero 2 is another fantastic offering from Inti Creates. It did enough to differentiate itself from the first adventure while innovating in mostly successful new directions. Furthermore, I really grew to love the characters in the game, both old and new. If Eve wasn’t a top tier waifu before, just wait until you get the True Ending. My only real complaints were how a couple elements weren’t clearly explained and how beating the game with the best ending didn’t seem to unlock anything. Given how beating the first unlocked New Game+ and other modes, this was a bit of a letdown. But even taking that into consideration, I can wholeheartedly recommend this game. At $9.99, I got more than nine hours of gameplay from it. Blaster Master Zero 2 is a hell of a steal for any fan of retro, Inti Creates or just a Switch owner looking for a system exclusive. Now to bide my time and hope we get some DLC with some new MA pilots in the near future!
Under One Wing is a journey through the skies like no other. Harmorise carefully crafted each and every detail of this game to create an overall outstanding experience, and with the help of Sol Press fans got to experience it just a bit quicker. The lack of a thought-provoking and memorable overall story keeps it from being one of the all-time greats. It’s still a very different story from the ones on the market right now, and one of the best releases early on this year. I clocked in at 28.4 hours mostly running the game on auto and reading all the routes. A worthwhile experience for your time and wallet.
The aspect of the game that held me back from loving it the most was really the lack of variety in shot types. Three different types that can only be upgraded twice is quite underwhelming. Most other space shooters that have that few of different types and upgrades at least have other space ships that change the shape of the shots at least. I do like the burst idea and the progression system is also innovative (although not without precedent). So I would still overall recommend this game for hardcore fans of the genre, and the 5-8 hours I spent with it more than made the $19.99 price worth it. But I cannot recommend this game to casual fans of the genre, you are likely to get your face smashed in. There is no doubt that it is beautiful in the visual and sound department, though, so at least check out some gameplay footage to see if it’s right for you.