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In the end Garage is a really good concept bogged down by some dicey design choices. The visuals and audio set up the atmosphere nicely, but the gameplay has so many issues it makes it not fun to play at times. The last boss here is the most unfair and cheapest boss I have faced in years, and really made me dislike this game when I finally beat him. It took me around seven hours to get to the final boss and another three to actually take him down. While the game is pretty inexpensive at $14.99, I could only recommend this one to avid fans of top-down shooters.
To wrap up this review, I really want to like Subaeria. The concept of tricking enemies into killing each other is really good and something that I haven’t seen before. The fact that it can be translated into some sort of puzzle only made it more interesting for me, but personally I feel that if it was a more traditional puzzle game with predefined levels, it would have been better than going for the Rogue-like crowd. In the end since you have to be able to play the game with any App you can just play the game with no Apps at all—that’s what I did for most of the game, which I feel defeats the purpose of having different runs with different items.
In the end, Last Encounter is an alright game. It isn’t bad, not exactly great, but it does what it sets out to do decently enough. If the game’s sense of scaling were better, this would be a better title for sure. Exordium Games however do provide weekly patches to the game, so it should be noted that a couple of scaling issues could be addressed by the time of this writing. For about $15, I would advise waiting for a price drop but otherwise this is still a decent purchase. I played about three and a half hours with seven runs, with the first surprisingly good in hindsight. The game can be fun at points but also relatively annoying at others. It merely depends on if one can get a couple friends and just casually enjoy the game for what it is.
Overall, Rainbow Skies is great if you want something to play in short bursts every now and again, but I wouldn’t expect anything special. It’s an average game that’s very grind-heavy and has a lot of fluff. But if you have 80+ hours to kill, you’d probably have at least a pretty decent time. I just wouldn’t recommend binging it.
The game world doesn’t really come alive as much as it could. Side missions in particular start to become a matter of rinse and repeat, with some bizarrely sending you back to fight at a location that you just recently cleared out in a previous mission or side mission. There are enough places in the world that this shouldn’t be necessary. Defiance 2050 is essentially a remake of the original Defiance on a new engine, including the missions that were themed around the TV series that aired on the Syfy channel before it got cancelled. Defiance 2050 is available as a free-to-play game on Steam, and via Trion Worlds’ own launcher, called Glyph. There are of course in-app purchases as well. Do you have enough bravado to take on hellbugs, raiders, or even both at the same time to save the world?
Overall, it’s not like the game has any huge, glaring issues. At the same time, I don’t think this has much to offer people, especially if they really like card games. People that like card games tend to like things like building their own decks and thinking of different strategies, but there’s nothing like that here. It took me about 15 hours to beat, and costs $20. It’s not a bad game, it’s not a great game, it’s just mediocre. I could see this being appealing as a beginner’s card game for kids, or those that feel a bit intimidated by more complex card games at least.
Overall, for more avid fans of the horror genre, Home Sweet Home can provide a middling but decent experience. The main issue is that I wish most aspects of the game were developed more. If there were more to the story and environments, the atmosphere could’ve been more unnerving, as everything had more meaning. There are plans for a sequel, so perhaps Yggdrazil Group could do just that to make a more vivid experience. If they were to use more of a variety of superstitions and give them more screen time, it could lead to an interesting development for Tim and what they all mean to him. However, in the end, it may be best to wait for a price drop, as $16.99 is rather steep for what amounts to three to four hours of game. It is an okay game with decent ideas, but there could’ve been more to the package.
Revenant Dogma feels like a game that is cobbled together with mediocre and, at times, inferior RPG parts. As a sequel, it fails to respectably and coherently continue the storyline of the first game, instead abandoning many of the plot elements that made the first game remarkable. Taken on its own, it’s not completely terrible, earning a 2.5/5 rating, but only barely. It’s difficult to recommend this game and I would sooner recommend Revenant Saga, if you haven’t yet played it, as well as other, stronger Kemco games like Asdivine Hearts or Antiquia Lost. As a fan of Revenant Saga and knowing that Kemco is capable of more, I expected far better.
You’ll probably spend at least 15-20 hours or more, depending on how much you get stuck and how badly (and whether you use a guide). The game doesn’t have very much replay value either, and the Switch version does not have achievements like the others do. I greatly enjoyed the charming art style and music during my 15 or so hours with the game, but the gameplay just doesn’t live up to that at all. Candle: The Power of the Flame is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99. Can you help Teku save the world before it falls to greed once more?
With the main game split into eight acts, it took me a little over four hours to get through Engage mode. There is some enjoyment to be had floating around a derelict space station for a bit, but in the end it comes off as a game which isn’t bad per se, doesn’t particularly excel at much. The various design pieces don’t quite fit together, but are forced to fit like an impatient kid with a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle. For $19.99, considering how short the game ended up being and the technical issues affecting the experience, I’d give Downward Spiral: Horus Station a chance if there were a decent sale, but a pass at full price.
In the end result, Project G isn’t the next big Shmup, but neither is it a failed Darius clone. It’s a quaint little game that tries some interesting new things while also having some serious design flaws that need to be addressed. I didn’t hate my 4 hours spent playing Project G, but I also wasn’t enamored of its many problems. It is an okay game that could have been great with a bit more QA and a lot more polish. As it is now, I find it hard to recommend Project G that heartily when it’s priced at $9.99. If Nebula Interactive finds the time to fix the many issues with the game, then I would recommend giving it a chance. Until then, perhaps Shmup fans will enjoy buying it on a Steam sale.
While I mostly enjoyed my time with Mondrian, I left a bit underwhelmed by the whole experience. I spent a couple hours unlocking a bunch of content — approximately 60% — but didn’t feel that accomplished when I unlocked features. That could be because of the lack of progressive difficulty, or it could be due to the casual aspect of the game. I also wish I had found more video game styles to unlock in my time with the game. More than anything, I suppose I just wanted more — more features, more challenge, a more frantic sense of urgency. That said, there is nothing technically wrong with the game, and for $6.99, it’s a pretty good bargain. If you can’t get enough of puzzle games or just want a fun Steam game for a bargain price, you might consider giving Mondrian a chance.
Overall, I was mostly pleased with my time with NekoBuro CatsBlock. It was a short game, as I beat Adventure Mode in just about 3 hours, but it was fun while it lasted. Though there is replay value in the games you can play with the cats or in decorating your room, those features just weren’t complex or fulfilling enough for me to do more than tinker with them. Most of the replay value can be found in the endless Survival Mode where you keep playing and the difficulty ramps up the longer you play. For $7.99, I feel you are getting your money’s worth with this game. I can highly recommend it for Vita owners looking for their next puzzle game fix, or simply for those who like quirky, adorable games.
Overall Almost There: The Platformer is merely an okay experience. Far from interesting, it is still structurally and mechanically sound. Having played for about an hour and half, this does make for a decent time waster. For about $9.99, it could very well be worth looking at for fans of hardcore platformers. Bony Yousuf had the idea of a hardcore platformer and has indeed delivered on that idea. Perhaps with more tricks that could be performed or less waiting involved, next time a truly marvelous speedrunning game could be produced. In my opinion, speedrunning is about finding an alternative solution to go faster. As such, if future projects would delve into that, they would most likely be highlights for me.
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.
It seems like the narrative is supposed to carry the day, what with the gameplay being rather uninspiring. However, after a little under five and a half hours, I got an ending which left several plot points unresolved and felt like sequel bait. There’s little reason to go back to it, outside of finding the collectibles. Even then you can’t see them outside of when they’re picked up, so it’s just for those desperate to say they accomplished everything. In the end Close to the Sun is a competently made game, but one with more style than substance. Its backstory and setting end up being the most engaging parts, with little else to keep the player slowly jogging deeper into the bowels of the Helios. For $30, there are more fulfilling and better executed experiences to be had.
My issues with the story are that it tells you the specifics once, in large information dumps during key scenes, and then expects you to remember it all through the depressing dialogue and obtuse combat. I wanted things to be more fun, I wanted the dialogue to make me laugh and be full of hidden jokes and respectable interactions. Instead, everything is a chore to read and a punishment to experience. I really wanted a fulfilling journey for Alex and his friends, and I didn’t feel like we earned that goal based on most if not all of the dialogue in this game. It was all very depressing and felt like it had been written specifically with self-reflection in mind. I felt like YIIK was a game made to analyze. I wished it carried those critical elements of fun and enjoyment. Even though the world was beyond interesting to look at, its contents and message were just unnecessarily padded with inner monologue. It took me roughly 30 hours to beat the main story and begin some of the side extras. YIIK will cost you $19.99 on PC, PS4, or Nintendo Switch.
Pawarumi has an interesting combat system that takes a little getting used to, but it’s fun once you do. Having to always restart from the beginning of the game upon death makes it certainly more repetitive, though. However, its greatest flaw may be that it handles difficulty in a much more punishing way than Rolling Gunner does. That game is a bullet hell, and yet much less grueling than Pawarumi. If you don’t like punishing difficulty, then you will likely want to pass on this game. If you’re a fan of the genre and harder games in general, then it may be a good fit for you. I’ve spent about 4-5 hours blasting through foes so far across two difficulty levels. The game is available on the Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Xbox One for $14.99. Do you have what it takes to get all three story endings, and uncover a dark secret?
Horgihugh accomplishes what it sets out it do, in that it provides its players with a no-nonsense, action-packed experience. The 16-bit stylizing and the cutesy anthropomorphic aesthetic add plenty of charm, furthering its appeal to a wider audience. Yet, with a forgettable story, missteps in its gameplay; controls, lack of innovation, and limited number of levels; and with achieving high-scores or going for perfect playthroughs as the only reasons for replay, the overall experience lacks enough punch to take it beyond average territory. The price tag of about $12 (original price) is steep for what the game provides and unless you’re an avid fan of SHMUPs, charming aesthetics, or you’re looking for a solid entry point into the genre, you may want to give this a pass. If that price were to ever drop by half or more, then I would whole-heartedly recommend the purchase to anyone interested. PiXEL has provided an acceptable first release, as Horgihugh is, overall, a fun experience throughout. They’ve impressed me enough that I’ll be keeping an eye on PiXEL in the future.
I will admit that I was simply unable to beat Super Hydorah for this review. Some may think I gave up too quickly, but I easily put in 8-10 hours and countless continues in my attempt to beat a 2 hour game and probably got through 80-90% of it. While reasonably priced at $19.99, I can’t recommend this to any besides truly hardcore fans of the SHMUP genre. I appreciate what Locomalito and Gryzor87 were attempting here. There’s a lot of good in this game and it is a fond nod to the genre, but sadly the good is hidden behind hardcore game design and frustrating decisions. Ultimately, I was more of a fan of Cursed Castilla EX. That said, I appreciated the opportunity to tackle Super Hydorah, and will look forward to the next game by this team.