Kakuchopurei
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With awesome controls and simple-yet-tough-to-master gameplay, a challenging bout of levels and bosses that require you to make use of the perma-upgrades option given, and tons of replayability coupled with a beautiful aesthetic, Absolum is one side-scrolling trip you don't want to skip. Just get ready to eat dirt over and over again, and get a reliable friend over to help you out.
Just like its other quality predecessors, Little Nightmares 3 is a fun, if short, adventure in a Tim Burton-esque PG-horror world filled with creepy imagery that's sure to keep you in suspense as to what you'll come across.
Baby Steps is clear with its intent on telling a well-grounded story about a manchild who needs to challenge his insecurities. The gameplay that's tacked on and made with the intent of making the act of walking harder than it should does come across as hugely repetitive and tiresome though.
While not a grandstand-level roguelite experience, there's a lot of charm and decent action, alongside an amazing Hitoshi Sakimoto score, that elevates Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree apart from the dozens of roguelite isometric clones out there. It tries hard with its minigames and multitude of power-up and permanent buff mechanics, but it's earnestly done and helps more than bloats and hinders the overall 8-hour-or-so-long fantasy package.
Long story short, Borderlands 4 is definitely a helluva upgrade and step up from the past base looter shooters, breaking free from some of its prequel's shackles. Yet somehow the series takes a few steps back with some of its questionable design choices to "preserve tradition".
Hirogami is a great first effort from Bandai Namco Singapore and Bandai Namco Malaysia in the mellow-level 3D platforming department. Even with some of its quirky bugs that hamper my platforming by a tad, it's still a worthy look for its aesthetics and paper animal-shifting gameplay that requires some semblance of skill.
Hollow Knight: Silksong is a frickin' huge improvement (over the original Hollow Knight) in every way.
It's a long time coming, but Sega and Lizard Cube have done the Shinobi name proud with this 2025 2D action offering. I can confidently say that the one true Shinobi is back and better than ever. You've been missed, Joe Musashi, and the video game action landscape is all the better for your comeback.
Not many remakes can replicate this essence, yet Konami somehow pulls it off with flying colours.
Fans of the Demon Slayer anime and manga will definitely want to pick this 3D fighter up, as it recaps the continuing saga of Tanjiro and co. Non-fans can appreciate the colourful graphics and truncated anime plot in the single-player mode, but probably won’t find as much value when compared to your super-fan of the series. At the very least, this cash cow of a title has some merit as it is crafted with love and care courtesy of Cyberconnect 2.
[Y]ou cannot help but be astounded by the atmosphere and beauty presented by this indie offering. This is the kind of title that would make not just its country of origin proud, but the indie gaming landscape as a whole. [...] Artis Impact is but a sizeable taste of what pure game-making talent and love can achieve in the field of small-scale JRPGs.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is one the best 2D action game throwbacks that's long overdue, given the last Ninja Gaiden game was back in 2014, a 3D action title, and utter dogs***. It's beautiful, plays great and has spot-on controls, it's accommodating yet challenging, has a Hard mode that will test your mettle; there's a lot to love for old-school ninja fans out there. In short, the whole 2D pixel-savvy action-heavy package that utterly delights. Even with some odd bugs here and there, Sega's ninja efforts may have their work cut out for them thanks to this pseudo-indie effort.
While I'm happy to take the Big N down a peg when they're complacent and being greedy little s***s as a corporation, I'm just as happy giving them praise when they do right for its audience. Donkey Kong Bananza is that rare case where credit is definitely due. Feel free to go bananas with this long-awaited return of DK being the star of his own adventure; I know I did.
Good luck finding people willing to pay its current RM177+ price tag though, even if it's for supporting locally-made games. Because I feel most children with taste would be incredibly insulted by this broken-down offering that lasts about 3 hours tops.
All in all, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is a decent action RPG that's worth adding to your Soulslike collection when you're done with From Software's finest and noteworthy clones like Lies of P. If you already hated the genre, you're not going to find anything here to convince you otherwise.
Shadow Labyrinth is at least worth a rental or an afternoon or two of your search actioning time, provided you're fine with mediocrity. If you need a transcendent search action game though, this ain't it.
Mario Kart World accomplishes the task of being a solid baseline Nintendo kart racing game with a few new additions that do try hard to be fun, but weary folks know they can do so much better. Maybe in a couple of years, the game will get more substantial improvements and additions to make its US$80 price tag justified. Right now, you're just paying for a promise of a sublime kart game that's right now fine with a bronze medal.
[D]on't even think about condemning this star runner to the glue factory like most judgmental folks. This steed's a clear winner in the video game F2P pony show. Just make sure Lady Luck be kind to you; the RNG can get brutal at times.
You could do worse than with a game [like Ruffy and the Riverside] that actually tries hard to capture that bygone early 2000s era of cerebral-challenging platforming, even if all it has going for is its deft use of 2D artwork onto 3D landscapes. At the very least, this game deserves a sequel that will hopefully iron out its flaws and repetitive moments.
My 35+ hours with Death Stranding 2: On The Beach was laced with so many emotions and feelings: ennui, excitement, joy, confusion, and satisfaction. It still has the trademarks of a Kojima-written narrative -"Muffin Man"-style dialogue, bats*** insane moments, subtle-as-a-sledgehammer storytelling with obvious symbolism. But that's what makes this sequel all the more endearing; you may cringe at some moments, but you won't be bored with the thread being spun here. Nor will you be left out of the lurch with the interactive experience you're getting.