GameBlast

Soundfall is one of the most pleasant surprises I've had with games. Despite suffering from low variety of enemies and repetitive level design, the game very competently encompasses the dungeon crawler structure with rhythmic combat. In addition, the songs are of an impressive quality, matching perfectly with the environment in which it was designed.

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The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is a high quality adventure game that manages to present a solid mystery built over several chapters. Both the story and the visual and sound elements are well handled, resulting in a title that anyone interested in investigative games should check out.

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Cotton Fantasy is a lesson on how to present a franchise to a new generation while bringing back all the best things it had presented in its various titles. Adding guest characters was also a great idea to create different dynamics that break the repetition a shoot'em up usually has.

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Although very rudimentary in its gameplay, as well as too simplistic in its aesthetics, even from the point of view of its simple proposal, A Hero and a Garden is consistent in its main design choices and, above all, has premises well thought out and executed in an elegant, sensitive and delicate way. It's just a shame that even in the narrative, where it's a strong point, it also lacks a greater elaboration of the dialogues, the development of the characters and its world.

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It's a shame, but House of the Dead: Remake is a game for few. Although it's fun to shoot zombies and monsters without worrying about more complexities, after a while the experience becomes demanding and repetitive. It lacked more stages and a more balanced difficulty level, especially with regard to unlockables. There is life in this title, but it ends up being recommended only for fans of the shooter and horror genre.

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Research and Destroy is a very interesting strategy game that mixes management elements (for research) with a very unique tactical combat model. Unfortunately, there is a feeling that the game has chosen to focus on the player's reaction instead of valuing more strategic possibilities, which ends up giving the feeling of a bad and punishing design. However, fans of strategy games interested in other possibilities of the genre can have fun with the unusual concept.

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The Gunk is beautiful and ambitious, but unfortunately fails to live up to its potential. It's nice to clean up the gunk, solve basic puzzles, and explore visually interesting scenarios, but many of the mechanics are underutilized and ideas don't evolve beyond their initial state. At least the relaxing atmosphere, stunning backdrops and great voice acting make the experience immersive to some extent. In the end, The Gunk is reasonable, however it fails to stand out.

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Wildcat Gun Machine has its merits. Its proposal works well for an uncompromising game and the frenetic dose of action entertains for a while. Perhaps its biggest problem is not daring, abusing simplicity in its combat. Despite not compromising in practice, the absence of history disappoints and, in this sense, the game loses the chance to captivate the player more. So, it's only recommended for those who like action games with high difficulty, but it's better not to create too much expectation.

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The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Edition (Multi) is the kind of game that's simple and easy to play, but complex and tough to review, thanks to its unique concept of game design and the originality and humor-driven insight of its interpretation and evaluation of videogame narrative. However, it's also the kind of game that can be fun and interesting for any kind of player who likes interactive fiction or those who study [the] videogame narrative [possibilities].

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Even with speedrunners on duty, who are sure to try to solve every puzzle at Formula 1 speed, Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles evokes a slower, more leisurely vibe. This helps to deal with the complexity of some puzzles, but it doesn't solve the problem of repeated challenges, which makes it an OK game, but nothing extraordinary.

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Even with a conservative concept regarding the classic Brigandine, and also considering that it is a lower-budget project, Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia deserved more polish, especially in the in-game visuals and in several aspects of its gameplay that lead to be problematic and/or limited in much of what it does as both a macro-scale strategy game and a tactical RPG. However, the game has new features in its PC version that increase its replay factor, it has a good musical environment, a good connection between the types of gameplay in GSG and TRPG, and it is above all well written and illustrated. For these reasons, it's a title recommended for fans of the PlayStation classic, fans of high fantasy stories and anyone who wants to experiment with macro-strategic elements in TRPG, as there aren't many titles with this concept.

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Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is a beautiful and enjoyable action RPG, but it doesn't dare too much. Combat, whose main concept is to instantly switch between heroes, is fast and agile. Besides that, the world captivates with impeccable visuals, charismatic characters and plenty to explore. Note that the focus is on exploring established concepts of the genre in a simplified way, making the adventure very accessible. However, this approach becomes the game's biggest problem with low challenge, repetitive missions and underused mechanics, which hinders the experience. In the end, Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising is satisfying and ideal for the undemanding players.

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Rogue Legacy 2 is a perfect example of what action roguelikes can offer. With robust gameplay systems and a proposal that does not use procedural generation as a crutch, it is simply a must-see.

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Samurai Bringer makes great use of the variety of alternatives to create unique combat sessions. The dynamics of testing different combinations of moves is extremely fun and encourages the player's creativity. On the other hand, the common scenarios and enemies leave a lot to be desired because of the little variety of elements. Overall, despite its simplicity, it's an excellent alternative for fans of the genre.

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Trek to Yomi is a fitting tribute to a cinematic genre in video game form. Movie fans will be happy to see beautiful photography and stunning scenery. Action game fans, on the other hand, have solid gameplay at their disposal, despite minor flaws in the mechanics, with a fair degree of challenge and a seductive replay factor.

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Loot River surrounds us with its unique interpretation of dungeon crawler and roguelike. Sliding on floating platforms to explore flooded dungeons is a fresh idea, and the feature is used in creative situations, such as navigation puzzles and battle strategies. Besides that, the brutal combat and great ambiance make the experience very immersive. However, the game also has notable problems, such as truncated combat and slow content unlocking. With a little insistence, it is possible to overcome the negative points, but some changes in these aspects would considerably improve the pace of the journey. Otherwise, it's worth checking out Loot River, even if only for its inventiveness.

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Ganryu 2: Hakuma Kojiro took the risk of continuing a saga more than two decades after the original, keeping the same standard, both aesthetic and functional, as it could easily be taxed as old or outdated. Fortunately, the game proved to be challenging, well-made and quite satisfying, for those who persist in the mission and don't get discouraged easily.

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Lila's Sky Ark is a game that catches the eye with its more psychedelic world-building style. It is a very curious game in its narrative and gameplay proposal, but unfortunately its clear artificiality weakens the experience considerably. I recommend the title to anyone who wants a charming and relatively short abstract adventure that strays a little from the most typical.

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Anuchard is a curious action RPG inspired by the classics. The game relies on uncomplicated combat and intuitive puzzles to create an agile and accessible adventure. Furthermore, the world captivates with its colorful atmosphere and picturesque characters. However, the general simplicity gets in the way: mechanics and concepts develop little during the journey, making the experience stagnant. In the end, Anuchard has some charm, but it fails to exploit its full potential.

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Despite the simplicity both in some technical visual aspects and in its level design and in its mechanics, NORCO knows how to use minimalism and point-and-click to its advantage with creativity and expressiveness, especially in audiovisual aspects, delivering one of the most immersive worlds , fascinating and memorable experiences I've ever experienced in video games. In particular, the text has a sophisticated narrative design, a context well motivated by important social and environmental problems of our time, and one of the best-written scripts of recent times. The debut game from the Geography of Robots studio is a strong candidate to be one of the best indies of the year, in addition to being a must-have title for adventure fans and a general recommendation for those who appreciate good stories in video games.

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