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The Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection’s package is impressive, especially when you consider the amount of content you get for the price. The developers could have taken a leaf out of Nintendo’s book and created a 3D All-Stars-type collection with just the games and called it a day, but to their credit, Konami has crammed a lot of stuff into the collection to keep you busy for days. While there are no graphical improvements, they run fine as long as expectations are adjusted accordingly. If you have no way to play any of these games or would like to experience the Metal Gear series for the first time, I absolutely recommend Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol 1. If you already own the originals or the HD Collection, your money is probably best saved for the inevitable remakes.
I fell in love with Greak: Memories of Azur from minute one and would be overjoyed to see a sequel sometime in the future. Navegante Entertainment have created a world rich with lore and overflowing with melancholy storytelling that I quite simply wish there was more of it to explore. The powerful orchestral score adds considerable weight to both the action and the narrative, folding in another layer of depth to the experience. The puzzle-solving may not be the most taxing, but the levels are well designed and showcased with the most beautiful hand drawn visuals. Short, sweet, but almost perfectly formed, Greak: Memories of Azur should be on the radar of every Metroidvania fan out there.
Hell Pie manages to be one of those games in which the theme, humour and gameplay are consistent from start to finish. I never tired of the sarcastic comments from the NPCs, or Nugget’s daft commentary throughout the 17 hours it took to complete the platformer. It’s a shame that technical issues plague Hell Pie, with the primary culprit being the camera. Still, even with those issues, I’ve not experienced such a succinct platformer in a long while. There was not one point in Hell Pie where I felt the game suddenly jutted out of line, gave you too much to do, or fell flat in the comedy department. Even in the later levels, like when Nate and Nugget found themselves at the Pearly Gates, the platformer still felt the same game as when I first tapped the Cross button to begin the adventure.
All told, Observer showcases the quintessential cyberpunk world, offering a bleak glance at a future that oozes distrust, oil, and injustice from every pore. The visuals, even on the Switch, are impressive, and portray a world so dingy that it’s borderline uncomfortable. Creeping through the jumbled mind of Dan Lazarski (Hauer) is oftentimes legitimately troubling, but despite the effective styling and a well written score, the experience is severely hampered by sluggish controls, unclear storytelling and an almost complete lack of gameplay.
Shadowkeep is already a relic of the past and while the new areas are quite lengthy, the story can be blasted through in a few hours thanks to the repetitive “Go to the table and then speak to Eris” schtick. Bungie’s foray into seasonal content does mean the year-long season arc, which is no longer accessible, leaves players to fill in the gaps by reading copious amounts of lore books. Shadowkeep is the black sheep of the Destiny 2 experience and while it doesn’t exactly enhance the Light vs Dark story, it is a nice break from the traditional gameplay and is worth exploring, even if you’re only in it for the gear.
With some excellent backgrounds and a well crafted soundtrack, there’s a tonne of atmosphere packed into Goetia. In fact, the point-and-click puzzler has a fair amount going for it, offering an interesting premise, a well written story, and some decent puzzles that lean on the occult themes incredibly well. But with poor signposting, buggy menus, and puzzle solutions that are often just too tenuous, I found Goetia as frustrating an experience as it was interesting.
Mario Kart games have always been system sellers and for good reason. Mario Kart 8, with its antigravity mechanics, 200cc mode and expanded roster, is one of the most complete racers on any Nintendo platform. If the offering wasn’t tantalising enough, players are also able to get an additional Booster Pass DLC that doubles the tracks from 48 to 96 and can be picked up through the e-shop with the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is not perfect by any stretch, the battle mode can get in the bin, and the rubber banding from last to first is a constant pain. Let’s not forget the staple online multiplayer that takes forever to load up, but we still have sublimely designed tracks with controls that are as on-point as you can get with a racer and is well worth picking up… if you haven’t already.
Berserk Boy is a beautiful homage to the 2D games of yesteryear, offering lightning-paced platforming that’s an absolute blast. With stunning environments and wonderful, anime-inspired pixel art characters, the visuals are to die for - as is the top-tier, turbo shredding soundtrack. A lean towards being slightly too easy, along with some level design oversights late-game keep it from being a classic, but Berserk Boy certainly offers a fun experience. I hope this is just the inaugural entry in a great new series of 2D platformers - it certainly has the potential.
The best way to sum up Post Void in any meaningful way would be ‘if Quentin Tarantino had somehow developed Doom instead of directing films’. The game has all the hallmarks of the director’s early works; it’s ultra-violent, hyper visceral and littered with barefoot baddies in sharp suits. The arcade style of short, sweet and brutal gameplay, rather than producing a lengthy campaign is a bold choice, and while your mileage may vary, I felt Post Void was the perfect bite-sized shooter that offered up a lot of fun despite its short runtime. The gameplay is engaging and snappy enough to the point I didn’t care about the game only being an hour long, or the repetitive soundtrack pumping in my ears like a German discotech. All I wanted to do was run through the myriad of creatures with a shotgun and make it as far as possible before being sent back to the beginning. Even now I can feel myself being drawn back for just one more hop through Post Void’s grotesque world…
Pocket Bravery charges into an arena full of heavyweights and manages to land a few convincing blows, proving there is room for the little guy in the land of the giants. The Neo Geo-inspired visuals sock you in the mouth as soon as the bell rings, and the soundtrack and character design land as a flurry of blows throughout too. There’s an impressive number of modes to entertain a single player, including a wonderful tutorial and training mode, but sadly, you may be hard pressed to find any folks to play with online, which severely hampers the long term appeal and hurts my willingness to recommend it, in spite of all positives. Ultimately, Pocket Bravery can’t lift the championship belt, but boy, does it land a few haymakers along the way.
I would strongly recommend Dave the Diver to anyone who enjoys adventure/explorer games – especially if they are fans of retro graphics and some really daft, but excellent, comedy. Having already sunk a good 25-hours into the game, I still feel like I have so much more to do and am really looking forward to seeing what other surprises I can unearth. So come on, jump in! The water is warm… and there’s only a few sharks.
Thanks to its focus on the new powers, rather than progressing the story in any meaningful way, Lightfall ends up being a flat experience that leaves you wanting more. It doesn’t help that the Light vs Dark story, which has been building for the best part of a decade, is in its endgame. It also doesn’t help that the expansion has to live up to the incredible add-on that was released the year prior. There are good points to be found in Lightfall like the setting and the new Strand ability but as far as it being essential to the story, I’m not so sure.
Throughout my time with Bayonetta 3, it felt that the game was always on the cusp of setting my Switch on fire, but thankfully my house is still standing and the slick performance was intact. The story is as bonkers as the rest of the series, raising the stakes to a level that’s on par with the latest Marvel movies and while I do think that it is a little try-hard in some areas, we still have another great hack ‘n’ slash from Platinum Games. Bayonetta 3 might have taken a thousand years to arrive, but thankfully it's bloody good fun and is a fitting addition to the franchise.
The Pale Reach DLC adds another solid level to an already excellent game, bulking up the playtime of Dredge by another couple of hours and offering some great new equipment options for captains exploring the Eldritch seas. The content loses some impact if you’ve already completed the rest of the game, as you won’t really enjoy the longer term benefits of the new gear, but if you loved the original game (like I did), The Pale Reach offers the opportunity to enjoy more wonderfully grisly storytelling from Black Salt Games. For players yet to pick up Dredge, I’ll fly the flag for buying The Pale Reach alongside the main title, as this icy tale and additional kit will add plenty to your experience.
Makis Adventure is the inaugural project from a young solo-developer and honestly, it plays as such. The love for the project pours from every pixel, but from a pure gaming perspective, it’s a little all over the map. Essentially, this is a small collection of mini-games held together by a rudimentary story and basic cast of characters, created by a passionate dev looking to test a variety of skills for the first time. Makis Adventure is limited in what it offers to a player, but can act as a stepping stone for Zoroarts to create bigger, more polished projects in the future, and we wish Matteo Covic all the best as he continues his journey through game development!
The rest of the game is full of profanity to the point Limp Bizkit would have to call their mums to apologise, and at points, the excellent story pivoted into pure juvenility. I’m not sure if this was a mistranslation or if Suda51 intentionally tried to cause outrage, but in any case, it just feels like it’s trying too hard, which in my eyes is more offensive than actually offending the player by including boob jokes, or multiple F-bombs. It would have been more impactful if the game’s jokes landed in any way, or if there was a reason behind what was being said, but that certainly wasn’t the case. The 25th Ward: The Silver Case is a tale of two halves: the first being a well-written murder mystery that dives head-first into the surreal and is a joy to watch, and the second half is like a petulant teenager who is trying to cause a ruckus because they didn’t get enough attention growing up. The plot though saves the game and managed to captivate me enough to explore every single ending. Even though I had no idea what was going on half the time, I still had to play until it was complete to get closure on the story. The visual novel playstyle isn’t for everyone but if you can put that, and the crass humour to one side, The 25th Ward: The Silver Case is one hell of a strange game to behold.
Source of Madness is one game that stands out from the ever-growing roguelike crowd. The very nature of the genre means that there is a long grind in front of players but the team at Carry Castle has done an excellent job at making sure the gameplay is as engaging as it can be. Restarting over, over, over and over again never feels like a chore, rather it sets a target for you to beat. Sure, Source of Madness has its flaws, particularly the odd enemy design and vague story, but if you are in the market for something that is super accessible, easygoing and looks as gothy as a Tim Burton film, then Source of Madness is a game I’d recommend.
For anyone yet to pick up this great title by COWCAT, I highly recommend not sitting on it. It may not be the most multifaceted of games, nor the most strenuous, but it has plenty of heart and a ton of character, the story is solid and the investigations are fun to solve. At roughly 14+ hours to complete, it doesn’t require a large commitment, so you can continue to grind those Battlepasses (looking at you, Overwatch!) and then wind down at the end of the day with our resident reptilian, BROK the InvestiGator!