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Are the complaints reason enough to avoid Wildfrost though? Nah, it’s really great. Yes, it will occasionally kick you in the shins, and like all games of this type, it’s charms will last about as long as it takes for you to ‘solve’ the game and beat it. Developers Deadpan Games and Gaziter have put together all the right ingredients for a stellar roguelike-deck-building experience, and if you’re a fan of the genre or interested in seeing what the fuss is about then Wildfrost is certainly worth a look. It’s pretty cool (ICE JOKE!)
Warhammer 40000: Boltgun has released on pretty much every platform, and at a decent budget price point, making it an easy recommendation to anyone who enjoys a solid action game, with bonus points if they think the genre peaked a decade ago or have a weakness for Games Workshop’s grimdark setting. It’s solid, unpretentious fun with a keen eye for the appeal of the 40k universe and a good grasp of what makes a good shooter tick.
Thanks to the hard work of Sumo Digital’s student division, Zool Redimensioned polishes up the original game and introduces several additional extras that bring an excellent platformer back from the dead. For some, Zool Redimensioned might seem like a by-the-numbers platformer but that’s part of what makes it special. In an age when zipping left to right to get to the goal as quickly as possible, Zool made players explore their surroundings and collect a certain number of items to complete the level. Granted, despite each world having their own individual themes, they do feel out of place when examined as a whole but that’s a small point on an otherwise tight platformer.
Although my time with Tron Identity was brief, it was nice to return to the virtual landscape that makes up The Grid. The world inside has undoubtedly moved on since the events of Tron Legacy, but the world is as recognisable as ever. Much like how Disney have approached Star Wars by expanding from the small cast of Skywalker family, was a welcome touch that proves there is a real depth to what is essentially the inner workings of an ageing arcade machine. The trouble is that just as Identity was working towards a bigger story and finding its rhythm, I suddenly had the rug pulled and it just ended.
Remnant, is a solid action game that sells itself short with a terrible opening half-hour. Get through that though and there’s a lot to recommend in the solid gunplay and exploration of an intriguing setting. The Switch port, however, isn’t great and you can pick this up on other platforms for about half the price. If you’re dead set on handheld (and don’t own a Steamdeck…) then it’s still a bit of a tough sell at £35, but if you spot this in a sale and like the sound of shooting a bunch of Groot-clones through a ruined city and beyond then I think it’s certainly worth taking a chance on.
Outlanders is a small-scale city-builder that pulls you in with the jolly visuals but really gets its hooks in you with the focussed objectives and micromanagement. Things play out at a pace just north of ‘glacial’ which can be relaxing and/or infuriating, but the chill banjo soundtrack will do its utmost to calm the savage beast of your frustration and keep you chugging along. A fun entry to the genre - I loved the stripped back, low-stakes objectives and the need to keep an eye on the smallest details, but the mechanics don’t leave a lot of room for error which can be a headache when you’re learning the ropes.
Hidden beneath the veneer of some pretty outdated visuals, Lootbox Lyfe+ is a solid little Metroidvania that offers some moments of challenge. Progressing from a stationary orb into a double-jumping, ground pounding, speed dashing platform whizz is good fun, and there’s enough unique areas to give a nice sense of exploration too. The more random elements of the game might leave some scratching their heads, but if you’re willing to put your tongue firmly in cheek and just enjoy the platforming, there’s a few hours of enjoyment to be had here.
In 2003, Metroid Prime was an exemplary example of game design that was considered almost perfect, and a true example of how a franchise could navigate the transition to the third dimension while retaining the feel of the originals. Even revisiting my old save file on original hardware, I was still impressed with graphics that hold up, and twenty years later, Metroid Prime Remastered not only preserves what made the original so special, it fixes some outdated features and improves everything else. The control scheme is particularly worth noting as it is delightfully modern, incorporating both dual-stick and motion support in what is becoming the standard way of controlling shooters on the Switch. This allows Samus to be controlled with pin-point accuracy and even the smallest considerations, such as selecting the various visor or beam upgrades have been greatly refined. It’s safe to say Metroid Prime Remastered presents the best version of the best entry in the Metroid series and will tide us over until Prime 4 eventually releases.
Wanted: Dead looks back at the last twenty years of game design and manages to combine shooter and hack ‘n’ slash elements rather cohesively into one of the tightest melee/shooters I’ve played in a long while. Unfortunately, while I will scoop praise on the gameplay until the end of time, there are issues that can’t be ignored. When I wasn’t shooting things with gleeful abandon, everything else was trying to make me put down the controller. The wooden plot and lifeless characters are a given, but the strange minigames, awful level pacing and difficulty spikes left a bitter taste in the mouth. There’s no doubt this is a fun game and I can see a small section of players absolutely loving it to death, but outside a tight knit niche of fans, I’m certain that Wanted: Dead will sadly be quickly forgotten.
Neptuinia Sisters Vs Sisters feels more accomplished and, dare I say, more grown up than any of the other games I’ve played in the series. The humour remains as cutting and irreverent as ever, taking every opportunity to send up the video game industry and often hitting the mark. Likewise, the gameplay is just as repetitive, and although there is less of a grind this time around, I still felt fatigued after playing through some of the levels. At this point, Idea Factory certainly knows what they are doing when it comes to the series, and with over a decade developing Neptunia, they are still finding ways to surprise and delight players. I’d have preferred more varied environments to explore, though there are signs that future titles will look to take cues from the groundwork laid here. What took me by surprise is that the story is a more genuinely mature (and not lewd) affair, for a series that has often leaned on the fanservice aspect to hide its shortcomings and did make for an enjoyable experience.
Putting aside the distaste from some character depictions and general moments of cringe in the storyline, I enjoyed the majority of Chained Echoes. There's enough mechanical creativity and visual splendour to keep you entertained for the duration, and if you have a hankering for the good old JRPGS of the SNES and PS1 era, this title will be a welcome addition to your collection. Though the game has a very familiar voice, it manages to be much more than just an echo of its inspirations.
Lydia is not so much a game as it is a public service announcement about the risks of alcohol, delivered through the medium of the eShop. The dark subject matter is at times well outlined by some bleak and surreal imagery, but it’s discussed in such a blunt manner that even a powerful ending leaves the story feeling less poignant and more thoroughly miserable. There will be those who can forgive the complete lack of gameplay in the face of raising such an important topic, and while I applaud the intention and understand the gravity of its creation, I find it hard to advocate anyone taking on 45 minutes of pure distilled depression, topped with a smattering of trauma.
UnderDungeon is a fun, if by-the-numbers dungeon crawler with a cool throwback aesthetic and well produced soundtrack. A wacky cast of characters offers a playful amble through a fun black and white world in a way that doesn’t overstay its welcome, parlaying its short run time into a short fun time. Inspired by the timeless appeal of The Legend of Zelda and the zaniness of that modern classic Undertale, UnderDungeon does a good job of offering a nod to both titles while missing the originality that made each so beloved. That said, imitation is the greatest form of flattery and UnderDungeon is a fun way to wile away a few hours.
The Knight Witch is a blend twin-stick bullet hell shooter and the Metroidvania that succeeds in the face of some technical problems by virtue of its enjoyable story and wonderful universe, expressed in beautifully hand drawn visuals and filled with endearing characters. Whilst not perfect, the gameplay is enjoyable and requires a good amount of skill - there’s just a few elements that just needed a little more polish in order to really make the most impact. It feels to me like the opening entry in a wonderful franchise, where new spells and features could lead to even bigger and better things in the future.
Trek to Yomi is one heck of a game that sets out to pay homage to the great samurai films of the 1950s and it certainly achieves this and then some. With a bold art direction that perfectly resonates with mid-twentieth-century film-making, it is one of the most well put together games in the indie scene. Its breathtaking scenery and equally impressive soundtrack create an atmosphere that encapsulates the Edo era, with the only downsides being the most nit-picky of details.
Terra Invicta is a deep, interesting and engaging game that doesn’t quite play like much else out there. It spins a lot of plates and, by and large, manages to keep them in the air. There’s a political and conspiracy sim, a light-touch grand strategy game, a resource exploration and exploitation game and a full space-combat sim - any one aspect of which could have easily been spun out into a stand-alone game. There’s a whole research and tech tree system that works brilliantly differently from anything else I’ve seen in a game like this, with a competitive-cooperation angle that is really interesting! I’m genuinely surprised the game works as well as it does - it had sat on my Steam wishlist for many years as a curiosity; something I wasn’t sure would ever see a release and something I’d have been entirely unsurprised to find an over-ambitious failure. That I didn’t is a real source of delight - if anything I’ve touched on sounds at all intriguing to you then you owe it to yourself to sign up for what, in a year of big releases, might just be 2022’s most interesting game.
Ship of Fools is a beautifully drawn sea-faring roguelike with a play style that will keep you coming back for more, long after beating the final boss. With a derpy cast of characters, an awesome soundtrack and hectic cannon-fire action, it’s a game that’s tonnes of fun on your own but is even better with a friend. It would have a higher score if it weren’t for some performance issues, but some noticeable slow down on the Switch version and annoying bugginess in the online co-op mode acts like an albatross around the neck, keeping it from sailing into the sunset entirely victorious.
Paper Cut Mansion is a quirky and fun little indie to play when you have an hour or two kicking about and you don’t want to exhaust your brain with anything too taxing. While it has a lot of positives going for it, like cute little puzzles, peculiar characters and buckets of charm, it fails to deliver any substance to go with it. The puzzles are not hard, the story isn’t captivating, and the tedious repetition makes it somewhat of a chore to pick up again. For me, it doesn’t maximise that full potential to make me want to come back for more.
While I like the low poly X pixel graphics style and think that the pulsing (albeit limited) soundtrack is great, I didn’t fall in love with Lone Ruin. Despite marketing itself on replayability, the main problem is that it didn’t do enough to make me want to keep coming back for more. The rapid-fire spell slinging is pretty good fun and there’s plenty of variety, but the short run length and lack of plotline or overarching upgrade systems makes Lone Ruin feel more like an arcade game than a roguelike. I’ve no doubt that the pick-up-and-play style will appeal to coin-op fans who like short-burn, intensive action, but I think traditional roguelike fans might lose engagement after just a couple of runs with the lack of a long game on offer.