Gamepressure
HomepageGamepressure's Reviews
Doom: The Dark Ages is a great game, a fantastic demon slaughter festival, but not exactly the best Doom. There's too much plot, dialogue, side characters, cut-scenes, too much trying to make this campaign feel like Halo and Call of Duty. On the other hand, such an approach may appeal more to people who are unfamiliar with the beginnings of the series, not emotionally attached to the franchise since the 90s.
While Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree reads well on paper and boasts an intriguing premise, it stumbles in execution, delivering a game that needs more polish to truly shine as the next great Soulslike Metroidvania.
Sunderfolk is the debut game from Secret Door and Dreamhaven. It expertly facilitates a TTRPG experience for a group of four players, using phones as controllers. It perfectly balances accessibility and depth, making it easy for new players to jump in and tactical veterans to find a challenge. The few weeks I’ve had Sunderfolk for review have been some of the most fun multiplayer experiences I’ve had in years. I look forward to playing a lot more.
Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy might be the strangest gaming experience I’ve had in a long time. This is a remake of a 1999 first-person point-and-click adventure, and while it vastly improved the visuals of the entire experience, the controls are still stuck in the past.
Simply put, Sandfall Interactive’s debut game is a masterclass in presentation, storytelling, and gameplay. It’s a game you need to play to experience.
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves is a very good representative of the genre, but I feel that after a maximum of a few months, I will put it aside. I want something more from a title of this caliber.
While Tempest Rising may not reinvent the genre, it provides a strong foundation that helps shape it for future iterations.
The Lunar: Remastered Collection is a victim of its own faithfulness. While its upgraded visuals—the retro pixel art character sprites and environments and the hand-drawn cutscenes—are stunning, they only barely distract from an otherwise outdated RPG experience. Lunar’s stories and character might have felt fresh and original in the 1990s, but today, they come across as cliché and uninspired. There is fun to be had here, but there are plenty of other great modern RPGs, too. I have a hard time imagining anyone choosing to jump into the world of Lunar today if they don’t have pre-existing nostalgia for the series.
I had quite high expectations for Commandos: Origins. I wasn't disappointed in the most important aspect - it's a good stealth game, in which quietly eliminating enemies is rewarded and even desired. However, I cannot turn a blind eye to its archaisms and poor technical aspects.
With over 60 hours of gameplay, and much more if you aim to complete every mission and uncover every corner of Mira, there's always something to keep you engaged. Despite its narrative shortcomings, it’s a world that’s easy to lose yourself in—whether it’s your first adventure or a return trip.
South of Midnight is a pure mid-budget game that doesn't even try to challenge the biggest launches of the first half of the year, but has enough character and charm to provide about ten hours of decent fun. [Review in progress]
Overall, inZOI is a really good life sim. With potential to be one of the best. It's not there yet, but that's a matter of time. And Krafton actually listens to the community, so I have no doubts this game will be a gem in its final form.
Combat, stealth, and even exploration could have been handled better, sure, but Atomfall’s themes, atmosphere, and story make for a solid game that lets you forgive some of these issues if you let it.
Assassin's Creed: Shadows is a game full of contrasts. On one hand, it offers solid stealth mechanics and a great combat system, but on the other, it features a lackluster storyline and generic exploration. If you're a fan of the series, you'll likely find something to enjoy here, but if you weren't convinced from the start, the combat and stealth may not be enough to win you over.
Split Fiction is another jewel in Hazelight Studio’s ever-growing crown of co-op adventures. This game constantly introduces new mechanics that keep the gameplay fresh, and each new story feels unique, despite continually returning to the same two genres. There are random difficulty spikes that can easily trip up inexperienced players and lead to frustration, but this was some of the most fast-paced, light-hearted fun I’ve had in a long time.
Monster Hunter Wilds is a good new addition to this long-running series. It takes some bold steps, and although not all of them are moving it in the right direction, the overall experience was still satisfactory. Monster Hunter keeps evolving as a series, and Capcom proves once again that they are the best in this genre they created over 20 years ago.
Avowed is so much more than Obsidian’s take on Skyrim. This game sets the standard for what future Western RPGs should strive for. Nearly every option in combat is worth exploring, the companions are fully fleshed out with backstories that beg to be uncovered, and the anti-imperialist message at the center of the larger narrative is full of thoughtful nuance and intrigue. Obsidian has created a wonderful adventure that I can’t wait to start playing again.
Because of its size and range of missions from serious to stupid, Pirate Yakuzain Hawaii feels like a “Best of” album from past Like a Dragon games. Its odd marriage of pirates and yakuza works and gives you a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously but knows how to impress a crowd.
Hyper Light Breaker is ambitious. It’s the first time Heart Machine is creating a multiplayer game and their unique approach to the rogue-lite genre is worth tracking. However, if they waited a little longer, and added more content, this early access launch would not have been so rough.
Right now, Civilization 7 is an incomplete and reduced version of the game, which is plagued by many issues. However, you can feel that under all this mess, a good game might be hiding.