Analog Stick Gaming
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Bloodless was an interesting game to play as its unique look and concept largely works well. The moments of frustration are brief but can dominate your time spent with it. While my biggest criticism are the enemy waves, largely because I feel the game is not truly balanced around them, I still have smaller annoyances, like Tomoe being lost in the action, or the stiff movement or auto-game that are frustrating to a lesser degree. Regardless, if you are up for the challenge and want a different type of experience, Bloodless might just offer you that, should you be able to look past its noticeable blemishes.
Ultimately, Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn knows what it wants to be and doesn’t deter from the path. It is meant to exist within the era of the original while having a brand new visual look that really is breathtaking in its execution. While I personally would have loved to see some changes to the movement system, and a better method to use your items, I can respect the developer’s choice to maintain the appeal of the original and what games of that era played like, even if I feel it makes for more frustration than anything else. Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn is a gorgeous remake meant to appeal to those looking for a challenge and to dive into the love those players have for this type of game.
Star Wars: Outlaws was a game that I was really looking forward to. While I have small issues with the game from its lack of innovation in stealth to its fairly basic space combat, the story Massive Entertainment has told within the Star Wars universe was really fantastic and gave me a small group of characters to really root for. Humberly González is fantastic as Kay and Jay Rincon is a standout with ND-5. What Massive Entertainment has done here is breathtaking and is something that only could have been done in a video game. This take on Star Wars is frankly the best we’ve seen in a video game, and all without a Jedi in sight.
Hunt: Showdown 1896 is an impressive overhaul to a pretty enjoyable game. While the UI has sparked controversy and the team is set to revamp it further, many players have had performance issues on PC that are still present. Regardless, it’s impressive to see the visual enhancements for PS5 and Series X/S that bring the game a bit closer to the medium/high-end PC experience, especially with the jump to 60fps across all platforms. While its rogue-like elements don’t always sit well with me, I can’t deny how fun the game can often be, even if I am dying as frequently as I am.
While there are a few side jobs and collectibles to track down, Mika and the Witch's Mountain is a shockingly short experience that unfortunately fails to really lean into its premise in any memorable way. Its inspirations are clear as day, but doesn't have enough time to really allow its story or its characters to feel even remotely engaging. While it is painful to see a game turn out bad, it's another thing altogether to see a game completely fail to live up to its potential.
Gestalt: Steam and Cinder shines in its simplicity without any of its components feeling watered-down. The story and its lead character shine and work well alongside a great feeling set of attacks and abilities. For this being a studio's first game, it is remarkably polished with superb animations and detail. Make no mistake, this is one gorgeous game that shines with an equally great soundtrack to boot. It may not set the genre on fire, but it is an excellent entry that stands alongside some of the best to ever do it.
The controls, camera, and audio, are painfully executed here and create moments of frustration that could have been addressed, especially the audio. Honestly, I probably heard the Wilhelm scream at least a hundred times each level. The presentation of the story, and the story itself is fine for what it is, but so much of that fades from your view the moment many of the game’s issues present themselves. Bounty Hunter is a game that should have benefitted from the same remake sensibilities of others around that era that are recently being reintroduced to a modern audience, instead of showing new players just how clunky games of that era used to be.
While I do enjoy what Cat Quest III offers, I feel that Cat Quest II is simply the better game by far. Its world felt huge and lived in, and the cast of characters made the journey that much more memorable. I don’t feel that with Cat Quest III, unfortunately. I think the game is a good continuation of the formula, but one that feels like a much smaller-scale adventure than one to top its previous outing. With where the story is going, I am still excited to see what Cat Quest IV can offer, but it needs some fresh ideas and gameplay to really be worthy of the sequel this series needs.
I ended up with Creatures of Ava being something that sort of came out of nowhere to impress me. It has its fair share of faults with gameplay that is not revolutionary or wholly original, but its cast of characters, story, themes, and gameplay largely won me over. However, despite the journey and what it meant to be a part of it, it’s the game's final moments that will sit with me for some time, an ending that honestly, satisfied me in ways I wish more games would be comfortable with pulling off. Creatures of Ava may not be a consistently well-executed journey, but it certainly will be a memorable one for those looking to take it on.
Splintered Fate is inspired by one of the best games of all time, so coming up short was always in the cards. I think a sequel that provide truly unique runs with more variety in the environment is a must. I like the idea of what the perks and abilities offer, making you stronger, but when you are fighting the same enemies in the same locations, it’s hard to get that excited for the next run. The TMNT have a wide catalog of some pretty mediocre games and just plain awful titles and thankfully, Splintered Fate is not one of them.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn has some interesting ideas, decent combat, and gorgeous visuals. However, I don’t know if it does enough to really stand out. The story is interesting but is not conveyed well enough to give the cast their due. Combat can feel very simple in the early hours, but does sharpen up to be pretty damn good when you start adding more options.
While Kali’s journey may be more inspired than original, Noreya: The Gold Project is nonetheless a pretty solid Metroidvania, but does suffer from a few issues that could feel very limiting to seasoned players of the genre. It’s far more simple than I had hoped for, but I still found it to be impressive nonetheless, coming across as being a great time for the 8 or so hours it took to complete.
The First Descendant isn’t shying away from where it’s inspired. Destiny has been a called-out game by its fans and the studio and for good reason, it set the bar. Warframe as well has been a go-to for many in the live service catalog, and by using both as a base and creating something in between, it creates a game that while not terribly original, is an absolute blast to play. Each Descendant has a wealth of skills to make them stand out with a design and graphical fidelity to them that makes this one of the best looking games out there.
Dungeons of Hinterberg was a game I was immediately interested in when it was first shown off. I had been following its development closely and was eager to dive in. In the end, it was an experience that started strong and ended equally that strong. While I certainly have minor issues with some basic combat and its far too simple puzzles, I still find Dungeons of Hinterberg to be a great game, one where its flaws don’t sour my experience.
This 60+ hour adventure to conquer its lands is certainly worth your time and money. Several of the game’s new encounters are among the title’s best, offering battles that will test you in ways most players wanted from the base experience. Shadow of the Erdtree joins the list of being one of the best expansions ever made, an adventure so epic and vast that you’ll continue to write your story in ways that feel as if this adventure is something you are the first to discover.
Kaku: Ancient Seal is often great, but a collective of small issues and bland systems do hold it back. Combat is serviceable in that you have a few options that work well, but you’ll largely find yourself just spamming the best options. The story lacks agency for Kaku himself, making him more of a bystander than an active participant. The localization is being addressed, but as of right now, it certainly has several problems.
Trails through Daybreak does what it needs to do to be a very entertaining new entry will all the action and spectacle needed to succeed. I think it certainly stumbles with some localization issues and a few too many menus for its core systems, but overall, I still rather enjoyed seeing this new era of Legend of Heroes unfold, even if its nowhere near my favorite.
Tchia may stumble in what it offers through combat, but the world and charm built around this archipelago is truly special. The culture and approach to depicting it certainly feels passionate and thought out. Each village has its unique blend of people, history, and music, making engaging with them feel worthwhile and memorable.
Forges of Corruption focuses directly on what was great about Boltgun and offers up just enough new content that it feels like a worthwhile purchase. The level design is far more impressive than the base game with massive open areas that showcase the world of Graia in all its glory.
Roxy Racoon’s Pinball Panic is certainly aimed at a younger audience, but nearly everything it does pushes against that intent. Its menus are obtuse and incoherent on what you are actually selecting, and the story mode has significant difficulty spikes in the score you are meant to achieve.