VDGMS's Reviews
At this point, there are no surprises with Giant Squid and the games they create. They are fine tailors of interpretive, environmental experiences. Journey was about hiking and Abzu was about scuba diving. Giant Squid possess the ability to encapsulate what makes these experiences magical and Sword of the Sea is no exception, as it’s another love letter to nature and reconnecting with it through the power of a board beneath your feet. It might be short in length, light on gameplay and abstract in meaning, but the experience is transcendent.
Instead of focusing on feeling like retro Ninja Gaiden, Ragebound focuses on a more modernized gameplay approach. A gameplay that’s reminiscent of the Blasphemous series for obvious reasons, but with a massive increase in speed and momentum. However, more important than feeling like Ninja Gaiden, Ragebound perfectly captures the spirit of Ninja Gaiden, which results in the best of both worlds. Often times when there is a mashup in the gaming sector, the outcome can be less than predictable. Thankfully, Ninja Gaiden Ragebound is exactly what you would expect if you gave the iconic Ninja Gaiden IP to The Game Kitchen, who have put themselves on the map with their incredible work on the Blasphemous series. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound has all the necessities that anyone could ask for. Gorgeous pixel art, extremely precise gameplay, a soundtrack and story that are highly evocative of the 90’s, and disturbingly fantastic, rage inducing bosses. Fans of Ninja Gaiden, 2D platformers, or Blasphemous all need to check out Ragebound and the bar has now been set high for Shinobi Art of Vengeance
Donkey Kong Bananza should be called Donkey Kong Odyssey because the amount of similarities with Super Mario Odyssey is astounding! In addition to how great the formula already was there were some smart additions. Harnessing Donkey Kong's movement and destruction opens up a whole new experience that breeds curiosity and creativity. It might not reach the same heights as Super Mario Odyssey and it unfortunately retains some of the shortcomings, but Donkey Kong Bananza is an experience unlike anything else.When the credits finally rolled, I wasn’t upset because the game was over, I was elated because the real game had just begun. For the entire life cycle of the Switch, Super Mario Odyssey was “the” game that you needed to get with the Nintendo Switch. While I don’t think that Donkey Kong Bananza reaches the same heights as Super Mario Odyssey, I feel confident that over the next seven years, when someone asks what is “the” game to buy for the Nintendo Switch 2, Donkey Kong Bananza will be the answer.
There are typically two sentiments about Mario Kart World: It’s overpriced and not worth 80 dollars or It’s the best Mario Kart of all time, but which one is right? Mario Kart World is still Mario Kart, so if you've never connected with the series, Mario Kart World wont be the game to change your mind. It does increase the skill ceiling in a variety of subtle ways while also retaining its signature approachability. With some great new modes, returning core essentials and smart additions to a foundation that's been evolving over the past three decades, it’s hard not to label Mario Kart World the best Mario Kart of all time.
Once I started playing Wheel World, a wave of nostalgia hit me as I quickly realized that it’s a modern version of Road Rash. Where most attempts have tried to emulate the formula and failed, Wheel World unintentionally captures the essence of what made Road Rash beloved and succeeds by modernizing it. Wheel World is a casual and addictive arcade racer on two wheels. To put it simply, Wheel World is Road Rash for the modern generation. Instead of motorcycles, whips and rock music, Wheel World is about bikes, changing components, drafting, and indie electronic accented by the beautiful sounds of nature. While it mostly brings along the best qualities of the classic two wheel racer, it unfortunately carries some of the shortcomings as well.
With the breakout success of Hades, it was an inevitability that many would try to duplicate the formula. Although plenty have tried, none have truly succeeded is emulating what made Hades special in the first place. This means more than just adding rogue-like mechanics, it means crafting an addictive gameplay loop, but equally and if not more important, pairing it with an engaging story. Hell Clock combines and executes flawlessly on two of the most addictive genres of gaming: ARPG’s and Roguelikes. However, just like Hades, the most addictive thing about Hell Clock is the story that keeps you hanging on for new morsels of narrative. If you love ARPG’s like Path of Exile or Diablo and Rogue-likes such as Hades, you are going to love Hell Clock because it combines the best of both worlds. Pillaging the dungeons, looking for loot and fine tuning your gear between runs is addictive, but just like Hades, Hell Clock strikes a perfect balance between narrative and gameplay.
The Drifter is an evolution of the point-and-click adventure, as it delivers a highly refined experience from top to bottom. The Drifter immediately hooks you in with its captivating sci fi thriller narrative thanks to a supremely strong opening full of time travel, conspiracy and murder. It flowed with nearly perfect pacing throughout and was well rounded with superb voice acting, a flawless gamepad experience, but most importantly, challenging puzzles that avoid the genre trope of being obtuse. There were a few minor issues, but nothing that detracted from the overall experience. The Drifter is a must for fans of the golden era of the point and click adventure, but thanks to its refinement, it’s also for anyone who loves a good sci-fi thriller adventure.
It’s too early to understand the ramifications REMATCH might possibly have on the industry as we won’t be able to see them for 5-10 years. Sloclap proves you don’t need to follow trends, but can set your own. That studios don’t always need to play it safe with sequels or known IP, that studios can sustain themselves with unique ideas, smaller teams, and it shows that live service success can be found when done right. REMATCH has obvious Rocket League inspiration, but in the football genre that has largely been dominated by EA for decades with minimal competition, REMATCH is a disrupting the norm and the early sales prove it. REMATCH is unique, innovative, demands skill, but most importantly, fun.
Full disclosure: I am not the target demographic for a survival and base building centric game. However, The Alters primary focus is the sci-fi narrative that is crafted around a bold and unique concept. The survival and base building elements aren’t here for you to create your own narrative, but instead they drastically heighten the stakes of the existing one. The Alters exceeds expectations in every facet of the game. The narrative had depth beyond an intriguing premise as it provoked philosophical thought. The base building featured a tetris like grid, which made it engaging, but easy to understand, and the survival elements didn’t feel meaningless, they felt crucial to my survival. Best of all, The fusion of all of these elements highlighted the best everything harmonized together
Throes of The Watchmaker is only a few degrees away from being a stand-alone offering with its unique experience with fresh mechanics, original story and a vibrant new world to explore. Sabotage Studios sidesteps all of the common issues with DLC such as the lack of quality and value. To begin with, The Throes of The Watchmaker is completely free, if you own the base game. There is no memory needed for the existing lands of Sea of Stars because The Throes of The Watchmaker takes place in an entirely new realm. You don’t have to remember how to use any of your special skills, because each character is given completely new ones. Then you throw in all kinds of new puzzle mechanics, enemies and more of the stunning pixel art from Sabotage Studio and Throes of The Watchmaker is easily one of the best free DLC’s ever.
As much as Drop Duchy is inspired by the iconic Tetris formula, it forgets two of the biggest elements that made the original timeless: How simple and addictive Tetris was. However, what Drop Duchy lacks in these areas, it balances with innovation, strategic depth and variety to provide an extremely unique experience that somehow adds meaningful change to a timeless genre. While Drop Duchy likely won't win over fans of rogue-lites, fans of deck-builders and strategy games should be hooked.
Shotgun Cop Man costs six cents per stage and at this value proposition, it's hard to be upset at its shortcomings. Shotgun Cop Man is exactly what you would expect to get if you put Devolver Digital in a blender with Deadtoast, the studio behind 2019’s My Friend Pedro. The platforming is satisfying, addicting and refined, but best enjoyed in short sessions. The bosses are unique, but there is too much monotony in between. There are 162 stages, but there is a lack of variety across many facets of the experience. For every pro, there is a con, but Shotgun Cop Man isn’t here to win awards. He’s here to kick ass and take names on his quest to arrest satan in the bowels of Hell. Shotgun Cop Man is aware of what it is and at this price point is precisely what you expect and need it to be: A fast, frenetic action game with refined gameplay. Unfortunately, it's a little shallow on depth, variety and isn't the follow up to My Friend Pedro that was expected.
Final Fantasy, Persona, Chrono Trigger are just some of the inherent influences, but it was the inspiration from Sekiro and the French heritage of Sandfall Interactive that made Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feel like the dawn of a new era of turn-based RPG’s, as it equally pays tribute to those who came before, as much as it innovates for those who will come after. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a breath of fresh air because it prioritizes a compelling vision over following trends. It doesn’t resort to witty sarcasm in its dialogue or try to capitalize on current popular settings for the story, and there isn’t an attempt to infuse the latest real-time gameplay gimmicks. Sandfall have made a bold decision, especially considering it’s their debut title, to deviate from modern RPG conventions. Trends don’t age well, but artistic vision does and Expedition 33 has all the markings of becoming a timeless classic.
Where Bionic Bay really sets itself apart from its peers is how the puzzles within require equal amounts intellectual prowess and dexterity. The experience harmoniously blends puzzles, physics, precision and mystery. Bionic Bay is dripping with atmosphere due to its gritty, yet beautiful pixel art and an ominous score. With a stronger emphasis on storytelling, implicit or explicit, and a slightly more refined campaign, Bionic Bay could have had the lasting impact of some of the genre’s best. Nonetheless, Bionic Bay is still extremely satisfying and unique despite competing in one of the oldest sections of gaming and is essential for genre fanatics.
While Blue Prince might masquerade as a puzzle game, it’s infinitely more than that. Blue Prince is more than one of the best puzzle games ever, it’s possibly one of the best games ever. Blue Prince combines elements of rogue-lites, point and click, mystery, deck builder, extraction, walking simulator and many other genres in an experience that has no analog. What’s magical about Blue Prince is how failure is almost as rewarding as success. There is always something that will propel you into the next day in one of the most addicting games thanks to its rich atmosphere, interesting premise, and unique genre fusion. Magically, Blue Prince is able to provide a different experience for everyone. Although the departure and the arrival will be the same, the journey will be vastly different.
The common thread with South of Midnight isn’t that there is something wrong, it’s more what is missing and what isn’t right, which can be equally as damaging. The combat is great, but it never evolves. Exploring the world is fun, but trust is never given. The traversal is satisfyingly fast and fluid, but it becomes rote. Most detrimental to the experience is that the ending is fine, but absent is the ending that this incredible adventure deserved. If you have the right expectations, you will be delightfully please and if you are on Game Pass, South of Midnight is a must. South of Midnight delivers a powerful story with unmatched atmosphere that easily overshadows the simplicity of the gameplay.
I’m an easy mark for a good alternate history game and I thoroughly enjoy a good roguelite. Grit and Valor 1949 perfectly finds itself in the middle of this Venn diagram, but what I didn’t expect was for it to reignite my nostalgia for classic RTS as it feels like a distilled version minus the hours spent base building and collecting resources. Essentially an all killer, no filler RTS. Instead, you are constantly in the middle of a very satisfying, wave based gameplay loop that emphasizes strong strategy and quick thinking. Unfortunately, it missing the addictive hook and run variation that the best roguelites offer.
If you don’t like Assassin’s Creed, Shadows won’t be the pivotal moment in the franchise that changes your mind. Due to dual protagonists, experiences of Assassin’s Creed Shadows are going to vary drastically, but when the game is at it’s best it allows the player to take full advantage of the satisfying combat, parkour, and stealth systems through the eyes of a young shinobi requiring a more methodical approach The biggest downfall with Assassin’s Creed Shadows is indecision. At times between shinobi and samurai, between stealth or action, between drama and comedy, between instant kills and sword sponges, between series cliches and fresh ideas. At times Assassin’s Creed Shadows feels like a six, but at other times it’s almost a ten and where it ends up is somewhere in the middle. When everything clicks together, Assassin’s Creed Shadows was worth the wait.
Precision platformers don’t necessarily need stories, but once you have experienced them with deeply engaging plots, it’s hard to fully enjoy them without. What MainFrames lacks in story and cohesion, it certainly makes up for in other areas though. On a precision platformer level, Mainframes was challenging, unique and competes with the best in the genre. The controls were spot on, the pixel aesthetic was very nice, the score was charming and there was hints of a relevant story about corporate downsizing, but unfortunately remained largely unexplored. If you are just looking for a demanding precision platformer, MainFrames is only about ten bucks and will give you those endorphins you are looking for. Unfortunately, living in a post Celeste world, just being a hard as nails precision platformer isn’t enough anymore.
Knights In Tight Spaces adds plenty of variety and strategy to the already solid turn based, tactical gameplay of Fights in Tight Spaces. Repetition is still an issue for the franchise and a few QOL changes would go a long way in providing a more well rounded experience, but with a massive visual overhaul, great performance on Steam Deck and many major gameplay changes, Knights In Tight Spaces now positions the franchise in the upper echelons of deck-builders