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Hunt the Night is a love letter to 16-bit era action adventure games. There’s something for fans of almost every genre in this gem of a game. I won’t be surprised if it finds a fairly major audience. It’s a concise synthesis of so many great gameplay and visual ideas. All of my complaints are minor nitpicks. And they’re still just based on my personal preferences. If a physical console version becomes available, I’ll be first in line to buy it.
GORN is a limited gameplaying experience. There is an undeniable visceral thrill in beating your opponents to a pulp, but it’s a thrill that doesn’t last long. There’s also no denying that sometimes you just want to play a game that is mindless fun. GORN certainly fills such a need. It’s just a shame that this port doesn’t elevate the original game in any way.
Obviously, no fan needs every faction and race. But if you love Total War: Warhammer III and the Chaos side of things, Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs is an excellent addition to the game. The Chaos Dwarfs bring a unique style of play and offer an engaging new way to experience the campaigns. The Chaos Dwarfs are also a ton of fun in skirmishes. It’s on the pricey side compared to prior DLC, but absolutely worth it for fans of the game.
Curse of the Sea Rats is disappointing. It’s a pretty bland Metroidvania. It has a unique visual style, but its gameplay completely relies on its multiplayer option to hide its shortcomings. The game also needs a bit more polish. I was immediately very excited when I booted up the game, but I quickly soured. If the visual style wasn’t so interesting, and there wasn’t a multiplayer option the score would be a lot lower. Only play Curse of the Sea rats if you love the idea of a simple 4 player Metroidvania.
Realistically, patches that are coming for the game may continue to make The Last of Us on PC even better. If the patches can improve the playability then the port will become akin to its console predecessors and contemporaries. However, for now, the crashes, visual bugs, texture glitches, and stuttering is not something that can be ignored. Until then, if you’re a first-time The Last of Us player and you’re looking for a seamless and non-buggy experience on PC, it may be better to wait for patches to truly get the best out of this incredible story and game.
Everspace 2 has a substantial story, solid flight and combat mechanics, and incredibly addictive, satisfying action. If looter/shooter and space combat don’t seem compatible, Everspace 2 proves they can work together quite well. The narrative, breathless arcade space battles, and deep customization keep Everspace 2 engaging for its full running time and beyond.
Road 96: Mile 0 is a wonderful snapshot of a world that many fell in love with. While the game steps away from its procedural roots, it does so to offer a fresh experience. The new gameplay aspects are a joy and the storytelling is stellar which makes DigixArt’s latest release a must for fans of narrative-driven games.
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition is the best boxing VR game to date. The new controllers allow you to freely move around the ring and pick out your shot. This increases the immersion to create some incredible moments. Unfortunately, the new campaign follows the same loop of the original and doesn’t offer anything new. However, the actual in ring action is a knockout combo.
While the game may be overwhelming for some at the start, Out of the Park Baseball 24 does have several tutorials available to help get players started. Learning curve aside, Out of the Park Baseball 24 has been the most in-depth baseball simulation I have ever played in my life. While I enjoy both gameplay-based and simulation-based baseball games, Out of the Park Baseball 24 will be my exclusive simulation baseball experience of the year.
If you’re in the mood for biting social commentary and atmospheric dystopian cyberpunk, play Mato Anomalies. Otherwise, you can safely skip this title. It will make a certain kind of gamer very happy. I certainly had fun in the city of Mato.
MLB The Show 23 is the best-damned sports game money can buy. I think I say this every year, but the fact remains: Sony San Diego provides the most authentic representation of a sport with their MLB The Show series. Just as I did with The Show 22, I’ll be playing this year’s entry right up until next season. Take me out to the ballgame, and don’t ever bring me back.
Ravenbound’s limited successes do not come from an abundance of new ideas, but combining or juxtaposing old ones. If Ravenbound was a full-price, triple-A game I’d be a lot less forgiving of its flaws. No matter the price, it’s still derivative, janky and in serious need of optimization and bug fixes. But at less than 30 bucks, it’s maybe worth a gamble for fans of open world RPGs and action roguelikes. Provided, that is, that they temper their expectations and can overlook the game’s sometimes messy mechanics and other shortcomings.
The Rally Adventure expansion is not a bad way to close the chapter on Forza Horizon 5. It’s definitely not as epic as the Hot Wheels expansion was. However, it brings with it a pretty significant new area, new vehicles, and a new variation on racing that the Forza Horizon 5 hasn’t fully explored before. The price of admission isn’t too pricey, so if you’re still engaged in Forza Horizon 5, or looking for a reason to jump back in, the Rally Adventure expansion isn’t a bad investment.
Doing its best to make a long-ago conflict come alive, The Great War: Western Front is ambitious and complex. Like the actual war, it requires patience, determination, and the ability to suffer repeated failures to make a small amount of progress. It isn’t so much a hardcore sim that novices can’t decipher it. The problem for me is more with the subject matter, combined with the weight of many systems. Victories never feel jubilant. In World War 1, winning was a matter of losing slightly less than the enemy. History lovers and wargamers will find a lot to enjoy, but for me, playing The Great War: Western Front felt a bit too much like homework and not enough like fun.
In most ways, Gal Guardians Demon Purge sticks very close to the retro-Castlevania template. The best parts of the game are those ideas and mechanics which add something new, like the swappable sisters with unique strengths. For those gamers tired of uber-challenging action platformers, Gal Guardians Demon Purge’s streamlined gameplay and accessible difficulty might be a welcome change, if not a particularly revelatory experience.
Titles like Transport Fever 2 are not made for the general gamer. Tutorial aside, it’s a game for lovers of detail, challenge, and lots of moving parts. For those folks, Transport Fever 2 delivers on consoles the same experience as on PC. It’s a daunting but rewarding good time.
Overall I would say that Fractured Sanity is a decent concept that needs more polishing, and more detail. It feels unfinished. I definitely felt uneasy at times, but that was more from the frustrating glitches and general rough edges than actual horror. I would say hold off on picking this one up until it’s updated and fully fleshed-out.
There’s something rewarding about this game. You’re working to restore a dead world, with tangible results to keep you engaged. The mechanics get pretty complex after a while, true. And it can feel like your mistakes are indelible, even as you’re restarting a stage. But the labor feels worth it. Better still, developer Free Lives is putting a portion of pre-order and post-launch sales towards the Endangered Wildlife Trust. In that sense, playing this game actually does some good for the environment. If you’re looking for a peaceful, yet sometimes stressful, gaming experience, consider Terra Nil. You might even reconsider our actual planet as a result.
I probably admire Barotrauma more than I enjoyed it. I like the setting. The gameplay is very clever, even if it isn’t always exciting. I didn’t get a chance to get deep into co-op, but I can’t wait to try. It’s crazy to me that cooperative spaceship games aren’t an entire genre now, with dozens of indie games to compare. At the moment, Barotrauma may be one of the best trailblazers, giving inspirations for the developers of the future.
Credit where credit is due, this is a charming game with a lot of love poured into it. When I got into the flow, it gave me a unique experience I’ve never quite found anywhere else. But I don’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t already a fan of the Atelier franchise. At least, not until people start putting their item crafting spreadsheets online.