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Death’s Door is a masterclass in level design. The interwoven areas encourage and reward exploration, whilst the simple yet challenging combat makes confrontations a thrill. With an alluring art style, sorrowful soundtrack, Acid Nerve has managed to create one of the greatest indie titles of 2021.
Although Risk System might not appeal to bullet hell enthusiasts, it still provides an excellent challenge. And really, Risk System isn’t trying to appeal to them anyway; it’s made to be much more accessible and innovative. In that sense, it exceeds in shining colors. I just wish there was more game to play. But for the low price tag, anyone interested in the shoot ‘em up genre can’t go wrong with a Risk System purchase.
Out of Line is a great example of the puzzle platform genre. Nerd Monkey’s methodical approach to puzzles is delightful.
From the moment you lay your eyes on Mother Bilby, you’ll fall in love with this title. The beautiful animation, emotive story, and luscious backdrops echo great cartoons of the past. Proud Dinosaur has expertly crafted puzzles that mature in quality and difficulty as the game progresses. Although Macrotis: A Mother’s Journey is relatively short and a little sluggish at times, the game imbues quality, making this a journey worth taking.
While it’s not perfect, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is a massive improvement over the original release.
Labyrinth City: Pierre, the Maze Detective, is an enjoyable experience that combines intelligent-level design and a charming art style. The lovely setting, packed with detail, is a joy to explore even though it lacks any real challenge. With several collectibles in each level, there is some replayability. However, I would be surprised if many revisit the game after completing it. That being said, each moment of the roughly 3-hour story was an absolute joy. Although a little repetitive, I loved perusing the world, inspecting the oddities, and marveling at the landscape. Fans of the franchise will be enamored with this interpretation of the books, and newcomers will fall in love with the world. Due to this, I would recommend getting lost in Labyrinth City.
What more can we say about this upgraded version of A Plague Tale? It was a great experience when it came out in 2019, and it still is two years later. It is not made better in any major way, but it cannot be improved without fundamentally changing the game, which I am thankful it did not. If you have not played this game, you are doing yourself a disservice.
For anyone who has even the slightest interest in Formula 1 racing – and thanks to the Netflix documentary series Drive to Survive there may be many with their curiosity piqued – F1 2021 will become their new sports gaming pastime. Catering to both casual newcomers and the most exacting simulation-seekers, F1 2021 offers a mind-blowing amount of polished and entertaining content, whether your preference is to race alone or with others. With the new Braking Point single-player story and improvements and expansions to just about everything else, F1 2021 is that rare instance of an annual sports game that has managed to continue to get better with every release.
Where the Heart Leads falls into a short, unique list of titles that lead you to ponder things long after the credits roll. The narrative holds a mirror to the player, cornering them against realistic in-game situations and forces them to investigate their values. It’s not preachy, by any means, but it uses realism in a way that made me want to get my own life in order. If such was the goal, Armature Games has succeeded through and through.
Curved Space is described as arcade-style anyways, so I don’t understand why the devs thought the story was needed at all. If they focused on polishing a mode that players can have some mindless fun, Curved Space could be leaps and bounds better. There’s a reason why rogue-lites have been finding so much success in the indie sphere: gameplay-first designs that just feel nice to play.
Old World clearly shows its origins, coming from a small team of developers intimately connected with 4x strategy games. It adds several new mechanics to an established genre, some of which are clearly brilliant and others that seem less significant. Old World succeeds in giving genre fans a clear alternative to their favorite games, but it seems unconcerned with welcoming the uninitiated, thanks to a fussy interface, lack of patient tutorials, and a focus on a fairly narrow slice of history and culture. Fundamentally, Old World both honors a tradition and gently pushes it forward.
Crash Drive 3 is a fun idea that is enjoyable in short bursts. Unfortunately, in longer sessions, an array of issues are glaringly obvious. The slippy driving mechanics, repetitive missions and bland visuals make this an uninspiring release. With almost no reason to play solo, the game’s reliance on a community could mean that the game crashes before it hits the highway. Due to this, I would hit the brakes before picking up this racer.
To dismiss Boomerang X as little more than a tech demo would be unfair, but it is also hard to ignore that the game skimps on a lot of elements that would give it depth and replayability or really make the player engage with something more than throwing a weapon to kill waves of enemies, no matter how initially satisfying that can be. Not everyone is going to love the attention-getting and specific art style and level of abstraction, or the bare minimum story or lack of interesting characters. That said, a game that knows how to balance its strengths with just enough story, gameplay, and challenge is worth playing, and Boomerang X definitely knows its strength.
This is a fantastic use of VR. And excellent use of the Aim Controller. The level of immersion provided by this peripheral is unparalleled. So much so that if there was a tripod attachment for the Aim, I would buy it. Just so I can truly feel like a sniper setting up the shots. Sniper Elite VR is the complete package. It’s got great gameplay, excellently designed levels, and the best scope use of any game to date. While the game may have some graphical blemishes, Rebellion has stated that a day one game patch will be available to address them plus other items.
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is the perfect example of a game I didn’t know I needed.
With so little effort put into making Space Wolf feel like it actually belongs anywhere near the new systems, it’s hard not to be anything but disappointed and cynical about this release.
If you already love Disgaea, you’ll probably love Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny. You’ll definitely get the most out of this game if you’re already familiar with other SRPGs, but this is a fine place to enter the series–or the genre, for that matter. In the end, all that Disgaea 6 truly demands of a player is the willingness to learn its mechanics, an appreciation for its zany sense of humor, and a fondness for cute anime demons causing problems on purpose. As long as you can give it that, you’ll have a good time with this game.
All in all, Strange Brigade is a solid romp that runs very well on Nintendo’s limited hardware. If you and a few friends are looking for a good cooperative diversion to blast through on the weekend, then you can look no further. If you’re hoping for a true successor to Left 4 Dead on the Switch, temper those expectations a bit.
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights has been in early access on Steam for quite some time, where it has garnered significant praise, and rightly so. Now coming to consoles and in full release on PC, any fan of games like Hollow Knight, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night or the Dark Souls franchise will enjoy Ender Lilies for its incredible art, mysterious story and action combat. Although it can be a little frustrating, Ender Lilies combat-by-proxy is an interesting and generally successful twist on familiar action mechanics, and the game hits the sweet spot between challenge and accessibility most of the time.
Players of the first Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts game will find this second game an all-around improvement, especially in mission design and pacing. The story is a bland concoction of cultural and military stereotypes but it does a proper job of setting the stage for the action, which can be very satisfying, at least at sniping distance. The less open-world nature of the campaign keeps things moving and the large toybox of gadgets and weapons is there for players to use, or not. I wish Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 had a more engaging set of characters and better action combat outside the sniping mechanics, but the game is a well-made step in the right direction for the franchise.