The Gamerheads Podcast 's Reviews
If they ever offer a college course on the history of video games, Evoland: Legendary Edition should be a required read (or play). It's a fun title that takes you back through time and provides an interactive guide through the development of gaming from then till now. While the first game in the series is a fun, albeit short experience, the real enjoyment comes with its sequel. It's just a fun (and hilarious) experience that anyone who just wants to chill will find a lot of enjoyment with. I won't spoil all the surprises and throwbacks featured in these games, but anyone who grew up playing classic games will quickly find themselves grinning from ear to ear.
Overall, Airheart - Tales of Broken Wings is a fun and challenging roguelike twin stick shooter that incorporates resource management and crafting. Even with the short falls of some of the UI issues and crafting lacking much direction, the game is fun to play. You may find yourself frustrated with the difficulty that quickly ramps up, but each run is short enough that it doesn’t become overly tiresome. Airheart is a perfect fit on the Nintendo Switch, allowing you to pick the game up for short bursts of time to complete a resource run.
The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince looks gorgeous and it tells a story straight out of a fairy tale, but its mechanics and gameplay sequences leave much to be desired. It would make for an excellent storybook, but it’s best to wait for a sizable discount on what amounts to a frustrating albeit interesting journey.
Battle Princess Madelyn is a love letter to the games of old, and at the same time acts as a history less on both what did and did not work. However, for those of us who grew up on these classic titles, it definitely scratches that retro itch. The difficulty and lack of direction in the story mode may be a turn-off to younger gamers, but if you have fond memories of only making it to the end of the first level in Ghosts 'n Goblins, you too will find this an enjoyable trip down memory lane.
Mages of Mystralia has a familiar and nostalgic feel. The beautiful artwork, the puzzles, and the boss battles all are done right. The game is hindered by the lack of world and character depth, and the loading screens can be a pain. However, overall, Mages of Mystralia is an enjoyable journey and for those of you that enjoy puzzles and spellcrafting, this is certainly a good choice.
It’s hard to understand the overall purpose of this game, is it supposed to be funny or taken as a serious fighting game? The game’s tone deaf approach to the character design and actions putrefies any positive aspects it has going for it. The stale teenage humor leaves a bad taste in your mouth. With no redeemable aspects and no incentive to play through the game after one play through, it’s hard to suggest this game to anyone, outside of maybe the religious studies majors looking for an off the wall topic to write a paper on.
For everything that I liked about YIIK, everything that I wasn't that big of a fan of outweighed it. The story is very intriguing with the supernatural and spiritual elements which is what kept me going. Every time a battle started though, a feeling of dread washed over me. Trudging through the battles weighed down the experience of great looking graphics and good sound.
Hive Jumper does roguelikes right. The risk/reward system is fair and balanced, and it leaves the players with a sense of accomplishment. Even a failed run allows the user to keep some of the goo that they earned, which allows you to level up your character and your bases. The combination of base defense building and run and gun gameplay certainly adds a new and welcomed dynamic to the roguelike genre. Overall the game is just pure fun, a wonderful nod to the SNES/Genesis era games while incorporating new aspects of modern gaming.
Razed accomplishes what it sets out to do, provide you with a fun and challenging platform racing game. It looks great and the musical score fits nicely with the game’s overall motif. Be prepared for a challenge, however the sense of accomplishment after beating a difficult race is a really good feeling.