James Carr
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MonsterVine 
GameSpot 
KeenGamer Latest Reviews
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree wears its Hades inspiration on its sleeves, and while the gorgeous art style and colorful cast of characters are quite enjoyable, the rest of the experience is lacking. The combat system is overstuffed with far too many systems and currencies, while the different characters vary widely in their usefulness in combat. The biggest flaw is the two-character system, which actively drags down the experience both in single-player and co-op.
Silent Hill f takes the franchise and its evil fog to 1960s Japan, where Shimizu Hinako is stuck in a small town. While Ebisugaoka isn’t the town of Silent Hill, its thick fog created by a mysterious monster has transformed its inhabitants, forcing Hinako to fight for survival. While Hinako’s story provides plenty of intrigue and horror as the pieces are slowly revealed to you, the combat system feels lackluster.
The most damning critique I can make of Lost Soul Aside is that I couldn’t wait for it to be over. While the combat does occasionally shine, the poorly constructed narrative, terrible cinematography, and levels that drag on for the sake of having a longer game. While the technical performance was better than expected, Lost Soul Aside is still fairly buggy, and a stable frame rate can’t make this an enjoyable experience.
Cronos: The New Dawn is an excellent survival horror game, offering legitimately tough battles, scary monsters, and some intense resource management. Its retro futuristic 1980s Poland setting creates a combination of brutalist architecture and function over fashion tech that creates a unique setting. The narrative mystery delivers on exciting twists and revelations, although the questions I wanted answered by the end were not the questions Cronos: The New Dawn wanted to answer.
Metal Eden feels like a fantastic rollercoaster, only bogged down by the long line. In this case, that long line is an abundance of story cutscenes and dialogue that only ever exceeded in annoying me. But when you do finally get back into action, that fast-paced platforming and shooting shine alongside the best, although having even one additional game mode beyond the campaign could make Metal Eden a must play.
Mafia: The Old Country is by no means bad, but lackluster gameplay and good but not great writing make it unremarkable. The atmospheric early hours and the lovingly detailed Sicilian valley it’s set in make for a world that feels immersive, but the latter half of the narrative can’t help but go through the motions of every trope of the Mafia genre, even when the gameplay offers potential story deviations. Instead, it sticks with the tropes, resulting in a flat ending you’ve been expecti...
FBC: Firebreak is a tedious co-op shooter, lacking in moment-to-moment fun gameplay and rewarding progression. The mission objectives, while unique, are deeply boring to actually engage with, and the shooting itself doesn’t meet the standard set by other games in the genre. The story connections to Control are easter eggs at best, making FBC: Firebreak an experience not worthy of your time.
Blades of Fire is a mess of an experience, with many of its elements not working well with other parts of the game. The story feels ripped straight out of game design of two decades ago, with loud, deeply unfunny jokes making up far too much of the dialogue. The weapon crafting and directional combat seems promising, but it doesn’t fit well with the hardcore soulslike action games it tries to emulate.
Clair Obscur: Expedition is a fantastic take on the turn-based RPG, offering deep characters, a unique world, and visceral story moments. It manages to take itself seriously and feature some truly devastating moments, while also still including moments of levity that the genre is known for. The combat is wildly deep, and offers deep customization and build choices, while tuning itself to be difficult. The parry and dodge system feels like the star of the show, but a lack of quality-of-life fe...
The First Berserker: Khanzan misses the mark when it comes to difficulty, creating spongey boss fights that take far too long, regardless of how good you get. These tanky fights weigh down an otherwise great experience, with a reactive and fun combat experience that asks you to maximize your perfect blocks and dodges, along with a fun if shallow narrative that provides just enough interest to see it to its conclusion, despite the tedious boss fights.