Leo Faierman
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When scoring requirements do appear, it’s usually in the guise of the game’s Moon bosses, which require you to chain tricks and build up a score combo, then stomp a finisher onto a target zone. Alternatively, downhill portal-hopping sessions feature objectives that unlock the way out, such as collecting symbols or catching air. Some of these sections and bosses are time-limited, presenting the game’s only occasional friction, but you’re free to spill and retry to your heart’s content endlessly.
Total Chaos’ audio is the undisputed star of the show. I can’t remember the last horror game I played with such exquisite sound design, from the trickling ambiance of a sewer corridor to the stomping of a massive beast behind its walls, and the screams of enemies seen and unseen are something you never fully get accustomed to. Even the tinny record player, which serves as your save station, plays a disturbing motif intended to be soothing…but is that record warping and bending over time, the farther you get?
I expect some folks will disagree, and failing a Forestrike Reality Run because of a split-second chug on your PC that trips your timing is demoralizing. Nothing stops you from avoiding that mode entirely, and there’s enough build diversity to enjoy finding new synergies at a reliable clip in the standard mode. Still, you’ll also be missing out on some of the game's best writing. Curiously absent from Forestrike were some nice-to-have features, such as a daily challenge or training arena, and I hope they will be added at some later point.
I admit that oversized expectations for quality metroidvanias persist in this absolutely stacked year. Two months since the release of the rightfully hallowed Hollow Knight: Silksong, Heart Machine’s fourth title Possessor(s) presents another 2D genre entry, only much smaller in scope. Published by Devolver Digital, Possessor(s) boasts a striking animated look that mixes contemporary comic-styled characters against dramatically lit 3D backdrops. With SMT-like post-apocalyptic vibes and queer themes, it's ultimately hampered by a repetitive bestiary, ho-hum combat, and a somewhat unfinished feel.
An explosive tutorial introduces you to dark elf Galandra and her companion Karl, a stout warrior with a blunderbuss. Hounded by attackers, they arrive at Uchawi’s Hearth, a sanctuary in the land of Talamh home to the Root Sisters, a kind of protectorate witch coven hunted by the Sun King Azra. Fight through the early areas and you’ll soon conscript a frogperson mage named Brome and Cider, an amnesiac clockwork rogue. While their presentation implies some formal RPG class affiliation, all four are capable brawlers with different moves and unique Arcana abilities.
The game map is divided into four general areas: an industrial zone, a quaint village, a national park, and Old Town. The latter is probably the most familiar and fun, a city reminiscent of its namesake in Warsaw, and leaving it leads to less interesting and often cumbersome traversal. There’s often a parked 4x4 truck you can find and drive between objectives, but you’re otherwise just sprinting long miles past fields and forests in a line, squandering hours in a game whose strongest mechanics flourish in city centers.
In my estimation, Shape of Dreams responds to virtually every checkbox wishlist for the contemporary roguelite fan. The intricate spell and upgrade system is deep, easy to understand, and consistent, feeding into every run’s arc of difficulty, never feeling unfair or overtuned. The sound design and special effects are outlandish but readable and levels load quickly on a good rig, with the pace further helped along by the complete absence of needless forced cutscenes or overlong animations. Even just the core RNG systems on their own seem to have been polished to a shining gleam.
Sadly, those retreads often mean more combat. It’s exciting at first, this scrabbly Soulslike stamina-baiting movement against eerie phantasmal hollow-face demons, wielding a Ki-Pulse-like rally mechanic straight out of Nioh that precludes the need for healing items once you get the timing right. Weapons are strictly melee-only, a collection of upgradable gleaming blades rotted over by colored status-effect elements, though Rémi himself lacks any proper level-ups or skill trees. Beyond the blade, an assistant flying drone offers a few special modules that trigger dash attacks and other functions.
That first glimpse of the Sicilian countryside in Hangar 13’s Mafia: The Old Country is a gobsmacking moment, with those distant mountain ranges and crumbling ruins framing the pastoral splendor of busy vineyards and dirt roads. It’s a land populated and maintained by ruthless dons and humble peasants alike, supporting the story's classic climb through a criminal hierarchy, one wardrobe upgrade at a time. Published by 2K, Mafia: The Old Country is another third-person action narrative argument against open-world bloat, but its gameplay is as bland as room-temp ragù out of the jar.
Anybody who cut their teeth on the original Ninja Gaiden trilogy should feel those reflexes return after a few hours with Ragebound. Nuanced aspects of those NES games reveal themselves, like memorizing the precise distance of your sword slash or enemy knockback, especially those designed to casually nudge Kenji into a bottomless pit. Overall, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound feels like a loving riff on an established standard, a contemporary pop remake of the NES trilogy’s classic rhythm and blues.