Steve C
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TheSixthAxis Latest Reviews
The legacy of Final Fantasy (and to a lesser extent Dragon Quest in the West) is impossible to overstate with Squaresoft’s SNES RPGs in particular still standing unchallenged as the pinnacle of the classic 2D JRPG. For this reason, any modern attempt to recapture the look and feel of these games is inevitably going to be caught in their shadow – often to unfortunate results. Quartet is the latest title to try and recapture the nostalgic thrills but also takes influence from the modern Square-Enix series Octopath Traveller. The result is a fantastic old-school JRPG that should be on every fan’s wishlist.
Call of the Sea was a game that I loved when it first released over five years ago, and so I was hugely excited to see that a sequel was coming and have been looking forward to diving back in since. Serving as a direct continuation of the original’s story, Call of the Elder Gods definitely benefits from having played the first, but there is an effective summary available at the beginning of the game if you haven’t, and that game’s finale necessitated a new protagonist for this sequel anyway.
Thalassophobia (the fear of deep bodies of water) is a perfect fit for first person games, as the restricted vision and immersion, not to mention the added inertia from being underwater, always adds extra tension and panic to the experience. Add in the constant dread of Lovecraftian horrors from beyond human understanding and you have the raw ingredients for terrifying gameplay. Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss promises to make the most of this setting and add in complex puzzle solving and investigative detective gameplay, but an unfortunate lack of polish and some annoying bugs hold it back from taking full advantage.
Capcom have been on a generational run in recent years with their superb single player titles leading the way alongside a willingness to experiment with new ideas. Helped out in part by the excellent performance and optimisation of the RE Engine, fans of action games in particular have been in good hands. While this was most recently shown in the brilliant Resident Evil: Requiem, Pragmata is a brand new IP and shows that Capcom have plenty to offer outside of their more famous franchises.
Investigative horror is one of those genres that ebbs and flows in its prevalence and popularity, but it seems to be having a bit of a resurgence at the moment, with The Occultist due to be followed by Cthulhu: The Dark Abyss and The Sinking City 2. Having been relatively starved of such games for a while I’m glad to see such a return and I’m looking forward to the unique charms of exploring spooky environments and putting clues together. Unlike the modern Lovecraftian focus of Cthulhu, The Occultist goes for a supernatural bent with protagonist, Alan Rebels, using his innate ability to tap into other realms to solve the mysterious disappearance of his father.
After years of complete silence from the Legacy of Kain series, this month has seen it resurgent, first with a remaster of Defiance (which I sadly found pretty underwhelming), and now with a brand new title in the world of Nosgoth. Resulting from a successful Kickstarter campaign, and accompanying a graphic novel detailing the story, Ascendant gives players the opportunity to delve back into the bloody scheming of gaming’s greatest antihero, Kain, along with series stalwart Raziel and the new character of Raziel’s sister, Elaleth. All of this is wrapped up in a striking 16-bit pixel style that is provides a fresh take on the Gothic excesses of the franchise. But, most importantly, how does it play, and will it usher in a new wave of Kain fans?
Sometimes you can feel the passion and love that an indie developer has poured into their game. It’s rarely a tangible thing, although art-style and narrative often play a part, and instead comes through as a sense that the game is the medium for something heartfelt and meaningful – raising the experience into art as well as entertainment. Project Songbird is very much one of these titles. From the direct personal messages to the player at the game’s opening to the meta-narrative of a designer struggling to bring their vision to life, Project Songbird is a beautifully meditative creation that is also an excellent fusion of walking simulator and survival horror.
I love the Legacy of Kain. The original RPG, Blood Omen, was one of the games I bought alongside my PlayStation (from Toys “R” Us to give it nostalgic context) and I replay it every few years. The Soul Reaver games, also recently remastered, still stand up as excellent 3D search adventure games. Kain’s forays into 3D, however, are not quite as fondly remembered, as his relative lack of agility and the more linear level design of the games haven’t aged quite as well. Defiance was always the narrative and gameplay climax of the series, so the announcement that it was getting a remaster was a welcome one, but this is sadly a game where the harsh progress of time has been less than kind.
I Hate This Place is based on the cult-favourite Image Comics series of the same name (with the alternative title being the slightly less marketing-friendly Fuck This Place) written by Kyle Starks. This comic features the adventures of a young lesbian couple who inherit a farmhouse, only to find that it is at the centre of a host of mysterious events. The resulting story contains ghosts, monsters, aliens, secret government operations, time travel and just about every other pulp horror trope you can think of. The game takes this inspiration and turns in a thoroughly fine adventure.
After a series of fantastic remakes and two games focusing on the misadventures of Ethan Winters, Resident Evil Requiem finally returns to continue Leon Kennedy’s attempts to take down the Umbrella Corporation and end its legacy. Once again, he is not alone in his task, although rather than a series staple we now have a new character in the form of Grace Ashcroft, an FBI agent who is also the daughter of a character from the PS2 Outbreak spin-offs. This connection between different strands of Resident Evil is emblematic of the game as a whole; a game which at times feels like a compilation of highlights from the series in terms of references and set pieces. This isn’t a criticism, though, as the pacing is so well judged here that any long-time fan will be grinning for the duration.