Branford Hubbard
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KeenGamer Latest Reviews
In Abyssus, you find yourself shipwrecked and have to find something to defend yourself with. How, why, when, and where you are become unimportant as you find a weapon that looks like someone combined a chain gun with a rifle. You’ll find more weapons that look as volatile as they are strange, and even more peculiar and ominous sights as you brave the depths of Abyssus.
It would be an understatement to say Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is an anticipated game for many, having been tweaked greatly from its first appearance in 2021, garnering awards like Surprise of the Year at the 2024 UCG Game Awards, and themed controllers being made by brands like 8BitDo. There’s no more need to wait, for the beautiful yet brutal Wuchang: Fallen Feathers has finally arrived. With the last FromSoftware Soulslike released in the form of Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expan...
Sea of Stars’ Throes of the Watchmaker DLC does not address core issues I had with the original release, but as a free DLC that takes a surprising direction by the end, it almost felt well-deserved. It starts by surprisingly touching on a minor plot point around someone’s identity, which ropes the Solstice Warriors into making a deal with the eponymous Watchmaker to clean up another of the Fleshmancer’s messes. While the threat is much smaller this time, it is just as dangerous, taking ...
When I first saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown, my eyebrow rose, not because I was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, but because the premise of a turn-based Turtles game is pretty peculiar. Clearly, Strange Scaffold saw something I didn’t because the game manages to be both a great TMNT game and a great tactical game. I even think the story will be one TMNT fans will enjoy, going from the rote “who rules after Shredder” storyline and taking it somewhere sublime.
Cuisineer is so close to being a hit menu item at your favourite eatery. But the delight in my eyes as I ordered it, and started to devour it dulled as I realised I was tired of chewing and it was actually quite a bland taste about halfway through my meal. As a big fan of the Rune Factory series, I was really engaged up to the point I was asked to grind for hours on end to make a modicum of progress. I wouldn’t send this meal back to the kitchen, but I probably wouldn’t order the dish aga...
Ravenswatch is a fantastic game and proves just because it’s the same old song, it’s still worth listening to. A corrupted world with varied champions to take, many different combinations of skills, modifiers if you need more or less of a challenge, and all that even before considering co-op. While you may run into some issues if you’re a ‘purist’ or trying to do a ‘no death run’, it’s an otherwise outstanding package. Even still, the game has oncoming DLC if you’ve somehow mastered the game already. Answering the call of the Ravenswatch wasn’t just my duty, but my pleasure.
I would understand if using a small subsect of top-tier strategies would be needed for getting full achievement credit, for instance, but this applies to even finishing the game. I made a poll not too long ago surveying some fighting gamers, and one of the results from it was that player expression is a hugely important part of what players want from a game. Having only one real viable build is like being told the character you really like in a fighting game or the build you’re using in an RPG isn’t actually going to be able to get you to the credits. Devastating, to say the least.
Beyond Galaxyland was a pleasant surprise, and never overstays its welcome. The vibrant graphics, subtle but infectious music, and breezy gameplay with plenty of optional content make this a game that respects your time, but if you want to spend more time with it, I have a feeling you’ll enjoy the higher difficulty or side content.
While I cannot call Reynatis my favourite game of 2024, it’s an enjoyable experience with some small issues that shouldn’t keep you from considering playing it. I was never turned completely off by a lack of progress, and the game is lenient enough so that just because you haven’t mastered the mechanics or encounter something annoying, there’s no reasonable way around it. It did crash quite a few times, but I never lost too much progress as it does autosave frequently. Even more prescient is FuRyu and Natsume Atari’s decision to actually make this game, and what’s next for them, considering this may be as close as we get to the next Square Enix entries this pulls from in years.
While there are definitely plenty of fun and interesting parts to Solium Infernum; from choosing the right Archfiend and loadout, to poring over the lore and potential strategy you can take with the Encyclopaedia Infernum and its 5 Power trees, the pain points made me sigh in frustration more than look forward to my next session. While I really like the concept of a 4X game that puts Diplomacy first (even trying to kill off all your opponents takes much more effort than just deciding to go to war) and has such a unique theming and aesthetic, the actual gameplay needs to back that up. As League of Geeks just announced on 6/12/24 they’re pausing full-time development, I can only hope someday this game will be worth the hellish throne it aspires to.