Latest Reviews
Controls are remappable, which is a boon because the default schemes are lousy. The gamepad controls are clunky yet doable, but the mouse/keyboard mapping is atrocious. The menus themselves look stylish and their text is legible, but I found them somewhat cluttered. Using menus was often finicky, especially when mapping...
I wish I liked The Outbound Ghost more than I do, but I am glad games like it exist. There will always be genres and ideas that big publishers and developers don’t see as viable, and the indie space is a perfect place to explore them. I don’t recommend The Outbound Ghost at this...
Touken Ranbu Warriors offers exactly the kind of interaction between Touken Ranbu’s characters and musou mechanics that is only possible here, while maintaining the charm that makes the original property so beloved. Although some elements of the honmaru may not live up to the same high bar set by the...
Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden is a creatively unique gaming experience from both a storytelling and presentation viewpoint. I don’t think the presentation is necessarily for everyone, but those who it does appeal to will most certainly find something enjoyably insightful about the overall experience. This is a...
Steelrising
Steelrising will catch grief from people who want it to be Dark Souls. And it’s not Dark Souls. Nor should it be. This is a competent, well-designed game that seems to focus on accessibility and reimagining history using a quasi-steampunk aesthetic. Does it have problems? Certainly! The enemies are samey,...
Ooblets
Or don’t! The beauty of Ooblets is that you can do what you want with cute or ugly little creatures and dance the night away with big zillenial energy. You like Animal Crossing, Story of Seasons, and watching Bee and Puppycat while saying, “Okay, boomer?” Cool. You’ll dig this. It oozes style with its quirky pastel...
Beacon Pines
Beacon Pines is a special kind of game in that it doesn’t strive to be more than it should be. That’s praise, by the way. At its core, it is a mystery title about conspiracy and larger-than-life problems; no deep human insights, no world-ending machinations, and no shoe-horned gameplay. Beacon...
The title Trails from Zero is particularly apt because the Special Support Section literally starts from nothing and has to work hard to rise to prominence in a city where police are seen as incompetent and corrupt. They face many barriers as they struggle to justify their existence, and in...
Hard West 2
In no way would I ever recommend Hard West 2, but I have to be honest and say that I enjoyed myself. I just wish it didn’t come with a heaping bowl of curses. The developers should swallow their pride and listen intently to their customers, as I am sure...
Wayward Strand
Wayward Strand is a heartfelt, touching story that grows on you the more you play it. I found myself caring a lot about Casey and the people she encountered at the hospital, and I started thinking about what I might uncover the next time I played the game the second I...
Foretales
Foretales easily fits as al so-much-potential game to me. The skeleton’s there: I love the branching paths, the core game design and how the cards are used, the presentation, and how well-hidden secrets appear to be, but there’s not enough flesh on those bones. Whether trying to create a tight,...
Sunday Gold
Ultimately, Sunday Gold is a moderately successful experiment that could use further tweaking. The style, characters, and dialogue are cool and fun enough to lift a more familiar story. Mashing these two genres could be a worthy cause; though Sunday Gold makes a valiant attempt, it doesn’t quite kickstart the...
