Vessels of Decay is an intriguing story steeped in Scandinavian folklore that is very interesting, but some of its graphical and control scheme issues make it difficult to work through. If you approach it with a very Dark Souls “Git Gud” mentality, you may be able to overcome some of the frustration and appreciate the quality work underneath.
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Ender Magnolia is a sequel to Ender Lilies, and a wonderful Metroidvania that respects the time of the player by allowing for fast travel. The beautiful artwork and creative way that you can build your character using the abilities of the Hominculi make for an engaging video game that is worth a look.
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Yar’s Recharged is another game in the “Recharged” line, bringing classic games to modern times with enhanced graphics and gameplay. Yars’ Revenge lends itself well to the arcadey, shoot-em-up feel.
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Samurai Riot offers classic brawler gameplay with a unique choice mechanism. Major events happen, and you have the choice to branch the storyline in one of eight directions. It is a welcome return to classic “couch co-op” fun.
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Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards is an excellent Diabloesque game in a unique atmosphere that does most things well. The AI has it’s limitations that can be exploited, which leads to the temptation to cheese your way through, but if you persevere genuinely you can find a good challenge.
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Heavenly Bodies is a bizarre game in which you haphazardly control a cosmonaut as they float weightless through a station to complete tasks. It becomes more fun the more people you have to enjoy it with.
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Glyph is a puzzle-platformer that definitely evokes the Monkey Ball feel set in a mysterious Egyptian desert setting. Definitely a fun puzzler, but it’s precision requirements leave some frustrated.
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Golden Force makes some “old school difficult” design choices that, when combined, can lead to frustration. It is perfect for people looking for a Dark Souls/Super Meat Boy combination of challenge, but sparse checkpoints and cheap hits will deter more casual players.
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Scott Pilgrim is back for the game’s 10th anniversary. An excellent celebration of a lost digital title returning from the dead, the game in itself is a love letter to retro brawlers and easily earns a spot in your collection.
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Destroy All Humans is full of fun, 1950s human zapping memories for people who played it fifteen years ago. As a remake, the game was meticulously recreated from the ground up. While this is an overall great thing for the game to get an ultimate edition, fans of the game have already done it all, while new gamers may find themselves stuck with issues that plagued gaming fifteen years ago.
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CrossCode is a love letter to 16 bit gaming, with an awesome amalgam of traditional RPG tropes, fast-paced combat, and Zelda action.
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Desperados III is a return to a 14 year old PC series, bringing stealth to the Western genre. With plenty of strategies, a quick save that helps players through the title, and plenty of challenges to come back to, Desperados offers loads of content for new and old fans alike.
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Liberated brings a graphic novel to life, telling an all-too-relevant tale of an overarching government, masses willing to be monitored constantly, and a revolutionary group trying to overthrow the regime. A mix of V for Vendetta, Minority Report, Sin CIty, and Comix Zone, Liberated tells an excellent story, but the gameplay could use some fine-tuning.
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Dread Nautical is a strange amalgamation of survival horror and tactical RPG. Touchscreen control support proves that the Nintendo Switch is the superior system to play on, though the game’s unique mixture can be enjoyed by gamers on all platforms.
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“More of the same” can be a great compliment or a detriment in a sequel depending on what the audience hopes to get out of it. MudRunner came out a year and a half ago and impressed me with it’s ability to depict a gritty, real-world variation on driving. Instead of speeding around a track or haphazardly shooting missiles at each other, MudRunner tasked players with completing a series of jobs using real-world heavy equipment and trucks and braving the rough terrain at the edge of civilization to get jobs done. SnowRunner is the official sequel to that title and definitely improves on it’s formula, but presentation is key and a few things frustrated me about this title. It’s still a worthy addition to the series and will be enjoyed by diehards but could use a little bit of tweaking under the hood.
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Tennis games are always a good time, but the really popular ones tend to lean toward arcade or party style games. Mario Tennis Aces or the still-oft-played Wii Sports tennis matches can be enjoyable but don’t offer the Madden-level sim status that true tennis fans may miss. The AO (Australian Open) Tennis series brings the realism and customization in spades. It may deter players used to the prior mentioned titles, but with time gamers will find a satisfying, if perhaps a little too deep at times with the frantic pace of your average tennis match.
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Dragon Star Varnir, previously a PS4 exclusive, comes to Steam. Basically the same game ported over, Steam users buying the Deluxe Edition can come across a few pieces of bonus artwork. Overall a great RPG that deserves equal billing as a visual novel.
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My Friend Pedro is a preposterous tale about killing, death, revenge, and bananas. Our hero listens to the whims of a banana in his head as he takes out the seedy crime-ridden underbelly of the city.
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Below is a new game that tasks a team of adventurers, one at a time, to explore the depths of a mysterious cave. Unfortunately, it tries a lot and achieves not much, thanks to the fact that the game plods along and doesn’t really care to explain itself.
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The Council wraps up with Episode 5: Checkmate. Sadly short and a little too quick to tie ends up, it’s rather rough on it’s own. When seen as a wrap up to a series though, it is satisfying and gives you the feeling that your choices over the last year really meant something.
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