KAKU: Ancient Seal is a decent representative of the third-person action genre that doesn’t find ways to innovate in interesting ways. The core mechanics are decent, and the world is at times impressive. There’s plenty of depth to combat. But the narrative stalls after a few hours and fighting will become repetitive despite the wealth of new moves players can learn.
Undead Inc. can deliver a decent management experience, as long as the developers continue to deliver updates that eliminate crashes, deal with the other bugs, and introduce better balance. It is fun to create a thriving pharma entity that manages to invest in weird research and fulfill major black-market contracts while deceiving everyone.
Still Joking is an interactive novel experience with a good cast and a great protagonist. Iris is bewildered and fiery, determined to find out what happened to her real-world counterpart while also finding the best way to move past her trauma. The game’s writing works well with the theme, although there are conversations that feel much too long. The developers claim that there are more than 1,000 unique choices to make, so there’s a ton of space for multiple playthroughs.
Pro Cycling Manager 2024 creates a complex mix of team management and race action that is designed to draw in cycling fans. The title features real names and likenesses for most riders and teams, which adds to the immersion. And races feel more exciting than in previous installments, although it can be harder for smaller teams to make an impact.
The world is so interesting and the gameplay engaging enough that I wanted the game to be longer, which is a rarity these days. I’m hoping that McQuacklin will take more cases in the future and will have the opportunity to enjoy many more bread slices. Play Duck Detective: The Secret Salami in two or three sessions, enjoy the humor, and try to solve the mystery without resorting to hints.
Capes is clearly designed to appeal to anyone who has played and liked X-COM and its tactical puzzles. The game successfully moves the action to a universe featuring superheroes. I liked the theme, although the developers don’t do much new with it. Unfortunately, the presentation, especially the graphics, isn’t as good as the mechanics.
The gameplay is addictive and innovative, while the controls are simple and tight. Perhaps the game needed a few more tunes, but the pixel art is very well done. There’s no voice-acting, but there’s a little bit of an unconventional story to discover if you’re a fan of mysteries. The only downside is that Nuclear Blaze ends very fast. It’s like a very short SCP novel that you read while commuting. It took me less than two hours to finish it, but I had a lot of fun. Get this if you’re looking for a good platformer.
Astor: Blade of the Monolith is a project that clearly has potential, and it shows that it was developed with dedication, but it feels like more attention was invested in how the game looks rather than how it plays. The combat system and the game mechanics feel a tad archaic and too repetitive. By no means is the game a bad one, but it cannot be called remarkable. It offers fun moments, stylish visuals and an interesting story, but the repetitive gameplay makes it best played in limited doses.
Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip is not for everybody. This is not a massive open world with a ton of complex systems and a variety of objectives. The game is focused on getting Terry and his car into space. The town is small but serves a concentrated dose of positive weirdness and mini-games.
1000xRESISTgrabs players and does not let go, taking them through some impressive story moments and a few overly long conversations. The mix of post-apocalypse, clones, and memory exploration powers a narrative that’s unlike any other in the video game world. Speak with everyone and touch everything to get the most out of this universe.
WARNO is a great World War III strategy game. It takes the best elements of previous titles created by Eugen Systems and expands on them. Battles are realistic but also fun. The five Army General campaigns will keep a fan engaged for tens of hours. Multiplayer is robust, with a variety of maps and divisions to choose from.
Paper Trail is an indie game with plenty of soul that mixes successfully the narrative and gameplay parts into an immersive experience. While the story is interesting enough, what will keep you most invested in the game is figuring out how to fold and slide in order to solve the puzzles.
Considered on its own, with no space for nostalgia or positive past experiences, Crow Country isn’t a great game. The presentation is limited, and the gameplay never tries to do anything new. The puzzle design is good and the story, while starting off slowly, does have some great moments and one big strong twist.
Fabledomis a relaxed city builder that doesn’t introduce revolutionary new mechanics but executes classic ideas very well. I loved spending time zoomed in, looking at my peasants and commoners as they worked and walked. It’s equally fun to find the way to another ruler’s heart by sending truckloads of tulips and running missions.
The Lullaby of Life is pleasant and relaxing, a perfect game to unwind after a long day of trying to learn complex mechanics or tackle massive bosses. Its setting and its characters are colorful while the story is mostly suggested. The sound-driven puzzles gently increase in complexity, but the focus is not on difficulty.
Cryptmaster’s central idea is innovative and opens up plenty of interesting interaction opportunities. It is fun to type in verbs to guess what’s inside a chest to then trigger a memory or to constantly consider what word will give a character another combat ability. Side activities, like the word-powered card game, aren’t as engaging as the core loop.
Reigns: Beyond is an impressive achievement and I don’t really want to think how long it would take a player to see all the more than 1,400 featured cards. The structure makes it easy to get a full-blown weird adventure in under 10 minutes. Stop after death, consider your choices, do something else, and return for another dose after a few hours.
The Political Machine 2024 has a strong simulation engine and gives gamers a variety of candidates to work with as well as plenty of tactical approaches. The inclusion of primary elections is a great idea and, if the community takes advantage of mod support, means the title can successfully simulate European elections. The ability to customize weird candidates will keep the election battle fresh in the long term but I wanted to see a wider variety of cards, especially for outsiders who should have little support from the two big parties. The Political Machine 2024 struggles to capture the many eccentricities of this year’s presidential content in the United States but its slightly jokey take on campaigns remains fun.
Hexguardian doesn’t represent a revolution for the tower defence or the rogue-lite genres but its mechanics are polished. The lack of world-building is a little disappointing and the presentation is adequate and not much more. But the title creates that just one more try feeling, based on the wide variety of unlockable tools and upgrades and the many ways in which tile work can affect survival time.
Death Trick: Double Blind has a solid setting and a strong premise but doesn’t shine when it comes to mechanics. Players have to read quite a bit and then be ready to re-read statements and descriptions to spot inconsistencies and develop theories about the murder. The game’s writing is mostly up to the task but there are some repetitive moments and extra flowery lines.