POed: Definitive Edition is an excellent version of a middling game, with only some of its problems due to it being early days for the FPS. It's hard not to feel affection for what it's trying to do, though, and you can see as you play how it fits into the evolution of its genre. It would have been nice if the game had figured out an identity, either leaning into the weirdness or going for straight sci-fi action, but it's almost thirty years too late to fix that now. POed's legacy was almost nonexistent, that of a kind of ok-ish game that landed right in the middle of the FPS genre figuring itself out, and from a gaming history perspective that's more than a good enough reason to check it out.
Animal Well is a stunner of a metroidvania, usually charming but frequently creepy, mysterious but by no means unapproachable, and filled from top to bottom with secrets that are always satisfying to uncover.
Phantom Fury simply doesn't feel like it's ready yet, with too many bugs and nowhere near enough polish to become the game that it could be. Too many encounters are designed to only be beatable once you memorize enemy placement and a giant-mech boss shouldn't be an easier, more enjoyable encounter than a handful of guys in a hallway. Bugs are also abound, with enemies zipping between cover points while stuck in the kneeling position, music that you can almost hear playing in the background despite the volume being maxed out, or getting trapped in an elevator when its doors won't open. "Reset to checkpoint" is always an option, but in this case it was an open service elevator, and while sticking to the '90s/early-2000s gameplay convention of a hero who can't hop over a waist-high obstacle is authentic, it's the wrong kind of authenticity. Shelly "Bombshell" Harrison has the potential to be a great 90s throwback character, but Phantom Fury is nowhere near what's needed to see her reach her potential.
It would have been nice if Planet Crafter had gotten the AAA budget and polish, but the game as it exists nails all the important parts in ways that can make multi-hour gaming sessions fly on by in minutes. It's a dead cold rocky ball without a hint of life when you get there, but each new crafted item is another step closer to the terraformed paradise it can become.
Minishoot Adventures is an excellent twin-stick quest in a wonderfully-illustrated 2D world that's equal parts shooting and poking about to see what might be hiding under a bush or between the rocks. The story isn't particularly deep, but it gets the job done, and at the end you'll have an energetic little village filled with a number of different friendly ships that have each helped the adventure along in their own way. Fighting through the enemies also feels like an achievement, especially seeing as the number and variety of encounters means that few fights end up similar to each other. Zipping and dodging through enemy firepower while sending back a fan of bullets, deciding when to use the overdrive and when to hold back, and getting ready to figure out the pattern of the next barrage never gets old, and interspersing the encounters with a secret or two is the best way to cool down between one burst of intensity and the next. Minishoot Adventures is a fantastic little game that deserves all the love it can get, and a great fusion of two genres that don't get to play together anywhere near often enough.
Outcast - A New Beginning is an excellent sequel with a lot of great gameplay elements that go a long way to make up for its need for further polish. Bugs are common, from an outpost with the robots stuck in the floor to breakable helidium crystals floating several feet above the ground they should be poking out of, and the conversation trees are in desperate need of re-ordering. Despite this, though, it's almost impossible to resist seeing what the next villager is up to and their relation to the rest of the world, following the dialogue and fishing out quests as an excuse to see and do more. The world is also beautifully designed, with each village having its own architecture and style while the world map is covered in points of interest and different biomes, providing gorgeous views from just about any spot in the landscape. Combat is also great fun, especially when stumbling on a particularly effective gun combination or figuring out how the latest upgrade fits into the flow of the next hostile encounter. It took over twenty-four years for Cutter Slade to return to Adelpha, but the wait has paid off with an epic adventure on an alien world.
Bore Blasters may have one rough edge in terms of its time limit, but the rest of the game is a solid blaster through a large series of fully-destructible levels backed by a pounding soundtrack. Each biome has its own hazards, like growing blocks that can regenerate right in your path, or lava blocks shooting fireballs, and all the firepower in the world isn't going to be a substitute for paying attention to the level hazards. Even a failed Bore Blasters run is a lot of fun packed with satisfyingly-explosive moments, but there would be a lot more them if there was time to amble to the end rather than sprint.
Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game has a lot of tidying up to do to become what it should be, but there's a wonderfully-rewarding game in there once you've learned its quirks.
What makes While the Iron's Hot work is a combination of a pleasant series of tasks and quirky, entertaining characters in every new town and point of interest.
Radiant Silvergun is considered a classic for a reason, and it holds up today as strongly as it did on release.
Tevi is an exceptionally strong metroidvania-RPG, with a detailed combat system and a large number of enemies with varying attack patterns to use it against in intricate levels filled with hidden goodies.
Oddly enough, though, that's kind of the charm.
The ambition of the game design makes it easy to overlook Wildmender's technical flaws.
Disney Illusion Island is a great all-ages platform-adventure that works hard to appeal to players of any skill level.
Nova Lands isn't the deepest automation game around, but it's also not trying to be Satisfactory or Dyson Sphere Project so doesn't need to be.
Up until the Dread Lords, Doomblade is easily one of the best metroidvanias I've played in a long time.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a solid throwback FPS that makes up for being too generous with the resources by its excellent weapon, monster and level design.
Lunark is a strong cinematic platformer, more than good enough to hang with the classics of its genre.
Atomic Heart is an "everything and the kitchen sink" type of adventure that feels like it should explode from the weight of its ambitions, yet keeps it together through a combination of good pacing of new elements and a deeply likeable world.
Once the controls are sorted out, Akka Arrh reveals itself as an absolutely fantastic shooter that plays like nothing else out there.