LadiesGamers.com's Reviews
ibb & obb is simple yet challenging, vibrant yet muted, and perky yet relaxing. It’s a game of contradictions, and we loved every second. It may be a little pricey for what it is, but a great game for you and your Player 2
Card Game Bundle Vol. 1 was a wonderful surprise for me. If you’re new to card based video games this is an excellent bundle to get you started. Frost is very brutal and sad whereas Monster Slayers is brutal but hilarious. You get quite the nice contrast of styles. I love how both titles are very pick up and play and are incredibly re-playable. They are also ideal to play between other games or if you just need something to return to for a quick fix. I never thought in my writing days I would give a top score to a game titled Card Game Bundle Vol.1 but here we are.
This Kickstarter project hit Steam in January 2020, then swiftly made its way onto my favourite gaming device. I wasn’t even 10 minutes in and I was already in love with this quirky little adventure platformer. I was zooming about like a madwoman delivering fridges and demolishing castles, laughing like a loon the entire time and completely ignorant of my partner warily edging further away. It was a genuine pleasure to play, and I’m looking forward to introducing my best friend to it next time we’ve had a few drinks.
Bad North is a fantastic pick up and play strategy game (a genre I’m usually terrible with). With difficulties to suit most gamers. Simple controls and tons of replay value. This is a game I’ve returned to again and again. I can’t guarantee playing this game will prepare you for an actual Viking invasion. But I can assure you there is plenty to love whether you want a quick gaming session or a long night in defending from invaders. Once your done with that you may also want to play a bit of Bad North.
A beautiful, atmospheric puzzle game that has proven just how nice a mobile port can be. Unfortunately, it’s a lot shorter than I’d have liked; the main story took me around 3 hours and the Winterfest content took a further hour. I’d happily sit and play that game for days, but at more than a pound per hour of play, I thought it a little overpriced. However, add some more levels in there and I’d easily follow Path Of Giants until the end of its days.
You know when I first saw the picture for Fury Unleashed I kinda expected this to be yet another junk food gaming rogue-lite. Some thing that I’m totally on board with. But after playing it several times and having weird nightmares about Aztec skeletons, this has easily jumped to one of my favourites in the genre. I loved the surprise heart to the story, as someone that often questions their own written work and creativity I found something to connect to; though I’ll probably never reach the heights of fame in my creative work. It’s good that video games like Fury Unleashed can remind you that moments of uncertainly are normal. And right now in this moment you are enough. Also Fury Unleashed is just brilliant.
Streets of Rage 4 is an incredible game. Where I am now, compared to where I was when I played the series originally, is very different. However, this will easily become another nostalgic memory in years to come from playing with my wife, alone, and with a very good friend who lives just too far away for my liking. I think you’ll most likely already guessed my rating for this title –
I was pleasantly surprised by Neversong. It’s another Kickstarter success story where the developer has made full use of their abilities and talent to create a wonderfully creepy but memorable adventure. The music, the graphics, the gameplay its all just so well polished despite the adventure being short. The game is due to release on Nintendo Switch in the future (as well as other consoles). This adventure moved me and did horror in just the right way. But don’t don’t let that put you off. Neversong is a game not to be missed.
I love ZHED, and am going to keep pushing for that Level 100 completion, but it is far from an easy game. It starts out really simple, and I found some considerably easier levels mixed in as I got further into the game, but there was many a time I had to just put it down and come back the next day because I could not figure out the current level. I did notice, however, that when I came back the next morning I managed to solve it almost straight away, so maybe I was playing too much in a day and not consuming enough caffeine! ZHED is minimalist, challenging, and a thorough joy to play. It may get frustrating at times, but that never stopped me coming back and won’t stop me shooting for Level 100!
I will be honest, this game was TOUGH for me. I died a LOT, and I became very frustrated with myself a lot as well. As someone who enjoys a slow-paced farming sim, I can tell ya that a fast paced one is a whole different ball game. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun with it and enjoyed myself immensely. Congrats to the developers Bird Bath Games: you have created a fine work of art that deserves to be experienced by many. And Kudos to Raw Fury for knowing a good game when they see one, and being the people who help make it come to life. Get. This. Game. (Unless you know for SURE that this a genre you will always hate). But hey, I know Enter the Gungeon was a well received game, and I tried it and didn’t like it very much… so if you’re like me, maybe Atomicrops will change your mind too.
I don’t know if I will ever complete this game. Gosh knows how long it’ll take me. All I do know is that no matter how hard this game might be, I am loving it! I don’t think I even care if I can finish the first 25 days, I just want to keep playing. There’s probably some kind of trick to it, but I haven’t found it yet. Heck yes, loved it, still love, will continue to love this gem. Challenge, laughter, sometimes disgust and a little bit of schadenfreude too, is wrapped into this package to make a game I can lose myself in, literally!
I really enjoyed playing Zenge for this review. It’s a simplistic puzzle idea turned into an engaging puzzle game. The puzzles are not too hard, just the right level of difficulty for the game to remain very relaxing without any frustration setting in. With its minimalist art design, which is beautifully achieved as the puzzle completes, and a little bit more of the journeyman’s story is revealed goes to prove that you don’t need flashy graphics in every game, sometimes less is more. For the few pounds or dollars that Zenge costs to buy in the eShop I have no hesitation in saying if you’re a puzzle fan and even if you’re not Zenge, deserves a spot on your Nintendo Switch. Which only leaves me to say: in my opinion it ticks all the boxes for a quality puzzle game and my score is….
A very refreshing puzzler, with a fun combination of story-line and RPG elements. The game works well on the Switch, so it’s a good game to play on the go or for “just one more puzzle” during your morning cup of coffee. A funny story-line, a dollop of humor in the writing, many, many puzzles, and a nice way of including the puzzle element. I have to say that Piczle Cross Adventures is a game that should be on every puzzle gamer’s Switch!
It took me a bit under eight hours to finish the game. Though an hour of that was wandering around as I assumed I couldn’t go somewhere I was meant to. I wish it was longer purely because I’d rather play more with my new abilities than start the game over. I will have to as I can’t get 100% on my first save file because late in the game a section gets locked off permanently. That and the intermittent voice acting are the only complaints I have about this game. An option to mark things on the map would have been nice but the world is small enough it’s not hard to remember things. It’s terribly hard to resist the siren call of this game. It’s been hard to finish this review because whenever I go to check something I just keep playing it. I had a really fun time with this game and I give it:
The artwork is just as amazing as the story, and the music is cute and sets the mood for every single scene nicely. In common visual-novel-style, there are different choices you can make (do you want to make pancakes for Licia, or go buy her a crepe?), these choices will lead you to one of six different endings, making for plenty of replay value. On top of that, there are your standard artwork collectibles (which are all beautiful artistic creations) of the characters and your more-specific-to-this-game splendid drawings of food. I can feel how much love went into this game. The author clearly loves each character, and the artist clearly loves food! Ratalaika Games hits another home run for publishing this one, and the developer ebi-hime is an excellent author. Ebi-hime has other visual novels under their belt as well, and I am really looking forward to checking them out too. Strawberry Vinegar has such a modest price point that I would highly recommend it to any fan of visual novels. Also, I think it’s an excellent starting point for any young gamer looking to try out a visual novel.
The game takes around 30 hours to finish but there are plenty of side quests and collectibles to find which will add to an already packed adventure. This really is a game you can sink your teeth into and get lost in for hours at a time. Like a really really long satisfying picture book. Bug Fables is a wonderful bug riddled adventure. In a good way not the gaming way. Charming characters with fun witty dialogue. It’s adventure that feels suitable for the entire family. The only trouble is, since it is single player, you may need to fight over who gets to play. Good thing the game provides additional files. While I struggled with pressing the right button many times I was constantly smiling while playing this game. A wonderful piece of gaming more people should discover for themselves. Don’t let it buzz you by.
I can’t call The Almost Gone difficult, exactly, as the puzzles were generally easy to figure out, but it wasn’t an easy game either. There’s a lot of sequential puzzling, where the outcome from one is required to solve another, and a fair amount of non-linear thinking required – one puzzle required me to obtain numbers for a key-code lock, that were scattered not only across rooms but also across perspectives. The only time I really had difficulty was my own fault; I turned off on my Lite partway through the game saving, so once I loaded on my other Switch the core piece I’d just earned was no longer collected even though I thought it was, so I spent an extra hour looking for what I’d missed! While there are a couple of minor flaws, The Almost Gone was a beautiful and enrapturing point-and-click mystery exploration adventure that I can’t recommend highly enough. Be warned that there are a number of sensitive topics covered, so it may not be one for the easily upset, but otherwise it’s a truly enjoyable yet saddening tale that deserves a spot on anyone’s download list (and shelf if a physical is released – I’m praying!)
This bring us to both collections’ biggest issue. Darius as a series must be programmed with some kind of rare metal because they always seem to command a very high price for entry. I noted this back in the day when I reviewed Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours for the Vita. This issue will be the main reason people will avoid a purchase, especially with current circumstances in the world. The other notable issue is that these collections are not complete collections of the Darius series. This is nothing new with retro collections in general, but the oddest omission is that of the first Darius game on the Console Collection. The reason it’s a bit fishy is that this game was released on the Mega Drive Mini which was also developed by M2 and yet is strangely missing from this collection. There are also a variety of other titles and ports missing that enthusiasts of the series may be disappointed not to have. Both the Arcade Collection and Console Collection are brilliant. M2 has once again outdone themselves and proved they’re the best at retro gaming on modern systems. It’s a shame the price is so darn high though, especially since I really couldn’t see owning only one of these collections. If you do take the plunge you have a brilliant collection of one of the best schmup series from ye old days.
Urban Flow has 100 levels in the core campaign but there’s always the incentive to replay levels to gain the 3 star rating. Getting more stars rewards you by unlocking a variety of things like new cars and buildings. As well as this, there are additional modes like endless mode to keep you busy even longer. This game is easy to dip in and out of even if you just need a really quick gaming fix. Who would have thought a game about controlling traffic lights could be so much fun. Well, Urban Flow proves simple ideas can still make incredibly good games. A good time alone but this game really came alive when I played with my wife and will now hold a special place in gaming memories for the two of us. I really enjoyed playing this one, as James mentions the music was great and it was easy to get to grips with. It added in some extra twists to keep you on your toes and to keep the levels interesting without becoming tedious. It also got your brain moving a lot more than you might think it would. I also would have loved it if you actually were the pigeons that got hold of the controller but then one can dream! Melissa
Railway Empire is a deep, engrossing simulation strategy game. Once you get the hang of the controls and the finer points of running a mega railway empire, you’ll spend many hours playing with trains. For train enthusiasts this is the game you need and for those of us that are looking for their next strategy simulation hit then look no further than Railway Empire! That only leaves me with one thing to say before I rush off to carry on building my vast rail empire across the UK and transport some much needed meat to those hungry folk in Kilkenny, my score is Two Thumbs Up.