The draw of searching dank dungeons never gets old! No matter the genre, it’s always enthralling to discover the mysteries while uncovering the secrets. Rogue Explorer lets you explore many locations while battling monsters and collecting treasure.
Developed by ZOO Corporation and Eastasiasoft Limited and published by the latter, this is a rogue-lite dungeon crawler. Presented using a retro side-scrolling style, you’ll experience old-school vibes while destroying an array of monsters.
Rogue Explorer captures the best elements from the genre.
Rogue-lite games are brutal and unfair! But fans of the genre love the difficulty curve and harsh nature of the gameplay. Rogue Explorer offers the tough elements while allowing new players a fair chance. Death brings about the loss of many things, but it doesn’t wipe all your progress. This small mercy makes the action much more accessible and enjoyable.
With no story to follow and an episodic approach for each stage, you are kept focussed by the evolving mechanics. With new equipment to find and craft, and tougher monsters to overcome, you’ll want to keep playing to see how it progresses. You’ll first be asked to explore ten different dungeon types, each with unique monsters and an enormous boss to defeat. As you explore, you’ll discover new weapons, gold, and health vials that aid you on your journey. Killing monsters awards you with XP, which levels your character up with unique skills.
Faster movement or attack skills, increased XP, powerful attacks, higher health, and so forth. Your warrior becomes exponentially more powerful and this evens out the difficulty curve. However, word of warning don’t get used to these skills if death is on the cards. The moment you die, your abilities are wiped and your character is reset.
The bosses are enormous and angry.
Evolving dungeons offer a fresh challenge.
As you delve further into the adventure, you’ll note that the levels become increasingly more challenging. During the early stages, the labyrinthine dungeons change design only after the day/night cycle has been completed. Yet, the more complex levels are unpredictable and every time you enter them, their layout alters. This was fantastic, as you never knew what dangers lay ahead, or what treasures were waiting for you. This was a brilliant move from the developers, as the action never became stale and I was happy to repeat each world, knowing a new journey was guaranteed.
The level design was fantastic, but I appreciated the character details more. With an array of skills on offer, and permanent upgrades available for purchase, I could customise the warrior for my game style. With so many variables on offer, the combinations and approaches were endless. This was a clever twist on a much-loved genre, and I admired the attention to detail.
Choose from an array of equipment.
Rogue Explorer fills you with nostalgia.
The rough pixelated imagery reminded me of early Mega Drive titles. I adored the presentation and smiled as it tweaked at my heartstrings. The grim colour palette and duller shades emphasise the dungeon atmosphere and give the game ominous overtones. The variety of enemies you encounter were fantastic, and the bosses were an awe-inspiring sight. The backdrops each had an interesting look, and I enjoyed exploring each dungeon.
The audio was strangely at odds with the overall feel of the game. With everything out to get you, I expected a heavy and sombre soundtrack. Instead, the upbeat music fills you with hope and you are inspired to keep going. You’ll love the sound effects as you slice the air with your sword or pierce monsters with a spear. It has a brilliant arcade edge that matches the high tempo music.
Throw everything you have at them.
Simple controls but fiddly to master.
The premise makes the approach straightforward. Your character must hack and slash their way through each dungeon while leaping from walls. In theory, this should be easy, but in reality, it’s fiddly to master. If you fail to time your jump correctly, you’ll fall off the wall and have to start again. With some practice, you’ll be leaping around with ease while collecting the treasure on offer.
The constantly altering levels make the action moreish. With secret levels to discover and oodles of treasure to collect, you’ll adore the replay value. Customise your warrior as you see fit and equip them with an array of weapons and armour. Rogue Explorer offers many approaches to completing the action, so experiment and find the right one for you.
Rogue Explorer is a fun and accessible rogue-lite title.
My love-hate relationship for rogue-lite titles will never dissipate, yet I enjoyed Rogue Explorer! Its fun, challenging, but accessible gameplay is a refreshing change for the genre. The different dungeon layouts, the array of monsters, and the selection of equipment keeps the gameplay fresh and held my attention throughout. It’s addictive and I recommend you to buy it here! Select your character, upgrade your equipment, and stay alive! The Tower hides many mysteries and treasures, and you must discover them all.
If there was an award for the greatest proof of concept, Ion Driver, a fast and futuristic budget indie title, would win 1st, 2nd and 3rd place every year. Developed by indie studio Moon Whale Studio via the Spanish Playstation Talents initiative, the title describes itself as ‘defying all laws of physics’ – which is true, but not in the way you’d expect.
Strongly influenced by classics such as Wipeout and F-Zero, this title has great aesthetics, with cell-shaded car designs and shiny neon levels that run smoothly in 60fps, and such is their effect that you believe you’ve struck gold. Preventing the ‘Hidden Gem Achievement’ from popping, however, is a drop-off in both quantity and quality so extreme, that this title soon degrades itself to little more than a demo with a price tag.
As soon as you start driving, you strafe into the wall (it turns out R2 isn’t the accelerator) and spawn back to your starting position, for no discernible reason. Utterly confused by the game’s first few moments, you soon realize that the odd controls are but a minor annoyance in comparison to the barriers of the track that spin you off course after even a minor tag and/ or reset your position to a few meters back up the road.
You’ll be going too fast to really appreciate the tremendous visuals as you race, so take a moment to enjoy them now!
Rational minds might point to the price point of $4.99 at launch as a fair warning – but no risk, no reward – right?
Discovering that the game only has two races, similar cars (in all but design) and the guarantee that you’ll experience at least one bug per race brings you back to reality, but even so, you can’t help but feel a tiny bit disappointed with the game’s influences at least being recreated visually, if not in their slick gameplay.
Avoid the walls long enough, and you’ll discover that there are 11 other competitors to race against, assuming of course that your next rendevous with the wall that flips you 180 doesn’t have you racing in the opposite direction without you realizing. Manage to stay in the middle of the road, however, and your victory is all but assured with the competitors moving at pedestrian speed and can’t be collided with, meaning you are basically racing ghosts in a time trial.
The laundry list of issues is seemingly never-ending but despite this, like a guilty pleasure that you don’t want to admit…….I kinda like it. Making it through a race without hitting the walls while boosting to high heaven is not only difficult but thrilling regardless of how long it lasts or how many tracks it can be played on. Its also good fun trying to beat your own lap times, but that is hardly unique to this racer.
I’m like a moth to a flame with this aesthetic.
One interesting tool at your disposal is ‘magnetization’ that sticks you to the road when flung into the air by the track and is quite frankly, awesome. It’s only used on the second of the two tracks and isn’t even all that accurate, but sue me, it’s cool. In addition to single-player, there does also exist a local multiplayer mode for those who have friends, but without online leaderboards and the amount of buggy forced restarts, it might not make that bridge worth crossing.
Your magnetization technique comes in handy when landing this jump.
One could hope that Ion Driver is a launching pad for a more in-depth sequel later down the line – perhaps like one of my favorite racers Airace, released by indie team NoWay Studio, which was preceded by a comparatively rudimentary version in Airace: Tunnel. With a world as brilliantly designed as this, I would be very interested in seeing it fully realized.
Ion Driver is a short bug-filled ride that you won’t regret assuming that you know exactly what you’re getting – a glorified demo. Irrespective of the price, a paid-for title shouldn’t be released in this state, but like eating the ingredients of a cake before you’ve finished making it, there are still some redeemable features to enjoy – notably its speed and visuals – before the lack of content starts to disappoint.
The draw of futuristic games and the unnerving thought of Big Brother watching us spurs on gamers to adore the Cyberpunk theme. We’re all aware of CD Projekt RED’s unfortunate shortcomings with Cyberpunk 2077, but this hasn’t put us off. Foreclosed allows you to put your realistic ideals aside while taking a journey into the neon and morally corrupt future.
Developed by Antab Studio and Merge Games and published by the latter, this is a dark, seedy, and futuristic action-adventure title. The game revolves around corrupt corporations, money, and the desire to be powerful. The neon-infused game is told through a stylistic comic book panel effect that flits between perspectives. With hard-hitting audio and badass characters, you’ll quickly fall for its cool aesthetics and punchy storyline.
Foreclosed is a tale of deceit and tainted power.
You control Evan Kapnos a man who wakes one day to find his identity being stripped away. His personality and implants and been foreclosed and they’ll be sold to the highest bidder. He loses all privileges, and his only right is to go to court to have his case heard. As he starts that painful journey, he is ambushed and here his true path begins. You discover that your body has been used as an experiment and a powerful and rich collaborator cannot allow for this top-secret tech to be seen. He closes your place of employment and, subsequently, your life as a desperate way to regain control. You must discover this individual’s identity and escape before your personality is taken from you.
Foreclosed blends a wonderful mixture of action-adventure and visual novel mechanics as you take on its narrative-driven story. You’ll learn special powers, battle goons, and sneak in the shadows as you edge closer to the truth. The action and text-based conversations seamlessly flow. No matter how hard you try, you’ll be glued to the dramatic plot.
Futuristic games never cease to amaze me! With the freedom to do as they wish, developers bend the laws of physics and create some truly awesome experiences. Foreclosed makes the most of this artistic licence with its fantastic special powers that aid the protagonist throughout. His experimental implants may have caused his plight, but they also help to make him superhuman. Starting off relatively low key, he can hack open electronics and cripple unsuspecting humans. These are soon upgraded to allow for; telekinesis, new attacks, shields, and so forth.
Evan can combine each skill and this makes for some truly memorable moments. Lifting a goon and smashing him to the floor was fantastic. Alternatively, you’ll throw someone in the air to use them as a human clay pigeon. You’ll snigger and laugh as your opponents drop like flies. It’s evil, sadistic, but you remember you didn’t start this war, they did.
The upgrades and new abilities follow a more traditional route. You gain them through natural progression or after XP is collected. The adage “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” is true. Most gamers will enjoy this comfortable mechanic as XP is awarded for; successful battles, completion of tasks, and hacking hidden devices. It added a nice layer to the well-paced gameplay and allows you to dictate your approach and style.
Such a warm welcome.
Other heating implants and lethargic combat.
I admire many of Foreclosed qualities, however, sadly, there are some glaring pitfalls. Evan should be powerful, agile, and leave you in awe, yet he doesn’t! Every action he undertakes generates heat within his implants. This is made worse when you improve your pistol. Three upgrades can be used, but doing so causes it to overheat in seconds. You’ll spend most of your time cowering in a corner waiting for your meter to cool down. Instead of annihilating your opponents and losing yourself in each battle, you sit patiently, waiting. It reduces the excitement of any battle situation and undoubtedly is the common cause of your death.
You’ll load up with armour piercing rounds, bullets that explode, rapid-fire and more. It all sounds great, but it makes the combat clunky and lethargic. You’ll hide while your foes stand by shooting at a wall. It’s silly, unrealistic, and reduces any fear factor during every battle. It’s a shame as I wanted to feel like a superhero, instead, it was just lame and understated. Fortunately, though, the stealth moments pulled the gameplay back in line and prevented the action sections from being a complete failure. Frying someone’s mind or sneaking through restricted areas was great, and I wish there was more of this.
Foreclosed is colourful, stylised, and wonderful to look at.
Foreclosed is undeniably great to look at. Its vivid colours, neon hue, and comic book styling are fantastic. The way the gameplay flows from top-down to the first-person perspective is buttery smooth and the comic panels work in perfect harmony. As the screen splits into micro scenes, you’ll observe the action from CCTV, through Evan’s eyes, and from a birds-eye perspective. It was unique, and it instantly captured my attention. Though it was great, there were a few issues with camera movement and positioning. It appeared to judder at times and this was uncomfortable to look at. There were also moments where you’d pan around and be stuck staring at a wall. These drawbacks didn’t ruin the game, they simply stood out against the well-polished finish.
When a game demands that you fall for its dark and seedy nature, you know the audio will be heavy. The loud and uncomfortable soundtrack adds energy and tension throughout. You’ll be on edge constantly as you wait for enemies to jump out on you, or something to go wrong. There were moments when the audio didn’t match the action and this was obvious in the slow-paced combat. With the music blaring I expected to go in all guns blazing however, I was sat behind a wall waiting to cool down. Other than the slight pacing issues, the sound was great and helped to suck you into the futuristic world.
Work together to save each other.
The controls are super sensitive!
I rarely adjust the controls as I usually make do. Sadly, Foreclosed has got the control sensitivity wrong. The twitchy set-up is all over the place and aiming and shooting is almost impossible. Adjusting the settings to your liking is a must, otherwise, you’ll be frustrated from the moment you are given a weapon. If you overlook the sensitivity issues you find a well set up title that is easy to get to grips with. Abilities are mapped to your liking and the rest of the controls are responsive.
As the gameplay unfolds linearly, you’ll be pushed to find fresh action if you were to return to it. There is the option for different upgrades, but I don’t think this is enough of a draw to make you complete it again. The replay value isn’t enhanced by the game’s moderate achievement list, sadly. Therefore, completionists will have this finished in one playthrough. Luckily, the first run is worthwhile, and it provides great value for money.
Foreclosed brings the Cyberpunk world to life.
Foreclosed captured my attention immediately! Its hard-hitting story and wonderful aesthetics are tough to resist. I loved the stealth elements and wanted more hacking and sneaky kills. The game is sadly lacking in its combat elements and the overreliance on the implant heat meter made the action unnecessarily slow. Evan appears more vulnerable and human than a superhero and this was a letdown for me. With some wonderful ideas and a great world to explore, the gameplay isn’t tainted by its few shortcomings. I enjoyed it and recommend you to buy it here! Losing your identity is not a laughing matter. Fight for your freedom and escape before the system sells your life.
As someone who has never played an Otome game, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with Bustafellows: a new visual novel that blends crime, dating and time travel all in one dense package.
For those like me, that are unfamiliar with the ‘Otome’ genre, generally speaking they are story based games primarily targeted towards women. Alongside the main story, another goal for the player is to romance a number of different (traditionally) male characters.
I’m typically more of a JRPG / ARPG person, but I went into Bustafellows with an open mind, and a curiosity towards the unknown.
And, after a lot of shameless romancing, underworld exhibitions, and anime goodness, I am excited to talk about a game that has a surprising amount of substance.
Delightful presentation:
The initial allure of Bustafellows for me was the anime esque presentation of the game. From the delightful animated character sprites that bring life to each and every interaction; to the jazzy background music that helps capture the game’s cosy – occasionally tense – ambience, Bustafellows nails its presentation.
Having not delved too far into the visual novel genre, I had no real set expectations when it came to immersion and presentation, but Bustafellows really blew me away on this front.
The UI interface is incredibly clean, and modelled after the in-game AI system: Anima.
Each character has a distinct, vibrant and memorable design that also reflects their personalities. For the dating simulation element, I also found this helpful in deciding which characters I preferred.
Furthermore, whilst there is no English dub, the Japanese voice acting is excellent; full of personality and emotion.
The occasional animated cutscene, and stylish chapter intros and outros (in the next episode!), all contribute to a very impressive visual experience.
There are a couple issues that I did have with the presentation, however. Typos and grammatical errors are minor, but just frequent enough to be noticeable. One character in particular, had the misfortune of their name being misspelled on the regular.
Some of my favourite presentation came in the ‘scene’ setters that segwayed nicely between new areas and plot points.
Unfortunately, the background dialogue between the characters is not translated to text on screen! Now, I did manage to read up on the dialogue in the games menu, but this is something I happened upon, rather than having been directed to by the game.
Nothing major enough to take away from the games overall excellent presentation and undeniable style.
Time travel, dating and finding the perfect scoop:
Bustafellows story was also a pleasant surprise for me.
Set in the fictional American town of New Sieg, you play the role of freelance journalist, Teuta Bridges. Teuta isn’t any old ordinary journalist; she has the ability to leap into the past – for a brief period of time – and assume control of someone else.
Now, on the surface, this sounds rather insidious. Thankfully, Teuta uses this quirk for good, and it comes in especially handy when she witnesses the murder of the charismatic, crooked lawyer: Limbo Fitzgerald.
This sets the story in motion, as Teuta explores how to save Limbo, and on the way, engages with a rich cast of friends, foes and, of course, dashing love interests.
A crooked lawyer, a hitman, a coroner, a plastic surgeon and a computer hacker make up our cast of potential love interests for Teuta. Exploring each of these potential love interests is what leads to diverging narrative paths, with the true ending being locked behind completing each of these routes.
Crucially, depending on the choices you make, it will alter both the order of routes, as well as potential endings you may get. This relatively free form approach immerses you into the role of Teuta, as you put together the pieces of a much, much larger puzzle.
All of the suitors’ backstories are worth pursuing, and completing each route further develops the overarching narrative. There is an impressive amount to the story, and you can easily spend 40+ hours exploring all of the routes.
Pacing is generally good as well, although perhaps the writers were a bit too concerned about the game dragging, and near the end I feel like I was being thrown twist after twist. Most of them felt earned to be fair, even still, I think it slightly lessened the impact due to sheer volume.
There are also extra bits of optional story that can be unlocked as you play. Whilst not essential, these additional ‘episodes’ add more backstory for other side characters and minor plot points.
Overall, Bustafellows narrative is well worth putting the time into. Excellent writing (aforementioned typos aside), themes and loveable characters help contribute to a really fun experience.
Combined with the brilliant art style and tone, I found myself immersed within the life of Teuta, and the various denizens of New Sieg.
If you’re someone like me that is new to the Otome genre, Bustafellows provides a fantastic entry-point. And if you’re already a fan of this genre – what are you doing? Go get this game.
Arguably the hardest thing about reviewing video games is getting a really challenging game ahead of or around its release date. There are no playthroughs and no guides to help you progress – you are left to your own devices, which more often than not means floundering around like an idiot as you reach your deadline.
The game responsible for today’s floundering is Tetragon, a mysterious but serene indie puzzler that’ll confuzzle even the most hardened of puzzle fans. Developed by 9-person indie outfit Cafundo, Tetragon is a title of modest ambitions and few mechanics, aiming to blend in with its peers without re-inventing the wheel – even if it does let you rotate the world around you.
Smoother visuals than peanut butter sandwich
A magic stone called TetraGen has granted you the power to rotate the map and extend columns (either vertically and horizontally depending on the column) to reach the floating Rubik’s cube goal in each map. It’s a fun gimmick that manifests itself slightly differently in each map, often using both mechanics in each level, and will have you fixated on the screen as you attempt to stare the game into submission. Adjusting the map back and forth, getting stuck for hours, falling asleep, and then waking up to finally solve the damn thing was just par the course over my playthrough.
With no skill or time-based requirements, this is very much a game you can enjoy at your own pace, and with 40+ levels spread out over 3 different worlds, there is no shortage of content available.
In terms of its presentation, creating colorful and mysterious visuals is the Unity engine, well-known for its smooth output and clean textures. The soundtrack on the other hand is both relaxing and serene, with a xylophone and a piano bringing a calming effect to proceedings. These features, while decent in isolation, blend rather poorly as their tone’s contrast to the emotionally-driven story with an amnesia-affected lumberjack attempting to find his son, but is restricted to ‘ghosts’ located in corners of each map and lines of error-strewn text interactions. It’s hard to reconcile the difference with the relaxed soundtrack which suggests are more pleasant storyline.
While impressing in the first few maps, the game’s minimalistic features start to show their slightly suspect implementation and rough edges not long after. The biggest offender of this is the game’s tower manipulation mechanic, which as its main gimmick, should be its most consistent, but poor collision detection and a host of other bugs will see blocks force themselves through each other, cause inconsistent deaths or simply break the level requiring a level reset.
Selecting the correct column with the L1 and R1 buttons can be awfully troublesome
The controls don’t fare much better either, making my aforementioned flailing ever more prevalent, with 2 and 3-block jumps having different inputs and the column selection process making about as much sense as buying this game on day one – which there is none. Wish to reselect the same block tower with a single button press after it automatically unselects as you consider a solution? Well – you can’t, you need to cycle left or right and then back again. Logic might also dictate that cycling clockwise when selecting a column be would with ‘R1’ instead of ‘L1’? Wrong again.
Spinning like a Ballerina…
The only saving grace here is that there’s no time limit, which gives you all the time in the world to get your head around these unruly controls. Oh, and for your sanity, lower the volume of the column selecting sound effect, which sounds like it’s trying to torture any animals in the vicinity with a high-pitched whine.
With a decent concept in tow, Tetragon has all the ingredients needed for a solid puzzler but fails to make a dish worth consistently coming back to as you realize that the game’s flawed gameplay mechanic and repetitive levels are apparent throughout. If ironed out in a patch, then this title’s overall merits might be worth reconsideration, but until then there are better alternatives available, so best leave the floundering to me – for now. Having said that though, if you are sorely looking for a challenge then this game might just be up your alley, just don’t expect perfection.
Fast food has long been adored by the unhealthy and obese. It’s the scourge of all health professionals and causes no end of problems. Yet, I’m not here to talk about the implications of your diet, mainly. I’m here to suggest a conspiracy theory. What would you do if your local eatery cut corners and contaminated their food supply? How would you feel if this caused the end of the world and a zombie outbreak? Pretty pissed off I’d imagine, and so would I! Deadly Days tells this story using a retro look with hints of comedy.
Developed by Pixelsplit and published by Assemble Entertainment, this is a rogue-lite zombie survival game. It’s a title that’ll make you laugh, cry, and scream as you control your band of survivors. The aim is simple, yet achieving your goals is anything but. You must take on missions, loot buildings, and collect segments of a map. You’ll battle hordes of undead beasts as you go about your business.
Search the graveyard and survive the hordes.
Deadly Days is simple in design but addictive as hell!
Constantly dying should be enough to put you off, however, it only serves to toughen your resolve. Deadly Days tests this theory as it pushes you to your limits! Your hapless survivors follow orders blindly, and they rely on you to lead them to safety. Your group lives in a small base that can be improved over time. It comprises your loot, a few buildings, and a yellow school bus. Here you manage your team, select weapons you wish to use, choose items and power-ups, and level up your people.
The game’s main premise is straightforward, and each day follows the same routine. You must organise your survivors, select from procedurally generated missions, and aim to get back alive. Your missions comprise different goals, and some have specific zombies or tasks for you to complete as a bonus. You’ll scavenge the locations you visit, hoping to find food supplies, weapons, and scrap. The more enemies you kill, the more XP you earn. Stronger survivors increase your chances of success, but this is no guarantee! You must know when to keep going, and when to retreat to the safety of the bus and to return to the base. You’ll quickly learn there is a fine balance between bravery and foolishness, and it’s your responsibility to get it right.
Nighttime woes, and threat levels.
The simplicity of the gameplay is spiced up nicely as time wears on. You have plenty to focus on with a day and night cycle to consider and increased threat levels to be aware of. The weak and pitiful zombies quickly gain strength and health and this makes your foes superhuman. The madness of the gameplay and the bizarre story ensure this is more than your standard rogue-like zombie survival experience.
The immediate risk to your success is the increased difficulty once your mission ventures into the darkness of night. As tradition dictates, the zombies are more aggressive and pose a bigger threat once the sun sets, so you must consider your approach. This goes hand in hand with the increased threat level as the days melt away. Larger and more powerful zombies appear and your task of finding the map and shutting down the source of all evil becomes much harder.
Build up your base to improve your chances.
What kills you makes you stronger.
You’ll take risks and death is certain, but you are helped by items and special powers. The abilities are selected at the start of a run, but they are not set in stone. Once your playthrough is finished, you are awarded XP based on your success and more powers are unlocked. This is a standard rouge-lite/like mechanics and fans of the genre will be familiar with its impact on the gameplay.
At the start, you are allocated your items and weapons. As time passes a wide array of new goods become available as you loot houses and cars. Every ability, item, or weapon can be upgraded and repaired using the scrap you find. This can be the difference between death and surviving, so equipping yourself with the best gear is essential.
Most importantly is the supply of food! You can have badass fighters, legendary weapons, and all-powerful abilities, but they mean nothing if you starve to death. Each survivor requires one item of food per day and if none is provided, they promptly die. It’s infuriating, unfair, but adds a layer of complexity that’s essential. You’ll raid supermarkets, loot trees, and steal from vending machines to keep your team going. No one cares where the food comes from, as your concern is staying alive.
Deadly Days has GTA vibes and a retro world.
Deadly Days imagery is reminiscent of the early GTA games. It has taken inspiration from old-school retro titles and I adored the style. With a brilliant mixture of zombie models, colourful and dark environments, and a clean UI, it’s wonderful to look at. Sadly, though, for all its positives, there is one humongous drawback. Each level has a distinct feeling of deja vu. With little variety in design, you constantly explore similar environments. This was disappointing and I hope the developers will add a further selection of maps to the mix.
The usual blend of moans, groans, and sounds accompanies the action. The tried and tested audio will make you chuckle and helped to create a doomed atmosphere. I loved the change of tone as nighttime came and the distinct moments created a worrying experience. Weapons blast out over the music as you shoot and slash the undead beasts. It was loud, in your face, and matched the theme perfectly.
Which mission will you take?
Patience and planning and simple controls are key.
There was such potential for this to be complicated, fortunately, Deadly Days is really simple. With a fun and thorough tutorial from a zombie teacher, you’ll learn the basics while chuckling away. The well-labelled UI helps and the simple button layout enhances the user-friendly approach. Getting to the end is difficult, but at least the controls don’t hinder your progress.
Rogue-lite games are addictive, packed with replay value and Deadly Days is no different. Though its maps add a repetitive feel to the gameplay, this is quickly forgiven as the array of missions is good, and the changes in tactical approach keep things fresh. There is then the range of challenges against other players that add a competitive edge. Mix this all up with a large and difficult achievement list, and you have a game that keeps on giving.
Deadly Days is fantastic, tough, and will make you scream.
It took little for me to fall for Deadly Days charms and I loved the look, sounds and brutal gameplay. Sure, it has its shortcomings, but these were quickly forgiven. You’ll grow attached to your virtual survivors and will do anything to keep them alive. I loved it and recommend you to buy it here! Fast food has long been the downfall of mankind, yet no one guessed it would end this way. Rescue people, loot for goods and destroy the source of the foul burgers.
Unbound: Worlds Apart is a breath of fresh air in the world of Metroidvanias. The gaming industry has become rapidly overpopulated by games of this type. Players have been replaying the same story with different characters for years now, so when something new and exciting comes along, we obviously all jump at the chance to play it. Alien Pixel Studios brought Unbound: Worlds Apart to the table, and boy oh boy did we eat it up.
A world of magic and multi-dimensional travel is at our doorsteps, but we need to be the only brave survivor to face it all. Jumping headfirst into this adventure was one of the best decisions forto make, and my adventures with Soli will not be forgotten. This game is a wholesome yet terrifying journey to save what you believe in. What lies beyond the portals? And how did we get here in the first place? The history of Soli and their kind is ready for your exploration. So what is stopping you?
What makes it so special?
In case you were curious, you take on the role of Soli within Unbound. A hooded mage, who watches the world of Vaiya fall to chaos. All your fellow mages are struggling to use their powers to save it, but luckily you are one of a kind with the ability to utilize other dimensions in your travels. This is what makes Unbound so special. Multi-dimensional travel is not something I have experienced in a metroidvania, or more so not something I have seen executed well. This isn’t a one off skill you only need to use once, every single puzzle is based around these portals. You’re not just stuck to one type either, every level has new skills and new terrifying experiences to put yourself through. Whilst one portal removes gravity from the occasion, others turn innocent looking creatures into quite literal nightmare fuel.
How the world(s) work
Unbound: Worlds Apart has definitely perfected an equilibrium between special and spooky. Whilst some of the worlds you encounter are calming and gently encourage you to progress to the next level, others are absolutely blood curdling. Horrific monsters with more eyes than you can count on one hand, or enough teeth to cause some serious damage litter the majority of hidden dimensions. They all support the fall of peace in Vaiya and remind you of what you’re fighting for. If your home had been infected with these nightmarish creatures, of course you would want to save it. Though these monsters are not so easy on the eyes, they are definitely useful for your journey. Don’t forget to check how the portals you open affect them, as they might just be the key to your success.
If eyes could speak
Unbound: Worlds Apart does not fall short of content either. Each character has a story to tell, and they are definitely more than willing to tell it. Some may initially appear as defensive, or filled with anger, but there’s only so much persuading glowing eyes needed before they’re letting you in on their history. You meet a huge spectrum of people along the way who help you remember who you are, whilst also introducing new skills for you to practise. By the end of Unbound: Worlds Apart, you’ll realise that you did all of this for them. Not just yourself. It’s a story tied up neatly with a bow, and honestly I would argue it is definitely a gift in the gaming industry.
Final thoughts
As I’ve mentioned several times throughout this review, my time with Unbound was most certainly an unforgettable one. After spending years playing metroidvanias, it is nice to be able to sit down with one I genuinely feel should excel in the field. It is a game so obviously filled with love and passion, and has a real heartbreaking story of discovery if you read between the lines. Alien Pixel Studios absolutely hit the nail on the head with this one. If you are searching for your next adventure, and have a history with metroidvanias, then I cannot recommend this enough to you.
The last few years have seen something of a resurgence in games mimicking the platforming titles of old, as both 2D side-scrollers and more elaborate 3D adventures. Super Sami Roll is the latest offering in this arena, presenting players with a series of 3D racing stages to explore.
The game casts you as a tiny dinosaur searching for his kidnapped friend. As far as the story goes, that’s all you’re really going to get; this is not a game seeking to make a huge narrative impact. Instead, the story is set up in a few quick panes of retro artwork, and then players are free to get on with the business of platforming their way through Super Sami Roll’s various levels.
Understandably, given the genre, the game’s primary focus is on movement. Beyond simple directional keys and jumping, players are given access to a short range grapple in the form of Sami’s tongue, and a bounce jump that grants extra height. Combined with the sense of momentum players have to account for when Sami is rolling at high speed, there is a surprising amount of complexity to navigating the game’s levels and perfecting the speed at which you do so.
Each level takes the form of a short time trial, in which players have to get to the end of the track before the time runs out. The races are ranked depending on how much time you have left when you complete the course. Along the way there are coins to collect, which add seconds onto your time limit, and occasional checkpoints to give you a helping hand with the trickier platforming sections. There is also a single raspberry in each level to find. Outside of the races, the coins and raspberries both take the form of currency that can be traded in the game’s shop to alter Sami’s appearance or to buy accessories for him to wear.
These ranks and collectibles are what provide Super Sami Roll with replayability; completionists will want to ensure they find everything on offer, while perfectionists will want to shoot for a perfect S+ ranking on each level.
Backing all of this is a really solid soundtrack, helping to give the game a lot of energy despite the numerous resets players are going to have to sit through on the harder levels. And this game is hard – if you’re not a fan of replaying the same sections over and over again until you get it right then this is definitely not the title for you. Like the original platformers of the 80s and 90s, Super Sami Roll demands near perfection in places or players face the risk of falling or running out of time.
For anybody looking to divert a few hours to a reasonably simple but challenging platformer, then you could certainly do worse than Super Sami Roll.
That being said, this game is far from perfect and there are a couple of issues that can really negatively impact your play time. To start with, the levels can be a little disappointing visually. While the platforms have all been well crafted in terms of jump distance and height, all of them exist as random blocky structures in a strange, featureless void. Effort has certainly gone into making the levels feel distinct, with striking colour palettes and varied enemy types, but the lack of actual world around you can feel incredibly disconnecting. Super Sami Roll doesn’t have the same focus on world design and exploring as, say, Yooka-Laylee, so it’s not a huge issue, but it really contributes to making each level feel very small.
A much more pressing issue is the sudden, unpredictable performance crashes that crop up throughout the game. Random frame drops and sudden increases to camera sensitivity can be tolerable in some games, but Super Sami Roll relies so heavily on rapid, careful movement that the slightest drop in performance almost always necessitates a reset. Reverting to a checkpoint doesn’t take long and they are liberally spread through complicated levels, but having to restart because the game decided not to register your input for a few seconds never feels good.
Compounding this issue is Sami’s sense of momentum. As a concept, this seems like a brilliant idea, making players have to work out what they want to do before they do it instead of relying on reactionary controls when it looks like something isn’t going the way they want. However, there are places where the maps don’t feel entirely like they’ve been built with this sense of forward movement in mind. Sharp turns and narrow walkways do add challenge and that’s likely the point of them, but there are a handful of sections that feel as though they’re difficult more due to level design not meshing well with the controls than through any developer intentions.
Overall, Super Sami Roll is a decent 3D platform racer. There’s not a huge amount of variety in content, but there are enough levels to keep players entertained for some time. The art style is appealing and the music consistently manages to be engaging without being distracting. If you’re looking for a more adventure- or story-based experience then you’re probably better off with something like Yooka-Laylee or Super Mario Odyssey, but if you just want something you can breeze in and out of, then definitely give Super Sami Roll a look.
Midnight Caravan is a visual novel and game of choices. While the overarching plot may be set in stone, you have agency in most of what you do. Your decisions are the deciding factor in the outcome of many encounters. As well as which doors might remain tightly shut, or wide open for you to enter.
Midnight Caravan has you play as a man who has been stripped of everything by a malignant and faceless figure known as Cassini. Years ago, your name and status came to ruin as you were framed for a crime that is never explicitly mentioned. Whatever it was, has forced you to go on the run. And you’ve been on the run for a long time. Long enough that you now find yourself as the master of the Midnight caravan, a traveling home to drinking, gambling, and harlotry to many patrons around Italy.
Make it Glorious
The caravan you run can be whatever you make it. Perhaps it will be a micro-dictatorship with you as its ruthless tyrant. Or you might create a safe haven for any in need of one. A home for outcasts and free thinkers, or a den of criminals and debauchery. You can prioritise the people who depend on you or keep coins at the forefront of your mind at all times.
The choices surrounding the caravan and your day to day life were easily the best part of the choice based gameplay. These choices mould the caravan and can hold all manner of possible benefits and pitfalls to your journey to find the man called Cassini. Some scenarios propose morals and honour and against making some money. Others might be strokes of misfortune that require you to weigh what resources you value more. Whether that be due to necessity or greed.
Whatever choice you make, should never be made lightly. It might affect a resource, add a useful item, or grant you a new trait. Each of these may prove invaluable as you progress through the story. However not every trait is welcome. For example, one of the first choices you make is where to set up the caravan. One option is to choose a secluded cave where you stashed some valuables while on the run. It increases your starting amount of coins. However it’s close vicinity to a malarial swamp means a decrease in health every turn.
However, not every choice has an immediate effect. At times you will encounter a scenario which bears unexpected fruit further down the line. Such as helping a group of beggars who in turn prove highly valuable to your hunt for Cassini. Sometimes what seems like the obvious choice can also lead to your downfall and the dreaded game over screen illustrating the one of three reasons you have failed to uncover the labyrinthian conspiracy surrounding you.
Health, Wealth, and Stealth
The three main reasons are your three vital stats. Your coins, your health and your suspicion level should all be monitored closely. Make the wrong choices and the story ends before you unveil the truth behind who Cassini is, and why they have ruined your life.
So clearly, the choices made through the campaign have far reaching benefits and consequences. They bleed into the main plot-line quite seamlessly. The people you befriend and items you amass can open up new dialogue options that progress the story in a manner most beneficial. The default route may see you lose a segment of health or put a dent into your coin purse. However, the alternate routes that are opened up through your many choices can create beneficial paths that are all reward and no punishment.
Though this does mean, that making the wrong choice way back when, can only send you to failure without fully understanding why. Such as one run where I was locked out of all options and promptly got killed. These moments can feel a tad unfair, and left me a little salty.
Let’s Try That Again
You’ll be replaying Midnight Caravan often if you’re anything like me. I couldn’t just let things go with me dead and the mystery unsolved. So of course, I dove straight back in. Doing so proved highly valuable. While the scenarios that crop up between the main plot are randomised, playing enough times means you’ll get a couple of familiar scenes. Knowing what benefits you can get out of each choice can be extremely useful to ensure a clean run. But it also showed me something I didn’t appreciate as much.
While those side scenarios affect the plot in many ways. The plot itself is really quite linear. Regardless of what choice you make, many times the outcome is the same. Often the only difference is what stat, if any, de- or increased. There were one or two occasions where an ally may be lost to me based on my choice. However, the main story often chugs along just fine without them.
Seeing as this is a visual novel, it’s understandable and acceptable. Yet, I couldn’t help but be disappointed by how linear it could be when I found myself playing through it so often. Especially when choices proved so important in the side stories.
Sights & Sounds
Midnight Caravan’s scenes and characters are illustrated quite well, and definitely add to the atmosphere and setting. It’s a story of intrigue, conspiracy and betrayal and the illustration oozes that fact. My only complaint was the amount of bare breasts littered throughout. Sure, its a caravan with sex workers on staff, but it still felt gratuitous. Every second woman you speak to is topless. Even when you’re having a private conversation where they ask for time off, or seek your help. Seeing as the caravan operates at night, don’t they get cold? A small complaint, but very noticeable.
Midnight Caravan also sports some great classical music to complement it. Strings, woodwinds and brass sections come together for a lovely symphony in its main and game menus. While the piano forms the backbone of the soundtrack when engaged in dialogue and choices. Overall the music fits really well with the kind of story you’re engaged in. And while there’s not a crazy amount of variety between the tracks. There’s enough complexity in each background song that it never felt repetitive. Even in my many playthroughs.
Excuse Me, There’s a Bug in My Game
Unfortunately the game has a few technical issues. I’ll recap the two I experienced. On one of my later playthroughs my suspicion level reached its limit and I was due to fail. But instead of the usual screen explaining why the game was over, it would just crash. This happened every time I tried, regardless of which choice I made.
The other bug was in the end of night recap screen. Here it summarises how much money, fame, health and suspicion you made or lost. If I decided to press the space bar instead of clicking my mouse, it would just add on to those amounts as if another night had passed. Essentially skipping a day each time. I could click this until I gained a certain amount of money. However, I would then not be able to progress the story, trapping me in an endless loop of pressing “continue”. I guess it’s what I get for trying to finesse some extra cash.
I also noticed a couple of grammatical errors here and there, such as using “him” where “he” would make more sense.
Midnight Caravan as a whole is an enjoyable visual novel that interweaves choices into a main plot that remains engaging all the way through. While not a perfect experience, you may just find yourself playing and replaying. It always keeps you coming back with its great dialogue and deep conspiracy.
‘War. War never changes.’ Except sometimes. Sometimes war changes quite significantly. If we take ‘war’ to mean Fallout, the video game franchise that harps on about war never changing, as if it makes the gameplay about slaying mutants in a post-apocalyptic wasteland somehow poetic, then war changes a great deal. Over the years Fallout has gone from an isometric turn-based RPG to a 3D first-person shooter RPG to a 3D multiplayer pile of garbage. But why am I wittering on about Fallout in this review of Dust to the End? Well, partially because Fallout is potentially my favourite video game franchise of all time and I’ll take any opportunity to talk about it, but mostly because Dust to the End gives me significant Fallout 1 and 2 vibes in its theming, art and some of its gameplay. If you love the original flavour of Fallout before ‘War. War changed’ and are upset there hasn’t been a release in that vein over the last two decades then I might have a little gem of a game for you.
Humanity is over. Standard story: boy meets boy, boy dislikes boy, boy wipes boy off the surface of the Earth with enough nukes to destroy life as we know it. It’s the sort of war that nobody wins and everybody loses. The only survivors are those who managed to get to underground vaults before the apocalypse really got going (I’ll be honest, some of the Fallout parallels aren’t subtle). Now, hundreds of years later, you play as a descendant of these survivors, still living in the vault away from the dangers of the irradiated world above. Unfortunately, your cosy existence in this protected corner of the post-apocalyptic wasteland isn’t destined to last and it isn’t long before bandits dressed in rad-as-hell plague doctor masks attack the vault and kill or capture all of your vault-dwelling companions. More through luck than judgement you manage to escape, fleeing into the wasteland with only your wits for company. It turns out that your wits are terrible company and before long you fall unconscious, surely fated to die under the scorching desert sun.
As ‘Dying Under the Scorching Desert Sun Simulator 2021’ would be a short and terrible game, the developers made the wise choice here to intervene and you are rescued by a kindly old man who nurses you back to health. However, this is a ‘you saved my life, I am eternally grateful’ situation and the old man turns out not to be that kindly after all, expecting you to work off your life debt to him by working for his caravan company. This job requires you to travel between settlements, buying supplies in one town for a low price and selling them on in another town for a higher price, repeating the process until you become some kind of post-apocalyptic Jeff Bezos, aka Jeff Bezos after a few more years of Jeff Bezos being Jeff Bezos. Your first goal is to make 5,000 money so you can pay the town’s ‘taxes’ which pay for a big can of giant-bug-repelling bug spray. A settlement will almost certainly perish without the bug spray, so the ‘tax’ is more of a protection racket run by the corporations monopolising the supply. Oh look, it’s Jeffery Bezos again.
Travelling between settlements is the main thrust of the game and is where I really pick up on the Fallout vibes the game is putting down. Much like in Fallout 1 and 2, when you travel between settlements you watch a little version of your character walking across an overview map, with the settlements highlighted, bandits and creatures roaming looking for an easy fight and random events such as supply caches marked. Your character will set off on a beeline towards the settlement you’ve set as your destination but you still have complete control of their movement, meaning you can avoid combat encounters, divert towards dropped supplied or change your destination entirely. As a pro-tip here, you should definitely do those things and not get distracted by eating a casserole, leaving your character to wander. Much like in the real world, you will get eaten by mutated bugs if you get distracted by casserole.
Speaking of food, I believe I’ve mentioned in another review on this site that I normally despise hunger and thirst meters in games. It’s enough of an ordeal monitoring your need for food and water in the real world, without having to take care of a video game character’s needs as well. Therefore, it may surprise you to hear that I love Dust to the End’s survival system, mostly because you don’t need to monitor your needs at all. The game tells you how much food and water you’ll need for a journey before you set off and you just need to make sure you have at least that much in your inventory. Beyond that, it pretty much takes care of itself. I appreciate this hands-off approach to hunger and thirst and it’s one of the few games where I think it makes gameplay sense to have survival needs, as it means you need to balance your inventory between having enough food and water to survive a journey but also carrying as many supplies as possible to sell for a profit at the next town. It’s not just the amount of food and water you carry that’s important – the quality of those items influences your ‘morale’, which impacts your combat effectiveness. So you might want to spend the extra cash and inventory space on better food so you’re not caught with your gun-belt around your ankles when you’re attacked by bandits.
The final element of gameplay is combat – you can avoid fighting enemies to your heart’s content but that won’t help you when a quest needs you to collect bug blood to free some people who may or may not be your kidnapped fellow vault-dwellers (it doesn’t sound like it but it does make sense in context, trust me). The combat is turn-based with some of your stats determining the rate at which you get another turn. This is illustrated by a turn order at the top of your screen. You can always do your basic attack which will do a modest amount of damage to a single enemy. But, what you’ll really want to do is one of your special attacks. Special attacks generally do more damage or have a chance to apply a status effect to the enemy it hits, like ‘stunned’ which forces them to skip their next turn. However, special attacks require AP and your AP is determined by your morale, so if you’ve been eating gristle and bugs for the last week you’ll be stuck doing your basic attack all of the time. The combat isn’t anything particularly special but it’s solidly put together and there’s nothing to complain about – especially when you’ll be avoiding combat as much as you can in an effort to try and stay alive.
If you want a hit of an early Fallout game in a brilliant and non-copyright infringing package since Bethesda have jumped into a lake with the concrete breeze-block of Fallout 76 tied to their ankles, then look no further than Dust to the End. Brimming with a compelling story and memorable characters, Dust to the End is not one to let pass you by. It’s got a clear mechanism for earning money, with one of the best yet most understandable economies in games – certainly more understandable than the real world economy where people starve while billionaires go to space. This mechanic is packaged next to your standard turn-based RPG combat and has a decent system for travelling and avoiding combat thrown in for good measure. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I still have a few kilos of bug blood to harvest because after all – War, war never changes.
Everyone can be good at whatever they try, but few will be blessed with natural talent. When you have those gifts, you must nurture them with practice, training, and listening to your elders. Dodgeball Academia wants us mere mortals to experience the challenges faced by the best in their fields.
Developed by Pocket Trap and published by Humble Games, this is a colourful underdog sports title. Set in the renowned Dodgeball Academia, you must battle your way to the top of the sport. You’ll set out to prove the naysayers wrong as you and your band of rejects take on the best in the sport. The reward for your hard work is to become the champion.
Where it all begins.
Dodgeball Academia is a Manga inspired RPG.
It’s obvious from the dialogue and art style that Pocket Trap has taken inspiration from some much-loved RPGs and modern Anime titles. With the feel-good vibes, constant one-upmanship and the need to be the best, it has a familiar feel. It was great, as you instantly felt comfortable in what is otherwise a strange plot with an array of bizarre and loveable characters.
The campus is filled with stereotypes; the school bullies, weird kids, geeks, those who try too hard, and our protagonist, the newcomer. The teaching staff have their obvious traits and the plot plays out like a children’s high school drama, albeit weirder.
Plenty to do and dramatic battles.
You control Otto who has transferred to Dodgeball Academia from a rundown underachieving school. You desire the dodgeball championship crown and must battle your way to the top. You’ll learn new abilities from your tutors, take on school kids and compete in the main tournament. Your adventures uncover secrets, and you’ll make new friends and rivals as you excel.
The story is fantastic, light-hearted and will keep you interested throughout, with its mixture of characters, battles, and mini-games it keeps the gameplay fresh. With a lot of back-and-forth action across the small campus, this prevented it from becoming tiresome.
The game spans eight episodes that comprise main quests, side quests, items to find, character levelling, and team building. You’ll explore many locations, visit shops, heal yourself in the pharmacy, and try to unlock secret chests. With lots to keep your interest and challenging games of dodgeball, you’ll test your skills, tactical nuance, and newly learnt abilities.
Multi dodgeball.
RPG influences are key to the story progression.
Every battle, side quest, and item you find are key to making progress in Dodgeball Academia. Levelling up your team is essential as the later matches become progressively harder. Every victory rewards each teammate with XP, and this increases; health, attributes, and the strength of your special powers. Permanent upgrades can be obtained by consuming items, but not every character likes the food presented! Pay attention to the finer details or rare items will be wasted. Equipment can also be worn to increase stats and these can be found, won, or purchased along the way.
The influence of early Nintendo RPGs was great to see. The adventure portion reminded me of Harvest Moon and the battles were a cross between Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z. However, even though there were nods to these great gaming franchises, Dodgeball Academia does enough for you to admire it on its merit. With ever-changing battle elements and zany characters, you’ll fall for its strange charms.
Dodgeball Academia has a striking style and a colourful world.
As you jump into Dodgeball Academia, you are met with vivid colours and a distinct art style. The bright world comprises small areas that you’ll explore thoroughly. With many NPCs to interact with and lots of collectables to find, you’ll lose yourself in this eye-catching world. I loved the varied sprites, the different venues and the OTT special powers. The cutscenes and animations were equally fantastic and the game seamlessly moved from scene to scene.
With its clear influences, it was apparent the music would be upbeat and full of energy. The constant noise should have been unbearable, but I loved it. Chuck in the loud and obnoxious sound effects and you have an in your face audio that never quits.
Someone get a fire extinguisher.
Timing is key and lots of buttons to remember.
Each enemy you face on the dodgeball court has a unique blend of attack and defence. You must study their moves, time your blocks, and go on the offensive. You’ll learn power attacks, dodging, jumping, focused attacks, and special abilities. As your team grows, you must use each skill wisely and remember your strengths and weaknesses.
The action can be hectic, with many balls flying around at once, yet with some effort, you’ll master the moves and will enjoy every encounter you face.
The story runs linearly, so you may worry that this impacts the replay value. However, fear not, as the achievement list demands you keep playing to search the whole academy. The final hunt for every item was tedious, but the wonderful characters will keep you amused throughout.
Dodgeball Academia will make you smile and bring out your aggressive side.
Smashing a ball into your cartoon opponent’s face is fantastic. Dodgeball Academia makes you smile as it brings out your aggressive side. With a ten to fifteen hours story and many colourful characters, it’s well worth the investment. Free to play as part of the Gamepass subscription, you have nothing to lose by giving it a whirl. I enjoyed it and recommend you to buy it here! Unleash your special powers and be crowned the champion of the arena.
Racing has been around for years and fans flock to watch the high adrenaline action and to scream for their favourite driver. Rally racing, however, is a relatively new sport, compared to the others. Its supporters flock to the trackside to watch the competitors jump, speed through water traps, and slide around bends. The events are rarely trouble-free, and this is one of the main draws for the crowd. Art of Rally replicates the sport in an old-school fast-paced manner.
Developed and published by Funselektor Labs Inc, this tells a story of the sport’s heyday, while allowing you to compete across several classes of cars. With racing at the heart of everything it does, Art of Rally rarely changes pace and gamers will enjoy the high tempo action of every event they take part in.
Art of Rally demands precision and a connection to each race.
I’ve never excelled at the racing genre, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it. I lack the finesse required to compete at the top level and I’ve come to terms with that. Fortunately, the developers understand its player base varies in ability and have allowed for a range of difficulty settings to compensate for those that are lacking. You can vary the damage to your vehicle and make your opponents as slow as a Sunday driver, so there was hope for me still.
With many modes to select from and a wide range of countries to visit, I felt spoilt immediately. Each country provides many tracks, and each one has a different surface that affects your driving style. I absolutely adored this attention to detail, and this ensured that the game was always challenging. You’ll race over tarmac, gravel, snow, dirt, and more as you aim to be crowned the champion of the world.
A brief history of the late rally scene.
The game opens with a surreal tutorial where a giant Buddha statue gives you a lecture about the history of the sport. I wasn’t too hopeful after this bizarre start, but I’m glad I kept an open mind as it quickly settled down to be a great driving experience.
You are flung straight into the Free Roam arena where you can do as you please. These large areas are surrounded by trees, rivers, and give you a taste of things to come. Here you are asked to collect five tapes, visit five beauty spots, and you must collect letters to make the word RALLY. Once you have found each letter, the next stage unlocks, and the fun starts over.
Other than the Free Roam section, the rest of the gameplay options are standard fare. Career, Time attack, Custom Rally, and Online Events are all available for selection.
Let’s talk game modes!
Career is where you’ll spend most of your time. Here you will race across different eras, unlocking a range of high performance and unique vehicles, while competing against computer opponents. Each level is generated randomly so you never know which country you’ll visit. The aim is simple; Get from A to B the quickest to be awarded the maximum points. You are given five restarts per race and if you finish first and have restarts left, you’ll unlock new vehicles and unseen liveries.
Time attack allows you to compete with online players to challenge for the number one gamer spot in the world. This will have the community champing at the bit and will be extremely competitive. Custom Rally contains no surprises, and you are free to set up the events of your dreams. Finally, Online Events allow for a daily and weekly competition on set tracks that are posted against other competing players.
It’s enjoyable, challenging, but something was missing.
Thrashing around each track while mastering the finer points of the surface was great fun. It’s truly rewarding once you get to grips with it and you hug the curves like a professional. Trying out the new cars was also a treat and increasing the speed never got boring. The impact of damage on your bodywork and the vehicle’s performance was interesting and was another layer to watch out for. As you increase the difficulty setting and up the damage percentage, the gameplay becomes challenging but fair. However, I couldn’t help but think that something was missing!
I’ve played my fair share of rally games across the years and am used to seeing live time splits for every competitor. Oddly, Art of Rally failed to provide this information. You are also driving every track blind as you are given no map or visibility of what to expect. This made for an exciting drive, but when you are pushing to go as fast as possible, a little heads up and knowledge would have gone a long way. I know it’s a small thing, but I expected to have these tools at my disposal and I believe this was an oversight from the developers.
Art of Rally is a simple game that makes the most of its assets.
So many racing games push the envelope to look fantastic and to be ultra-realistic. Therefore, it was refreshing that Art of Rally used its simplicity to make a fantastic looking and fun to play indie title. Shot from a bird’s-eye perspective, you have a great view of the surrounding world. The track is clearly set out before you, and the pixelated environment blurs as you speed on by. Crowds line the streets during each race and the insane competitors always get a little too close for comfort. The variety of landscapes and weather fronts helps to keep the gameplay interesting and I enjoyed experiencing each one.
The audio is dominated by the sound of the engines, even though there is a fast-paced soundtrack playing throughout. The overpowering sound effects were great, but I would have liked them scaled back a bit to create some balance. I enjoyed the squeals of the tyres and the thuds as you repeatedly crashed into the scenery, but I wasn’t surprised by anything on offer. I would have liked more crowd noises and some commentary to add excitement to each event. This doesn’t mean I was disappointed by the audio. I simply wanted a more rounded and fuller experience.
Pick your car and keep on racing.
The lack of complexity extends to the well-thought-out control setup. The opening tutorial with Buddha allows you the freedom to experiment before being chucked in the deep end. You’ll understand the fundamentals before you have to alter your style for each track, and this made it accessible. The difficulty scale also helped to balance out the field, and I was grateful for the user-friendly approach.
Thanks to the wide range of game modes and Online events, Art of Rally has plenty to keep you playing. You’ll also be sucked into its Free Roam section and the demand to find all the collectables. Lovers of the genre will become addicted to competing for the fastest times and completionists will need to invest lots of hours.
Art of Rally is straightforward racing at its best.
Racing games come thick and fast, so it was nice to play one that concentrated on the key elements. Yes, Art of Rally has its shortcomings, but its gameplay is fun and straightforward. Free to play on Gamepass and a play anywhere title, this is a game that is well worth your time. I enjoyed it and recommend you to buy it here! Do you have what it takes to win every rally? Jump into a car, select your event, and race your heart out.
Here is my video review using in game footage shot on my Xbox Series X.
I have to be honest, when I first saw The Ascent, back in 2020 when it was first revealed, I didn’t think much of it. Visually, it looked stunning, but the gameplay didn’t exactly grab my attention. However, now that I’ve finally had the chance of playing it after all this time, all I can say is that I couldn’t possibly have been more wrong back then.
The Ascent describes itself as an “action-shooter RPG”, but I’d argue that designation doesn’t do it justice. If I had to describe it to someone, I’d say that it’s what you get when you combine the gameplay of an isometric shooter with the progression mechanics and the worldbuilding of an RPG. I guess I could also say that The Ascent is unlike anything else I’ve ever played before in this genre, at least in terms of scope.
It’s worth noting that the game supports online co-op and shared split-screen with up to 4 players, but you can also play the entire game by yourself, which is what I did. I never felt like I was missing out on anything by playing solo, and the game remained decently challenging throughout my entire playthrough. With that said, I’m actually not sure how the game scales as more players jump into a session.
I know that a lot of people quickly get sick of seeing the same theme across various games, but this was never an issue for me. Over the last couple of years, cyberpunk has been making a resurgence, and I’m glad that all the cyberpunk games coming out don’t restrict themselves to a specific genre. In the case of The Ascent, its world is absolutely breathtaking.
I completely adore the way that cyberpunk is displayed here. There’s a huge variety of sceneries, ranging from tight hallways filled with massive pipes and cables that power the vast industries of the arcology, to more open areas where people tend to mingle. The game takes place across multiple layers of the Ascent Group’s arcology, with each of them being divided into multiple districts that, ultimately, make up for a series of interconnected areas.
The world isn’t just populated by enemies, but also by its inhabitants. Most often than not, you’ll see plenty of people running away when shots start flying, and this adds a lot to the game in terms of making it a believable and breathing world. It’s a world of constant skirmishes, not only between major gangs, but also between massive corporations that fight over the dominance of extremely rare AIs and assets.
Obviously, the game’s atmosphere wouldn’t be possible without the game’s graphical fidelity. Whether it’s the massive neon signs that populate the forest of towering habitation modules, or the amazing vistas from above the clouds where the rich spend their entire lifetimes, The Ascent looks absolutely stunning. The game goes far and beyond to make its world feel real. There’s trash literally everywhere across the streets, there are people pondering their miserable lives at every corner, and it all just culminates in an extremely engrossing experience.
Furthermore, thanks to how the game looks, most weapons feel pretty impactful. From bullet trails flying across the screen, to enemies exploding into bits due to the sheer power of your weapons, combat looks absolutely great. Meanwhile, in terms of sound, the game also does a pretty good job. From the punchy sound of each gunshot, to the background noise of the city, everything contributes to the game as a whole. The soundtrack, in particular, is spot on and I found it to always set the perfect mood in the right moment. It’s composed by Pawel Blaszczak, which also worked on the music for Dying Light, the Dead Island games and also the Call of Juarez series, so you might have heard his work before.
Although I could probably spend hours talking about the world of The Ascent, I have to admit that the game’s story didn’t grab me as much, at least not initially. It’s fine for the most part, but I thought that the later missions definitely do a better job in keeping you engaged. Personally, I prefered wandering around the streets of arcology, listening to random street conversations. Nonetheless, the game features a pretty interesting set of characters, each with their personal agendas. The game also has a codex full of lore entries that allow you to learn a ton more about the world. Overall, although I certainly wouldn’t commend the game for its quest design and narrative, I would most definitely praise it for its stellar worldbuilding.
Now, in spite of all that, combat is what constitutes the core experience of The Ascent. In general, it’s pretty intuitive and easy to get into the groove. It’s your typical isometric shooter with numerous abilities, weapons, armour pieces, and upgrades, but it still has a rather distinct flair. I think the most peculiar thing about it is the fact that you can lift your weapon when shooting. This not only allows you to fire accurately from behind cover, but it also allows you to hit larger enemies that tower over their smaller allies. It might sound obvious and simple, but the cover system actually plays a huge role during the vast majority of the game.
Unlike most games where enemies will always be right in front of you, ready to engage, The Ascent makes an effort to create more dynamic encounters. Usually, when you start engaging a group of enemies, you’ll see a bunch of new enemies appear out of nowhere, like coming out from nearby buildings or jumping from flying cars. The thing is, they tend to appear from behind you, so you always have to keep the pressure on the enemy and kill them as fast as possible. It creates this rather forceful game of constantly jumping from cover to cover or circling around a single piece of cover. It forces you to always have something between you and your enemy, so that you can lift your weapon and shoot over it. At least, that’s what happens until you become tanky enough that most enemies can’t even scratch you.
Having said that, the enemy AI is somewhat of a mixed bag. During combat, they behave quite well, constantly looking for cover and trying to flank you while some enemies provide cover fire, but they aren’t the brightest outside of combat. There have been times where I’ve been able to slowly take down enemies one by one by just sitting at the edge of the screen. Despite getting shot, they wouldn’t react in any way, simply because I was too far away and they couldn’t aggro. Likewise, if you attract an enemy’s attention and you just run the opposite way, they’d eventually stop chasing you, even if you still keep shooting them. It’s quite disappointing.
However, what certainly didn’t disappoint was the number of weapons, and types, that you can get your hands on. There are pistols, SMGs, shotguns, rifles, hand cannons, miniguns, rocket launchers, energy weapons, weapons with homing shots, amongst other more exotic weapons. There’s surely something for everybody. Each weapon is also more effective against specific enemy types. For example, energy weapons are better for dealing with synthetic enemies, while ballistic weapons fare much better against humanoids.
Just like with weapons, there are also various armour types with different stat bonuses that allow you to come up with distinct builds. Furthermore, tactical gear like stun grenades and combat robots, as well as active abilities in the form of augmentations, also deepen the game’s customization even further.
Unfortunately, the AI isn’t the only downside of The Ascent. Another complaint that I have is that sometimes the camera angle isn’t the best. There’s no way for you to adjust the camera in any way, so it can happen that you find yourself behind an object on the screen and so you can’t properly see what’s going on. It’s also not uncommon to get shot from outside your field of view. There are also a few sections where the game switches to a side-scrolling perspective, and it’s particularly difficult to aim properly here, but thankfully these are extremely rare.
As far as bugs go, I experienced two, but unfortunately, one of them was quite annoying. When selling duplicate items at one of the various shops, I just wouldn’t receive any money for them. I would have to sell everything one by one. Besides that, the skins that you pick up as random drops from enemies also either disappear when you restart the game, or they just never show up as if you actually picked them up.
Additionally, there are other things that do detract from the overall experience, which hopefully can be addressed in future updates. For instance, there’s no way to filter items by weapon type, damage type or anything like that. Because of that, eventually, inventory management can become a chore. Lastly, although I do love to explore the city and take in the surroundings, I have to admit that, a lot of times, there’s just way too much walking around. There’s a fast travel system in the form of a train system, and there are also paid taxis, but they only take to specific spots, you can’t choose the exact destination. This means that even if you take one of these means of transportation, you’ll still have a bit of walking to do. I personally didn’t mind it too much, but I definitely see how it can bother some people.
The problems that I’ve mentioned aren’t actually game-breaking, they’re just pretty annoying in a worst-case scenario. Now, having said that, the biggest issue that I have with the game is how it handles the waypoint system for quests, and just how the map looks as a whole. The map makes it pretty hard to figure out if something, like a shop vendor or a collectable, is a level above or beneath you. The map screen could definitely use some work, but I guess that it could also be solved by allowing players to place their own waypoint and have the game lead them to it.
On the other hand, one thing that does need to be addressed is the fact that the game’s waypoint system can point you to awkward spots because you haven’t unlocked the areas where the currently selected quest actually takes place. As far as I can tell, this can only happen if you start playing the side-content instead of going for the main quests first. Therefore, it can be avoided, but if you’re like me and like exploring, you might run into quite a few dead ends.
All in all, despite its issues, there’s no denying that the core gameplay of The Ascent is fun and that the game’s world has been masterfully crafted. I went into it expecting just a generic shooter experience, but the game surprised me in terms of the dynamics that each combat encounter can bring to the table. One moment you fire the first shot, ready to deal with all enemies on the screen, but, next thing you know, a group of enemies has just exited a building and is ready to join the fight. This constant back and forth makes you adapt and always be on the lookout for the best spot to hide behind cover. Therefore, the game becomes much more than just run and gun.
Nevertheless, the final boss fight was a disappointment, especially when you consider all the different enemies that you face throughout the game. As far as the ending itself, it felt like it came out of nowhere, it was unexpected, and it left a lot of things hanging. With that being said, I guess that this leaves room for a potential sequel or to expand on the content of the base game.
It took me roughly 22 hours to reach the end of the game, and I completed every side-quest that I found. Therefore, if you just go for the main quest, you can probably finish it in much less time. Still, I think that a lot of the side quests are worthwhile, as they give you more insights into the world of The Ascent and its people. Despite all its issues, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game and I highly recommend it if you’re into shooters or just into cyberpunk as a whole.
Fantasy games create some of the weirdest and most beautiful worlds you’ll ever experience. Without the demands of realism and accuracy, the developers are free to do as they wish. I’m always excited whenever I get my hands on anything within this genre, and Blightbound was no different.
Developed by Ronimo Games and published by Devolver Digital, this is a dungeon-crawling rogue-like RPG. Set in a desolate land, you control a trio of heroes who must change the villagers’ fortunes. You’ll crawl many dungeons to save fallen warriors, collect loot, and increase your levels. The world is a dank place and the monsters are worse still. Everything is out to get you, and death is a horrendous punishment. Staying alive is difficult and the only hope is to work together to defeat your foes.
Blightbound contains a classic plot with some fantastic ideas.
Blightbound uses a story that you’ve heard a million times before. However, it has a unique twist, and this makes it a fascinating experience. The story revolves around a hamlet that is surrounded by a fog known as the Blight. The people of this land spent decades fighting a being known as a Shadow Titan. To curse those that stood in his way, he released the Blight to corrupt humans and turn them into disfigured monsters. Your trio of heroes must enter the dungeons, destroy the bosses and rid the world of this foul entity….so, no pressure there then!
Your band comprises a “tank” warrior, a nimble assassin, and a powerful mage. As the game progresses, you unlock more characters in each of these fields, but your group must contain each of these classes. Each hero improves their stats by completing each dungeon and returning to the refuge alive. Here the spoils of war are shared and you may improve any fighter who has increased their level. So, it’s standard RPG mechanics, but with the risk of losing it all. Death in the dungeon returns you to the safety of the hamlet, but you lose everything you have collected. It’s classic rogue-like elements will keep you on your toes and make you scream with rage.
Hack away at the enormous monsters.
An excellent concept thwarted by poor execution and terrible matchmaking.
Blightbound sells itself as a fun and tactical multiplayer experience. It wants you to join friends or strangers online as you venture into each dungeon. Sadly, though, its appalling matchmaking system ensures that this rarely happens. If you have two mates that wish to join you, you’ll have a blast, but other than that, you are restricted to playing with the idiotic AI. Online matchmaking is impacted heavily because of its key concept. Each team must comprise one of each class and if this cannot happen, you won’t match with anyone. The popular class of mage is always taken and gamers rarely want to use the other roles. It was an oversight by the developers and perhaps random characters should have been allocated.
The AI is God awful! They are, however, accurate and useful in battle, but they are lacking in every other department. You are left exposed by their weaknesses repeatedly and issuing commands falls on deaf ears. In a game where death is costly, this will make you scream.
Can a game redeem itself if its USP is fundamentally flawed?
This setback for the developers made me think, “can a game redeem itself if it’s fundamentally flawed?” Usually not, but Blightbound has enough quality components that you’ll still enjoy the core game. With customisation options, many fighters to select, attribute improvements, unique equipment, and a vibrant hamlet, there are lots to mask the shortcomings.
Your time within the labyrinthine dungeons is thoroughly enjoyable, if not a little repetitive. There are unique goals to conquer and an array of monsters and bosses to defeat. Annoyingly, though, it leans on its hack ‘n slash crutch a little too much for my liking. You will, however, enjoy the exploration elements, the gathering of loot, and the destruction of your foes. Also, the sense of achievement upon victory is euphoric. This feeling is experienced rarely during the later stages as you rely on your useless AI colleagues. In short, the end game is extremely difficult, if not impossible, without human input, so get some friends on board.
Teamwork is key to a successful run.
Blightbound has a dark fantasy aesthetic and harrowing audio to set the mood.
My love for this genre stems from the wonderful stories and the fantastic imagery. Blightbound didn’t disappoint me and I was left surprised by the brilliant contrasting colours of the heroes. The vivid armour and striking sprites stood out against a grey and oppressive backdrop. The isometric viewpoint was fantastic and allowed me a clear view of the hectic action before me.
Unfortunately, there were some visual glitches and bugs that impacted the gameplay. Monsters and heroes would clip the scenery and become stuck, forcing you to quit the game and lose progress. This was thoroughly disappointing and tainted an already challenging experience further. Other than these glitches, the game ran smoothly and if the developers can remove the bugs, the game will be a much more rounded and polished product.
The hard-hitting audio was punctuated with comical one-liners, and the heavy and dominating soundtrack was accompanied by fizzing spells and booming blows. The audio plays up to its fantasy theme, and this was one of the magical elements contained within Blightbound. With death just around the corner and the risk of losing everything weighing on your mind, humour was key. I chuckled repeatedly at the most inopportune moments as the banter flowed. It was childish, but I never tired of it.
Images of death haunt you.
A clean UI, but still confusing to play.
I can’t fault Ronimo Games for their well-designed UI, but it didn’t make it any less confusing. With multiple actions per class and various methods to fill each gauge, it took ages to become comfortable with the controls. I loved Blightbound’s enthusiasm and desire to provide multiple methods of attack, but it over-complicated the matter unnecessarily. Once you master your favourite class, you’ll be laughing. Until then, grit your teeth and get on with it.
If the matchmaking issues are resolved, or you have a great group of friends, you’ll spend hours crawling the dungeons. There is plenty of potential for replay value, however, it’s not got there yet. I desperately wanted to move up the ranks and dive into harder quests, sadly I couldn’t. This tainted the experience for me, and I wasn’t willing to invest hours to guarantee failure every time.
Blightbound is too clever for its good.
The core concept within Blightbound is fantastic, but it’s also holding it back. The ideas are clever and work in theory, but unfortunately, gamers are fickle. No one will choose a class they dislike and this prevents players from progressing. Happily, it could be fantastic if there were some minor tweaks made. I liked it and recommend you to buy it here! Just be aware of its shortcomings before you invest. The Blight has thwarted mankind for too long! Enter the dungeon, defeat the monsters, and rid your land of this foul entity.
Enjoy the video review with in game footage shot from my Series X.
