DeVuego

Neva is what happens when you let actual artists make a game. That we rarely get works like this is depressing, but there’s no sense that anything in Neva was produced according to what a suit thought would be best for the share value. Yes, Neva lacks in subtlety, but it is nonetheless a beautiful, heartfelt and evocative experience. It makes it clear up front that its goal is to make you cry, and even though you know what it’s doing, you are going to cry on cue at the end of it.

However, for all the good, the reality is that Bleak Sword is in serious need of substance, and the novelty of a “lo-fi Soulslike” on mobile is lost a little on a proper console.

What I’m saying is that I’m not entirely sure who is going to enjoy Curse of the Sea Rats. I do know that there’s going to be an audience out there for it, because while it has several issues it also has many redeeming qualities. However, when it’s one of a few million Metroidvanias that are already on the Switch, I fear that Sea Rats will struggle to find that audience, despite being a clear passion project from everyone involved.

Temtem’s disappointing, because it promised to be so much. In a genre that has been so utterly dominated by one particular property, and then lightyears back to the nearest rival, here was a game that seemed like it had the ambition and scope to actually rival Game Freak’s giant on its home turf. Unfortunately the result is more akin to the more egregious MMOs – a waste of time that exists to be a waste of time.

I left Metroid Dread feeling quite conflicted about it. On the one hand, I do think it is fundamentally well designed, and the main gameplay element - the robot stalkers - are woven into the Metroid formula beautifully. On the other hand, that Metroid formula is getting long in the tooth and Dread doesn't do nearly enough to revitalise it. Dread is fine. It's not just nearly memorable enough for a game that fans have been waiting for so many years for now.

I could certainly see plenty of others finding it less compelling, however, because beyond the visuals, so very little has changed in 35 years. Yikes. 35 years. Presumably, Prince Alex is now King Alex of Radaxian by now. I'd better get back to my throne.

Nothing redeems Asphalt 9. It's shallow, inferior game that has been built with the exclusive purpose of getting suckers to throw more money at it. This stuff should be left on mobile platforms or, better yet, never made.

It still tells a potent, important story, and looks the part, but I fear the only thing people are going to notice as they play is how unrefined and often downright irritating they find the button-pressing bits, because they are so poor they completely overwhelm the stuff that players should be focusing on instead.

I could go on, but if after those five points and the video above, this game still looks of interest to you, then I clearly can't help you. You're clearly going to buy the game, and then rip me a new one in the comments because I dared to dislike a game that you enjoyed. Yes, you wouldn't be the first. But this game does offend and irritate me. Not because I lost money on a terrible game. It was $5. The money's irrelevant. I'm annoyed because I spent time playing this. Time I'll never get back, and time I was willing to invest because, as a fan of the dungeon crawler and roguelike, I expect developers who work in those genres to respect them. There is no respect from the developer in this game. Not for the genres, nor for the time that the game asks of its players. There is no greater insult that an artist can direct at their audience.

Immortal Redneck is a blast of a game in a genre that we don’t see enough of. It’s not the first roguelike FPS that we’ve seen on PlayStation 4, and I wouldn’t say it’s the best, either. It does, however, have an exceptional aesthetic, clever level design, clean action, a decent difficulty curve, and plenty of longevity. A very worthy action game indeed.

And then there’s just throwing a load of nonsense together because you liked old games and thought some memes were funny. There’s no insights on conversations to be derived out of Superola. It’s not a game developed by thinking developers to deliberately pull down the structures that hold games together. Superola is just a whole lot of nonsense that aspires to be a funny and entertaining game. 

As I overwhelmingly prefer to play games on my consoles where I can, that there are now a few strategy games on console makes me quite happy, as it's a favourite genre. Nobunaga’s Ambition and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Grand Ages: Medieval, and now this one are all worthy and deeply enjoyable. It’s a good sign that these games all work so well, dispelling the myth that strategy games and consoles don’t mix. Numantia has really impressed me in the way that it has inspired me to learn more about the conflict it depicts, and it has done a really good job of accurately recreating the surprisingly varied range of battles, locations, and twists and turns that occurred through the war.

Zenith’s gameplay issues don’t stop it from being a very workable system in a very entertaining genre. If it was devoid of its plot (or, better yet, with a more interesting narrative), I’d actually be arguing that it’s an enjoyable little game. However, the relentlessly juvenile attempts at humour never let up, and I didn’t laugh once. I think that says all that needs to be said about Zenith’s fundamental issues. 

Anima is not that engaging at all because of that overreach, and it’s stressful because I really did want to enjoy this. But the games it tries to be like; titles like Nier and Dark Souls, are unforgettable, potent, important titles. I should not be forgetting almost everything about a game that aspires to that level of greatness. but in this case I did just that. 

As I said at the start. Looney Tunes Galactic Sports isn't bad. It does what it set out to achieve. The problem is that it lacks any ambition to do anything more than a cash-in, and this game really isn't going to be remembered as the finest project Sony backed on its PlayStation Vita platform.

It's worth giving Rock Zombie the benefit of the doubt that it wanted to be a trash Z-grade grindhouse game. And if so, mission accomplished. It's just so bad it's worth throwing on in a drunken haze for a laugh or two.

As a fan of the Muppets, I am disappointed that there wasn't more done with the license in Movie Adventures. It's a perfectly workable game, and does have a sense of humour that anything to do with the Muppets needs, but at the same time, it's nothing more than that and whether you're a child or a nostalgic fan for the Kermet and the gang, you're probably going to left wanting after this.

Chances are you haven't heard of Qvadriga before reading this review. I recommend you look past the screenshots, however, and give it a go. I think you'll be surprised with just how addictive this very simple, but weirdly addictive game can be.

While I appreciate that MercurySteam wanted to do something different with the Castlevania franchise, I feel like the entire team, from director through to writer, through to the level designer has failed to grasp what makes Dracula such a wonderful character. It's not because he's a incredible force of evil. Dracula isn't a random monster; he's something more primal than that, and in failing to represent that, the developers have failed to do the Dracula story justice.