DeVuego

An atmospheric detective mystery, The Last Case of John Morley is a compact tale with surprisingly high production values for a game of this size. Unfortunately, it undermines itself by telegraphing its twisting narrative and lacks those 'eureka' moments you'd find in other, similar titles. Still, if you're in the mood for a one-and-done 'whodunnit' that you can start and finish in a single sitting, this is still worth your attention.

Anomaly hunting in the style of Cabin In The Woods sounds like a great premise on paper, but The Cabin Factory falls foul of malfunction thanks to overly repetitive and bland gameplay, with too small an environment to maintain any form of tension. It does attempt some semblance of a story and it may do well as a quick experience for streamers, but there's little else beyond that to recommend it above established cult classics like Exit 8.

A fun 'all ages welcome' pick up and play NBA title, that does away with the excess and offers a light-hearted, enjoyable enough take on basketball. It's asking price leaves a lot to be desired, mind.

It looks beautiful, it's got the right amount of challenge in it, and it plays smoothly. What more could you ask from Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound? As a standalone title, or to tied over until the next main game comes along, you'll certainly have a flipping good time.

Blades of Fire doesn't try to reinvent the Souls-like wheel, but it does add some new aspects to it. With a unique weapon crafting mechanic and varied combat system, it's only let down is the unfairness of combat itself. Still, it tells a good story through its leads, one that does entertain throughout.

On the surface, Moons of Darsalon looks like it escaped from a time capsule planted in the early 90's. It evokes retro platforming with a challenge often missing in today's games, filling the gap that the likes of Lemmings have fallen into and disappeared. A game brimming with retro charm, it's a great callback to those who ever had a Commodore 64 or a TV heavy enough to anchor cruise ships with.

One Last Breath doesn’t wear its influences on it’s sleeves, but rather took the whole shirt as it doesn’t do enough to differentiate it from the games that came before. A short runtime and decent enough gameplay does make it pleasant enough but it ultimately doesn’t push for more.

Pursuing shock value is always a gamble and The Kindeman Remedy sadly throws all of its livers into this one basket unsuccessfully. 

Fictiorama Games have blended a wonderfully unique cocktail of pulp-horror aesthetics and charming yet brutal depictions of violent myths and legends. The strategy gameplay can become a little one-note and there are some teething issues even Dracula may cower at, but spreading the tale of Tall Man or inciting a conspiracy of UFOs never failed to entertain my sadistic mind.

Blasphemous 2 is a near-flawless sequel that only improves on its own formula. The game is bigger, bolder and more confident in every facet. Combat is more diverse and brutal, the platforming more fulfilling and the presentation more enriched and hauntingly beautiful. One of the best 2D Metroidvanias that honours the Soulslike formula, whilst carving out its own path.

After Us is an atmospheric platforming adventure that leaves you thinking about the beauty in extinction rather than the horrors. With slick controls, appealing environments to explore and a tranquil nonintrusive soundtrack, fans of titles like Journey will likely enjoy the exploration of a surreal and desolate world of post-human life.

Curse of the Sea Rats takes some good ideas for gameplay systems but fumbles them in the execution. As a Metroidvania, it could be a good entry point and if it is, it can only go up from here. However, the animation that is in the game and the music does make a pirate life one for me, just not an overall great one.

A novel take on interactive fiction, Delete After Reading can’t quite capitalise on its uniqueness. Tonally conflicted, lacking puzzle consistency and missing some technical aspects that are expected in 2023 (like an auto-save function), this is a missed opportunity to truly evolve the genre.

It can’t quite match up to ‘My Friend Peppa Pig’, but ‘Peppa Pig: World Adventures’ is another approachable and accessible title designed specifically for its target audience. Replicating the art style and vibe of the TV show, this game is a must play for fans of titular character. With a patch to iron out a few issues, it could be even better.

Confused puzzles, a convoluted story, poor use of lighting and no real scares makes Charon’s Staircase a good reason for taking the escalator instead. 

Alfred Hitchcock Veritgo takes some steps to tell a mature story that has an incredible mystery behind it. Certain parts are difficult to play through due to the subject matter, but if you’re after a narrative adventure that shares thematic depth of cinema, then you’re in for a treat. The gameplay doesn’t compliment the story telling too often and a few performance issues hold it back. However, if you can look past those flaws there’s a unique story to unravel.

Arise – A Simple Story contains a beautifully told story within a charming puzzle adventure. With poignant moments and joyful visuals, this game has the ability to capture a breadth of emotion with ease. It’s a short but worthy edition to narrative driven puzzle games.

While it certainly isn’t going to be for everyone, if you’re interested in unique gaming experiences there’s a lot to admire about The Longest Road On Earth. It feels more like an art house project than a traditional game at times, much to its benefit. The exquisite soundtrack alone would be enough for me to recommend this game. The meditative, leisurely paced narrative delivered alongside it are just a bonus.

While it’s not pushing the genre any further forward, Scarf is a perfectly pleasant way to spend 6 hours of your life. As a non-combative puzzle platformer, it lacks originality. Thankfully, a clever two sided narrative carries the game as it tells both sides of a tale and positions the player in the centre. Just make sure you play this game with a guide so you don’t have to replay whole levels again.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World is a good upgrade, with a loving nod to the Master System classic upgraded with terrific visuals and a wonderful soundtrack, but not much else has changed. It’s oddly easier to control when played in the original visuals mode, whilst new Alex feels somewhat floaty. Regardless, the ruthless difficulty – when not using infinite lives – will polarise modern gamers, and the padding to extend the game time feels like exactly that and little else.

A precision platformer with a novel, magnetically charged traversal method, Super Magbot is a quality game. The storyline is a little lackluster but challenging yet satisfying game design makes for a very morish experience.

A savage monochromatic roguelike shooter with a difficulty curve reminiscent of a vertical straight line, Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition is tough to love early on. Over time though, the smart risk vs reward system rises to the surface and the slick gunplay becomes challenging rather than simply impossible. While it doesn’t match the heights of its more modern day peers, it’s still worth a look if you’ve got the time to dedicate to it.

Narita Boy is a feat of imagination, one of the most conceptually interesting games I’ve ever played. The retro world of the Digital Kingdom – its pixelart, design and art direction – are some of the most eye-catchingly beautiful ever committed to code. Its soundtrack is mesmerising, truly special synthwave. Narita Boy ends up more than the sum of its parts, going beyond the source code to deliver a game that should take its place alongside the greatest indies.

Koa and the charming world of Mara is enough to keep an eye on this one, but it’s too big with not enough depth and that makes Summer in Mara far from essential.

Concept Destruction is instantly accessible a neat take on the Destruction Derby set on table tops with cardboard cars. There’s some odd rules that can cause a headache and there’s not a lot of content here. After a few hours, you’ll have seen everything the game has under the hood. The local 2-player mode is welcome but the game is crying out for an online battle mode. It won’t be challenging Wreckfest for its crown but if you’re looking for a few hours of brainless crashing and bashing on a budget, you’ll find it here.

Super Toy Cars 2 is one of the worst examples of this genre I’ve played in the past few years (surprisingly not the worst). The visuals, much improved over its predecessor and a decent soundtrack are its only saving graces.

HyperParasite is an enjoyable twin-stick shooter with loads of character, sorry, characters. It’s humorous and fun. But it’s also painfully unforgiving. I think I would have really enjoyed it more, and even kept the difficulty, had they included some way to start from world 2, or world 3 once you’d earned them. Some kind of hub area. Forcing me to single run a game that also demands you earn characters as you go, makes for a lot of do-overs that are more to do with the system than player skill. This ultimately starts to put you off more than encourage further attempts.

Holfraine is a bare bones Hero shooter that’s launching with as little content as possible. With one game mode, one map to play on and six heroes, it just about justifies its £3.99 asking price. It’s obvious what the aim of Fluxart Studios was to emulate the best in the Hero shooter genre on a budget and you can see why it was recognised as the “Best Online Multiplayer Game” in the PlayStation Talents Awards 2017 competition. It has potential.

If you’re into your steampunk with a side of apocalypse, then you’re covered. If you’re a WarCraft alumni who fancies a bit of a twist in the not-technical-zombies mold, this will inject some fresh life into the RTS catalogue.

Since we started Finger Guns a year and a half ago, we’ve followed a pretty strict review policy. For the first time ever and following that review policy, we’ve got to award a game a 0/10, a score reserved for games that are unplayable or broken in such a way as we couldn’t finish it. Nubla 2 showed some promise in the half an hour of actual game play I managed to get with it – but a glitch in Chapter 1 followed by the game becoming quite literally unplayable because it won’t let me get past the initial menu means any and all of that potential is squandered.

Aragami: Nightfall is a decent DLC package then, and builds upon the foundations set by the main game and gives fans what they’ve been craving for nearly two years which is simply more Aragami. There’s not a huge amount of difference here, the gameplay has been tweaked somewhat and though the added abilities will make playthroughs feel different, you’re essentially getting a bolt-on for the Aragami, which is no bad thing considering how so very good it is.

Crypt of the Serpent King lacks any kind of narrative, has substandard visuals, includes some of the most shallow combat mechanics I’ve ever experienced, lacks polish, contains rote and tired enemy types and lacks even the smallest spark of originality. Its only saving graces are the roguelike play cycle which means there’s around 10 hours of content here if you can force your way through it and the detailed enemy models. Crypt of the Serpent King might come with a small price tag but like some many other things in life, you get what you pay for.

Crossing Souls leverages the classics from the 80's while telling a powerful tale of the space between life and death.