Blackberry Honey is a lot of things, and many of them are contradictory. It’s a Victorian-era visual novel that is uninteractive, sleazy, grim, hopeful, dumb and clever.
Pyramid Quest has to take the fall. It’s a beige little 2D platformer that would have just-about done a job thanks to its well designed levels. But someone neglected to tighten up the control bolts and then made the fatal decision to add in fall damage.
Know by heart… can be an incisive, sad and elegant game. It’s got its snow-covered mitts on a fantastic idea, and it knows how to wring it for every last emotional drop. It isn’t necessarily subtle at doing so, and the ending could have offered a little more insight or something unexpected, but it’s effective
Summing up Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is tricky. While the fighting action is as spectacular as it ever was, and still remains fun, the management side of things just seems to slow everything down. It feels like a slog and you’ll want for nothing but the next battle. Basically the battles are good, but the rest of Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires is poor.Â
It is tough to know who to pitch Fluffy Cubed to. Puzzle fanatics and sokoban fans will find this a rather lacklustre attempt, whilst those who prefer a more relaxing gaming experience may be put off by the fact it is a puzzle game. Similarly, feline fans may be taken aback by this cubed moggy.
Enticing Richard Garfield to the Slay the Spire deckbuilder was Roguebook’s first act of brilliance, but many others follow. In the hex-based exploration it’s taken the genre’s dullest moments and made them the most engaging. In the deck-optimisation, it has fully handed the keys to the player and said ‘let’s see what you can make’. The possibilities, as the adage goes, are endless, and it gives Roguebook a truly infinite feel.
Martha is Dead is a brilliant era-based thriller. The headlines will focus on the sections that have been censored by Playstation, but that would be a shame because there is so much more to this game than those moments. Experience Martha is Dead and it will stay with you for some time to come.Â
Ammo Pigs: Cocked and Loaded is a glitchy mess with little to no incentive to play. Frustrating mechanics with boring gameplay means the final recipe equals a low quality game.
The team who have made S.W.A.N.: Chernobyl Unexplored have managed to create a fascinating bit of original sci-fi, even though it takes us to an area and place in time that we've seen many times before. The story is solid throughout with some nice surprises and shocks galore.
If you know nothing about Motocross but would like to start getting into the sport, this might be the perfect time to give MXGP 2021 a go. If you’re a grizzled veteran, go crack open a can of Boomer Juice, whack on some Powerman 5000 and rev that engine!
FAR: Changing Tides should very much be seen as a companion piece to FAR: Lost Sails, but it’s able to deliver a gaming experience that contains pretty much everything you could want. It will take you on a journey through a strange abandoned land that is beautiful, accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack and new surprises along the way.Â