We have a burning love for Rise of the Third Power. It’s a long, lingering cuddle of a JRPG, doing everything we want from the genre: rich storytelling, chummy characters and a large side-step of ‘the grind’. If you can forgive the lack of any combat, loot or progression depth, you may love it as much as we did.
I have no hesitation in recommending Edge of Eternity. It is a huge game, but more importantly, it has an epic story to be told. The combat system has some nice touches which keeps it fresh, and the crafting is deep and immersive. This is a game that many will be playing for days and weeks on end, with Midgar Studios needing praise for creating something special.
At times, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition shows its age. Initially it may be in the choice of art style but then also in the voicework and gameplay itself later on. But it’s not all bad; being the first in the series to arrive on Xbox I am intrigued by the concept of what comes next.
KungFu Kickball is certainly not the casual, immediate party game that it presents itself as, and it needs some repeat play to master it. If that sounds like a fun project for you and your mates, then KungFu Kickball can be hilariously rewarding. Twin it with a screening of Shaolin Soccer, and you are golden.
Calturin is however a hard game that is largely fair, and so the pull to have one more go is pretty strong. Yes, even for a cheap price it’s got that elusive gaming X-factor; a dash of it thrown into the mix. If you want a challenge, this is an interesting proposal.
ConnecTank’s central mechanic is surprisingly well realised, backed up with plenty to flesh out the world of New Pangea. However, due to the repetitive and somewhat simplistic gameplay this is one the casual gamers will enjoy the most.
Toy Soldiers HD is genuinely worth playing if you have never done so before; there is a huge amount of fun to be had here. This HD title could have been a lot more too, and honestly might work less well than the original ever did. But what’s there is still a good time for strategy fans and it’s still able to provide a very unique experience.
Any new Cities: Skylines content is a good thing, and whilst this Airport DLC may not be the biggest content pack released for the game, it includes a lot of worthwhile additions. Arguments could be made as to why this pack wasn’t included from the beginning of the game, but seven years late is still better than never.
It may not be that much of a surprise but Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master! is massively enjoyable. While the songs range from easy to “surely only an octopus can hit all these notes!”, the challenge can be tweaked to suit everyone, and it turns out that a little drumming is a surprisingly relaxing pastime.
Vagante has a lot of potential that it doesn’t manage to live up to. It looks nice enough, if a little like you are viewing things through the wrong end of a pair of binoculars, and the setup is interesting. But the numb combat, instant death traps and lack of anything resembling tactics - even in the boss fights - marks it down.
Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi is definitely a game that you need to stick with, being patient, but if you do then you will be rewarded well, as you make your way through more dungeons and face off against all kinds of dangerous beasts.
Cake Invaders is a fun game for a limited period of time. It’s exciting and can be challenging, depending on how the power-ups fall, but equally after about half an hour, you are likely to have seen all it has to offer. For achievement hunters, it’s an easy sell, but for folk looking for a return on their investment, that’s less so.
A Western Drama aims to bring visually-impaired or plain curious players into the Wild West, immersing them in its grit and machismo. It nails that goal, delivering saddlebags full of Spaghetti Western music, gunfights and duels, without attempting to explain why the visuals aren’t there.
Dyna Bomb is a likeable action-platformer built on two of gaming’s great staples: the jetpack and the bomb. But while it’s a reasonably pure arcade experience, it gets undermined consistently with terrible presentation, a refusal to let you loose with your tools, and levels that refuse to change things up in a meaningful way.
