DeVuego

When I finished Call of the Sea, I couldn’t help but smile. It was such an incredible journey with an intriguing story and a well-thought-out ending. From start to finish, with the exception of a couple of frustrating puzzles, I truly enjoyed this game. Considering it’s is launching on Xbox Game Pass, there is absolutely no reason for Xbox Series X/S or Xbox One gamers to not give this gem a try. The sheer amount of love and care that went into crafting this world should be the new standard that all devs strive to achieve. I can’t wait to see what Out of the Blue have in store for us next, and I truly hope we’ll return to the world of Call of the Sea in a future title.

Gigantosaurus: The Game is the type of game that is difficult to recommend for everyone. The platforming gets a bit tiresome, the graphics are quite dated, and the overall package is geared towards a younger audience. If you have young gamers in the house, especially those familiar with the TV series, then this might be perfect.

I enjoyed BOOR, or at least I did, until Room 82 – which I assume is pretty close to the end. The required level of finesse and patience required to beat this room is just absurd and ultimately prevented me from finishing the game. It’s disappointing that more effort wasn’t made to balance the difficulty to provide a more fluid experience. I appreciate the desire to create really difficult challenge rooms, but add them as a bonus to the main game. I appreciated the graphic style and I absolutely loved the soundtrack. The story wasn’t overly original, neither were many of the puzzle concepts, but for the most part, everything worked well together. I wish I could recommend this whole-heartily, but as it is now, this game is only for those looking for a short but serious challenge. 

Crypt of the Serpent King is obviously a budget title, and as such, certain elements can be forgiven and overlooked. The original release of this featured a flawed jumping mechanic that lead to many frustrating deaths in some of the later levels (particularly level four), but fortunately a recent update resolved this issue. I loved the idea of keeping all my gold and XP upon death and allowing me to upgrade stats and unlock new weapons. Considering the price, and if you enjoy these types of first-person dungeon crawlers, you really can’t go wrong if you need a quick fix to waste away a few hours and earn some easy achievements.

Ginger: Beyond the Crystal fills a pretty significant void on the Xbox One, there just aren’t that many platformers on the console that fans of the Nintendo 64 used to enjoy. The game is not very impressive graphically and it has some unfortunate flaws, such as the odd freezing glitch and lengthy load times. But despite the flaws, the game is still enjoyable to play, with a great soundtrack and inspired moments from some of gaming’s biggest games.