DeVuego

Frank and Drake is a beautifully and thoughtfully executed game, with a unique rotoscoped art style, that draws inspiration from the epistolary gothic works Frankenstein and Dracula. The title encourages multiple playthroughs to fully understand the supernatural mysteries surrounding the characters.

Astronite is pretty fun and addictive, just don’t expect a super in-depth gameplay experience because that isn’t what’s on offer here. At its price point however, Astronite offers a lot more than many other games on the market and is a must-have for any metroidvania fan looking for a short, sharp injection of all the good things that the genre has to offer.

No matter how I feel about Souldiers, it has a lot of content, an incredible level of thought and effort that went into a wide variety of mechanics, and secrets, and all of these things are commendable. I am sure there will be some who love these elements, especially on a lower difficulty, it’s just a shame it feels like Souldiers goes out of its way to make everything a slog. Be it huge range between checkpoints, constant and repeated multiple enemy fights, or a general lack of options makes it feel hard for the sake of hard. Be it rooms that rely on cheap traps, lack of visibility, offscreen attacks, teleporting enemies, invisible platforms, or whatever another fun challenge they can come up with. For these reasons, I wouldn’t recommend Souldiers to anyone who isn’t looking for an experience that genuinely tests you.

There is a lot to love about Super Magbot, from its unique magnet-based platforming mechanic to its colourful worlds and aesthetics. While the attract-repel mechanic may be tricky to wrap your head around at first, the game takes the concept and runs with it in fantastic ways that may well surprise you. Team17 publish some fantastic indie gems and once again, they've knocked it out the park with Astral Pixel's Super Magbot.

You really have to be a purist to play and enjoy Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition. The repetitive environments rule out enticing any fans who are not a fan of the roguelike genre. Personally, I found it frustrating to play, but also rewarding when you finally make it through any given area, which is always the pay-off. There’s a whole lot of trial and error which can become very frustrating very quickly. If you like unforgiving roguelike games where you need to grind to get very far, then you’ll love this game. However if you like a game which is gently paced and forgiving, then this really isn’t for you.

Narita Boy has numerous flaws that hold back an otherwise terrific game. The movement and combat is very high quality and it's clear that a lot of care went into that portion of the game. The aesthetic and art design is masterfully accomplished and it’s a joy to look at. However, I find it incredibly difficult to overlook the numerous issues with the developers decisions made throughout the game. I feel as though they would be mostly solved by the simple inclusion of a map, something that could be added in a patch that would increase my score by at least 15%. However until then, I have to rate this game as thoroughly average as great gameplay can only carry a game so far when the parts that aren’t combat are so frustrating.