DeVuego ES_COR

Building on the foundation of an already-solid predecessor, Blasphemous 2 soars to new heights of brutality

Overall, while for a vintage gamer like me Lords of Exile checked a ton of boxes, I’ll concede that retro throwbacks like this don’t have guaranteed appeal. People used to more modern titles like Dead Cells that are true descendents of this mold, rather than looking to emulate it directly, may not be as enthused. Initially, settling back into the old-school and more 2-button style of controls and limited character versatility can be a challenge, but to be fair this is an implementation choice and not a flaw. Keeping that in mind, if you’re willing to embrace the look and feel of yesteryear, this is a terrific option.

Feeling like a mix of Flat Heroes and Just Shapes and Beats, Hyper Shapes keeps it simple but challenging

If you enjoy well-written characters and have been searching for something a bit less run-of-the-mill than your average story-driven experience you can definitely find it here.

I’m not so sure I’d go with any implication that Tales from Candleforth delivers actual horror so much as some grim and dark themes, as well as some very creepy moments and imagery. Overall I’d say the sense of mystery was more on my mind, but with the game’s overall hand-drawn look being a bit Burton-esque in many regards you do get a very dark tone to everything. The shame is that while the story seems like an interesting one overall, the ending failed to help it all end on a high note, instead a bit more of a confusing one. As the game’s title implies there are many tales, hopefully we’ll get more in the future that can help either deepen the mystery or at least give this chapter a more clear conclusion. It may not be firing quite on all cylinders, but it does at least make for a pretty satisfying time up to that point.

Well, it turns out that game is no longer available, with this seeming to be the somewhat upgraded and renamed version. I suppose that works well enough, and I was at least charmed by the original, but it was a bit confusing when I first began playing due to a serious sense of deja vu. Now, if you happened to already own Willy Jetman from a while back, you absolutely shouldn’t buy this as it’s mostly the same game. If, however, you weren’t previously acquainted with it, there's a fun vibe to the experience and there really aren’t any other games quite like it on the system, so it may be worth a look.

This is the case of a game that has a decent enough core set of things in its favor, but that struggles because in an eShop full of solid platformers it fails to shine. One piece of the problem is that while mechanically everything works fine, your moves are limited and not terribly interesting, limiting the ongoing excitement factor. While you do have a meter that you can try to keep up there’s also no very clear and gratifying reward for being successful like you see in something like Super Mombo Quest or hear through the smart utilization of sound. The result is a platformer that plays perfectly well, and provides some challenges, but fails to break free from the crowded middle of the pack of similarly good games that don’t manage to step it up enough to feel great.

There’s no doubt that in terms of presentation the game looks great, and has distinctive combat, but in terms of overall design it struggles a bit

Right and Down appears to be targeting precisely that space, as its name implies restricting your choices to simply moving right or down at any time as you work to clear the stages of its roguelike fantasy strategy world.

Overall, FUR Squadron is not a terrible game, and its uniqueness may appeal to some players who’ve been looking for a hit of that classic style of play. If you are aware of its flaws and are still interested in trying it, it may not disappoint. However, it is unlikely to satisfy a general audience just looking for an exciting and engaging experience.

Pulling that all together what you’re left with is a game that obviously had some ambitions, and is able to cobble together elements to help realize them, but it just doesn’t quite get there. It’s possible that the conversion to the Switch may have not done it any favors, as its looks and performance don’t feel top notch by any means, but I’m not sure even on other platforms with less technical limitations that the gameplay would improve that dramatically. There’s a decent experience to be had here if you’re a fan of its style, but if you’re expecting it to live up to the level of its peers you’re likely to be disappointed.

Perhaps if this were the only game in town for this sort of thrill it would demand a better score, but even with some of the flaws Ravenous Devils had as one example of a competitor it still felt more successful. It isn’t quite enough to just be dark and a bit shocking, the gameplay really needs to have a flow to it so even as it can be repetitive you still feel locked into what you’re doing. Here, the controls not being quite ideal gets in the way primarily, eclipsing the concerns with pacing as the game’s primary obstacle. There’s something to enjoy here if you’re patient, but the gameplay isn’t where it needs to be to make the experience more memorable.

With these core fundamental problems it really becomes a challenge to try to eke any enjoyment out of the experience, and even if they were addressed you’d just be left with a pretty dull time overall.

In the end I do appreciate what the developers are trying to accomplish here, and it was nice to get a taste of that classic style so few teams even try to pursue, but it’s hard to give it more than a low-key nod for old-school nerds thirsty for a tough of nostalgic play.

The thing is, I’ve played games like this before, and even ones with more issues, but to some degree I’m more inclined to pick on it because of how it tries to push itself on the eShop. In many ways, language like “Teared is not just a game; it is an immersive journey where dynamic 3D landscapes are combined with intense gameplay in the purest retro style” feels plain cynical or at least deceiving, and that doesn’t sit well with me. It actually reminds me of the old days, where you’d find game boxes on the shelf to look through and some companies would notoriously use overblown cover art or even doctored images to try to lure people in, rather than making a game whose quality spoke for itself. Aside from being implemented poorly, Teared suffers in the end from being relatively simplistic and dull, and not even its budget price can make up for those faults.

To be clear, I’m not a fan of these sorts of games for quite a variety of reasons, but I do review them for the sake of being thorough and trying to see them through the lens of those who I think are interested in buying them. The first most common issue is that, just like this example, the gameplay attached to most of them tends to be pretty threadbare. I have at least respected some exceptions like Senran Kagura Peach Ball and the likes of the Gal*Gun series, which managed to be pretty pervy and weird but at least brought a little more to the table than some mere titillation. Another problem is that in the modern world, where adult content of just about any form is available without even expending effort, why shy away from making the most of the rating you’ve opted for? If you’re in the business to make weirdo pervy games, just make them. If you’re going to make a middling-at-best play experience, and then also have the rewards for your investment of money and then time be so restrained, it just feels like a bait and switch.

All of that overwhelms any excitement that can be generated by pretty predictable chaos that plays out the same every run, making this easy to pass up.