DeVuego ES_COR

Unfortunately, what was promised with After Us did not come to fruition due to lackluster design and aspects that worked in contrast to each other rather than cohesively. Instead, we are left with a nice looking world yet below average platformer and hope for what may have been with a worn out “humans killed the planet” trope and poor execution.

The interesting thing about Death or Treat is that the premise is solid and there have been roguelite platformers or simply roguelite games in general before this one. It seems what the developer tried to do in order to make it stand out did succeed, but for a much more negative reason than intended. Having a game design that forces players to die in order to progress instead of rewarding them for skilled gameplay is extremely counter-intuitive. It was a huge step back for me as someone who greatly values my time. Seeing as the entire game is centered around this setup, it’s not possible for it to be fixed with any sort of patch. As a result, I’d be wary of Death or Treat going in due to this setup.

I never would have imagined a multiplayer dating sim working, but boy, does Monster Prom work. It rests on a framework of superb character art and hilarious scenario writing, then goes several steps further to offer a challenging competitive experience and an addictive solo one. I still haven’t discovered everything or dated everyone at the Monster Prom, but by ghouly, this game made me want to.

Relicta has a lot of clever ideas that are marred by a heavy lack of polish. Unnecessarily large hub worlds littered with an oversaturation of clone items, like benches and beanbag chairs, broken and muddy textures, and a wealth of characters that all feel written in the same voice, create a world that felt less like an escape and more like a chore. This is a game that seems so confused by the capability of magnets, I’m surprised Insane Clown Posse wasn’t given a special thanks in the end credits.

Bugs, lackluster graphics and questionable design choices prevent Temtem from becoming the Pokemon alternative many had hoped it would be.