DeVuego

This is a great example of an early access game done right. It was just officially released as version 1.0, but it had been in early access for a respectable amount of time, fixing any issues along the way. The result is a puzzle experience that feels balanced, progressively more difficult, but not so frustrating that you want to punch a wall. The entire experience could last you between 4-7 hours, depending on how stuck you get on certain levels. With my propensity to do terrible at puzzle games, I was not surprised to be on the higher end of that curve. If you are looking for a fun, short, and just-challenging-enough puzzle experience, give Steamroll a go! And maybe like me, you can have a friend watch so they can laugh when you repeatedly blow yourself up on accident. Whoops.

Ar-k is a throwback to classic point-and-click adventure games and holds its own admirably. With impactful voice acting, a loveable cast of characters, and a complex narrative filled with humor, it's a great addition to the series and the genre. The ending leaves you yearning for the next episode and I now look forward to uncovering the final chapter.

Monster Prom’s formula is simple: Pick a monster, choose the right answers, and go to class in between. While this doesn’t sound like a whole lot, there’s lots of beauty to be found in this game. It’s a dating sim that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s what makes it a game to bring to a party. Multiplayer can get intense when both players want to take the same monster out for one of the best nights of their lives, while single-player is also a very viable mode that’s lots of fun. Replayability is high thanks to more than a thousand different outcomes and hundreds of various events. Monster Prom is a night that shouldn’t be missed.

If you are the type of player who only loves the puzzles and skips the dialogue and cutscenes, this is not the game for you. If you enjoy the short form medium and all its nuances and subtext, you will appreciate Saucer-Like. Part of the appeal of traditional point-and-click games is the long, arduous journey you take with the character, building a strong tie over many hours. I think that what Garnelo has done is even more impressive, given how short it is.  The complex issues of personal identity and self-awareness are deftly handled through the imagery and gameplay. The poignant emotions it can pull out of you will remain with you long after you have finished the title.

Zenith is one of those rare games that combines a bunch of great attributes and a few awful ones but still comes out like a hundred bucks. Nothing “bad” about this game really hinders it and it could be seen as part of the charm. Think Conker’s Bad Fur Day. The gameplay was solid, the graphics were good for the day, but what all drew us in was the dialogue and story. That and we were 12 and the game kept referencing poop. For Infinigon this is a great step forward and I look forward to their next project. Zenith is a great game if you’re looking for a nice smash fest with an all tenor chorus comprised of man-elf eating giant spiders.

The Red Strings Club is a highly original and well-polished title. The cyberpunk mystery is deeply satisfying, with a heavy story that explores interesting ethical questions and the gameplay mechanics, score, and a visual aesthetic that complement the plot wonderfully. The only real flaw of this title is a playthrough length that leaves you wanting more.

Taken individually, the components of the gameplay in The Sexy Brutale are not groundbreaking:  time reversal, stealth, and puzzle-solving are fun, but not innovative, elements. How they’re combined in this game, however, is fresh and unusual. The fantastic art and flawless execution of the game make this one must-have for fans of the genre.

Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days by Big Star Games is a third-person top-down shooter with few connections to Quentin Tarantino’s film other than it being about gangsters with color-coded names; and yet Bloody Days partially succeeds in its aspiration to revive a classic for crime and gangster films, while offering a time-rewind mechanics that helps the game distinct itself from the pool of titles in the top-down shooter category.

Overall, Kyurinaga’s Revenge is decent for its platform genre and provides interesting challenges and levels but is lacking in story and battling functions. Before I started playing I thought I would be slightly offended by a healthy spoof of Japanese culture. However, it began to grow on me. While I wouldn’t say Kyurinaga’s Revenge is top-notch, it is good for people that are simply looking for a platform game and don’t need any background whatsoever on why they are being chased by giant cauliflowers or attacked by a crazy cucumber overlord. In the end, I was even impressed by the accurate use of Japanese language and culture during dialogues, specifically regarding the names of the vegetables. However, if RECO Technology could fix some of the flaws listed, incorporated the story better, and improved battling modes, I believe Kyurinaga’s Revenge could be great.