DeVuego

I am completely smitten with the world of Wax Heads. It has so much to offer, and it feels like a game that was made for me and my particular tastes. The game delivers on all fronts, especially as an innately human experience, much like music itself. And like a good record, this game elevates your day by spending time with it, getting in touch with its intricacies, and allowing itself to open up to you.

Fans of Aragami and other stealth-action games will find plenty to enjoy in Ereban: Shadow Legacy – an engaging story is wrapped up neatly in stealth mechanics that can be very engaging, but sadly the issue with responsivity in the controls, gameplay that quickly becomes stale and a morality system that needs to justify itself in a world where it feels unnecessary drags the experience down; the game itself is fun, but would definitely benefit from some major tweaks and changes.

A confident and compelling Early Access build with standout music, addictive loops, and engaging dungeon design. A little unfocused at times, but never enough to dull its shine. If this is the foundation, 1.0 is poised to be something special.

Is This Seat Taken? is a brilliant spotlight on a type of logic puzzle that often gets overlooked – there’s no major difficulty curve through the short 4-6 hour runtime, meaning those looking for a challenge may be disappointed, but as a widely accessible puzzle game with room for expansion, it proves itself to be an absolute delight.

Hip-hop has long been associated with resistance and revolution. It’s energising to have Antro utilise this to more fully drive home its message of acting rather than choosing passivity in the face of oppression. Antro’s story may walk well-worn paths, but there’s a musical spring in its step that is impossible to ignore, much like the systemic oppression in this cautionary tale.

I am still quite new to the wholesome, cosy game genre which Camper Van: Make it Home perfectly snuggles into, but my four hours unpacking and making my new homes was one filled with much happiness. There’s such a pleasure in finding a home for your belongings and spinning items to face the right way that I unexpectedly started to be invested much more than I first expected. And if, like me, you have always wanted to go on a camper van expedition but have never quite made it, then this will make for a wonderful replacement until you can hopefully make it in real life.

Haneda Girl is an action platformer for the diehards. It’s got a sizable learning curve with its controls but the level design paces its difficulty just ahead of player ability, hitting the sweet spot between overwhelming challenge versus easy mastery. While the characters are likeable, the story stalls out early on and never really recovers, an about-face from Studio Koba’s debut.

Both Selkie Harbour and deconstructeam don’t do average games. They create narrative experiences that will ultimately let you find out more about yourself and your fellow human. With Many Nights a Whisper, both teams have outdone themselves once again, presenting a seemingly simple format—talk, practice, choose—and making so much more from that foundation. It obviously helps that Fingerspit’s accompanying soundtrack fits perfectly and that the aesthetic suits the story so well. But the storytelling, once again, is the main point of interest here, and it’s some of the best of the year, if not the decade.

YOUR HOUSE is a strong, inventive experience that stumbles occasionally along the way due in large part to its ambitious design. Though the rough edges sometimes take away from the enjoyment and impact of the story, the strong portrayal of the lead character, Debbie, helps make this a mystery worth unravelling.