DeVuego ES_COR

The fact of the matter is: Anima: Gate of Memories just isn’t fun. It’s not that the puzzles themselves are bad, nor that the lack of handholding is a huge deterrent in itself.  Yet, the game gives very little feedback as to where to go, features mediocre combat and poor visual presentation to boot, whilst featuring some of the most hackneyed narrative and voice acting of recent years.  Fundamentally, it feels like the Kickstarter budget should have been a little higher to achieve what Anima: Gate of Memories clearly wanted to be.

You can see the passion and care put into Aragami from a mile away. Everything about the game shows a love for the stealth genre and the games that made the genre so great. Unfortunately, it isn’t until you get up close and start to play the game that you also see all the cracks. Aragami has a lot going for it, but it also has a lot going against it, and those issues keep a good game from being a great game.

The simple fact is that despite turning the game off every ten minutes and vowing never to play it again, I kept coming back to Baboon! It is annoyingly addictive, and I mean that in every sense, it will annoy the hell out of you. I’m still hoping for a pixel perfect port of Rainbow Islands but in the meantime Tumbili and his friends are a fine substitute.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time back with The Penitent One and would heartily recommend it both to fans of the original and newcomers alike. There are enough changes to make it feel like a new title whilst still having continuity in setting and aesthetic.

Blues & Bullets has a lot of potential and The End Of Peace is a glimpse of that. There is a foundation for a very good mystery thriller, as well as a basis for well thought out characters. The first episode comes across as being too eager to show you everything all at once, instead of taking things slower and allowing you to absorb what just happened. The script is good but has moments that don’t seem that logical, but in spite of this The End Of Peace is a decent start to the series.

The difficult decision is whether Blues and Bullets can be recommended yet. Shaking the Hive is a good follow up to The End of Peace, but the recommendation really lies on the future release schedule. There can’t be another eight month wait between this and episode three, otherwise all the story building done here will be forgotten. As an experience Shaking The Hive does well to continue the story and does so with better pacing. The shooting sections are good, but do take more time than seems right in what is primarily an investigative title. Blues and Bullets is shaping up to be an intriguing game, but it may be worth waiting for the complete package.

Call of the Sea's original setting, narrative, and overall feel totally hooked me – even when I wasn’t playing I found myself working over the puzzles in my head. If you’re a fan of emotional stories and challenging logical puzzles then you should dive straight into this adventure.

Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today is a game that is quite hard to judge. On the one hand the art style, atmosphere, and interesting story premise are things that are worth experiencing. However the pacing of the puzzles can be frustrating, especially when what would appear to be the obvious solutions don’t work in a world where regular logic usually applies. It is a very well crafted title and the effort of the team can be seen. At the same time the puzzles are as infuriating as the atmosphere is brilliant.

With its wonderful hand-drawn aesthetic Death or Treat looks like it should be fantastic. Never judge a video game by its visuals however, as those visual delights disguise a bland and repetitive roguelite. Death or Treat? More like Death or Trick.

Deiland: Pocket Planet is a game and concept with a lot of heart and potential, but a few issues bring the experience down. A patch or two this could easily turn into a brilliant short story for any indie gamer, but for now it's an interesting tale that needs a little more time on it.

Good games make headlines and bad games will also generate column inches, the one thing you don’t want you game to be is average, but sadly that is what Demon’s Crystals is. It plays perfectly well and is free from problems and bugs, but it’s totally forgettable without a speck of originality. At just £3.99, it’s a good price for a few hours entertainment if you have some friends on the couch to play with.

Effie is a decent traditional third person platformer, but could have been so much more. Perhaps we’ve been spoiled in recent years, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Effie could have been elevated if it had tied the interesting backstory to the game mechanics or development in some way. As it stands, the narrative is totally removed from the game itself and this makes it feel old-fashioned in the wrong sort of way. Not a disaster but a missed opportunity.

Endling: Extinction is Forever is a poignant piece of emotive short-form storytelling, telling a tale of survival that isn’t just a conversation starter, but one that asks for immediate change.

Etherborn has so much potential, but its best moments are over far too quickly, leaving little replay value aside from showing people how cool the design is.

Evil Dead fans will love the amount of fan service on offer here, from the painstaking recreation of movie locations to Bruce Campbell’s goofy one-liners. However, when it comes to raw entertainment value, there’s an imbalance between the forces of good and evil. Playing as the survivors can be fun with friends but lacks the fun or variety of being an evildoer.

Frogun is old-school bliss. This is a 3D platformer that doesn't just capture the feel of a PS1 classic in one area, it captures the magic in every part of the package. From vivid low-poly art to simple yet satisfying gameplay, it's a must-play for anyone itching to experience another classic 3D adventure.

Gigantosaurus is exactly the kind of licensed tripe that made licensed games practically extinct in the first place. There’s the occasional glimpse of fun, but it’s hidden amongst a cretaceous tar pit of mundanity.

GRIS is a wonderful artistic achievement, with a simply sublime visual style and soundtrack that grows and evolves through the course of an emotional story.

Hunt the Night is close to being a great Bloodbourne-inspired Souls-like, but it suffers from a midgame area that's a chore to navigate and a late game difficulty spike that goes beyond punishing and straight into sadistic. Some of this could be adjusted in updates, but as things stand, I can only recommend this title to those who really want to challenge themselves. If that sounds like you, then there is much to like.

All in all, Immortal Redneck is a fun and challenging combination of old school first person shooter design and rogue-lite mechanics. It does require a great deal of patience and it’s easy to get frustrated when it feels as if the game is punishing you with the available drops, but when you get a good set of weapons and scrolls, you can breeze through the early levels with ease before the pyramids ramp up the difficulty. If you are prepared to make it through the cycle of looting and upgrade and have the patience to put up with the potential for horrible drops, then Immortal Redneck comes highly recommended.

Killsquad feels like a game that’s taking a long time to cook. As much as I enjoyed my time playing it, it didn't always hold my attention, lacking a certain special quality. While it's already come on leaps and bounds, I hope Killsquad continues to improve with time. 

Koral is a good little puzzler though many will find it very easy to get through. As an educational tool Koral definitely has value to raise awareness of climate change and the impact of pollution on our oceans. As a game it Koral is a simple affair that plays well. It may lack much challenge for puzzle fans, but this is an engaging and thought provoking experience.

Cursed Castilla is one of the best modern retro games that I’ve played, successfully capturing the look and feel of its influences but also improving on the controls and level design. It feels just like the way I remember the arcade originals. Add in the extra challenges from trophies and you have a great retro title with bags of replayability.

Metroid Dread sees the galaxy's best bounty hunter return in fine form. It takes the terror of being hunted from Metroid Fusion, the more modern direction of Samus Returns, and the freedom to add to the series' decades of lore to create something that's nigh on essential for Metroid fans.

Metroid: Samus Returns shows why 2D Metroid is still top-tier. It’s far from the perfection that Super Metroid had, but this takes my least liked 2D Metroid game and reimagines it so completely that it almost beats the remake of the original Metroid in my estimations. If someone at Nintendo can add the ability to switch control schemes, it would make a huge difference. This is the return we’ve been waiting for, though I want Nintendo to develop the “Next Mission” in 2D for the Switch themselves.

Moonlighter is an incredibly enjoyable jaunt through some interesting ideas and some fun fights. While the combat gets a little easy as you progress, the fun of watching money pour in as you play is immensely satisfying. It would be nice if there was more reason to play after completion as is normally the case with roguelites, but equally having an actual conclusion is a breath of fresh air for the genre. It is a lot of fun and one that will keep you entertained for a fair while if you want to sink your time into it.

Phineas and Ferb: Day Of Doofenshmirtz is a fun action-platformer for the Vita that never feels stale. Each mission has a unique moment to it, so you’re never quite sure what to expect next. It looks good and colourful and the writing of the story matches the tone of the cartoon. However the lack of voice acting and Doofenshmirtz, despite being billed as a central part, does take away somewhat from the experience, since the humour would be better with vocal delivery. If you are looking for a good game for the Vita though, that doesn’t take too long to complete, then Day Of Doofenshmirtz could be worth your time.

A good platformer puts together well constructed levels and a decent challenge, while a great platformer has levels that encourage you to take risks and move through as fast as possible while offering fun challenges to tackle. Sadly Red Goddess doesn’t offer any of these. Instead it feels like you are fighting the game every step of the way, and this is frustrating because of how much promise there is underneath all the problems. Given more time I’m sure Yanim Studio could have nailed this on the first attempt, but instead Red Goddess: Inner World’s bugs dominate against the gameplay.

Tequila Works’ efforts these past few years have delivered a game that’s full of beguiling charm and beauty, one that can stand up to many of the comparisons with some of the most fondly remembered games of the last decade. It doesn’t always meet those high standards, but Rime has been well worth the wait.

Spy Chameleon is a fun and engaging puzzler, with a likeable aesthetic that will keep you amused throughout its seventy-five increasingly challenging levels. It’s a relatively short experience, but the extra challenges and online leaderboards add length to an enjoyable indie package.

Summer in Mara is a lovely experience with an abundance of charm and a welcome engagement with environmental and emotional subjects. It makes for a perfect introduction to the genre for younger gamers, and a great relaxing escape from the real world for more mature sorts. It doesn’t have the depth of last year’s My Time at Portia but is both more accessible and has more developed characters. While there may be little prospect of a summer trip to sunny islands in reality, you could do a lot worse than take a holiday with Koa and explore the wonders of Mara.

Super Dodgeball Beats' manga-influenced visuals are sure to draw you in, but sadly aren't backed up by its middle-of-the-road rhythm action.

Super Magbot is a highlight in the puzzle platformer genre. It sports unique gameplay that I haven't seen anywhere else, and it's definitely the most fun I've had with magnets in years. The rest of the package isn't as groundbreaking as the gameplay, but it's still totally solid. Some bland writing and so-so music aside, this is a killer addition to any sidescrolling platforming fans collection.

Sword of the Necromancer is a fun roguelike, with a unique enemy revival system that sets it apart from other titles in the genre. Unfortunately, a lacklustre combat system and unoriginal story mean that it doesn't quite match up to the absolute best roguelikes out there.

With thoroughly inconsistent combat and painful platforming, The Crown of Wu has earned itself the unfortunate and distinctive demerit of being the worst video game based on the Journey to the West.

The Knight Witch could have been fantastic. It was so dang close to being something very special thanks to its fantastic visuals, great gameplay and compelling story, but it's instead plagued by frame rate issues and awful difficulty spikes rearing their slappable faces to ruined the fun. Fingers crossed Super Mega Team takes the time to thoroughly patch The Knight Witch and make it the game that it deserves to be.

The Saviour's Gang costs 24 pence more than a Gingerbread Latte, lasts 3-4 hours longer, has a few decent jokes, and doesn't make you fat. Frankly you can't go wrong for four quid, sure it has the odd frame rate issue but it's a basic, fun game to play and fills the odd ten minutes here and there when you don't have time to run an epic quest in AAA game. We could do with more of this sort of thing on consoles.

They are Billions is a great game that is lacking in content. The idea behind it – a survival strategy with "realistic" zombie mechanics – is fantastic and the actual mechanics behind it are well thought out and make for a deep and enthralling strategy, if one that may be a little too challenging for some. If that sounds great to you then being light on content may not matter, as there aren't many, if any other games that fit into this particular niche.

For a few quid, Toro could be a nice diversion. Although its poor presentation and gameplay will grate on most gamers, there are still occasional glimmers of enjoyment, often derived from building up insane scores while nimbly dancing around the bull. However, RECOtechnology is asking several times the price and with so many better (and cheaper) alternatives, Toro suddenly becomes hard to recommend for anyone.

Wanted: Weapons of Fate is like buying a car from a shifty looking guy down an alley. It has some nice features, it works well, it may even be really, really fun, but then you realise that you’re missing a massive chunk of what you paid for and you can’t help but feel somewhat cheated.

Windfolk is a game so turgid that it almost managed to put me off video games. Painfully flaccid combat and boorish level design both serve to undermine any fun that flying might offer. The subtitle promises that 'Sky is just the Beginning', but after this showing I'm rather hoping it's the end instead.

Yuppie Psycho is a surreal and incredibly unique experience. By drawing most of it's inspiration from television and film, the game develops a unique aesthetic and world that feels unlike anything other video games have explored. Even though the in-game graphical style is a disappointment, the anime-inspired visuals in the rest of the game and the flawless soundtrack help create a truly tense and at times nightmarish atmosphere. Yuppie Psycho isn't without flaws, but it's a horror gem that is absolutely worth experiencing in spite of those flaws.

You are never at risk of encountering anything unexpected when playing Zenith, but cutscenes are unpredictable and quite intelligently written (and even well directed at times), so they are genuinely entertaining. But the game is an action RPG by the numbers, and it gives the distinct impression that it is a vehicle for delivering the comedy. This would be fine, but that vehicle would need to be enjoyable and on this one, the wheels have fallen off.