April 28, 2022 — Rogue Legacy 2 was released onto Steam’s Early Access program in 2020 shortly after the game was properly announced. Now, two years later, it is getting its big 1.0 patch. It’s also coming to consoles for the first time via the Xbox family. For fans of the original, it has almost been a ten-year-long wait. Was now the right time to launch a sequel or does Rogue Legacy 2 not push the series forward enough to justify the number?
April 25, 2022 — A Swedish-made 8-bit metroidvania developed by Decemberborn Interactive, Cathedral has been available on PC and Switch since 2019. But considering the game saw a release on PS4 on April 14, now seems like a fair opportunity to assess the overall experience and see whether it effectively caters to players’ retro cravings. For those who get a kick out of cryptic adventure games with constant difficulty, it might.
April 19, 2022 — Revita is a new competitor in the ever-growing, packed roguelike arena. It was released on Steam’s Early Access in March 2021 and has received decent praise since. The game is now ready and launches in complete form on Nintendo Switch and Steam on April 21. But does the “full” 1.0 version has what it takes to compete with the big boys like Hades and Rogue Legacy — or does it get trampled down?
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April 13, 2022 — Triangle Strategy is a sequel on two fronts. It is the spiritual successor to the seminal Final Fantasy Tactics which has not seen a mainline game since the 2007-2008 Japanese launch on the handheld DS. It is also the second game to use Square Enix’s patented and decidedly gorgeous HD-2D aesthetic since Octopath Traveler was released in 2018. The game has a lot to live up to. So, is this lengthy strategy RPG worth your time?
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April 8, 2022 — Dawn of the Monsters is a simple concept. It mashes together the popular Japanese film craze of giant monsters wreaking havoc on cities with an old-school brawler — it might also be inspired by Rampage. It was published by WayForward in partnership with the developers over at 13AM Games. Because WayForward is involved, the game is like a spiritual sequel to an older title of theirs called Godzilla: Domination.
April 2, 2022 — Developed by Ironbird Creations and published by All In! Games, both situated in Kraków, Poland, Red Wings: American Aces sells itself as a simple, cathartic air combat arcade game on the premise of taking to the skies for nostalgic, action-packed dogfights — that are meant to be enjoyed solo or with friends in both local and online multiplayer matches. Unfortunately, the final product doesn’t quite land with its wheels out.
April 1, 2022 — Some may confuse Weird West with another indie game known as Hard West. Both are themed around the Old West and feature top-down gameplay. However, Hard West is a strategy RPG like XCOM while Weird West is a cover-based, top-down shooter. This may be a surprising revelation — at least it was for me, as I thought the game was another strategy RPG.
March 30, 2022 — Kirby fans have dreamed about getting a proper 3D entry in the series for a long time now, and it’s not hard to imagine why. If Mario, Zelda, and other prolific Nintendo franchises can break into the third dimension, then why not Kirby, arguably among the company’s most consistently high-quality series to date?
March 19, 2022 — Tunic was cooking for a long time in the indie oven. It began as a game called Secret Legend and was first shown off at trade shows in 2015. Eventually, the name was changed to Tunic. Even with the title change, it can be seen from early footage that the setup of the game’s mechanics had not changed that much over the course of its impressive seven-year development cycle. So, the big question is, was Tunic worth the wait?
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February 27, 2022 — It’s difficult not to be enamored upon first seeing OlliOlli World, the latest in the critically acclaimed skateboarding series by the BAFTA and multi-award-winning studio Roll7. The simple, vibrant colors and the cartoony, Adventure Time-esque character designs are remarkably inviting, and the extensive lo-fi soundtrack lends a wonderfully chill vibe to the experience.
February 24, 2022 — It is far from guaranteed that those unfamiliar with the top-down racing genre will enjoy Original Fire Games’ Circuit Superstars right out of the gate. Although the premise and overall structure are about as simple and approachable as they come, the racing mechanics require a learning curve that may prove too steep. Stick with it though, and you may end up surprised over just how rewarding the game can be with practice.
February 22, 2022 — Advertised as the finale of a trilogy of paid DLC expansions for Dead Cells, The Queen and the Sea offers an alternate ending to the two that already exist on top of the usual extra weapons and outfits. Dead Cells is already a fantastic game that did not necessarily need this hefty batch of content — which does more than enough to elevate the base experience.
January 12, 2022 — The Metroidvania rogue-lite Dead Cells has been out on Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox for over three years now, four on PC if you count its Steam Early Access release in 2017. Within that time, the game has received 27 updates including balance patches and entirely new biomes.
January 5, 2022 — Available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC; cult hit side-scroller Blasphemous is bound to leave an impression. Many will be drawn to the game’s aesthetic that is heavily influenced by Catholic Spain, while others may be surprised or put off by its extreme gore.
December 9, 2021 — Funded on Kickstarter back in 2017, Flynn: Son of Crimson is a relatively ambitious undertaking. It portrays its characters and world with a remarkably fluid pixel-art style, and its gameplay combines the combat and overall progression of an action RPG with the level design and movement of a 2D platformer. While a few elements stumble in their execution, Flynn is nonetheless a beautiful, excellently crafted adventure that is well worth a playthrough or two.
November 7, 2021 — First released in 2019, dungeon-crawling rogue-lite Children of Morta has received plenty of content updates by its developer Dead Mage since. The latest expansion, titled Ancient Spirits, is an uncomplicated addition that consists of a new playable character, a new skin system, and an additional 15 items to utilize during runs.
October 12, 2021 — Being the first 2D Metroid installment in nearly two decades, Metroid Dread has a seemingly impossible legacy to live up to. The Metroid series consists of some of the most highly regarded games of all time, so while the hype surrounding Metroid Dread is immense, some may understandably feel skeptical that it would serve as a worthy follow-up to what came before.
October 1, 2021 — When it comes to old-school arcade action, not many games manage to genuinely recreate the feeling of the 80s-90s coin-op era. Thankfully, the New York-based team behind Steel Assault — Zenovia — knew exactly what they were doing when developing this game. READ MORE »
July 26, 2021 — There is plenty to love about this callback to the 90s, although Japanese Akihabara-game-store-turned-retro-developer BEEP may have left a few things out. Some games serve one purpose: unabashedly deliver an endless stream of nonsensical entertainment brimming with vibrant colors and a brilliant assortment of enemies.
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