Qualbert.com's Reviews
Nomada Studios follow up title has gone above and beyond it’s predecessor. With deeper gameplay, vibrant colours and a heart wrenching story to boot. Although this 5 hour journey may be shorter than some would like, it doesn’t detract from its fantastic gameplay. Neva is an engaging and emotional experience that is well worth investing your time in, even if it is only for a day or two.
If you want a poignant tale of a man coming to terms with loss then Tales of Kenzera: Zau is for you. The story is the main focus here and although combat isn’t perfect it still contains more than enough fun and challenge for any player. Unfortunately the side content is severely lacking and most talisman upgrades barely help, however if you don’t want to spend over 20 hours on one game then this is perfect. Some sort of spiritual sequel (no pun intended) with a bigger focus on combat and exploration wouldn’t go astray but the Tale of Zau is just fine just on its own.
Kaamos: Puzzle Roguelike draws upon minimalism as its greatest asset, combining two familiar genres is a dark and depressing package. Through simplistic yet polished gameplay and a bleak, brutalist pixel art-style, Kaamos will have you fail upwards with every run. Learning its gameplay and overcoming its challenging difficulty is immensely satisfying. As a first from Pepperbox Studios, we’re eager to see what this Finnish indie team will be cooking up next.
The characters, gameplay, and farming sim are great fun, this indie sci-fi adventure is 100% worth your time. If you’re familiar with the source material, even more so! Check out the original comic at Soullion’s website.
I’m quite mixed about this game. It has an intriguing set-up that leads you into wild twists and turns that you never see coming, adding with the oddball characters, bizarre dialogue, neat environments and it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. But the simple and sometimes restrictive gameplay may not appeal to everyone and the myriad of issues that I’ve had with my time playing tells me that this needed more time to cook up and what we got in the end is an admirable but flawed debut. I do wish them the best of luck on what they’re working on next!
Hands down this is the greatest remaster I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. Yes I will firmly admit that nostalgia had a hand in that statement, but to take a 19 year old game and turn it into what we see now is truly amazing. The key thing to take away from this is it’s not a remake, it’s a remaster. The old bones of the original are still there, they’ve just had plenty of milk and are dressed in a nice suit. There’s still pop-in but guards won’t shout at you from a village away for violating the law. There’s been some small frame drops while I’ve been walking in the wild, but I’ve only had 1 crash so far. They’ve kept the heart of the original gameplay but improved some quality of life aspects. Personally I think the game is fantastic and a feat of hard work by the teams at Bethesda and Virtuos. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get into the Dark Brotherhood with a blonde haired Bosmer to help me with that.
An interesting evolution of a comfortable JRPG series, Atelier Yumia is the embodiment of explosive change. Yet despite how much it pushes forward, it still has the heart and soul that the series has nurtured over the years. With excellent writing that is happy to work with tropes the characters and story shine in creative ways. The thematic music and visuals also help make the package feel complete, while new gameplay options let the wider design stand out. A really excellent adventure.
I knew I would enjoy Bokura: Planet as I very much enjoyed Bokura. I only played a little bit of the original, but I found how it did things was incredibly clever and blew my mind at the time. I just had no idea the sequel would get so dark. The first game was no picnic by any means, but I feel like the story and puzzles were both ratcheted up to 11 in Planet. It took me by surprise. My friend was less enthused, but he doesn’t enjoy puzzle games as much as I do. If you like puzzles and dark, mind-bending stories, Bokura: Planet is a short experience that’s destined to linger on your mind long after you’ve finished it.
A very middle-of-the-road game, Steel Seed has some great things going for it, and some real headaches that I wish could be remedied. If it weren’t for the massive difficulty fluctuation and iffy platforming, it could stand with its contemporaries without question. Still, it could be worth a purchase solely for its lofty ambition and immaculate presentation.
Point and click adventure puzzle games are definitely not my usual genre of choice. That being said, sometimes it is good to get outside of your comfort ‘Amerzone’. The quality of the writing and presentation in this remake do more than enough to justify giving Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy a try. Once you start to unravel the mysteries of the white bird egg, you’ll want to see the story through to its conclusion. As a puzzle game it will keep you guessing with novel conundrums and unorthodox solutions. It does have a bit of that Indiana Jones explorer vibe, just without the action and shooting (which some people may actually prefer).
I said it before but I’ll say it again, Rebirth of Souls is a true love letter to the Bleach community. It’s the first console game we’ve gotten in over a decade and you can see the hard work that went into it. Fully voiced and nicely animated, it’s a great way to relive the series that many love. However, it’s not perfect. The game has glitches and is missing key characters. Plus the online mode needs some work if it wants to be a real contender in the competitive fighting space. But it’s on the right track to be one of the best fighting games out there and I look forward to seeing how it improves over time including any additional characters.
Gnomes is a must-play for fans of roguelikes and tower defense games. The more you play, the more you realise that its simple gameplay hides serious depth. Alongside a sleek visual style and a gameplay loop that’ll keep you coming back time and time again, it’s a wonder that a game with this degree of polish was made by only two people. Like a Gnome peeking out from an overgrown garden, this indie gem emerges to put the tower defense genre back on the right path again.
Driven by a passion for creation with music as its heart, Tempopo is unlike any other game you’ve played. Beneath its colourful and childish exterior lies a impressive degree of depth to its gameplay, sleek design, and an absurd attention-to-detail for audio. After the runaway success that was Unpacking, Witch Beam have once again changed directions and prove to be a studio not bound by genres.
In all, I enjoyed Atomfall. It offers a unique visual tale that yes, whilst it most definitely borrows concepts from games past I wouldn’t agree to label it ‘English Fallout’ as the internet has titled it. This is a game for those who want to sink a sizable amount of hours exploring and piecing together a universe and positively, with 6 endings and multiple branching subplots the replayability is there.
With no particular overall message, this game is about love and connection across the stars. Bios being a silent protagonist did detract from this somewhat, but in some scenes his actions showed more than enough emotion. This game is filled with content, from collectables, to races, decorating your board, or even just going for a ride. The best part is this is for all ages, even my daughter stole my Switch for a quick sesh. For a small indie game that seemingly came out of nowhere, this was a fantastic and unique sci fi journey, if held back slightly by the console release of choice. Rock on!
While some aspects of the collection may be received negatively based on the mixed visuals, nobody can deny that this return of Suikoden is both an excellent entry point to the series and representative of the best versions of the games so far. Suikoden I & II HD Remaster is another step in the right direction in Konami’s new golden age and a solid JRPG package worthy of its place in the modern HD remaster library.
The Darkest Files takes something that no one would ever consider making a game out of and creates a thought-provoking experience for players. The melding of the storytelling, gameplay, visuals and sound allow the horrendous events to become a bit more bearable. While there are a few issues with the game in terms of the occasional bug, I believe it’s the sort of game that everyone should play. It’s just unfortunate that it’s very short with only two cases available. I hope that if it sells enough, they might create a sequel with more cases. The aim of the game isn’t to bring people to justice, that’s just a happy side effect. It’s to make sure these things never happen again.
South of Midnight captures the Southern US in a way I’ve never seen in another video game. For the majority of my playthrough, I was amazed by its mystical level design, the accurate voice acting, and especially its soundtrack. If exploration of an unfamiliar setting motivates you to try new games, South of Midnight warrants picking up for that alone.
I really enjoyed Pirate Yakuza. I’m still fairly new to the franchise but playing this has actually made me want to go back and play the rest. I currently have a play time of over 55 hours and you know what? I’m not even finished! I still have so much to play, explore and enjoy. While I don’t get all the references to the previous games, I was still able to pick up a few. I think if you’re someone who’s been on the fence about starting the franchise, this is a perfect jumping in point if you don’t care about playing them in chronological order.
If you’re privy to how the last few Assassin’s Creed games maneuver, you’re in for more of the same in Shadows, just in Japan. Being content with enemy levels, grinding out your abilities, and a slow burn story are a must to have fun here. With anywhere from 30 to 70 hours of gameplay, this should tide over modern AC fans as well as anyone looking for another ninja/samurai fix.