#PC
#PC
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Every once in a while Neptunia will draw me in with a new premise, something that promises to break up the monotony of the main line games. Like Superdimension Neptunia vs. SEGA Hard Girls, Dimension Tripper Neptune does this by drawing on the appeal of SEGA properties, this time with taking after SEGA’s Space Harrier. Sadly, the resemblance is only superficial, and the comparison once again doesn’t work in Neptune’s favor.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
Most games try to give you some sense of your impact. You can construct stories about your prowess, about what you did to help bring your team to victory. You know how many kills you made, how many objectives you captured, and how you assisted your teammates. The numbers spell out plainly exactly what you’ve accomplished.
In Hell Let Loose, sometimes it’s an achievement just to stay alive. A bomb you had no chance to avoid might take you out seconds after spawning. Or you might run ten minutes to the next objective only to be killed instantly by an enemy you’d never seen.
Sometimes you play a key role in setting a well timed offensive that creates momentum for the whole team. And sometimes you wander around, separated from your squad with no objective, no direction, and wondering if you’re even going to contribute anything in the next 30 minutes of bloody attrition.
Hell Let Loose is both the most exhilarated and bored I’d ever been in a shooter.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
3D platformers are a genre that even it’s most prominent creators struggle to get right again. It’s not hard to look at the recent big disappointments in the space and see how difficult it is to bring back what people love about the genre, but for a modern audience.
Super Sami Roll isn’t one of those disappointments. Alongside games like Suzy Cube or Spark the Electric Jester 2, Super Sami Roll is part of the club of games that build their identities from a familiar base, but play with them in smart ways.
By Amr (@siegarettes)
Fallen Knight begins contradicting itself from the moment it begins. Equipping you with high speed dashes, air dashes and wall runs, it’s a game that feels most natural when moving fast. Then your stride is immediately broken by the combat–which not only steals away your movement options after the intro stage, but asks you to slow down even more to get them back.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
R-Type Final 2 is a game banking on the poor memories of its returning players. It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the release of the original R-Type Final, plenty of time to forget the details of its melancholy goodbye to the genre. A premature goodbye as it turns out, with the last decade seeing a surge in the popularity of the genre, and R-Type Final 2 acting as a celebration of this fact, declaring the happy return of a genre favorite. For many, that’s a triumph in itself. Getting behind the controls of Final 2’s extensive arsenal of ships is a joy that will carry the experience. But come armed with clear memories, and all its flaws cast harsh reflections through the haze of its brilliant lights.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
When Umihara Kawase Bazooka was announced, I was skeptical. The franchise has had its share of left field outings and cameos–to mixed success–and I wasn’t sure that the series’ signature wire action physics would translate to the hectic pace of a platform fighter. Well, after a strange, staggered release, Umihara Kawase Bazooka is finally here on the Switch and I can confidently say that my concerns were mostly unfounded–at least as far as the singleplayer goes.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
For as much charm and style as the Shantae series has had, I’ve rarely found most of its entries to be genuinely exciting. Despite their lavishly detailed landscapes, their level designs often left me unimpressed, and the moment to moment gameplay rarely diverted enough from its established design to keep it from feeling routine. Shantae and the Seven Sirens doesn’t exactly shake that feeling, but it does bring welcome change to the formula that points at a more interesting future for the series.
by Amr (@siegarettes)
With a high detail, pre-rendered art style, an aggressive techo-rock soundtrack and high-speed free flowing combat, The Takeover feels like an alternative history sequel to Streets of Rage, and its accompanying 90’s brawler aesthetics. Homages are abound in every moment, with plenty of familiar characters and settings, and tracks that channel SOR so hard that they even hired composer Yuzo Koshiro to contribute. There are even interlude missions that break up the pacing with minigames in the style of classic SEGA arcade games. Matching those aesthetics so closely provides a good example of how they can be modernized, and what remains fraught.
