#switch
#switch
by Amr (@siegarettes)
[TRANSCRIPT]
Sonic Forces feels incomplete. It’s straining against its budget, with signs that it may have gone a few changes of direction. Everything is highly polished, but it’s clear that plenty got cut on the way, leaving them to assemble what’s left into something resembling complete. It’s frustrating, seeing something with so many ideas, but with almost none of them explored.
By: RJ (@rga_02)
There are some games you play for the sake of irony or a joke. You know those type of games. You would find them digging deep in the Steam storefront and you tell yourself, “this looks so awful, but I’ll play it anyway.” Then there are games that are so atrocious that even any sort of irony won’t be able to salvage your experience. Touhou Kobuto V is one of them.
by Omar (@siegarettes)
Sine Mora was one of the most interesting shooters of the last generation. Interesting, in the way we reserve the word for games that have peaked our attention somehow, but don’t quite manage to get all the way there. Sine Mora EX returns to it, bringing a fresh coat of paint, small balance changes, and a few 2 player modes.
By: RJ (@rga_02)
Have you ever imagined falling down into the abyss only to find yourself in the arms of a humanoid that does nothing with their time other than play the piano? I haven’t – but I’m pretty sure someone out there has imagined that before. For those who wish to live that life, Deemo has you covered, and it also happens to be a rhythm game as well.
By: RJ (@rga_02)
Last night my friends and I were playing Konami’s Beatmania for the PlayStation 2. Frustrated at the amount of input lag on my television we decided to switch to another videogame. I decided to show them SUPERBEAT: XONiC. One of my friends asked how the controls work for the game, but she quickly learned how to play within seconds. Within a few hours, the Beatmania controller was left to the corner while XONiC was blasting away on the screen.
by Omar (@siegarettes)
There are few feelings more satisfying than a good parry. Bleed 2 knows that, and not only does it center itself on it, it brings the best version of the parry: the one that can reflect missiles into an enemies face.
That’s what makes Bleed 2 work. The slow motion gunplay, the agile character, the two color bullet system – it all complements the parry. The parry changes the way you approach levels. It makes it smarter to be the aggressor, forces you to run towards bullets to create breathing room. The best moments in Bleed 2 are the ones that play with that. They create tension as you rally bullets until your opponent drops it, then have knock them out of the air with a quick response to their dive attack. Or they have you defend an ally by parrying a car out of the air.
by Omar ( @siegarettes )
RIVE is a bit of anachronism in 2016. Despite the current popularity and developments of the twin-stick shooter, RIVE feels like a game from the heyday of Xbox Live Arcade. Between the gruff, blue collar characterization of the protagonist, constant reference to retro arcade games, and fourth wall breaks, RIVE is particularly enamored with an idea of a retro throwback in a way that now feels like a throwback itself.
by Omar (@siegarettes)
If you know anything about me, you know that I have a soft spot for robots. Well, okay, more like a liquefied gooey center that spills out whenever I get the chance to talk about them. If the design of Heart & Slash is any indication, developer AHEARTFULOFGAMES does as well. There’s an art direction that evokes the Mega Man Legends series, clear nods to other famous robots, and a return to themes of artificial beings finding a sense of humanity that’s been popular since Pinocchio came around. The story itself centers on Heart, the titular protagonist, struggling in a post-human world against QuAsSys, a quality assurance system moving to create a world of perfect equality—by removing the unique individuals it sees as defects. Naturally, that puts Heart, with their Apple II inspired chassis and singular design, in opposition with QuAsSys, which of course means a lot of robot brawling.