Digital Chumps

Mullet Madjack is a diamond in the rough of a boomer shooter, perfect for anyone wanting an arcade like experience within a stylishly artistic neon setting. One year after its original release on PC, it remains a must-have for any Nintendo Switch owner wanting the cartoonish violence of a boomer shooter without a need for arbitrary precision. It’s a bloody fantastic time.

Aphelion treads familiar waters for anyone who has played an action adventure game in a post-Uncharted world. But its emotional and grounded narrative about the search for hope is potent enough to look past many shortcomings.

The Spell Brigade separates itself from the pack of Vampire Survivors-adjacent games by letting up to four players engage in unruly, wave-based chaos. However, the power climb is locked behind a steep grind that takes too long to feel rewarding and players may yearn for more varied content to keep them truly invested.

OPUS Prism Peak from developer SIGONO, INC. brings one solid narrative to the gaming table. It features humor, drama, compelling characters, and a worthy journey for the player to take on. All of this is wrapped in simple gameplay elements that don’t take the adventure too far away from the story.

Ground Zero, from developer Malformation Games, is a tip-of-the-hat to classic survival horror times, and well-executed with story and gameplay.

The Day I Became a Bird, from developer Hyper Luminal Games Ltd., is a fun, adorable visual novel adventure that features a fair amount of well-placed gameplay and a good dose of creative and nostalgic flavor to it. It’s a short journey, though, clocking in at 1.5 hours.

Life is Strange: Reunion attempts to tackle the difficult task of wrapping up the loose ends set forth in Double Exposure and find resolution for the series’ two beloved characters. The relationship between Max and Chloe has always been a highlight of the genre and thankfully it carries a weaker entry in Life is Strange that struggles to navigate its overly simplistic gameplay and less important subplots.

Saros pushes the envelope on multiple fronts, changing the roguelike genre in ways that’s more player-friendly than ever while taking advantage of the PS5’s DualSense controller in novel fashions. It’s near perfect in several ways, even if its story lacks the satisfaction that its gunplay otherwise provides.

As the game progressed, you unlocked new weapons. Despite having a variety of firearms, I found myself really sticking to 2-3 guns the whole game. The guns unlocked in later portions of the game felt more cumbersome than useful. I think of a game like Bioshock Infinite that shows you a little animation after you receive a new ability. This animation helps the player learn the extent of the abilities, and I think this would have been helpful for the equipment in Mouse. Despite their flaws mechanically, they look beautiful, and their names are fantastic. The Tommy gun in this world is a “James Gun”, come on, that’s just good old-fashioned comedy.

Tides of Tomorrow is a wonderful game that brings a balance of fantastic branching dialogue and consequences of that dialogue, while also creating some meaningful and solid interactive gameplay that complements those dialogue choices. The game feels very well planned and executed.