GameCritics

Fatal Frame 2 Remake is creepy, haunting, and thrilling in equal measure. It’s also fiddly and frustrating at times, and requires the player to put in a ton of effort if they want to feel like they’ve gotten everything out of the story. (PROTIP: get a walkthrough.) Still, it’s a truly affecting experience, and that’s down to the developers’ brilliant use of mechanics. I’ve played literally hundreds of creepy horror titles, but I’ve almost never felt this kind of connection to the story, and that’s entirely down to the decision they made to trigger that bit of physical discomfort in the player. I can’t imagine it’s going to be an experience for everyone, but the results are inarguable – I cared about what happened to these twins, and appreciated the experience all the more because of it.

Those looking for a simple-yet-effective grind and not bothered by bad voice acting will enjoy Dragonkin: The Banished. It doesn’t attempt to rewrite the ARPG, but it provides a solid loop with a novel approach to skill-building that serves as an antidote to the terminally-online titans of the genre.

Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf successfully expands on its underrated first entry in nearly every way possible. It’s the perfect Empire Strikes Back to Planet of Lana’s New Hope: approachable, beautiful, and a great adventure worth taking.

Dread Delusion’s best content overshadows its flaws. Even with some disappointment at the lackluster outcomes to my decisions, the build up to those moments was rich, engaging, and founded in human emotion. The storytelling in Dread Delusion is top notch, and I found myself transfixed, exhausting each dialogue tree, and reading every lore-book I came across. There are moments from Dread Delusion that will haunt me for months to come, and that quality alone makes it worthwhile.

Anthem#9 looks fantastic in trailers and the gem matching mechanics are satisfying — piecing together a giant combination of attacks feels great. On the other hand, the UI needs work, the difficulty spike going from the basic (AKA tutorial) missions to the extra missions is supremely out of whack, and all the white flashes made me sick and will likely trigger seizures in photosensitive people. I want to like Anthem#9 more than I do, but it really doesn’t like me back.

At the end of the day, Unbeatable is a solid rhythm title with great audio-visual presentation and and a heartwarming narrative, though some lackluster pacing and inconsistent voice application make it a trickier recommendation than I would have expected.

There’s nothing meaningful to recommend this title, and it’s easy to call it the weakest entry in the entire Kain series—an outcome that falls far short of the modern revival I had hoped for.

Love Eternal is very demanding game — it demands perfection for its platforming, focus for the narrative beats, and patience for both. I can say that it’s one of the most unique games I’ve played in a very long while, and maybe with time I’ll come to enjoy it more than I did. I never stopped being intrigued enough to keep pressing on, but the frustration it put me through only took away from the experience overall.

Caves of Qud can be a frustrating and downright hostile experience at times. It’s clearly built for those who have a fondness for older PC-style RPGs and those who enjoy diving deep into several different systems running at once, and for me the overwhelming nature of things adds to the charm. Caves of Qud is one of the most unique adventures currently out there — it’s just not one that will resonate with anyone looking for something laid back or relaxing.

While Painkiller’s attempt to reboot is a worthy goal, but the reality is that it just doesn’t get the franchise where it needs to go, as it’s not something easily recommended to a friend thanks to its mediocre nature, nor is it a a true single-player experience for those old-school Painkiller fans out there. Just like its protagonists, the game is caught in a purgatory between the modern online gaming landscape and its classic arena shooter legacy, fighting for a redemption that isn’t looking likely to come.