drlowdon

A relatively novel mix of puzzler and roguelike that that's relatively enjoyable played in short bursts but the high level of luck required to succeed is a little too frustrating.

The mature storytelling and interesting persona based combat system can’t quite make up for the often glacial pacing, dated graphics or overly long play time.

Although it never really feels like a truly satisfying deckbuilder, Thronebreaker is solid attempt to expand upon the card game Gwent made popular by The Witcher 3.

Turning the Elden Ring formula into a multiplayer roguelike seemed an odd choice, but the combat and exploration that made the original a success translates very well.

The difficulty and backtracking will certainly be off putting for some, but for those willing to invest the time, Death Howl offers a deep and challenging mix of deck building and grid based strategy.

Those willing to invest the time will discover that Caves of Qud doesn’t lack in depth or options to investigate, but the frustratingly obscure controls and systems will deter many gamers and the moment to moment gameplay is far from exciting.

The Forest offers plenty of depth in terms of its survival mechanics but the lack of any sort of guidance, difficulty of actually finding anything that moves the plot forward and lacklustre controls ultimately become pretty frustrating.

An incredibly generic JRPG that not even the well implemented online co-op can make particularly interesting.

A serviceable enough online co-op horror experience, but it doesn't have the gameplay quality or variety to provide more than a few hours of fun.

It all seems pretty low budget and it’s certainly rough around the edges, but teaming up with a few mates for some online action is good fun.

The seemingly endless number of mini-games and side-quests (some of which can thankfully ignored by switching to easy difficulty) completely destroy the pacing, and it’s only the enduring characters and storyline that kept me playing.

A perfectly serviceable game that plays like a cross between Dark Souls and Ninja Gaiden, but the mission based structure robs the game of the exploration that is so vital in making From Softwares titles what they are.

There are just so many of these crafting focused survival games that it’s hard to muster any enthusiasm when another one comes along that doesn’t do anything new.

Learning and using the various methods of ‘cheating’ at cards is an interesting one, but it becomes a little repetitive after just a few hours and the concept struggles to support a full game all by itself.

The story isn’t totally uninteresting but the gameplay, which largely consists of walking around very slowly and interacting with items until the story you trigger a cut scene, becomes incredibly tedious even during the games relatively short runtime.

Even with the multiple characters offering different challenges, Ball X Pit doesn't have the gameplay depth of the best roguelikes, but the core gameplay loop is still pretty addictive and will provide a fair few hours of entertainment before it starts to feel too repetitive.

Even with the multiple characters offering different challenges, Ball X Pit doesn't have the gameplay depth of the best roguelikes, but the core gameplay loop is still pretty addictive and will provide a fair few hours of entertainment before it starts to feel too repetitive.

Islanders: New Shores will likely appeal to gamers that enjoy a relaxing experience, but the gameplay is just too simplistic to offer a long term appeal and there are similar games, such as Dorfromantik, that do the same thing better.

A few frustrating difficultly spikes aside, From Software have done a great job updating the Armored Core franchise with a game full of great combat and plenty of mission variety.

A pretty poor simulation that looks and plays worse than many of the snooker games from a decade or more ago, it’s not even worth bothering either for free.

A well made city builder that doesn’t lack depth but it doesn’t quite have the variety to match the best of the genre.

Dispatch sets a new standard for video game writing and animation to the point where you feel as though your essentially playing an interactive cartoon, and this more than compensates for the relatively little ‘traditional’ gameplay.

The moment to moment gameplay is decent enough when played co-op with friends, but the lack of any sort of narrative or progression from run to run means it can start to feel pretty repetitive after just a few hours.

The mix of old school side-scrolling beat ‘em up and roguelike elements works well making Absolum a fun co-op experience.

Aesthetically pleasing with a great soundtrack, but the core skating mechanic never feels particularly satisfying and it’s all too easy to hit an obstacle you didn’t even see coming.

11-bit Studios, the developers behind This War of Mine and Frostpunk, have created yet another excellent survival game full of interesting choices.

In striving so heavily for realism and attempting to ensure the player feels as downtrodden as the protagonist, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II all too often feels like a tedious chore to play.

The missions are largely uninteresting fetch quests and the controls are incredibly awkward.

Shogun Showdown doesn’t quite offer the same level of variety and longevity as the absolute top tier roguelikes, but it’s simple yet deep strategic gameplay still offers a fair few hours of entertainment.

Doom Eternal largely succeeds in what it sets out to do, but it doesn’t move the FPS genre forward in any way and after just a few levels I felt like I’d already played this game dozens of times over the last two decades.

A competent enough Zelda clone but it doesn’t offer anything particularly new or exciting.

Just Cause 3 (much like its predecessors) seems like it should be fun but the dull mission design and poor shooting mechanics make the reality very different.

With its RPG elements, base building and relatively complex survival gameplay V Rising offers an unusual mix of genres, unfortunately however, it doesn’t really do anything particularly noteworthy with any of them.

If you can untangle the games many systems and get to grips with the unintuitive UI Stellaris will provide a suitably deep space strategy game, for many however, this will feel completely impenetrable.

An intriguing set-up soon gives way to a tedious mix of crafting and slow paced exploration.

Minimal gameplay means your mileage with Thank Goodness You’re Here! will almost entirely depend upon how you feel about it’s absurd, and often very dark, sense of humour.

The excellent visuals and animation, alongside a relatively interesting central mystery, do enough to justify the 5 hour run time even if the gameplay is a little simplistic for the most part.

The unique set-up, interesting as it may be, can’t hide the average platformer underneath.

A decent enough stealth game with some nice co-op options that is just let down slightly by some inconsistencies with the mechanics.

A potential interesting story is completely squandered by the painfully slow walks that give the player nothing to do other than push forward on the control pad for minutes at a time.

Fury Unleashed doesn't do anything particularly original, but when played co-op, this is still a pretty fun roguelike side scrolling shooter.

A tedious point and click adventure that often seemed to go out of it's to slow everything down to crawling pace.

Hades 2 follows the template laid down by it’s predecessor pretty closely, but the rougelite gameplay loop remains as enjoyable and addictive as ever.

With it’s well told story, excellent combat system and stunning musical score, Clair Obscure is a unique and beautifully crafted RPG.

Dull combat and the seemingly obligatory crafting mechanics that have to be bolted on to half the games released these days makes for an incredibly tedious experience.

The visual and audio design is stunning, but the combat is too simplistic and imprecise to carry the game.

The fact that the game is INTENTIONALLY aiming to replicate horror games of the 1990's doesn't make the awful controls or old school design any more enjoyable.

Despite being an absolutely shameless clone of **** Valley, the familiar gameplay loop still provided a fair few hours of enjoyment, especially as it can be played with up to three friends.

The impressive claymation style graphics and interesting setting can’t make up for the dull and minimally interactive gameplay or the glacial pacing.

Unicorn Overlord certainly isn’t lacking in depth, but the combat that makes up the majority of the game isn’t quite sufficiently varied or tactical enough to remain interesting for the duration of the games 50+ hour runtime.