Gaming-Village's Reviews
Anno 117: Pax Romana will not disappoint those who already enjoyed the previous entries in the series. Of course, there are a few bugs, but everything important runs smoothly and feels very well designed. At times, there is simply nothing more satisfying than watching your own island go about its work and hoping that no production chain breaks down right in front of your eyes.
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The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time is a multilayered meta puzzle game in which both the game itself and its meta level are highly compelling. Clues are hidden in a wide variety of ways, and knowledge is frequently recontextualized. Progress is sometimes tied to newly acquired abilities, but even more often to newly gained understanding. The puzzle-based battles are built around an engaging concept and remain fresh through the constant introduction of new ideas and approaches. On top of that, the game features a richly layered meta dimension with developer commentary and more, all of which interlocks remarkably well. Right now, I’m simply happy that I had the chance to experience TRotEotGRPGoAT.
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The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a brilliantly designed action-adventure that has had a lasting influence on the Zelda series and has not been surpassed to this day. The overworld is one of the best in the series, and the dungeons offer an excellent mix of puzzles, exploration, and exciting boss battles. An essential title, not only for fans of the series.
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Arcade Archives 2: Arkanoid is a successful adaptation of a thrilling arcade game; while it has a few minor quirks, it faithfully recreates the original experience on the Nintendo Switch 2. The optional mouse controls—provided you can get used to the ergonomics of the Nintendo Switch 2 mouse—are a welcome bonus that significantly improves the gameplay experience on the Nintendo Switch 2.
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And my most recent trip to the museum was definitely worth it again. I practically devoured the DLC, so I managed to see everything over the course of two very long evenings. In addition to the new storyline, the DLC offers tons of new exhibits and a great new system that lets us create our own pieces and sell them off. Plus, of course, tons of additional decorations. And to appreciate that the signature Two Point humor is still in full force, I’m glad I didn’t have to study humor on a trip first! So, the bottom line is: you absolutely can’t go wrong with the third Two Point Museum DLC. So grab your paintbrushes!
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The visual novel Temirana: The Lucky Princess and the Tragic Knights develops organically from a humorous common route into, at times, very serious character routes. Many mysteries and character motivations are seeded early on, and the worldbuilding is equally well developed. Occasionally a little over the top, but always within a convincing framework. Even the weaker routes never left me dissatisfied, and visually, countless details contribute to the overall atmosphere.
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Bubsy 4D is an enjoyable 3d platformer with a somewhat crude humour, that does not feel remminiscent of its predecessor Bubsy 3D, but that is probably for the better. Compared to the rest of the Bubsy series, Bubsy 4D clearly is the best game, but even when taken on its own as a 3D platformer, it is a well-made game. Demon Turf's influence on the game design is pretty apparent and I would rank Bubsy 4D in between the slightly better Neon Splash and the weaker original Demon Turf.
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Date A Live: Ren Dystopia offers lighthearted entertainment and, despite its name, never really carries an overly negative tone. Its large cast of distinct characters brings plenty of humor, while the many individual routes and their manageable length make it well suited for shorter play sessions.
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Sektori is a well-crafted arcade twin-stick shooter packed with mechanics that make every new run feel fresh. Ship upgrades and cards complement the gameplay in meaningful ways, and alongside the campaign, the additional modes offer plenty of opportunities for chasing high scores. The only real drawback is that the bosses on the lowest difficulty vary noticeably in how demanding they are, and a few mechanics could benefit from clearer explanations. That would also make the easiest difficulty feel less challenging overall. Even so, Sektori is always worth jumping into for a quick session.
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Saros is a mechanically well-executed bullet hell shooter that unfortunately suffers a bit from a lack of variety in level design, weapons, and run-altering artifacts. Because dying and retrying is a core feature, this does lead to noticeable repetition over a playtime of 20–30 hours. However, the option to start in the current biome rather than always having to begin in the first one helps to mitigate this repetition. The core gameplay—3D bullet hell combat combined with dodging, blocking, and parrying—is consistently enjoyable. The Carcosa modifiers can be adjusted to personal preference, even if there is no intrinsic reward for increasing the difficulty. Still, the game manages to surprisingly well compensate for its repetitive structure in moment-to-moment play. Overall, Saros is a good game that ultimately falls a little short of its full potential.
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Dracamar is a solid 3D platformer featuring surprisingly long levels and a generally grounded level design. Due to its low difficulty and straightforward structure, it is especially well suited for younger players and newcomers to the genre. Aside from a few minor technical imperfections—particularly in relation to culling—the game is presented in a generally well-executed manner, giving Dracamar a polished enough overall impression. This makes it a recommendable entry in the genre.
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Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a very amusing life simulation that unfortunately also relies heavily on repetition between its more absurd moments. The character creation system offers plenty of options, missing only a few small additions. User-created content can further expand the experience, and it is easy to design through stamps and templates. At times, however, the game leans a little too heavily on self-created content, which then appears disproportionately often in minigames. As a result, dialogues sometimes differ only by a few words, which slightly reduces the overall entertainment value. Nevertheless, even hours after seeing the credits roll, the game still manages to surprise with new scenes, dialogues, and interactions, and I am still busy populating my island with additional characters. All in all, this quirky simulation is definitely worth a look.
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Now things get particularly fascinating (at least for me—maybe not so much for you, who knows): I started this text under the assumption that Gambonanza is a pretty solid game with lots of creative ideas and a stable roguelite foundation, but one that didn’t fully win me over because chess and I apparently don’t quite get along. And now here I am, and while writing this I’ve already launched the game twice. My thoughts about it have actually made me want to give its somewhat more complex style of strategy another try. Gambonanza therefore seems to be doing something very right after all.
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I don’t know whether this is good or bad, but as someone who usually isn’t a fan of shooters, Mouse: P.I. for Hire is one of the best shooters I’ve played so far—maybe even the best. It’s actually a bit of a shame that going for 100% completion isn’t very appealing, and that resources spawn far too excessively on normal difficulty. I’d also say the game feels a little too long. But aside from that, almost everything about it feels close to perfect for me. The cartoony black-and-white art style, which still doesn’t try to be child-friendly, adds a tremendous amount to the experience. The fact that I even enjoy the gunplay here is still surprising. The great story and small side activities also round things off nicely.
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After completing the journey, my save file in TetherGeist shows almost exactly ten hours of playtime. Ten hours in which I bounced through the seven chapters and steadily sharpened my abilities as a shaman. The individual sections are concise and consistently motivating, and thanks to the different traversal abilities, the game requires not only precise execution but also careful planning to work out the correct sequence of actions. It makes for a very successful combination—and definitely one well worth recommending.
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The big question, of course, is whether the game is actually fun under these circumstances. To be honest, without the Infinite Mode I would probably be giving this a yellow rating, as some enemy formations feel a bit too unfair and I found myself dying constantly. Thankfully, there is no death counter at the end—mine certainly would not have painted a flattering picture. Players who are willing to invest the time to learn the game’s mechanics, repeatedly practice, memorize formations, and understand proper positioning will likely find both a great deal of enjoyment and frustration here. For a more casual shmup player like myself, that would not have been enough, but fortunately the game provides an alternative through its accessibility options. Visually and musically, R-Type III left a very positive impression on me, and I am glad to have crossed another personal gaming blind spot off my list. Shmup veterans should have no hesitation picking this one up, and everyone else should try not to be intimidated by its difficulty.
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Once again, a handful of concepts have come together here in a combination I never would have imagined even in my wildest dreams. Yet the Tetris-inspired city-building deckbuilding roguelike Drop Duchy works astonishingly well. Every single system interlocks with remarkable care and flows together as if this genre mix had always been the most obvious idea imaginable. And it is precisely this sense of effortless cohesion that turns “I’ll just play one more round” into an entire evening disappearing without notice. How does this keep happening again and again?
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What I particularly enjoyed is that the dioramas are not static. For example, I built a winter scene in the city where several characters were walking through the snow. Whenever they left one puzzle piece, they would immediately reappear on the next. It is a great help while assembling the puzzle, but above all, it is simply incredibly charming how these little details breathe so much life into the dioramas.
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As it turned out for me, AI: The Somnium Files is not the psycho-splatter experience I had initially imagined in my mind. There are a few moments that gave me a slight feeling of nausea, but overall that is negligible. Instead, alongside the tension and oppressive scenes, there is also plenty of humor, a fair amount of absurdity, and quite a lot of sexual thoughts—especially from the protagonist. Overall, I felt well entertained.
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AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative entertained me just as much as its predecessor. I also mostly enjoyed the humor, even if its often sexual direction will definitely not be for everyone. Some scenes, as mentioned above, are deliberately over-the-top and absurd. I personally like that the game and its characters often lean into a light, and perhaps for some players overly exaggerated, tone. The mystery remains unclear for a long time, with only individual pieces being solved before most of it eventually comes together. The fact that I did not fully understand every detail myself is, in the overall context, not something I would count as a criticism. The structure with its different routes can also occasionally lead to some confusion. During the Psync segments, I often had to experiment a bit, and sometimes I ran out of time—but I found that unproblematic. Once you focus on the known correct interactions and use the skip function, you can quickly return to the point where you previously failed. Anyone who enjoys a mysterious case with puzzles that do not require excessive brain strain should definitely consider taking a look at AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES – nirvanA Initiative, provided they can handle—or even appreciate—its exaggerated tone and humor. I look back on it with mixed feelings: one half because I was well entertained, the other because it’s already over, even though it certainly wasn’t lacking in content. I would gladly see more entries in the series.
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