Umair Khalid's Reviews
Apart from the frustrating nature of ‘Of Ash and Steel’s no handholding, the game is filled with bugs, and some of them are game-breaking. At the time of this review’s publication, the game is already over a month old, and it is still filled with different bugs, and the optimization is still very poor. While Of Ash and Steel could have been a great hit back in the early 2000s, sadly, for today’s gamers, it lacks the right amount of fun and difficulty. In its current state, the no-handholding sits way back because the game needs optimization and bug-fixing. It is a shame because the game, on the other hand, has a great world and a lot of different things to do that can keep you busy for hours. I recommend that you sit this one out for the time being and try some other RPG for your fill.
I absolutely loved playing the Sport Mode in Offroad Truck Simulation: Heavy Duty Challenge, but anything beyond that is a hit-or-miss for me. The Cargo Mode feels limited and rushed, while the maps in Off-Road Trips are too buggy to enjoy. This, coupled with choppy visuals and poor framerates, raises serious concerns for the Xbox Series X version of the game. While it has a strong base underneath, it requires more optimization work and speed because otherwise the game will continue to lose its player base and will not be able to establish a strong foothold in its genre. If you are a fan of the Europa Truck Trial, you are going to love this game because the trucks in the game are amazing, and the courses are challenging as well. However, I would wait a little longer to give developers more time to optimize it before jumping into the game. If you want to jump right now, it is still a fun game, nonetheless, but be ready to face multiple glitches, bugs, and poor performance.
If you are a Metroidvania fan and recently played Prince of Persia: The Last Crown or Blasphemous 2 and are actively waiting for Hollow Knight: Silksong, Kong: Survivor Instinct will leave you wanting more. Not only does it lack exploration rewards, but the combat is also forgettable and sometimes frustratingly bad. The lack of focus on combat development in Metroidvania is just bizarre, and it is perhaps the only major flaw in this otherwise brilliant design of a game. Once you get the grip of the poorly executed combat, it is fun for a few hours until you hit that credits screen, and then you turn it off for good. If you need to fill your Silksong void with some cool Kong and Kaiju moments, consider giving it a shot, but if you are looking for slick movement and combat skills, this is not the Metroidvania you are looking for.
Yerba Buena features a gorgeous art style and some genuinely clever puzzle mechanics, but frustrating design choices and uneven pacing hold the experience back. The game’s inconsistent puzzle quality, combined with a poor checkpoint system, results in excessive backtracking that repeatedly disrupts immersion and momentum. I genuinely wanted to enjoy Yerba Buena more because some of its ideas are excellent, but too many mechanics work against the overall experience. While there is still a decent puzzle game underneath its issues, frustrating pacing and inconsistent design prevent Yerba Buena from reaching its full potential.
Our recommendation? Bring at least 3 or 4 of your friends if you want to have a good time in the game. Otherwise, you will be stuck with a community that really likes to kick people and send them to the other world without much deduction. Deceit 2 may look like a buggy and unoptimized title on the front, but underneath, it is a fun and actually good multiplayer game to enjoy with your friends. It also desperately needs a playable tutorial to retain fresh players who are just leaving the game out of frustration, since they are unable to understand the mechanics properly. Recommended for players who want something along the lines of Among Us but in 3D and with more detailed gameplay.
Deliver Us The Moon is a great game, but Nintendo Switch is perhaps not the best platform for it to enjoy. However, if you have no other option to play it on, it is still better to have it than not have it on your platform of choice. Just like its development cycle, the Nintendo Switch port is a choppy one. It would help if you went in prepared for low resolution and inconsistent frames all around, but this is one of the best narrative titles out there, so I will still count it as a win for Nintendo Switch players. If you have other platforms, experience Deliver Us the Moon on them, but if you are strictly a Nintendo Switch player, then you must give this game a shot if you love narrative-driven titles.
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions aces its flying and gameplay mechanics and offers a lot of cool iconic elements from the movies like brooms, stadiums, characters, and more but the nostalgia is not enough to extend its lifespan. You will love spending some initial hours into the game and a few of the online matches are excellent but unfortunately, it does not offer much that would compel you to replay this game every day. It may become your weekend game to jump in and play a few Quidditch games, but it will not make you boot your console or PC every day just to jump into it and that is a bummer. We still think that this should have been included in last year’s Hogwarts Legacy. If you are a fan of the franchise and want to see Quidditch come back to life, this game will certainly keep you entertained, at least for a few hours.
Nova Antarctica delivers strong visuals and a compelling concept, but uneven execution holds it back. Crafting, meant to be a core mechanic, feels poorly integrated and often more tedious than rewarding, while the weak tutorial leaves key systems underexplained. Still, the game’s cozy atmosphere and occasional story highlights help balance out its rough edges. For players who enjoy exploring harsh, post-apocalyptic worlds and don’t mind some undercooked mechanics, Nova Antarctica offers a decent survival experience that falls short of its full potential.
Whirlight – No Time To Trip is a true old-school point-and-click adventure and a genuine treat for fans of the genre. However, it may be difficult to recommend to players accustomed to modern gameplay systems, cinematic storytelling, and streamlined design philosophies. The game is a reminder of a different era of gaming, one built around exploring strange worlds, experimenting with bizarre item combinations, and solving unconventional puzzles through patience and creativity. For genre veterans, this is an easy recommendation, but newcomers or players looking for a more casual experience may find its classic design approach difficult to embrace.
There is no doubt that the original Tomb Raider trilogy was a masterpiece in its own time, and everyone, including me, loved playing them on our older systems. However, compared to what sort of remasters we have been getting in the past, Tomb Raider I – III Remastered caters to hardcore fans of the franchise instead of trying to pull in new players. It is very difficult for modern players to get accustomed to these dated mechanics, and while the visuals and modern controls do provide some respite to the troubles of the original, they still fall short in a lot of ways, which makes this a tough choice to recommend. If you played and loved the original games, you will want to jump back into them to experience the trilogy with modern visuals. However, if you started gaming with modern Tomb Raider titles, you may want to steer clear of them because you may end up hating them.
Kvark has its quirks but overall, it feels great. The controls are responsive and basic shooting mechanics ensure that the controls are never failing you in any situation. Judging from the state of today’s AAA releases, this has sort of become a rather novelty in video games. Kvark presents an interesting environment for you to explore while using good shooting mechanics to ensure that your enemies do not stay longer in front of your barrel. It is a little hard if you are used to modern shooters with plenty of save locations but once you get adjusted to managing your health and ammo, this is a surprisingly fun shooter to keep you busy for a decent amount of hours. If you love playing shooters inspired by Half-Life, you must dive into Kvark because it is a great shooter. Highly recommended for players looking for a shooter with good mechanics and a decent environment.
Human Within starts a little slow but it quickly builds up the pace with its puzzle-based gameplay and immersive cutscenes which makes you feel like you are actually part of the game. Thanks to strategic camera placement during these cutscenes and interactive moments between these sections, you feel like you are living the game itself. High-definition videos and mind-tickling puzzles keep the flow of the game going but some bits of the story do not make sense and sometimes the acting of characters do not match the scene’s intensity. The gameplay bits are not that frequent so if you want something a little more with gameplay, you might want to steer clear of this game. If you are looking for something that offers fancy cutscenes and an interactive movie experience, look no further than Human Within.
The Fox’s Way Home is not your traditional video game, but it surely gives your brain a little exercise. Behind the sultry For Maiden’s moves, you will need to focus on the little details and then figure out what is different in the next dance. We have certainly played some strange games in the past but The Fox’s Way Home does not feel weird gameplaywise. It surely seems a little weird because you are staring at a Fox Maiden who is dancing again and again but if you consider the overall gameplay, it is fun for a little time as you try to remember everything but still get it wrong. It does tend to get tedious and repetitive after some time but until then, you will have unlocked nearly everything in the game. If you are looking for something calm and a little brain-trickling with cool animations, you can give The Fox’s Way Home a shot.
While Docked is a great single-player game, the lack of a sandbox mode or online gameplay makes it lose an important aspect of any simulator game in today’s age. It will keep you entertained for your current playthrough, but the game lacks in replayability, especially when you get tired of playing the same jobs again and again. I really wanted to give Docked a higher score, but it loses points based on the fact that all of your invested hours are just locked out at the end. If you love playing simulators, Docked is one of the most unique ones, with a brilliant campaign and amazing, huge machines to control. Just don’t expect much of an endgame once you finish the campaign.
Bluey's Quest for The Gold Pen is easily the strongest game the franchise has received so far and a genuinely enjoyable experience for younger players. While hardcore gamers may find its gameplay too simplistic, the game perfectly captures the charm, humor, and accessibility that make Bluey so beloved. Reviewing it alongside my four-year-old son made its appeal immediately clear, as he quickly became hooked and even started his own playthrough on iPad. Although older children may outgrow its straightforward design fairly quickly, younger audiences and parents looking for a family-friendly experience will find plenty to enjoy here.
Cat and Ghostly Road is a fun point-and-click adventure with simple puzzles that will barely tickle your brain. The main charm of the game lies within its cute little cat as the main character and the haunting world all around you. Looking at the same location from two different perspectives offers a unique experience, especially if you are a fan of both point-and-click games and horror games. After getting used to the controls, it is all smooth sailing to the end with this simple yet captivating adventure that will see you exploring a diverse set of environments. It is highly recommended if you love unique concepts and are currently looking for a decent point-and-click title on the PS5.
While Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons is a great title on its own, it may be a little letdown for the franchise veterans who loved playing the cute, little farming title. The unique direction it takes may be new for its fans, but it manages to deliver a fun yet tricky new way to experience this wholesome franchise. The puzzles are tricky, but the farming aspect is nothing more than a theme of the game. Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons is a nonogram puzzle game and a great one at that. Some UI improvements would have been amazing but even in its current state, if you love puzzle games and more specifically if you love nonogram puzzle games, you are going to love playing Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons. I can recommend Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons to players who are fans of puzzle games only and for fans of this particular franchise, it may not be up to mark since there is no farm building.
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game is a great off-roading sim for players who are looking for a more approachable title. Unlike the original MudRunner and SnowRunner, Expeditions offers a more linear approach to the off-roading, exploration, and resource management formula introduced by the franchise initially. If you are a hardcore franchise veteran, it may take you some time to get used to all the handholding, but in the end, this title is a more mainstream off-roading experience rather than just focusing on the hardcore community. Tons of new features, like added off-road assist devices, specialists, and more customizable options, certainly add more ways for you to tackle each mission in the game. If you are looking for a decent off-roading simulation game where you can drive plenty of cool trucks and explore the wilderness at your own pace, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game must be on your to-play list.
HoneyLand sits perfectly on the Nintendo Switch because its short and simple puzzles ensure that you can play them on the go. The puzzles offer a decent balance between challenge and simplicity to keep you entertained for a decent time. However, with simple solutions, there is not much replayability for longer playtimes so once you have played it twice or thrice, there is not much to do. However, considering its price of just $3.99, it is fair to say that it is still a pretty decent puzzle game that will keep you busy for some time. If you love puzzle games and are looking to add something simple yet challenging to your collection, you can definitely consider HoneyLand.
Primal Survivors offers highly addictive gameplay and a lot of options to play around with when it comes to creating your own build. The enemy design is not very diverse, but the crisp gameplay makes up for it. I loved trying out different abilities and seeing how they differ. Another great aspect of Primal Survivors is its pick-and-play nature of gameplay. Being a roguelike, you can pick up, die, and try again later without the worry of losing any progress or important unlocks. If you love playing roguelike survival shooters, you must definitely give Primal Survivors a shot on your Nintendo Switch.