Whether Mycopunk can keep its good favour for the true endgame remains to be seen, but getting there is a fun, though slightly arduous, ride. The small, often humorous touches to the mechanics of an established first person shooter genre are definitely welcome, and I'm sure many will be delighted to hear that I wasn't asked for real-world currency once. It's hard to consider anything a sure-fire hit with so many already-established contemporaries, but Mycopunk has as good a shot as any. [Early Access Provisional Score = 80]

RealPolitiks 3: Earth and Beyond may claim to sate that appetite, but swallowing its current current offering is comparable to prison cafeteria food. It may technically offer something, but nothing that will leave you in any way satisfied. It is unlikely any amount of post-launch patching will make this game enjoyable, but hopefully one day it will at least become marginally playable.

Apartment Story is two ideas mixed together, and one of them works really well while the other drags the experience down quite severely. I can't help but imagine that the core concepts of an interactive home invasion that asks the player to make choices and deal with the consequences couldn't have made for an enjoyable and tense experience if it weren't for the confusingly repetitive and out-of-place sim elements that necessitate walking and waiting in-between everything interesting. At the end of the day, the good parts don't quite seem worth the bad, and it's difficult to recommend the title when technical issues are also holding things back.

In all, Mika and the Witch's Mountain is an incredibly charming game that is easy to get into and just relax and unwind, with the only real issues being the short length and the map layout being a bit odd to get used to. When one of the biggest problems with a game is that there isn't a lot of it, that's when you know you have something wonderful on your hands. If you like games that are short, sweet, and relaxing, then Mika and the Witch's Mountain is definitely one to look out for. [Early Access Provisional Score = 88]

I went into this game looking forward to medically treating the undead. Playing this game makes me want to join the undead. If you're looking for a good management game, there are plenty of better options out there. I'm not sure if there are many worse ones, however...

Phantom Fury is, at its core, a very confused game that doesn't seem to know exactly what it wants to do, but what it does do, it doesn't do particularly well. What could have been a superb throwback to the classic FPS games it so obviously is influenced by, ends up coming across instead as a poorly-executed mishmash of mechanics from each of said inspirations, thrown together without any clear underlining rhyme or reason. Adding to that its bizarre technical shortcomings and hiccups, and Phantom Fury becomes a ridiculously difficult sell. Even for players looking for retro-inspired games, there are already so many better alternatives on the market, letting Phantom Fury dissipate like the disturbed lingering spirit it is may be entirely for the best.

While No Rest For The Wicked still has some mechanics to refine and tune, and a story to finish, its current form is enjoyable and its future prospects are bright. If you can get through the first dozen combat encounters, and improve along the way, you’ll be rewarded with a game that distills elements of many popular games and selectively throws some of their "worst" elements away (weapon durability being the exception), making a more accessible but equally enjoyable extremely challenging action RPG. [Early Access Review Score = 80]

I ended my time with Realms of Ruin feeling like it was a game stuck between two genres. It has the combat rules, unit counts, and sluggish movement of a pure tactics game, set on a map scaled for an RTS, but it also forgot to bring either tactics or strategy in a meaningful way. In some respect it feels like a strategy game from before they were "figured out" in the 90s. It's a game of rock paper scissors, where each player knows what the other is throwing, and has but a single counter to it. There just isn't enough there, and for a game that is asking a premium price, I think the bar is much more visible, if not higher. And this is without taking into account the other, better, Warhammer strategy games already on the market. Just like its full title, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar - Realms of Ruin is a tad exhausting, a bit confusing, and could benefit from losing about 60% off the top.

It is a failure, plain and simple. While there is still hope that it can be salvaged, with time, that's no excuse for a launch like this. One can usually forgive a bad launch. However, it is far more difficult to forgive an unplayable launch...

While it doesn't add too much to the genre, it is easy to get into and makes sure that players who might be new to survival games shouldn’t be too overwhelmed. This makes it a very good entry point into the genre, but it may not do enough to set itself apart for people who spend a lot of time playing survival games. [Easy Access Provisional Score = 78]

The best adaptations feel like they exist in the world of the original, rather than trying to redo what has been done. Starship Troopers: Extermination accomplishes that. It gives you the familiar action from a new perspective. The fights herein are chaotic, seemingly-insurmountable, tactical, and satisfying. The Troopers' signature assault rifle feels as it should, the Arachnid are tough-but-not-to-tough, and building defenses feels meaningful. The biggest knock against its effort can easily be addressed as the game lives on: it is entering a crowded market without much innovation, and a relatively light plate of classes and weapons. As a package, it can be exhilarating, especially with a group of friends, big or small. [Early Access Provisional Score = 90]

Ravenbound comes across as an internal playtest version of an unreleased upcoming game. The barren open-world, the clunky and bugged game mechanics, and rampant balancing issues, makes the game feel like it's not ready for Early Access, let alone the full launch it's been given. It's easy to feel sorry for the many developers who likely put their hearts into this project, but sometimes it's not just ok, but often wise, to leave a game in the development oven for just a bit longer, rather than releasing it so prematurely.

Forspoken is not worth either your money, or your time. Even were it offered for free, perhaps as part of a free weekend promotion on Steam, or as one of the rotating weekly free game giveaways on the Epic Games Store, it would still be too high a price to pay, as the time investment costs far outweigh the doubtful pleasure of experiencing what little Forspoken has to offer.

With Construction Simulator being the fourth game in the series, I have a very hard time believing that the developers would release a final product with bugs that stopped game play like I experienced. What I was able to play was fun, but these bugs seriously diminished that enjoyment.

Blind Fate is a game of interesting ideas, both in setting and in gameplay. There is a sense that the developers held back in far too many areas for fear of overwhelming the player, and it’s detrimental at every step. Watching it in motion is pleasing enough, but rote gameplay and a completely unremarkable story really hamstrung a game that could have ended up being something special.

The game seems to climax with a decision about committing violence or not (there's a split achievement for either attacking or not attacking), but I honestly never even saw the potential victim of my antlers and don't know why I would randomly stab a fawn even if I did. There was no narrative set-up or pay-off, save for the frustrating 10 minutes I spent earlier in the game getting randomly KO'd by teleporting bucks. Therein lies the problem with Deer Journey. It doesn't have the gameplay to work as a "game", it doesn’t have the narrative (explicit or implied) to work as a passive story, and it doesn't look good enough to be a visual treat (in fact, the animations are quite poor). Every time I thought something might be about to happen and set the direction for the game, it would turn out to be another level that had me simply run straight for an awkward amount of time while some admittedly pretty music swelled.

It is theoretically possible that some of the issues mentioned here could be addressed, in some capacity, by the developers, but the amount of overhauling required to fully fix this confused and stumbling mess of a game is likely far greater than the effort this team of developers will realistically commit to. In their enthusiasm to race to the finish line, they produced a game that crashed and burned at launch. One can only hope that the developers take a few notes as they survey this smouldering heap of a game.

Worse still is the insipid pop music that every venue in 2021 America plays at ear-popping volume. To add insult to injury, the music gets momentarily louder whenever you admit a guest to the club, making it even harder to ignore. The result is a mounting annoyance that drove me to mute the entire game.

There are some interesting concepts that are introduced but only minimally explored, and I found myself confused by the unfulfilled promise of a sprawling narrative. I’d be interested to return to this world again in a more fleshed-out game, but right now there’s not enough here to justify a purchase for most.

Writing a negative review can feel cathartic when it’s in response to lazy, sleazy, or greedy game design, but this isn’t one of those reviews. Of Bird and Cage is very clearly a passion project that aims to do something new and exciting, and, while it does a few things very well, it just doesn’t have a solid enough foundation to make it fun to play. I love the music and I like the story that they were trying to tell, but sloppy game mechanics, poorly developed narrative beats, and disappointing visuals make this a game I can’t recommend for most.

I could see someone who’s really into Little Witch Academia loving the chance to be in a VR world with their favorite characters. That being said, even if I were to put myself in the shoes of that fan, I can’t help but feel I would be disappointed in what this game has to offer. The characters didn’t have enough story to work with to flush out their emotions and quirks, the gameplay was uninteresting, and there were a few too many bugs. If you are a diehard Little Witch Academia fan that just needs to get a little more of it in your life, then this might be something you could pick up - but understand that it will be an underwhelming 2 hour experience. You’d be better off just rewatching the show.

Although I did enjoy the nostalgia of Elden: Path of the Forgotten, I was ultimately not immersed in the game. The lack of any real story meant that I was wandering about with no real objective and no real care for the main character. The combat is simple and the magic spells that you learn give a sense of minor achievement, but the small number of enemy types results in bland combat. The game started out as mysterious, and left me just as confused as to what I had spent four hours completing.

The team at Orange Juice have tried hard to provide a retro feel to Flying Red Barrel, but in the end, it feels like a game that could have been made twenty years ago. The boss battles are enjoyable, but the lack of any upgrades means that each level feels basically the same - but with new opponents. The poor collision detection for enemy fire, the screen that limits your view and a storyline that can only be glimpsed at while you’re frantically fighting the enemy seriously let this game down. If you’re looking for some retro vertical scrolling action, I would suggest Shooty Skies. It does everything Flying Red Barrel does, only much better and with more variation.

Embr demonstrates plenty of potential to be a very enjoyable game to play either alone or with friends when it finally comes out. The developers at Muse Games have warned as more content is added and the game approaches the end of Early Access the price may rise slightly, so you may want to get in on the fire-fighting action before the flames become too large. [Early Access Provisional Score = 75]

Cast VR’s technical issues make it difficult to recommend. With a flawed approach to gameplay, numerous bugs, and animation errors that ruin the immersion, its let down by Humble Sage Games’ execution. There’s no denying that the spellcasting proves quite enjoyable and the premise had me intrigued. On its own though, that’s just not enough and its clear Cast VR would’ve benefitted from further refinement.

I really wanted to like Shadows and Dust, but I didn’t. While I find it noble to bring attention to mental illness and attempt to help the audience sympathize with the difficulties and frustrations that many people suffer, it doesn’t come together in a way that I found entertaining, moving, or particularly interesting. With such a short run time (and the game being free-to-play) it might be worth jumping in and checking for yourself, but, for me, the experience just didn’t click.

Nom Nom Apocalypse is not a game I’d recommend. There are plenty of twin-stick shooters out there and most are better technically designed and offer better gameplay. The game’s only redeeming value is that it’s passably fun in casual couch co-op and it offers remote play together (a feature I absolutely adore). But again, you’ll probably find better ones on Steam without much difficulty. This solo project could really have used some more polish before being released into the wild or a helping hand to take care of the not-too-technical stuff like dynamic asset loading and automatic controller detection.

It feels more like a quick attempt to make money than a serious game, evidenced by the fact its website was taken down weeks after it launched and no community updates have been provided since. There’s a clear lack of care from Paracosma, putting together a group of loosely related tech demos into a singular package. Avoid at all costs, it’s not worth your time and certainly not worth your money.