Plenty of references for Star Wars fanatics. A decent amount of in-game table alterations.

TransOcean 2: Rivals is a decent game that is having some trouble leaving the starting blocks.

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is a game that is difficult to recommend for those who prefer their games to unfold at a pace faster than plodding. While much of the game excels in drawing you in, the deliberately slow pace works against it more often than not. But for those who are looking for a truly interesting adventure game that, for better or worse, takes its time to share its stories, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine makes for a captivating experience.

There is a good measure of fun to be had with Offworld Trading Company, but it’s a bit like ordering a vanilla ice cream dessert and being served pistachio instead – it will be enjoyable but it’s not quite what you wanted.

If you do have the patience to spend five minutes setting up your turns, and dig the idea of taking a team of mercenaries into battle, then the game’s concept, aesthetics and complexity will give you a challenge that you have a right to brag about for years to come.

I was also impressed to see a game made on RPG Maker VX Ace that was so enjoyable - often the products of the RPG Maker series serve as a way for a creative mind to explore ideas, rather than making it to a level where it can actually capture an audience.

There’s no story, and no other modes to speak of. Thankfully, the action makes up for it in most places.

Combat difficulty feels ever evolving due to the blighted trait systems, the environment is an interesting one to traverse, and even though I didn't care about the plot, the fact they actually tried to put some narrative into a roguelike is refreshing compared to the ones of a few years ago I got absorbed into playing. Soulblight, like the flu, may burn your time for a week or so. Unlike the flu, you'll actually likely enjoy your time spent with it.

I’m happy to say that despite my initial worries about their pay model, Nightbanes is a fun, casual card game for people that don’t want to invest a ton of money on physical sets or spend days just trying to learn a complicated system.

Overall, Schrodinger’s Cat is a cute game with some unique and interesting mechanics. Not everyone will understand the humour, but you don’t have to in order to enjoy playing. There are frustrations and annoyances here and there, but the good outweighs the bad for the most part.

Overall, Road Not Taken is a good little title.

420BLAZEIT 2 offers a fun, nostalgic experience but is only for some. If you are into calm and storytelling games, this may not for you, but if you have an open mind and quite a few brain cells you are willing to lose, there is heaps of fun to be had here. When I first saw the game I thought it was going to be one of those low-effort money grabs, but there was genuine effort that was put into making this game polished and exciting for the player. 420BLAZEIT 2 can be replayed, but for the majority of players once will be enough, but that single experience is well worth the smaller price tag.

The survival aspect of the game saved my opinion on it. It was a very bitter beginning and I had to get passed a bit of frustration with the comparison to The Thing despite being nothing remotely inspired by it other than the location. As a survival game, Distrust is enjoyable and challenging even when I feel the enemies aren't all that exciting.

Don’t Knock Twice is hurt in part by the degree to which it walks familiar horror genre ground, but by playing it safe it also comfortable. It delivers a well put together game with enough scares and narrative intrigue to justify its own existence. It’s not a replacement for Resident Evil 7 or Outlast 2, but its short runtime makes it a great game to run through on a dark evening as the Halloween season slowly lurches closer.

The Director's Cut of Conscript is more than just a historical curiosity; it is a mechanical triumph. By stripping away the supernatural and focusing on the very real horrors of 1916, Jordan Mochi has created a survival horror game that feels more grounded and terrifying than many of its peers. With its focus on inventory management, tactical combat, and a hauntingly beautiful presentation, it is a game that respects the player's intelligence and rewards their grit. If you missed it the first time around, there is no longer any excuse to stay out of the trenches. This is a definitive survival horror experience.

Leaving the controversy at the door, Hatred is a solid 90's isometric action game, with 80's horror cheese, and cringe inducing parodying of what is considered edgy.

Forgive Me Father is a perfectly competent first-person shooter that successfully manages to integrate a lot of elaborate elements, such as a fairly unique art style, as well as creating an engaging progression system, and has more than enough content to keep even a speedy player engaged for a decent length of time. However, where it falls short is in its implementation of the most basic details, such as sound design, hit registration, and level design. For someone who’s not looking for anything exceptional, but just a solid, relatively fast-paced shooter to pass a couple of hours playing, Forgive Me Father will be right up your alley. But if you’re aiming your sights higher, then maybe you’re better off letting this particular title sink back to the crushing depths of your nearest ocean.

There’s a solid base at the core of Serious Sam 4, and it’s tough not to smile after navigating the puzzle of a 500-enemy encounter. Swapping between weapons and adapting to each type of enemy takes skill and understanding, it’s just a shame that the experience grows overly repetitive. As it exists, Serious Sam 4 is a mish-mash of the absurd and the overly banal, and I wish that it was more willing to commit in one direction or the other. That being said, sometimes the need just hits to go absolutely ham on some bad guys, and you’ll find few other games that let the player unleash with so little baggage of fluff.

When all is said and done I found that I wanted to like The Inquisitor more than I actually did. There is potential here for a brilliant game, but unfortunately, it just has not been realized here.

Between the unlocked artwork, dev notes, and over 300 original bangers in the music player, this is a celebration of retro fighting games. A celebration that proves these games will never not be legendary.

Lifeless Planet is a really fun experience, but not a very good game. I’d still recommend it based on the entertainment I got from exploring the mysteries of the game’s world, but I wish I didn’t have to deal with questionable puzzles and mechanics to do so.

To the game's credit, there is a fair bit of replay value here. The combat itself is complex enough to support multiple playthroughs based on nothing more than the satisfaction of mastering it. There's also a New Game Plus mode to add additional challenges as well as a whole slew of options to tweak the gameplay that would be good for, at the very least, a momentary diversion. However, if the combat doesn't grab you there's not much that additional playthroughs and game modes won't do much to draw you in. So if you're thinking of picking up Boomerang X but are unsure if it's worth the money, do yourself a favor and grab the free demo first. That should be more than enough to decide if the game is for you.

The narrative is over the top in its environmentalist messages that are laid out in text form and hit you over the head like a frying pan. The soundtrack doesn't quite know its place, and the art is passing, but fails when there's nothing to look at but the backgrounds. These sorts of things interrupt the tone, but in situations where the game's parts all work together - which is most of the time - The Aquatic Adventures of the Last Human is a subtle and solemn exploration of a new, but old world.

Dead Island 2 is a remarkably solid game, one that doesn't make any attempt to reinvent the wheel, but nevertheless is a more than satisfying mindless casual zombie-killing gorefest. It won't be a game held up in years to come as the go-to model for open-world zombie games but given its decade-long tenure in development hell, it's nothing short of a miracle it ever managed to crawl across the finish line as anything less than a complete mess.

Tower 57 feels refreshing from the usual band of retro-inspired games right from the get-go, but it’s pacing issues and poor use of checkpoints often make the game a struggle to progress through. Yet despite it all, there remains a competent gameplay loop that is fun to play, alongside a world that is a delight to explore. Like the developers say, this may be a game that is better played with friends, but even a solo player who is looking for a new top down shooter inspired by games from the SNES era should be able to find some enjoyment out of Tower 57.

As you get richer and more powerful, your options open up, but until then, the game is quite a grind. You’ll spend a long time mining, a long time building and re-building your ship, a long time getting killed in your first encounter with pirates and redesign your ship all over again. But that’s most of Avorion’s charm. The building part. The designing part. And the figuring-out-just-how-terrible-a-designer-you-are part. Despite all of its jagged edges and sharp corners, I will definitely be playing more Avorion for the time being. Its therapeutic music and meditative grind make it perfect for passing the time as we all band together and stay inside for the safety of our elders and others at risk.

When all is said and done, Starward Rogue is a solid title and may be worth roguelike fans’ attention if they stumble upon it.

If you want an anime souls-like, I think you would be far better served by checking on AI Limit. If you want an open-world souls-like, Elden Ring is far stronger than what's on offer here. I can only recommend Code Vein 2 if you are looking specifically for an open world anime souls-like. Even then, I'd suggest you wait for a sale because $70 is way too much for such an unremarkable game.