Ultimately, it’s clear that the design of American Fugitive has taken great inspiration from the likes of Grand Theft Auto, and this offers a nostalgic recreation, for those who want it, of a sandbox series that has had incredible influence on gaming as a whole. However, by focusing too much on the old-school installments, it misses out on the lessons learned in future iterations, and so comes up a little lacking when compared with what modern experiences have to offer.

I walked away from my time with Lords of the Fallen feeling defeated even in my victory. It was a tough road, the toughest of all the souls-and-likes in execution and also, at least partially, gameplay. I lost more levels worth of Vigor than maybe all the other games combined, but I didn't feel like I overcame some finely crafted challenge. Most damning of all, though, despite its attempts to differentiate itself with unique mechanics, I never forgot the games that inspired it through the entire runtime.

As is the case with most other players, I genuinely want to see The Outlast Trials improve with time, something I am sure the developers agree with in principle as well. Where they and I must differ is in our priority for said changes. They appear to prefer focusing on cosmetics, new optional challenges, and implementing new social activities, whereas I prefer more core maps and a darker tone, truer of what Outlast has, up until now, been defined by. Whatever the future may hold for The Outlast Trials, one can only hope that they strive to find a more definitive balance between these two disparate directions.

Phantasmal does have some great features, but they often feel rough and unpolished.

It's unfortunate, because this game absolutely has the potential to turn itself around, as its core foundation is sound, but there are few redemption stories in the gaming industry, and not many publishers allow developers the time or resources to attempt such. Park Beyond isn't by any means a terrible game, but even post-launch, it's been left in such a terrible state that most players probably won't have the patience to distinguish the latter from the former.

It’s just not funny, original, or adrenaline-fueled as it needs to be to stand out among a crowded indie pack.

Those good first impressions eventually fall to the wayside however, as the game abandons plot threads on a dime and fails to create any form of logical progression in its puzzles. Which is a shame, because Dead Synchronicity has good ideas; they just don’t sync today.

Bear With Me Episode One is short to a fault, lacking the length it needs to make it feel more than just a demo for a game that has yet to be released. Yet its charming atmosphere and characters make me want to find out exactly what is happening in Paper City. For now, wait and see where the future adventures of Amber and Ted take them before trying out this black and white world.

Sometimes a plan just doesn’t come together and it’s clear with Army of Two The Devil’s Cartel that the series has no future beyond this generation of games. It is a shame to see the potential this series once had thrown in the garbage. There’s nothing to find of interest in this final entry in the franchise so the most sincere advice I can give to you, dear reader, is this: move on and play something else.

Dragon Fantasy may be charming on the surface, but if you’re looking to recapture that magic that encompassed the classic RPGs of old, you’re probably better off playing one of them.

It doesn’t look or sound particularly good, there are loads of issues, and there’s barely anything original about it. But when all is said and done, this is still a Tower Defense game.

Flat Kingdom is a platformer with a neat premise, but the idea of a trinity of characters performing different abilities has been done before, and better. There are ideas here that work, but the issues outweigh the positives. Unfortunately, Flat Kingdom’s biggest sin is that it’s just a bit boring.

From the paltry selection of playable classes, to the lifeless levels, to the uninspired enemies, this game only barely justifies its budget price point.

I don’t know how much Gemini: Heroes Reborn ties into the television show, but it’s hard to recommend to anyone except the most die hard fan.

All in all, Super Dungeon Bros is either a case of developer blindness or a product rushed through development with far too little time spent on QA and balancing. The aesthetics are polished and professional-looking, and the gameplay elements are all there, but the responsiveness of the controls, gameplay balance, difficulty and level design are so poorly done that it’ll take some serious patching to whip this title into shape.

It is a shame, then, that this is such a clunky, ugly mess of a game. It is rare enough that an English version of a Romance of the Three Kingdoms comes to Western shores by any other way than import and it makes me sad that – this – will be the first experience with the series for new players.

Crashday Redline Edition is most certainly a labour of love for the small development team, but it doesn’t hold up in a modern setting. There are games with better car handling out there, there are games with better car combat and there are games with much deeper and interesting story modes. Unfortunately, there just aren’t many reasons you would pick Crashday over them.

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.

All in all, Kingdom Tales is probably best suited as a way of introducing youngsters into full-blown real-time strategies than anything else.

Aaru’s Awakening could have used a couple of more months in the oven to tweak and test the controls and pace of the game. Who knows, if it’s well supported, those tweaks might be coming and they might actually improve the experience.

I just don't get it, how can such a promising idea fall so flat? The Works of Mercy had the potential to be something truly special. But good ideas alone amount to little, when the end result is beautiful, boring, and buggy.

If you like shooters, you might just as well give it a spin. But if you like space sims, avoid it and wait for a better game.

Evoland is a cheap, short adventure game and if you are looking for an afternoon trip down memory lane, the ten Euros it costs is not that big a price to pay. If however, you are looking for a good indie game to spend a few days with, you will be better off looking somewhere else.

I really want to love Homebound, and there are certainly elements of the game that I did enjoy quite a bit. I like that it’s designed to be a short, intense experience, and is priced to match. I appreciate the presentation, which is better than many of the bigger budget games available. I love how immersive the design of the HUD and details of the environment make the experience. Unfortunately the things that Homebound gets wrong are exactly the issues that undermine each of these positives, turning the experience into an overall negative one.

Different circumstances have made the overall product a story of what could have been, a rose-tinted glasses breaking reality.

If you are a sucker for an interactive trip down memory lane, especially one with pleasing aesthetics and entertaining writing, then Super Rad Raygun might be the game for you. If you’re looking for a quality platformer with good level design, interesting enemies, and solid gameplay on the other hand, look somewhere else. The developers may be able to whip the title into shape with patches in the future, but until then I can only recommend it to those with nerves of steel.

I happen to be a big fan of FMV games, so I’m always happy to see another entry join the genre’s catalog. It may be unfortunate that too much of the game is focused on its least interesting parts, but the story is able to bring up questions of happiness, work, friendship, and mental health that I give it credit for trying to tackle. Your time is probably best spent elsewhere, but here’s to hoping the crew over at Superstring can learn from their mistakes and come back for a stronger sophomore effort.

Instead of being mysterious and enigmatic, it’s more of a Rubik’s cube: spatial, memory-based, and unfortunately something I didn’t have the patience for.