Barony Review – This Loot Be Mine

Barony is a first-person roguelike that brings back the difficulty and versatility of classic RPGs like System Shock, Ultima Underworld, and Daggerfall. It has roguelike mechanics fans of the genre should be familiar:  perma-death, randomly generated dungeons, secret areas, and most importantly, hundreds of unique collectible items and loot. Lore is present in the form of scrolls and books, the game is a well-realised world and those who stop to look will be richly rewarded. I was suitably chilled reading morbid tales and poems stolen off undead skeletons and trolls.

Battle Chef Brigade – Vive La Brigade!

I’ve been itching to play Battle Chef Brigade after seeing the trailers, which showcased three things I’d love to see more in games. A thriving fantasy world, monster hunting, and FOOD! With a gorgeous hand-drawn art style, where I could almost taste the affection and painstaking work poured into it just by looking, this is a game I thrill to see in my library.

SteamWorld Dig – Awesome Cowboy Hats

SteamWorld Dig is an addictive mining platformer deserving of the praise it gets. I’m furious with myself for not picking up this gem earlier, and guilty that I got it at half price. Following its purchase during Black Friday, I’ve been playing it non-stop and at a furious pace. I can still feel the curve of the 3DS in my hands even after I set it down to go about my day. I’m well aware the game released in 2013 and that I’m four years late to the party, but as the saying goes, it’s better late than never.

RUINER – Cyberpunk madness

Ruiner turned heads when it was announced last year and I’d been instantly smitten with its chilling, cyberpunk aesthetic and action-driven gameplay. Drawing inspiration from anime like Akira and movies like Blade Runner, Reikon Games has successfully created a violent, dystopian world where murder is currency and trust is obsolete. The year is 2091, playing with people’s lives has never been easier.

Caveman Warriors – Hitting both highs and lows

There are few platform games that have succeeded in carving a place in the hearts of gamers. Unlike RPGs, platform games lack the means of telling an engaging story and it’s an uphill battle to endear the characters to players. Efforts to do so can go either way. One famous example of a beloved platformer franchise would be the Super Mario series. Nintendo perfected the art of a platformer and made Mario into a household name and nearly everyone, gamer or otherwise, has heard about the Italian plumber.

Root Letter – All fluff and no meat

Root Letter is the first title in the Kadokawa Game Mystery Series with contributions from key staff who worked on Konami’s Love Plus+ series, like character designer Mino Taro. When it was first announced, I found myself drawn in by the gorgeous art and knew I needed to play it. Other than its art, Root Letter also further held my attention with this line:

“I’ve killed someone. This is farewell…goodbye.”

Almost everyone who read it would find themselves gripped by curiosity, and like me, decided to give the game a chance. This was reflected in the sales for Root Letter, which had exceeded expectations and sold over two hundred thousand copies, the head of marketing of PQube describing it as ‘Phenomenal’ success.

Unfortunately, for all the excitement and intrigue the game generated from the art, summary and trailers, Root Letter ended up disappointing me.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey – Weird, wonderful, and amazing

With the announcement of Deep Strange Journey, I thought it appropriate to play the original game. I’d gotten a used copy of SMT: Strange journey a year back but due to being somewhat of a compulsive buyer, never got around to actually playing it until now. As a fan of Shin megami tensei and its spinoffs, I was eager to see what the game would be like.

Strange journey has captured my heart with its mature storyline, well-written characters, and challenging gameplay. This game absolutely floored me, and I’m more excited for the remake than ever. A game like this deserves a new lease of life and needs to be experienced by 3DS owners who have never gotten the chance. In short, missing out on a gem like this would be tragic.

Fire Emblem Echoes – A remake fit to knock your socks off

The revival of the Fire Emblem is one of Nintendo’s greatest accidental achievements. No one anticipated Awakening to be the hit smash of 2012, and even less would have guessed the franchise going mainstream with the release of Fates.

But despite the success of both games, many old-school fans were vocal about disliking new the marriage system. The arguments against it consisted of worries that it was turning Fire Emblem games into ‘waifu simulators.’

In a stroke of genius, Nintendo decided to remake a game that was never released outside Japan. A remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden.

The news of this remake titled Fire Emblem Echoes was met with rabid excitement from both new and old fans. The game would be released to the world with new art and additional content. For the first time, the entire fanbase looked forward to the game’s release.

The great news?  It did not disappoint.

Refunct – Soothing? Check. Fun? Check.

Refunct is a short platformer that caught my eye during Steam’s Summer Sale. It was originally on my wishlist because of its ‘overwhelmingly positive reviews.’

It’s rare for games to be that well received on Steam, which pushed me to get the game when the price dropped. I picked it up for less than two dollars but even without the sale it had a pretty affordable price of around three dollars and fifty cents.

I didn’t know what to expect other than getting a brief but pleasant experience which many steam users claimed to have had.

Upon loading, I was greeted by a minimalistic looking screen that drew me in with bright colours and a simple art style.

The game runs buttery smooth. Refunct sells itself as a casual open world platformer with no tutorial, no death and relaxing visuals. I’d say the game was interesting, combining the feeling of freedom that comes with an open world game with a playful and calm atmosphere of walking simulators.

The platforming is fairly easy. There were few times I was stumped when trying to get the collectible items littered around the map, but it was never to the point where I’d consult a walkthrough or quit halfway.

One thing I found really cool was that when I jumped from surface to surface, the places I’d stepped on changed from white to green and had a nice texture that reminded me of carpet grass. It added to the overall atmosphere, and there was a certain childlike joy that came from jumping to a new platform and seeing the ground turn green under your feet.

In addition, you are surrounded by water as far as the eye can see. I was also surprised that I could dive in and swim under the platforms. Refunct stays true to the developer’s promise of a seamless and dynamic experience.

There is also a night/day cycle in the game, but I found it to be unnecessary since it didn’t add to my overall experience. Considering it only took half an hour to complete, a day/night cycle felt unneeded.

Overall, you can’t go wrong with this game. If you’re craving for a short but fun platformer and don’t want something ridiculously hard, Refunct is the perfect game to sink your teeth into.

7/10

Time to kick back and relax