HIGH Tutorials that help me get better at Lumines.

LOW Visual overload can make it hard to focus.

WTF How is the soundtrack this good?

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi everyone, Eugene Sax here with another review from GameCritics.com.

I haven’t played a lot of Lumines, historically.

The remastered version from 2018 was my first intro to the series, and honestly… well, I didn’t really enjoy that first pass at it. It felt too loud, both audio and visually, and I couldn’t wrap my head around the horizontal puzzle style. Knowing that the people behind Tetris Effect were also behind Lumines, though, I wanted to give it another shot and see if this new entry was a better way to get into this franchise.

Mea culpa, Lumines — I was wrong about you. (At least in some ways.)

Lumines: Arise is a block dropping puzzle in conversation with Tetris, but rather than the classic tetrominos filling horizontal lines, it instead focuses on asking the player to create 2×2 blocks anywhere on a horizontal plane. Blocks drop from the top of the screen, and players need to move them around in order to create 2×2, 3×3, or larger, in order to score points. A “timeline” moves across the screen and erases any complete blocks it comes across, clearing more room for players to create more blocks, and so on. There is also a rare “chain block” that will allow all linked blocks of the same color to be erased from the timeline, even if they’re not in the shape of a square.

The big mechanical addition to this version is “burst”.

As players create blocks, a meter will fill at the top of the playfield. At any point, players will be able to activate the burst, which then stops blocks from falling for a few moments. If players can create a block during this burst period, it will cause blocks of the opposite color to fly above the screen. Players can continue and make more fly up. All of those blocks come rushing back down once the burst is over, then creating a large chunk of squares to combo with.

Gameplay is broken up into a couple of modes for Arise.

Journey takes players through sets of stages (four or five, normally) with increasing difficulty as things progress. Playlist mode allows players to combine their favorite stages together in a custom order to play, or just to watch if they want to take in the visuals and music. Lastly, there’s multiplayer, which consists of some solo leaderboard competition or battle modes.

I also will shout out the tutorials specifically as Arise tailors them to new players and gives small missions that make it easy to understand and learn not only how to play, but also how to grasp more advanced techniques. These tutorials made me better in a way other puzzle titles haven’t.

At this point in the review, it feels a little like burying the lead to only just now mention the visuals and the music.

Since each stage only has two colors players need to match, this mechanical simplicity allows for some creative and striking ways to keep the play field visually interesting, and the developers lean hard into delivering over-the-top sound and graphics, far above what you might expect for a puzzle title.

One in particular that I enjoyed was a food-themed level. Blocks started as red apples and green melons, but then changed to broccoli and tomatoes as I got further in, while classical string music played in the background. Another had orbs of fish and hermit crab shells that changed color to reflect the sun setting on the beach landscape behind the playfield while listening to slow, smooth pop vocals. The visuals and music combine masterfully to pull players into Arise on a level above just block-matching, and it eats up time in a way that hasn’t happened to me in a long while.

With that said, some of the levels do get overwhelming as previous versions of the game. However, there is a moment of pause and the music fades out between each song, giving a welcome break to catch your breath and reset before going into the next stage. There are also a wealth of accessibility options that allow players to adjust any of the visual stimuli including background effects, particle effects on the playfield, and so on. If it’s too much to take in visually, it can be turned down.

While my memories of playing it in the past weren’t great, the masterful music and visual presence combined in Lumines: Arise really turned me around on the series. It’s not one to miss!

For me, Lumines: Arise gets 8.5 blocks exploding into glitter out of 10.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Enhance and Monstars, Inc. and published by Enhance. It is currently available on PS5, PSVR2 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 6.5 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. Around 1 hour was spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E and contains Mild Fantasy Violence.  The blocks will explode into particles on screen, fantasy violence amounts to spiders and snakes that fight each other in the background (but these can be turned off in accessibility menus).

Colorblind Modes: There are multiple colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Sound is not needed to complete the game. Captions for character dialogue can be resized. The game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls are completely remappable.

The post Lumines Arise VIDEO Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Fantastic combat system that is both modern and an homage to classic RPGs.

LOW Sluggish pacing in the middle chapters.

WTF “How about a hundred smacks on the ass?”

About a month ago I started seeing buzz online for Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter.

The Trails/Legend of Heroes series, despite its vast library, is one I knew very little about, but this remake of the first in the series seemed to check a lot of personal boxes — realtime combat that transitions into turn-based, a captivating art style, and a high fantasy setting harkening back to classic JRPGs. So, I booted up the free demo, and by the end of its generous eight-hour playtime, I was completely hooked and thirsty for more. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a beautiful RPG with top-notch combat, memorable characters, and also serves as a perfect entry point into the long-running Trails series.

1st Chapter follows the story of sixteen-year-old Estelle and her adopted brother Joshua as they aim to become top notch Bracers — people who help protect the citizens of Liberl from monsters, thieves, and any threats to the kingdom. Over the course of their journey, they will travel across the kingdom to aid as many people as possible while balancing each other out perfectly — Estelle is captivatingly optimistic and reactionary, while Joshua is more reserved and calculated. As they blossom into powerful bracers, so do their feelings for one and other.

The story Falcom weaves is a complex one commencing with Estelle and Joshua’s hunt for their missing father, which eventually matures into a struggle for military power, treason from within the government, and other powerful forces at work behind the scenes. When firing on all cylinders, Trails is captivating and engrossing, simultaneously balancing the intimate and personal story of two kids trying to find their dad, and the larger, more sophisticated political drama. However, I found myself disengaged in the middle chapters because the focus shifted off both these potent storylines, and more into side characters that are ultimately important to the overall plot, though they feel gratuitous during their runtimes. 

Besides the sluggish middle section, another issue is that each chapter tends to focus on two characters that will join in battle with Estelle and Joshua, but their residence in the party is short-lived as they always depart at the end of each chapter, leaving Estelle and Joshua effectively starting from scratch. Each of these side characters are memorable — from over-the-top traveling musician Olivier, to the mysteriously powerful swordsman Agate, the cast is top notch. However, it felt like just as soon as I got to know the characters on a deeper level, they would set off on their own journey.

That said, all of the intermittent party members reappear in an epically-bombastic final act that ties everyone’s stories together quite well, but the thickness of the middle chapters does lessen the overall experience. Also puzzling was that some of these itinerant characters have voice acting while Estelle and Joshua do not, which did occasionally pull me out of the immersion. 

What does remain engaging throughout 1st Chapter’s runtime is the phenomenal combat system. When approaching wandering enemies, players can enter into a basic, but effective real-time battle complete with normal attacks, dodges, and a special meter that charges over time. Once the enemy’s stun meter is full, the player will have a huge advantage when they enter into turn-based combat, which they can slickly switch into with the press of a button.

In the turn-based combat, characters will have a range of options at their disposal, with different resources for each. The key to successful battles is knowing how to balance spells and abilities, and also knowing how to correctly position party members. For example, some buffs and healing spells are only effective when party members are positioned near each other, but certain enemies might abuse this proximity with powerful AOE attacks. Understanding both party strengths and enemy attack patterns is crucial. 

In addition to a traditional level-up system and equipment management, Trails adds a deeper level of preparation to combat with the orbment system. Each playable character has the ability to equip an elemental quart into a total of six slots. Depending on the element of the quartz and its proximity to other quartz, the character can obtain varying spells to use in battle. For example, equipping a water-based HP quartz will give the character healing spells, while a water-based mind quartz will give the character an offensive aqua attack. As the adventure progresses, players will obtain more powerful quartz to create incredibly powerful offensive and defensive spells. The level of customization here is high, and finding the correct quartz for each character is enticing. (There’s is also an auto-equip for those who want to enjoy battles without too much experimentation.) 

The world of Liberl is one brimming with history — it’s filled with collectable books that outline how the kingdom came to be, and mysterious towers hint at the many wars and struggles the country has endured. Trails does a great job at making the land feel lived-in and real, though I do wish the environments were a little more varied when exploring. The sun is always shining brightly over the samey-looking rolling meadows, with the occasional cave or forest thrown in.

Overall, I truly enjoyed my time with Estelle, Joshua, and their many companions in their quest to become senior bracers. Falcom does a commendable job creating a world and story that feels real for the majority of its runtime, despite a few occasional stumbles. As a newcomer to the series, the combat system captivated me from the first battle and never let me go. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter feels like a classic JRPG I might have grown up playing, yet produced in a modern and nuanced way at the same time. Thanks to the obvious pride and care put into this remake, consider me the newest fan of the Trails series. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Nihon Falcom & Nihon Falcom Corporation and published by GungHo Online Entertainment America, Inc. It is currently available on Switch/Switch 2, XBX/S, PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 39 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Blood, Fantasy Violence, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco. The official description reads: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is rated T for Teen by the ESRB with Blood, Fantasy Violence, Language, Suggestive Themes, and Use of Alcohol and Tobacco. This is an action role-playing game in which players assume the roles of adopted siblings searching for their missing father. From a third-person perspective, players explore a kingdom, interact with characters, complete missions, and engage in battle with human and fantastical enemies (e.g., plants, robots, soldiers). Players use swords, staffs, guns, and magic spells to attack enemies. Players can use special moves that depict brief cutscenes of the attacks. Combat is highlighted by colorful light effects and impact sounds. Still-images sometimes depict bloodstains near bodies and on characters’ faces/clothing. One female character is designed with a somewhat revealing outfit (e.g., deep cleavage) and breast-jiggling effects; some camera angles focus on her chest. Story elements also allude to a romantic relationship between adopted siblings (e.g., struggling with their feelings, kissing). One scene depicts two characters under the influence of alcohol (e.g., flushed faces, slurred speech), with accompanying dialogue (e.g., “Come and drink with your big sister. You drink or I bring the whole place down”; “Wow, I really drank. Feels like it’s been forever since I last got to cut loose.”) One character is seen smoking a cigarette, and a side mission involves finding stolen cigarettes. The words “sh*t” and “a*sholes” appear in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There is no colorblind mode.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles, though they are not resizable. Audio cues are not needed for progression, making the game fully accessible. 

Remappable Controls: Yes, the game’s controls are remappable.

The post Trails In The Sky 1st Chapter Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Superlative physics. Big trucks. Gnarly vistas.

LOW Saber’s UI design continues to be nightmarish.

WTF A restaurant on one of the maps is named “The Smell Out”

In 2021, Saber Interactive made history when they released Snowrunner, the greatest videogame ever made.

Bafflingly, in the years that followed, developers continued to make games despite the fact that the ultimate expression of the art form had been achieved. Saber themselves have engaged in this quixotic act, first in 2024 with the release of Expeditions (a spin-off focused on exploration) and earlier this year, Roadcraft, a construction company simulator that, like Expeditions, has been met with a somewhat mixed reception by the Snowrunner community.

I am not active in this community but, by dint of having dedicated hundreds of hours to Snowrunner, I do consider myself an honorary member, in the same way that people are awarded degrees from universities they never went to for unrelated things they did elsewhere. As such, I came into Roadcraft expecting something half-baked and disappointing — but it is not half-baked, and it is not disappointing. It’s also not Snowrunner 2. What is Roadcraft? A sloppy, weird, frustrating, brilliant, addictive, fresh-feeling title that takes core elements of its illustrious predecessor and builds on them in wild ways.

Like Snowrunner, Roadcraft is a collection of freeform levels, sandbox maps with main and side objectives to complete. As the seemingly sole on-the-ground employee of an emergency response construction company, players are deployed to disaster-stricken regions and tasked with restoring basic infrastructure, thereby laying the groundwork for regular life to begin again. Thus, in comparison to Snowrunner, the gamut of possible tasks has been expanded beyond haulage — there quarries to be drained, town documents to be recovered, map-spanning pipelines to fix, and, of course, roads to be crafted.

It’s a drawn-out process, this making of roads, and requires both four steps and the specialized brawn of four construction vehicles. First, sand has to be poured, done with a dump truck. Then a bulldozer needs be brought in to plane the sand to a fine and even level. Next, a paver pours steaming asphalt onto the sand. Then, finally, a roller can be brought on-site to compress that hot, bituminous slurry into a smooth and tractable asphalt causeway. Road crafted.

Keep in mind that each of these steps (usually) needs to be done by the player, including bringing each vehicle to the worksite, which is often no small task in itself. Building a short stretch of road can take 20 minutes, depending on the terrain, and the roadcrafting in Roadcraft is a perfect synecdoche for virtually every job in the campaign. This is a slow experience, slower than Snowrunner, quite possibly the most ponderous game I’ve ever played. It’s Minecraft at molasses speed, terraforming at a pace that will, frankly, turn off all but the most degenerate of sickos“ which, happily, I am.

All of Roadcraft‘s vehicular and logistical misadventures are conducted on the deep physics engine that Saber has been working with across their four previous titles. These cumbrous trucks have actual weight, their suspensions rock and shift, tires deform over rocks and rubble. Players will learn to fear steep grades or narrow passes or tight turns. Building materials can and will tumble out of flatbeds into roadside mire. Constant attention has to be paid to both the player vehicle, and the environment. It makes things feel real, every small bit of progress earned in some bone-deep and convincing way that most other virtual accomplishments simply cannot equal. The physics system is what made Snowrunner the unbelievable thing it was, and it gives vibrant life to Roadcraft too.

And so, once acclimated to its, shall we say stately rhythm, the epic length of Roadcraft stops being vexing and becomes, instead, the central gyre of its charm and addictiveness. It is decompressed and utterly chill.

The relaxation is heightened by beautiful environs. The maps in Roadcraft are just stunning. It’s not a matter of fidelity, but of scene-setting. The vistas and setpieces players will stumble on as they crawl across these ravaged landscapes have an almost FromSoft level of stagecraft to them, lushly framed and baroquely, obsessively detailed. There are ruined towns half-submerged in water, a graveyard of rusted excavators sunk into a silt-clogged quarry, a cratered steel mill with broken, bare girders flung up into the air like the upturned legs of a dead spiders…

Some mechanical things are unbeautiful, to be sure. Quite a few things, actually. The Saber team has earned their place in gaming Valhalla, but they’re still incapable of making menus that that are not demonic. I’m not even sure how someone designs a UI this wonky — maybe by having a nightmare about a traffic jam in Hell and then, upon waking, committing that vision directly to interface code.

In addition to all I’ve described, Roadcraft is also wild, wooly, and full of ideas. It’s an exploratory and experimental title for Saber, and it feels like some of the systems are in their prototyping phase. See, for instance, the sub-game about drawing routes that NPC trucks then drive. I understand why it’s here, as it means that players have to find, and then make! – routes these smaller trucks, less capable than the player’s fleet, can traverse. However, the AI itself is bad. If the route waypoints are not laid with aching exactitude, the automated drivers can fumble, even if the trail for them to follow is an adequate one, which means players have to jump back into the Stygian abysses of the Roadcraft menus and redraw the route.

With that said, rough edges are to be expected in something that’s not only niche, but experimental. Roadcraft is not a game for everyone, and it’s not even for every Snowrunner fan — but that’s what makes it brilliant for those willing to tune in, and the number of potential fans is probably larger than one might guess. So, despite how eager I am for the return of the Chosen One in Snowrunner 2, I also will be keenly watching where Roadcraft goes. I can’t think of anything in the double-A space that’s more interesting, or has more potential, than this game.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment. It is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox X/S. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher. Approximately 33 hours of play were devoted to the game, and it was not completed. No time was spent in multiplayer (but I think it’s safe to say it would be great).

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E and contains Mild Language. The ESRB summary is as follows: This is a simulation game in which players restore infrastructures in areas after disasters have struck. Players can operate trucks, cranes, and bulldozers to complete various tasks (e.g., clearing debris, rebuilding roads). The word “hell” appears in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes present.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: All of the (sparse) dialogue is accompanied by on-screen text, but the subtitles cannot be resized. No action requires audio cues to successfully complete. I played the game with the sound down for most of my 30 hours with it, and didn’t have any issues. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: KB+M controls are fully remappable. There are four different gamepad control presets available, but they are not remappable beyond that. Steering Wheels are partially supported, but not ideal for this game.

The post Roadcraft Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The atmosphere is superb, and the puppets are comically feral.

LOW Some severe frame rate drops. Plentiful healing dials the tension down.

WTF Have you ever seen a depressed puppet?

Many survival horror titles thrive off of unexplainable cosmic horrors, the aftermaths of outbreaks, and other unpleasant events. My Friendly Neighborhood challenges the norms of the genre with a setting that’s less than threatening — a TV studio for a children’s program. Hardly scary, right? But that’s where most players will be wrong.

In My Friendly Neighborhood, players assume the role of Gordon J. O’Brian, a handyman sent to a studio to stop the broadcast of the titular show from playing over the news and other programs. Upon entering the studio grounds, he finds that not only are things amiss technically, but almost all the puppets are moving around on their own and attacking anything that gets near them.

In typical survival horror fashion, Gordon has to navigate numerous areas from a first-person perspective while scavenging for limited supplies, weapons, and keys to open new paths. What sets MFN apart is that almost all the weapons are something other than ordinary firearms — they’re typically shaped like a normal firearm, but they fire letters instead of bullets. These give Gordon’s adventure a lot of charm, as it’s comical to watch letter B’s and X’s getting shot at the puppets.

The tokens I found during play were also interesting — they could function like an ink ribbon used to save the player’s game in classic Resident Evil, but they could also be used at healing stations to refill my health completely. They also acted as currency, being exchanged at vending machines for various boosts. This made these me have to use my one item for saves tactically. If I was low on tokens, I’d have to choose between being able to save and being able to heal if I was low on items.

As for the main antagonists, these manic puppets would chase me down the moment I got too close. If they caught me, I’d receive a harmful hug and then be tossed violently to the ground. In a nod to the subject material, the violence here has been scaled back.

While I wanted to avoid those hugs, the real threat came from the fact that puppets often reanimated after leaving an area. Thankfully, I could permanently restrain a downed puppet by using tape. However, tape was pretty rare, so I had to use it strategically — and within this scarcity lies MFN’s smart design.

With such so many puppets around but no way to permanently remove all of them, a threat remained. Even ammo was limited, so I had to take into account where and when to use items and weapons. For example, I could easily juke some of the slower puppets, but could spend my precious tape on those that were faster, and therefore harder to get away from.

Even when disposed of, the puppets would still chatter to themselves about topics ranging from the innocuous to the insane. This scripting gave them lots of character and juxtaposed them with the Sesame Street Muppets that they’re obviously based on.

Something else I greatly appreciated about MFN were its numerous secret items weapons and areas. Apart from these things, there were also hidden ways to permanently and peacefully deal with puppets, and this usually involved finding specific items or backtracking through previously explored buildings. For example, in the earliest area, a large Big Bird-like puppet will prowl an area and stomp on me if I got close. When I found an item that they were looking for, they stopped moving around and were no longer hostile, removing their threat to me. However, in some cases, I had to wait to help them until I was able to explore an area further with new items from other locations.

For those that finish My Friendly Neighborhood, there are cheats that can be used in subsequent playthroughs, enhancing replayability. One gave the player a one-hit kill weapon that violently jettisons puppets into the nearest wall. Another unlocked “Neighborhorde” mode which focuses on arcade-style score attack. There were also a number of unlockable characters with their own loadouts. Including a chicken man with grenades.

In general, MFN is well-designed and well-made, though there were a few issues.

The biggest offender was a drop in the frame rate in a couple of smaller, crowded rooms. Thankfully, these instances were extremely limited. There was also no way to auto-sort items in the menu, leading to me spending time rearranging things to make space — annoying.

Another issue is that healing items were a little too plentiful. I constantly had bottles of healing juice stuffing my already-crowded inventory. While having access to heals isn’t a bad thing, survival horror thrives when there are limitations. Between those items and a machine that could heal me to full health in safe rooms, I felt like the potential tension was dulled a bit.

Overall, MFN is an excellent survival horror title that attempts to, and mostly succeeds at, changing up the standard survival horror formula. While it could stand to have a few more teeth, I was still pleasantly on the edge of my seat the entire time. In a genre with too many developers copying each other’s homework, My Friendly Neighborhood offers a break from the norm with color and charm, and I suspect that fans of survival horror will want to play along.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Buy My Friendly Neighborhood — Steam — PlayStation — Xbox

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by John and Evan Syzmanski, and published by DreadXP. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher, and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 10 hours were devoted to the game, and it was completed with the true ending. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of E for Mild Fantasy Violence. Most of the weapons are some sort of typewriter-like instrument that shoots out letters, rather than bullets. The characters are never killed, but temporarily incapacitated. When attacked, the player is shaken and thrown about. While the rating states that this for everyone, young children (particularly viewers of Sesame Street) could become scared by the content. The puppets will also occasionally talk about wanting to commit violent actions. There are also cigarettes and bottles of alcohol in one area. As such, I would say that this is a game better suited for older kids, possibly teens.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game does offer subtitles, but only for cutscenes and dialogue from Gordon. Subtitles cannot be resized. There are no closed captions, which can make it hard for players to know that a threat is in the room. For example, all the puppets chatter when they’re conscious, and they’ll speak or vocalize differently when pursuing the player. This is a potential tell that could be missed by players with hearing issues. This game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post My Friendly Neighborhood Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Classic compulsive Monster Train cardplay, crunchier than ever.

LOW Higher learning curve than the first. Some unclear interactions.

WTF Which one of you sickos put all these waifus in the train???

Though lots of strong roguelite deckbuilders have followed in the wake of Slay the Spire, Monster Train is the only one to have staked out a space equal to Mega Crit’s genre-establishing release. It managed to do this by being, emphatically, its own thing, accomplished by taking a mere handful of mechanical waypoints from Spire and then building out an entirely original vision on top of that framework. This is, in some narrower, less foundational way, the process by which we saw FPS titles like Duke Nukem 3D and Blood carve out separate, full identities away from the “DOOM clone” designation.

Monster Train was fresh, it felt new within a new genre. People cottoned to it, unsurprisingly, so it’s no surprise that it got a sequel. But, it is unusual because Monster Train 2 is the first sequel to a major roguelite deckbuilder we’ve seen. In fact, the larger roguelite space is light on sequels overall. It’s a genre in which the exemplars generally live forever (or near enough to it in gaming terms) growing not so much older as denser, either through official content infusions or the ministrations of dedicated communities.

In other words, whether or not Shiny Shoe realized it, they were blazing new trails for the roguelite deckbuilder genre and setting precedent for what to expect from the sequel to a foundational text.

As a sequel, Monster Train 2 is classical in its approach, focused on refinement and amplification. Many elements are carried over more or less unchanged, and there was a moment when I nearly became disappointed — almost underwhelmed — with it. But the more I played, the more I could appreciate the judicious improvements, creative expansions, and, most importantly, the enormous generosity of content. When it came fully into focus after a few hours, Monster Train 2 impressed the hell out of me.

Remember, much is the same. Monster Train 2 takes place on a four-tiered train. The lower three levels are where cards — monsters, spells, and a few new things — can be played, while the uppermost fourth level houses the Pyre Heart, the train’s energy source. Each round enemies will enter from the lowest level, and any existing enemies in the train move up one level. Any goons that get to the Heart will attack it until they’re killed, but if they reduce the Heart’s HP to zero, it’s game over.

(Please, I beg, do not make me explain the story of Monster Train 1 or 2. I know there are people out there who care about this series’ goofball lore about a war between the spangled, melodramatic cartoon characters of this particular heaven and hell, but I’m definitely not one of them. There’s a train, there are monsters in it, and really, isn’t that enough?)

It certainly starts in a familiar way but the most important refinement here is the fancy new Deployment Phase.

Before the first turn, players are given all unit cards marked with a blue banner, and can place as many of them as they have energy for. Then the first standard turn occurs. This may seem insignificant to someone who hasn’t played Monster Train 1, but it’s a seismic shift. It cleans up one of the most ambiguous mechanics in the original — draw priority — making it much more legible, and much more strategic. Arranging the Deployment Phase units is a delicious tactical aperitif before hefty main course of locomotive card battling.

Monster Train 2 also delivers five brand new clans to play with. In Monster Train 1, the clans were unlocked in order of complexity. That’s true here too, but the introductory clans start with more complicated, oblique elements than were on offer with the first title’s Hellhorned and Awoken. All five clans have unique keywords, and two of them have a bespoke, overarching mechanic separate from the words on the cards.

In other words, things start out dense, and get denser as the player goes along. This is not a criticism, but I think Monster Train 2 is targeted at people who have played the first one a decent amount. Despite the bright, googly art style, this is a mechanically crunchy game afroth with calculations and considerations that are easier to grok with some Monster Train-ing under the belt already.

The upside to this is that the weirder, twistier, more offbeat strategies of these clans are wonderful puzzles for all the Train mavens out there. I’m partial to the Underlegion, an army of myconids with a unique “Troop” keyword that allows for massive stacks of little fungoid footmen to overwhelm opponents. The Pyreborn, a race of classic red dragons, lean into one of my favorite traditional draconic characteristics — greed for gold. Their spells and units play with the economy in unique ways.

Other existing elements have been tastefully embroidered. There isn’t just a single, standard Pyre Heart, for example — more than ten different Hearts can be unlocked through play, each with different stats and traits. There are equipment and room cards now too. Equipment works just like you’d think, and the most complicated new clan, the Lazarus League, plays with these cards in some wild ways. Rooms provide a powerful effect on one entire train floor, and there are also some new units with baked-in abilities, activated manually, with attendant cooldowns between uses.

All of this adds up to a sequel built directly and unabashedly on top of the original, but in such a way as to feel fresh, compelling, and surprising all over again. Every hour I spent with it, some new idea, mechanic, mode or flourish unfurled itself. I don’t have space to go into the alternate game modes, covenant ranks, or other surprises (and wouldn’t if I could) but take my word for it — this title is absolutely stuffed with things to play with.

Monster Train 2 is more Monster Train — but it’s more in the most considered, intelligent possible way. Highly recommended.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Shiny Shoe and published by Big Fan Games. It is available on PC, PS5, Switch and XBX/S. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher. Approximately 27 hours of play were devoted to the game, and it was completed (at the basic level, with many covenant levels and unlocks left to get). There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E 10+ and contains Alcohol References, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood and Mild Language. The core gameplay features a lot of monsters fighting each other, but it’s mostly bloodless. The monsters themselves are, for the most part, pretty tame in their designs — although a few of the later clans’ creatures can be gory and/or creepy in ways that might be upsetting to younger players. In terms of bad language, sometimes the game says “Hell yeah,” but that seems to be about it.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present, including a preset deuteranopia mode as well as the option to customize the colorblind settings.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game has subtitles for the (very few) voiced sequences. Most of the dialogue in the game is text only. The subtitles cannot be resized, but the UI can be set to a “Large” configuration.

Remappable Controls: The game offers fully remappable controls for Mouse and Keyboard, but not for gamepad. The gamepad controls function much like they do in other deckbuilders — the A button confirms, B button goes back, the X button ends the turn. The left stick moves between cards in the hand and units on the field when necessary. The only unusual element of the gamepad controls relative to other deckbuilders is that the right analog stick allows for moving between the different floors of the train.

The post Monster Train 2 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Some of the locations are visually stunning…

LOW …But the game engine makes parts of them look terrible.

WTF There’s an extremely pixelated SpongeBob sticker in one map.

While it’s common to find a photo mode in big budget or picturesque experiences these days, there aren’t many titles focused solely on photography. So, when I heard about Lushfoil Photography Sim, I had to check it out. Thankfully, it mostly delivers.

In Lushfoil Photography Sim, players are tasked with taking photos from specific viewpoints within various locales, starting with a lake in Italy before moving to scenes in Japan, the French Alps, the Himalayas, and more. However, photography isn’t limited to the “quests” and shutterbugs can often take whatever pictures are desired in this first-person mini-vacation.

As the requested pictures were taken, more areas opened up, and not only were there all-new areas to explore, there were also new variations of maps I already had accessible. For example, the first location had a later ‘winter’ version to explore, and each unlock provided me with new weather and lighting conditions for photos.

The locations are all well-chosen, giving a variety of environments to suit any aesthetic. The Castle Rock Beach and Fushimi Inari Taisha were among my favorites, due to how gorgeous and vibrant they were.

The main camera I used was the digital SLR (single-lens reflex) and I was impressed with the options included. Photo modes in video games generally offer basic features, such as aperture and shutter speed, but Lushfoil goes all-out and offers many options found in modern professional cameras, such as ISO brightening and darkening tools. This made my photo safari feel far more realistic than expected.

There were extra tools to find, such as a camera drone, which could allow me to take photos from a higher elevation. Beyond that. There were some neat ‘throwback’ items, such as a film-based SLR camera and a ’00s era point-and-shoot camera. I only wish I could have found a disposable camera!

Completing a single map’s requests unlocks a GPS that helps locate any remaining collectibles. For those who leverage it to 100%, taking every requested photo and finding every collectible unlocks a ‘god’ mode, which essentially allows players to change the weather and other settings.

While this is a great foundation for a photography-focused experience, there were quite a few issues with Lushfoil that hold it back.

For a title that’s all about the visuals, it was a surprise to find that the graphics tended to be iffy. For example, the map in France had many background areas that were flattened images, or that offered jagged textures when viewed from afar. Some textures also had some unintended effects, like artifacts on objects that moved around. Reflections on water would also not appear on taken photos. Further, bloom and fog tended to make things too washed out, and there was some smudginess on finished images.

While there were plenty of great scenes, there were also some locales that were boring to photograph, such as a decrepit house, surrounded by a sense of lifelessness. Also, throughout the experience there were never any people in any of the areas, and even animals were rare. It sometimes felt like I was photographing dioramas, not real places.

The menus also gave me issues. Glitches would occur regularly, such as selecting one image, but then seeing another appearing on-screen, especially when deleting images. While exiting and re-entering the menu did help, this was tedious and annoying.

Speaking of images, I could only save around thirty photos. This is an absurdly tiny number of images for a photo game, especially when some have to be kept while progressing toward unlocking new locations. Photos also act as one of the fast travel systems between locations, so I had to be selective with what I kept.

There were also a number of performance issues to contend with, the biggest being frame rate drops and stutters occurring when traveling. It was a consistent stutter every few seconds, and very annoying. Long load times also meant I had to waiting 20—30 seconds every time I transitioned to a new map.

Lushfoil Photography Sim has a lot of rough edges that need work, and it’s rather unfortunate, as many of the areas offer stunning views and photo titles in general are rare. There’s definitely a vision here, and I can’t deny that this photo safari has charm. However, for a title that only aims to do one thing right, that thing needs to be perfect — and it’s far from it.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Buy Lushfoil Photography Sim – Steam – Epic – PlayStation – Xbox

Disclosures: This game is developed by Matt Newell and published by Annapurna Interactive. It is currently available on XBX/S, PS5, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 9 hours were devoted to the game, and it was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of E. The ESRB website states: “This is a simulation game in which players assume the role of a photographer taking pictures of various environments. Players explore locations around the world, photograph places and structures, and search for collectibles along the way.”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game does not offer subtitles. There is no spoken dialogue. Text cannot be resized. This game is not fully accessible because text for tool tips and tutorials can be too small and difficult to read.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Lushfoil Photography Sim Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH I never knew a chainsaw leg power slide would be everything I needed in life!

LOW The grappling hook can be aggravating to use.

WTF You can fight a vending machine, because reasons!

Ryan initially covered Turbo Overkill in his main review, and I tended to agree with many of his points. However, there were some additional aspects of this title I wanted to cover. While I also think the game is great, it’s not without some minor flaws.

As the cyborg Johnny Turbo, players explore the cyberpunk and neon city of Paradise, mowing down enemy after enemy in pursuit of the renegade AI Syn. Along the way, he has to traverse the city’s many dangerous sectors and roadways, dispatching the hordes of goons and monstrosities Syn has in its thrall. Over the course of three episodes, Johnny shoots, dices, and burns his way to closer to the menacing AI.

The combat, overall, is incredibly solid, and every level is frenetic. Using a variety of guns he finds along the way, Johnny has many options for decimating enemies, but he also has another secret weapon — a chainsaw leg (the Chegg). That’s right, Johnny’s leg is a chainsaw, and he can use it to power slide into numerous enemies. This saves ammo, of course, but it also looks cool as hell when he does it.

The Chegg isn’t the only cool weapon, though — every weapon has an alt-fire mode that expands its capabilities. The chain gun, for example, becomes a flamethrower. One of the shotguns can become a grenade launcher. It’s this kind of versatility is something I liked about Turbo Overkill. Having tons of great options for tackling waves of enemies is always a good thing.

Another cool feature is that in certain combat arenas, Johnny will become corrupted, which limits his weapon choices and initially seems bad. However, he gains infinite ammo for the entirety of the corruption’s duration, a neat trick that forces the player to learn all the weapons, rather than their favorite handful.

Maps are also interesting, colorful, and diverse. Many take place in Paradise’s city streets, but some add unique and interesting designs. My favorite was a section where I had to get out of my car in a busy highway and jump from car to car while pursuing a train.

Movement is super fluid and felt great for the most part. Johnny can double-jump from the get-go, dash, and after a certain point, slow down time. Like the versatility in weaponry, this agile quality gave a ton of options for getting around and avoiding getting trapped by enemies.

Without turning this review into a laundry list, there are a lot of things to like about Turbo Overkill — a great upgrade system also allows players to customize their Johnny, bonus items in each level that can grant upgrades, tapes that unlock secret levels, game mode modifiers, and an awesome soundtrack full of synth-heavy tunes that matched the atmosphere.

However, while all of that is great, there are a number of issues that hold it back, as well.

One of the most aggravating elements in Turbo Overkill is the grappling hook. It’s tricky to activate it correctly, and I had to have my reticle placed too precisely to use it. This was fine when I was stationary, but there are numerous climbs that require tight and consecutive uses of the hook. It’s too easy to miss in a tight spot and get sent hurtling into a pit.

There, are also a few UI elements that can are hard to see. The grappling hook activation icon is one of them, but the amount of armor Johnny has is also fairly tricky to see at a glance.

Levels can also be too long, many padded out with combat gauntlets. While it can be enjoyable to blast away at enemies left and right, these sequences made some levels last upwards of an hour at times, which turned them into a bit of a slog. The third episode of the game is particularly egregious with this.

In terms of production, I encountered some bugs. One kept trapping me under objects and in weird positions. Another prevented from progressing because some events wouldn’t trigger. In one instance, I had killed all enemies in an area, but the required door wouldn’t open, and I became unable to progress until I reloaded a save.

Despite these grievances, I still enjoyed my time with Turbo Overkill. It’s a reminder of the shooters we used to get on the reg back in the day, and it’s a great homage to those classics — it’s a must-play for fans of old-school fragging, for sure.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Buy Turbo Overkill – Steam – Epic – GOG – Xbox – PS5 – Switch

Disclosures: This game is developed by Trigger Happy Interactive and published by Apogee Entertainment. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 18 hours was devoted to the game, and it was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, and Strong Language. The Rating Summary states: “This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of a futuristic bounty hunter (Johnny [Turbo, initially written as Nitro]) trying to prevent a powerful AI from taking over a city. Players infiltrate building/facilities and use a chainsaw-like weapon, pistols, and electric shotguns to kill enemies (e.g., cyborgs, street punks). The frenetic run-and-gun combat is accompanied by realistic gunfire, large explosions, and frequent blood-splatter effects. Some attacks result in dismemberment/decapitation, causing bloody chunks to stain/litter the environment. Cutscenes depict additional acts of violence and blood/gore: a cyborg thug’s entrails used as a tool; a first-person view of a character’s hands blown off. The word ‘f**k’ is heard in the game.”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles. Subtitles cannot be resized. The subtitles do work when playing audio logs, however, there is no closed captioning. This omission can make it difficult to understand some character logs and detect incoming enemies. This title is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Turbo Overkill Second Opinion appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The enhancements improve the creepy factor of an already-eerie game.

LOW The first two titles have numerous bugs and crashing issues.

WTF Burers, man…

I never got a chance to play the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games back in the day, so I was happy to try the Enhanced versions that recently came to new platforms, and I was delighted to find that they held an intriguing and dangerous world of outcasts, monsters, and treasure.

For those unfamiliar with the series, this S.T.A.L.K.E.R. package features three FPS titles with survival and horror elements set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine — Shadow of Chornobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Prypiat.

This fictional version of the Zone is a highly irradiated area filled with strange anomalies, horrifying mutants and numerous mysteries, and Shadow sets up the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe. Clear Sky acts as a prequel to it, answering questions players may have had about the Zone’s origins. Finally, Prypiat is a direct sequel to Shadow, with a new area of the Zone to explore and new mysteries to solve.

For owners of the original versions on PC and console, there’s great news — they’ll get the updated versions for free. On top of that, new owners will also the original versions as well. The one exception was Epic Games Store, which I couldn’t confirm. On top of that, saves from the older versions of each title can be transferred from the main menu, allowing players to start where they left off.

In this updated everything-in-one-package, there’s also a new Ukrainian voiceover option, which allows anyone to have a more immersive experience while playing these titles if they wish to experience the language of the country it’s set in.

Of the three titles, Prypiat was the best. Its world was the most fleshed out and lacked many of the problems the other two had (more on that in a bit.) Also, the side quests were the best in the trilogy. Overall, it was the most realized version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s ideas, with a world that delivers on its premise thanks to updated mechanics like the ability to pass time while sleeping and better gear customization. Niceties like his helped make the experience more engaging, and the world easier to interact with.

There’s also a commitment to realism that I found added to the challenge of these titles. Every object has weight, so I had to be strategic with what I carried at all times. I could only carry so many weapons, ammo, and healing items before I would start to be affected by encumbrance. For example, if I exceeded my carrying capacity by a little, I wouldn’t be able to run for long before tiring out, and even walking could become taxing. If I exceeded my carrying strength by a lot, I couldn’t move anymore.

Also, the pause menu doesn’t stop the game like a proper pause. Things still happen in the world while looking through menus, which meant that I had to be on my toes. Critters and other stalkers could sneak up and destroy me quickly if I wasn’t attentive. It gave the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy a great sense of realism and identity that I haven’t seen in many other titles.

On the PS5, the new features are smartly implemented. If I missed an on-screen popup, the adaptive triggers would help me know that a weapon was jammed. The rumble feature also gave great tactile feedback, letting me feel thunder and rain on my characters. The controller’s speaker would crackle when the Geiger counter would start up, alerting me to radiation. In one area of Clear Sky, it even played a song from an encampment that increased in volume as I approached it, like it was on a radio.

The lighting effects were also nice, and enhanced the ambiance. Daytime was accentuated with ‘god rays’ and other wonderful lighting effects. Dark areas, however, were very dark, and made things a bit scarier (even with the flashlight on), which I enjoyed.

Multiple endings in Shadow and Prypiat provide great replay value, and the first title features at least seven endings, depending on various gameplay factors and quests completed. The third title, on the other hand, provided only slight variations on the ending cutscenes/

While Legends Of The Zone is clearly a great way to catch up with these cult classic titles, there were a few anomalies throughout my time with the trilogy, particularly with the first two installments.

Bugged enemies were common in Shadow and Clear Sky — some would get stuck behind something, or some would attack and hit me from behind cover. Sometimes, enemies would also spawn right next to me after loading into a game despite not being there when I saved, leading to some unfortunate deaths.

Crashes were also common, with the first two titles crashing several times each during my playthroughs. Prypiat had a single crash, but otherwise ran well.

These games could also be quite frustratingly hard (especially Shadow) at times. Enemies could be bullet sponges at times, especially in later areas, while I could go down in just a few shots. Some needed tutorials are sparse. While the original release may have had a manual, these don’t and that makes tutorialization more necessary to include. Thankfully, changes to Call of Pripyat helped make things a bit more manageable.

There were numerous spelling and grammatical errors throughout the Shadow’s text, which definitely made this Enhanced edition not feel so updated.

Auto-saves, only happen when loading into a new area, and after some events and dialogue. Could have used some for safer areas. Again, Prypiat adds in some auto-saves after some events to help prevent players from losing progress.

The “Quality” mode didn’t really change all that much, and the FPS ended up being a bit unstable as a result. In fact, using it can cause blurriness when rotating the camera. Performance mode, thankfully, ran better and delivered a stable 60fps while the graphics still looked fine.

While this trilogy’s first two games suffer from issues that should have been fixed, they’re still worth playing. Call of Prypiat is clearly the standout experience, but all three as a package represent extraordinary adventures filled with lore and monsters that FPS, horror, and survival fans alike should all try — even if the “enhancements” aren’t quite what they needed to be.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy En. Ed. — Steam — GOG — Epic — PlayStation — Xbox

Disclosures: These games were developed and published by GSC Game World LTD. They are currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. The original version of the trilogy is also available on Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 66 hours were devoted to the trilogy, and it was completed. There is no multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language and Use of Alcohol. There is no ESRB summary for this collection. All three games feature gratuitous violence from gunfire, explosions, demolition, and the like. Profanity, such as “sh*t,” “c*cksucker”, “fa**ot”, “a*shole,” and “b*tch” can be heard in spoken dialogue in all three titles. In many instances, characters will partake of various drugs. The player character can also consume alcohol. In Call of Prypiat, players can take steroids.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles. Subtitles cannot be resized. This game is not fully accessible. While the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games have subtitles on by default, they can be small and difficult to read at times, especially with no option to add a background to them. This can cause the white text to blend in with some background elements, making reading even more difficult. In addition to this, there isn’t any closed captioning, so the lack of visual cues is a challenge. Lastly, some characters will chatter outside of communication with players. However, there aren’t any subtitles for this ambient dialogue, which can be especially frustrating since they speak in Ukrainian.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. However, there are a couple of alternate control schemes.

The post S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends Of The Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Intermittently brilliant physics puzzling. Beautiful music.

LOW Frustrating interface. Timed levels. The camera.

WTF The Undo “feature” is a war crime

Full disclosure — I am shamefully, abysmally bad at World of Goo 2.

I love physics games, I love building games, and I love puzzle games, but I labored over ever single level in Goo 2, and never connected with it. This innocuous little cutie raked my ass viciously across the coals for more than 10 hours. It turned my brain into flan, made me feel like my hands were flippers. I looked at my monitor like a stranger. My cat watched me in profound disdain as I hemorrhaged all honor and dignity. I am not a Goo Gamer.

Please bear that in mind as I kvetch at length about this game I don’t like very much.

World of Goo 2 is, of course, the long longed-for sequel to the 2008 classic, a true first wave indie success, but one that, unlike some of its peers, never became on ongoing franchise and did not spawn any real imitators. World of Goo didn’t establish a genre, and didn’t create a puzzle genus unto itself. There are plenty of titles out there with Goo DNA, but there has never been anything exactly like it – until World of Goo 2.

In each level, the goal is to usher a number of goo balls into a pipe. That pipe is always in some out-of-the way place, ensconced behind walls, or concealed behind chicanes lined with spikes or spinning gears that’ll pulverize the player’s fragile, viscous wards. Goo balls can stick to each other with strands of goo to form lattice-like structures, and the idea is that they must be built up in such a way that enough unused goo balls can crawl up the structure and reach the pipe. World of Goo 2 is an experience somewhere between a physics sandbox and a physics puzzle, with a soupçon of frustration-core elements from games like Getting Over It or Jump King.

Can a game be clever, but not smart? Some World of Goo 2 levels have an easy brilliance, where the solution is (sometimes literally) dangling right overhead, but only reachable through some particular, convoluted path, an accordion-stack of micro-puzzles folded lasagnalike onto itself. The solution/thought process is made up of several steps — how do I get over this gap, to reach those balloon goo balls, to float up to that outcropping, so I can wake up those absorbent goo balls, so I can drain that goo lake, so it can go into this goo cannon and flow down this hill and wake up another group of goo balls, so I can finally build a lattice and usher enough slime into the pipe?

These levels provide a pungent satisfaction that, befitting World of Goo 2’s chimerical genre-straddling, doesn’t feel exactly like the pleasure of solving a pure puzzle or building a bridge in a sandbox game, nor passing a section of the junk mountain in Getting Over It. If the design could maintain itself in this narrow and relatively unexplored ludological zone, I think I would be in love with it unreservedly, even if I could never be good at it. Unfortunately, the reality of World of Goo 2 is messier than that. The interface is a series of small annoyances that ramify into a big problem.

Players’ direct interaction with World of Goo 2 mostly boils down to clicking and moving goo balls. Not a problem in theory, but in practice, unpleasant friction gets kicked up at every turn.

Exhibit A: Goo balls not part of a structure crawl over it constantly — it is so easy to accidentally click on the wrong goo ball during a time-sensitive moment, when the difference between a wobbling tower staying upright or collapsing on itself and necessitating an undo comes down to two or three crucial seconds.

Which brings me to Exhibit B: the Undo.

World of Goo 2’s undo system may be the single most frustrating, backwards, misguided, cackhanded implementation of something that has long been solved I’ve ever seen. In lieu of the time-tested undo button, little fireflies float around and have to be clicked on to undo plays. These fireflies are minute, and they zip around like a flitting insect, almost as if they’re purposefully evading the click.

There is no excuse I can accept for making a key element of any puzzle-adjacent experience so unnecessarily obnoxious. I don’t care if it’s lore-friendly, I don’t care if it’s cute, I don’t care if it’s funny — this choice alone accounted for at least 40% of my frustration with World of Goo 2. Even in 2008, it would be questionable at the most absolute generous interpretation. In 2025, it’s a joy-devouring mega-gaffe.

There are smaller issues too. Not every level is a winner. There is a degree of openness to solutions, but not as much as it might seem. The camera is zoomed in way too close, and can’t be adjusted to a satisfactory distance — a bantamweight problem, especially on the more convoluted levels where a path through challenges has to be plotted out in advance. There are levels with very strict time limits, and I hated these (Thankfully there is the option to skip any level at any time).

In so many ways, World of Goo 2 is an honorable enterprise. The art is great. The theming is enjoyable, if not as deep as it sometimes seems like it thinks it is. There’s a melancholy goofiness to the World of Goo world that I like, and I love anything with its aesthetic roots in the glory days of the Flash- and browser-based gaming frontiers of the aughts. The music is absolutely beautiful. This is a mechanics-forward game, so I’ve routed most of ink to the highs and lows therein, but know that the audio-visual side of World of Goo 2 is an unqualified success.

World of Goo 2 as whole, I guess, could be classified as a broken success. I struggled with it, both because of my own ineptitude, but more crucially because of its quite serious design flaws. It doesn’t deserve to be hated, or ignored, but I don’t want to play it anymore. I’m goo-d, thanks.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by 2D Boy and Tomorrow Corporation. It is available on Android, iOS, PC, PS5, and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher. Approximately 15 hours of play were devoted to the game, and it was not completed (because I am horrible at it). There are no multiplayer modes in the PC version, but the Switch port does have multiplayer options.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Mild Suggestive Themes and Mild Violence. The official description reads: This is a physics-based puzzle game in which players use balls of goo to create wobbly structures towards a pipe. A story mode allows players to follow a detective investigating a missing persons case. One sequence depicts a character dying after getting shot. The game contains some suggestive material: a red-light district sign reading “XXX”; a character shaking their buttocks; a man feeling a character’s thigh; innuendo such as “He’s a…gentleman of the night” and “two hot bullets in a revolver…romantically permeated”).

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes present.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game has subtitles for the spoken dialogue sequences. The subtitles cannot be resized. Almost all key information is conveyed visually as well as audibly, but certain levels have timed elements that are easier to monitor with sound than by sight-checking them.

Remappable Controls: No, the game’s controls are not remappable. Keyboard+mouse and touch screen are supported. In fact, the entire game can be played with just the mouse, which is used for picking up and plopping down the goo balls, panning around the screen, and (very sadly), undoing actions. WASD can also be used for screen panning, but the mouse is still necessary, and still the central control implement.

The post World Of Goo 2 Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Likeable characters.

LOW The slow pace.

WTF Animal animations are hard! 

From the same studio that created Life is Strange comes Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, a 3D story-focused adventure. Bloom and Rage follows a girl named Swann in her last summer in the small Pacific Northwest town of Velvet Cove in 1995. Making friends with three other girls, she records her adventures using a trusty camcorder. 

Recording moments is the central mechanic in Bloom and Rage. The player is asked to capture “memoirs”, which are presented as a selection of gameplay clips. This works by bringing up the camera, switching to first person, and recording what is highlighted in the environment. These clips will be automatically edited into “memoirs” and can be viewed in the menu.

For instance, at the beginning of the story, Swann wants to record objects around her room because she’s anticipating moving to Vancouver at the end of the summer. To complete the objective I recorded her cat, stick bug, desk, TV, and books. 

It’s also possible to edit these memoirs by recording more clips and swapping them out or changing their order. However, I never felt incentivized to engage with this mechanic. There was only one instance where the other characters viewed the work, and when they did, it had no effect on the plot.  

The remainder of the gameplay is exploring limited environments, interacting with characters, and finding items around the world to progress. Unfortunately, filming — even as the primary game mechanic — seemed to have little impact on the narrative and began to feel like busywork. 

While Bloom and Rage is pretty to look at, it doesn’t hold up to Don’t Nod’s most recent Life is Strange, especially the fantastic motion capture that game had. While the environments here generally look good, there are unpolished textures, lots of graphical pop-in, some janky animations and more. It feels unpolished in a way that is slightly detrimental considering that the experience relies so much on exploring and interacting with the environment. 

As to what type of story Bloom and Rage wants to tell, I don’t entirely know yet. That’s because almost all of Part 1 “Bloom” is setup. I had hoped that because this title was being released in two parts (rather than in several chapters like Life is Strange) it would establish and resolve more in the first section. However, Bloom and Rage part 1 is mainly focused on the bonding moments with Swann’s new circle. 

Initially, Swann is an awkward, nerdy girl who doesn’t have many friends. However, this changes after she’s saved from bullying by the other main characters, Nora, Autumn, and Kat, who welcome her into their group. Nora and Autumn have a garage punk band, “Bloom and Rage”, and they all decide to make a music video together. 

The story does do something interesting by cutting between 1995 (Swann as a teen) and 2022, when Swann is an adult, returning to Velvet Cove and reuniting with her friends. This “adult” section takes place at the local bar and is played in first person. Autumn is the first of the girls to arrive, and much of Part 1 is spent reminiscing with her.  

During these grownup sections, I learned that the entire friend group has strange gaps in their memories, and the characters had promised to never talk to each other again. In addition, a mysterious package was sent to Autumn, which is part of why she called for the reunion in the first place. The package is addressed to “Bloom and Rage” and the characters decide to open it only when everyone from the group has arrived. These sections were engaging because there was some payoff to branching choices I had made earlier.

I enjoyed that the choices would sometimes be referenced later in the story, but as the things went on, I realized few of these choices mattered to the overall story. Their influence mattered only to a few small scenes or instances of dialogue.

In a larger sense, the story seemed mostly focused on taking its time and showing cute moments of the girls bonding or exploring — perhaps fitting, for an installment entitled “Bloom.” The content here is mostly nostalgia mixed with slice-of-life drama, the characters are likeable, and I didn’t mind spending time with them. However, there was little payoff to any of the drama, with one exception as Part 1 ends on a cliffhanger. Because of this, emotional stakes often felt rather low, which made some interactions feel weightless or overly long.    

Apart from the circle ‘blooming’, there were breadcrumbs of a supernatural, or horror-like twist, but these were rare. Any suspense was undercut by hints that these moments could be interpreted as more of a metaphor for real-life drama, and less as something actually supernatural. 

Having a slow burn or a setup that takes time to build isn’t inherently bad, but there was something frustrating about feeling baited about a spooky mystery for seven hours that ultimately may or may not matter in Part 2. If Bloom and Rage was leaned less into the supernatural and presented more like a teen drama, I wouldn’t have found this as bothersome. Of course, all of this could play out satisfyingly when the conclusion comes out in April. However, at this point I have my doubts.  

While Bloom and Rage was an enjoyable romp through someone’s nostalgia, the frustrating pace of both the drama and the central mystery did not endear me to it. As is, I don’t feel as if I can recommend it the game until I see how things resolve in Part 2.  

Rating: 5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by DontNod and published by DontNod. It is currently available on XBX/S, PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 7 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes. 

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Nudity, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Violence. Underage girls smoke weed, and drink some beers. In addition, there is adult alcohol consumption. Talk of sexual situations such as kissing. There is light blood with cutting of hands and nose bleeds. Swear words like sh*t and f**k are said throughout. Antagonists use gay slurs and use fat shaming language.  

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles can be altered and/ or resized. All dialogue has written text, and even visual cues on screen show an indicator of who is talking. Sound effects are given visual indicators and no gameplay is compromised with lack of sound. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls. 

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