There’s been quite a few cracking games based on the Wild West over the years, most notably Rockstar’s acclaimed Red Dead Redemption and its sequel. There's no sign of either appearing on the Switch anytime soon, but here we have a rather intriguing little horror-western game by Draw Distance. Horror western?! An interesting idea, right? Let’s see what it’s all about. Draw Distance might not be a name that rings too many bells, nor might even their previous moniker of iFun4all. Despite this, the Poland-based developer’s horror credentials are pretty impressive, including the upcoming Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York and Halls of Horror based on horror-themed board games of the same name. Ritual: Crown of Horns is perhaps the most intriguing, being a more traditional action game with a western twist. The comparison with Red Dead Redemption doesn’t go much beyond the fact that they're both westerns, because this is a very different type of game indeed. In Ritual: Crown of Horns, your mission is initially to track down a witch and dispose of her on behalf of the government. However, you end up being slaughtered by horned beasts curiously sent by that very same government. In the aftermath, you are resurrected by the same witch you were trying to kill, and enter an unholy alliance against the beasts who would hunt you down. We don’t think there's a Clint Eastwood movie about that one. At its core, Ritual: Crown of Horns is a 'horde' game. Players are placed within relatively small arenas, beginning with staple horror settings such as graveyards or cabins in woods before moving to much more diverse terrains. Within these arenas, you must stand your ground against the swarms of incoming beasts until the time limit expires. The swarm starts off relatively small before slowly overwhelming players as they enter the final minute. The plot twist is that you must also protect the witch (usually in the centre of the arenas) while she performs a ritual. When the timer runs out and the ritual is complete, she will dispose of the remaining enemies with her magic. But if the witch dies, it’s game over. This necessitates a huge amount of strategy as moving around any distance away from the witch exposes her to the enemies, while staying on one place will see you overwhelmed in no time. This balance becomes much harder to manage as you progress, because the witch herself may not necessarily stay in the same spot. Of course, you have quite the arsenal with which to dispose of your foes. This starts with your regular revolver, before being shortly complemented by the good ol’ shotgun. Plenty more options become available as you progress, ranging from rifles to crossbows. However, since this isn’t your regular western, you also have access to an increasing range of spells. These are invaluable when the horde of enemies becomes a bit too much and you need something extra to keep them away from the ever-busy witch. To use these spells, you must collect the souls of those you have slain; the more you kill, the more you get to kill. These spells also stack, meaning that players can save them for the latter half of the stage when the number of enemies becomes a real problem. In addition, the game also drops various power-up during play to aid you on your way, granting perks ranging from a faster reload speed to an increased number of souls released per kill. Additional gear can be purchased from the witch inside the safe haven, as well as choosing which weapons and spells to equip. You will absolutely need to do this, because Ritual: Crown of Horns isn't messing around when it comes to difficulty. The game has no pretence about being anything other than a challenge right from the get-go, but this certainly isn’t a title where you can just blast everything in sight and hope for the best. A fair amount of practice and repetition is required to learn the enemy patterns, especially when you’re trying to grasp the ropes of the game. Newcomers are encouraged to tackle the challenge maps to help them get to grips with things; these involve replaying previous levels with new objectives to achieve. Properly mastering each level is the key to progression here; you really can’t just hope for the best. As for the gameplay, this is essentially a classic arcade top-down shooter, albeit confined to much smaller arenas than players might expect if they’re used to something like Hotline Miami. Players traverse the stage exactly as you’d expect, with the dash feature being often being the difference between life and death. The shooting mechanics do a lot to define the experience, but could also prove to be divisive. You have a full 360-degree range of fire as you’d expect, but the caveat is that players must actually press the aim button to aim before firing, rather than simply having a fire button which fires at will, like you’d expect. Veterans of very different horror experiences such as Resident Evil will know what to expect here, but the fast pace of this game combined with the sheer amount of foes to deal with does make this challenging. The right stick is then used to change between targets, as well as the direction which you are facing. Players have to master when to aim, when to shoot and when to reload, and this will likely necessitate numerous attempts at a stage until this is achieved. This isn’t a criticism; just something that really needs to be emphasised – some players will love the mechanic and how it forces them to consider their actions, while others may find it clunky and unintuitive. Still, it is this requirement to learn the game’s mechanics and how to best work around its intentional limitations which makes Ritual: Crown of Horns so rewarding. This isn’t simply a case of playing until you scrape through the stage; it is thinking about the best course of action throughout the entire three minutes or so granted to you, which enemies to take out and when, saving the spells for when you expect a particularly big swarm to approach the witch, thinking about how many bullets you need to expel before needing to take a second or two to reload, and being prepared to keep doing all of this until you finally master the stage. It is hugely rewarding, as long as you have the perseverance, and to see the game’s mechanics as an intentional challenge rather than poor implementation. You'll be rewarded, but expect to work for it. In that sense, there is absolutely a place for a game like Ritual: Crown of Horns on Switch. This isn’t something you can kick back and have some fun playing lazily for five minutes, but if you want some decent arcade-style challenges and rewards, it certainly delivers. The curious western horror setting is the icing on the cake that makes this outing even more interesting.

Games about Garfield went unrecognized for years, and the world was a better place. Europe got a series of dreadful 3D platformers, the Wii saw some miserable party games, and there was probably some DS shovelware, too. But in 2013, millennial irony began to pick up in po[CENSORED]rity, and so it was that Garfield Kart became the subject of widespread sarcastic, ironic admiration. One glance at the 2013 title's Steam page reveals a "Very Positive" consensus out of over 4,000 reviews. Now, five years later, Garfield Kart: Furious Racing arrives at a time when Jon Arbuckle drinking canine ejaculate is a bonafide classic meme and Garfield has been reborn into a postmodern icon. In a way, it doesn't matter what the establishment says about this game - the people have accepted it as art, and so art it is. But I, a simple critic, have a job to do. And that job entails saying that despite surefire improvements over the last entry, Garfield Kart: Furious Racing is nothing more than a basically serviceable kart racer with clear budgetary restraints, lack of content, and some glaring flaws. Everybody's Super Garfield Racing Furious Racing joins a long, pedigreed line of mascot kart racers. It stands side by side with classics like South Park Rally, Homie Rollerz, and M&M's Kart Racing. Joking aside, players basically know what to expect here. Cartoon characters get in silly cars and race each other on whimsical tracks, chucking items at each other in a blistering race to the finish. It's the same formula Nintendo shook up in the early 90s, and there's not too much different here. Furious Racing definitely takes more than a few cues from Nintendo's latest kart racer, speaking of which. The focus on constant boosting, drifting, and stunting is hewed very closely from Mario Kart 8, but without that game's lively physics or, y'know, any sort of mechanical soundness. That isn't to say that it's broken, per se, but everything feels just a little off-kilter - like thinking too hard about what Jon did to Lyman. Lacking The Spice Of Life The thing is, that Faygo-tinged kart racer is just about all you'll be getting with this game. You race around sixteen tracks, pick up the optional collectibles, and that's about it. Rinse and repeat. There are different ways to mess around with cars in the garage. There's an online component that works well enough. Oh, and for the DOTA 2 fans out there, you can collect hats for each character! That's... fun? That's one of the main problems with Furious Racing. What's here is fine, but it's not enough. There's no story mode, no bonus modes, no incentive to snag all the collectibles other than the bragging rights of having weird collectible photos of the cast and all the hats. Why would you invest much time in this thing outside of playing all the tracks, then go about your way? I'm not sure, because if someone's in the market for a go-to kart racer, most people aren't going to keep coming back to this one. Even if they're looking outside of Mario, stuff like Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed exists. But while the rest of Furious Racing could be described, at worst, as unremarkable and flaccid, one part of the game drags the whole package down: the sound design. The bloody, dreadful cacophony of hell noises that is the soundtrack and sound effects. Everything about the audio track of this game almost gave me a headache, and frankly, it was unplayable with a headset. There's so much discordant audio, so many clashing and loud noises, such grating music that it made me physically recoil every time a race got hot and heavy. The audio design isn't just poor - it's an active affront to the senses and a slight against the very concept of sound itself. Sputtering Out But even replacing the audio and repressing the traumatic memory of ever having heard it can't trick me into thinking Garfield Kart: Furious Racing is anything other than a thoroughly mediocre kart racer. There's not a lot here, and what's here is technically acceptable but unremarkable. Yeah, it's fifteen dollars, and yeah, it's for kids. But fifteen dollars can get you a lot more, and kids are smarter than we give them credit for. So the people may claim Garfield Kart: Furious Racing as art. They'll prop it up as a postmodern masterpiece and turn this time-warped mid-aught's licensed racer into some kind of strange meme. But just like Freddy Got Fingered isn't secretly a brilliant work of anti-humor, this game isn't anything other than a cheap, budget racer that's content to rip off its bigger, better competition while not offering any substantial improvements on them.

A couple months after the release of Meteorfall, while working on the Necrodude update, I started brainstorming some new designs for a game that eventually became Krumit’s Tale. I loved the universe that we created for Meteorfall, and I knew that I wanted to work on something that continued to build out those characters and that lore. I also didn’t want to create a direct sequel. Thus, Krumit’s Tale was born. The (work-in-progress) App Store description reads: Krumit’s Tale, the second game in the Meteorfall universe, is a brand new take on the deckbuilding roguelike genre. Dungeons are laid out in a 3x3 grid, and you’ll need to use your items wisely to survive. You’ll build your deck and earn perks as you fight your way to the Uberlich. Do you have what it takes? Let’s take a look at what the game actually looks like - Like the original Meteorfall game — Meteorfall: Journeys — Krumit’s Tale is a run-based, deck-building game. That means that in both games, you’ll start a ‘run’, lasting no more than 30–45 minutes, and death means the end of the run. You’ll also choose a hero, with a basic starting deck, and improve that deck over time through the addition of new, powerful cards. Thus, both Meteorfall and Krumit’s Tale share many of the same core values, and both games should appeal to the same core player base. From there, Krumit’s Tale diverges significantly. In the above screenshot, you can see a 3x3 grid of enemies, items, and abilities. When you enter a dungeon, your hero’s deck (items and abilities) is shuffled into the dungeon deck (enemies)and then dealt out in a grid. The objective is to clear the dungeon by defeating all of the enemies. Items and abilities can be acquired from the grid by paying the gold cost. You’ll earn gold by defeating enemies, or discarding items & abilities (tiles) that you don’t need. You’ll use the tiles you acquire to defeat more powerful enemies, and so on. At the end of each dungeon, you’ll add new cards to your deck, and select from powerful Perks (passive buffs) which you can build your deck around. Then, you’ll proceed to the next dungeon, and so on, until you finish your journey. Fighting monsters is a key part of the gameplay in Krumit’s Tale. To start a battle, you tap a monster. Doing so will bring up the battle screen. In battle, you can make use of up to 4 tiles you acquired in the dungeon. Tapping a tile will equip it, giving you additional options to defeat enemies. For instance, equipping a basic sword will increase your attack and allow you to defeat a monster more quickly, while equipping chainmail can block an enemy’s attack. Once you’ve equipped items and abilities, you press the big green button to attack. Using items in combat reduces durability, so you’ll need to be plan carefully about how to best use your items. At its core, Krumit’s Tale is a game about resource management: monsters to be slain, tiles you acquire, tiles you discard — all resources that can be used to help you finish the dungeon. Inspired by games that offer ‘perfect information’ such as Slay the Spire and Into the Breach, Krumit’s Tale also gives you a tip about what the enemy plans to do. This allows you to make smart use of your limited items and abilities in order to survive the dungeon. Besides basic attacks, enemies can also block or poison you. Some enemies have piercing attacks that ignore armor, and others are quick — allowing them to attack before you. As you encounter new enemies in the dungeon, you’ll be able to better plan how to build your deck to counter them in the future. After each dungeon, you’ll add new cards to your deck in different ways. One way is through opening ‘Mint Candy’ boxes (treasure)at the end of each dungeon that present you with 3 different tiles — you get to pick one to add to your deck. The other way is the shop, where you can buy new tiles using gems. (Gems are earned when you complete a dungeon). Combined with the passive perks you earn after each dungeon, there are tons of ways to build your deck and be successful.

wlc

Hauntingly beautiful Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth.” ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein When it comes to the horror genre, what is truly terrifying? Is it the po[CENSORED]r jumpscare tactic that Five Nights at Freddy’s employs? Or perhaps the zombie shooter Resident Evil franchise that keeps players on their toes? Maybe the nearly-urban legend P.T. that mentally exhausts players is the pinnacle of scary games? Fans of all that is spooky will debate til the end of time what makes a good horror game great, but few will argue for the lingering, cerebral fear mechanics that stay long after the controllers have been put away. It seems like everyone feels confident in their personally-crafted strategy for surviving the zombie apocalypse, but few can answer how they’ll pull through an existential crisis despite facing one every Sunday night. Where the presence of ghastly figures may be terrifying, how many of us slowly lose contact with friends and family over the years until the sudden realization — “Oh God, I am alone.” And while a jumpscare can be undeniably frightening, it’s only temporary; being abandoned by those you depend upon, however, will permanently change you. Isolation, abandonment, and existentialism are merely a few of the topics covered in the literary classic Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus written by Mary Shelley in 1818, and it’s these everyday real and present terrors La Belle Games beautifully depicted in The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature. The premise is simple — players take on the role of The Creature, the abomination produced by Victor Frankenstein. Unlike the novel, where The Creature’s perspective is relayed to us through several different layers of narrators, La Belle Games chose to show us a retelling of his account through his own eyes. The Creature’s emotions, experiences, and personal growth are all conveyed to us from The Creature himself, giving us a very raw, very real depiction of what it would feel like to be a gentle soul whose very existence is an affront to God. At first, there was nothing; then, there was light. So begins The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature, as players begin to take control of a cloaked figure up against the wall. He moves slowly, the room only coming into a grayish focus as he lumbers rigidly across the room. It’s as if he hadn’t used his limbs in a long time. After exiting the strange home (which he remarked he’d later learn was a gruesome birthplace), The Creature’s world becomes a little more colorful. Bright and airy, his mood is elevated, and he races around the grassy area, eager to learn everything about this stunning new world. Eventually, he tires himself out, but comes to in a small corner of the woods. This place, with its vivid colors and beautiful lighting, is the first that is truly crisp and distinct; here in nature, this unnatural being feels at home. The Creature’s world continues to expand as he chances upon a village. At first, he’s merely curious about the town and its inhabitants, but he soon learns they do not return the sentiments; for reasons unbeknownst to him, the beings contort their faces in anger, surround him with pitchforks and fire, and even throw stones at him. At this point, he is faced with a choice: does he hurt those who have hurt him, or does he turn the other cheek? It is up to the player to make this decision — the first of many. Licking his wounds, The Creature flees to a small hovel attached to a quaint wooden cottage. He spends a full year here, observing a small family and insatiably learning all he can about mankind. It is here where he tries to be loved, and it is here where he learns rejection yet again. Players watch as the family they’d become attached to for entire seasons — tending their fields, chopping their wood, and learning of their ways in secret — cast him out from the only source of warmth and belonging he’d ever known, even if it was one-sided. I could keep going, but I don’t think I’ll spoil the story — even those who remember reading Shelley’s masterpiece from high school will find slight differences in this insanely gorgeous retelling, so this experience will feel only slightly familiar even to the most veteran of English lit fans. Still, it pulls enough from the classic novel that it will most certainly enhance players’ understanding of the book, acting as a companion piece of sorts. Going into this, like most people, I was immediately drawn to the awe-inspiring visuals of The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature. The water-colors are reminiscent of another French indie game, Gris, and the vocals also evoke a similar feel. But where Gris told a story left up to interpretation, The Wanderer: Frankenstein’s Creature boldly takes one of Halloween’s most beloved yet most forgotten tale and masterfully consumes the player, transporting them into the very mind of this wretched being, his experiences becoming their own. For example, there was a point where some village children, too young to have learned fear, invited The Creature back to their homes. The Creature followed, not knowing what was awaiting him at the other end. It’s easy to assume it won’t go over well since, on the player end, we can anticipate what happens next, but the bucolic, serene atmosphere hinted at nothing but a pleasant experience… …until the first rock was thrown, and suddenly the charming, delightful mood went cold and dark, with jarring music matching the tense, confused tone. While playing, my hair stood on end, and even now as I write this I feel the familiar goosebumps. La Belle Games has achieved something so few teams can even dream of doing, and that’s making players legitimately come from a place of birth — of knowing nothing — to learning fear for the very first time. How confidently I approached the deer in the woods for the first time, my first encounter with another sentient life form. How curiously I studied the children playing ball, even kicking it around with them at their amusement. Yet how cautiously I approached the family in the cottage, feeling my heart rate nearly explode as I snuck in to borrow their books. I felt joyful when making a connection with the deer, and pleasantly surprised while playing with the children; after being surrounded by the angry mob with every intent to harm me, I — through every fiber of The Creature’s being — learned what it was like to feel fear for the first time, as if the first time I tasted it at the age of four had ever happened, as if I had never known fear. Why did I feel this way? Because I was so in-tune with The Creature’s psyche. He had never felt this way before, so it stands to reason that I wouldn’t have either. That’s how well the game conveyed a sense of character to me, and that’s why this game deserves the highest of praises. I could continue on about how the music is incredible (if Gris met Octopath Traveler) or how the visuals are some of the best you’ll see this year, but honestly, words feel cheap when it comes to recounting what I experienced. This is really one of those games that can change you because it makes you feel something that you thought you’d lost in your youth and would never experience again. Yet that reaction I had after the first stone was cast awakened in me something absolutely visceral — the pain and suffering of rejection by others due to the abandonment of those who were supposed to care for you. My creator, neglectful, should have gently eased me into my understanding of the world and shielded me in my youth; instead, I painfully learned that others feared me, and I, in turn, feared them. Holy Shit

Key Specitifations Review Price: £19.99 Available on PC (Early Access) Citadel: Forged With Fire release date Running this game at anything above 60fps is a difficult task for any hardware at the moment, and your fps might even vary from server to server. However, if you’re hitting the 62fps cap Blue Isle have imposed, there’s at least an easy way to circumvent it. First, go to: “C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Citadel\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor” Then open ‘GameUserSettings.ini’ as a text document, fine the FrameRateLimit line and change it to 300, like so: FrameRateLimit = 300 See? Easy. Now good luck making use of your new headroom… Citadel: Forged With Fire specs and performance The minimum specs are reasonably low for this game. Blue Isle’s minimum specs include a 2GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, and GTX 950 or better in the graphics card department. That might get you up and running at the lowest graphics settings, but a machine with those specs will really struggle at higher settings. Recommended specs aren’t much higher: 3GHz CPU, 16GB RAM, GTX 970 or better. In our experience, with the game at the beginning of its journey through Early Access, you’ll need a GTX 1070 or better to max out the graphics settings and hit something approaching 60fps. This is very likely an optimisation issue, though, and as such you can expect subsequent updates to improve performance on machines of any spec. Citadel: Forged With Fire base building From there, a bit more time, levelling and collaboration is required. It’s possible to build enormous multi-level castles if you can gather enough stone and iron together, but since it’s also possible to raid and destroy player structures, your first thought when building anything substantial as a high-level player should be fortification. Better fortification options are unlocked as you level, particularly once you get over the level 20 hump. Let’s not give the wrong impression, though: C:FWF’s innovations and ambitions aren’t just limited to the things it leaves on the cutting-room floor. There’s real, scary depth to the crafting, building and spellcasting here. The ‘extract’ spell, for example, is unlockable early on, and lets you siphon nature’s goodness quicker than your humble fists could ever manage. In the later game, however, you’re able to summon down meteors from the sky with ‘conflagrate’ and harvest their resources, or use ‘telekinesis’ on entire buildings. In other words, you can pick up castles and throw them at things. Not even Vold– sorry, You Know Who, could pull that one off.

The last Ice Age film or short came out back in 2016. There has been the talk of a new film or TV series, but nothing has actually released in the last 3 years. Until late last week. For some reason the world received a new Ice Age video game, starring Scrat. It’s weird that three years after the last film we get a new game. What’s even weirder is that this game isn’t bad. I’d even say, I like it. Seriously. Ice Age: Scrat’s Nutty Adventure was released for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on October 18th. It stars Scrat, that weird and overly hyper squirrel (?) who is always looking for a nut. At the start of the Scrat finds ruins of a technologically advanced ancient squirrel civilization. To unlock the secrets of the ruins and become powerful, Scrat needs to track down three super nuts. This is all real. I’m not making any of this up. Honestly, it isn’t that weird considering the last Ice Age film had a plot that was entirely put into motion by Scrat poorly operating a UFO. The thing is, this game and its wild story reminded me of a lot of those licensed games we use to get back in the PS2-era of gaming. And it’s odd to feel this way, but I think I miss those games? Sure licensed games still exist, but they’ve all mostly moved to mobile platforms. Which is sad. Sure many of these licensed games were bad, but not all of them. And as a kid, it was so cool to play a game on my TV based on a cartoon or movie I loved. Scrat’s Nutty Adventure feels like one of those games like it was frozen back in 2003 before it was published and only now, in 2019, has it been thawed out and released. There are some annoying issues in Scrat’s Nutty Adventure, for sure. The camera can bug out in places, animations don’t always look great and combat isn’t fun at all. But damn it, I still enjoyed it. I sat down to only play it for an hour, just to grab some screenshots and get a feel for it. But I ended up playing it for nearly 3 hours. It’s weird to have a nostalgic reaction to something brand new. I don’t even like the Ice Age films or have any strong feelings about the franchise. But playing a colorful and simple licensed platformer did activate some part of my brain and made me happy. It is very VERY easy to look at screenshots of this game or the trailer and dismiss it or make fun of it. And again, there are some problems and issues with it.

PLAY AS RACKETBOY OR RACKETGIRL, GUARDIANS CHOSEN BY THE CAPYBARA GODDESS TO SAVE YOUR GALAXY FROM THE PAWS OF A DESTRUCTIVE TYRANT GENIUS. UNABLE TO ATTACK BY YOURSELF, YOU MUST STRIKE ENEMIES’ ATTACKS BACK AT THEM, TURNING THE BATTLEFIELD INTO AN EXPLOSIVE SPACE TENNIS BATTLE. FLY YOUR WAY THROUGH HORDES OF DUCKS, CAT-SANDWICHES, FLUFFY BUNNIES, SPACE-TENNIS-ROBOTS AND EVEN BANANAS IN THIS UNEXPECTED AND UNIQUE ADVENTURE TO SAVE THE GALAXY! It’s a description that just begs you to try the game out – how on earth can you say no to the Capybara Goddess? I actually read it after trying out the game, so I got the pleasant surprise of opening up Sky Racket with no idea what to expect, and being greeted by a deluge of magic, colour, and ridiculousness. I love nostalgic graphics and colourful games. They remind me of my childhood, and even now it’s an aesthetic you’ll commonly find in some of my favourite media and around my apartment. The game just looks so energetic and enjoyable from the beginning – I fell in love with looking at it. Like many great indies, Double Dash Studios’ new release took root in a game jam, with the theme being “Arcade.” Sky Racket describes itself as a “shmup breaker” – a shoot-em-up spliced with the traditional block-breaker games most of us remember from the simpler days of gaming. For those unfamiliar, block-breaking games usually involved ricocheting a ball back and forth, like a one-sided game of tennis. You have items to break, and have to move quickly to keep bouncing the balls back and forth until the stage is cleared. Sky Racket leaves a lot out in terms of story. You’ll get a few sentences here and there, and there’s a general storyline, but it’s pretty forgettable and not too detailed. Honestly, I’m not sure I’m bothered by that – as much as I love a good story, I’m more into mechanics when it comes to games like these. An awesome story is a great bonus, but it’s not what I’m looking for. I want to enjoy the physical action of playing. Sky Racket’s main mechanics revolve around dodging and hitting, which is why sometimes it can get a little frustrating that the characters have surprisingly slow movement speed. Maybe I’m a little spoiled by fast-moving games, but I’m used to beat-em-ups and block-breaking games both moving at a quick pace. It’s part of the addictive joy of it all – you get into the feel of fast movement and learn to be quicker and better each time. Sky Racket can sometimes get tiring when you see an attack you want to smack back, and react quickly, but are just physically unable to make it across the screen. That flaw aside, I found the gameplay to be a good mix between cathartic and difficult. In the first couple levels I thought it might be too easy, but I was soon set straight when I saw the list of goals after each stage – clearing the stage is just one thing to do. The player will also be tasked with various challenges, including destroying all the blocks in a stage (a task I still haven’t managed). As you increase in levels, more and more chaos is thrown into the mix. Objects will come faster, and there will be new interactive complications – like cats that cling to you until you shake them off, and bursts that completely distort your surroundings. It’s a challenge, but the fairly static stages help players to learn and improve if it’s too challenging the first time. Most of all, I loved the varied, colourful stages, and unique bosses (though I do have concerns about the giant banana with tentacles). It reminds me of all the things that called out to me from the shelves during my childhood, and that just always made me happy to look at. Paired with music that makes you want to dance in your chair, it’s a great callback to the nostalgic memories of arcade-style fun and classic games. Overall, Sky Racket features a nice mesh of gameplay styles (even pinball!) and an excellent aesthetic, which makes it pretty enjoyable to just sit down and start playing – especially if you want an experience where you don’t have to pay attention to tons of intricate details and can focus on perfecting your technique. There’s a lot of fun here, wrapped up in a gorgeous, smooth-playing package.

The Atelier series of JRPGs has been one that I’ve been trying to get into, but just haven’t really been able to. A long-running franchise that receives a new entry nearly every year, I’ve attempted to jump in multiple times, but the games have failed to hold my attention every time. I tried out Atelier Rorona nearly a decade ago, Atelier Sophie a few years back, and a bit of Atelier Lulua earlier this year. Each time, I barely made it in a few hours before losing interest. To be fair, though, this is a franchise where storytelling and fighting usually takes a backseat to cute girls crafting items, and that’s where it loses me. Seeing trailers for the newest entry in the series, Atelier Ryza, repiqued my interest in the franchise. From everything I was seeing, this entry was going to head in a different direction. While, yes, it was still going to be “cute girls doing alchemy,” it appeared that this new release would bring a bit more focus to storytelling and battling. Thusly, I embarked on my fourth attempt to get into the Atelier franchise. Developed by Koei Tecmo Games and Gust, and published by Koei Tecmo Games, Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout is set for release on October 29th, 2019, for PS4, Switch, and PC via Steam. The PC version was played for this review. In Search of Something Greater Atelier Ryza follows a young girl named Reisalin Stout, or Ryza for short, and her two friends Lent and Tao. Having spent her life on a rural farming island, Ryza is desperate for adventure. The game begins with her roping Lent and Tao into stealing a boat and rowing to the mainland, in search of something new. Shortly into their little adventure, they are attacked by a monster, but are saved at the last moment by a wandering alchemist named Empel and his warrior partner, Lila. Empel and Lila are in the area exploring the ruins of a long-lost kingdom, and their stories and knowledge manage to enthrall our three main characters. Ryza in particular takes interest in Empel’s alchemy, deciding to pursue the craft for herself. Right off the bat, I appreciate that Atelier Ryza wastes no time in introducing its world and its characters motivations. Past entries in the Atelier series I’ve experienced all meander during their intros, following their characters through their regular day-to-day lives. Ryza, it its first hour, establishes its world, the main characters’ motivations, and a firm goal for each of them. It certainly helps that Ryza’s motivations are something that I can relate to a bit. The feeling that life is stagnant, wanting to get away from where you’ve spent most of your life, the desire to experience something new. As a kid who grew up in the hell known as suburbia, with aspirations of moving to a big city, I know these feelings well. The plot remains at the forefront of the game as well, staying focused rather than falling aside for slice-of-life antics. While I was worried the game would slip into the same old Atelier I’ve come to know from previous entries once the alchemy system was introduced, the character interactions actually became more interesting after this point. The main characters’ families, as well as the other townsfolk, become uneasy and occasionally fearful that these kids are getting into this “weird alchemy thing,” causing a number of interesting conflicts to drive the plot forward. Overall, Atelier Ryza did something that no other entry in the series has managed to do for me: keep me interested with its storytelling. No Slowing Down Between all of these little moving parts, the battle system of Atelier Ryza feels both fast-paced and strategic. Having to decide how to best use your AP and Core Charges becomes a key part of every battle. You can switch between the character you’re controlling at the touch of a button if you want to give them specific commands. You can also have a party member unleash a special attack if you follow a command they ask for mid battle (e.g. “Use an item” or “Do fire damage”). Again, Atelier Ryza manages to break my thoughts on the Atelier series. The battle system here is engaging, and it feels like a lot of thought went into it. Sure, I was thrown for a loop when I found out I could only control one character at a time, but the ability to switch characters did help to mitigate any worries I had. The fights are brisk as well, with trash mobs often going down in seconds if you have your strategy right. They Save Lives Ryza has gone for the one-two punch on me with an enjoyable story and an interesting battle system. With its presentation, it manages to get a third strike in as well. In general, the visual presentation of Atelier Ryza is extremely attractive. While the Atelier series does have a strong following, there is a reputation amongst some that it can often look a bit rough, mostly due to the connotations of being a yearly franchise. While, yes, we’re not looking at the pinnacle of JRPG graphics here, what we do have is pleasing to the eye. The character models are distinctly designed and animate well, from the main party to various NPCs. Enemy design is a bit more iffy, often relying on pallet swaps even just a couple hours into the game. Environments are surprisingly detailed, especially with the shading and shadow work put to use here. As for graphics options on the PC version, unfortunately, they are lacking. The only options are windowed/fullscreen and resolution. My setup maxes out at 1440p, so I can’t say for sure if 4K or super-wide are supported here. There’s no detailed settings here, nor anything as simple as a general quality setting or even V-Sync. To address the elephant that’s been following news on this game: yes, Atelier Ryza is a bit more fanservicey in its character designs than past Atelier games. Ryza’s design…well, let’s just say that her last name, “Stout,” is an apt description. Lila’s design looks like she stapled bowling balls to her chest. A lot of interest in this entry to the franchise seems to have been driven by these designs, but I can at least say there’s much more to the game than just the thick thighs and bouncing breasts. Doing a 180 As someone who’s long figured that the Atelier franchise just isn’t for me, Atelier Ryza comes as a huge surprise. It seemed like Gust had been resting on its laurals for so long, pumping out these feel-good low-stakes cute girl games year after year that just didn’t interest me. Ryza, though, shows that they’re willing to change things up and do something new. If anything, it feels like Ryza may be Gust’s attempt to step out of the niche they’ve carved for themselves. This game feels like one that the general JRPG fandom could get into, rather than just the subset interested in zoning out and crafting items. That’s not to say series fans will be disappointed with this release either. The characters are endearing, and the alchemy system here is fun to mess around with. Is Ryza enough to get me to go back to earlier games in the series? No, probably not. But if it represents the direction the series is going in the future, you can count me in as a fan from this point.

its not a big problem,just re-install ur cs,and all things will be good. i would supose u to get an other cs,like na'vi fnatic,lh etc because this version have no problems and it haves good quality,models etc. G.L

I haven’t played FTL, but one of the main descriptions of Abandon Ship is that it’s a FTL like game… this fact could come into play in this review because I can’t compare the two… therefore there is no let down based on expectations. I like the idea of seafaring in games and think it’s only just starting to really be delved into with a bit more depth. Pirateering, privateering and exploration are starting to pop up in games and this more or less explores all of those and adds a bit of a Lovecraftian cult to add a bit more flare. The game begins with you breaking free from a cult that you had been a member of. You initially spend time trying to escape the cult as they try and stop your escape but eventually you turn the tables and start pursuing the cult. Captaining a ship you must fill it with crew and enough armament to protect yourself and to inflict damage on the cult. To do this you will need to win battles and have a bit of luck finding salvage and other supplies on the oceans. The pace is quite good, I never felt too challenged until quite a bit later in the game when I started to lament the lack of a save option (it does mention the word save but you might just as well call it a checkpoint because there are no individual save slots… it simply saves when you quit). I still would prefer there were some save slots but after learning that I can continue sailing on my own after attempted mutinies I felt less concerned that all my hard work was going to be for nothing. Speaking of hard work… things do indeed get trickier. Moving from map to map costs resources, resources that you could loose during your explorations if you encounter a rat infestation or similar issue. Most maps will have a few battles and some random items to interact with that can restock your supplies along with being able to buy more in ports… but after you’ve explore a few areas completely they effectively no longer have those resources so traveling from one side of the world to the other becomes a dangerous act that can indeed lead to the aforementioned mutinies (clearly I didn’t manage my resources very well). Visually the game is quite stunning. The ocean waves and the islands scattered around are all beautifully realised and the notion that they are “framed in an Art Style inspired by classic Naval Oil Paintings” certainly seems accurate. Just as you start getting used to an area and think that it is all starting to look pretty similar, you enter a new map section and encounter violent storms or volcanoes or Ice sheets and the like. There’s enough variety to keep it interesting and the challenge of finding the right ship load out and tactics to see you win each confrontation can be a challenge but no an insurmountable one.

GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS 3: 2019 REVIEW The result is a game that runs much more smoothly and has faster turn times than most, if not all, of the turn-based games of this size that I know of. The weird thing about this aspect of the game is just how much Brad and Stardock initially marketed it, as it was one of the primary “look at what we did!” bullet points for the game and honestly, barely anyone gave two shits what the engine was capable of, as the initial game did disappoint for gameplay reasons. However, now, with the gameplay is full swing, the engine that GC3 is built in has been allowed to truly shine, as turn times are absurdly fast compared to other large 4X games and the game just generally runs faster and smoother than most. So I guess all that marketing and hype was on to something, but it took a while for it to really feel like something I’d want to add to this “What I Like” list. Colony Management: Perhaps my single favorite gameplay mechanic of GC3 is its planetary/colony management system. Each planet has a limited amount of space and each planet has a random number of tiles that boost certain types of buildings. There’s also other random resources (and now, artifacts) that you have to account for, too. Further fleshing out this system is an adjacency bonus mechanic that provides bonuses to certain structures if they’re built next to other structures. For example, a factory receives a bonus if it’s built next to another production building or certain resources, etc. I really, really like it and it creates this pseudo puzzle to figure out at each colony. It’s one of my favorite colony or city management systems in existence and I really like that it encourages specialization and completely prevents that whole “build everything, everywhere” trap that a lot of 4X games fall in to. Plus, we finally received the ability to repeat production queues and that was my final gripe with this system. I really hope to see other developers learn from this management style and adapt their own take on it. The Artificial Intelligence: There’s not a single 4X game in existence with better AI. That’s all that needs to be said. It’s calculating, capable, and almost always a true adversary. Even on lower difficulties. This is Brad Wardell’s forte and he continues to refine and sharpen the AI regularly and it shows. Sure, it’ll still do some really weird shit, but for the most part, it’s leagues beyond every other major 4X game. Mercenaries (Mercenaries): Basically heroes units for hire (who would have thought?!), mercenaries are good for a wide variety of things, like increasing production at your colonies, acting as super survey ships, or even just acting as powerful flagships for your armada. Citizens (Crusade): A truly inventive system that allows players to take a more active role in their ability to play either tall or wide, Citizens are a unique gameplay mechanic that I really enjoy. Every ten turns, a new citizen can be trained in a wide variety of specialties. The professions are limited at first to only a handful, but the more you research and advance, the more variety your given. Eventually you can train your citizens to help nearly every aspect of your colonies OR your empire as a whole. Choosing to train these citizens in professions that are subsequently stationed at your colonies provides those colonies with moderate-sized boosts to that colony, but that colony alone. However, you can also use your citizens to provide moderately smaller boosts to your empire-wide production, research, morale, etc, too. Thus, this system allows the player to focus on either creating a few super colonies, or spreading that talent across many colonies, or a mixture of both. It’s a great system and nearly every ten turns, you’re faced with a crucial decision in where and how to use those citizens. Better yet, the citizens add a bit of personality to your empire and provide some fodder for role-playing, too. I just wish there was a bit more depth to their “leveling up” system, as I think the small amount of character improvement that’s in game is pretty exciting. Maybe the inevitable GC4 can take this system and run with it, as citizens are the kind of quality game mechanic that should become a staple of this series moving forward. Strategic Resources (Crusade): The strategic resource system was completely revamped for the Crusade expansion and radically altered and improved the system that was previously in place. Strategic resources need to be mined using your (quantity-limited) constructors, which build mining stations near these resource deposits. In balance with the above citizens mechanic, you’ll need more administrators to build more constructors, which prevents an old gameplay issue (pre-Crusade), starbase spam, from occurring. It also requires you to use your initial constructors wisely. Strategic resources are initially mined very slowly. Because they are required for a variety of structures, starbase upgrades, and ship components, the player is forced to make tough choices for a while. Hell, they’re never super plentiful, unless you’re on large or huge maps, so the decision to use your strategic resources always feels like a calculated one. The system is engaging and thoughtful and can create tension between you and the other factions who may want those resources that you have (or vice versa). All good things… Invasions (Crusade): While not the most visceral or artistic take on ground combat that a 4X has ever seen, it is much more engaging than most and is a unique take on the genre trope. You’ll have to train legions to both use as planetary defense and as an invasion force. Once you begin combat, you’ll only make some very broad choices as to where to place those legions. However, it’s just enough interaction to keep your interest, while not being so involving that you feel too glued to it. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, t’s definitely an improvement over what it was pre-Crusade. The fact that I will almost always watch them says something about their balance of engagement and speed of resolution. Governments (Intrigue): Based on what I’ve read, the new government system is a bit polarizing. I’m surprised by this, because I actually really like them. Governments unlock as you research them, or through the ideology system, and each of them provide certain bonuses to either production, ship capabilities, or they might even provide unique ships that have pretty rad bonuses. You can switch governments every 26 turns, which makes the system even more interesting, as it’s not something you can just change on a whim. You have to plan ahead and consider what your goals are moving forward and what government will best suit your needs. You’ll also need to manage your empire well while your government is in place, as you’ll face elections that are either in support or opposition of your government. If they support what you do, you’ll stay in power with little to fear. If they oppose your government, then your empire will fall in to disarray and you’ll eventually have to pick up the pieces. They’re interesting enough to keep you looking for them on the tech tree and sometimes you’ll focus your efforts towards adopting a form of government as you transition towards another goal. I enjoy the mechanic and find myself referring back to them to see what I might want to adopt next. Galactic Bazaar (Intrigue): There’s not much to say about this, as it’s pretty standard in 4X games now, but the ability to buy and sell strategic resources is very helpful in light of how important they’ve become, post Crusade. It’s also a nice little revenue generator for when you have excess of any particular resource and want to unload it for some extra cash. Not revolutionary, but still nice to have. Artifacts (Retribution): Artifacts are randomly found on planets and unlock active abilities that can dramatically enhance your capabilities. One immediately finishes your current research, while another might transform a previously-dead planet to something habitable. There are many, many different types of these and each of them do something pretty unique. The best part of these are that some of them are powerful enough that they’ll create incentive to wage war against other factions in possession of artifacts that you want. I love anything that creates tension like that and artifacts definitely do that. Tech Tree Changes/Pacing (Retribution): I’ll be surprised if these changes don’t end up making their way to the base game, as they’re significant and game-changing. Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock and clearly a very talented game designer and programmer, gutted the tech tree and reorganized it in a way that makes more sense and that allows the game to flow much better. There’s so much change that it’d be hard to pinpoint any particular change as the main reason that it all feels so much better, but as someone who has put a massive amount of hours in to GC3 pre- and post-Retribution, it’s easiest to just say that whatever the exact changes and rebalances were, they’ve made GC3 a better game. A lot of it was just consolidating different techs and pairing them up better, but it’s a great example of how seemingly small changes to established systems can make a game feel much better paced. WHAT I DONT LIKE : Ship Combat: I’ve come to the conclusion that developers don’t quite understand what 4X enthusiasts want from combat. I’m someone who could be convinced that non-tactical combat would be ideal for some games, but at the end of the day, I truly believe that tactical combat – be it real-time or (preferably for me) turn-based – is what most 4X gamers want. I have fond memories of certain battles in the original two Master of Orion games that came down to the wire. If it weren’t for my mildly intelligent decision making (I’m likely just imagining this), the battle may have gone another way. Mostly, though, it’s just fun to tactically maneuver ships that you’ve likely had a hand in designing. The Drengin are a bit more capable of waging war, the Krynn are a bit more capable of spreading influence, the Iridium are a bit more capable of creating cash flow, etc. etc. etc. In contrast to games like Endless Space 2 or Endless Legend, Sword of the Stars or Ascendancy, GC3’s faction feel pretty bland. In addition, I’m not a huge fan of their art direction for the most part, either. The recently reintroduced Drath look amazing, however: I understand that this is just a matter of personal opinion and I’m sure that others may disagree, but when compared to the likes of the aforementioned games, it’s hard to get too excited about the GC series factions. Diplomacy: Aside from my strange qualm with my inability to reject an offer, (it only allows me to go “Back”): Hypergates: Okay, this may seem a bit petty, but hypergates are both ugly and not nearly as effective as you’d think. They are upgradeable, but their initial speed increase is 100%, which doesn’t feel terribly helpful, and if there’s anything in the way of the hypergate line, like an unseen planet body or nebulas, the ship will auto-path around those things and limits the hypergate’s effectiveness. Also, the ship pathing isn’t nearly as good as it should be. Period. Finally, and here’s where I’m gonna sound especially petty, but the end game, with possibly dozens of these things built up around the galaxy, looks pretty ugly in my opinion. Hypergates are represented by a shiny white line from point to point, so there will be a bunch of shiny white lines all over the map. It’s not aesthetically pleasing: ULTIMATELY: Initially, Galactic Civilizations 3 was one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had in the 4X realm. The base game was uninspired, a bit empty, and all together too familiar. However, the Crusade expansion pack dramatically changed the game for the better and Stardock has mostly continued to make it better and better since then. A few missteps, mainly Commonwealths and Hypergates, in my humble opinion, can be overlooked, as the overall package that is now Galactic Civilizations 3 is a pretty damn good game. I wish that they’d chosen a different combat system and I really wish that they’d revisit their faction design, but those can both be addressed for the fourth iteration. Hopefully they’ll take cues from the likes of Stars in Shadow for combat and Endless Space 2 for faction design. Those items and mechanics that I didn’t touch on above are mostly just aspects of the game that don’t necessarily hurt or help the game. However, as a whole, GC3 is a game that I’ve come to recommend much more than I ever expected to. It’s a relatively safe game, but it’s still a pretty great game and I applaud Stardock for sticking with it long enough to make it a game worthy of the Galactic Civilizations legacy. If you’re a fan of space 4X and haven’t yet given it a proper chance, now’s the time to do so. Galactic Civilizations 3 has become its own, unique game and one that I’ve happily sunk over 200 hours in to and will likely continue to fire it up from time to time when I want a 4X focused on resource exploitation, colony management, well-above-average AI and fast turn times, among other things.

Nanotale - Typing Chronicles Specifications: Genre: Adventure, RPG, Early Access Developer: Fishing Cactus Publisher: Fishing Cactus, Plug In Digital Franchise: Typing Chronicles Release Date (Early Access): 23 October 2019 Platform: PC Windows Nanotale - Typing Chronicles Teaser Trailer Nanotale - Typing Chronicles Review: The game offers role playing elements. You will control an archivist named Rosalina, who is looking for the samples of rock & plant, & she visits a valley where her adventure starts. She discovers the whole land & reveals its secrets. Nanotale - Typing Chronicles is a successor to Epistory. This planet is suffering & it is about to die. The game allows you to control an archivist who is on a mission to travel through the world to reveal its secrets. She wants to reveal the mysteries of this world & find out the truth. The game shows all the action from isometric perspective. During exploration you can also solve puzzles, talk to the locals, & take part in magical duels. The game offers different controls & you can play this game by just using the keyboard. You can type words that are shown on the screen, to lead out attacks & interact with the planet of this game. Nanotale - Typing Chronicles Story: You are in a fantasy planet which is on the brink of extinction. You need to travel to find out the secrets of this planet. Your mission is to gather samples of rock & plant for your experiments. Nanotale - Typing Chronicles Gameplay: This game lets you beat the monsters only by typing & it is set in a colorful planet. During your adventure you will face monsters & you can beat them just by typing the word that appears on the monster & if you succeed then you will cast a magic spell to damage the opponent. Discover a 3D fantasy planet by controlling an archivist on her adventure to the boundaries of this world. There is more stuff that just typing, you can interact with the locals, crack riddles, unleash powers of magic, & beat opponents in magical battles. Everything can be performed by using just a keyboard. The game allows you to control the movement of the heroine & you can also control how she battles against opponents using just a keyboard. This game will improve your typing skills & you need to type as quickly as possible & you must choose which word you type first as there will be multiple opponents & it is up to you to decide which opponent you want to attack first. Hurry up as you won’t have much time because the opponent can attack you if you failed in typing quickly. Nanotale - Typing Chronicles Gameplay Teaser: Nanotale - Typing Chronicles Early Access Trailer:

Just last week I was talking about the lack of mystery games on the App Store. And now, thanks to the release of Apple Arcade, we’re starting to see more of these types of games. Murder mysteries filled with puzzles, a good story, and a bunch of lies. This is the case of Tangle Tower, a mystery game where the main murder suspect is a painting. Interesting, right? Well, get ready as we help Detective Grimoire and Sally with the mystery of Freya Fellow’s murder. Tangle Tower is a puzzle and mystery game developed by SFB Games. You play Detective Grimoire and Sally, a couple of private detectives who got called to investigate the murder of the young Freya Fellow. The good news is there’s a leading suspect, the bad news is that suspect is a painting. A painting that Freya herself was painting has the murder weapon, a knife, and it’s covered in her blood. Right from the start, the story is intriguing. A mystery where a piece of art created by the victim is the murder suspect, and it has the murder weapon. You know something is off, and you know every character is going to lie about it. Instead of actually controlling Grimoire and Sally, you’ll interact with their surroundings. You’ll need to pay attention and look for details to gather information and clues around every room in the tower. You can tap or click on almost anything and it will give you a clue or a fun, snarky comment. You can then use those clues to ask the suspects about what they were doing when the murder happened. You need to be careful because they’re going to lie to you. That’s why is important to investigate each room completely. Missing a clue might leave you clueless (pun intended) as to what really happened that day. Don’t worry, though, the game will help you along the way. If you get stuck solving a puzzle or trying to form a statement, the game will give you clues and tips to follow. However, puzzles are still really hard, and even if you have a hint, you’ll still need to figure it all out for yourself. Tangle Tower’s gameplay is pretty straightforward. You touch everything until you think you’re done with a room. Then you go into the map to move to other rooms. As mentioned before, you’re not controlling any of the characters directly. While this may seem as boring at first, SFB Games did a great job of not letting the game’s mechanics get old by using different ways to interact with the player. You’ll have to solve puzzles, open boxes, and chests, create statements based on what you know and interrogate the suspects. There’s a lot to do in this game, even if you’re just tapping around on you’re screen.

Simulation games are conceptually an interesting thing to me. They often tackle the most mundane or realistic topics, trying to find fun in things that are usually considered work. Of course, they do this by knowing where to bend reality in order to make things more enjoyable. Extremely complex, chaotic elements are simplified into something slightly less complex and more predictable. Everything becomes tables of numbers and how they interact with each other, more often than not. Any why not? It’s fun, challenging, and satisfying to mentally disassemble these contraptions and become their master. And yet, the human condition is often covered by little more than a random number generator, severely underestimating just how much the whims of one person can swing the most carefully-laid plans. King of Dragon Pass ($9.99) is one of the few simulation games I’ve played that not only carefully considers that ever-present aspect of reality but embraces it, and its long-awaited follow-up, Six Ages ($9.99), doubles down on it. Like its predecessor, Six Ages is a simulation game set in Glorantha, a fantasy world created more than 40 years ago by Greg Stafford. Glorantha is famous and well-regarded for its careful attention to mythology and folklore. It’s as wondrous and detailed as any fantasy setting could be, but it does enough things its own way to make it feel distinct from the familiar tropes of the genre. Such a setting would be wasted if it were merely the window dressing of a typical 4X simulation game, but there’s little typical about King of Dragon Pass and Six Ages. These games seek to marry the numbers-focused gameplay of something like Civilization with a rich, unpredictable narrative full of choices, consequences, and random events. You’ll naturally need to manage resources, build defenses, negotiate with neighbors, and kill your enemies, but you’ll also need to deal with giant beaver attacks, discord within your own tribe, and visitors of questionable intentions. When these events occur, you’ll have to make a choice. You have a group of advisors who will weigh in if you ask them, but they almost never agree. Making this more complicated is that while you may be looking for the best choice, sometimes there isn’t one. Sometimes, they’re all good. Sometimes, they’re all bad. Sometimes, they’re just different. There could be immediate repercussions or far-reaching consequences you can’t even conceive of at the time you make your decision. Probably both. Whatever happens, it’s these unpredictable events that really separate Six Ages and its predecessor from their peers. The sheer number of possible events the game includes means that you can look forward to numerous playthroughs of Six Ages with very little repetition. Each event is accompanied by some lovely full-color artwork, and the writing manages to be both informative and entertaining. The simulation side of things is no slouch, either. There are lots of things you need to take care of in order to keep your people safe and prosperous. There has to be enough food, enough space, houses for everyone, a decent standing army for offensives, fortifications for when you get attacked, and the occasional literal sacrifice in order to curry the favor of one of the many gods or goddesses. You have to handle relations with other tribes, be they friend, foe, or mere trading partner. Should you bring a gift? How big should it be? It’s up to you, but do keep in mind that you don’t win friends with salad. You’ll have to embark on quests to re-enact legends, striving to be as accurate as possible. That means you yourself will have to dig into the game’s lore to familiarize yourself with those legends. And if anything fails you in all of these tasks, you can always try a little magic to see if it gets you by. So yes, it’s a bit of an odd mash-up we have here. Certainly, if you’ve played King of Dragon Pass, nothing here will sound all that unfamiliar. And it’s not. There are changes here, streamlined things there, and you can tell this was designed for mobile first in a way the previous game wasn’t, but all of the broad strokes and quite a few of the finer ones are the same. It’s basically a new scenario, literally hundreds of new events, and a few small refinements. If you loved the first game, you’re going to love this one, too. If you bounced off the first game, you probably won’t fare any better with Six Ages. That said, I do feel like the tutorial is a little better at explaining the mechanics in this game, so you’re not thrown totally in the deep end if you don’t know what you’re doing. The truth is that Six Ages, like King of Dragon Pass before it, is a niche game that a lot of people are not going to be able to get a handle on. But if you do, you’ll likely play it for years. I know people who have been playing the first game for the better part of two decades, and they’ve only just put it down because this follow-up finally arrived. I’m not quite as obsessed with either game, but I regularly came back around to the first game to do another playthrough after my initial love affair with it, and I imagine I’ll be doing the same here. But as to whether any given person will like the game or not, I can only say that it’s a very high-quality game in both of the genres it plants its feet in. You can’t hate either of those genres, though, or it’s just not going to be something you can get into. The turn-based strategy simulation part of the game and the choice-based narrative part walk hand-in-hand, and you’re not going to be able to separate them if you don’t care for one of the pair. If you’re okay with both of those genres, however, you’re very likely to fall in love with Six Ages. It’s probably no surprise to anyone who played the preceding game, but Six Ages is absolutely incredible. You never know what’s going to happen next, but you have enough control to steer around anything if you’re clever enough. It pokes at so many parts of your brain that it’s simultaneously demanding and relaxing. About the worst thing I could say about Six Ages is that it’s content to stay pretty near to what was established in King of Dragon Pass. I don’t know that anyone would have been looking for some dramatic upheaval, but if you were, I guess you’re going home with hat in hand.

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Whoever said you can’t go back is full of shit. Not only can you go back, you can make things even better than they were before. Okay, so maybe that’s not always the case, but when it comes to video games it actually is. Demon Pit lives and dies by that mantra. At first glance you might even think that you’re looking at a game from the mid 90s when you start playing the arena shooter in the vein of all your favorite shooters from a bygone era. However, you’re actually playing a game in 2019 that can stand side by side with any of the games that came before it. Demon Pit takes ideas from the past and present and blends them together to make your nostalgia and your current love for video games both come alive at once. Gameplay will be familiar to anyone that played any of the original first-person shooters on PC and Nintendo 64 long ago. For those that haven’t, you’ll soon catch on. What really makes Demon Pit different is the modern ideas that are brought to life here. Demon Pit is basically just a horde mode. Made po[CENSORED]r when Nazi Zombies first appeared, it’s almost hard to find a modern FPS that doesn’t have some sort of mode dedicated to waves and waves of enemies coming at you. With each wave that you face the arena also changes to make things even more difficult. Here you’ll be equipped with not only your weapons, but a grappling hook that will help you zip out of harm’s way whenever the horde is coming down on you. Around the outside of the arena are ledges that you can use your grappling hook to reach. This not only gives you a second to breath, but will sometimes give you a little bit of health to get you back in the fight. You can’t rest long though, because some enemies can fly. At other times, when the wave changes, the ledge will disappear and you’ll fall to whatever lies beneath you. Like any horde mode you’ll start with a pistol and continue to get bigger and better weapons from wave to wave. Ammo is limited on most of the weapons but, if you run out of the good stuff, you can always go back to your trusty pistol which has an infinite supply of bullets. Enemies look like something straight out of Doom and Serious Sam. The deeper and deeper you get into the pit the more ridiculous they become.

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