Inestimate's Reviews

     Console: Switch Developer:  Acquire Release Date: November 7 2024 Mario & Luigi: Brothership  is a turn-based RPG with a focus on timing, pattern recognition, and some light puzzle-solving and platforming. The latest entry in the Mario & Luigi  series and the first game in the series to not be made by Alphadream (though many former devs are now at Acquire), Brothership  is also the first entry in the series to be a console game, as all the other games were on handheld systems. Brothership  is the third RPG in the Mario franchise to be released within a year, with the remake of  Super Mario RPG  releasing in November 2023 and the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door  remake releasing earlier this year. 

    Console: PC , Switch, PS4 Developer:  Deepnight Games Release Date: October 18th 2021 Nuclear Blaze  is a sidescrolling firefighting game with a focus on water management, quick thinking, and risk assessment. Developed by a single developer, the leading designer behind Motion Twin's Dead Cells , Nuclear Blaze  started as a Ludum Dare game jam project. Created in 48 hours, this version is included with the game, at least on Steam.  While this is the fully realized concept of Nuclear Blaze , this is still a short and sweet experience in the 3-4 hour range on a casual playthrough.

  Console: Switch Developer: Grezzo Release Date:  September 20th 2019 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening  is a top-down action-adventure game that centers around exploration, puzzle-solving, and combat. A remake of the Game Boy original of the same name, Link's Awakening  is a pretty faithful remake, adding quality of life updates but keeping the essence of the original essentially intact. I wasn't too familiar with Link's Awakening ; I am far more familiar with the two Game Boy games of the same vein that came nearly ten years later:  Oracle of Ages  and Oracle of Seasons . In fact, I had never even come close to finishing Link's Awakening , so this was a rare occasion for me to play a Zelda game I had ostensibly never played.

Console: Switch Developer: Nintendo EPD Release Date: May 12th 2023 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom  is an open world action-adventure game with survival and RPG elements that centers around player freedom, creative puzzle-solving, and exploration. The sequel to the universally acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , Tears of the Kingdom  does something heretofore unseen in the Zelda franchise: it is a direct sequel that uses the first game as a base, including its map, mechanics, and narrative. My biggest concern was that it'd just feel like more Breath of the Wild  and not feel different enough, and my fears were abated as the game's marketing carried on. 

  Console: Switch, PC Developer: Simogo Release Date: May 16th 2024 Lorelei and the Laser Eyes  is a puzzle game with strong point-and-click and text adventure leanings that focuses on logic puzzles, a twisted narrative, and art. Developed by stand-out mobile game developer Simogo, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes  is their first console/PC exclusive. Simogo are most known in the console and PC space for Sayonara Wild Hearts , but it feels like Lorelei and the Laser Eyes  is poised to be their first big hit, relatively speaking. It's worth noting that, all things considered, Simogo are essentially a two developer team, and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes  was created in 4 years, according to the credits. It's hard to go in detail in this review, as a lot of the game's intricacies lie in its narrative, which I don't want to spoil, and I obviously can't detail all the puzzles.

Console: Switch Developer: Intelligent Systems Release Date: May 23rd 2024 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door  is a turn-based RPG with a focus on zany scenarios, gameplay customization, and strategy. A remake of the 2004 Gamecube game of the same name, Thousand-Year Door  still stands as perhaps the perfect game to play as your first turn-based RPG, with charm aplenty to keep players of any skill level entertained throughout its entire playtime. 

  Console: PC , PS4, Switch Developer: Migami Games Release Date: February 28th 2020 Wallachia: Reign of Dracula is a run and gun game that is very much a tribute to late 80's to mid 90's arcade games of its genre. Simply put, Wallachia  looks like a Castlevania game, but plays like a Contra game. Developed by Migami Games, a stalwart freeware game developer based in France since the late 90's, Wallachia  appears to be their first game to be released at a price. They are perhaps best known for the Haunted Castle  series and the Castlevania: The Lecarde Chronicle  fangames. To be completely honest, I bought Wallachia  because it looked like an old Castlevania  game, and I was surprised to find that it actually was a run and gun game. Or, more accurately, a run and arrow game.

Console: PC , Switch, XB1, PS4, PS5, PSVR2, Quest 2, Quest 3 Developer:  Origame Digital Release Date: May 19th 2020 (Macro DLC released November 7th 2020) Umurangi Generation  is a first-person photography game all about artistic expression, exploration, and masterful environmental storytelling. Developed by solo Māori developer Tali Faulkner in 10 months, Umurangi Generation  is visually reminiscent of the PSX-era of games: low-poly, low-res, and blocky with mostly flat textures, but with tons of visual charm anyway. However, it very much plays like a modern FPS game, and the tutorial even says so. Just replace the guns with camera lenses.

Console:  Switch, XSX, XB1, PS4, PS5,  PC Developer: Pixadome Release Date:  September 1st 2022 Chenso Club is a roguelite platform brawler with cute pixel art, charming characters, and a focus on difficulty. The second release by the now-dormant Pixadome, Chenso Club  makes a good first impression, but struggles to keep the momentum going and ends up stifled by its own design choices.

Console: Switch, XSX, XB1, PS4, PS5,  PC Developer: Froach Club Release Date: April 6th 2023 Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories  is a narrative adventure game made in RPG Maker with a distinct art style reminiscent of a classic Game Boy game, complete with a green monochrome look. This is, as far as I can tell, the first "big" game released by Froach Club, with the rest of their catalog being on itch.io. 

  Console: 3DS Developer: Intelligent Systems Release Date: December 8th 2011 Pushmo , known perhaps more fittingly as Pullblox  in PAL regions, is a puzzle game with platforming elements centered around solving puzzle box-like stages by pulling and pushing blocks. It's an eShop exclusive for the Nintendo 3DS, and the first of a quadrilogy. The  Pushmo  series is one of Nintendo's lesser-known first party franchises, as the entire series was comprised of eShop exclusives.  It seemingly was designed to be a bang-for-your-buck type of game, as despite being simple and straightforward, Pushmo  boasts 252 stages and even comes with a robust level creator.

Console: PC , PS4/PS5, XB1/XSX, Switch Developer: Geometric Interactive Release Date: September 29th 2023 Cocoon  is a puzzle game centered around navigating worlds inside worlds. It's the first game by Danish indie studio Geometric Interactive, formed by Playdead ( Limbo , Inside ) alumni Jeppe Carlsen and Jakob Schmid alongside a few others. Cocoon  was nominated for Best Independent Game at The Game Awards 2023 and won Best Debut Indie Game at the same event.

Console: Nintendo 64 Developer: Nintendo EAD Release Date: November 23rd 1998 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a third-person action-adventure game with a focus on an open world, puzzles and simple combat. Ocarina of Time needs no introduction: it's widely considered one of the greatest games ever made, is very likely one of the most influential games ever made, and... it's a game I'd never played start to finish before this year. I'd always stop somewhere around the third dungeon of the game.

Console: PS3, XBox 360,  PC Developer: Dontnod Entertainment Release Date: June 3rd 2013 Remember Me  is an action RPG game with a focus on combos, parkour, and a dystopian cyberpunk narrative revolving around the concept of memories becoming a commodity. It is the first game developed by Dontnod Entertainment (now the more pleasantly written Don't Nod Entertainment), best known nowadays for the Life is Strange games and other games like Vampyr  and Jusant.  Surprisingly, Remember Me  was published by Capcom.

  Console: Switch Developer: Game Freak Release Date:  November 18, 2022 (DLC released  September 13, 2023,  December 14, 2023 and January 11, 2024) Pokémon Violet  (and its sister game, Pokémon Scarlet ) is an open world, turn-based RPG focused around capturing and training creatures, and the beginning of the 9th Generation of Pokémon games. While its predecessors, Pokémon Shield  and Pokémon Sword  were a hybrid of open world and more traditional Pokémon gameplay, Pokémon Violet  and Pokémon Scarlet  are the first true open world games in the series.

  Console: 3DS (eShop Exclusive) Developer: HAL Laboratory Release Date: June 30th 2016 BoxBoxBoy! is the sequel to BoxBoy! which released a year earlier, though I'd argue it feels more like a massive level pack than a sequel. As a result, I'll be talking about both games, since they're so similar.