West Hunt Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 🤠 @SnailGamesUSA #IndieGame #GameDev

There are plenty of online games out there for you to have fun -both solo or with multiple people -and I think with some many porting to handheld devices, you might get a bit flustered about which ones to choose from. Hopefully, after you see this review of West Hunt on the Nintendo Switch, you might have a clearer mind in terms of what you may choose.

Welcome to ParadiZe Xbox Series X Review 6/10 "More PontinZ than ParadiZe" 🐘 #IndieGame #GameDev #PvE #Zombies

Welcome to Paradize promised a lot of zany zombie shenanigans through its trailer, but unfortunately the released game feels a watered down version of what could have been, and as the core gameplay loop is so well-worn, there’s not enough to really suck players in and chew the meat from the bones of their expectations.

I first caught wind of Welcome to Paradize a couple of months ago, and having been on a bit of an isometric / action run recently I was quite keen to start smashing and blasting some zombie heads, whilst the survival and crafting elements seemed accessible enough to have fun with, without getting bogged down in menus etc.

Bio, Inc Review By Dr Congo Fighting "It’s Kill or Cure" 🦠 @DryGinStudios #IndieGame #GameDev

Let’s just address the elephant in the room. About a decade ago, a game called Plague, Inc came out. It was published by Ndemic Creations, and it was a smash hit. In it, you played the part of a disease, with your aim being to wipe out humanity by evolving various symptoms, and trying to beat to the punch a global effort to create a cure. 

Bio, Inc is not that game, and nor is it a sequel. Neither is it made by Ndemic Creations, instead coming out of software house DryGin Studios. However, it is (to me, at least) a spiritual successor to Plague, Inc and shares a lot of its mechanics (and both have shared origins as mobile games), but with a few significant differences. It’s hard not to make comparisons between the two games, but I’ll do my best. Because I love you. Anyway, elephant done. 

Devil Inside Us: Roots of Evil Review 6/10 👿 ✝️ @MrSkullGameStu @FernandoTittz @ElderDefensor #IndieGame #GameDev

Devil Inside Us: Roots of Evil is based around a 74-year-old priest trying to save a family in a cursed home, the curse is initially making the fathers of the family murder their children, a sinister story indeed.

To stop this, he uses his abilities as a medium to exercise the evil that lives inside, but after 30 years he is drawn back to the original house to find that the same curse still lives…

Rising Lords Review 6/10 "Medieval Mediocrity" ⚔️🛡️ #IndieGame #GameDev @argonwood

Life in medieval times was tough. The local lord or royal type wouldn’t think twice about forcing peasants to work for 28 hours a day in the fields, before sticking a spear in their hand and making them go and stab a peasant from a neighbouring village. All in the name of expanding the fiefdom and extending the empire of their glorious leader.

And Rising Lords lets you be that ‘benevolent’ ruler. This game has been loitering on PC for a few years, going through lengthy development stages before launching on consoles in its current form. A form honed and perfected to be a sleek mix of Risk-style battles and Civilisation-esque resource management, right? Right?

Wrong. Sadly. 

Best Month Ever Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 "Looking for a unique game that stands out from the rest?" 🤰 @Klabater #IndieGame #GameDev

Looking for a unique game that stands out from the rest? If so, The Best Month Ever! might just be what you're looking for. This game will take you on a journey back to the 1960s USA, providing an experience unlike any other. 

You will follow the character of Louise as she experiences the joys and challenges of motherhood while also discovering her true identity as a person. The Best Month Ever! is a click-and-choice adventure game developed by Warsaw Film School Video Game & Film Production Studio.

Arizona Sunshine 2 Meta Quest 2 Review 6/10 🐕 @pixelhunted #IndieGame #GameDev #VRGames

The VR dream isn’t dead, but it’s starting to look a bit wonky. The Metaverse is a joke, PSVR2 is dying on the vine and, almost four years after the release of Half-Life: Alyx, there hasn’t been a title that comes close to its production values and ingenuity.

Enter Arizona Sunshine 2. The first game released in 2016 across multiple VR platforms and, while an utterly boilerplate zombie shooter, at least delivered on its promise of letting you mow down hordes of the undead with a variety of high-powered weaponry. 

We’re now eight years on and the sequel has finally arrived. So, what’s changed?

The Kindeman Remedy PC 6/10 “Shock and awe, or shock and bore?” 💉 @_Troglobytes_ #IndieGame #GameDev

“The most blasphemous, diabolical and insane management game ever created!” – a quote taken directly from the trailer of The Kindeman Remedy, and the main reason I wanted to play this game, now granted I’m not sure how blasphemous or diabolical other management games are, so I was just going to have to take their word for it. That said, it’s an interesting hook, and I was dying to see just how insane this game was.

Dreamworks All-Star Racing Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 "As someone who grew up playing Mario Kart, I was excited to try this game" 🐼 @BamtangGames #IndieGame #GameDev

I recently had the chance to play Dreamworks All-Star Racing, a new racing game that has hit the shelves. As someone who grew up playing Mario Kart, I was excited to try this game. I was also thrilled to be able to race as some of my favourite DreamWorks characters, such as Shrek and Hiccup.

Dreamworks All-Star Racing is a sequel to the 2011 title DreamWorks Super Star Kartz, and
features many of the same characters along with some new ones from the Trolls franchise.

The gameplay involves collecting keynotes that give you bonus items to use against other players, as well as collecting items from boxes. There are also various challenges you can complete to upgrade your vehicle and unlock new characters. One of my favourite features are the secret paths on each map that lead to a rainbow road, where you can come across high notes and other collectables.

Those Games (or, YEAH! YOU WANT “THOSE GAMES,” RIGHT? SO HERE YOU GO! NOW, LET’S SEE YOU CLEAR THEM!) Review 6/10 "A great send-up of fake game ads that lacks the key fun factor" 🤳 @D3_PUBLISHER #IndieGames #GameDev

Designed as a series of actually accurate versions of games glimpsed in fake mobile gaming adverts in the days of yore, Those Games does a good job of representing the games that people who click on those ads assumed that they would play, but it’s a premise that – to me at least – is more fun in concept than in action.

Classic Racers Elite Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 "A Very Simple Racing Game To Drop in and Play" 🏎️🚗 @_VisionReelle_ #IndieGames #GameDev

I have always enjoyed racing games – whether it’s circuit, street, or rally racing – I am there! Classic Racers Elite is a time-trial-centric racing game, and that's pretty much it! featuring 12 championships and various takes on iconic cars from the 1960s, it could have been a keeper, however, it doesn't quite get there.

Layers of Fear Xbox Series X Review 6/10 “Constant corridors and predictable scares” 😱 @Layers_Of_Fears #IndieGames #GameDev

Layers of Fear is an enhanced remake of - you guessed it - Layers of Fear, but it’s not just an enhanced remake of the first game, it also includes a remade version of the sequel as well as ‘The Inheritance’ DLC, and two new additional stories – ‘The Writer’, and ‘Final Note’.

I have never played any of the original series, although I have heard of them, and had an idea of what they were about - but I never went ahead and gave them a go, so with this release, it seemed a perfect chance to jump in and experience them in all their new Unreal Engine 5 glory.

AEW: Fight Forever Xbox Series X Review 6/10 “Great in-ring action, but certain areas need more depth” 🤼‍♂️ #AEW

AEW Fight Forever is the new wrestling offering from developer Yukes, upon its first announcement it was made clear that this game was going down a different path, it would not concern itself with the more simulation style of gameplay, instead opting for a more arcade-orientated approach. For me this was music to my ears, as  I’ve complained for years that arcade was the way to go, opting for fun over realism.

I’m happy to say that the gameplay is the game’s biggest strength; it’s fun, brutal, and packs a punch. Matches are about building momentum and damaging your opponent, you use a combination of strikes and grapples - strikes are a combination of punches and kicks, which can be chained together for maximum effect; grapples can be done in a variety of positions and take many forms, they are easy to execute and have a nice variety. There is a nice fluidity to all of the combat giving a fast pace to matches. 

Redemption Reapers Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 “A Decent SRPG, That Doesn’t Want To Take Too Many Chances” ⚔️ #IndieGames #GameDev

Redemption Reapers opens with a very engaging cinematic, it’s very effective and does a good job setting up the narrative whilst sowing intrigue. It introduces us to our band of mercenaries, ‘The Ashen Hawk Brigade’ who have taken up the fight against The Mort - a destructive band of orc-like creatures who have swept through the land, decimating village after village.

It’s an interesting setup and I was definitely invested quickly, the problem came about three-quarters of the way through my time with Redemption Reapers, when I realised the opening had been the most impactful thing so far - and though I was enjoying my time in this world, it never managed to recapture that initial interest.

Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom VR Review 6/10 "TV Tie-Ins Are Difficult Territory" 👒 @PeakyBlindersVR #IndieGame #GameDev

For those who don’t know, the BBC TV series Peaky Blinders is an international phenomenon. Set in Birmingham just after the first World War, it focuses on the titular street gang as they… well, I don’t know, do street gang stuff, presumably.

I don’t know because I’ve never watched it. I’ve seen it, but I haven’t watched it. The main reason for this is that I am a native of those lands, and after about 10 minutes of it, the accents grated on my nerves so much that I turned it off, never to watch it again. 

Wanted: Dead Review 6/10 "This game is a mess, but that's part of its charm" 🤺 @110industries #IndieGame #GameDev

With Wanted: Dead coming from some of the team behind the Ninja Gaiden series, I was looking forward to a challenging melee combat experience with a nice cyberpunk aesthetic, as shown in the trailers. 

You get flashes of both, but it doesn't come together in the way I would have hoped.

Hogwart’s Legacy PS5 Review 6/10 "...It's fine" 🧙‍♂️

Let’s get one thing right clear right off the bat: I didn’t buy Hogwarts Legacy. I wouldn’t be seen dead giving any money to J.K. Rowling after the shit she’s come out with over the last few years and, as someone who doesn’t care in the slightest about Harry Potter, would have been a very easy game to skip. 

But, for professional reasons, I was obligated to play the game prior to release and was sent a code by WB Games in order to do so. So here’s what I thought after coming to this game with zero excitement and a powerfully icky feeling at loading it up for the first time.

….It’s fine

Panda Punch Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 "A Punching Panda Platforming Puzzler" 🐼 @whited43 @RatalaikaGames #GameDev #IndieGames

A cute platformer with simple puzzle elements, Panda Punch casts you in the role of a red panda named Zeep, who has injured his arm in an attack and then has his blacksmith father replace it with an extendable bionic fist – good.

Featuring over 50 levels of action, and a light upgrade system, Zeep must clench his metal fist, punch robots and move a serious amount of boxes in order to save the land.

⌨️ Outshine PC Review 6/10 "Outshine is one of those games that’s like patting your head while rubbing your belly" ⌨️ @PixelHunted @OutshineGame #IndieGames #GameDev

As someone who spends literally every hour of my working day with my fingers on a keyboard, I figured I’d sail through Outshine. Type words to blast enemies? 

Pfft, whatever’s in my path is going to be absolutely obliterated. 

So, Area 1, Level 1, max difficulty. Let’s go.

⚔️ The Tale Of Bistun Xbox Review 6/10 "A little less conversation, a little more action…" ⚔️ @IMGNPRO @Bart_IMGN #GameDev #IndieGames

The Tale of Bistun appeared to be an interesting prospect. It’s a heavily narrative-driven adventure, and most that we Western audiences are exposed to commonly involve a modern setting and/or some sort of zombie apocalypse. So, this was certainly something new.

I can safely say that this is the first game I have played that is based on a Persian poem, namely Khosrow and Shirin, written by Nizami Ganjavi in the 12th century. I won’t go into what the poem is about because it unfolds in front of you as you play the game.