🏨 Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel Xbox Series X Review 6/10 “A case of metathesiophobia” 🏨 @transvaalgf @PulsatrixStudio #GameDev #IndieGames

I’ve had a bit of a problem with budget horror titles in the past few months, every game I have played is just trying to be like its predecessors - mostly Resident Evil -  which is fine in small doses, but when every game is mired in the past, it just feels dull.

I’ve really wanted a game to shake up horror and be bold and try something completely new. 

Enter Fobia-St Dinfna Hotel, I had seen the trailer and had my reservations - and on playing through the game, yeah, it falls into the category of titles just described. It’s not a bad game - though for me and a few others it does have one major problem which I will go into later - it just feels like we’ve been here before and not just bought the T-shirt but also the mug, commemorative plates, and snow globe.

🤖 Biomotor Unitron Nintendo Switch (originally Neo Geo Pocket Color) Review 6/10 "Climbs into the arena for one more round" 🤖 #RetroGaming #NeoGeo

Originally released in 1999 for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, Biomotor Unitron was an early RPG for the system. As I’d never heard of it before, my first impression was one of perhaps a mecha/Pokémon hybrid due to the style used in some screenshots, however, Biomotor Unitron is far more focused on upgrades and random dungeons as opposed to narrative and exploration, which makes the game, unfortunately, feel repetitive – and shallow, despite the number of menu-driven upgrades and items.

😱 Source of Madness Xbox Series X Review 6/10 "A 'Nearly' Game" 😱 @CarryCastle #IndieGames #GameDev

It's happened again. 

Anything with 'Lovecraft' in the description is summarily thrown my way by the GamesFreezer gods, so this landed in my inbox before I'd even heard of it. 

Source of Madness is a roguelike action platformer, wherein the best traditions of the genre, each run is designed to teach you more about the game before your next attempt. 

The Lovecraft connection comes in through atmosphere, tentacled monsters and the odd reference to Cthulhu or Azathoth here and there.

🃏🔥 Deck of Ashes Xbox Review 6/10 "Spire Slayer?" 🔥🃏 @AygamesO #GameDev #IndieGame

After the more cartoony and simple presentation of Slay the Spire (the most famous and probably well-regarded of card battle games), the distinctive aesthetic of Deck of Ashes immediately drew me in. 

Hand-drawn, Lovecraftian creatures abound. Ghoulish witches and genuinely unsettling undead creatures litter the battlefield, and I am all in favour of it. 

On top of this, the battles themselves are brought to life by creepy animations (the jester character sprouts monstrous claws from his back when he attacks) and a suitably gothic soundtrack.

🥚Egglia : Rebirth | Nintendo Switch Review | 6/10 | "You Gotta Break Some eggs To Make An Omelette" 🥚 #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

I picked up Egglia Rebirth and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. It's actually a redesigned mobile game that has had the trappings of mobile microtransactions removed and has been remade/remastered/rebirthed over onto the trusty Nintendo Switch where every single game that ever existed must now reside. 

So does Egglia's move from mobile to Switch land sunny side up or are we left with egg on our faces?

🏎️🌪️ Moto Roader MC | PS4 | Review | 6/10 | "Burnin' Retro Rubber!" 🏎️🌪️ @RatalaikaGames #Retrogaming #IndieGameDev

Moto Roader was originally released in 1989 as a futuristic racing game developed by NCS for the PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-16.

Since then it has been ported over to the Wii and Wii U Virtual Consoles. Now in the year of video games 2022, we have a port that is hitting Xbox, Switch, PS4 and PS5.

🏌️‍♀️⛳️ Smoots Golf | Xbox Series X | Review | 6/10 | "Not Quite Up To Par" 🏌️‍♀️⛳️@JanduSoft #IndieGames #GameDev

The last title I reviewed from Jandusoft was Cards of the Dead, a clever and simple zombie survival deck game that was released just before Halloween and provided a few hours of tense, pixelated fun.

When I saw that Jandusoft were releasing Smoots Golf, I leapt at the chance to cover it without even looking at the trailer, as I’d had such a good time with Cards of the Dead – and I love to golf!

🦝 Backbone | XBOX SERIES X | Review | 6/10 | "One small step for noir, one giant misstep from Backbone" 🦝 @backbonegame #IndieGames #IndieGame

The word noir conjures up so much joy for me, I absolutely adore it - if I see the word in a description of any piece of media, it's almost guaranteed I will consume it.

In theory, Backbone was so far up my street, I could have bought a three-bed terrace house there and lived a very happy life… or so I thought.

🚴‍♂️💥🚗 Crash: Autodrive | Nintendo Switch | Review | 6/10 | "Who’s gonna drive you home?" 🚴‍♂️💥🚗 @StudioNightcap #GameDev #IndieGames

A lightly futuristic visual novel with some adventure elements, Crash: Autodrive puts you in the verbose shoes of Emily, a young woman who – sharing an auto-driving cab with three other passengers – hits and kills a cyclist, a cyclist that everyone personally knows – and all involved have motives for murder.

😱 🎼 Song of Horror | PS4 | Review | 6/10 | "Slightly Off-Key" 🎼😱 @RaiserGames #IndieGames #GameDev

Song of Horror is my third review on the trot that is set in the horror genre. I recently reviewed Outbreak: Endless Nightmare and Resident Evil: Village, one is front-running for my game of the year, the other is in my ‘Top 3 Worst Games That I've Ever Played’ list, so Song of Horror has a lot or little to live up to.

Would it join the good or the bad… or would it be like the famous spaghetti western, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly?

🐖 The Magnificent Trufflepigs | PC | Review | 6/10 | "The Pinnacle of Games About Trundling Through English Countryside" 🐖 @ThunkdGames #IndieGames #GameDev

Some developers have made a career of mastering a single genre: Jeff Minter and psychedelic shooters, Hideo Kojima and stealth action, Warren Spector and the immersive sim. Now you can add Andrew Crenshaw to that list, as The Magnificent Trufflepigs proves he’s at the very pinnacle of games about trundling very slowly through the English countryside.

⚔️ Golden Force | Review | Nintendo Switch | 6/10 | "Golden Force is Very Much of the Wonder Boy ilk" ⚔️ @NoGravity_Games #IndieGames #GameDev

In redrafting this review I've noticed I keep calling the game Golden Axe. 

It is not Golden Axe, which is one of my favourite beat 'em ups, with a cracking soundtrack and extremely unfair later levels (ah, the 80s). 

It is reminiscent of another classic series though, and that is Wonder Boy.

👑🏰 Castle Kong | Nintendo Switch | Review | 6/10 | "For Die Hard Donkey Kong fans Who Want to Really Challenge Their High Score Prowess / Patience" 👑🏰 @DrowningMonkeys #IndieGames #GameDev

Castle Kong is a homage to the legendary Donkey Kong and comes from the Drowning Monkeys devs.

The initial big draw for this game was the high score comp that was run alongside its release which was a great way to get people hyped for the game coming out.

In the cold light of day though now the competition has concluded what is the game actually like to play. Well if you like Donkey Kong then you’ll like this.

⚔️🐲 Morbid: Seven Acolytes | Review | Nintendo Switch | "A Lovecraftian Hack n' Slasher ARPG That is Really Punishing" ⚔️🐲 @MorbidTheGame #IndieGames #GameDev

A Lovecraftian hack n' slasher ARPG that is really punishing at first? 

That, reader, is the sound of my boxes being ticked.

Morbid: Seven Acolytes packs a ton of lore and gore into a very nice-looking package. The pixel-art graphics are really lovely and detailed, letting you see the frankly disgusting range of enemies and characters that populate the world of Mornia.

🚗💨 Absolute Drift: Zen Edition | Review | Nintendo Switch | Britt's Brief Bulletin | 6/10 - Melting | "Absolute Drift: Zen Edition makes a solid first impression" 🚗💨 @funselektor @AbsoluteDrift #IndieGames #GameDev

Absolute Drift: Zen Edition – 6/10

Nintendo Switch

A top-down drift racer with simple presentation and smooth visual style, Absolute Drift: Zen Edition makes a solid first impression.

🐷🐴 Animal Farm | Review | PC | "Your worst-case scenario is mass death" 🐷🐴 @AnimalFarmGame @PixelHunted #IndieGames #GameDev

At first glance, George Orwell’s classic 1945 allegorical novel Animal Farm doesn’t seem like a great candidate for a video game. 

The tale of rebellious animals seizing control of their farm, banishing humans and attempting to carve out a new society is an excellent satire but contains few action sequences, no hordes of monsters to blast your way through and, as far as I can remember from studying it in school, not a single high-octane car chase.

That’s where developer Nerial comes in. 

🏎️💨 Britts Brief Bulletin | Nintendo Switch | Review | Ramp Car Jumping | 6/10 | "Does what it says on the tin" 🏎️💨 @BoomBitGames #GameDev #IndieGames

I must admit that the title alone of this one gave me doubts about its level of quality. It sounds like how a caveman would describe a game at its most fundamental level. 

A mobile port (which supports touch-screen controls); I must admit that I actually enjoyed the game far more than I thought I would… up to a point.

👾🛸 Space Invaders Forever | Ten Minute Taster | Nintendo Switch | "Time To Blast Those Invaders Forever" 👾🛸 #SpaceInvaders

 

Space Invaders Forever is out on the Nintendo Switch and I have been taking a look at it for Games Freezer. 

When I first saw this I thought here we go, another attempt to cash in on one of legendary video games franchises from the history of this wonderful medium. 

After playing this collection of 3 games I'm both surprised and a little disappointed with what is on offer here on the Nintendo Switch version of Space Invaders Forever.

https://spaceinvaders.inin.games/#sector_trailer

⚔️🛡️ Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm | Review | Nintendo Switch | "A solid title that just misses the mark, for me" ⚔️🛡️ @cornfox #IndieGames #GameDev

Game Title: Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm

Platform Reviewed: Switch

Rating: 6.5/10

I’m always dubious about mobile ports to the Switch, having been burned by some pretty lazy examples in the past. With Oceanhorn 2, however, I was so taken by the trailer that I had to have a crack at it, as I fancied an open-world adventure that I could play on the move (well…in bed). 

Whilst the game is pretty, runs well and appears to tick all the boxes, it, unfortunately, felt a touch bland and as such, I couldn’t get fully hips deep in the experience.

👾🛸 Space Invaders Forever | Nintendo Switch | Review | "Time To Blast Those Invaders FOREVER!" 👾🛸 #SpaceInvaders

Space Invaders Forever is out on the Nintendo Switch and I have been taking a look at it for Games Freezer. 

When I first saw this I thought here we go, another attempt to cash in on one of legendary video games franchises from the history of this wonderful medium. 

After playing this collection of 3 games I'm both surprised and a little disappointed with what is on offer here on the Nintendo Switch version of Space Invaders Forever.