Touch Arcade

You could argue that the cons point toward a great gateway game parents can play with their Skylanders-obsessed kids, but there are far better options out there at this point.

All things considered, Shieldwall Chronicles is a pretty solid game. It needs some work—specifically on the complex combat system, and for play on smaller screens—but, on the whole, it is a fun, well made game. When there are so many games that are made for consumption and consumption alone, it is good to find one now and again that is made by someone who cares, for players who are looking for quality. Despite its flaws, Shieldwall Chronicles: Swords of the North delivers just that.

Guildmaster Story is, on the surface, a game about solving puzzles. The levels are fun, albeit entirely predictable and somewhat easy. But where the game truly shines is through its biting social/political commentary combined with the consistent jabs at the very free-to-play model the game is derived from. The irony is delicious and very much intentional. I look forward to Ganyo’s future business endeavours (and yours as well, Will O’Neill).

On the whole, I have remarkably few complaints. I have enjoyed my time playing Immortal Rogue and, bar the few complaints I do have, recommend it wholeheartedly. I would like to see the narrative system addressed, and the home bar issue fixed; but, after that… well, I can only wait to see what else Kyle Barrett has in store. If what we have is any indication, the future will not disappoint.

The game is nostalgic in all the best ways, enhanced by today’s technology. The bleeps and buzzes and vibrations make it feel like there is a real virtual pet in my hand, when really I have multiple in one device. The sheer amount of customization for your avatar and the Noa casings is remarkable. Most importantly, as I initially stated, it feels like home: entirely familiar and can be navigated with your eyes closed. Now please excuse me, as I need to get back to discovering new species!

So where do we sit with Evolution? Its a little weird comparing the usual 2 player head to head gameplay with Evolution‘s 4 player configuration, but even so I think there is in many ways more game here that is immediately accessible and has a longer term viability than most other card brawlers. With promises of further development we could see new formats, new single player adventures, competitive seasons and more added on in the future. I hope the price tag doesn’t scare players off because this one is worth every penny.

It’s crazy to think that a mobile game in 2019 would live up to a PC/Console game’s legacy, but I really believe that Alien: Blackout does. It may not have been the sequel I wanted, but that didn’t stop me from it being a sequel I enjoyed.

Rangers of Oblivion is bound to entice those with limited experience in the genre, and it’s a great opportunity to dip your toes in the field. But the lack of truly terrifying monsters and subtitles that regularly deviate from the words coming from your speakers, it’s difficult to truly immerse yourself in the world NetEase and GTArcade has attempted to build. There’s plenty to see and do, but only newcomers may want to stick out the ride.

If there’s one silver lining to all this, it’s that it is easy to update mobile games and we’ve seen a lot of games on the App Store go from shockingly bad to surprisingly good after a few updates. Maybe over time Skate Jam will become a good game? Or maybe that’s just me really, really searching for reasons to give a Tony Hawk game the benefit of the doubt. Either way, it’s just super unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected, that Tony Hawk’s Skate Jam turned out this way.

That’s why, in spite of how well I feel they handled the fanservice and presentation, I can’t recommend this game with much vigor. If you like SEGA, you might want to rotate SEGA Heroes in as your game to play when you only have a few minutes to kill and don’t want to put in a lot of effort. In that context, it’s innocuous enough, and every so often you’ll get to add Knuckles to your party, so that’s cool. But I wish the core puzzle gameplay had had half as much thought and attention to detail put into it as the monetization systems seem to have received, because then we might have something pretty great instead of a generic game with a lovely SEGA label slapped on the tin.