ZTGD

To its credit Lifeless Moon is considerate of gamers time clocking in at about three hours. A lot of this is due to the hand holding that the game does as it basically tells players exactly where to go to progress, it never goes as far as to tell you where to find certain things though because then we could just watch the movie. But sometimes the game does feel a tad overly easy, I do appreciate a challenge every now and again and if there was a way to turn down the assistance in Lifeless Moon I think the game would be all the better for it.

While not quite reaching the heights of the Danganronpa series, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code is great spiritual successor to the cult classic and whether this is the beginning of a new franchise or if it will be a stand-alone title, it marks a return to form for Tookyo Games.

Lisa: The Painful is just a perfect name for this game as it evokes such emotions while playing. Depending on the gamer though this dark, sometimes humorous, always shocking world could be just the ticket to see something polar opposite from say a Final Fantasy. I certainly walked away from this game not feeling the light and pride of finishing the usual RPG’s, Lisa: The Painful is a bleak experience but one that is worth it if you can stomach it.

Viewfinder is a unique game that begs to be experienced. I do wish it was available on more platforms as everyone needs to experience this unique puzzle game. I could not put it down until the end and I cannot wait to see what this team accomplishes next. There is so much here that impresses, it never overstays its welcome, and the technical achievement will be talked about for years. Definitely play this game if you have the means.

Atlas Fallen does some things right as a new franchise, the world that the team has made is interesting and begs to be explored, the story is for the most part extremely well told and as I said graphically the game looks great. But the unevenness of the combat just makes avoiding fights more common than facing enemies head on. Which is truly a shame because as I said above, I love action games and had high hopes that Atlas Fallen would stick the landing.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a huge game that the majority of players will probably never, ever see all of. I adore this world and everything the team has created here; I am still holding out hope to see a certain Drow who has a penchant for dual scimitars as well. But what I worry about is that I might miss that encounter entirely. This game is massive, the developers are saying a single playthrough is going to take 70 hours; and those of you that want to see everything you might as well buy a time share in Baldur’s Gate proper as you are going to be there awhile.

Double Dragon Gaiden continues the trend of the series’ ups and downs. While it has some truly great designs, it has a lot of frustrating choices that hold it back. I was really excited to see a new game in the series, but it feels like they just want to build something new with each entry instead of capitalizing on what made the original so great. With the recent revival of so many classic beat ‘em up franchises, Double Dragon Gaiden just doesn’t impress nearly as much as it should have.

The remake presents the game in a different camera angle from the original but allows players to choose how they want to play. This is also true of the soundtrack in game as the original and a remastered and remixed version is available as well. While I enjoyed the story of Front Mission: 1st Remake, the combat made the game feel like a chore. In fact, it felt like for everyone good thing I found with the game, I would end up with two negatives.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 provides another dark look at war and its effects on those who are waging it. Just like in the first there are some very dire consequences to using certain abilities in game, thankfully the developers have added another option which will only disable instead of destroying, which is nice but still feels bad to use either weapon.

Antstream Arcade is a solid solution to a huge problem with gaming. Sadly the technology is not at a spot where it makes it easy to recommend. The value is unquestionable, but the performance leaves a little to be desired. Still I have hope they will iron this out over time, and their license mentality is great. So far only five games have left the service and all five are coming back.