In 2023, our staff collaborated to create a comprehensive ranking of the year’s games. Standouts include Alan Wake II and Armored Core VI in the S+ tier, with titles like Dead Space Remastered and Tales of Symphonia Remastered in the S tier. The A tier features games like Cities Skylines 2 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.
Alan Wake 2 is a storytelling masterpiece in gaming, blending horror tropes seamlessly into its narrative. The game offers a thick atmosphere, deep characters, and intertwined storytelling with Control. Although reliant on callbacks to previous games, it delivers exceptional combat, pacing, and an enthralling story, making it a must-play for fans of the series and new players alike.
Pixel Cafe has a smooth lo-fi vibe with some of the best music I’ve heard this year. Released early October, we finally got a chance to sit down with what can be considered revolutionary in its own genre. You’ve got gorgeous pixel-art style beats, a soundtrack that kicks off from the start and doesn’t stop and a hypnotic gameplay loop that’s as mediative or brow-sweating as you want it to be. Quick note: The developers have been active in updating the game. A mid-December 2023 update introduced difficulty modes, giving the game more depth from the challenging kitchen manager that it was to a zen like rhythm game to the challenging kitchen manager that many loved as is. Let’s dig into what separates this game from others. Running the Pixel Cafe The game starts off with a cup and a coffee machine and simple instructions. The game’s complexities slowly unveil…
House Flipper 2 really elevates the iconic formula that House Flipper brought about and renovates the game from top to bottom. The biggest change comes in the form of the graphics. Whereas House Flipper originally looked more like a source engine game (now compared to the new edition), House Flipper 2 looks like a slick modern title really taking a large shine to cleaning virtual homes and laying down virtual flooring. Those tasks get elevated as well with extra polish. Everything from painting to placing items is tighter and with more controls. The leveling system is easier and the upgrades dramatically change your overall gameplay. Compared to the original there is so much more content too. A lot of different house designs and way more in terms of features to renovate. Freedom is something that House Flipper 2 gives you when it comes to doing missions and flipping houses. Not…
Backpack Hero is a rougelike that features a polyomino (think Tetris) style inventory management system that you use to develop builds which can be used in turn-based battles. After each battle loop, you return to a city to use your loot to research new items, which unlock new builds, which can in turn make you more powerful as you venture deeper into the dungeon. There’s a lot going on in the game and for the entry price alone you’re getting almost too much content. You have a city builder, inventory management, economy both in and outside of the dungeon, item builds and synergies (based on placement) and turn-based battles with NPCs that can change their next action based on what you do. You can also play several different modes, some which include a way to not even worry about the city and offer an endless crawl through the dungeon, unlocking…
The Nuphy Air (60/75/95) is a frequently suggested portable keyboard that provides a mechanical keyboard on the go. The keyboard itself, the build quality is mostly impressive with the device being very well served in the niche it’s in. It’s small, weighs little, has a long battery (with the lights off) and combined with the folio is a great portable keyboard. The exception is, though, a few particular design flaws that make the keyboard inoperable for portable use, which is supposedly solved by the “v2” but early adopters are left with some curious defects to the device. The Device Itself Not taking into consideration our concerns on portability (which we dive deep into below), functioning just as a on-desk keyboard that doesn’t move or its intended niche functionality of sitting ontop of a laptop’s keyboard the Nuphy Air is a fantastic keyboard. The keys work well even without lubing them.…
Beyond Sunset is a fairly decent retro cyberpunk shooter and a fantastical journey through the story and sound, provided by Karl Vincent of a wild cyberpunk world. The world is bleak but so full of character, embodying the idea of synthwave / cyberpunk aesthetics weaved with a lot of DOOM. This review covers the November 2023 Early Access Build. This is one of the few games where the smooth door animations actually impress me. A world built around a strong cyberpunk theme waits for players to jump and slide their way through its streets and towering mega-skyscrapers. If you’re at all into the music or the gameplay of DOOM, this is a definite purchase. If you need some more details, let’s dig in. What is Beyond Sunset? Built on GZDOOM, Beyond Sunset is a retro DOOM-like FPS with multiple hub maps, a full story driven campaign, inventory, RPG elements, side…
Archetype Arcadia is an Isekai (Wikipedia) visual novel with an exceptional amount of content focused and a very deep story. The game has more content than the larger novels out there and it’s presented beautifully beside great backdrops and rather kicking music as you make your way through 50+ hours of gameplay. If you’re looking for a very long visual novel then the Archetype Arcadia is the hidden gem you’ve been missing. It has a story that is unique (as much as the genres and tropes it plays with allows) and the gameplay that is more than read and choose which is nice. The Story The world has fallen to a disease known as “Peccatomania” which has wiped out most of humanity. Rust, the protagonist, is immune from the disease but his sister suddenly falls ill. The only way to slow the progression of the disease is to spend time…
Cult of the Lamb is a game I was iffy on for a long time and was happy to find the motivation to spend a week playing it to completion. It mixes city management alongside a roguelike top-down hack and slasher which is very appealing, but it only really offers great gameplay if you more or less want to run the same few dungeons (four in total) over and over again. There’s a lot of games that evoke the same feelings in the same way Cult of the Lamb does, like Trigger Witch, where they have all the parts that make an amazing game but none of the substance or content to deliver. There are a few weapon types, a few spells you can use. The game’s pacing is predictable and every note you expect it to hit strikes. I both love and don’t love Cult of the Lamb. We…
The Bus Simulator 21 School Bus Extension is really good. It reminds me of Bus Simulator 2008 in all of the good ways. It adds three new buses, school route related missions and new schools to act as the final drop-off for the kids. The three new buses are: The nice thing about the school bus extension is again, you get the route content meaning you can run real school bus routes. Which is really fun and a lot more interesting than moving bus stop to bus stop. What’s Cool About the Bus Extension Here’s a list of what makes the bus extension worth the $12.99 to us: The Not So Great The expansion doesn’t include a few nit picky bus features like strobe lights at the top of the bus. That’s about it. Conclusion If you want to drive a school bus, this is it. Go for it. You…