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Originally released on the Gamecube, Pikmin is an inventive real-time strategy game that exudes charm and purpose in its design: it’s a meticulously crafted experience that boasts great art direction and offers a unique take on the genre.
We play as Olimar, a space explorer who crash-lands on a strange planet after colliding with a meteor. The air is toxic and his life-support system has only 30 days of energy left, which gives him a narrow timeframe to rebuild his ship, called the Dolphin, and leave. Luckily, he soon finds some strange plant-like creatures that start to follow him around and obey his commands – with the help of these pikmin, Olimar must find the missing parts [...]
Batman: The Enemy Within is a worthy follow-up to the first Telltale game about the caped crusader, with a strong focus on character development and one of the most unusual and fascinating renditions of the Joker to date. It’s a game about how the hero of Gotham creates his own villains: how the violence he enacts in the name of justice has ripples that end up forming the city’s greatest monsters.
The story starts with Riddler invading a casino to get back at its owner. Bruce is attending the very same casino at the time, so it doesn’t take long for Batman to crash the party and put a stop to Riddler’s scheme. The villain, however, leaves a clue for Batman to pursue in the [...]
Set in the Swiss Alps, Mundaun is an effective first-person horror game that boasts a unique visual style and a strong sense of mood and atmosphere. Even though it doesn’t exactly stick the landing, it still provides a unique and memorable experience.
When the game starts, a young man named Curdin is on his way to the mountains of Mundaun in Switzerland. He has received a letter from the local priest, Father Jeremiah, informing him that his grandfather has died in a fire, but that there was no need for Curdin to come for the funeral. Sensing something is amiss, to Mundaun Curdin goes.
One of the first lines of dialogue in Mundaun is about the uniqueness of the setting. [...]
Shadowrun Returns is a Tactical RPG set in a cyberpunk world populated by fantastical creatures having to deal with corrupt corporations and shady religious cults. The game, however, fails to capitalize on all these elements, telling a barebones story plagued by underdeveloped characters and themes.
“Your apartment, three o’clock in the morning. It’s got four walls, a roof, and isn’t on fire. Even the cockroaches have fled in search of better accommodations,” the story starts. The narration is aptly trying to evoke Noir, painting a dangerous, littered world ruled by cynicism, where anyone can be bought for the right price – even the main character, if [...]
Pokémon Legends: Arceus feels like a promising prototype for what could be a terrific finished game one day. It shakes up the stagnated Pokémon formula but just that, presenting many great ideas but failing to fully develop any of them.
Arceus is an Isekai, the type of story where the protagonist is thrown into a strange, alien world they know nothing about. Here, it starts with the divine being Arceus – Pokémon‘s equivalent to God – speaking with them in a dark void. God asks about our appearance, mods our cell phone, and throws the main character into a beach, where we meet a professor called Laventon, who just witnessed them drop from a rift in the sky. When we find [...]
Kirby Star Allies is a disappointing follow-up to the excellent Planet Robobot, being a less complex, creative, and engaging game in almost every aspect. It banks on nostalgia, recycling old ideas, characters, and music, in the hopes that they will be sufficient to appease fans.
Star Allies is much less narrative-driven than its predecessor. Here, a dark, mysterious wizard makes a spell that corrupts the hearts of the people of planet Popstar. Kirby, then, must help his old friends and enlist their help to defeat the wizard.
The main gimmick of Star Allies is the ability to have three allies accompanying Kirby in his adventure: Kirby can throw a heart at an enemy to [...]