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At the end of the day, Bug Fables is wearing its inspirations proudly on it’s sleeve, and still adding on its own experiences that are both meaningful and fun for players. I had a blast with this game, and I highly recommend it to all kinds of players, whether they be looking to dive into a fun story with lovable characters, trying a more tangible, interactive combat-focused game, or just attempting a challenge. Bug Fables does not pull its punches, especially in it’s hard mode, but it gives such bountiful rewards, that I am simply left having to return the favor.

Lienzo has excellently implemented their cultural source material into a video game, without sacrificing the video game. Set in an original world Mulaka would still be a fun game, but the love and creativity brought about by the Tarahumara culture permeates the game in a way that makes it something truly special. While the game isn’t perfect, its ability to preserve a culture through an active medium while still being an enjoyable gaming experience is a trend I hope Lienzo and other are able to continue in the future.

Blue Fire is everything I didn’t know I wanted out of a 3D platformer. Instead of consisting of just platforming challenges, the combat kept me engaged. Secrets and collectibles aren’t there to block off parts of the map, but make exploring a joy due to how well they interact with Umbra’s abilities. 3D Mario feels good to play, but at the end of the day you are most likely still rescuing a princess and collecting meaningless stars. Blue Fire gives you a narrative thread but leaves it up to you to decide how you want to explore the Penumbra. This metroidvania-like approach really clicked for me and made this 3D platformer feel special, which few others have over the past decade. While performance on Switch is definitely not fantastic, with constant suffering through crashes, I still wanted to go back every time to discover what else was hidden in this world. I certainly cannot wait to see what these developers have in store next, because Blue Fire has definitely awoken a burning passion in me to see what lies ahead.

It’s not a particularly deep game, but that doesn’t stop it from just feeling like a warm sweater on a chilly day. Also considering its run time is anywhere from 3-5 hours total, it doesn’t need to be particularly complex to be a worthwhile experience. The one major gripe I had is that the ending tries to create a lot of emotional weight that just wasn’t there throughout the rest of the narrative. The plot provides some light followthrough with story, but mostly it’s sparse and to attempt a big sentimental swing felt tacked on at best. That still doesn’t prevent A Tiny Sticker Tale from being nothing short of delightful through and through. A bite-sized portion of happiness that is the definition of cozy games.

Aztech Forgotten Gods stumbles its way into being something special. It certainly has faults both technical and simply in terms of design. At the same time it is also incredibly bold when it comes to its ambition. The unique elements of its design are executed very well, and it's only in that final pass of polish that its limitations are truly evident. Even then, I struggled to put Aztech Forgotten Gods down once I started playing it. As I said at the outset, Aztech Forgotten Gods is perfect imperfection. While I can’t ignore its faults, I found myself significantly more enamored with its successes.

Rolling credits on Sky Racket left me feeling a little ambivalent. It’s a decidedly enjoyable experience from beginning to end, and it feels like an excellent co-op game if you have a partner to join you. That said, it’s definitely on the shorter side, and having more stages before the boss fights would have made getting to them more rewarding. The variety present here is great, but I can’t help but feel like this main course is leaving me a little hungry. If you don’t mind running through stages multiple times to achieve all of the objectives, or you’re looking for a fresh and compact co-op game, Sky Racket is certainly worth a look. The amount of content and the controls do leave something to be desired, though.

MADiSON is a genuinely terrifying psychological horror game and does its job very well, making it stand out in the genre on Nintendo’s hybrid platform. Unfortunately, this is dragged down by the poor inventory system and unclear puzzle direction, causing far too much backtracking. Aside from these gripes, MADiSON expertly uses every tool at its disposal to unsettle you and create a horrifying experience I am keen to return to again.

While there’s certainly nothing really off putting about Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, it ultimately feels pretty derivative. It does an admirable job of conjuring up feelings and impressions of the 16-bit era, but it fails to push the envelope in any meaningful way. There’s no doubt that it’s a decent way to spend a couple hours as far as action-platformers go, and fans of the genre–particularly the retro-focused kind–will get a kick out of something so clearly paying homage. For my money, though, I’d have liked to see a few twists and a bit more risk taking with such a well-worn type of video game. Falling short of being a full Moonrider, Vengeful Guardian does enough to make rolling credits worthwhile, if not much else.

Evan’s Remains tells a story about life and death that doesn’t quite hit the mark. The monolith puzzles are enjoyable, but the narrative surrounding them doesn’t serve as a worthwhile reward for their completion. If you’re looking for a light puzzle-platformer with mostly attractive pixel art, Evan’s Remains might be worth considering. If you want a more thrilling or satisfying narrative experience, keep searching.

Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break is what I’d guess is a refinement more than a revolution of their ongoing series of paper cut out, boulder racing, and tower defense game using historical figures and public domain music. My disappointment isn’t that it’s a bad game, more that I see the potential for a really special indie title that could have a diverse array of level types, well-crafted humor, and a well-defined creator tool to build a more evergreen creator community around. I enjoyed my time well enough with it, but the decision to buy will depend on whether the drawbacks hit enough of your personal pet peeves.

It's a shame that No Place for Bravery crumbles under the weight of its ambition. Should the performance and technical issues be fixed, it would become something I could easily recommend. The music, story, and visuals are all wonderfully crafted, and it would be unfortunate if this version ended the final product. Fortunately, it does seem like patches are in the works, but it remains to be seen how much of the above issues are fixed by them. Ultimately, No Place for Bravery is a promising title that may be able to live up to its aspirations with a little more work under the hood.

At first glance, it’s completely understandable to be entranced by the gorgeous environments and backgrounds of Greak: Memories of Azur. Don’t be lured unaware by its siren call! While there is a decent experience underneath, some inexplicable design decisions, the uninspired sidequests and serviceable story don’t buoy the adventure enough to make up for how badly implemented the game’s primary mechanic is. If you came away from the eShop demo impressed or you’re able to overlook a very obvious fatal flaw, you might be able to derive some pleasure out of Greak’s mission. Don’t expect to find me spending much time reminiscing about these memories.

Golazo 2 is very different from modern football games - and that isn’t a compliment. It brings back the stiff and awkward controls, giving the impression that you’re playing on a very muddy pitch. The CPU, even on the easiest difficulty, feels one-sided at times. I imagine this being a fun pick up and play with a friend, but the poor controls and bizarre aesthetic aren’t making it easy for me to want to even try.

But who can blame people for not gravitating toward this when there is a larger, more expansive, and much smoother gameplay experience out there at a negligible price difference on the Switch in Daemon X Machina? Override Mech City Brawl asks a lot out of potential customers for a much more flawed game. Even if it were a budget title, the framerate valleys, constricting scale, limited customization options, and a completely dead online presence would make it tough to recommend. In its current state, you’d do best to walk past the smoldering pile.