Ruin Raiders [OverPowered Team] - When people think of tactical strategy titles, the gold standard set by the likes of the X-Com series and some refined tactical RPGs come to mind. The thing they usually have in common is that more grandiose and story-driven experience with quite a bit going on besides just the combat. Ruin Raiders moves in roughly the exact opposite direction, strippping out the content and pretty much replacing it with a roguelike dungeon crawler, bringing in an element of the unknown to help sweeten the deal. It will have you moving your squad around in search of gear, an occasional puzzle to solve, and generally satisfying tactical combat, all with a focus more on action than higher-level strategy and story-telling. The result can feel a bit bare bones, perhaps predictably, but I appreciate the attempt to change things up a bit and throw a bone to people who enjoy tactics but are on a tighter schedule. I do wish the gear and all didn’t feel quite so generic, to help throw some extra spice into the formula, but it is all certainly serviceable tactical strategy title that should have some appeal to genre fans who don’t mind a few less bells and whistles in service to tighter runs.
Lone McLonegan [Flynn's Arcade] - There’s no doubt that indies have
more than brought the classic point-and-click adventure genre back from the
dead, many adhering to the classic LucasArts-type formula and others going
their own route to varying results. Lone McLonegan certainly has its own
quirky sense of humor, hovering often between more biting humor and goofy dad
jokery, and if you’re a fan of getting some laughs that way it can be fun on a
budget. As for the adventure aspects it’s not quite as interesting or refined
as you may have come to expect, more often simply being functional and on
occasion requiring some desperate trial and error to get by. Interface-wise I
appreciate that it works in a pretty streamlined fashion, at least not getting
bogged down with an encumbered and over-complicated UI, keeping things
relatively light and quick aside from when you can’t figure out what you need
to do next. For the price it’s not a bad deal, and should provide some
entertainment to genre fans, you just can’t expect a terribly polished
production for that price.
Bonito Days [Studio Somewhere] - This is an odd one that initially
filled me with hope, but then had enough small disappointments pile up that it
slowly lost its luster. What interested me is that this plays very similarly
to an included mini game in the Monkey Ball series called Monkey Target.
You’ll jump off a ramp (or, in this case, sometimes something else), take
flight, work to perhaps collect some items while you're gliding in the air,
and then usually attempt to hit a targeted landing zone, trying to earn as
many points as possible. In some stages, and in some moments, Bonito Days
recaptured what I enjoyed about this game that my wife and I used to play
against each other quite a bit. The thing is, there are also stages and
elements it decides to improvise and do things differently that don’t work
very well, and at times made me wonder if there was a clear design vision for
making the game. Stages where you can roll around a bit quickly demonstrate
issues with the fixed camera and what you’re supposed to do for success
immediately becomes less clear. Small things like nothing, aside from your
character wobbling, giving you a clear idea of how much momentum you have in
flight, also creep in and detract from enjoyment. It’s an odd title, and
there’s a chance for it to be a net positive for people who dig its chill look
and vibe and are willing to give it some patience, but it also has a tendency
to get in its own way unfortunately.
Bouncy Bullets 2 [Petite Games] - Mixing together elements of a
shooter, 3D platformer, and perhaps to some degree a puzzler, Bouncy Bullets 2
is a bit of an oddity. You’ll move around its very colorful and
modestly-rendered 3D stages while on the clock, pushing you to keep on the
move and at least a little aggressive in taking on foes when you encounter
them, though typically a little sidestepping and shooting is all you’ll need
to do to take out foes. The thing is, most of the time the shooting feels a
bit like an add-on, and not really the main event, as your real goal is
navigating the level in order to reach the exit portal in time, perhaps
finding the hidden nut along the way. What ends up being a bit aggravating is
that the “puzzles” in the stages are usually far more about rote trial and
error than using your smarts, so more often than not you’re just spending time
poking around to figure out where to go and what to do. The result feels like
a mix of elements where none of them feels particularly rewarding and more
like you’re going through the motions.
Nira [Baseline Games] - I’ll freely admit that survival games don’t
tend to be one of my favorite genres, but having played several that even I
have found compelling and agreeable (for a number of reasons) I wouldn’t say I
have an inherent bias against them either. In the case of Nira, which really
heavily pushes on the minimalist button in terms of its look and structure, in
many ways my play time with it left me gobsmacked. Thinking its talking totem
pole was plain weird, struggling to identify what many objects around me
(including those that could kill me) were, having difficulties with the
controls needed to complete a quest… they led to some moments that actually
left me laughing, but more in frustration and being baffled than being amused.
Trying to trade with what I assume was a lady, since there wasn’t feedback for
success, I kept trying different R buttons, which ended up having me attack
and kill her. Not long after that a different humanoid-looking thing arrived
and promptly attacked, making me kill it too, it was all a weird bit of chaos.
I think this may be a game where going too far into the retro vibe really hurt
it. Yes, with time and some repetition you’ll understand what different things
are, but in the early going it really saps enthusiasm, and with the general
style of play being very ordinary and rote at best it’s hard then not to
reflect on the fact that there are better representatives of the genre out
there you could be playing instead.
