Got a couple $15 games in the mix this week; two of them caught my eye, and I was gonna play them anyway, so why not review them as well? Probably just as well; pickings this week were pretty slim, and few of them were appealing. As usual, quick summaries below, with links leading to the full reviews.

Space Ark: Yeah, I know it wasn't released this week, but they finally released a patch for the tutorial crash I was experiencing. I wasn't missing much; the dual-character control scheme is kind of interesting, but a weak combo system + saccharine cuteness + losing 15 minutes of progress by screwing up a level kills my interest in this Arkanoid variant.

Ys: Oath in Felghana: An old-school remake that improves on the original. It's standard stuff done well and it just hits that old-school action RPG sweet spot for me.

Gettysburg: Armored Warfare: Nifty idea, but I don't think its small online community will survive a buggy launch with clumsy gameplay.

Haunted Houdini: A decent adventure game with hidden objects, puzzles, and a hint system & guide to get you through any place you get stuck. I still liked Pickers better, though.

3SwitcheD: No full review yet because its game page is still being set up, but this describes it succinctly: WHY DID I PAY $10 FOR THIS CRAP?! It's a Bejeweled clone with an annoyingly gushy announcer and a 3D gimmick that is only used to change your viewing angle for a game that's played on a 2D PLANE! Is it a commercial tech demo? A way to con us into spending money to register our Email addresses with them? An early April Fools joke? Either way, I feel like I've been had.

So, which game out of these would I play again? Ys: Oath in Felghana, an easy choice. It might be nice to revisit Gettysburg once it works out the kinks, but I don't think its player base will survive that long.

Well, that's it for this week. Hopefully Steam will ease up on the game releases before April 15th, or I might need to skimp on my reviews to finish taxes...

Got a couple $15 games in the mix this week; two of them caught my eye, and I was gonna play them anyway, so why not review them as well? Probably just as well; pickings this week were pretty slim, and few of them were appealing. As usual, quick summaries below, with links leading to the full reviews.

Space Ark: Yeah, I know it wasn't released this week, but they finally released a patch for the tutorial crash I was experiencing. I wasn't missing much; the dual-character control scheme is kind of interesting, but a weak combo system + saccharine cuteness + losing 15 minutes of progress by screwing up a level kills my interest in this Arkanoid variant.

Ys: Oath in Felghana: An old-school remake that improves on the original. It's standard stuff done well and it just hits that old-school action RPG sweet spot for me.

Gettysburg: Armored Warfare: Nifty idea, but I don't think its small online community will survive a buggy launch with clumsy gameplay.

Haunted Houdini: A decent adventure game with hidden objects, puzzles, and a hint system & guide to get you through any place you get stuck. I still liked Pickers better, though.

3SwitcheD: No full review yet because its game page is still being set up, but this describes it succinctly: WHY DID I PAY $10 FOR THIS CRAP?! It's a Bejeweled clone with an annoyingly gushy announcer and a 3D gimmick that is only used to change your viewing angle for a game that's played on a 2D PLANE! Is it a commercial tech demo? A way to con us into spending money to register our Email addresses with them? An early April Fools joke? Either way, I feel like I've been had.

So, which game out of these would I play again? Ys: Oath in Felghana, an easy choice. It might be nice to revisit Gettysburg once it works out the kinks, but I don't think its player base will survive that long.

Well, that's it for this week. Hopefully Steam will ease up on the game releases before April 15th, or I might need to skimp on my reviews to finish taxes...