Tech-Gaming

• PC
• 81%
• États-Unis

Skillfully, Shadow of the Ninja Reborn captures the essence of its source material. Scrambling and striking foes across the game’s six stages captures the feel of yesteryear’s celebrated action-platformers. Meanwhile, improvements to visuals, enemy behaviors, and Mizutani’s soundtrack ensure these ninjas don’t feel obsolete.

• SWITCH
• 40%
• États-Unis

Elrentaros Wanderings’ core tension comes from its depiction of parallel worlds and the uncertainty of which one is real. But time spent in both realms proves uninteresting, with monotonous combat in one and insubstantial exposition in the other. There’s a very real sense of dread when the game asks you to repeatedly descend into its insipid dungeons.

• PC
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Some scale Mount Everest, others swim across the English Channel. Much like its predecessor, Volgarr the Viking 2 extends the same kind of intimidating challenge, daring you to memorize the hundreds of different dangers laid out across six masochistic stages. This time out, there’s a novice mode, accompanied by a bit of playful humiliation. Just don’t expect entry into Valhalla on easy.

• PC
• 4.5 / 5
• États-Unis

Much like the SteamWorld Dig sequel, Heist II ditches the drab procedurally generated stages for hand-crafted battlefields designed around collaboration and the game’s new class system. While these changes might sound minor, they feed into so many different components that the follow-up feels fresh, at least until the run-up to the game's finale.

• PC
• 3.8 / 5
• États-Unis

If you appreciate the kind of retina-searing, adrenaline-emitting action found in intense bullet hell shooters, there’s a strong chance you’ll get hooked by CYGNI: All Guns Blazing. Sure, it can be unflinchingly tough, demanding your complete attention for each of its fifteen-minute-long stages. But the thrill of dangling from the precipice of survival as you struggle against swarms of enemies makes CYGNI indispensable for shooter junkies.

• PS5
• 3.8 / 5
• États-Unis

• PC
• 3.7 / 5
• États-Unis

• PC
• 3.5 / 5
• États-Unis

With its metroidvania-style backtracking and shootouts that hinge on careful timing, Exophobia isn’t your typical boomer shooter. It’s engaging and thoroughly challenging if you decide to take on the game’s alien lobsters on the game’s default difficulty.

• SWITCH
• 4 / 5
• États-Unis

The third entry in Taito’s Bubble Bobble series is built around a multiple of techniques, as you use your parasol to stun, fling, guard, and gather power-ups. As such, there’s a slight learning curve associated with the learning how to use the device. But pleasingly, the decision endows Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III with longevity. Gliding through the game's stages individually or with an optional co-op partner remains engaging 33 years later.

• PC
• 58%
• États-Unis

Like a competitor inching up notorious Col de la Loze, Cyanide’s Tour de France franchise is demonstrating serious fatigue. Beyond bringing actual cyclists to Pro Team mode and the inclusion of a real-time competitive mode, largely this year’s outing isn’t all that different from the 2023 iteration. If you’re truly yearning for some simulated road cycling, Tour de France 2024 does an adequate job at reproducing the complexities of stamina management. But beyond that, this is a series that’s taken too many rest days.

• PC
• 68%
• États-Unis

Battles in Crown Wars: The Black Prince can be determined by minutiae. If you’ve properly kitted out your soldiers and created a well-balanced party, victory is always within reach. Likewise, if the game can mend some of its imperfections, success seems likely. As long as the Artefacts Studio’s battle plan involves a long-term commitment of listening to feedback and making necessary modifications, Crown Wars has the potential to become a minor hit.

• PC
• 80%
• États-Unis

If you’re looking for some pulpy sci-fi with a likable cast, Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER beats most of its contemporary peers in film and television. Like some of the genre’s best works, it’s an exploration into what makes us human. Smartly, the blend of visual novel story-telling and light puzzles balances seriousness with the intermittent instance of childlike playfulness. Likely, this one could generate some positive memories.

• PS5
• 45%
• États-Unis

A reoccurring goal in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series is saving gaming from imminent disaster. But ironically, Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution demonstrates some of the real-life ailments of the industry, with a lazy spin off built around salvaged concepts and sloppy combat. Undoubtedly, Nep Nep and the rest of the Guardian Goddesses deserve far better.

• PC
• 49%
• États-Unis

Like any respectable first-person shooter, Phantom Fury provides some imaginative weaponry. Outside of the middling firefights, the rest of the game is a chore built around bad design decisions. From hunts for colored-colored gate keys to scanning faux emails for passwords, most of Fury is either tiresome or tedious.

• PC
• 89%
• États-Unis

• PC
• 68%
• États-Unis

With components that factor in details such as pilot stress and ability, Lunar Lander Beyond takes the Atari property to noteworthy places. But the use of the 45-year-old arcade title as a foundation is an encumbrance that keeps this revival from truly soaring.

• SWITCH
• 59%
• États-Unis

With an unresponsive control scheme when playing with Joy-cons and a slapping mechanic that’s a bit too simple, the Rose & Camellia Collection is a novelty that feels like it’s stretched too thin. Expect the fun to dissipate faster than the sting of an open-handed smack.

• PC
• 71%
• États-Unis

Beyond bundling a trio of racing titles and a rom hack-style inclusion, don’t expect much from Top Racer Collection. Yes, the individual titles are fairly evergreen, balancing the fundamentals of driving with light racing management duties like determining when to pit. But the general lack of curation is moderately disappointing. When quarter-century old films arrive on physical media, they’re usually accompanied by a host of ancillaries. But here, QUByte Interactive just delivers the basics. At least the games speak for themselves.