Beauty and challenge are supposed to be Hyposphere’s strong points, but the heavy reliance on these areas end up being its downfall. The abstract art style lacks personality, while the difficulty level mainly comes from awkward controls and unfair level design.
I Want To Be Human does little to match the great titles under its genre. There is an existing charm to the concept and art style, but fiddly controls and non-existent upgrades leave much to be desired.
Being one of the staple names in gaming, it is unsurprising when developers take inspiration from The Legend of Zelda franchise. Cornerstone: The Song Of Tyrim is just the latest release to try and follow in The Wind Waker’s footsteps, with its focus on puzzle solving and sailing towards new adventures.
I’ve noticed a rise in games using the tag surreal lately. As developers fight to get noticed, many have opted to don the label with the mind of creating something unique, strange, and memorable. Most attempts at the genre end up either awkwardly falling short, or zoom off the other end of the line and are so ‘out there’ that they’re difficult to play, let alone remember. A recent game that calls itself a minimalistic surreal action game is NO THING by independent company Evil Indie Games.
Rogue-like games have been increasing in popularity lately, mainly thanks to The Binding of Isaac and its DLC updates. There’s quite a bit of diversity within the genre, too, with titles including Spelunky, Rogue Legacy, and Temple of Yog. Trying to bring something new to the table is Clever Plays’ Leap of Fate with its cyberpunk themed world, magical skills and card-based luck system.
The mission given to episode one of an Episodic game is to leave the player wanting more. This single factor will determine the success or failure of the series, thus placing a lot of responsibility on the first chapter’s shoulders.
The term ‘free-to-play’ combining with the phrase ‘in-app purchases’ is enough to send a shudder down the spine of most gamers. Luckily, BitCake Studio’s Holodrive will allow players to have a full experience of the title without spending a thing, once its Early Access period is over.
