I haven't had a chance to play games in the previous two weeks. I am a bit more committed to keeping up with the Week in Review this year, but I'm just so busy these days I don't have as much time for games!
- Monster Sanctuary (Switch)
This is a very creative blend of monster taming and Metroidvania. I have started this game a couple of times now and never quite made it through to the end, but it's one I definitely enjoy. These developers recently made a pseudo-sequel which is monster taming mixed with roguelite elements in the same universe as
Monster Sanctuary so it has reinvigorated me to come back to this world. That game is called
Aethermancer and it is currently in early access.
Monster Sanctuary lets you travel with 6 monsters that have unique field abilities to access new areas of the Castlevania/Metroid style map. You battle in 3v3 monster battles with your typical elemental weaknesses. The monsters have skill trees to make customizing them very unique.
- Soul Hackers 2 (PlayStation 5)
I continue to push through this game because I bought it on sale as it fell off PlayStation Plus. My first impressions were overall positive, but as I continue through the game I see more and more flaws. The characters and monsters are quite stunning visually, but the dungeons are some of the most boring environments I've ever seen. Do you like sewers? These game developers do. The dungeon designs are really quite bad. The story is very confusing. This game is carried by its great combat system (a mix of
Shin Megami Tensei &
Persona) but everything else is starting to feel quite lazy. I know they also patched in some QOL elements like running and fast-forwarding battles. I can see why this game launched to unfavorable reviews. The more I play, the more I wish I was playing
Shin Megami Tensei or
Persona.
