While anxiously waiting for Fire Emblem Engage’s release, Save State columnist Vincent Mahoney went on a quest to obtain Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, a title that was only ever released in Japan. He somehow found one and enjoyed its deep customization in a series that was way ahead of its time.
Dwarven Skykeep combines a lot of different genres including real time strategy into a unique title filled with both excitement and cheeky fun. Prepare for tactical deck creation, RTS combat, puzzle solving and a lot of smart base building over a variety of challenging stages.
The three most popular genres right now for indie games are survival, roguelites and metroidvanias. But sometimes, developers find a mysterious way to mix all three genres and come up with something brilliant. In this week’s Save State column, Vincent Mahoney plays with a perfect example of that in Rogue Legacy 2.
This week, Save State features the action RPG franchise known as Ys series by Nihon Falcom. Vincent Mahoney takes a close look at a title in the series from 2006 called Ys Origin. It’s a prequel to the previous nine titles, all with action, puzzles, platforming elements and movement that is both agile and responsive.
Those who like escape rooms will find a lot to enjoy about Do Not Open, which presents an entire mansion to explore and multiple escape room like scenarios. But there is one big twist. When you take too long to open the exit, a monster starts stalking around the halls to add one scary additional challenge.
River City Girls 2 continues the tradition of being a wonderful beat ‘em up series. As funny and irreverent as it is a solid combatant, this is one title that no self-respecting brawler will want to miss. It also has four player co-op for even more punch.
Fresh off his review of Sonic Frontiers, Save State columnist Vincent Mahoney goes racing off again with an indie game series called Spark the Electric Jester, which is inspired by all things Sonic the Hedgehog. Let’s see how well this new game flies around its electrified tracks.
The beloved Pokémon series has undergone many reiterations, although they are mostly filled with incremental changes. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet really does try something new with the introduction of the robust open world Paldea region and three separate story paths.
It’s time for the Steam Awards. This year, Save State columnist Vincent Mahoney is putting forward an indie game called Astlibra Revision which he hopes everyone will consider with a nomination because it’s certainly a labor of love for the developers and fun to play as well.
The iconic Sonic the Hedgehog blazes onto the scene once more in the brand new Sonic Frontiers adventure. With a gigantic cast of characters, beautifully rendered new levels and speedy challenges, this could be the game that helps Sonic race back to the top of the heap.
