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It’s hard to imagine a game involving cats and pirates being overlooked, but such is the quality of games in 2024 that this is exactly what happened. Featuring the colorful characters, fun writing, and easily accessible mechanics the series is known for, Cat Quest III is a fun indie delight that didn’t deserve to be overlooked. Its sizable adventure offers ship battles, many dungeons to explore, and more puns than one could ever ask for. Hopefully more people will give this furtastic adventure a look.
Middleweight games had a rough year and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is one of that sentiment’s standard bearers. Mechanically sound but perhaps a bit too ambitious in its scope, the true heart of Banishers is the rock-solid performances of its two leads, married couple Antea Duarte and Red mac Raith. Their relationship carefully weaves together warmth, frustration, tragedy, anger, and love in ways not often depicted in games. The game’s setting is no slouch either, depicting a young pre-America beset by folk legends and monsters, permeating the very earth with a sense of wrongness and wonder. One hopes that Don’t Nod can find a way to revisit this world and explore its potential further.
Inti Creates has a large library of titles to draw from, and Card-en-Ciel takes full advantage of this as it aims to combine the fundamentals of deckbuilder roguelites with the dungeon exploring of the Mega Man Battle Network series. Cards and characters from franchises like Azure Striker Gunvolt and Gal Gun appear in abundance, meaning fans of these franchises will be treated to many references. The gameplay itself is incredibly satisfying as well, with the deckbuilding systems offering a lot of flexibility in playstyle. The game also has a high level of replayability, making this a great investment for someone looking to sink their teeth into a fun combat system. It may not have quite grabbed attention as much as it deserved, but Card-en-Ciel is a very fun time.
by Michael Apps, Zack Webster, and Ezra Kinnell
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