July Total: 9
Stories: The Path of Destinies - July 6th
I enjoyed the branching paths / groundhog day style mechanics in this one. The combat mechanics were a bit simple, but thankfully the game didn't overstay it's welcome. I look forward to trying out Omensight to see how things have improved.
Gunman Clive - July 6th
Didn't really care for this one, but at least it was short.
Ori and the Blind Forest - July 12th
I was left somewhat disappointed, but that's probably at least partially due to how hyped up it was. I didn't really enjoy the combat, and the exploration felt pretty limited. There were a few great sequences, however, and I really enjoyed some of the powers you get.
Cuphead - July 12th
This was gorgeous, and very well made. I enjoyed my time with it.
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight - July 13th
Very tight platformer. I'll probably pick up some of the older Momodora games to try out as well.
Salt and Sanctuary - July 18th
Enjoyable, but a few things keep it from being great. The presentation wasn't great, and the lack of a map made traversing the game fairly frustrating for me, since so many areas look similar. Most of the bosses were easy, which was disappointing. I think I beat most of them on my first try, with most of the remaining ones, it only took one or two more attempts. There were a few that were a little more challenging, but overall, it wasn't a very difficult game.
Nier: Automata - July 28th
I thought I was going to like this one mostly for the Platinum gameplay, but that ended up being just satisfactory. I think game balance was probably the main issue there, since it was just too easy. I never expanded my plug-in chip capacity during my Route A playthrough, and barely used them for the rest of my time with the game. But the controls were great, and combat was still entertaining, so it never really got in the way. The story was the main pull here, and I enjoyed it for the most part. The Route B playthrough felt a bit superfluous. There were a few interesting insights, but I wish that could have been done without so much repeated content. The side quests were largely not very interesting mechanically, thought they often added quite a bit to the world building, or foreshadowed parts of the main plot. I enjoyed my time with this one, and I'll definitely try out the next game in this series a try when it comes out.
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse - July 31st
Enjoyable, but not great. The various maps are very linear, but require too much backtracking. I found the character designs to be offputting as well. I might give some of the other Shantae games a shot if they're in a bundle, or at a very deep discount, but I'm not going to go out of my way to pick them up.
Edit: One More
Momodora III - July 31st
Much more linear than the Metroid-lite Reverie Under the Moonlight. It was short, but fun. A few things were a bit rough (like bomb throwing enemies being able to one-shot you, which was especially annoying when it happened after I beat a boss, before I had the chance to save), and the graphics weren't quite as nice, but it's still a solid platformer that can be completed in about an hour.
