New month, new batch of cool games that you all may have missed in the previous month. I have six such games to show you all this time from a wide variety of genres. So, as usual, thanks to the publishers who sent these games to me in order to make this list possible and let’s get going.

Lunistice

Lunistice, hands down, is one of the best platformers I have played this year, reminiscent of the 32 and 64 bit platformers I used to power through on the consoles of old. Literally everything about the game lends to this aesthetic: the level design, the blocky, yet cute graphics, the charming music, the variety offered up by the different areas – it does all of this just like a classic 3D platformer, but with the quality of life features and other bonuses we have become accustomed to with modern games.

It makes for a very fun and straightforward experience, especially coupled with its solid grasp of movement and camera control. Honestly, I couldn’t help myself from just smiling whenever some new level would open up and I would be in an area where everything is made of cake and other sweets. I don’t know, it just hits that nostalgia hard and although the experience is short at around two hours, it is one well worth the play and I’m glad I didn’t pass it up.

Lunistice retails for $5 USD and is available on Steam. It is also available through GOG and on Switch.

The Knight Witch

Metroidvania and shoot ‘em up – two genres I love dearly that I’m not sure if I’ve seen combined before, but here we have The Knight Witch doing just that. And not just doing it, but doing it well. The movement is fluid, the shooting feels great, the abilities are plenty, and the exploration is too. It’s a well-rounded metroidvania all around and one I have been having a good time with, even if the story isn’t all that and the devs could definitely fix up how visible the projectiles are against the environment.

It was really interesting how they combined deckbuilding mechanics with the spell system. You find new cards that add new spells and you can customize your deck at checkpoints to fit your playstyle. Some spells lay bombs on the field, some provide buffs to your primary attack, and some are unique attacks of your own. There’s a good bit to play around with and the gameplay in general is pretty fun, I would recommend it if that genre combination sounds up your alley.

The Knight Witch retails for $20 USD and is available on Steam. It is also available through GOG and on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch. You can get an official Steam key cheaper and support the channel using my Gamesplanet partner link.

Against the Storm

I’ve seen Against the Storm described as a city builder without the tedium that most city builders end up as – a city builder that emphasizes the early game, the fun part. And yeah, that’s a fairly fitting description. It plays like a strategy game made up of mini city builders, where each new area you tackle has you building up a new city from scratch, but doing so quickly: establishing production, placing down housing, and exploring the map, before packing it all up and moving on once you’ve your completed your objectives. Then you’re presented with new locations with new objectives and oftentimes new buildings to work with.

The game loop here is very well designed in this regard, emphasizing that rush you get from most city builders where you’re driven by those early objectives and the wonder of having an unexplored map to discover. And this is all while the game is in Early Access. Honestly, the graphics, the UI, the gameplay – it is very impressive for not being in its final state and I can only wonder how big this one will become once it finally releases. Still worth a look regardless, especially for city builder fans.

Against the Storm retails for $20 USD and is available on Steam and GOG as an Early Access title. You can support the channel and potentially even get the game cheaper using my Gamesplanet partner link.

Organs Please

You remember that game Papers, Please? Yeah, I never played that, but I did play Organs Please this past month and I imagine it’s something similar. You’re basically taking control of a recycling facility and your job is to manage the staff at this facility, all of its upgrades, and, of course, the gate to decide who gets to live and who gets recycled for their organs. You have to build up a steady supply of blood, hair, skin, and bone to fuel your spaceship that will be leaving Earth before the planet dies and a lot more goes into it than you think.

You have to catch potential terrorists coming in, cut deals with the different factions to maintain their happiness, and manage your staff in such a way that they are working as efficiently as they can. It’s a lot more than I was expecting, honestly, but it’s kinda addicting – sitting there, letting some people in, recycling others, even incinerating a few. Fun stuff, a good recommendation if you’re up for Early Access titles.

Organs Please retails for $14 USD and is available on Steam and GOG as an Early Access title. You can get an official Steam key cheaper and support the channel using my Gamesplanet partner link.

Shatter Remastered Deluxe

Brick-breaking games have always been a classic and as someone that enjoys such games and really just arcade games in general, I had a good bit of fun with Shatter Remastered Deluxe. The gameplay is, as you can imagine, extremely simple. You just hit the ball towards the blocks and hit it back once it bounces back to you. Boiled down like that, it doesn’t sound like much, but there are a ton of upgrades, moving levels, multiple balls, crazy effects going everywhere, and even boss fights.

It’s got the full slate and as someone that never played the original Shatter, It’s been some good, casual fun, kinda reminiscent of the Pac-Man Championship Edition games. Worth a look for arcade fans.

Shatter Remastered Deluxe retails for $10 USD and is available on Steam. It is also available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch.

The Past Within

I feel like we have been getting a lot of these co-op escape room type games lately and I am absolutely here for it. The Past Within is just that, but it does the gameplay a bit differently. There’s no lobby, no online multiplayer, just two friends, each with a copy of the game, playing at the same time. The design is done in such a way that, despite there not actually being a live connection outside of voice communication over Discord, phone, or whatnot, the gameplay works regardless.

You’ll get information that you must feed to the other player and vice-versa. You’ll be operating in a 2D environment in the past, whereas your partner will be operating in 3D in the future. You’ll be exploring a small room full of little contraptions, whereas your partner is tinkering with a puzzle box of sorts. You’ll be swapping between these two positions throughout – it’s honestly kinda cool how they designed it. The puzzle design itself isn’t all that complex and it takes maybe an hour or so to complete, but it’s a fun experience if you have a friend to tackle it with.

The Past Within retails for $6 USD and is available on Steam. It is also available on Android and iOS.

And that’s it for November 2022! A bit of a dryer month for me personally, but still some solid pickups – my personal favorite was actually Lunistice. Anyways, I’ll see you all next year (I’m sorry, had to say it). 

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