QCF: Micromon

hen you think of household names in video games today, what are some of the games that immediately come to mind? Just to name a few universally recognized ones, there’s Call of Duty, Super Mario, and even what most moms across the world have affectionately referred to as “that weird Mine game with crafting.” However, there’s still one going strong; Pokémon, and while many of its contemporaries have challenged and it failed—one indie studio went a different way, and flattered the hell out of it in their game, and on a format that Nintendo openly displayed cold feet towards venturing in no less.

Micromon from Moga Studios blurs the line between love letter and thievery, but it fills it satisfies a very specific appetite of that monster-raising/battle adventure that mobile gamers have hungered for, and to its credit, Micromon actually does it quite well.

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QCF: Evoland

amers are a fickle bunch, and while I understand that I’m posing an opinionated statement as fact, the evidence that supports the conclusion isn’t just some common consensus that you can argue, it’s reality. Keeping that in mind, when a game pays some sort of tribute or homage to some bit of allusion in video game culture that only a gamer would recognize then the odds have always shown the reference to be a surefire hit among players as a standout moment within the game. Whether it’s shameless and shallow or well thought out and brilliant, the love letter mechanic has always been met with open reception. Still, how well does the concept pan out when the game is entirely built around it?

Shiro Games aims for the stakes with Evoland, a literal portrayal of the growth in adventure video games from the late eighties to the present. While the gimmick is heartwarming and will appeal to an audience in some capacity, it barely stands to prop up a game that can’t competently stand on its own otherwise.

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