AnalogousPants5

I never would have expected one of the most effective and arresting game narratives I've encountered to come form a roguelike hack and slash game. A genre typically as story-light as possible, Supergiant has managed to use the traits present in this type of game to tell a story not like any I've encountered before in a game. When pulling together the story, music, gameplay, and art; this really feels like what Supergiant Games has been building to since they started.

The gameplay and shooting is as effective and straightforward as a game can be, the story is conversely as convoluted and impenetrable as a game can be. You play this game so you can hang out with friends and complete weekly and daily bounties to get cool new guns to shoot. Ambitious but also safe. Novel but also comfortable. New and old.

Cute, simple little puzzler. The gameplay itself is basic, so the main appeal is in collecting all the kitties and the cute menus and UI.

So here I am, growing older all the time, looking older all the time, feeling younger in my mind.

Solid and polished enough card battler that does a good amount to distinguish itself from Hearthstone and other CCG/TCG of years past. Not sure if it feels like it came out 3-4 years late, or if it's ultimately better off for having waited for the digital card game fad to die down a bit.

Fun game to shout and swear at your friends while playing. Playing this online is the closest I've felt to my memories of sitting on the couch playing Melee and Double Dash with my school friends.

Pretty much every modern game is all about traversing across worlds in 3D space, but that is barely represented in the gameplay itself. You know how in Skyrim you can just click on every item in the game to **** it into your inventory and as long as you're not over-encumbered you can just glide yourself and all that precious cargo up the side of a mountain? Death Stranding feels like a direct response to this. It's a game where you traverse across an open world, and the game is actually about playing the experience of traversing across an open world. This game is not for everyone, but if you fall into the target demographic for this type of thing it is absolutely your game and you owe it to yourself to play it, if for no other reason than it successfully gamifies something that in retrospect should have been a more obvious thing to gamify. Personally, I have always enjoyed hiking and backpacking and this is by far the game that brings me closest to that type of activity; about an hour and a half in I was walking over some rocky patches of ground and noticed the character kind of do some alternating little leaps from foot to foot to cross it and it looked exactly like how I have hiked on rocky trails before. This is a game that understands walking downhill can actually be harder and more dangerous than the steepest uphill trek. The writing? It's Kojima, again if you're in this target demographic then it is absolutely for you; and if you aren't that's ok. The themes are going to be out there, the metaphors are going to be a bit on the nose, no one will talk like any actual human does, but you're still just going to be so invested; the nest time you walk outside and it starts to rain your first thought is going to be about avoiding the timefall. I'm not done with the main story yet (16 hours in at the time of typing this), but I can already tell this is going to be a game that sticks with me for many years.

A step up from LIMBO in pretty much every way. A similar formula, but so incredibly refined. Playdead knows exactly what they want to make and they know how to make it. The setting, story, and puzzles all fit together so well to put you into this world and the shoes of your poor little character. There is an incredibly deep lore to this universe that I have only barely scratched the surface of, yet I didn't feel left out at all. No spoilers here, but the final sequence is just such an unexpected dessert of chaos and catharsis, I implore you to see this adventure through to the end.

I am the only person playing on my Switch, so the primary issues related to multiple saves for multiple people on the same console has not affected me. These complaints are valid, but I can only speak honestly to my own experiences with this game. This is the perfect game to come out at the perfect time in the era of COVID-19. My daily routine now incorporates Animal Crossing New Horizons. It would certainly be a good game if it came out at any other time, but here and now it provides a much needed routine and sense of comfort.

To start off, I love Psychonauts and I love VR games, so this review is not meant to be biased, but this game falls well within my interests and feels almost made for me. It turns out that Psychonauts can be translate effectively into VR, surprisingly enough, by moving it from a platformer to something more like a Point & Click adventure game. In this game, you possess the minds of different characters who effectively become your adventure game inventory items; and the puzzle solving consists of figuring out how to make line of sight with the next person for you to take over. This sees you moving though the entire world of this game through a chain of mental possessions while Raz remains tied up in a chair the whole time. This movement system is unique for VR, and manages to work both as a Look & Click adventure game and as a VR game that even those prone to motion sickness should be able to enjoy. I myself am more than happy to play VR games that rely on more standard movement schemes like free locomotion, but it is nice to see a developer stretch their brains to come up with something different and suited specifically to the medium, even if the results feel a bit more limiting. Looking away from the gameplay, the story here is pretty scant compared to Psychonauts, and pretty much contains just enough to set up the existence of the game. As I'm sure you've read already, it also clocks in at a relatively short time, my Steam game time counter says I played through it in around 2 hours. If you're looking for a wide variety of wacky characters, you'll also find that number to be significantly lower than we've seen in the past. What we have is good, great even, we just don't have that much. Despite this, the presentation is just great: the music is bombastic and comedic; the graphics look like what Psychonauts should look like in 2017, sharper but still true to the original; the writing is witty and sharp; the levels are chaotic and creative. If you like Psychonauts or even just funny and quirky games, you'll like this. If you like VR or if you're looking to try it out, this would be an excellent game to start with.

Very fun game, great intro to show your friends and family how fun VR can be. There are some caveats to this positive review: 1. This game studio has since been bought by Facebook, and this likely gives a vague sense of unease to many people, including myself. 2. The included songs are great and the developers have semi-regularly been releasing paid DLC packs of more songs to play, but custom maps are required to take this game from a solid chunk of time to near infinite playability. The custom songs can be a bit hit-or-miss, but some of them are just unbelievably well-made and the sheer number of them helps to support the relatively small number of original songs included in the game. Plus, no matter how good the original songs are, most people who play this game will have more fun playing songs they recognize rather than Eurobeat EDM #7. If you're ok with those caveats, you'll have a great time and get a great workout from this game and it'll probably help you convince all your other friends to go out and buy a VR system of their own.

This game is not perfect, but it is ambitious. Committing to an entirely physics-driven implementation of weapons, enemies, environments, and even player character; the results are often fun but sometimes janky. This game is not perfect, but it is ambitious. Rather than a standard campaign story, this game relies more on lore and hidden details spanning across every game put out by the developer so far that ties all of them together into a shared universe that fans are still trying to unravel. There is some kind of a story, one that likely 90% of players will completely miss and all but the most dedicated will find to be an inscrutable mess. This game is not perfect, but it is ambitious. This small team out of LA has managed to make a game that is so deeply rooted in Half Life imagery and inspiration, this is not a Half Life game, but it is at least a slightly rougher cousin to a Half Life game. At this point in time, with Alyx released, it's impossible not to compare the two. Half Life: Alyx is more guided and polished, Boneworks is more freeform and physical. This game is not perfect, but it is ambitious. Most important, it's ambitious and fun. When it comes to beating an enemy or getting past an obstacle, if you can think of it, you can likely do it. Your arm may get stuck in a wall or something, but you'll have a good time if you understand and commit yourself to how this game gives player freedom.

When I bought this game a couple months back I thought it was well worth the price of admission and had enough content to keep me busy for hours. Since then, the developer has non-stop been adding guns, environments, and even new game modes that I never would have even thought to ask for. If you at all think you'd be interested in getting to play around with highly detailed virtual recreations of countless guns, pick up this game. It's just wonderful.

Half Life is back. Make no mistake, this is not Half Life 3, but it is a full-fledged Half Life game, a wonderful addition to the series, and pushes the boundaries of gaming's newest frontier like all major Half Life games should. Some experienced VR users have expressed frustration with some features that Alyx is missing compared to other VR games like H3 and Boneworks. These critiques are valid, but my theory is that this is because Valve has included only the most polished VR interactions and features that they could. It is a solid title for both those new to VR, as well as people who have been escaping meatspace since 2016 or even earlier. If you bought a VR headset for this game and are finished with it, don't put that headset away yet, this isn't all VR has to offer. If you want more Half-Life in VR just on an indie budget, pick up Boneworks. If you want more physics-based combat, pick up Blade & Sorcery or GORN. If you want even more intricate and wonderful gunplay, pick up Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, & Hand Grenades. If now you're thinking you'd like to try Counter-Strike in VR, pick up Pavlov. If you want another linear semi-horror, single-player VR FPS, pick up Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners. If you want something completely different, you can't go wrong with Beat Saber. Many people have already proclaimed Half Life: Alyx to be VRs "killer app" and that argument certainly has merit, but don't let that trick you into thinking it's all there is worth playing.