Terrax

So problems first, the slow roll of abilities makes early combat kind of slow. This isn't quite a metroidvania so don't go in expecting so, it is more of a linear platformer beat'em up. That out of the way, it is absolutely a masterpiece to me. I have never played a '80s based game that nails the music. This has Real Disco. Banging pop. Unfortunately some sick tracks are sequestered to very small portions of the game but when it goes it goes hard. Checkpoints kind of mediate the flow of the game, it should really reset after most big fights but usually you'll string a tough combat into losing the next one. In spite of this middle to late game combat is very engaging. I'm not big on beat'em ups but this game cleverly covers it up and ultimately gives you satisfying mainstay power ups and really cool single-two time use setppiece upgrades. The game isn't super hard but it will definitely be challenging if you're like me and don't expect the game's true genre. In short, I expected a metroidvania, I was happily introduced to a cute and cool brawler with a glamorous sense of style. The story is opaque at first but makes sense as you go on. The kind of reverse reveal makes it a unique narrative that is basic but has a unique flair that makes it more interesting as it is doled out periodically. Please give this game a shot. I can hardly imagine how amazing this studio will be after learning a few lessons from this release. While not perfect it is definitely entertaining and engaging.

It is very rare for me as a transgender woman to actually encounter nuanced media that I can relate to personally. This is a feat in itself. You may get less out of it as a cisgender person but it could still be an excellent exercise in verstehen. Many of the scenarios depicted are true to life, laced with the ever looming tension and fear of unacceptance. All the while, characters have their own personality and motives that stand beyond their **** identities. The backdrop of 90's Ireland is a character itself, snippets of culture that add a unique flavor and a bit of edutainment. The sci-fi interstitials add a layer of whimsy and intensity to the narrative. This is a spectacular, short visual novel with light interactive components. Nothing new or groundbreaking in the vein of gameplay but definitely is a milestone LGBTQ narrative. This is an exemplary work that I strongly recommend if you want a true-to-life vignette of not only what it means to be trans, but how life is.

This game can be pretty all or nothing brutal but it is a unsung gem in general. The minimalist greyscale style doesn't feel hacky or lazy, it works really well. I haven't run into a single animation that felt dodgy. Even moves are well telegraphed so nothing that hits you ever feels like a cheap shot. In a mire of metroidvanias that try to emulate Dark Souls, Unworthy stands out as an exemplar. This game really hits the nail on the head in terms of being mysterious, esoteric, and haunting. So far most weapons act as keys to new areas or enable new mobility options in some really interesting ways. You'll find yourself backtracking time and time again, never with dread, but instead the anticipation of testing out your new toolkit, and to see how much stronger you've gotten with a few levels. It might look bland at face value but don't let the minimalism fool you, this game has an atmosphere so dense you can cut it with a knife and gameplay that is harsh but very rewarding. Addendum edit: People might complain about the difficulty but the game is also very good about checkpoints, especially before bosses. You might get stuck on a boss for 10 or so tries but eventually you'll pick up on the rhythm. I never felt like a boss was impossible, just very hard. You'll see yourself making incremental progress until you can hit a flow state and finally have your revenge!

This game will beat you into the dirt, in a very satisfying way. I felt initially frustrated I couldn't ace bosses on my first go, but once you figure out how to maximize your DPS it becomes more of a rhythm game in the vein of something like Sekiro. Also don't feel bad if you struggle, because the game only has about 8 or 9 bosses. I beat the entire game in an evening and frankly, after you get a few boss upgrades the rest of the fights become smooth sailing. I have yet to delve into the "new game+" feature but the game has a ton of potential in that regard. Every boss feels like a challenge, so there aren't any duds or easy ones, you will feel appropriately engaged immediately rolling into a new game+. Between the skill trees, optional quest tracks, and ramped up new game+ features, there is quite a bit of room to experiment with different playstyles and ability combos. And if you want to just beat the game once, it still is succinct and gratifying.

The game is very short and the gameplay is rather limited but Boyfriend Dungeon knocks the character writing out of the park. All romanceable characters feel human and relatable, even the cat??? Even The Cat. The gameplay is really easy for a longtime gamer, but in that sense it is also accessible to a wider audience, which is phenomenal, because as a transgender woman that does trans psychology research it is deeply gratifying to see nonbinary characters done this well in a video game for the first time. Hell, in any narrative altogether! The only downer in the narrative is that while you can be polyamarous, it is rarely a thing that is brought up between lovers. You'd expect them to have more to say, or to interact with each other! In summation, the game could be longer and have more mechanical depth, but if you come for the dating sim, it is succinct and incredible.

As many have said, this game is unorthodox. Very few bosses, a shift in tone and gameplay style from the first Axiom Verge. But having played AV2 first it is still a succinct and phenomenal experience with some really clever puzzles. If you go in expecting AV1 redux, you'll almost certainly be disappointed, but this game includes many quality of life improvements over the first, while being generally more polished, more well balanced in difficulty, and with a plot that feels more professional and easier to take serious. The writing hits some divine notes in playing on sci-fi metaphysical identity distortion. If you go in expecting at face value, a good metroidvania, leaning vania, you will be blown out of the water by the game's soundtrack and atmosphere that really show strides of improvement over the first game. The first game was good, but taken by it's own merit, AV2 is a slice of the sublime.

First things first, the game is a little rough around the edges on switch, some card text doesn't align on screen and will get cut off periodically. If you're willing to put up with the odd few quirks however this game is absolutely fantastic. The game is ostensibly an extended campaign of Slay the Spire, but unlike Slay the Spire the game actually has plot and characters and enemy design that isn't developer art of shapes. The game also has a fair brunt of other RPG mechanics in it's own right too. A simple morality system, chort (demon) management, and a skill tree where almost every skill is actually an appealing and hard upgrade. But the icing on the cake is the Russian setting and folklore itself. I think some of the voice actors in English are even native Russian speakers, which adds to the effect. If you dig folklore, witches, history, or just learning about new cultures this game is like an edutainment miracle. Some things can be a little lost in translation like some riddles but you usually aren't missing out on too much if you get them wrong. The game's save system is a little busted and you can't save partial progress in a new area node so you might be replaying some dialogue but this is only every a problem if there's a difficult fight and you might die. The harder difficulty can lead to some early game boss fights feeling like they're up to chance, but once you have a little bit of a handle on your deck everything feels more like a well oiled machine. At the end of the day, the few flaws are far outweighed by how utterly fascinating this game is. Edit: I've now beaten the game and it is a roller coaster in the best way. You will hit a point where your decks start becoming exponentially powerful but the game will still present formidable foes. It is a damn shame there is no new game plus because by the time you reach the end you can start doing very silly but gratifying things with your deck builds.

Don't get me wrong, this game isn't bad, but it pales compared to something like Hades. Also as a **** woman with clinical depression I'd expect to resonate more with the plot, but the story is relatively shallow and if you play on a hard difficulty you'll probably max out your social bonds relatively quick leaving you nothing else to do with these NPCs for the rest of the duration of the game. It is a really gamified social system that isn't really immersive. The saving grace here is that the gameplay is actually rather good, and it has really refined the rouge-lite experience with quality of life features and secret room hints that make your runs feel much more like you're in control. The only downside I have with gameplay is that for certain enemies there are sound cues to hint when to parry or dodge, but they feel too little too late. Half the time I feel like I'm being led by a false cue and just getting pounded into the dirt by the same nonunique enemy's normal attacks. It can be very irritating. If you come in expecting just a rouge-lite however and eschew any hope for a revelatory narrative about actually living with a serious chemical mental health condition you might sate yourself on the well balanced gameplay and bevy of options that all feel conditionally viable.

Update: It only gets worse, the further in the game you get the more it keeps crashing. I am at what is likely the final act and I have to repeat every fight at least once because of the constant game crashing. The Switch port is utterly miserable version of an immensely miserable game. Go play it on anything else, if you dare. It is utterly astounding the switch edition was so well received in spite of the game being this broken. I am a longtime fan of crpg and jrpgs, and don't get me wrong, this game is fun to play. The combat system is fantastic, the social skills are fun. But a looming shadow over this entire game is the absolutely miserable and edgy writing. Where Divinity: Original Sin the first had humor, 2 only brings *Multiple* sad animals begging you to kill them. Any character you probably want to bond with is going to die or betray you, typically merc'd in the first round of combat before you can act. The plot is a spiraling tragedy of mini-horror stories, the sheer amount of misery and hopelessness makes me wonder if this game was written by sociopaths. Any humor or kindness in the game is deeply insignificant compared to this relentless onslaught of abject misery. The only saving grace is enduring this game with a friend. But god help you, look elsewhere for any kind of writing, read a god damn book or anything.

Don't let looks fool you, you may be a magic little girl but this game is hard as heck, but simultaneously balanced so it isn't impossible. The soundtrack is full of haunting earworms, the gameplay is fluid but also very engaging and demanding, the story is a gradual and emotional and tragic. With themes about faith and one's own lot in life in sneaks up on you with a surprisingly deep narrative as a cherry on top. My only gripe after 6-7 hours is that the game's description oversells the non-linearity a bit, at least for the starting four or so bosses. You might feel like you're hitting more dead ends but it is large enough of a world that it still doesn't feel too railroady.

This game is really a hidden gem on the switch. If you like twists and puzzle adventures, buckle up! The surreal world is endearing and played deadpan. The spectacular and odd will become your bread and butter as you puzzle your way through a deeply emotional narrative. Some puzzles are a little unintuitive or require a bit of backtracking, but for the most part this adventure flows very consistently and leaves the door open with mysteries that entice replayability and an absolute banger of an action mini-game. Prepare to traipse a dream-like world as you throw shrimp all over the floor because you have the power to and god help me I must abuse it.

I grew up on point and click puzzle games but this game blows puzzle narratives out of the water and sets a new and high bar. The characters and dialogue are charming and intriguing, you will find yourself emotionally invested in the cast and their goings-on and conspiracies. All this laced together with a fantastically vast array of monumental ruins to explore and slowly translate down a sense of understanding from. This game despite having a decently long play time for a single run has -Immense- replayability. The game carries over your old correct translations, and the plots and events can branch and intermingle in so many ways. You might unleash the forbidden in one run or possibly facilitate a cataclysm in another, or even neither. As you make peace with your decisions there is always another on the horizon that will put you in just as intense of a hot seat. In spite of being such a "choices matter" game where your decisions are on a clock, the game is uniquely meditative in meandering around ancient ruins and sailing sky streams while making quips with your companion. If you've at all got a soft spot for anthropology or archeology this game will press your buttons, test your limits, and kick your sense of wonder wide open as you unfurl what is truly an unforgettable adventure.

This game may feel glacial at first for a game of it's type, but as you quickly accrue powers, and choose whether or not to corrupt them to far better versions it quickly becomes a very rhythmic action game where you're ripping out your huge damage combos and skills between an elegant dance of crowd control and laser evasion. The setting and story aren't as intensively thrust upon you as much as other games, but it is still a wonder to osmose absolutely beautifully animated. My only complaint may be that some of the enemy types become kind of samey, but even then you will hit plateaus of difficulty increases where something old comes back five times more nasty and with new tricks that keep you on your toes. All-in-all. Even as a polarizing metroidvania experience I strongly recommend checking it out on a rainy day. You may pleasantly surprised and then some.

This game takes a simplistic platforming gimmick and bends it to it's fullest potential. Between the very organic difficulty curve and the charming yet emotional narrative it is a masterwork of an experience. It packs the double-whammy of environmentalism with deeply human and relatable and diverse characters. Sonic the Hedgehog, go to jail and eat your heart out! The narrative peters out towards the end, yet still encapsulates a degree of absolutely haunting realism. I still need to go plant a tree or something before I feel quite right again...

This game is very swingy with a high skill ceiling. You will eat dirt like 40 times in a row before you feel a sense of flow, but when you do the game becomes a non-stop rush of action and split second risk-management. If you like hardcore action games that will test your patience but reward you extravagantly this game has your name on it.

This game is a masterwork action RPG/platformer metroid-whateveria. Despite all it's similarities to say Dark Souls or Castlevania it absolutely stands out and up on it's own merit as a deeply stylish, haunting world and narrative. PSA as well: If you have trouble with the controls, switch to the d-pad for movement. It makes all your inputs much more exacting and really helps you finesse say some of the more difficult trick platforming in the added Bloodstained content. I triple recommend the game if you've ever had a brush with hardcore faith or Catholicism in your life. As an ex-catholic it felt sublimely cathartic to experience themes all too familiar with a new coat of paint, underscoring both the grotesquely but also grace and elegance of faith. This game is perma-downloaded on my system and it has so much replayability that even after three runs I can absolutely see myself coming back on a rainy day.

This game absolutely kicks ass, however it does have some performance issues on Switch but they typically don't make the game unmanageable or put a dent on the luster that is everything else about this game. This immense eldtritch UK themed world is brimming with diversity and representation, a vast improvement over Sunless Sea. It triples down on surrealism too, metaphysical themes, body horror, all culminating in character plots and events that range from absolutely endearing to completely unearthly. The gameplay is mostly delivery and making circuits of your routes, while dipping into uncharted territory to expand your market and terror management options. By the way- the terror system is magnificently done. In tandem with the manageability of the three deities that torment you nothing feels random or overly punishing as much as it is a calculated loss. Even knowing when to cut and run from combat becomes instinctual. Your first few captains might die, but as you accrue upgrades and hit a kind of flow and receptiveness with what the game wants from you, you will quickly adapt and have much longer runs with much more wrenching conclusions. Also, mind that you have a train horn button by clicking in one of the sticks and you can just jam on that baby and it never gets old. Cue you triumphantly slicing elegantly into New Winchester's port after passing several Tacketies doing doughnuts as you pump out a sick jam on your new engine's horn.

This game is pretty spectacular. The minimalist graphics are far from off putting, in motion they are very fluid and readable. This is a very tight action game, I managed to beat it in a single evening but the game just seems to begin after one lap and indicates tons of replayability. The game is somewhere a mix between a gut wrenching Twine game and a replayable action rpg in the vein of something like Hades, with just as high a skill ceiling. The DLC/The Descent is some of the most intense action from a game I've ever had. I only got halfway through before I had to tap out but the haunting existential narrative and the intensity really left an impact on me. The only thing I can see being a double edge or a turn off is that the game is essentially always a ticking clock. You have a corruption meter that jumps up if you die or enter a super mode. It also increases gradually but consistently as you play. You're not going to have time to do a ton of backtracking in a single lap. The timer however feels pretty organic with the fast paced action combat, the entire game becomes a kind of mad dash interspersed with otherworldly vignettes and interstitial with npc dialogue. The shop keeper is a reference to Mulholland Drive's cowboy scene I think, and woof is it a gut punch to get The Cowboy'd 10/10

A cute and spooky jaunt through PS1-esque environs similar to that of altgames of the last decade. You manage liquids as a unique resource driven puzzle system. Concise and memorable, it is an excellent addition to the niche. My only gripe is for the Switch itself, you'll have to crank the brightness to see things. It blunts the atmosphere just slightly.