I've been "playing" this "game" for nearly an hour and let me tell you what it entails: start the game, get presented with a RIDICULOUSLY long an unmemorable URL to visit in order to link to the Capcom website. Then spend the rest of your life going round and round and round in endless circles on the Capcom website trying to find where you're supposed to input the stupid link code. Run out of evening, go to bed having played absolutely nothing. I've never seen anything like it in all my life: Capcom could give the DVLA, the passport office, HMRC and the NHS lessons in how to be infuriating and useless. My advice? Don't bother.
Perhaps there's a great game in here, somewhere. But I couldn't find it. What I found was a confused mess and plenty of bugs. I played it twice thinking maybe I was missing something. Maybe I have missed something, but both playthroughs ended in the exact same way. It's an ending… of sorts, I suppose. But I never got a gun (despite there being controls for a gun…), and I never got any keycards (even though there are inventory slots for keycards…), I picked up a fire extinguisher that there never seemed to be a use for, and I picked up an "AI Reconfigurator" that didn't seem to do anything no matter what I tried it on. After two attempts that have ended the same way I've given up any hope of unlocking any more of this game and have uninstalled it. There are much better games out there, don't waste your hard-earned cash on this one.
I had already played Neo Cab most of the way through on iOS via Apple Arcade first, but when it was put on offer on Switch I decided to buy it and play it all the way through on my primary gaming platform. I enjoyed Neo Cab. The Switch port was solid as a rock. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, being primarily an Interactive Fiction with graphics bolted on, but for IF fans this is worth picking up. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. It felt like the gaming was building to an impressive ending that simply failed to materialise. It might be that I need to play it again and make different decisions in order to unlock a different ending, but the ending I got wasn't at all satisfying. I may return to Neo Cab in the future to look for alternative endings that better scratch my itch, but for now I'm glad of the time I spent with this game and will be moving on to other games.
I really enjoyed this, it's an incredibly gripping game. I considered giving it a 10, but I've knocked one point off for the UI, which was quite frustrating at times and very obviously optimised for keyboard and mouse, and one point because the ending was a tad rushed and a lot of questions were left unanswered. Don't let that put you off though: The characters are all brilliant, it's full of great humour, and overall it's a very polished game. If you enjoyed the likes of Monkey Island then this, of course, will be right up your street.
Masterpiece. That's literally the only word needed to describe this stunning game. So good I bought it on Switch even though I already own it on Steam.
I found it incredibly difficult to rate this game. I played it because I had previously played Mutazione and several reviewers of that game claimed that Kentucky Route Zero was a clear influence. I loved Mutazione so much that I paid the rather hefty price tag for Kentucky Route Zero but was ultimately disappointed to discover there's no real siilarity between the two games at all, beyond the fact that they are both essentially point & click adventures … which would be like saying that Monkey Island and Grim Fandango are similar games. They're really not. It gets even more difficult to review because, after a little while, I did start to get drawn into the game. I wanted to know more about the characters and what was happening. I was immersed, even if only for a short while. But sadly as the game went on it got more and more confusing, more and more abstract, until eventually I had literally no idea what was going on and it ultimately turned into a grind to simply reach the end. It was, however, very pretty in its own distinctive way. And the dialogue was compelling. It was just the story was so meta that my Switch nearly folded itself in half. A few other reviewers have compared Kentucky Route Zero to David Lynch's work, and I'm inclined to agree: I think that's a good comparison. If you enjoyed the likes of Rabbits, or the fever-dream inspired parts of Twin Peaks, then this game will be right up your alley. For everyone else, sadly, I'm not convinced there's very much to get excited about.
There's not much to say that hasn't already been said about BOTW: it's a beautiful game which, for the most part, plays very smoothly, and is generally just great fun. As I picked my way through the 140+ hours I invested into this game I imagined I would leave the game with a score of around 5-7. My main complaint was with the controls, they just never really gelled for me. But as I got to the 50+ hours mark it started to be less painful to play, and by the time I was 100+ hours in I was in love with it, in spite of the controls. At the beginning of the game I was frustrated that it seemed as if every single character in the game was much stronger than Link. I was burning through my resources staying alive in even the most basic of fights. And it was impossible to find enough arrows! Every NPC I met would talk at length about how Link was a great hero and only he had the strength to wield the master sword, yet even the smallest enemies would murder me with just a couple of hits! But all of these things improve if you persevere. What I found very frustrating was the fact that, at times, it wasn't clear what was needed in order to progress and often I had to look things up. If I have to look things up then the game's failed to communicate its ideas properly. And some things that you need to do regularly, like cooking, aren't done in a way that allows you to work in bulk to get the job done quickly so that you can return to gaming… it can be a boring process cooking meals so that you don't die in the middle of your next battle! While I loved exploring the large open world and getting quests, the main storyline was actually a bit boring. Music was, in places, very good. But in most places, listening to the same few tracks for 140 hours got somewhat tedious. Voice acting was good for some characters, but not great for Zelda herself. As the principle character and the character with the most lines I honestly expected better. While there was evidence that the designers had tried to make Zelda a stronger character in this game, rather than just a damsel in distress, they didn't really succeed. She has her moments, but ultimately, at its core, this is really just another game about a bloke fighting a dragon (of sorts) to retrieve a princess from a castle. I'd have loved to have seen something new and original here. Still, it didn't feel like a waste of time, I just felt like the main storyline could have been so much stronger. So my verdict is that this is a game that takes a while to get into, for me at least, but it's worth sticking with to the bitter end as I thoroughly enjoyed the game in the end and was glad I invested the time. It just took a lot of frustrating hours to get to that point!
I absolutely adore this game. If you like adventure games, and if you like coming of age tales, stories with fun and quirky characters, a pretty cartoony art style, and soap opera plots intertwined through the game… then Mutazione is for you. If I had read the synopsis and seen "soap opera" mentioned, I might not have bothered with the game, but it really works. The characters draw you in, and I became very engaged in their stories. It's a nice relaxing experience which didn't tax me, but was a fantastic way to unwind and relax in the evenings. I love this game so much I intend to purchase it for the Nintendo Switch and replay it there, just because. And I'm now always on the look out for other similar games.
Nice chilled out game. Reminded me at times of The Stanley Parable, and some of the puzzles were reminiscent of Portal. One "puzzle" was a bit of a joke, and involved "looking" with the camera in a particular direction. It was so obtuse I had to look up the solution. But apart from that one ridiculous moment everything was pretty clear. My only real criticism would be that it was a little slow. All in all though I would recommend this game, it was a pleasurable (if short) game which I may very well return to in the future to try and collect the achievements I didn't acquire on the first play through.
It's not a bad game, but there are so many things I personally want to fix. The movement of the character is so slow and sluggish it borders on excruciating. The "speech" sound effects actually made me take my headphones out on several occasions as they were so unpleasant to listen to. On the other hand the scenery is gorgeously drawn. But this is a game that's all about the sory. One or two of the characters are very believable, sure, but as someone who lived a childhood that was very similar to Lydia's it honestly felt shallow and lacking. What other people see as deep and clever writing I saw as, honestly, lacking in the real complexity of a childhood **** by the issues explored in this game. My childhood and my complicated relationship with my mother is a story I've wanted to tell for many years, but it's too raw to really try to explain to an audience with no understanding of the issues and what it's really like to live that life, the traumas it causes, the ongoing suffering that covers generations to come, and that is ultimately rooted in the generation that came BEFORE my mother. It's all very complicated and it's not easy to point a finger of blame, which is the trap this game falls into. Lydia, as a game, tried to simply sum up a very complex and difficult set of circumstances with a simple explanation that doesn't exist in the real world. I don't regret playing the game, but it wasn't what I had hoped it would be: messy, complicated, and something that I could show to other people and say, "yeah, that was what I lived through as a kid. If you wanna understand me play this game." It just lacks the depth. One day, perhaps someone will create a game that can really explore the issue with enough depth to really help others understand the reality of many children all around the world growing up in these kinds of households. But sadly this game doesn't quite get there.
It's a nice little game, but not a patch on A Monster's Expedition. I felt the controls were a little awkward at times, but I could live with it, and the music was somewhat lacking. The puzzles were challenging but not too hard, I never felt an urge to look up any solutions online. My main criticism of this game, however, would have to be its length. I got to the gate and expected the next level to load… nope. That was the end. It honestly felt too short (maybe an hour and a half of gaming) for the £4.80 I paid on sale. At its usual price of £7.39 I'd have felt like I'd been ripped off. So all in all it's a great puzzle game for a couple of quid, but I feel like there's insufficient content in this game to justify its price tag.
Great graphics and level design, great voice acting, great music, some very challenging puzzles… Highly recommended to Portal fans. Clearly this was inspired by Portal, yes, but is that really such a bad thing? It feels, almost, like a prequel to the Portal games, before the portal gun was invented. Here you use a gun that can move energy orbs around to activate and deactivate equipment to solve puzzles. As with Portal there's a story to explain all of this enforced puzzle-solving, and the development team clearly worked very hard to create a compelling story based on The Trolley Problem. You may find yourself agreeing with either side: the AI or the humans. One or two puzzles were strange though. One level I managed to bypass about 75% of and go straight to the end. I'm not convinced my solution was the one the designers had in mind, but it seemed the most obvious solution to me. Another level appeared to be impossible, but was ultimately solved by lobbing a cube across the level and just hoping it would land on a pressure plate. After about 5 attempts it worked. Inelegant, but it worked. I could see literally no other solution, but if that is the correct solution then I feel that is a very poorly designed level. Still none of that detracted from my overall enjoyment of the game. The final puzzle was, in my opinion, ingenius. It took me longer than it should have done to see the solution but when I did I was blown away, both from a puzzle design perspective AND from a narrative perspective. There were also one or two side-puzzles I didn't manage to complete which I will have to return to in the future. Overall a fantastic game and I would thoroughly recommend it to any puzzle genre fans.
One of the most enjoyable games I've played in a while. This is a game that can be enjoyed by all ages. It's funny, it's silly, it's fun, it has lovely reactive music. My only criticism would be with the length of the game relative to its price tag. I loved the short self-contained story and the final todo list item was very funny, so I wouldn't necessarily want to see the game dragged out. But perhaps the game needs second and third chapters in different settings? Regardless, I loved the few hours I spent playing this game. Having got it on a physical cartridge I can lend it to my wife so that she too can enjoy it, and I will undoubtedly return to it in the future for more goosey hilarity.
It's a short game and it will only really appeal to those of us who love narratives and/or interactive fiction. If you're looking at this game because you loved Thomas Was Alone and want more of the same then you will be disappointed, it bears no resemblance. I enjoyed the game although the first half wasn't the most gripping. It gets steadily more interesting as it goes on, however, and the ending was quite a surprise and well worth the wait. While there are multiple endings I see little point in replaying for them as the endings don't appear to really affect anything: the game ends immediately after you make an important decision without showing the consequences of that decision. Which is a shame as it would have been nice to see the outcome, but it would have meant breaking from the single-setting format that the game sticks to all the way throughout. So if I do play again it would probably be in a year or two when I can't clearly remember how the game played out. Great artwork and great audio, a really nice game to unwind to, but is closer to an interactive fiction than anything else and will therefore appeal to a niche audience. If you're in that niche you will love this game.
Nice game, with nice music and for the most part strong voice acting considering the voice actors presumably don't speak English as their first language. It's an interesting premise but I thought it could have been done better, it comes across a tiny bit cringey in places. Similarly the game presents itself more like a children's adventure puzzle platformer, but then throws swearing and adult themes which left me slightly confused as to who exactly the target demographic for this game was intended to be. There are some very annoying frame rate issues that really need addressing, which come later in the game. They spoiled the gameplay towards the end when the difficulty ramps up slightly. Most of the difficulty for me came from the unpredictable frame rate. That said I enjoyed my time playing this game and for £1.97 on sale I certainly feel like I got my money's worth.
This game is an absolute joy. For the first ten minutes or so I thought I had made a mistake as I wasn't liking the characters much, but I soon got into it as the plot was so good. The story is amazing, the music is amazing, the voice acting is great, and the art style is nice. Minor criticisms would include the music being slightly too loud and the dialogue slightly too quiet, and the speed at which the character moves being very slow. But everything else in the game more than makes up for it. I got this on offer and feel like I got a bargain.
Simply put, this is the most amazing game you've never heard of. I don't understand how this game isn't renowned and seen as one of the great classic games that everyone knows and has played. I found it entirely by accident during a Nintendo eStore sale, and so tried the demo. At the end of the demo I immediately purchased the game and had zero regrets. This game boasts great graphics, sound design, world/level design, animation, controls, and non-verbal story. Hob lives in a stunning world of mystery, danger, and adventure. Initially the world is relatively small, but as the game progresses you will help rebuild the world, rid it of its pestilence, unlock secrets, collect items and level up your character to better fight the world's many enemies. The combat difficulty, in my opinion, is perfect for a game of this ilk. But if you want an easier or harder game there are difficulty settings in the options. Death in this game usually means simply going back to the last waypoint shrine, so it's not too punishing. This is the kind of game I can happily play for hours at a time without feeling burnt out by the experience. Perfect for unwinding after a long day. Most of the difficulty comes from trying to work out what to do next, or how to achieve the thing you need to do next. The game doesn't have any human dialogue at all, so you will have to guess from character animations what's required. And there are "quests" marked on your world map which can help to nudge you in the right direction, but they serve as little more than hints. Expect to spend a lot of time looking around for the switch, door or ladder you missed. It gets easier as the game goes on and you become more familiar with the world design. One or two people have remarked that the Switch lacks sufficient grunt to play this game. This may very well be true, there were places where the console was struggling. But those moments weren't regular and I never felt like it impacted on my enjoyment of the game. So if you happen to have a device with more power then you might prefer to play this game on that instead. But if you, like me, use your Switch as your primary gaming device then this game is a fantastic addition to your collection.
Something of a "Hello, world!" Unity project… Incredibly basic animations and controls. No health bar: if anything touches you you're dead and have to restart the level. If you fall off a platform you're dead and have to restart the level. For some reason the "coins" ($ signs) disappear half the time before you can collect them. If you die and have to restart the screen contains non-localised text; I'm not certain which language. The art style is exceptionally simple, like something doodled in a the back of a kid's school book. After a while all of the white and black gets to be a bit too much. Sounds are very repetitive. Music is three or four notes in 4 bars repeated over and over: do not unmute! This game feels very homebrew. If it had been free I might have given it a slightly higher score, but not by much. I only paid £0.49, reduced from £8.99. Everything about this game suggests it was made by a kid in their bedroom, and I don't want to dishearten the developer, but after just a couple of levels I honestly just wanted out of the game. Keep practicing and I'm sure you can create something engaging. But you're going to need to improve the controls, the animations, the art, and the sound.
What an absolutely stunning game. It's light on gameplay elements, but it's so rich in story and art that it **** me right in. It might not be everybody's cup of tea: you probably need to be a fan of narrative driven games. The lack of a run feature might upset some players too, but it's not a long game so it should hardly be a huge problem. If you're umming and ahhing over it then just give it a go. The creativity in this game is astounding. Highly recommended.
This is one of the most difficult games I've had to review! The game itself can't be directly compared with bigger budget studio-made games, as it's a one-man creative team: that one person could create such a deep game is truly impressive. But it would be unfair to compare it to bigger budget, built-by-a-team games. And yet it's tempting to do so since it's really not far off being something you could imagine a team creating. What I'm trying to say is it's a great game for one person to create on their own, but would be a rather mediocre offering from a studio, so I have mixed feelings about it. This is a "bildungsroman" (coming-of-age) walking simulator/point-and-click adventure game where your choices matter. Not that there are any right or wrong choices, but choices that affect what happens in the story. There are one or two minor puzzles along the way but nothing too taxing. I played on a large screen but I think it should work fine as a handheld game too. The low-poly art style, while not mind-blowing, is impressive for a one-person game. There's some nice music in there too, also created by the developer. I'd have liked just a little more variety in the music though… in places it got repetitive. The story is great in a number of places, but very slow and drawn out in other places. Most of the beginning of the game, for example, could have been cut and filled in as dialogue-based exposition, or perhaps a series of flashbacks during the game's opening titles, at no cost to the overall game/story. I felt like the story didn't really get going in fact until about half way through the game; a less tenacious player might give up before then. But it's worth persisting with, in my opinion, as there are definitely some very touching and enjoyable moments in there and the momentum does gather in the third act. It reminded me a lot of Mutazione which features a somewhat similar plot (main character travels to a remote island of misfits due to an unwell grandfather), has similar themes (teenage angst, love, friendship, camaraderie, coming of age, magic…) and gaming style (point and click adventure). Controls were a little awkward in places. Not unplayable by any means, just a little bit clunky at times. I found it frustrating that the camera angle changes regularly so "right" would suddenly change to mean "up" or even, in a couple of places, "left". This meant sometimes I would run off one screen to another, only to about turn and run straight back to where I had just come from. Frustrating! But it was never bad enough to turn me off the game. There were a couple of typos and slightly "lost in translation" moments in the text, but the gist was obvious at all times so not a major problem. And I encountered a small bug in the character movement during one scene which held me up for a few moments but ultimately managed to work around. So overall it's an interesting game and I don't regret the money I paid. I love unique indie games and this was definitely a worthwhile play. In the future I will definitely be revisiting the island of Slepp in the future to see what the outcome of making different decisions might be. I definitely recommend this game to fans of the genre, but please go into it with appropriate expectations given it's made by only a single person!
It's very short, but the flight feels so nice and natural, and with such a lovely low-poly minimalist art style and sweet music, it's difficult not to love this. I just wish there was a lot more of it. I got it very cheap in a sale, but would happily pay more for some more content. Maybe Daedalic should consider creating some DLC to add more adventures to the game or something?
A solid game from Playdead, bested only by Inside. Short and sweet, with great graphics and controls. However, be warned that it can be rage inducing in places, especially towards the end of the game. I wasn't a huge fan of the game mechanic of the brain worms — which prevent the character from changing direction — but they don't spoil the game. For a game from 2011 (10 years old at the time of writing) Limbo still looks great. Not as great as Inside, sure, but still well worth playing. Story is a bit thin here, but it has a few nice little teasers along the way that will give you enough hints to form your own opinions. I'd definitely recommend playing if you haven't done already. Or even if it's just been a long while.
This game is somewhat reminiscent of that devastating scene in Up! where the main character's life plays out in a short montage. Here the story is played out over the duration of the (somewhat short) game. You will learn all about this old man and his life, against a backdrop of beautifully drawn and animated art and sound design. But the gameplay itself is somewhat uninspiring: the game was clearly developed for mobile/tablet screens rather than consoles, and little to nothing was done to make it translate to its new home on a console. Having the Switch's touchscreen is useful here, but then of course you are forced to play on the smaller screen. I preferred playing on a larger screen and so had to use a controller which was very awkward. The puzzles weren't especially challenging, apart from in one or two places where it wasn't at all clear what needed to happen. I still enjoyed the game though and glad I got to share this old man's journey. I don't see myself playing it again though.
All out mad arcade-style racing game. It took a little getting used to at first, but I loved the open-world approach to the racing genre. It has a great soundtrack, the feeling of speed you get in the vehicles is thrilling, and there are many fun game styles included. Going online and being able to set records on global high-score tables is also a nice little touch. I was slightly frustrated with the way the AI works during races though. In some game modes the AI attacks you as you race. But the slightest tap can send you flying in what feels like an unfair fight. Another irritation is slow-downs in the otherwise glorious frame-rate, when there is a lot of debris happening: a car will crash in front of you throwing up bits of wrecked car and smoke, which slows the frame rate to almost nothing, resulting in you ploughing straight into a pillar or an oncoming vehicle. That said I have sunk many happy hours into tearing up the streets of Paradise City and "ruling the road." If you enjoy all out crazy arcade racing games then I'm confident you'll enjoy this.
Funny, cute, charming, relaxing… this game is easy to pick up and play, and the storyline is silly and thoroughly enjoyable. It has a wealth of great characters and great dialogue. It's easy enough that any member of the family can play, but the story will engage all ages. Your Switch is incomplete without this game!
I loved this game. Plays best with a Pro Controller and a screen attached. It took me a little while to get started, but once I got into it I was hooked and couldn't put it down until the credits rolled at the end. Having completed it as Mordecai I plan to revisit the game and try some of the other playable characters, but I will probably move onto Borderlands 2 first. The game runs smooth with a unique cell-shaded look. The Switch's motion controls lend themselves well here and for the most part the game feels responsive. The available weapons and RPG-style levelling make for great gameplay. Sound design was flawless. The various enemies the game throws at the player made my flesh crawl, and so blowing their heads off was incredibly satisfying. The game felt challenging, but not impossible, throughout. And while the story was minimal it still drew me in. I highly recommend this and will definitely be playing the various sequels.
There are few games that I have sunk more hours into than Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It **** you in and compells you to return day after day. It's a solid game, as you would expect, from Nintendo. There is a wealth of things to do each day, although earlier in the game it limits you a little — probably to stop it **** away your entire life — and once you've completed the main story arc there is still plenty to do. As the game progresses the story falls away and it becomes more and more like a sandbox game. It's not perfect, of course: dialogues are lengthy and often add nothing, and the control mechanism for tools can be infuriating at times ("no don't dig that up," "put that fence back," "I didn't want to talk to them!") And as many haters have already stated endlessly, you'll really have to have one console per player in the house since all players on a console share the same island. But in spite of its flaws it's a game that makes me feel good. I will open the game in the morning to check one or two things and then, before I know it, I realise I'm an hour late for work. The online community really makes this game too. Visiting others' islands via online multiplayer is great fun and can help new players get ahead quickly, and it's amazing just how much content (characters, items, recipes, fossils, artworks, bugs, fish, characters' dialogue, etc) they've squeezed in. Well worth the cost when I look at how many hours of ejnoyment I've received from this little gem ****.
This is such a lovely little game. Heartwarming, and with a unique art style. Initially I found myself wondering what the point was, but give it a couple of hours and you will start being drawn in. The ending was gorgeous. Highly recommended.
The good: Engaging story, lovely graphics, great voice acting and character design. The bad: The game starts badly, in my opinion. The premise that catapaults the main character into this wilderness environment felt somewhat lazy and, honestly, added nothing to the story or the game. Take it out, let the player decide for themselves what the main character is running away from. On the Nintendo Switch I found there were a number of places where the game would stutter and struggle for a second or two. All of that said none of those things turned me off this game. I felt like I was living in the park, and knew all the areas the main character explores like the back of my hand. I felt like I really knew both the main character and Delilah, the ever present voice on the radio. And I would happily replay this in a year or two to refresh my memory.
This is a lovely game, about finding something is missing in your life and finding the right person to fill that gap. It's hard to believe a game about a circle with a crack in it could touch so many emotions. I was reminded somewhat of Thomas Was Alone, another outstanding game about geometric friends, although the play styles are drastically different. The controls are nice and responsive, the storyline is an emotional rollercoaster, funny, and quirky. I found the game was never too challenging, except for in one place where the player is required to dive into some water, and then bob out on the other side of an underwater shelf. This part of the game was rage inducing, and I still don't know how I managed to get past it. Other than that, however, the game was a nice relaxing and heartfelt experience.
A fairly linear narrative-based game that leads you through a mystery beginning with the cliché of the main character losing his memory, and trying to piece together what has happened to him and his family. The art style is gorgeous and the voice acting is good, and the story was engaging. In places, however, the audio mixing is very poor making it hard to hear the dialogue, and the story suffered a little from introducing mysteries that were left unresolved and simply brushed over. There were also a few flashbacks and character-changes that I found a little jarring. But the overall experience was very enjoyable and I wanted to know how it would all end. The end-game has you make an unpleasant decision which I was disappointed to find didn't really affect the actual ending. I thought that was a shame, it felt like a missed opportunity. Ultimately I very much enjoyed my time playing State of Mind and for those who like stories set in the future this is a great choice.
Stunning graphics, beautiful sound design, and a dark and compelling mysterious world with a non-verbal story that will **** you in and leave you wondering. The ending, while a little abrupt, stuck with me. I want to know more about this horrific world I just ran through, and more about the character I played and the people I saw along the way. You will come away only with questions, but the fact they remain unanswered is part of what makes this game so engaging. My one small criticism would be that the game relies heavily in a number of places on timing-based challenges: stand in the wrong place at the wrong moment, you die. But I can overlook this because there are few platformers that look and sound this beautiful. If you've not yet played, then you're in for a treat.
Unplayable due to game-breaking bugs, an appalling user interface that has clearly been lifted straight from PC with no consideration for console users, an extremely unhelpful tutorial that times out while you're following it, and things that change in hidden menus that can only be fixed during the night of the day-night cycle with little warning that they have changed. I wanted to like this game, but it's barely even at alpha quality. Save your money.
