I strongly recommend The Case of the Golden Idol. It's a challenging yet highly satisfying detective game with a simple but effective word selection mechanic reminiscent of Mad Libs. There may have been a few instances of the puzzles being a touch too hard for my liking, be that due to information tying things together being too nuanced and unclear or a couple of times when I solved something by using guesswork rather than deduction, but the vast majority of the cases I was able to reason out - even when I needed to take notes and create my own logic puzzle to solve them. Revealing the intriguing narrative about a secret society and mysterious, powerful relic with its twists was highly entertaining, as well.

What a wonderful game. Other than some subpar voice acting (and even that didn't bother me though it was noticeable), I loved everything about it. I'll admit that I had some doubts early on when I was spending nearly 3 hours in the story before really even fighting more than once, but it paid off. I treated the lengthy cut-scenes like small movies. I just turned on auto-play and sat back and enjoyed them. The story itself is a great one full of political, religious, and socioeconomic issues that all lead to this armed conflict you find yourself in the middle of. The system of having to try and convince your allies to vote for your favored next step was cool and I was totally okay losing a vote if I didn't do my job in making them see my way. The branching paths and different characters you can unlock on each one make this a game that I'm also anxious to go through again and again in NG+.

The combat is also outstanding. There may not be a ton of battles, but each one was uniquely challenging and exciting. The characters all feel different to me and offer something special, making it a ton of fun to try and cycle through them or just explore what they can do during the mental mock battles while leveling up in-between main story chapter missions. The gorgeous HD-2D graphics, the lovely sound design, the animated effects on attacks and spells... I loved everything and found myself so immersed in this world. There's something special about a tactics RPG that limits your number of fights in order to have you gain the feeling of true success from beating each one, instead of just spamming the same button attacks over and over to grind out levels in more traditional turn-based JRPGs. I'm so glad this genre seems to be having a revival and I hope that it never dies.

So glad that I discovered this series of games, which are pretty obscure titles that no one else I know has even heard of. As a huge fan of turn-based combat and card games and RPGs, this just hit the spot in a unique way. The characters were charming, the story was interesting, the combat is a blast, and I appreciate the relative ease of the game as well, honestly. It's got a fantastic, calming, breezy score and I just got a lot of joy out of spending time playing through it without having to stress at all. I'm excited to play through the other two games and experience their different worlds.

I am not a high-skill gamer so this is the very first Souls-like game that I've ever beaten. I can honestly say that it's a game unlike anything I have played before and it just continually surprised me with how much joy it brought me, even through the struggles. In a lot of ways, Elden Ring may have ruined open-world games for me because this so perfectly perfects the formula. If this game had a more approachable story and lore, it very well might have been my favorite of all-time. This experience has been amazing and I can't wait to keep going, knock out some of these difficult optional bosses, and start up a NG+ run to try out other builds.

Wowwwwwwwwww. This was not what I expected. The game is so much more than a walking sim. It tells an emotional and riveting story using many different gameplay styles. I was as immersed and impressed with the artistry as I have been with a game in a long time. Truly a one of
kind, masterfully crafted experience that I can't wait to enjoy several more times as I dig further into the mysteries of the Finch Family and try to better understand what happened. Big bonus points, too, for being set right here locally just outside of Seattle where I live!

I loved the unique merger of action roguelite and city management, The cutesy presentation of its very evil/dark/occult story led to a really interesting engagement for me with the game. If this game had been using humans characters and not cartoony animals, it would have been a completely different and likely spirit-stirring experience. But instead, I laughed more than anything and despite the terrible things I had to do to my followers at times in service of the greater good, I did grow to care about many of them. The art and score are just so charming. I also really dug that the game was never too difficult and had exceptional pacing, pushing you into the dungeons on your crusade or back into your town for managerial duties with perfect balance. And maybe the best thing about this hybrid formula is that unlike many games it evolved from, it has an ending! We did a lot, and aren't too far from achieving the Platinum trophy, and it only took us 16 hours. With all the games out there that sell themselves on having near endless content or major end game/NG+, this tight little weekend-long ride was all the better.

Shockingly great debut for INTERIOR/NIGHT that breathes some welcome life into the interactive drama game genre that Quantic Dream, Telltale, and Supermassive have been crafting stories in for some time. The depth of the in-chapter branching paths is incredible and inspires multiple playthroughs to see what could go differently. Despite some clear paths merging in the end, which is very normal for this genre as you can only create so many alternate possibilities without the scope of a game like this ballooning out of control, I still felt there were plenty of end-result options to be achieved and it left me very curious (and pretty proud of our first go results where we kept everyone alive).

The characters are well-developed for the most part. I wasn't a huge fan of the voice acting for all of them, though. Sometimes they came off as amateurish, but that could also partially be due to the fact that they are not speaking with lips moving but narrating over the unique art style. At times, I really dug the beautiful still backgrounds and hand-drawn characters that shifted from one to another but weren't actually animated, but at times it was incredibly off-putting and distracting from the situations as they almost felt like they left streaks across the screen as the images changed. It's ambitious for sure and not having any movement added a sense of weight to the choices we make, which is the only gameplay outside of QTEs.

The biggest praise for the characters that we ultimately felt very close to some of them, so much so that at times we'd freeze unable to make a critical choice for 5 minutes or so because we just didn't know what option we wanted to go with. That is a testament to how we subtly become attached to them through the really cool Coen Brothers-esque story. It's like a prestigious HBO Max crime drama that this film critic absolutely was sucked deep into. And that's also why it ending with several loose ends and on a major cliffhanger was a bit unsatisfying. Since there is no sequel announced for this, it felt like we got an incomplete story, and one that I really wanted the full details of.

All things considered this is just a stellar new entry into this genre and I am excited to see what INTERIOR/NIGHT does next.

I only play the campaigns, and while this wasn't the best told story, the setting and characters were still extremely solid. I really grew to care for Ethan (especially) and my entire crew, and there's an authenticity to the way these people approach mission success. Sometimes, it costs nearly everything. I also really appreciate the final messages home of those I lost during the credits. That was very unique and meaningful. Peace to the Fallen.

As for the gameplay, I think this particular entry was a really cool twist on the normal formula. The electric/shock ability of the weapons and facing off against bots that you can hack was a really fun addition, as were the Jackal space dog-fighting missions. The gunplay and even light stealth felt great to me, and I'll always be happy when a game gives me drones. I play these campaigns for fast-paced and energetic action with high production value. Just like the other modern Call of Duty series entries, this did not disappoint.

I'm not really a big fan of beat 'em ups, particularly. I enjoy them occasionally, but don't seek them out. Shredder's Revenge, though, has me reconsidering that strategy, because this was some of the most fun gaming I've had in a long time.

The throwback nature of this is done so well. Each character feels unique and has their own move set that suits them. Multiplayer allows up to six (!?) at a time and works seamlessly. Our co-op Story Mode playthrough with full completion of collectible (GO US) took just under three hours, so the game goes quickly. A follow-up two-person run through Arcade Mode took only two hours. One of the achievements/trophies for the game requires that you finish it with each of the seven playable characters, and I'm thrilled because that encourages more times through it and at this point I cannot imagine getting bored.

There is sooooo much love and care put into this. Its kept simple enough that everything stays super tight and it retains the feel those of us who spent rolls of quarters playing Turtles in Time at a shopping mall arcade remember so well. Oh and the music is absolutely banging! This is a complete package in every way and I am so thankful it exists.

Absolutely fantastic storytelling. Supermassive Games continues to improve upon this formula, and it resulted in a compelling and exciting tale with some fun twists and turns. The lack of reliance on solely QTEs is welcome. They matter, yes, but so do the character relationships. How they interact with each other can affect their mental state and therefore later actions. It's absolutely brilliant and makes for what will surely be the best replay value yet in one of their games. The moment we finished we wanted to go back in and start making choices that would help us fill in the gaps.

It also features gorgeous looking environments. Shadows, light rays, and landscapes look great. Characters look better in cut scenes than when you're in control. The hair doesn't move dynamically and some of their movements can be really stiff and blocky. There is also texture popping occasionally and we had some weird glitch three or four times where a single line of dialogue would suddenly be shown via subtitle out of nowhere. The lack of this polish didn't affect our enjoyment, but it was noticeable and worth mentioning.

The other thing that sort of brings this game down a bit is the ending we received. It is partially due to who we got killed (and how many), but there doesn't seem to be a wrap up or conclusion cinematically like Until Dawn provided and that is a real bummer. We felt like we wanted closure that wasn't there. Crossing my fingers that upon further playthroughs this is something that is better provided, but I'm worried it might not be. Still, between Until Dawn and The Quarry, Supermassive Games has shown they have the ability to make a masterpiece once they put all of the right pieces together into one game. I CANNOT WAIT to play that when they do.

What a stunner of a game. Pound for pound, one of the best third-person action games that I've ever played. I love the blend of action-based combat with a badass arsenal of weapons, the use of a dodge mechanic, and the survival horror sections. The story is great, too, and being chased down by Nemesis (who provides some gnarly encounters) while trying to do something seemingly simple like just get out of a city provides wonderful tension. Jill is my girl. Major crush on her, and I love the relationship that grows between her and Carlos along the way. Graphically the game is incredible and the way in which it ties into RE 2 Remake and has you revisiting some of those sections was brilliantly done, as was the cinematic recreation of a memorable final boss battle.

Yes, it's short at 6.5 hours long, and I would have loved to play a much longer version of this game. But I'm not reviewing the cost of the game so that doesn't factor in here. This is a standout in the series and it's going to be hard for anything other than a remake of RE 4 to top!

This is actually my second playthrough of Undertale, my first being on PC many years ago. This time I wanted to get the Platinum trophy on PlayStation. I remembered this game very, very fondly. But my gosh... what a letdown!!!!

The things I like most about it, I still find to be incredibly strong. The unique way in which combat is conducted is a joy with so much variety and it makes random encounters something I look forward to versus dreading. I also like the overall vision of deconstructing the typical RPG story and its many tropes, and the music is quite good (though nowhere near the level of praise that I feel many give it).

What really frustrated me this time around, however, was the writing. This simply is not my style. I could handle the quirkiness of the first act with Sans and Papyrus and their joking, but as the game progresses it literally felt like growing nails on a chalkboard to me. By the time we meet Dr. Alphys and the game starts literally stopping you from moving every two seconds to show you a freaking fake social media post or read a text or receive a phone call, I legitimately wanted to throw my controller through the television. The silliness of this all I may not have enjoyed, but the game has egregious pacing issues in its final act. It's tough to care and have the emotional reaction that the story intends when there's so much silliness and stupidity in characters on display and so much blocking of your forward momentum by just bombarding you with endless ridiculous dialogue.

I am quite literally shocked that outlets would even dare list this as a top 20 game of all-time. It's ambitious, and it deserves a ton of credit for that. But there are so many flaws (like the ugly artwork, too) that people must just be overlooking because it's "different". Well, not me. Not this time.