Casinocaster
Gorgeous hidden gem. The animations and pixel art are the best I have seen in a long while: neat, expressive and evocative. As the stories twist and get darker, the immersion increases. A game a couple of hours long moved me more than all the AAAs I was waiting for this year.
2016
Some of the best audio design out there. A game that efficiently capitalizes on being aware of itself: its ultraviolence and rhythm translate perfectly into the game mechanics. Clearly I don't need to keep writing but let me just add that SnapMap is an incredibly smooth and user-friendly tool, the icing on the cake for an instant classic.
This review contains spoilers
If you haven't played Outer Wilds you should stop reading immediately and start playing. I couldn't start my review any other way.
Echoes of the Eye expands the original experience with a more somber tone. While the theme of the base game could be the love for life and discovery and treasuring the friends we make along the way, this DLC focuses more on tragic decisions and how to move on after them. New brilliant mechanics are introduced, which helped me get engrossed in exploration really fast. Once again I finished the game with a vast array of unforgettable moments. I recommend it to basically all audiences, but there is a big but: even if I enjoyed them, it is absolutely understandable that many people will find some parts really blocking or unappealing. After all not everybody likes playing Amnesia, and it felt quite weird that Mobius forced everyone to go through that, even with the watered down scare settings.
Also the Tubular achievement is incredibly badly designed, holy shit that frustrated me. Go for Hotshot, it is way more fun.
Echoes of the Eye expands the original experience with a more somber tone. While the theme of the base game could be the love for life and discovery and treasuring the friends we make along the way, this DLC focuses more on tragic decisions and how to move on after them. New brilliant mechanics are introduced, which helped me get engrossed in exploration really fast. Once again I finished the game with a vast array of unforgettable moments. I recommend it to basically all audiences, but there is a big but: even if I enjoyed them, it is absolutely understandable that many people will find some parts really blocking or unappealing. After all not everybody likes playing Amnesia, and it felt quite weird that Mobius forced everyone to go through that, even with the watered down scare settings.
Also the Tubular achievement is incredibly badly designed, holy shit that frustrated me. Go for Hotshot, it is way more fun.
2018
The process of learning the game loop is amazing. It is confusing, but that is exactly what the narrative justifies. Atmosphere is crafted with excellent care, I would say that is the best part; playing an entire game of Cultist Simulator makes me forget about the world and focus on the Mansus and the weighty implications of my esoteric efforts. However, I think that is precisely its weakest point: the hook is too powerful. When you get to "the zone" and lose track of time, you realise most of what you did in the hours you spent is trying to beat the timed restrictions, while progressing very little. I would recommend trying to beat at least one game, but spending more time than that on the game is really demanding.
2016
I wanted to "get ready" for Inscryption and finally tackled Pony Island, which had been sitting on my backlog for years. This is 100% my shit. It has the perfect balance between light and disturbing, and the most meta twists (you probably know what I mean) made a lot of impact on me.
I am a complete foreigner to this genre so I don't probably follow the standards of most people writing reviews here, but I have to say I had an amazing night playing this with my friends. I don't remember laughing like this with a multiplayer game since Mario Party. Full of jumpscares, of course.