Dirk_McThermot
2024
It took an hour before this game started to really click for me, but now I find myself humming the theme song and imagining what my next run will be like throughout each day. It has a low barrier to entry, just the right mix of luck and strategy, and it's extremely easy to pick up and play for a short while to fill in gaps in your daily routine (but you may also be hooked on it for hours at a time). It doesn't require a huge time commitment; even completing a successful run from start to finish doesn't take very long. This also means that when you lose a run, it doesn't feel particularly demoralizing - in fact, it makes you more likely to press "new run" to get back into it immediately!
(My rating is 4 stars for now, but it may increase as I continue playing.)
(My rating is 4 stars for now, but it may increase as I continue playing.)
Episode 1: Number One Fan
This was my least favorite of the three episodes. It's basically nothing but humor interspersed with some combat encounters. Rose is definitely a fun character though, and her weapon reloading quips are adorable. Matthew Poretta's presence is also a very welcome addition as the evil twin brother of The Writer and he gave me several good laughs.
Episode 2: North Star
When the trailer for this DLC dropped, I was stunned to see that we'd be playing as Jesse Faden! This episode is an improvement over the previous one for several reasons, including the obvious Control connections. Alan Wake 2 continues to evolve into sort of a sequel to other Remedy titles with this. Speaking of...
Episode 3: Time Breaker
My boy Tim Breaker finally gets his deserved time in the spotlight. This is easily my favorite episode. It gives us SO MANY juicy lore implications to chew on. There are at least a couple segments that involve no gameplay, yet manage to be incredibly effective at conveying the tone and story. This episode stands significantly higher than the others, and it bumps up my rating by a half star. I really hope we get to see more of Shawn Ashmore in this multiverse.
Leave it to Remedy - or rather, Poison Pill? - to give us so many new threads, clues, and questions about the overall meaning of their body of work. I'm left scratching my head about a few things, but honestly I'm totally okay with that.
This was my least favorite of the three episodes. It's basically nothing but humor interspersed with some combat encounters. Rose is definitely a fun character though, and her weapon reloading quips are adorable. Matthew Poretta's presence is also a very welcome addition as the evil twin brother of The Writer and he gave me several good laughs.
Episode 2: North Star
When the trailer for this DLC dropped, I was stunned to see that we'd be playing as Jesse Faden! This episode is an improvement over the previous one for several reasons, including the obvious Control connections. Alan Wake 2 continues to evolve into sort of a sequel to other Remedy titles with this. Speaking of...
Episode 3: Time Breaker
My boy Tim Breaker finally gets his deserved time in the spotlight. This is easily my favorite episode. It gives us SO MANY juicy lore implications to chew on. There are at least a couple segments that involve no gameplay, yet manage to be incredibly effective at conveying the tone and story. This episode stands significantly higher than the others, and it bumps up my rating by a half star. I really hope we get to see more of Shawn Ashmore in this multiverse.
Leave it to Remedy - or rather, Poison Pill? - to give us so many new threads, clues, and questions about the overall meaning of their body of work. I'm left scratching my head about a few things, but honestly I'm totally okay with that.
2022
I hate to be in the minority of people on this planet who don't absolutely fawn over this game, but it's just not for me. I'm not big on management sims, and the subgenre of "video games that have a lot of minigames packed into them" never interested me. I was really enjoying it for the first 10 or so hours, but it fell off hard for me after that. I wasn't able to finish the main story before becoming bored.
With all that said, this game certainly has a lot of heart and soul, especially in the character design and animations. And I can see why lots of people really like it. So you should probably just ignore me in this sea of thumbs-up reviews. I'm the one out of ten dentists who doesn't recommend your favorite toothpaste.
(I don't usually rate games that I abandon, but considering I put over 20 hours into it and got pretty close to the end, I felt that this was justified.)
With all that said, this game certainly has a lot of heart and soul, especially in the character design and animations. And I can see why lots of people really like it. So you should probably just ignore me in this sea of thumbs-up reviews. I'm the one out of ten dentists who doesn't recommend your favorite toothpaste.
(I don't usually rate games that I abandon, but considering I put over 20 hours into it and got pretty close to the end, I felt that this was justified.)
2022
Sam Barlow does it again. And by that I mean he presents a very unique, memorable experience that has many excellent aspects to it but is frustratingly held back by a few utterly horrible aspects.
The cardinal sin of this game is that the gameplay starts and ends with you randomly clicking on items and characters in hopes that you get a new scene, along with scrubbing some clips in reverse, forward, reverse again. For the first several hours, it's actually really easy to get new scenes, and this isn't a big deal. But after a certain point, it gets MUCH harder. You have to start going back through footage you've already seen a dozen times and blindly clicking every object you didn't think to click earlier. I can actually forgive the bizarre UI because it does add something of a nice touch to the immersion, but the core "gameplay" becomes severely frustrating the longer you stick with it. Immortality is really all about its story-beneath-the-story, so I would love it if the game actually let me see the damn thing without forcing me to throw ♥♥♥♥ at the wall and hope it sticks.
And yet, for those first several hours...I was really enjoying this! I firmly believe this is Sam Barlow's best game overall. The acting and cinematography are great. The secret clips make the game way more creepy and intriguing as soon as you hit your first one. The game had me sticking to my screen for hours, clicking and scrubbing like a madman just to keep finding more clips! Honestly I'll keep buying and playing Barlow's games because they're always challenging in several ways (some good, some bad). But the important thing is that no one else is making games like these, and that's great for games as art.
My recommended method of playing this interactive movie is to find as many clips as you can, find as many secret clips as you can (the game helps you find at least a few of them quite well), see the ending (which is possible only if you find enough secrets), and then go on YouTube to watch all the other secret clips you missed. That way, you get the meat and potatoes of the experience and also minimize the frustration that comes with the endgame.
(This would have been 3.5 stars were it not for the awful repetition in the last few hours.)
The cardinal sin of this game is that the gameplay starts and ends with you randomly clicking on items and characters in hopes that you get a new scene, along with scrubbing some clips in reverse, forward, reverse again. For the first several hours, it's actually really easy to get new scenes, and this isn't a big deal. But after a certain point, it gets MUCH harder. You have to start going back through footage you've already seen a dozen times and blindly clicking every object you didn't think to click earlier. I can actually forgive the bizarre UI because it does add something of a nice touch to the immersion, but the core "gameplay" becomes severely frustrating the longer you stick with it. Immortality is really all about its story-beneath-the-story, so I would love it if the game actually let me see the damn thing without forcing me to throw ♥♥♥♥ at the wall and hope it sticks.
And yet, for those first several hours...I was really enjoying this! I firmly believe this is Sam Barlow's best game overall. The acting and cinematography are great. The secret clips make the game way more creepy and intriguing as soon as you hit your first one. The game had me sticking to my screen for hours, clicking and scrubbing like a madman just to keep finding more clips! Honestly I'll keep buying and playing Barlow's games because they're always challenging in several ways (some good, some bad). But the important thing is that no one else is making games like these, and that's great for games as art.
My recommended method of playing this interactive movie is to find as many clips as you can, find as many secret clips as you can (the game helps you find at least a few of them quite well), see the ending (which is possible only if you find enough secrets), and then go on YouTube to watch all the other secret clips you missed. That way, you get the meat and potatoes of the experience and also minimize the frustration that comes with the endgame.
(This would have been 3.5 stars were it not for the awful repetition in the last few hours.)
2023
Pretty solid game. It's nothing spectacular but it kept me coming back for more until the end of the main quest. However, the gameplay loop wore quite thin after several hours and it started to feel very repetitive. Collectible hunters will probably get a lot more out of it than I did.
Very fun adaptation of PF2e!
2022
Didn't like The Witness all that much. So yeah, liked this. Could have done with a bit more venom, though.
2022
Played this on PC with a PS4 controller, which is obviously not what the devs intended but I think even if I had a Steam Deck, it wouldn't have improved the experience all that much.
Honestly I didn't really enjoy this game. Like, at all. It literally is just a tech demo for the Steam Deck, and I was expecting a bit more of an actual game to go with it. Turns out it's just a glorified turret shooter that has about 20% gameplay and 80% cutscenes. Also, the comedic writing and voice acting isn't up to par for this franchise, although JK Simmons still kills it as Cave Johnson 11 years after Portal 2's release.
The ONLY reasons I recommend it are because it gives some new lore for the Portal story, it's free, and it's very short.
Honestly I didn't really enjoy this game. Like, at all. It literally is just a tech demo for the Steam Deck, and I was expecting a bit more of an actual game to go with it. Turns out it's just a glorified turret shooter that has about 20% gameplay and 80% cutscenes. Also, the comedic writing and voice acting isn't up to par for this franchise, although JK Simmons still kills it as Cave Johnson 11 years after Portal 2's release.
The ONLY reasons I recommend it are because it gives some new lore for the Portal story, it's free, and it's very short.
2018
Another very solid puzzle game in The Room series. The only major downside to this game is that many players will be disappointed at the lack of multiple endings.
2016
Solid puzzle game. Fans of The Talos Principle, Portal, and other 3D logic puzzle games will enjoy this. If you've never played a game like this, this is a fine point to dive in.
Like the base game, if you are even somewhat intrigued by Outer Wilds and/or its DLC, STOP READING and just buy it. I can almost guarantee you will love it. I would also recommend playing through the entire base game before purchasing/installing Echoes of the Eye. This DLC is clearly intended to be played near the end of your time with the base game, after you have learned about all the major plot points and uncovered nearly all of the mysteries. If you install the DLC, there is a chance you might accidentally stumble upon it before the devs intended.
Echoes of the Eye introduces a singular new major area in the solar system to explore, and it's genuinely mind blowing how cleverly designed the entire thing is. You could say the same about the base game, but consider the fact that the DLC took me about 12 hours to complete (compared to the base game's 22 hours) - that speaks volumes about the level of challenge and the content that is packed in here. The story is a wonderful expansion on the lore and progresses amazingly, capped off with an ending that is sure to tug at your heartstrings. As is the case with the ending of the base game, the ending of the DLC doesn't have a traditionally satisfying conclusion, but if you really give it some thought and time to ponder over, I think you'll find that it couldn't have been more fitting of a conclusion.
Now, I would be remiss to avoid addressing the 2 major elephants in the room about Echoes of the Eye. The game explicitly warns you about scary moments and gives you the option to tone them down if you wish. There is absolutely no shame in doing this. The scariness certainly enhanced the experience for me, but I also experimented with the "fewer frights" setting enabled and it really won't make that much of a difference to your overall enjoyment of the DLC.
The second elephant is a certain shift in gameplay that comes alongside these scarier moments. I know they frustrated me after a while, as they did with many players out there. I would simply suggest to you to think outside the box. I was shocked when I discovered from online guides the easy ways I could have simply bypassed the more difficult and frustrating parts. Just keep this general rule in mind: if you feel like you're banging your head against a wall and not making progress even when it feels like you should be able to, maybe you just need to explore elsewhere and do something else first.
I'll leave it at that, but don't be too ashamed if you need a guide or a hint to nudge you in the right direction. This is a challenging game at times, and the DLC only ramps up the challenge. Regardless of its arguable shortcomings, I still think Echoes of the Eye is mandatory to experience if you enjoyed Outer Wilds. Highly recommended.
Echoes of the Eye introduces a singular new major area in the solar system to explore, and it's genuinely mind blowing how cleverly designed the entire thing is. You could say the same about the base game, but consider the fact that the DLC took me about 12 hours to complete (compared to the base game's 22 hours) - that speaks volumes about the level of challenge and the content that is packed in here. The story is a wonderful expansion on the lore and progresses amazingly, capped off with an ending that is sure to tug at your heartstrings. As is the case with the ending of the base game, the ending of the DLC doesn't have a traditionally satisfying conclusion, but if you really give it some thought and time to ponder over, I think you'll find that it couldn't have been more fitting of a conclusion.
Now, I would be remiss to avoid addressing the 2 major elephants in the room about Echoes of the Eye. The game explicitly warns you about scary moments and gives you the option to tone them down if you wish. There is absolutely no shame in doing this. The scariness certainly enhanced the experience for me, but I also experimented with the "fewer frights" setting enabled and it really won't make that much of a difference to your overall enjoyment of the DLC.
The second elephant is a certain shift in gameplay that comes alongside these scarier moments. I know they frustrated me after a while, as they did with many players out there. I would simply suggest to you to think outside the box. I was shocked when I discovered from online guides the easy ways I could have simply bypassed the more difficult and frustrating parts. Just keep this general rule in mind: if you feel like you're banging your head against a wall and not making progress even when it feels like you should be able to, maybe you just need to explore elsewhere and do something else first.
I'll leave it at that, but don't be too ashamed if you need a guide or a hint to nudge you in the right direction. This is a challenging game at times, and the DLC only ramps up the challenge. Regardless of its arguable shortcomings, I still think Echoes of the Eye is mandatory to experience if you enjoyed Outer Wilds. Highly recommended.
2020
A monumental achievement in games and the best RPG I've ever played. Do you really need another glowing review? Just play it already.
2015
"It was a fun game. It intrigued me. It captured my attention, which is hard to do. 8.5/10" - My partner
2017
This is a very short and simple, yet engaging game. The vast majority of the gameplay is typing and looking around, but the settings and atmospheres make it quite immersive. There are some really cool moments as a result.
There aren't many jumpscares and most of them occur in the first episode. So if they really bother you, just turn your sound down when playing that one.
Each of the episodes has something different to offer and the story is intriguing through the first three episodes, but personally I wasn't a huge fan of the "big reveal" of the fourth. (That brought my rating score down by half a star.)
Still definitely worth playing through it all, though.
There aren't many jumpscares and most of them occur in the first episode. So if they really bother you, just turn your sound down when playing that one.
Each of the episodes has something different to offer and the story is intriguing through the first three episodes, but personally I wasn't a huge fan of the "big reveal" of the fourth. (That brought my rating score down by half a star.)
Still definitely worth playing through it all, though.
2019
If you're even remotely interested in playing this game, STOP READING anything about it online and just play it - I can practically guarantee you will love it. In my opinion, this deserves a spot on the list of greatest games ever made. I consider it my favorite of all time.
Simply put, this is a "mystery solving" sort of puzzle game where all the clues are brilliantly hidden throughout, and the devs have done a remarkable job of making it manageable for you to solve, thanks to how the story is presented and an in-game log system that keeps track of the important things for you. It's an incredibly rewarding experience each time you make progress to a place/thing you previously didn't know how to access, and the overall journey is unlike any other game I've played. The ending is very touching and while I know some people are going to find it unsatisfying, it really does align with the themes that the game has been delivering during its entire duration - it makes perfect sense.
Besides, as they say, "the journey is more important...blah blah blah." But that trope really is extremely appropriate to apply here. Your first playthrough of this game is your only real playthrough. Cherish it! Like many others have said before me, I am quite sad that I will never be able to experience the journey again. I can only hope that there are more games of this style in the future, and that they come close to the level of quality of Outer Wilds.
Simply put, this is a "mystery solving" sort of puzzle game where all the clues are brilliantly hidden throughout, and the devs have done a remarkable job of making it manageable for you to solve, thanks to how the story is presented and an in-game log system that keeps track of the important things for you. It's an incredibly rewarding experience each time you make progress to a place/thing you previously didn't know how to access, and the overall journey is unlike any other game I've played. The ending is very touching and while I know some people are going to find it unsatisfying, it really does align with the themes that the game has been delivering during its entire duration - it makes perfect sense.
Besides, as they say, "the journey is more important...blah blah blah." But that trope really is extremely appropriate to apply here. Your first playthrough of this game is your only real playthrough. Cherish it! Like many others have said before me, I am quite sad that I will never be able to experience the journey again. I can only hope that there are more games of this style in the future, and that they come close to the level of quality of Outer Wilds.