A pretty bog standard RotMG clone ported from mobile to PC. It's not as egregious as some of the other mobile ports,: they put in the effort to change control prompts, add PC screen resolutions, limited translation, etc. However it's still a mobile game at the end of the day with all of it's extremely large on screen buttons, 30 second music loops, and sludgy movement. I could see the gameplay and combat getting more engaging as the game progresses, but I personally don't have the patience to sit through the lack of polish.

Props to the developers for not making a traditional cash grab mobile game, but unfortunately there's much better options out there on PC, especially for English speaking players.

Army of Ruin is a shining example of why it's important to have a specific, unique game direction in mind, and stick to that style through development.

Through the entire game, from the UI, to the weapons, to the enemies: every element feels generic. While the gameplay is solid and nearly bug free, I felt nearly no excitement or passion during my near 50 hours with Army of Ruin. There's content galore, but it's all either generic, ripped from other games, or felt extremely out of place. The challenges are arbitrary and the maps are largely empty. If you want a quality Survivor-like game on Playstation console, wait for other games with more intention behind their design to arrive and don't waste your time here.

A very small game made by a single developer with extremely high standards, Bright Memory: Infinite does a wonderful job of providing the player with a fun and fast paced FPS/Hack & Slash experience.

The story is very short, only containing a handful of missions and a few repeated bosses. However, the gameplay, gorgeous world design, and relatively low price make up for the length. The weapons feel punchy, the movement feels smooth, the game is relatively bug free (apart from one or 2 freezes across my 4 hours of playtime, of which no time was lost due to generous checkpointing).

You can tell the developer genuinely cares about the quality and consistency of the product he put out. This resulted in a fun and worthwhile experience, fully completable in just a few hours.

A wonderful little game soured by myriad of bugs, Cult of the Lamb balances a basic settlement simulator with a simple rogue-lite experience.

The game will bounce the player back and forth between scouring for new followers in the dungeon, helping cultists in their base, and exploring new locations around the world. Overall the dungeon crawling is barebones and really only engaging for the first few runs, especially considering the limited difficulty. However, meeting new cultists, managing the small settlement, and coming across new individuals around the world helps to add significantly more depth to the game.

I primarily played the Cult of the Lamb around launch, so it may have improved in some aspects, but as it stands the number of bugs lowered a 9/10 score down to a 7/10 for me. Overall worth a play, but probably not 100% completion.

The visuals, puzzle boxes, and sounds are all acceptable, albeit a bit simplistic and bland. However, I can't recommend Cats in Time given how broken it is. It is currently impossible to 100% the game due to bugs, and an absolute slog to continuously have to reset worlds. If you want a more refined experience, check out their second game, Escape Simulator.

Edit: There is a workaround for the bug on Level 10: The Watermill. First, get the box attached to the hook and raised to the top as you would normally. Then use an auto clicker, such as an AHK script, on the center of the box until it zooms in. Once it's zoomed, click and hold on the box door, then rotate to open the door completely. Finally use an auto clicker on the box for a second time to obtain the cat.

This one seemed pretty promising, however fell flat pretty quickly. The art design and the concept are both pretty good. That's essentially where the good ends.

The negatives include an overall fuzzy look on everything seemingly due to bad upscaling on larger screens, mid to poor mobile game porting, no visual or auditory feedback on anything done in the game, mobile game monetization, repetitive music, terrible translation, and blatant ripoffs of better games (I'm looking at you Archero) included as side games within the main game.

Overall Escape Academy was a very satisfying experience that's worth the $20 cover charge (or ~4 hrs if you've already got Gamepass).

While I wish the difficulty was significantly higher at most points, the pacing is well done with a lighthearted concept and delivery that distracts from the simplistic puzzles. The levels are fun and creative, and manage to hit a wide array of settings while still working within the boundaries of the plot.

Note that at the time of writing this review, many of the achievements on Steam are currently bugged for some players. This including the Chatterbox and the Study Buddies achievements.

Poison Control is significantly better than it has any right to be honestly.

I believe its saving grace is that it's a B game that wholly recognizes that it's a B game. The world designs are simple but streamlined, the music is unique and fun, and the UI is downright gorgeous. The combat is extremely bare bones, but exists primarily as a way to guide the characters and story, arguably the most well executed elements of the game, forward.

Don't start Poison Control expecting some grand, over-the-top experience. It should be treated as a simple, connected anthology of short stories and unique characters.

I would have given the game 4 stars, but unfortunately I encountered a game breaking bug. I presume this may have something to do with the loading being improved on PS5, but I'll revisit the game on PS4 when I have time.

Overall, it's fine for a free game, but with significantly better alternatives available there's not much of a reason to put time into this one.

Unreliable servers
Poorly conveyed mechanics
Not much but the main mode
Little to no beginner introduction
Frequent teaming in solo game modes
Seemingly rips off the Animal Super Squad namespace/aesthetic to benefit SEO?