Kinda surprised at the mixed reviews this pack's getting. After a few plays I genuinely think it's among the top packs ever.

-Tee K.O. 2 is exactly what you think it is. A welcome update to one of the best Jackbox game ever.

-FixyText is a weird one. It's probably terrible for a group of casual acquaintances, but great with a group of people who know each other well and have lots of experience riffing off of each other. Each time I've played this it's created at least one running gag for the rest of the night. It's a game where the group has to 'provide their own fun,' which I know isn't for everyone, but good dumb fun for those who can.

-Hypnotorious seems to be getting all the hate, but I like it. I think trying to figure out what the categories are and who belongs where is a good time, but I'm not sure why we shouldn't just blurt out who we are immediately? I get that the outlier needs to figure that out and then hide the fact that they're the outlier from the group, but statistically you're probably not the outlier, so why not just force them to out themselves? I've probably played well over 60 social deduction games of various sorts, and while I like the mechanics here, not sure about the meta-game though.

-Timejinx is a trivia game. It's kinda like the card game Timeline, but not as good. No real discussion is fostered by the mechanics and it isn't going to change anyone's mind about trivia games. It's a trivia game!

-Dodo Re Mi is probably the best Jackbox game since Murder Mystery Party. It's a riot with a bunch former Rock Band addicts and sounds silly as hell when everyone's jamming in the same room. I think this game would lose A LOT of it's charm if played virtually via Discord or something, but it's a blast in person. Also, being one of the few (only?) true co-operative games makes it a very welcome addition to the Jackbox line-up.

I really like this pack. I've played it a few times and it's a big hit with every group I've played it with too. I do think most of the games here play best in person, and a few of the games, namely Dodo Re Mi, Hypnotorious & FixyText, would all suffer greatly from being played virtually, but overall I highly recommend, especially if you have long running Jackbox nights.

I found the first 30 or so hours of Hades to be some of the most fun and rewarding video gaming I have ever experienced. A perfect balance of difficulty and rewarding progress, all wrapped in a beautiful vibe. It also feels a lot like better versions of Supergiant's other games. It has the unobtrusive/slow developing narrative of Bastion, and the infinite number of power-up combinations of Transistor (I really need to revisit that one).

Unfortunately, it got to be pretty boring after then. I got to a point where I could get to the final boss without much, if any, difficulty, but then I'd lose to him every time, turning the game into about 90% mindless tedium,10% frustration. Not sure why I found Hades himself to be such an impossible challenge, but hey, I suck at video games. Admittedly, this does not seem to be a common experience, but it is mine.

Either way, Hades is definitely worth trying!!

EDIT: I put this game on the shelf for a few weeks and when I came back managed to beat Hades twice in a row. Combat is fair and rewarding and punishes being sloppy and impatient, like I often am. Bumping my review from 4.5 to 5 stars, this is most likely the best roguelike I've ever played. Hades II is a day one purchase for me.

Some good ideas and creepy vibes, but ultimately kind of a mess.

I wanted to like this game more than I did. I do like walking sims, especially horror ones, but God's Basement falls short in a few areas. First off, the puzzles here can be pretty obtuse. After a short amount of time the game gives you a 'hint,' which is really just the solution spelled out to you, but I'd still occasionally have difficulty understanding what exactly the game expected me to do. I also had a number of control issues. Specifically with interacting with objects. I could only view an object when I was transitioning between normal and zoomed-in views. Not the worst bug, but frustrating when you haven't figured that out yet and you need to view an object to trigger the game progression. Also, while the game features some pretty solid environmental storytelling, the game will occasionally stop to recap everything you're supposed to have learned via a in-game monologue. I feel all of these issues combine to make a otherwise creepy experience become more frustrating than anything.

There's a lot of potential here. I really do like the atmosphere and narrative themes found throughout the game. Although I may have not been completely on board with this game, I'm very interested in seeing what Erebus puts out next.

I remember liking the original Ittle Dew quite a bit. It had a vibe I could appreciate and would recommend it to anyone looking for quick, but fun, Zelda-clone.

I found Ittle Dew 2 a major downgrade in pretty much every aspect.

I recall combat being the weakest aspect of the first game, and it is improved here, but it's still bad. Controls are stiff and unprecise. Enemies seem to both take and deal way more damage than they should. Combat isn't challenging per se, it's just long, and you can just run past any and all enemies so why even bother? The dungeon design is also bad. Dungeons can be tackled in any order, but that just means they're all pretty straightforward and have no personality. They aren't tailor made for specific items, there's no interesting boss fights, they're just there because a Zelda clone needs dungeons. It doesn't help that none or your items are all that interesting or fun to use. The game still has style and the optional puzzle dungeons are fun, however the puzzle dungeons are completely ignorable and I'd argue the 3D graphics are a downgrade from the 2D ones of the first game.

I was expecting to like this game, unfortunately it was one of the most boring, frustrating gaming experiences I've had in a while.