NeutronRock
Bio
Indie Game Reviewer on YouTube!
5.0 - Highest recommendation. Game of incredible quality
4.5 - Recommend to all to play. Superb game, but not magically brilliant like 5*.
4.0 - A great game. Recommend playing.
3.5 - A good game, but in some ways not ideal. Would recommend with caveats.
3.0 - A solid game. Might have enjoyed it, but not raving about it. Not going out of my way to recommend generally.
2.5 - There is something fun or interesting here, but ultimately not enough.
2.0 - Some ideas or merits, but overall pretty poor.
1.5 - Bad.
1.0 - Bad with malice.
0.5 - Err.. I don’t think I need this many to separate bad games but extra special bad? Actively harmful to the wider world? Who knows..
Indie Game Reviewer on YouTube!
5.0 - Highest recommendation. Game of incredible quality
4.5 - Recommend to all to play. Superb game, but not magically brilliant like 5*.
4.0 - A great game. Recommend playing.
3.5 - A good game, but in some ways not ideal. Would recommend with caveats.
3.0 - A solid game. Might have enjoyed it, but not raving about it. Not going out of my way to recommend generally.
2.5 - There is something fun or interesting here, but ultimately not enough.
2.0 - Some ideas or merits, but overall pretty poor.
1.5 - Bad.
1.0 - Bad with malice.
0.5 - Err.. I don’t think I need this many to separate bad games but extra special bad? Actively harmful to the wider world? Who knows..
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Donor
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GOTY '23
Participated in the 2023 Game of the Year Event
Roadtrip
Voted for at least 3 features on the roadmap
Gamer
Played 250+ games
Gone Gold
Received 5+ likes on a review while featured on the front page
Popular
Gained 15+ followers
Loved
Gained 100+ total review likes
GOTY '22
Participated in the 2022 Game of the Year Event
N00b
Played 100+ games
3 Years of Service
Being part of the Backloggd community for 3 years
GOTY '21
Participated in the 2021 Game of the Year Event
Noticed
Gained 3+ followers
Liked
Gained 10+ total review likes
Favorite Games
363
Total Games Played
000
Played in 2024
024
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Botany Manor is a neat contextual puzzle solving detective game about figuring out the conditions needed to grow strange and slightly magical plants. Explore the manor, find clues and items - and pick out the important details that will teach you how your plants need to grow.
The puzzles are neat and satisfying, not overly complicated, and Botany Manor is good fun for it's 3-4 hour duration.
The only downside is that Botany Manor is simply not as polished as some other titles in this "genre" (Chants of Sennaar, Return of the Obra Dinn, The Case of the Golden Idol etc.) and feels slightly weak in that regard. It's also more expensive than those other games. It's not the first game I'd recommend in this niche, but I'm glad it exists.
The puzzles are neat and satisfying, not overly complicated, and Botany Manor is good fun for it's 3-4 hour duration.
The only downside is that Botany Manor is simply not as polished as some other titles in this "genre" (Chants of Sennaar, Return of the Obra Dinn, The Case of the Golden Idol etc.) and feels slightly weak in that regard. It's also more expensive than those other games. It's not the first game I'd recommend in this niche, but I'm glad it exists.
The main gameplay of Midnight Suns is its card-driven, turn based combat - and that aspect of the game is enjoyable. It's not exceptional, and indie titles have pulled off smarter, more engaging systems years before (see: Fights in Tight Spaces) - but the combat of Midnight Suns is fun nevertheless.
The fights unfortunately are few and far between, especially in the opening hours of the game where - instead of attracting you with its best feature - Midnight Suns actively tries to push you away with some of the most tedious life-sim side quests imaginable.
The frequent fetch and "run to marker" quests are tedious, the characters aren't overly interesting, the classic AAA item collection and crafting is as poorly implemented as always - and unfortunately the interesting and buoyant design of the main mechanic isn't enough to keep this ship from sinking.
The fights unfortunately are few and far between, especially in the opening hours of the game where - instead of attracting you with its best feature - Midnight Suns actively tries to push you away with some of the most tedious life-sim side quests imaginable.
The frequent fetch and "run to marker" quests are tedious, the characters aren't overly interesting, the classic AAA item collection and crafting is as poorly implemented as always - and unfortunately the interesting and buoyant design of the main mechanic isn't enough to keep this ship from sinking.
I'm just going to give Rift Wizard 2 it's high rating now. I've only played about an hour and I haven't even beaten a single run of this game yet - but everything that was amazing about Rift Wizard 1 in the depth and combinations of skills is there, with some new methods of progression that add to the replayability and variation between runs.
It maybe loses half a star on the original because what it gains in randomness and replayability, it loses in that pure, theorycrafting brilliance of the original - and that genius scope for theorycrafting is what made RW1 such an astoundingly good game.
Still Early Access, but just such a strong concept.
It maybe loses half a star on the original because what it gains in randomness and replayability, it loses in that pure, theorycrafting brilliance of the original - and that genius scope for theorycrafting is what made RW1 such an astoundingly good game.
Still Early Access, but just such a strong concept.