This is very clearly inspired by games like Limbo. While it has its moments, it lacks in quality and some design decisions. The game’s art style can be phenomenal. It’s well paced, has some moving music, doesn’t overstay its welcome and it has that appealing mystery with the world and where you’re going. However, the controls can be very janky. You know, when there is a small pause after pressing the jump button or there are times where you press jump but somehow your character doesn’t jump and you end up dying. The story is not told or shown in the game at all. You just suddenly wake up and you see beasts trying to kill you. It’s later in the game that I find secrets (the game’s collectibles) where the story is told in little written texts. Other games did this method of story telling better. You need at least some intro imo. Anyway, I found 5 out of 15. I thought about going back to some levels to collect what I missed. I expected to get the option to select the levels after completing the game. But that didn’t happen. The game even starts from the very beginning if you want to find the rest of the secrets, as the progress for the collectibles is saved at least. The game is not good enough to warrant a complete replay with no way to select the levels or checking which collectibles I’m missing in each level. The game is super short, so I’m positive they did this to extend the game’s length.

It might be a game worth playing on Apple Arcade or experience once on the cheap but it’s not worth going out of your way to collect everything or get all the achievements. This game could have been so much better but what we have is interesting enough.

It’s funny the game is called Ugly because it’s such a beauty, it’s close to perfection when you see a footage of the game. The graphics have so much detail, attention and personal touch put into the environments. I love to zoom in often just to see the cupboards, the kid drawings made and toys scattered for instance. You also have many situations where you move past objects and they animate in delightful ways. It’s not just the graphics, the soundtrack is also fantastic and the same holds true for the sound effects. This game is just incredibly polished and the story it’s trying to tell is beautifully presented. The achievements (either collectibles or story progression) are used to explain the story slowly in simple words and art. It’s another great example of using achievements to enhance your enjoyment of the game instead of work against it.

Now what about the gameplay you ask? It’s brilliant but it needs some explaining. Depending on what you’re looking for it might be a turn off or the opposite. The game took me around 15 hours to 100% and it’s mainly divided in 2 parts. Now the game is a platform puzzler in a general sense. Part 1 relies mostly on the thinking aspect. Almost every room can be executed with ease as long as you figure out what you’re supposed to do. The second part while still a puzzler at heart, it focuses heavily on the platforming, timing and execution. Often times it’s easier to figure out what you’re supposed to do but being able to is a different matter. Then we have the 5 bosses (in part one) in every main area. Those are a mix of both styles. The game is incredibly difficult as a whole. Normally this is a red flag for me but I was so intrigued that it didn’t stop me. I wanted to advance further and didn’t want to let go. You’re often put in situations (especially part 2) where you look at a room and think it’s impossible to clear. Then you clear one and you can’t believe it. The game keeps pushing the limits, showing you the possibilities of using your skills in unexpected ways and it honestly feels amazing. I don’t remember the last time a game ever did that to me. I had more issues with part 1 (glass area mainly) but there is a hint system in-game and it’s easy to look up solutions online if that’s not enough.

Flaws:
-Boss 5. Honestly the obstacles in between were too frequent, too quickly and mostly not fun. This should seriously be rebalanced and improved
-Glass area (part 1). It feels like the mechanics introduced were not introduced properly and you were suddenly getting some rooms with highly complex puzzles. The areas after were much better at gradually introducing mechanics and the puzzle complexity being appropriate
-There is minor backtracking in part 2 every time you clear a room, I’d have liked a quicker way of getting to where I need to be from the starting area
-The story being unclear. Even though I enjoyed the story and was dying for more, I didn’t fully understand the ending and what it meant

This game is very close to perfection despite the few flaws mentioned. Ugly should seriously be played by many more people. It should not be passed on even if you dislike challenge. Now challenge is subjective and I don’t want people to hate themselves for games being too frustrating. But if you consider yourself at least an average player, often going for normal difficulty and like the genre, then give this a shot and push yourself more than usual because the pay off will be worth it most likely. I paid around €14,50 for Ugly and I think it’s worth it.

This game has a lot going for it. It’s polished, made with care and it’s very charming. It’s user friendly in terms of UI, tutorials and being told where to find what you need exactly. The controls work well with both the touch screen and controller. But it too has one problem similar to Hello Kitty.

So let’s get one thing out of the way, you can keep playing as much as you want. You’re not time gated and you’re not told to continue the next day. Although areas need heart currency to unlock, they look doable and nothing crazy based on what I’ve seen. But I did only play the game for about 3-4 hours.

My issue is the frequency of the quests you get before completing the ones you’re busy with. It started so well but it gradually became worse. I reached a point where I had between 15 and 20 active quests. When I’d complete one, 1-3 new quests would get added immediately. It felt like I wasn’t progressing. It’s as if I was being kept busy by doing chores and this just overwhelmed me and took all my motivation away.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are certainly types who can deal with this better than I can. There are types who can easily focus on the main quests or ignore the long list and do whatever they want. But for a person with OCD tendencies where you feel like you have to clear a checklist before moving on, it’s a nightmare to deal with.

You’re either one or the other. This will determine whether to play the game or not. Kids won’t have a problem and will enjoy the game too. It’s a very good and cute game that is worth trying if you don’t mind the way the quests are handled.

This game shocked me with its quality. I didn’t do any research besides knowing that it’s received well. Now I understand WHY after collecting everything except for one thing and getting both endings. This is a good mix of Metroidvania exploration, finding items to advance further and resource management. It also fits with the setting of deep underwater diving and exploring the unknown. This is a prime example of being a Capcom game in the sense that it’s unique in a good way, the world is created successfully, the gameplay is original and it works. This is the kind of game that certain audience can REALLY love but the rest might not get it. The only reason I’m not giving a higher score is because of the performance on an iPad Pro 2020. The resolution (or textures?) don’t look native and there are some minor frame rate drops. It feels like the kind of game that’s begged to be played on a stronger hardware. Lastly, the controls are not fluid. Some might not like it but it does fit with the water movement and the way you’re supposed to use the equipment you have.

Definitely give this game a shot if you’re one of those who enjoy these kind of special games with a certain touch. We used to get a lot of them in the past. You know who you are ;)

Ps. You’re not required to do anything extra for the other ending. Just redoing the last fight in a certain way. It took me over 13 hours to get almost everything. In terms of achievements, I’m at around 85% with the ones missed dying a certain way or killing enemies with different weapons.

Undead Horde is an interesting case. It’s easy to get into, you can turn your brains off but not so much that there isn’t any strategy. There are actually enough things to consider but the pacing is good and you always feel like you’re making some progress. You control your minions with 2 stances, you support them with your equipment & magic, you can attack enemies yourself, you will be able to summon different minions and there is lots of loot to find. Loot is either dropped from enemies, broken buildings or found in one of the many secrets (48). The point is to claim areas (38) from humans by killing all of them and destroying the buildings/towers so they don’t spawn either. You’ll speak to many NPC who will guide you in terms of progress and you can do quests for them. Some give valuable loot or they will start selling you stuff at the base. There will be different shops than can be upgraded with money. The loot itself has different rarities and passive skills. The player levels up and then gets to pick one of the three cards that focuses on some stats more (health, command, attack and mana). All of this took me 12-13 hours to 100% including achievements. But, you can also do new game plus if you want more.

Let’s start with the good stuff. As mentioned, the game is engaging so that it’s easy enough to get into without being complex. The gameplay is fun and works well for the most part. The progression system is fine. There are lots of different units to control including unique heroes who are a bit more OP but require more command to summon. The music is decent and I LOVE the voice actor of the character you play as. He’s awesome when he talks in that evil and macho way even though the game kind of looks cartoony. It really works. The game is kind of being evil in a funny way and you get to notice that with the dialogues as well. It doesn’t go too far with the humor though. It just adds a bit of charm. The game doesn’t overstay its welcome and the achievements are enjoyable with a caveat.

The caveat being many of them can be considered missable if you start a new era (new game plus). So make sure you do all quests (40 including touching the urn), find all secrets, claim all areas (including optional ones), etc. in the current run because that stuff is not carried over. From what I noticed, only your level and what you have equipped or in your inventory is carried over. Other con is the graphics being basic. While they’re charming and do the job, they’re not going to wow you. The control of your units and the way you claim areas need a bit of getting used to. You might die a lot early on when you don’t know that you can use the teleporter to heal and come back while keeping progress of the current area you’re in etc. For the ones who crave lots of strategy and thinking, this might be too simple and therefore boring to them.

I’ve decided to play Undead Horde 1 as a demo for Undead Horde 2 since that one was part of a bundle and I wasn’t sure about getting it. UH1 not only made me get 2 but it’s also a good game in its own right. It’s definitely a game worth taking a look at, especially when it’s on sale. It can surprise and hook you for a while without being super amazing.

I’ve downloaded the player version to play people’s levels instead of making my own. The quality obviously depends on the creators and I’ve experienced both a good and bad example. I’ve found the best games and downloaded them. It’s a great value considering the player is completely free with no strings attached. The only reason I marked it as complete is because I’ve seen what the player has to offer, having completed a great game (Infernal Darkness part 1) within 10 hours. I’m going to focus on other games before continuing with this again. It’s definitely worth it.

It’s clear where Lords of Exile got its inspiration from. Still, the game has some little touches of its own and its challenge is very interestingly balanced. You get 8 stages with bosses at the end and often mini-bosses in between. You also unlock speed run, boss rush and a second playable character after completing the game. You mostly try to beat enemies and stay alive because there are death pits and if you get hit by enemies, you can easily fall to your death. You have some traps, jumping, climbing, gambling, 2 shadow skills and 1 upgrade after every boss. Now most of it sounds basic and perhaps boring but the way they’re done can be a bit different sometimes. Jumping is unique in that you only execute a double jump when you’re about to fall instead of instant the moment you make your first jump. There are some horizontal and vertical climbing sections where you also need to be careful not falling to your death. The 2 shadow skills are mostly used for platforming. One breaks blocks to get through a level and the other is kind of a hook that brings you to the other side. Upgrades are stat increases mostly like stronger attacks, more ammo with the throw weapons but also how you get double jump. Gambling is pretty much a slot machine where you pay money to win prizes like more money etc. There are shops in the stages where you get three random items you can buy like more health, throw weapons and shield.

So let’s start with the good stuff. The graphics look charming with the retro style. The stages are pretty varied, there are a decent variety of enemies, all the bosses are unique (& awesome) and there is even a lot of effort put into some of the mini-bosses. With some of them I thought they were bosses at first because they look so cool and intimidating. The game has some Asian style setting and you can see this with some of the Japanese kanji used correctly in certain spots. It’s a nice touch. The music sounds wonderful and always keeps me energised. Playing with the second character, Lyria, is fantastic. She’s so nimble and has long ranged attacks by default. It was a great reward unlocking her after completing the game. Remember me bringing up death pits and the game’s unique challenge? The game is pretty challenging and you will die BUT, the game has frequent checkpoints. So you don’t have to retry big sections often. Same before every boss. This is a great decision since you get some challenge but you’re also given the opportunity to learn and not repeat sections too often. You’re still incentivised with playing good in order to not die but the fun is not taken out of the game by punishing you too much. The achievements are also excellent. They’re fun and there is a decent challenge with no damage boss rush, but they’re all doable with a bit of practice. It took me over 10 hours to get them all.

Now on to the not so good stuff. Gambling honestly feels pointless aside from the 2 achievements attached to it. You have enough money, drops and shops that you can easily ignore it. And that’s fine to be honest. I prefer having them all instead of being forced to gamble. The 2 shadow skills also feel basic, they don’t really add much to the platforming. There is one bug with boss rush but you can get around it until a patch is released. Double jump is okay for the most part but it can be clumsy with boss fights. It might appear that it doesn’t register sometimes, it’s just very strict. But hey, I guess this was also part of the challenge.

I had lots of fun playing LoE. It might not be super original but it was entertaining and scratched that itch. I appreciate how your time is respected with checkpoints and fair achievements. I paid €11 and think it’s worth it.

To start off, it’s evident that a lot of effort has been put into making MP a good game. It feels like a labour of love by a small indie team. It’s a puzzle game with a story and multiple cutscenes, there is a world map, the puzzles are divided in villages, each having their own theme in terms of graphics, the soundtrack is one of its highlights and I enjoyed the 100 puzzles quite a bit. However, I can’t shake the feeling that some of that effort could have gone into other areas that need it more. The story didn’t leave an impression on me. It felt like it was just there. The twist was pretty clear early on too. I’m not sure if it would have helped to make or present a better story OR just not have much of a story with a puzzle game in the first place. The spirit talks to you with every few puzzles you clear, giving you encouraging words. I really felt like that added absolutely nothing to the game. When I leave the game and continue later, I have to manually swap to get to the last puzzles. The game doesn’t remember which map part you were in and it’s a bit annoying. All that effort could have gone into more puzzles, new puzzle mechanics and better world map navigation for instance. Still, there are parts that impress me about this game. It seems to be heavily Indian inspired and I would love to see more of that. The puzzle mechanics, while not earth shattering, are well thought out. This is the kind of idea/series that could shine with a sequel.

I’ve completed world tour 100% and made it over half way through tournament mode. Horizon Chase was a great experience. This one is more of the same only better for the most part. Challenge has also been more balanced to make it fairer if you’re going for all the collectibles. However, there are still times where challenge feels unfair due to bizarre AI behaviour. I’ve noticed almost always that whenever you come second and are close behind the first car, it will use boost. There are also instances where opponents don’t lose a lot of momentum when they hit objects compared to the player. There are also rare occasions where you’re doing really well but the first spot (AI) is almost a full lap ahead of you. This feels like a bug and unintended. I enjoy the variety of modes and they’re all worth experiencing. Playground got an overhaul with the latest update, adding challenges for tickets to earn rewards. Initially I enjoyed the challenges but I’ve noticed some that are just silly and frustrating. There is one where you’re not allowed to hit anything and make it first place. There are 20 cars and they kinda move in packs and the roads are not always wide, making this an unpleasant experience. Overall, it’s a game that’s still fun and worth playing but I wish the balance or challenge was better.

When I was still playing part 1, I was very positive while waiting for the game to show its depth in terms of mechanics, progression system and fights. I got that in part 2 but I didn’t expect the game to become this challenging. In some parts it feels too punishingly hard. I’ve played all the main Mistwalker games and played many of Sakaguchi’s other games when he was part of Squaresoft. None of them were as challenging as part 2. The only explanation I can think of is this being a deliberate choice for being an Apple Arcade game. Other than that, the game is your typical Sakaguchi game in terms of pacing, story build up, the themes that are being focused on, cutscene direction and more. You feel right at home if you played the older Final Fantasy games. It has some quality of life improvements and the story is slightly more mature in terms of how the characters interact with each other. The gameplay is fantastic and there were moments where it feels great to win a fight. This game is more of a love letter for FF fans. Play part 1 if you’re here for a relaxing time. Play part 2 only if you’re ready to sweat and have many boss fights feel like the last boss fight.

It was so bad that I couldn’t finish the last 5 minutes. YouTube to the rescue!

It’s a first person puzzle game that has some nice ideas but it’s executed horribly. The copy controls are so annoying to get right. It doesn’t matter if you use controllers or touch screen. Amber’s voice, while well acted, does not fit the mood at all. She sounds way too happy go lucky under a collapsing building and the possibility of both of you dying. It sounded like you 2 were on a date. She also talks SO MUCH. It’s like the type who’s in love with her voice to the point of liking the sound of her farts too XD The graphics, fps and stuttering are bad on an iPad Pro 2020. A lot of the puzzles are more annoying than fun. Everything about the game is delivered in a boring way honestly. I don’t see any reason to play this game.

This game is being sold as an adventure maker that also has something to offer for players (instead of makers) in the form of campaign. Campaign mode has 6 adventures excluding the tutorial one. I made it to the third adventure with medium difficulty and I feel like I’ve seen all that I can expect.

I don’t think those adventures are good enough for solo players. They’re kind of a demonstration of what you can make. They’re nothing substantial. The NPC seem to be re-using the same dialogues throughout the adventures, the plots are generic, nothing that you find is kept permanently, the gameplay is basic and similar to Zelda games etc.

I was still planning on continuing despite all that I’ve mentioned. I liked the idea of playing simple adventures in bite sized form to kill some time in between. The game also looks very beautiful and the environments feel lively. One major issue is the camera movement and perspective. You’re playing inside a box kind of like Captain Toad on the Wii U. You have to rotate the camera often because your view is constantly compromised. It became tiring dealing with this. I don’t remember having this problem with Captain Toad, so it must have something to do with the way the levels are designed.

The building part and the community around it looks very impressive from an outsider’s perspective. The game is worth giving a try if you care about those aspects. Don’t bother if you’re only in it for the official campaign made by the developer.

I'm floored with Ghost Song despite the numerous flaws. 9 hours flew by quickly. This game is amazing at building up a believable world, being very atmospheric and sounding great. I don't mean sound just in terms of music but also sound effects, voice acting (when there is some), the way sound is mixed and from which side it comes from when you're using a decent headset etc. The game has some little touches like how some of your friends carry an umbrella when it's raining, how it snows sometimes, how the living life forms truly feel alive etc. The setting is so fascinating and I wish I got to see more of it. The Metroidvania gameplay is also very well done. The modules are worth going after and it's addictive levelling up your character.

When it comes to flaws, I can think of 2 mainly. Story and difficulty. I enjoyed the story a lot but the way it was presented is not the best sometimes. And there isn't enough of it. Let me explain a bit more (without spoiling things).

Most of the story is gotten by talking to NPC who are either near the ship or somewhere in the field. You don't get all they have to say by talking to them once, you have to talk to them multiple times until they have nothing new to say until the next cycle. This is not the problem. The problem is when they also say some random shit or too much sometimes. Yes, you don't have to keep talking to them if you're tired but there are some very important lore mixed with stupid dialogue sometimes. Like when they say things like 'sometimes I dream of being carried by a tortoise' or 'do you think a girl lived here' or 'why don't you write a poem about a cat' etc. I know they were building up some personalities and setting up the mood but sometimes it goes too far. Also it is very easy to miss NPC dialogue and therefore lore when it happens in the field. You have to be at the right place and the right time to activate certain dialogues. I don't know what these conditions are but it is easy to think the game has bad story when you didn't speak to certain NPC. The ending also felt very abrupt. I wish they added a bit more to it, especially when we didn't get an answer about what Blue is, how she arrived at this planet etc. It's pretty bad to not answer those kind of questions when a lot of the plot is about it and most NPC asking what you are. I have my guesses of course but there is no confirmation in-game. Who knows, maybe I missed a dialogue somewhere.

About the difficulty, you get 2 modes. The way the game is intended to be played originally (a more difficult mode) and explorer. I went with explorer because I wasn't sure what to pick (in-game they advise you to pick explorer if you're unsure) and you can't change the difficulty mid-game. I would have liked giving the other difficulty a try and switch to explorer if I didn't like it. I thought the difficulty was fine for the most part but some sections did feel off. Like things could have been a tiny bit more challenging. But I don't want a frustrating time, hence the decision. There is new game plus that I sadly don't feel like giving a try before the game is taken off Humble launcher on November the 7th. But I might use my save and try it out if I ever get it on Steam someday.

This game is special. It truly got my attention. But it's not a game for everyone. Especially the ones focused on gameplay mostly. The gameplay is good but it's not the main selling point or does anything unique. I'm not sure if the game is challenging enough for those seeking this since I didn't try out the other mode. But ones looking for exploration, atmosphere and world building while having fun with the gameplay? It's definitely worth a look.

I had to try the game based on all the hype it’s been getting and it doesn’t disappoint. The quality of the game is incredibly good. It’s a beautiful mix of Animal Crossing and Zelda Breath of the Wild while focusing on increasing friendship levels. However, I decided to quit after 8 days for one big problem.

The game is grindy in many different ways. The main issue is your progress is halted with the friendship levels. In order to get new and important quests, you have to be at certain levels and you’re only allowed to gift 3 times a day with each character. You need to grind for the gifts every day and they’ll need more gifts with each level increase. The gifts can be anything from the stuff you find, fishing, bug catching etc. I find those activities fun and I like filling up my bestiary but I don’t like being forced to keep doing it too often just to progress.

I started feeling this way fairly quickly and I looked up what others thought online after reaching friendship level 6 with many characters. I found out that the game becomes even more grindy. It also becomes a chore to craft stuff for other things. The devs also nerved the game to make it more grindy and the players were not happy about it.

Nerving the game to make it grindy on purpose is something many devs are doing on Apple Arcade. It makes sense. They want you to keep paying the subscription for as long as possible. This ruins games though. I don’t feel like spending more time with Hello Kitty after experiencing this and knowing it’s only going to get worse.

It’s still a great game though. If you don’t mind and are in no rush, then I recommend giving it a try.

Very enjoyable game that harkens back to the platformers of the past with a bit of a twist. The feeling of speed mixed with platforming can feel so good at times. The soundtrack is very catchy and the controls are great. The game is not without its faults. Mainly the camera movement. This has been pretty much fixed with the updates released. Also while the extra stuff you get after completing the game is very nice, one did annoy me for being a huge area and it wasting lots of time if you're trying to get an S and you mess up once, having to try again. Still though, get the game if you're a fan of platformers.