Snomangaming
Perfectly captures the feel of a soulslike but adds so much more on top, best of which is the "trash used as treasure" theming and the different shells you can carry. Makes some gutsy decisions like no stamina and a heavy emphasis on platforming, but it pays off big time. Great humor, good story, fun as heck combat. GOTY contender for sure.
Love the idea of another "Getting over it" type game, and it definitely is made with quality, but the controls are a lot more demanding dexterity-wise because you have to be holding down a mouse click at all times. Well designed, but I couldn't play for extended periods.
2024
Very cool concept of hitting someone with a bullet and then using that position to shoot your next target. Feels like Hotline Miami meets Superhot. Expands the idea pretty quickly and adds new stuff to keep it fresh. Worth a look!
2024
Phenomenal little title that combines the challenge of Celeste with the fluid game design and structure of DKC: Tropical Freeze. Every stage is unique and expands on the drill mechanic in a meaningful way. Only complaint is that it was too short (~2.5 hours), but that's only because I wish there was more! A super charming must play.
2024
Nearly a perfect roguelike, unbelievably addicting. Made me love a poker based game which is incredibly hard to do. Only complaint is that it sometimes feels like you just get crappy luck on Jokers and have to restart, but each round is 110% engaging and deep.
2023
Absolutely stellar vibes, incredibly fun controls. It's a total blast running around the city, tagging walls and taking over territories. Unfortunately, the end of chapter showdowns were a little too demanding for me (maintaining high combo scores is tough!) and I dropped off after a few hours.
I absolutely see the potential of the movement options (momentum tricks that take skill to pull off) but I can't say I was having a ton of fun while playing. Levels felt a little samey after awhile and it was hard to tell what was decoration and what was hidden paths. I feel like this would be really fun to watch a speedrun of, but probably won't go back to play again.
An extremely well-made metroidvania with super satisfying platforming challenges and unique abilities to explore the world. Boss battles were epic and inspired. Only negative was ~a dozen game-breaking bugs that made me reset progress throughout my playthrough.
An awesome conclusion to the Momo series; on par with 4 (Reverie Under the Moonlight) and just a solid Metroidvania through and through. Only tiny complaints were that backtracking felt a little slow before the cat fast travel unlocks and that it was a bit too easy in the 2nd half but there's Nightmare boss challenges unlocked after beating the game as well as a 'rearranged' mode for replayability. Greatly enjoyed!
2023
Does the aesthetic and character of Banjo/Conker very well but for some reason they decided to make it a really challenging platformer with complex mechanics and some janky hitboxes. There was something drawing me to keep going until I climbed a giant tower for 45 mins only to be level gated with no warning so I guess I'm done with this one.
2023
Very unique game. It lets you know early on that the design philosophy is 'true randomness' even if it means the player can't complete a level, so you learn that resetting is not a bad thing and it makes victory feel that much more clever, like you're Macgyver patching together a duct-taped path to victory in each stage. I can greatly appreciate its concept even if the actual gameplay isn't the most fun.
2023
Never completed the game originally so it was a treat to go back and finish what I had started years ago. I miss the pixel art style but admittedly the new cutscenes look fantastic. Nice coat of polish on an already phenomenal RPG, greatly enjoyed the endgame bonus content as well. A quirky and very original title, outdone by its Paper Mario successors, but huge credit for the one that started it all.
2023
I had a few issues with Jusant but it stuck the landing pretty well. For being the "Journey" of climbing games it has a few spots that are very confusing of where to go next and a fair amount of jank around the central mechanics. In my opinion, this game needed less decoration and less collectibles - simpler would have been a bit more effective here. I just wanted to climb, not read pages of notebooks with no stakes. Chapter 3 and 4 were too long and 5 and 6 were too short, but overall a beautiful world and a neat idea.
2023
Very awesome idea, love that the puzzles aren't too difficult and it does a good job of making the player feel smart (similar to COCOON). Goes on for just a little bit too long and the stealth sections were annoying, but I like how it ties all the 'levels' together in the end. Highly recommend!
Enjoyed significantly more than I expected as I am not really a fan of the genre. Well written, clever and funny throughout. Short and sweet, you can tell the passion put in for a grand return of this series. Controversial ending that I respect but ultimately felt unsatisfying.