TheLordReylus
2024
A visual novel that follows a teenage girl and her mother on an adventure to discover their family's secrets after the passing of the grandmother. The story is told via the items and letters that you, Tess, pick up and discuss with your mother, Opal. It's a funny story of growth and understanding between a daughter and her mother.
The game looks really nice and the VA work from Keri Russell and Kaitlyn Dever was well done and made connecting to the family easy. The 2002 set piece reminded me a lot of my childhood homes as I recognized items that I would see in my own home or my family's growing up.
There are issues where the controls (Series X) would get jammed when looking around, or even jerk my view in a direction I wasn't moving to but overall the walking and interaction selections worked fine.
There is some replayability with the dialogue options you can choose from, but the full story can be told in one sitting. I gained all achievements as well.
It's worth playing once for the story. Annapurna makes some of my favorite titles.
The game looks really nice and the VA work from Keri Russell and Kaitlyn Dever was well done and made connecting to the family easy. The 2002 set piece reminded me a lot of my childhood homes as I recognized items that I would see in my own home or my family's growing up.
There are issues where the controls (Series X) would get jammed when looking around, or even jerk my view in a direction I wasn't moving to but overall the walking and interaction selections worked fine.
There is some replayability with the dialogue options you can choose from, but the full story can be told in one sitting. I gained all achievements as well.
It's worth playing once for the story. Annapurna makes some of my favorite titles.
2023
*Played with review copy provided by publisher on Xbox Series X prior to release.
7Days Heroes is a fun action platformer where you control three teens and their pug who were raised by an AI named MAI in a lab and developed abilities (Psychic Powers, Weapons Proficiency, Explosives Proficiency, Jumping) while under the watch of the government. When the government decides to try and weaponize these powers using nanomachines, they uncover that the machines are turning humans into zombies. After MAI goes rogue, the teens travel across the land to save their "mother figure" and stop her from destroying the world.
The game has lots of influence on level design from the general Mega-Man style platform/shooter, to Sonic influenced level designs, and even a levels that feel like Battletoads/TMNT where you are on a car dodging attacks. The story is genuinely funny and I enjoyed it.
However, the game does have some bugs. The menu system is broken to where opening the Hero's inventory to upgrade your guns will kick you back to the title screen (thankfully with no loss of data) and require you to reload the save to continue. Other times I had issues with the three characters following my main being unable to jump on their own to reach me, or even the HUD blocking part of the screen.
The levels can be difficult when fighting bosses for the first time, but they are easy to adapt to once you figure out the routine or a cheese such as staying out of range of the attacks.
The game releases on March 28, 2024 on consoles and it worth checking out if you want to support a small indie company from Spain.
7Days Heroes is a fun action platformer where you control three teens and their pug who were raised by an AI named MAI in a lab and developed abilities (Psychic Powers, Weapons Proficiency, Explosives Proficiency, Jumping) while under the watch of the government. When the government decides to try and weaponize these powers using nanomachines, they uncover that the machines are turning humans into zombies. After MAI goes rogue, the teens travel across the land to save their "mother figure" and stop her from destroying the world.
The game has lots of influence on level design from the general Mega-Man style platform/shooter, to Sonic influenced level designs, and even a levels that feel like Battletoads/TMNT where you are on a car dodging attacks. The story is genuinely funny and I enjoyed it.
However, the game does have some bugs. The menu system is broken to where opening the Hero's inventory to upgrade your guns will kick you back to the title screen (thankfully with no loss of data) and require you to reload the save to continue. Other times I had issues with the three characters following my main being unable to jump on their own to reach me, or even the HUD blocking part of the screen.
The levels can be difficult when fighting bosses for the first time, but they are easy to adapt to once you figure out the routine or a cheese such as staying out of range of the attacks.
The game releases on March 28, 2024 on consoles and it worth checking out if you want to support a small indie company from Spain.
2019
Unsure if I can give this a 0 star rating but this game is horrible and the worst Nonogram/picross title I have ever played.
Buggy, poor execution and just lazy designs that are repeated on different parts of the game. I couldn't finish 3 puzzles as the game gave me two colors but multiple selections for each color (as in 3 options for the same white) and I had to guess which to use.
Avoid this game.
Buggy, poor execution and just lazy designs that are repeated on different parts of the game. I couldn't finish 3 puzzles as the game gave me two colors but multiple selections for each color (as in 3 options for the same white) and I had to guess which to use.
Avoid this game.
2016
The Witness is a wonderful puzzle game that drops you into a mysterious island filled with secrets and gives little instruction on what to do. As you venture into the first spaces you are given simple puzzles to solve and find more difficult challenges with each new area. On top of the various puzzles, there are audio and video recordings that cover unique subjects that don't seem to have anything to do with the game, but they make you wonder what is behind the games island and who made it.
I played through the full game and found a few secrets and even attempted the Challenge at the end of the game where you must complete a series of puzzles in a set amount of time, but I will attempt to finish it later
I loved the style and audio of the game. I feel like I can spend hours exploring for secrets and finding something new every time. Even replaying the game is something I would like to do in the future now that I have played everything once.
Worth the play if you enjoy puzzles, mazes, or unique game experiences.
I played through the full game and found a few secrets and even attempted the Challenge at the end of the game where you must complete a series of puzzles in a set amount of time, but I will attempt to finish it later
I loved the style and audio of the game. I feel like I can spend hours exploring for secrets and finding something new every time. Even replaying the game is something I would like to do in the future now that I have played everything once.
Worth the play if you enjoy puzzles, mazes, or unique game experiences.
This review contains spoilers
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was my favorite of the reboot series. Having played them back to back, I was happily surprised at the level of improvements as the titles evolved. I beat Shadow on the Deadly Obsession difficulty and was challenged greatly as unlike the last game's Extreme Survivor difficulty, you lose your survival instincts and can't see a lot of enemies or where to climb without use of herbs.
The story is set in Peru and covers a lot of Maya & Inca histories from the lives of the people to their beliefs. The game covers multiple large maps and has a lot of life in the cities/towns you visit. Trying to stop the end of the world gives Lara the motivation to push forward as so many people have been lost because of what she believes she caused with removing an artifact in the opening tomb. To stop the destruction, she has to find a second artifact and stop the cult that she has known as the organization, Trinity.
The upgrade system to gear is simple and easy to work through by hunting and gathering materials or selling and buying components to level up your weapons and outfits. A lot of them have bonuses and if you play the Definitive Edition like I did, you will get a good amount of weapons to start the game and can still find worth in upgrade others as they can outshine the bonus ones.
My biggest issue with this title was some lighting glitches in tombs and cutscenes, the game feels very dark even on the brightest settings. However, the loading issue that Rise of the Tomb Raider had was thankfully fixed for this title.
I hope to see more from the new Lara in the future. I finished the game at 100% completion but missed one combat achievement and played a few DLC tombs but got frustrated with the full level resets due to me playing on Deadly Obsession. I'll return for the. In the future, maybe on my New Game+ file.
The story is set in Peru and covers a lot of Maya & Inca histories from the lives of the people to their beliefs. The game covers multiple large maps and has a lot of life in the cities/towns you visit. Trying to stop the end of the world gives Lara the motivation to push forward as so many people have been lost because of what she believes she caused with removing an artifact in the opening tomb. To stop the destruction, she has to find a second artifact and stop the cult that she has known as the organization, Trinity.
The upgrade system to gear is simple and easy to work through by hunting and gathering materials or selling and buying components to level up your weapons and outfits. A lot of them have bonuses and if you play the Definitive Edition like I did, you will get a good amount of weapons to start the game and can still find worth in upgrade others as they can outshine the bonus ones.
My biggest issue with this title was some lighting glitches in tombs and cutscenes, the game feels very dark even on the brightest settings. However, the loading issue that Rise of the Tomb Raider had was thankfully fixed for this title.
I hope to see more from the new Lara in the future. I finished the game at 100% completion but missed one combat achievement and played a few DLC tombs but got frustrated with the full level resets due to me playing on Deadly Obsession. I'll return for the. In the future, maybe on my New Game+ file.
This review contains spoilers
Rise of the Tomb Raider was a great improvement and sequel to the reboot of the series. The story was captivating and the supporting characters were all well written and drew emotion from me. Jacob was a great character and I loved his story.
The new mechanics for gear, skills, and learning languages was enjoyable and made me interested in the historical fiction of this series. Playing on Extreme Survivor was also new for me and while it wasn't super difficult, I did die multiple times both in and out of combat which resulted in me having to restart sections.
My biggest gripe for this game is the load times. On Series X, I was not expecting nearly 5 min load times whenever I died of fast traveled. In addition, the Baba Yaga DLC started to break on me where the titular witch didn't appear in the final fight and after I beat the level, Lara would not stop crouching when there were no enemies near. She also has issues with aiming in the unlocked outfit and the enemies would freeze in a t-pose whenever combat started.
I finished all story content and Baba Yaga DLC on Extreme Survivor and played through the 20th Anniversary Blood Ties add-on. This was a very enjoyable game and I hope that feeling continues into the last one.
The new mechanics for gear, skills, and learning languages was enjoyable and made me interested in the historical fiction of this series. Playing on Extreme Survivor was also new for me and while it wasn't super difficult, I did die multiple times both in and out of combat which resulted in me having to restart sections.
My biggest gripe for this game is the load times. On Series X, I was not expecting nearly 5 min load times whenever I died of fast traveled. In addition, the Baba Yaga DLC started to break on me where the titular witch didn't appear in the final fight and after I beat the level, Lara would not stop crouching when there were no enemies near. She also has issues with aiming in the unlocked outfit and the enemies would freeze in a t-pose whenever combat started.
I finished all story content and Baba Yaga DLC on Extreme Survivor and played through the 20th Anniversary Blood Ties add-on. This was a very enjoyable game and I hope that feeling continues into the last one.
Tomb Raider (2013) was a great reboot for the series and I loved the story of Lara starting as an innocent explorer and ending as a survivor of the terrors of Yamatai. The detailed set pieces and level design made the game feel big and alive.
Combat is varied enough with four weapons and a few ammo types and is simple enough to learn. Running through the combat achievements on Xbox made the combat move by quickly while I spent most of my time exploring the island and looking for the collectables.
The story is great as well as it added a level of mysticism with the stranded island story as Lara has to save her fellow crewmates from a cult trying to restore an ancient goddess queen by sacrificing Sam, Lara's best friend. The story beats the hell out of Lara removing the fear that she has, and making her the Tomb Raider Lara that we know from the older games.
I finished the game on normal difficulty with all but two combat achievements. I skipped the multiplayer as it is mostly dead now and I don't want to grind out achievements for it.
Worth playing especially with today being it's anniversary of 11 years.
Combat is varied enough with four weapons and a few ammo types and is simple enough to learn. Running through the combat achievements on Xbox made the combat move by quickly while I spent most of my time exploring the island and looking for the collectables.
The story is great as well as it added a level of mysticism with the stranded island story as Lara has to save her fellow crewmates from a cult trying to restore an ancient goddess queen by sacrificing Sam, Lara's best friend. The story beats the hell out of Lara removing the fear that she has, and making her the Tomb Raider Lara that we know from the older games.
I finished the game on normal difficulty with all but two combat achievements. I skipped the multiplayer as it is mostly dead now and I don't want to grind out achievements for it.
Worth playing especially with today being it's anniversary of 11 years.
2022
Time Rift is a great linear maze-like puzzle shooter where you play as Alex, a hacker breaking into the big tech company, VaultCo. Using your various hacking skills like rewinding/slowing time and accessing crypto and data nodes, you aim to uncover the company's sinister plans.
I recieved a review copy from publisher, Dolores Entertainment and really enjoyed the mechanics and story. I've played a few games from their library and this one has been my favorite so far.
I recieved a review copy from publisher, Dolores Entertainment and really enjoyed the mechanics and story. I've played a few games from their library and this one has been my favorite so far.
2022
A Little to the Left is a comfy organizing puzzle game where you are cleaning or fixing messes around the house. Puzzles range from cleaning up drawers of junk like tools and batteries, to lining up post-it notes that have random lines on them, resulting in a bigger connected image.
I played through the full game with no hints or skips to get achievements and had fun. Some levels made me think about the potential solutions to the random assortment of items before me, but others were immediately solved as the challenge was obvious.
I also played all of the Archive levels that were released for holiday periods, but still have the daily achievements for doing a Daily Task. I also do not have the DLC so maybe I will get that in the future for some additional casual puzzle gaming.
I played through the full game with no hints or skips to get achievements and had fun. Some levels made me think about the potential solutions to the random assortment of items before me, but others were immediately solved as the challenge was obvious.
I also played all of the Archive levels that were released for holiday periods, but still have the daily achievements for doing a Daily Task. I also do not have the DLC so maybe I will get that in the future for some additional casual puzzle gaming.
LB3: Beyond Gotham was a fun title with lots of improvements on the first two games in the series, but I did find that the hubs in 3 vs the city of Gotham in 2 was a bit weaker. While there were quests, collectables and a bunch of characters, the vehicles were limited to one planet and I disregarded most of the characters.
Where 3 did well was the comedy in the story. Seeing all of the villains obtain the emotions of the Lanterns was hilarious. LEGO Joker will always be my favorite.
I finished all of the base game 100% but still need the DLC to have everything.
Where 3 did well was the comedy in the story. Seeing all of the villains obtain the emotions of the Lanterns was hilarious. LEGO Joker will always be my favorite.
I finished all of the base game 100% but still need the DLC to have everything.
A large improvement over the first game. I was super happy to have voice acting and better cutscenes. The overworld was overwhelming at first but then I realized how easy it was to explore with the Batcomputer's scanner. The levels are longer than the last game, but there are only 15 to play.
The platforming in the game was just as fun, collecting Gold Bricks with the various characters and abilities made the exploration lively and easy to burn through as Red Bricks for score multipliers and invincibility were obtained quickly and led me to finish this game faster than the first.
Worth the play if you are a fan of the series. You don't have to play the first title but there is a tied story at the beginning.
The platforming in the game was just as fun, collecting Gold Bricks with the various characters and abilities made the exploration lively and easy to burn through as Red Bricks for score multipliers and invincibility were obtained quickly and led me to finish this game faster than the first.
Worth the play if you are a fan of the series. You don't have to play the first title but there is a tied story at the beginning.
A classic LEGO game with lots of humor and references to the Batman franchise. I had issues with the vehicle controls and the camera in MP is bad frequently.
The gameplay is fun as you can follow 3 Batman stories from both the Hero and Villain sides. There are lots of characters to unlock and good replayability to get all of the collectables.
The 100% completion reward of a secret character is fun but once you finish the game, there isn't anything else to do. Great for young ones and those that want a casual game and fans of the Batman series.
The gameplay is fun as you can follow 3 Batman stories from both the Hero and Villain sides. There are lots of characters to unlock and good replayability to get all of the collectables.
The 100% completion reward of a secret character is fun but once you finish the game, there isn't anything else to do. Great for young ones and those that want a casual game and fans of the Batman series.
This review contains spoilers
My favorite Batman story I'm a game! Continuing from S1. The Enemy Within sees Bruce Wayne/Batman against a new threat of The Pact, a gang of some of his most notorious villains, Bane, Mr. Freeze, and John Doe (Joker), led by Harley Quinn after the death of their former leader, The Riddler. The story adapts to your decisions and QTE event gameplay leading Bruce into the belly of the criminal underground as he tries to stop his enemies while also developing a relationship with John Doe that can lead to him becoming an enemy or a vigilante Joker.
The story is well written and made me laugh multiple times as I gave into making Bruce and John friends just to see what would happen. The art style is a comfortable comic style, and one that I will enjoy playing in the Shadow Edition in the future.
Play both games if you ever have the chance. It's very much worth it.
The story is well written and made me laugh multiple times as I gave into making Bruce and John friends just to see what would happen. The art style is a comfortable comic style, and one that I will enjoy playing in the Shadow Edition in the future.
Play both games if you ever have the chance. It's very much worth it.
The Batman Telltale game is a great episodic story with Quick Time Event gameplay where all of your decisions effect the story. Each playthrough can be different and there is plenty of content to explore the lore of the story in this iteration of the Batman series.
Minus a few audio and graphics hiccups the game is solid and worth the time to play in a single sitting or over time. Additionally, the Shadow Mode is really cool for a change after playing the game with full color.
Minus a few audio and graphics hiccups the game is solid and worth the time to play in a single sitting or over time. Additionally, the Shadow Mode is really cool for a change after playing the game with full color.
This review contains spoilers
My favorite of the series due to the improvements made on the Xbox One/PS4 generation. Better graphics, audio, controls, and level of content.
The story is fantastic with Scarecrow leading the Rogues Gallery against the Dark Knight and a new enemy aiming to bring him down; The Arkham Knight.
The side missions and story always provide something to do and the AR Challenges can give hours of playtime. Minus a few issues with the camera when doing certain Batmobile levels, I had a blast playing!
The story is fantastic with Scarecrow leading the Rogues Gallery against the Dark Knight and a new enemy aiming to bring him down; The Arkham Knight.
The side missions and story always provide something to do and the AR Challenges can give hours of playtime. Minus a few issues with the camera when doing certain Batmobile levels, I had a blast playing!