A huge complicated character building system surrounds what is essentially a Left 4 Dead style coop game only without variety. Each level I saw was pretty generic and I got tired of going through them long before I started getting anything good as far as equipment, talent trees and so forth goes. To get far along in this seems like a lot of work to put into game where each level is kind of the same. While the gameplay seems perfectly good, it just lacks the replay value needed to make that work.

A beautiful cooperative game that is, mostly, pretty dull. It's nice to look at the water and go "goddamn, that water looks great" and if you can get a crew together to sail the seas it's not bad, it's just usually very mindless. Sail places, get ashore, get some treasure, maybe kill a skeleton or some such along the way. I have had no grander pirate adventure in my time with the game, but I've heard tell of those who have. While those tales can be thrilling, my voyages have been okay at best.

Driving around the big open world aimlessly while listening to Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne on repeat is a lot of fun. The driving model feels good and there's lots of shortcuts to discover, fences to drive through and billboards to smash up which is great. However, it's not all great. The races are all from random place to random place and the GPS is not very easy to follow making that whole part of the game a bit crap. Also could use fast travel. Still, it's a lot of fun to mindlessly explore.

A very impressive narrative game that tells the eponymous Florence's story through a series of simple little microgames. Each is relatively simple and hard to fail, but immerses you a little deeper into Florence's life. The way they seamlessly transition from one to the next ties the whole thing together, making it feel cohesive and keeping you locked in. While the game isn't too long, while it lasts it sucks you in and paints you a lovely picture of Florence's life. Worth experiencing.

An amazing compact tactics game with a lot of depth packed into each 4 turn battle. Each turn is like a little puzzle to solve. Punch that bug away from the building it's after. Make the other bug hit its friend. Shield the power plant with your mech's body. The options available to you depend on both your starting squad and how you build over a campaign providing huge replay value. On easy it's simple but satisfying, on normal fraught but manageable. Either way, it's engaging and rewarding. <3

A very simple arcadey roguelike that's fast paced and well suited to phones. Though the touch screen controls can make precision difficult that only adds to the zany fun of falling down a well shooting creatures with your gunboots as you fall. Also, since the well is vertical, it's perfect for a regularly held phone. The action is fun, loose and frenetic and the three color graphics are stylish while also making it intuitive which enemies you can and can't jump on. Super cool little game! <3

This second installment of The Fall is a more substantial than the first part and delivers on the science fiction, though the gameplay is still hit or miss. There's a lot more vignettes this time, that is to say there's multiple of them, and each is not only longer but also more flavorful. It's still an adventure game with solutions that can be annoying to figure out and combat that's bad, but there's less bad combat relative to the good science fiction writing. It's a nicely meaty follow up.

The first part of a wonderfully high concept piece of science fiction that is bogged down by annoying combat and the occasional puzzle you may have to google. The premise of being an autonomous suit putting their unconscious pilot in danger in order to force your own software to authorize use of abilities is a fun conceit and has lots of implications that it explores very well. That said, while the atmosphere and writing are great the gameplay is less so and it ends just as its getting going.

This game is a pain in the ass, but intentionally so? It controls especially badly on a smartphone, which either adds to the charm or detracts from it. Either way, not very fun to play. Getting over anything takes a lot of fiddling around and it all can be lost in a second. Again, this is intentional so... as bad as it feels to play you can't really ding it too much for being what it is, a torturous bore, because that's what it's supposed to be. It's the "dead dove do not eat" of video games.

A super tight platformer with heart and great accessibility options. The dash especially feels really good, and the game builds a lot of cool challenges around both using it and not using it until just the right moment. The game is full of mechanics and ideas that really put you through your paces plus collectibles that add further challenge if desired. On top of all that the characters are lovable and it's easy to get invested in the drama of the climb. It's an extraordinary endeavor. <3

I guess it's supposed to be pretty basic and boring before things kick off but goddamn. The writing is really weak and hard to get through up until you get to the big twists which everyone pretty knew about going in. Even with their reputation preceeding them, the twists are still plenty interesting in a surreal and visceral way, but they're a tad dark for my tastes and I don't know if they really needed such a bland lead in to work. I guess it's fine, just didn't hit super hard for me.

A racing game that feels pretty good but you can only play for a minute. The way it renders the road before you looks pretty good for the era and gives you enough information such that turning as needed isn't too hard while having nice scenery, hills and other such things that add to the experience nicely. It feels good to rip around turns and tear ass up until you invariably run out of time before the first checkpoint. Consistently a big letdown, immensely unsatisfying. Probably ate quarters.

An okay arcade shoot em up where you randomly move around and shoot enemies and occasionally run headlong into a tree or something. That's about all there is to it, but it controls well enough and it's fun while it lasts. Whatever!

A perfect entry point for Yakuza that tells the origin story of two of the coolest dudes of all time. Set in 80s Japan during a heated power struggle revolving around an empty lot, the world is super fun to hang out in between main missions with super good atmosphere and lots of great side stories much of which is wonderfully absurd. You'll also beat up a lot of dudes, which is brainless but at least in a flashy way. What's more important is that the game's funny, charming and rad as hell. <3

Putting portals and other Portal mechanics into a bridge builder is a great idea even if the bridge building itself is pretty basic. Each level is really long and requires you route the car (or an absurdly long convoy for extra credit) through portals and around obstacles, which is real novel, though it does become a bit too much work pretty quickly. There's also some trademark Portal humor which isn't particularly sharp, but does remind you of the original games and the jokes they told.