Risk II is a very nostalgic game for me because it was among the first video games i've ever played.
It successfully captures the strategic depth and core rules/mechanics of the original board game. Basically, in this game you need to conquer the world.
The map is well-detailed, and the troop animations during battles add some flavour to the experience. The user interface is intuitive, allowing players to easily manage their armies and territories. The inclusion of detailed statistics and battle outcomes helps players refine their strategies and improve their gameplay.
The AI adapts to different strategies, however sometimes it gets easy to read as it has its own limits.
Overall, Risk II is a well-crafted strategy game that successfully translates the classic board game experience to the digital realm.

Game Dev Tycoon is the only game i'ever bought on my phone because you know, if you pirate it you'll have no chance of getting too far into the game. At some point your games will start to get pirated and you'll go bankrupt eventually.
You start from a small garage and you end up growing into a major industry leader. I love the fact that the game begins in the early days of the gaming industry (around the 80s) and progresses through several decades, the furthest I got was to 300 years in the future 😅
The game is very engaging and it gives you freedom, you can create games by selecting various genres, themes, and platforms, and then manage the development process by allocating resources to different aspects such as graphics, sound, gameplay etc.

The game's biggest strength is it's replayability. As you progress, you unlock new technologies, game genres, and research options, allowing for increasingly sophisticated game development. There's also the challenge of staying ahead of industry trends and competitors. It adds a layer of strategic depth that keeps the gameplay interesting over multiple playthroughs.
The biggest flaw of the game is that at some point, you reach endgame and you stop unlocking new gameplay elements. I wish they supported this game for longer and added more depth to it.

All in all, this is a neat and unique idea of a game that gets addictive really quick.
Im sad that i never developed a game that got a pure 11/10 rating:((

"The enemy of this place is not the Golden Rule, but human failings"

I first heard of this game when it got released as there was a positive word of mouth spreading around it but I was very surprised to find out it had in fact started out as a Skyrim mod before expanding into a game in it's own right. Even with the positive reviews around it I still hesitated due to my dislike of the Elder Scrolls games but fortunately due to a user here duhnunuh and his perpetual steam giveaway I was given the chance to try this out. Having finished it 100% in two days my reservations were extremely unfounded. It's fantastic. I found myself absolutely engrossed in the city and story around it's Groundhog day time loop premise.

The Forgotten City is a hard game to actually discuss though as much of the joy of playing it is making the discoveries as the narrative unfolds. A couple of parts really made me go "well dam!" as I played through it. The short spoiler free version is that you wake up next to a river in modern times before stumbling into an underground Roman ruin whilst searching for a man who had entered it prior to you. Once in there you realise it's a one way entrance and you are now stuck inside except for a portal that takes you back 2000 years before when the city was still a vibrant community. To get out you need to find out why it became the ruin it was in your time and prevent it from happening.

Though it does have plenty of options, branches and endings the game is actually more linear than it appears overall with talking to all the residents of this ancient Roman city to unlock more information, items and quests to constantly progress with loop shortcuts built in once enough progress is made. It's a clever little game but the cast of characters and usage of history and myths is what really makes it such a winner for me. I love historical settings and though Rome is often used in large scale war games and gladiator titles it rarely gets as intimate a background as this. Conversations of normal people of the period, gods and politics all mixed in but each conversation actually serving a purpose to push the story along towards it's conclusion. The characters all have their own lives and backgrounds and although some are more important to the overall narrative than others they all feel like people rather than background models in the world. The small setting allows for the characters to each have their own personality, worries, history and flaws.

Outside of the dialogue and conversations you will spend your time exploring the location. The game is called the Forgotten City but it's more a small village or town than a city. There is still plenty to explore and see however with temples, markets, forums, caves and secrets. There is some occasional basic combat in first person which is kind of weak though extremely limited with only one section really requiring it as the main point is the mystery. If I'm really nit-picking flaws, some of the animations for their faces and how characters stand can pull you out of the immersion a little as they stare at you cross eyed. The thing is I actually do think it's a fantastic looking and sounding title overall. It has great art design, vistas, music and voice acting to pull it all together cohesively, especially for a game made by a core group of only 3 people from scratch off the back of a mod idea.

Overall I think this is a game that will stay with me for a long time that occasionally I will just think about. Whilst I like a great many games in a variety of genres there are only a few for their story that really stand out to me for the overall experience. Games like Soma, Mass Effect, 13 Sentinels and now, The Forgotten City. "The many shall suffer for the sins of the one?" No, no, no. The many shall enjoy due to the work of a few.

Recommended.

+ Great historical references, narrative and characters.
+ Gorgeous art design.
+ Just an engrossing experience.

- Combat though limited isn't that fun.

Devil May Cry is a series I knew virtually nothing about before I played this, but if the rest of the series is like this game I can see why people like it so much. The Basic gameplay loop of fighting enemies by executing different moves and combos and collecting the red orbs they drop to get upgrades was pretty satisfying and addictive and the mission level structure felt pretty good and made sure no section outstayed it's welcome. The game's setting and atmosphere reminded me a lot of Resident Evil in ways, a secluded island with a large manor and evil creatures dwelling within it made for a really interesting place to explore and I was always wondering where the game would take me next. Probably my favorite thing about the game was just how damn goofy it was in the best way possible. Though he didn't get many lines seeing as the gameplay was clearly the main focus here, almost every word out of Dante's mouth was a riot, combine that with incredible early 2000s voice overacting, and I can see why people love this silly character so much. Apart from just Dante though, the story, dialogue, and overall vibe of the game felt cheesy in a way that felt endearing and I absolutely loved it. My only real complaint with the game were it's boss fights, some of them were ridiculously easy while others were punishingly difficult and there really was no in between. On top of that the game reused the same four bosses over and over and it just didn't feel that fun to fight the same thing over and over again as opposed to something original. Apart from that the game only allowed you to save at the end of levels (at least as far as I could find) meaning if you died in a level and didn't have any yellow orbs left to revive you then you had to restart the whole level over again which just took me out of the game a few times during difficult missions, overall this is more of a symptom of being an older video game rather than a problem with DMC specifically, but it still wasn't great. On the whole though, I really enjoyed Devil May Cry and look forward to playing more of this series.

It's not a meme review this time I swear!!!

I've been wanting to do a full-fledged Luigi's Mansion review for awhile because its a game that has a special place in my heart. Since this will total out to be my 190th review, I figure now would be the perfect time to do so.

One random day in my early childhood not too long after I began playing video games, I was at Target checking out the video games section. Upon doing so, I discovered one particular game that caught my eye, Luigi's Mansion for the Nintendo GameCube. Despite not owning a GameCube or having the cognitive abilty to realize not every single game was on the Ps1, I begged my parents to get me this game. Alas I never did until years later when I began collecting GameCube games. I probably got about halfway finished with the game until I dropped it along with 95% of the other games I owned. Since then I've beaten this game & its 3ds remake about 3 times in total. With every time I finish this game, I grow more fond of the game that was most likely underappreciated during its initial release.

Usually its Mario that gets the spotlight and saves the day, but not this time. Mario got scammed and turned into a painting by King Boo. To help save his brother, Luigi, with the help of a scientist named Professor E.Gadd, ventures into King Boo's mansion. To assist Luigi on his quest to rescue Mario, E.Gadd gives him the Poltergust 3000, a machine that will allow Luigi to do some Ghostbusting.

The game is split into 4 parts consisting of a variety of different portrait ghosts to collect. The first part of the game serves mostly as a tutorial for the remaining 3 parts of Luigi's adventure. During part 1, E.Gadd teaches you how to use the Poltergust and the first few rooms & portrait ghosts serve as a way to getting use to the game's controls & mechanics. Overall, the game feels incredibly well-paced and each part doesn't overstay its welcome.

Atmosphere aside, the gameplay is probably the best part of the game. You explore each room looking carefully for ghosts & money by sucking up everything around you. Once you find a ghost, you need to hit it with your flashlight. If the light connects, it will play a sound that prompts you to suck up the ghost. Sucking them up is pretty much like a game of tug-of-war as you will need to maintain a grip on your controller as the ghost will attempt to escape. It is not only something unique that hasn't really been done before previously, but it also makes the gameplay incredibly addicting. The money hunting isn't super important to the game and you can skip collecting coins if you so choose, but if you want to get a better ending then you will need to collect as much cash possible.

There are really only a couple of minor issues I have with the game overall. The main issue being how frustrating Boo collecting can be sometimes. Thankfully, there are no soft-locks in regards to it, but there will be plenty of times that a Boo will run into a room you can't access if you fail to immediately get it in your Poltergust. You can always go back and get it once you progress further, but it's one of those things that really bothers me during my playthroughs since I tend to struggle with getting them in one try. The only other thing I take issue with is the controls taking a little bit to get used to, but overall its not that big of a deal.

Luigi's Mansion is a game with fun, addicting gameplay, phenomenal atmosphere & aesthetics, and great pacing. It's a one-of-a-kind game that can't be replicated.

Didn't really grab me. I dunno, I might revisit it some day, but unlikely.

While all the core mechanics are fine, I didn't really enjoy anything it brings to the table compared to other RPGs. The combat feels like too much micro-management to me. Then again, you can streamline it, but that feels almost like the game playing itself.

I think the strongest appeal of such RPGs is usually the story and role-playing, which I found kinda lacking here. The game lets you create your own characters, which for me is by far the most fun I had with this game. The customization options are extremely diverse, ranging from race and class to moral alignment, even letting you write your characters' biographies. But what this means in practice is that the game isn't really written to accommodate the type of characters you create, their personality or their backstory. Meaning you're constantly faced with dialogue options that feel out of character for your character. All the dialogues are almost the same, regardless of who you play as. And you're also limited in what you can do story-wise. It's very linear.

That kinda only leaves you with combat and upgrades. And for that aspect I'd rather play something like Diablo, where the gameplay mechanics are designed around combat and thus feel more intuitive.

🏛️🕊️
Caesar III is yet another timeless classic from Sierra Entertainment that stands the test of time.
Great historical setting, recreating ancient Rome is remarkable. It's an engaging experience but also a hard game. Managing resources, infrastructure, and citizen happiness makes it a challenging game, there's usually always something that doesn't go well.
I liked how you need to always please the gods by building them temples, how you need to build aqeuducts to bring water to the population, to keep the population entertained by building theatres and so on.
Just like Pharaoh, this game is a classic that is worth the visit.

Hell yeah, now that's what I'm talking about. After a dissapoint (to say the least) experience with the first game in the series, I was somewhat reluctant to play God of War II, but I'm glad I did, this game is amazing!
Combat has evolved to its finest, I found myself using magics much more commonly, and it's now much more practical to update your weapons. Boss fights are superb, a perfect mix between a cinematic experience and a challenging duel, altough the plot isn't as well developed as in GoW 1 (probably the only downgrade for me), at least solving puzzles is now fun.
Hey why are there so little collectables now?

Estava um tanto quanto relutante de jogar o tal do Rondo of Blood Júnior, não vou mentir. Após ouvir umas várias críticas controversas sobre Castlevania: Dracula X, achei que seria um joguinho bem do mal feito e amador, porém, em minha teimosia de querer zerar todos os classicvanias, e em minha recente obsessão pelo Richter Belmont, não podia deixar esse rapazinho de fora, e olha, esse jogo não promete nada, e entrega tudo.
Primeiro de tudo, joguei essa bomba com save states, se isso é uma redflag pra você, nem termine esse review; enfim, sendo um classicvania, a jogabilidade segue sendo a mesma de sempre, ande pra frente, e bata em tudo o que se move, a esse ponto já to tão acostumado, com as escadas, movimentação travada, e dificuldade cuzona dessa franquia, que já nem reclamo mais, afinal, esse jogo não inova em nada, assim sendo, o game é bastante divertido, oferece bons visuais pro SNES (dá-lhe chip mode 7), e uma excelente trilha sonora, além de bosses muitos bacanas e que não enchem o saco além da conta (exceto, claro, o Drácula, aquilo é de fato o pior ponto dessa experiência).
Não resgatei as donzelas.

Castlevania simply doesn't fail to impress me, wow, they really improved Rondo of Blood somehow.
Everything I could say about Rondo I could say about Dracula X Chronicles, since it basically remakes the entire game in a very faithful way, now with the extremely charming graphics of the PSP, the only complain I have is that it's still very boring to do the alternate routes to save the girls and fight the extra bosses, but again, it's optional, so I didn't do it :D, despite that, still an excellent game.
What else can I say? More cutscenes, new dialogues, new extra contents (I didn't touch neither SotN nor OG Rondo, but I'm glad they exist), Dracula now has a more developed boss fight, and OOOHH my god Annette Succubus

Not only this game is absurdly bad, but it also gets even worse when in comparison to its predecessor.
If the first game is a surprisingly polished and well-made adventure, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 throws it all off the window, with one of the worst level designs I've ever seen; poorly made bosses which you'll most likely defeat with luck; 2 usuless characters that are just supports, and pretty much defenseless on their own; and they even managed to make an irritating soundtrack.
I dragged myself through the last 2 stages just to get this beaten, and there's absolutely no chance I'm doing any of the other episodes to the true ending. You can tell me to git gud, I don't care, to me, this game sits alongside Castlevania Judgement as one of Koji Igarashi's worst works.