Got it for free on Google Stadia.

Played it, slowly. Decent narrative, qualifies the basic concepts of gameplay.

Wasn't too jazzed about the story. Very barebones and safe. But I get it, its a reboot.

Another fantastic game from Playdead.

Started this before I knew of 'LIMBO'. Finished it half way, then went and played LIMBO, then came back to this.

Very much in the same 'theme' as LIMBO, tackling a much more borader subject matter of mind control, experimentation on human test subjects and themes of existentialism, isolation, being hunted and post-apocalypse.

The character designs, minimal aesthetics return. Physics is as fluid as it ever was, but I think its a bit improved with subtle details around body locomotion thanks to 3-D rendenring.

I was not expecting the game to end the way it did. Absolutely fantastic.

An exquisite looking game with great design, inventive puzzles, cool mechanics and fluid motion physics.

The story is also, pretty layered. No text or dialogue - just great visual story-telling and symbolism.

Very dark and morbid story.

Just started playing this game today. A few quick thoughts.

The opening sequence is nice, very reminiscent of Half-Life or PREY.

The sound-design is absolutely fantastic. I really loved the binaural audio.

The writing is strong -- lots of Nordic lore, intervoven threads of the past. The graphics and cutscenes are rendered in-engine, and look gorgeous.

But I'm not a fan the puzzles and quest-system. Its tedious and confusing. I ran into some blocks and had to look up a walthrough to continue (because life's too short to keep being stuck)

I have a confession to make.

I never played PORTAL when it first came out. I have not played PORTAL 2 yet.

I asked myself - “you’ve played almost every game that Valve has made, and how is it that you haven’t purchased and played Portal 1 (and 2) yet ?”. The honest answer is – I felt intimidated. I felt like it would be too difficult: the puzzles, the mechanics, all of it.

Was I wrong? Yeah, I was wrong. There's another way, I look at it. You know how everyone has that one film that they haven’t seen yet (that everyone else has) or that one album they haven’t heard yet (that everyone has) – landmark entries in media and art. They get to experience it for the first time and feel all the wonderful feelings of that experience (albeit with more maturity).

Yes, PORTAL is a landmark entry in the world of gaming. I had the developer commentary enabled and learned a great deal about how the developers at Valve designed the maps, the puzzles, the areas and what their intent was behind it. The challenges they faced, the feedback they received from play-testers. The innovation and unique problem solving they implemented. It was an absolute joy to learn of these tidbits while I played through the game.

The way this is structured, lends itself to a linear playthrough but with enough interesting curveballs to keep you engaged. Each level teaches you something fundamental that then pays off by the end of the game.

The lore is not in your face. In fact, there is no exposition at all. You have ‘a voice’ that's talking to you (look, I’m trying as hard as I can, to not spoil anything). The way the voice acting is done, the dialogue and the script – you really get a lot out of it when you pay attention. You find messages in nooks and crannies, scribbles and drawings. The setting is very dystopian but there is so much sarcasm, wit and subversion thrown in, that you can’t help but smile. The humour is dark, but the kind that doesn’t offend you. It makes you think and question things.

Will you get stuck in a few spots ? sure, but you always have walkthroughs available if you’ve spent more time than you’d like. But the level design is not complicated and you’re taught everything you need to know in order to solve every puzzle.

I started playing this game on my SteamDeck and started getting involved. Then I switched to PC and felt that the mouse-keyboard combination felt more intuitive and so I continued to play on PC. I felt like I was more accurate and hence could get more enjoyment and less frustration during my playtime.

Finally, I want to talk about physics. Making a game where the core premise is that you basically have a gun that can create portals – is pretty wild. There is a lot that goes into managing state, positioning, gravity, movement, damage and all the edge cases that you hit when you end up in a portal loop. I did find a way to break the game, being thrown out of the map (which I found to be funny). This game is an engineering masterpiece. As a game dev, I have an immense amount of respect and appreciation for what is achieved here.

Everyone should play this game. I’m late to the party, but I’m glad I’ve arrived.

Now, I’m going to go and start playing, PORTAL 2.

It's hard to talk about Jedi Fallen Order without first admitting that I'm a Star Wars fan. I like the lore, I like the environments and yes, even the prequels. I'm a simple guy, I like Star Wars.

So I went into this game with certain expectations. I'd read about the feedback -- people called it "like Uncharted". I've never played Uncharted, but I got the gist -- an action adventure game set in the Star Wars Universe.

I started playing it, late September 2023, but then kept it aside to finish up on The Last of Us (Part 1, for PC). After finishing a few other games, I decided a few weeks ago, to pick this one back up again.

This one, yeah, its hard to describe. There are some things it does REALLY well. The atmoshphere, the art and decor of the planets you visit, it really puts you in a Star Wars feeling. The lightsaber combat stuff is decent, if you spend a while to master your combos and explore the skill tree. This game does a good job of nailing the Star Wars sentiment (with all the massive set-pieces), down to the very predictable story beats (although there's that one short section where you play as Young Cal, and have to do a certain thing after a certain 'Order' is initiated, that was the highlight of the game for me). Its not a bad story, but it sure isn't a great story either. Its what you've known, for all your life.

But I got to tell you, this game really felt tedious and frustrated me, often -- in its level design, platforming sections and progressions. The holomap is atrocious. The 3-D render from BD-1 does a poor job of informing the player of time-space and location. I found myself traversing sections, getting lost, retreading, and it was annoying. I walked away from a game session many times, because of that fact. I also wasn't happy with how checkpoints and saves are configured. The places where you meditate, seem arbitrary. Games, should start offering 'save-game' to players, whenever players feel like it.

So, look, I'm not here to discourage anyone from playing this game.

If you find it for cheap, and if you don't mind the stuff I complained about, and you like Star Wars, yeah, you should try this game out.

else, skip it. I had sunk in enough time to not be able to walk away from it, and now that I've finished it (and I'm not going to play it again) , I feel a sense of achievement.

With that being said, I will wait for Jedi Survivor to come to GamePass.

Dead Space is a 2023 survival horror game developed by Motive Studio and published by Electronic Arts and is a remake of the 2008 game of the same name developed by EA Redwood Shores.

I'd never played Dead Space 2008, because I felt it was too scary. In 2023, I considered this a good time to play the remake.

Its tough to talk about it, since there were so many aspects of this game that I found to be absolutely fantastic, but at the same time, the core-loop felt tiring and cumbersome.

The physics, graphics, gore effects, how responsive and crisp everything felt. The atmosphere was spot on. The enemy AI was pretty good as well. The engineering effort put into this, makes Motive, one of the best game studios working on games today.

As far as the story is concerned, its serviceable. I found it to be enough to get me through the game but not enough for me to go in deep about the lore. That is a personal opinion and not a reflection of the writing chops that the folks behind this game and the 2008 original one, have.

The bit where I felt tired and a bit frustrated, were the core-loop that made you go "fetch this, fix that".

But I'm glad I played and finished this game.

My experience with Cocoon was very special. It feels like this will stay with me for a long time, and I would like that possibility to be stumbled upon by someone who happens to read this.

Cocoon is a 2023 puzzle adventure game developed by Geometric Interactive and published by Annapurna Interactive.

What stood out to me was the design. It's minimal, abstract, varied and otherworldly. I’ve never seen anything like this, and found myself mesmerised, entranced and enchanted. There are no words, no explainers, no hand holding. Just you and your journey.

I played this game over a few weeks, short, fifteen minute sessions before bedtime, on my Steam Deck. After fifteen minutes, I put my handheld gaming system down and went to sleep, and dreamt of the sights and sounds I had experienced a while ago. Some of the most unique and pleasant dreams I’ve had in a while. It definitely helped reduce my general anxiety.

You play as a small, bug-like creature, on an adventure like none you’ve experienced before. The controls are extremely simple - you move and you interact. The genius of the gameplay loop is contained with that control scheme. You cannot die in this game, and are not punished for making mistakes, but encouraged to explore.

The puzzles can be a bit of a challenge (which is subjective) but never unfair. If you’re stuck, you can (if so wish) look up solutions. Each puzzle teaches you mechanics that will be used in other puzzles. Boss battles are rewarding because you’re using the mechanics you’ve learned and seeing how they’re remixed in interesting ways, feels good.


What does the word : “world” mean to you? That’s what I asked myself, every time I picked this up to play. To say more, will spoil things for you, so I wont. But I encourage you to ask yourself that question before you start playing. A dreamlike state where you’re travelling within worlds, between worlds, towards worlds. Ambient musical cues give you subtle hints and guide you in a warm way. There is something uncanny, distinct about the elements you encounter and sparked my curiosity, reminiscent of being a kid.

There is colour, character, creativity and inspiration to be found. I applaud the developers at Geometric Interactive for making such a game and Annapurna Interactive for publishing it.