knew i was in for something special when i looked Up for the first time, incredible expansion

"we closed our eyes and wrote everything down, thats when we realized they werent just dreams"

the opening screen of hardland prompts an active participation on the players part in understanding its world and narrative, emphasizing that it has no quest markers or active quest logs to guide you in any way, asking you to pour over every interaction, journal note and item description, every little nook and cranny that could hold the key to understanding the greater whole at the heart of this surreal fantasy world. holding itself as some kind of heavy puzzle adventure, should you have the dedication, which like, hell yeah sign me up!

so, fully bought into that pitch and down to clown, i went in with a physical notebook in hand and excavated every weird dream and location in the opening hours of the game with a fine tooth comb. but honestly, despite the opening disclaimers, the game doesnt seem that intense on that sort of thing like, at all? maybe im too early in the game to like, appreciate the scope of it all or something, but it seems more the kind of game where you run around as a weird little guy with a sword and hit mobs of little monsters with it, idk i kinda bounced off it after that. i plan to go back eventually with adjusted expectations, but man, kinda a bummer, to me, personally, imo,,,

but anyways, check out Scott Benson's Top 10 Games of 2019 on Giant Bomb to read about the appropriate way to appreciate this weird little game in the way that it actually is

very sad little game with some great performances, yeah sure dude just fuck me right up

"we're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine – and the machine is bleeding to death"-looking ass game, great tone piece, nightmare vibes

i'd make mince meat out of that [beat] mouse if i wasnt so bad at puzzles, love the visual style and presentation tho, very charming game

quite frankly the perfect video game, just pure joy

damn these bitches gay!! good for them, good for them

a text-based strategy sim centered around navigating the complex geopolitical manuverings of a country on the edge of an extremely precarious stability that is beset on all sides by its neighbors and the dominant world powers seeking to engage in ideological proxy wars.
all of which is best informed by a clear understanding of the historical events and relationships that brought said country to its current historical moment, as well as the various institutions that wield its power and how they work, all helpfully catalogued through a heavy in-game codex,

Unfortunately, i only ever boot this up when i'm half asleep at 5 in the fucking morning and can't be bothered to do the reading to actually play this game, which is just some tragic stuff on my part really

finished! very good! Arrgh! Avast!! and so on and so forth (incredible detective game hampered down a lil bit from its pulpy orientalist mysticism veneer imo)