2024
Did you know that 99% of gamblers quit before they make it big?
Jokes aside (don't gamble, kids), Balatro is such a fun spin on the rougelite deckbuilding genre, its systems are easy to learn and not too hard to master, and the game is open to a variety of different viable strategies; the RNG obviously plays a big role even more so than in other roguelites because of the intrinsic nature of Poker, but Balatro strikes a nice balance of unpredictability and strategy, often letting the player making their chances better via Jokers and vouchers (game modifiers), even letting them peek at their deck as a base feature to see which cards remain you can still draw so that they can plan their next hand accordingly.
Sound effects are amazing, the sound of rustling cards, falling chips and the score sound effects really bring it all together, along with the colorful graphics, it's almost hypnotizing.
Jokes aside (don't gamble, kids), Balatro is such a fun spin on the rougelite deckbuilding genre, its systems are easy to learn and not too hard to master, and the game is open to a variety of different viable strategies; the RNG obviously plays a big role even more so than in other roguelites because of the intrinsic nature of Poker, but Balatro strikes a nice balance of unpredictability and strategy, often letting the player making their chances better via Jokers and vouchers (game modifiers), even letting them peek at their deck as a base feature to see which cards remain you can still draw so that they can plan their next hand accordingly.
Sound effects are amazing, the sound of rustling cards, falling chips and the score sound effects really bring it all together, along with the colorful graphics, it's almost hypnotizing.
2024
A little gem of a game, Crow Country is set in the abandonded theme park of the same name, with protagonist Mara Forest looking for clues on the whereabouts of the park's missing owner, Edward Crow.
Certainly more puzzle and navigation centric than combat focused, Crow Country makes up for its simple combat encounters with puzzles that are often challenging to unravel and reward you with more and more context on the truth about the park the further in you get, often via staff notes which are a pretty much a staple of the genre.
Crow Country felt to me like a beautiful (even if not too challenging) toy-looking puzzle box, if you've played a couple Survival Horrors then you probably won't struggle with the combat at all, but I think that's fine, as the experience imo feels like it's worth more than the sum of its parts; I had a great time even if the game wasn't trying to constantly kick my butt, if anything I felt that this allowed the puzzles to take center stage without excessive frustration.
Certainly more puzzle and navigation centric than combat focused, Crow Country makes up for its simple combat encounters with puzzles that are often challenging to unravel and reward you with more and more context on the truth about the park the further in you get, often via staff notes which are a pretty much a staple of the genre.
Crow Country felt to me like a beautiful (even if not too challenging) toy-looking puzzle box, if you've played a couple Survival Horrors then you probably won't struggle with the combat at all, but I think that's fine, as the experience imo feels like it's worth more than the sum of its parts; I had a great time even if the game wasn't trying to constantly kick my butt, if anything I felt that this allowed the puzzles to take center stage without excessive frustration.
2018
Damn, I really tried to enjoy this but I found it just too janky, tedious and unfriendly for my tastes.
Definitely like the idea, but I don't love the execution, besides I think the game could benefit from some in-game direction by NPCs and such, without forcing the players to follow them of course, but as it stands now the game consists of a lot of just wandering around aimlessly hoping to stumble into something interesting and that doesn't immediately beat your ass and leave your characters bleeding to death.
The player storytelling potential is 100% there, if you're creative about rp there is something to enjoy here if you can stomach the game's design, as it stands now, I couldn't, I'll limit myself to enjoying other players' stories.
Definitely like the idea, but I don't love the execution, besides I think the game could benefit from some in-game direction by NPCs and such, without forcing the players to follow them of course, but as it stands now the game consists of a lot of just wandering around aimlessly hoping to stumble into something interesting and that doesn't immediately beat your ass and leave your characters bleeding to death.
The player storytelling potential is 100% there, if you're creative about rp there is something to enjoy here if you can stomach the game's design, as it stands now, I couldn't, I'll limit myself to enjoying other players' stories.
2020
Has potential but suffers from uncharacteristically clunky combat which makes Windbound feel punishing in an unfair way considering how much damage some of the enemies deal, losing your stuff to an unresponsive combat system just doesn't feel good.
The sailing and exploration aspects are good, the crafting based progression would potentially be well tuned with more refined combat, the ambience and the music are soothing, but ultimately everything is undermined by the game's combat balance and stiffness.
The sailing and exploration aspects are good, the crafting based progression would potentially be well tuned with more refined combat, the ambience and the music are soothing, but ultimately everything is undermined by the game's combat balance and stiffness.
2023
Great but comes just short of being amazing!
Rusted Moss is a metroidvania with a very open map, set at the end of the age of man with a melancholic vibe and a focus on shooting and grappling hook platforming.
Doesn't have much in the way of upgrades, but does a lot with what it gives the player and is much more skill oriented than other games of its genre.
The ability gating in Rusted Moss often means that you could get somewhere if you just mastered the grappling hook, sequence breaking is intended and encouraged and despite this, getting actually lost is a rare occasion since whichever direction you choose to go in you are making some progress towards your final goal. Hook platforming is overall really fun! The physics need some getting used to, but it's obvious the team spent a lot of time fine tuning them to behave "realistically" and therefore predictably.
Gunplay is pretty nice once you get really into it (and unlock some guns), the bosses are where it really shines and your abilty to juggle shooting and grappling is put to the test.
The setting and lore are really interesting and unique, the story is actually kinda nice too and doesn't get too in the way.
Where it comes just short of being amazing is, in my opinion, in the lack of map markers (except for shops, teleporters and save points), there are no custom map markers either, meaning that if you want to mark something (e.g. collectibles or sections you can't reach just yet) for later then you're just out of luck; this comes to the detriment of trying to 100%ing the game which is some of the most fun that comes with this genre.
I really recommend Rusted Moss to people that are looking for a metroidvania that features a map that is actually open, is heavy on challenging platforming, and is more about the player learning to use and master what little they get rather than constantly earning new abilities throughout the way.
Rusted Moss is a metroidvania with a very open map, set at the end of the age of man with a melancholic vibe and a focus on shooting and grappling hook platforming.
Doesn't have much in the way of upgrades, but does a lot with what it gives the player and is much more skill oriented than other games of its genre.
The ability gating in Rusted Moss often means that you could get somewhere if you just mastered the grappling hook, sequence breaking is intended and encouraged and despite this, getting actually lost is a rare occasion since whichever direction you choose to go in you are making some progress towards your final goal. Hook platforming is overall really fun! The physics need some getting used to, but it's obvious the team spent a lot of time fine tuning them to behave "realistically" and therefore predictably.
Gunplay is pretty nice once you get really into it (and unlock some guns), the bosses are where it really shines and your abilty to juggle shooting and grappling is put to the test.
The setting and lore are really interesting and unique, the story is actually kinda nice too and doesn't get too in the way.
Where it comes just short of being amazing is, in my opinion, in the lack of map markers (except for shops, teleporters and save points), there are no custom map markers either, meaning that if you want to mark something (e.g. collectibles or sections you can't reach just yet) for later then you're just out of luck; this comes to the detriment of trying to 100%ing the game which is some of the most fun that comes with this genre.
I really recommend Rusted Moss to people that are looking for a metroidvania that features a map that is actually open, is heavy on challenging platforming, and is more about the player learning to use and master what little they get rather than constantly earning new abilities throughout the way.
2022
Outstanding blend of humor and horror, surprisingly good at building tension and has quite a few great scares! The writing is super fun and dialogue doesn't outstay its welcome, and the levels are all so very unique.
Does a lot with very few and simple mechanics (mostly just picking up stuff and throwing it) by implementing them in very creative ways.
Does a lot with very few and simple mechanics (mostly just picking up stuff and throwing it) by implementing them in very creative ways.
It's fineeeee.
Artistically, it's great; combat feels good but doesn't have much depth to it, but most of all, the map isn't interesting to navigate and its level design is too simple to justify how big the map is, the lack of interconnection between areas makes backtracking a bore and the movement abilities are pretty much just run of the mill.
Artistically, it's great; combat feels good but doesn't have much depth to it, but most of all, the map isn't interesting to navigate and its level design is too simple to justify how big the map is, the lack of interconnection between areas makes backtracking a bore and the movement abilities are pretty much just run of the mill.
2023
Just so intrinsically fun, coming up with unlikely solution feels great and the game's downtime even after failing is close to zero.
It's not THAT bad but it isn't great either.
Having a character that plays a lot like a Belmont in a search action CV title is both novel (coming from SotN) and boring in a way, probably because the unlocked abilities are not particularly fun.
Not a really hard game per se but can get very annoying, the map is nothing special and a little frustrating to navigate at times.
Having a character that plays a lot like a Belmont in a search action CV title is both novel (coming from SotN) and boring in a way, probably because the unlocked abilities are not particularly fun.
Not a really hard game per se but can get very annoying, the map is nothing special and a little frustrating to navigate at times.
2023
Definitely fun but lacks the depth that could have made it truly great imo.
There is a genuinely good game buried somewhere in here, but the good qualities of the combat and the nemesis system are not enough to keep together a game that's plagued by: a lucklaster narrative, one of the flattest vg protagonists ever and a really shallow gameplay loop.
2021
Pretty cool but unfortunately gets quite repetitive with the additional content, which for me spoiled the experience a little.
As a mostly solo dev project this is really respectable and worth playing if you want something that's adrenaline inducing but not as complicated as ULTRAKILL.
As a mostly solo dev project this is really respectable and worth playing if you want something that's adrenaline inducing but not as complicated as ULTRAKILL.
Kind of a guilty pleasure of mine, stealth and combat are just ok, tasks are repetitive, but exploring Egypt, witnessing its vistas and architecture (mixed with that of Greeks and Romans) was such a pleasure, even if the world interaction is really surface level.
An improvement over Circle of the Moon, but it's strongly held back by the terrible soundtrack and excessive backtracking.
Double sided dash is a nice addition and makes the backtracking at least bearable in some capacity.
Double sided dash is a nice addition and makes the backtracking at least bearable in some capacity.
2020
Great but indhered by its content bloat, the story suffers a lot for it; combat is pretty good too.