lithiumproject
2018
You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
2022
A video game with a capital V. Coming out of a time capsule from 2010, tight combat crashes head-on with its bone-headed presentation.
However, for the most part, there's no fat on the bone, as you're not never too far from your subsequent combat encounter, which is only spoiled by a heavy reliance on the previous boss encounters to ramp up the difficulty. Enjoyed.
However, for the most part, there's no fat on the bone, as you're not never too far from your subsequent combat encounter, which is only spoiled by a heavy reliance on the previous boss encounters to ramp up the difficulty. Enjoyed.
2023
A competent roguelike marred by a lack of content or variety to the levels. It shouldn't take more than a few hours to see the end boss, but past that, it doesn't offer enough to its core experience to warrant further runs.
However, everything here is polished to a fine sheen and for roughly a tenner there are far worse ways to spend an afternoon.
However, everything here is polished to a fine sheen and for roughly a tenner there are far worse ways to spend an afternoon.
2022
I reached Gnarvana. Taking the core elements of the original Olli Olli titles but improving on the pacing, adding optional objectives, checkpoints and expanding the scale of levels with multiple branching paths - there is a ton to unpack.
The input demand in later levels can get intense, but again, with the optional objectives in play, you can just focus on finishing the level first and coming back later to clean up any other tasks. Still, I found pulling off special tricks to be difficult and more often than not the game would detect a simple trick instead. It may have just been me but this was my biggest frustration overall and I still can't get the knack for it.
One thing I do appreciate is the game slowly rolling out different techniques you can use, but not locking them off till you reach that section - so if you remember things like manuals from the prior games, you can use them from the start.
The Adventure Time aesthetic and lo-fi beat mash-up is a constant delight throughout - even when you bail on a specific grind for the 50th time. If Roll7 want to go full 'Tony Hawk's American Wasteland' next time with this style - I'm all for it.
The input demand in later levels can get intense, but again, with the optional objectives in play, you can just focus on finishing the level first and coming back later to clean up any other tasks. Still, I found pulling off special tricks to be difficult and more often than not the game would detect a simple trick instead. It may have just been me but this was my biggest frustration overall and I still can't get the knack for it.
One thing I do appreciate is the game slowly rolling out different techniques you can use, but not locking them off till you reach that section - so if you remember things like manuals from the prior games, you can use them from the start.
The Adventure Time aesthetic and lo-fi beat mash-up is a constant delight throughout - even when you bail on a specific grind for the 50th time. If Roll7 want to go full 'Tony Hawk's American Wasteland' next time with this style - I'm all for it.
2022
Had a blast with this homage to... of all things... Simon's Quest.
My favourite aspect of the game is the world-building it does from scene to scene where you'll often find an ongoing encounter between a local soldier or villager getting massacred by a skeleton - and you're always too far out of reach to help.
The pixel art of Infernax excels specifically in its character design and implementation of gore and blood. Boss designs cover everything from del Toro to Giger, and there are numerous small touches around the world that hammer home the evil that's run amok.
While Infernax is more accessible than Simon's Quest and (for the most part) makes it clear about where you need to go, I do wish the map made it clearer what the icons represented (I got lost for an hour because there was a key I missed in one dungeon, and keys can be carried over to other dungeons), and there's a quest or two that feel a little too obtuse about how to complete them - basically, talk to every single NPC.
There are multiple endings to add replay value, based on scripted event choices made throughout the game, though certain choices are not entirely obvious, so if you're aiming for a pure 'good' ending, you may feel a bit frustrated by certain events and I'd advise using a walkthrough.
My favourite aspect of the game is the world-building it does from scene to scene where you'll often find an ongoing encounter between a local soldier or villager getting massacred by a skeleton - and you're always too far out of reach to help.
The pixel art of Infernax excels specifically in its character design and implementation of gore and blood. Boss designs cover everything from del Toro to Giger, and there are numerous small touches around the world that hammer home the evil that's run amok.
While Infernax is more accessible than Simon's Quest and (for the most part) makes it clear about where you need to go, I do wish the map made it clearer what the icons represented (I got lost for an hour because there was a key I missed in one dungeon, and keys can be carried over to other dungeons), and there's a quest or two that feel a little too obtuse about how to complete them - basically, talk to every single NPC.
There are multiple endings to add replay value, based on scripted event choices made throughout the game, though certain choices are not entirely obvious, so if you're aiming for a pure 'good' ending, you may feel a bit frustrated by certain events and I'd advise using a walkthrough.
A classic of 90s arcade coin munchers. Has a number of cheap spots to steal a few lives from you, but overall it holds up well and the soundtrack is secretly incredible (but you would barely be able to hear it at the arcades)
2022
If nothing else, Bayo3 is an ambitious game, but it simply cannot excuse most of the ambitions it shoots for, some of that is down to being on the Switch; some of it is questionable game design.
As a fan of the original, I’m delighted 2 & 3 even got to happen thanks to Nintendo, but my feelings the towards series have significantly waned with each entry.
The overall target aimed for is “spectacle” which comes at a heavy price, as the overall fidelity of combat is thrown out the window in favour of a continuing upscaling of kaiju-style battles that feel like little more than mindless button-mashing sessions. There’s also the issue that Bayo3 barely feels like an evolution graphically from the original, and of course, heavy concessions have been made to make this game run as well as it can on the Switch, but many parts of the environment just don’t hold up in 2022 and are on part with Sonic ‘06 at best.
I’d have loved for Bayo3 to hit me with the same feelings I had all those years ago, but outside of select moments, I just wanted to get it over with.
As a fan of the original, I’m delighted 2 & 3 even got to happen thanks to Nintendo, but my feelings the towards series have significantly waned with each entry.
The overall target aimed for is “spectacle” which comes at a heavy price, as the overall fidelity of combat is thrown out the window in favour of a continuing upscaling of kaiju-style battles that feel like little more than mindless button-mashing sessions. There’s also the issue that Bayo3 barely feels like an evolution graphically from the original, and of course, heavy concessions have been made to make this game run as well as it can on the Switch, but many parts of the environment just don’t hold up in 2022 and are on part with Sonic ‘06 at best.
I’d have loved for Bayo3 to hit me with the same feelings I had all those years ago, but outside of select moments, I just wanted to get it over with.
God bless the bucket. An outrageously funny game that somehow lays on the meta-narrative shtick even more thickly than the original.
2021
A game that I could swear came from XBLA and one that cannot meet the ambitions I'm sure Image & Form had set out to accomplish.
A core mechanic doesn't expand to offer enough variety meaning the game actively regresses the longer it goes on, and while it finally starts to show some potential by the last chapter, I was hoping for the game to wind down already by that point. You also get the sense there will be a degree of depth to gathering and crafting resources, but this ends up being far too simplistic and the upgrades you make have minimal impact on your character.
Environmental puzzle elements are too simple or get explained by the character as you enter the room, but the overall environmental design is lush and detailed - albeit with some texture popping here and there.
A core mechanic doesn't expand to offer enough variety meaning the game actively regresses the longer it goes on, and while it finally starts to show some potential by the last chapter, I was hoping for the game to wind down already by that point. You also get the sense there will be a degree of depth to gathering and crafting resources, but this ends up being far too simplistic and the upgrades you make have minimal impact on your character.
Environmental puzzle elements are too simple or get explained by the character as you enter the room, but the overall environmental design is lush and detailed - albeit with some texture popping here and there.
A tremendous Mario-sports title that suffers from a bare-bones package (which is not exactly new to sports-adjacent Mario games). But what is here is a rock-solid arcade-style football game that really excels in local co-op.
2022
A pretty solid blend of Shovel Knight's core mechanics/ presentation on a Mr Driller rogue-lite. Surprisingly easy to beat in a few hours but the gameplay is satisfying enough to keep coming back for additional runs.
Kaufman fucking nails it once again with a blinding soundtrack.
Kaufman fucking nails it once again with a blinding soundtrack.
2015
Actual perfection.
2021
At times I was enthralled with Eastward, but it's just too slow, too overwritten, and overall lacks enough compelling gameplay ideas to keep my attention after nearly 25 hours in with what seems like many more to go. I want to finish it but the game simply isn't giving me enough motivation to do so.
2022
An incredibly haunting point-and-click adventure that feels both human and alien at once.
While the QTE / mini-games feel lacking, and the general puzzle-solving feels fairly route one (which I am not complaining about as a P&C novice), I was absorbed into this world and wanted to explore every last detail and character, and made sure to check every dialogue option available.
It is a game where every character genuinely has their own story to tell - even if they have more than a couple of lines, and it's all wrapped up in some of the most breath-taking pixel art I've witnessed.
While the QTE / mini-games feel lacking, and the general puzzle-solving feels fairly route one (which I am not complaining about as a P&C novice), I was absorbed into this world and wanted to explore every last detail and character, and made sure to check every dialogue option available.
It is a game where every character genuinely has their own story to tell - even if they have more than a couple of lines, and it's all wrapped up in some of the most breath-taking pixel art I've witnessed.
2022
A wonderfully chill platformer; every corner of the world has something to collect providing a constant supply of dopamine to the brain.
There's little in the way of challenge or obstacles to overcome, and the puzzles (point at the thing, throw a tinykin at it) may wear thin, but the playtime is fairly short and the environments are interesting enough to keep you going.
Oh, and green tinykin, you fucking champion.
There's little in the way of challenge or obstacles to overcome, and the puzzles (point at the thing, throw a tinykin at it) may wear thin, but the playtime is fairly short and the environments are interesting enough to keep you going.
Oh, and green tinykin, you fucking champion.