uncleshelby
A childhood classic that's still fun. Until you decide to 100% it. Then you have to do the "super story" for each episode, which gets really boring.
Technically, my childhood classics were the original two games, but this is essentially the same with slightly different bonus content and an extra level in Episode 2.
Technically, my childhood classics were the original two games, but this is essentially the same with slightly different bonus content and an extra level in Episode 2.
2021
It's addicting, man.
The first hardcore roguelike that I got really invested in, and I'd recommend it to anyone. What brings it down a little bit is the fact that it's changed so much. I felt pretty good at it (though I never won) in 2017, but some major mechanics have changed since then, and I have no idea what the "meta" is right now.
2015
A roguelike with the best worldbuilding and writing I've seen in the genre. It's weird, it's wild, it's incredibly hard. I'd say it's a nearly perfect game save for two tiny issues: 1) it's not finished (but should be in 2024!) and 2) it sometimes feels unfair, and the length and difficulty of the main story means you may spend hundreds of hours to get halfway through. Newer versions have a non-permadeath mode, which I think will help a lot with that.
Tons of fun so far--I've got about 70 hours logged at the time of writing, but I'd recommend this game to almost anyone. Still haven't finished it yet, because I got bogged down in travel/work and lost steam. Will revisit soon.
2012
Great music, simple fun. Currently done with 5/6 levels.
October 14, 2023: Finished the last level. FINALLY I CAN UNINSTALL IT.
October 14, 2023: Finished the last level. FINALLY I CAN UNINSTALL IT.
A fantastic game. It's really rewarding to do well and I've come to enjoy dying by my own stupid mistakes and getting to try again. There's a huge variety of ways to play, with ships that feel vastly different from each other and achievements that ask for some odd but fun gameplay. I'm currenly working on my last Steam achievement. Still need to beat it at least once on every ship--that might take me another 10 years, though, because I only play on hard now.
Just incredible. Where other games (that I've played) make hollow promises of storylines that react and diverge according to your choices, this game delivers more than I ever expected. The whole time, you feel in control of a unique, special, and nuanced character exploring a beautifully rich and complex world. The dialogue is superb, ranging from hauntingly beautiful do boisterous and hilarious (my wife and I laughed out loud many times). I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys story-driven games, and to those who don't: give it a try anyway. I didn't think I liked them so much until Disco Elysium came along. Let's sing some karaoke.
2021
My personal favorite idle game. It's not perfect, and some grinds get boring, but it stays interesting and feels more strategic than something like Cookie Clicker (although I do love that game). The cross-platform syncing makes it easy to play it on the go or check up on it on my desktop or laptop, too, which makes it a lot easier to stay engaged.
This game has some great moments, but the majority of it is just a slog through buggy, unrewarding, generic landscapes.
The good first:
- It was fun to play with my wife watching. That's probably the only reason I finished it.
- The Gwent minigame is actually pretty fun, especially doing quests to collect all the cards.
- You're occasionally rewarded with some really beautiful views.
- The main quest line (though it takes a long time to get interesting) has some great moments.
And now, the bad:
- Everything in this game is frustratingly buggy. Combat is full of weird animations that don't work correctly, swimming was completely broken (Geralt would inexplicably stop moving every 2 strokes or so), cutscenes were full of terrible clipping and poor rendering. Also, trying to climb up any interesting structure is a nightmare.
- The main storyline takes forever to get interesting. Especially the portions with the Bloody Baron just feel like constant running back and forth.
- Side quests and Witcher contracts are generally boring and feel meaningless. The ones that are interesting might randomly fail if you finish a mainline quest first.
- Doing your own thing is incredibly unrewarding. This is probably the crux of my frustration with the game: anything except a mainline quest feels completely unrewarding; for that matter, rewards are all over the place. Mainline quests will give you 500+ XP for doing nothing but talking to a few people, and then give you 4 whole levels all at once for an easy set of fights. On the other hand, doing a witcher contact which leads to my repeated death as I learn to fight a new monster? 100 XP, and coins worth less than the swords you'd get killing random robbers you come across. The exception to this rule is Gwent quests (it's fun and rewarding to get new unique cards) and Witcher gear treasure hunts—I had a great time getting my full Cat School gear and upgrading it to my level, and it was really worth the effort!
- Investigation is annoying. Geralt's monologue is annoying. I guess that's just my opinion, man.
(I may play the DLC in the future)
Damn, you're ugly!
The good first:
- It was fun to play with my wife watching. That's probably the only reason I finished it.
- The Gwent minigame is actually pretty fun, especially doing quests to collect all the cards.
- You're occasionally rewarded with some really beautiful views.
- The main quest line (though it takes a long time to get interesting) has some great moments.
And now, the bad:
- Everything in this game is frustratingly buggy. Combat is full of weird animations that don't work correctly, swimming was completely broken (Geralt would inexplicably stop moving every 2 strokes or so), cutscenes were full of terrible clipping and poor rendering. Also, trying to climb up any interesting structure is a nightmare.
- The main storyline takes forever to get interesting. Especially the portions with the Bloody Baron just feel like constant running back and forth.
- Side quests and Witcher contracts are generally boring and feel meaningless. The ones that are interesting might randomly fail if you finish a mainline quest first.
- Doing your own thing is incredibly unrewarding. This is probably the crux of my frustration with the game: anything except a mainline quest feels completely unrewarding; for that matter, rewards are all over the place. Mainline quests will give you 500+ XP for doing nothing but talking to a few people, and then give you 4 whole levels all at once for an easy set of fights. On the other hand, doing a witcher contact which leads to my repeated death as I learn to fight a new monster? 100 XP, and coins worth less than the swords you'd get killing random robbers you come across. The exception to this rule is Gwent quests (it's fun and rewarding to get new unique cards) and Witcher gear treasure hunts—I had a great time getting my full Cat School gear and upgrading it to my level, and it was really worth the effort!
- Investigation is annoying. Geralt's monologue is annoying. I guess that's just my opinion, man.
(I may play the DLC in the future)
Damn, you're ugly!
2019
I play this occasionally with my wife and other friends that may be around. It's a great party game. I don't know that it has the longevity that other co-op games like Overcooked might have--the various train cars and upgrades don't change the game that much and just increasing difficulty isn't as appealing as working through specific levels or going for 3 stars on each level. But it's been fun.
2015
Highly unique and intricately hand-crafted. There is a lot i have yet to see/play still.
2016
I'm a sucker for dilapidated research facilities. Recommended if you like Portal for that reason.