venn177
2024
Apropos of nothing, here's a caveat: I have never played Bloodborne. I am a PC gamer, and I have not ever owned a PS4, nor will I. This frustrates me, as someone who enjoys From Software's catalog quite a bit.
I enjoyed Nightmare Kart! I think it translated the Souls-like formula to a kart racer incredibly well. Using souls for speed, stamina for drifting, pickups as consumables-- it all works far better than it should. The art style is gorgeous, I love how emotive everything is-- the game is just absolutely lovely.
That said, the AI is a bit janky at times and I didn't really see any difficulty, outside of the final race when one racer got really far out ahead and I'm still not sure how.
It's free, it's fun, the boss fights (particularly the one with Nicholas) are unique highlights that are unlike anything seen in kart racers before it.
This game is fine. It's fun. It's good. It's not the most in-depth thing ever, but for a community in-joke turned to an April Fool's joke turned to a fully functional game, it's worth a playthrough.
I enjoyed Nightmare Kart! I think it translated the Souls-like formula to a kart racer incredibly well. Using souls for speed, stamina for drifting, pickups as consumables-- it all works far better than it should. The art style is gorgeous, I love how emotive everything is-- the game is just absolutely lovely.
That said, the AI is a bit janky at times and I didn't really see any difficulty, outside of the final race when one racer got really far out ahead and I'm still not sure how.
It's free, it's fun, the boss fights (particularly the one with Nicholas) are unique highlights that are unlike anything seen in kart racers before it.
This game is fine. It's fun. It's good. It's not the most in-depth thing ever, but for a community in-joke turned to an April Fool's joke turned to a fully functional game, it's worth a playthrough.
For better and worse, this game is exhausting. The narrative forces you to meet it on its terms, and refuses to ever try and explain anything. You have to interpret and understand everything yourself. There is a lot of meaning and it's obvious that a lot of focus is put on making things feel visceral.
Unfortunately, that exhausting also extends to the gameplay. The combat is... unfortunate. The boss fights range from okay to a lot of fun (a certain late-game boss is very fun and doesn't wear out its welcome all that much), but the regular enemy fights are just exhausting. There's no difficulty to the combat, everything is very straight forward, they just decided that the best way to up the difficulty is by throwing more enemies into the fight.
Early game? Yeah, one or two. Mid game? A basic enemy and an interesting enemy. By the end? Enjoy a cluster of time-wasting combat where making mistakes means spending a lot of extra time re-doing the fights.
I wish I had more to say about the story, though. It's meaningful, and obviously has a lot of heart-wrenching moments as you explore Senua's... everything. She might be the most tormented-feeling character in all of gaming. But the gameplay is at its most interesting with puzzles that feel like they'd be at home in an escape room, and combat that just... shouldn't really be there.
Maybe the developers wanted the players to feel that same level of exhaustion and frustration as Senua, but for me it's just... not fun. This is one game that I feel would 100% work better as a movie.
Unfortunately, that exhausting also extends to the gameplay. The combat is... unfortunate. The boss fights range from okay to a lot of fun (a certain late-game boss is very fun and doesn't wear out its welcome all that much), but the regular enemy fights are just exhausting. There's no difficulty to the combat, everything is very straight forward, they just decided that the best way to up the difficulty is by throwing more enemies into the fight.
Early game? Yeah, one or two. Mid game? A basic enemy and an interesting enemy. By the end? Enjoy a cluster of time-wasting combat where making mistakes means spending a lot of extra time re-doing the fights.
I wish I had more to say about the story, though. It's meaningful, and obviously has a lot of heart-wrenching moments as you explore Senua's... everything. She might be the most tormented-feeling character in all of gaming. But the gameplay is at its most interesting with puzzles that feel like they'd be at home in an escape room, and combat that just... shouldn't really be there.
Maybe the developers wanted the players to feel that same level of exhaustion and frustration as Senua, but for me it's just... not fun. This is one game that I feel would 100% work better as a movie.
2016
OneShot is a wildly interesting game. It's a few fairly straight-forward puzzles littered around a moderately-interesting-but-also-dying world. You do puzzles to advance the game, and guide Niko to their destiny. Yeah Niko's a cat-person-child of questionable gender but just go with it. Which is kind of the whole premise of the game: There's something weird that isn't explained, but-yeah-just-go-with-it.
I guess that's also the charm of the game. The characters are wacky and so incredibly charming, led by Niko who is so incredibly well-written that you can't help but love the poor little catperson.
By the end, it's so wildly high-stakes and heartbreaking that you can't help but be drawn in.
KIND OF SPOILERS FOR THIS ONE LINE, BUT NOT REALLY: I will say that the "postgame" was a lot weaker to me and felt unnecessary. I was happy with the ending, and continuing it felt just... it was fine, but unnecessary. END OF KIND OF SPOILERS IS HERE
So yeah, I highly recommend you play it because it's so incredibly good. As a caveat, if you don't find it charming by the end of the first area, the game probably isn't for you, because the game lives and dies on the charm of the characters.
I guess that's also the charm of the game. The characters are wacky and so incredibly charming, led by Niko who is so incredibly well-written that you can't help but love the poor little catperson.
By the end, it's so wildly high-stakes and heartbreaking that you can't help but be drawn in.
KIND OF SPOILERS FOR THIS ONE LINE, BUT NOT REALLY: I will say that the "postgame" was a lot weaker to me and felt unnecessary. I was happy with the ending, and continuing it felt just... it was fine, but unnecessary. END OF KIND OF SPOILERS IS HERE
So yeah, I highly recommend you play it because it's so incredibly good. As a caveat, if you don't find it charming by the end of the first area, the game probably isn't for you, because the game lives and dies on the charm of the characters.
2013
The gold standard for survival-crafting-zombie-whatever-early access-genre-whatever games. It's still in early access and has a severe endgame problem (in that there isn't one), but everything in Project Zomboid is so, so good.
It's disappointing that development isn't faster, but from when I bought it until now, if it was a completed game I'd still be incredibly happy with it. If it ends up the way they've planned it, it'll be one of my favorite games of all-time.
It's top-down, doesn't rely on being a great shooter or gaming complicated AI or special infected or monsters or dinosaurs or some gimmick enemies-- it's just zombies. You can have 'em run, walk, shamble, or do some whatever combo. You can pick how many you want. And that's it. Just don't get bit! And feed yourself. And find shelter. Don't get too fat. Make sure you have ways to entertain yourself... Make sure you have an idea for food long-term... And heat for the winter... Oh god, there's so much!
If you're playing with a larger group and enjoy the base building aspect, you can essentially play The-Sims-in-an-apocalypse, which is super cool. There are tons of assets, you can organize a metric shit-ton of different items, there's mod support, there are just so many options in the game.
Unfortunately, once your base is 100% set up and self-sustaining, there's not a lot more to do. Allegedly we're two major updates away from the Big NPC UpdateTM, but NPCs have been added and removed from the game already during engine overhaul. There's a mod that adds them in, but it's a bit janky and doesn't work in multiplayer if that's what you're looking for.
So yeah, you can get your hours out of it and those are high quality hours, but it is 100% not a complete experience right now. So if you're looking for the survival-crafting-whatever-the-hell peak of the mountain because you like base building and survival, yep this is the peak. If you like mowing down hordes of enemies and breaking AI to survive (ala something like 7 Days To Die)... eh, I'm sure there are mods for that, but it's not really supported all that much.
Highly recommend, though. Especially with friends right now. I go back to it once or twice a year for a full "playthrough" until there's just nothing left to worry about and I've re-established a society consisting of like four people.
It's disappointing that development isn't faster, but from when I bought it until now, if it was a completed game I'd still be incredibly happy with it. If it ends up the way they've planned it, it'll be one of my favorite games of all-time.
It's top-down, doesn't rely on being a great shooter or gaming complicated AI or special infected or monsters or dinosaurs or some gimmick enemies-- it's just zombies. You can have 'em run, walk, shamble, or do some whatever combo. You can pick how many you want. And that's it. Just don't get bit! And feed yourself. And find shelter. Don't get too fat. Make sure you have ways to entertain yourself... Make sure you have an idea for food long-term... And heat for the winter... Oh god, there's so much!
If you're playing with a larger group and enjoy the base building aspect, you can essentially play The-Sims-in-an-apocalypse, which is super cool. There are tons of assets, you can organize a metric shit-ton of different items, there's mod support, there are just so many options in the game.
Unfortunately, once your base is 100% set up and self-sustaining, there's not a lot more to do. Allegedly we're two major updates away from the Big NPC UpdateTM, but NPCs have been added and removed from the game already during engine overhaul. There's a mod that adds them in, but it's a bit janky and doesn't work in multiplayer if that's what you're looking for.
So yeah, you can get your hours out of it and those are high quality hours, but it is 100% not a complete experience right now. So if you're looking for the survival-crafting-whatever-the-hell peak of the mountain because you like base building and survival, yep this is the peak. If you like mowing down hordes of enemies and breaking AI to survive (ala something like 7 Days To Die)... eh, I'm sure there are mods for that, but it's not really supported all that much.
Highly recommend, though. Especially with friends right now. I go back to it once or twice a year for a full "playthrough" until there's just nothing left to worry about and I've re-established a society consisting of like four people.
2013
Bioshock Infinite pulls the same trick that generic action movies do: It looks cool and seems better in the moment than it does thinking back.
I played it at release, I loved it and it was crazy, and then when I thought back on it... it's so fine? It's an average shooter with a fairly milquetoast story with a fairly milquetoast twist, carried by a couple of interesting lead characters.
When I tried it again a couple of years ago, I realized how short it was, and how much of it was just so incredibly hollow. It's fine. It's a generic, average FPS with a kind of interesting gimmick that feels worse and worse the more you think about it in retrospect.
Then again, it's cheaper than a movie and will kill like 8-10 hours on a first playthrough, so it's probably not a bad investment.
I played it at release, I loved it and it was crazy, and then when I thought back on it... it's so fine? It's an average shooter with a fairly milquetoast story with a fairly milquetoast twist, carried by a couple of interesting lead characters.
When I tried it again a couple of years ago, I realized how short it was, and how much of it was just so incredibly hollow. It's fine. It's a generic, average FPS with a kind of interesting gimmick that feels worse and worse the more you think about it in retrospect.
Then again, it's cheaper than a movie and will kill like 8-10 hours on a first playthrough, so it's probably not a bad investment.
There aren't enough words for me to explain everything about this game. Other people who are much smarter and more articulate than I am have said much better things about Disco Elysium.
It's beautiful, artistic, has meaning, makes you ask questions and learn, forces you to think about topics ranging from the political to the existential, and still keeps the main story so incredibly grounded.
Disco Elysium is heartbreaking, lovely, meaningful, and just... it can't exist in any other medium. It shows what a video game can be when it truly puts resources into telling a meaningful story.
I'll say it again. Go play Disco Elysium.
It's beautiful, artistic, has meaning, makes you ask questions and learn, forces you to think about topics ranging from the political to the existential, and still keeps the main story so incredibly grounded.
Disco Elysium is heartbreaking, lovely, meaningful, and just... it can't exist in any other medium. It shows what a video game can be when it truly puts resources into telling a meaningful story.
I'll say it again. Go play Disco Elysium.
2023
This is such an enjoyable, simple experience. You can finish it in one or two sittings, depending on how long you like sitting, I guess.
The gimmick is you're told by a narrator in a Stanley Parable-esque intro to kill a princess in a shack. And then you're given decisions, visual-novel-like. And you just keep doing this, making decisions and heading towards an obviously-growing ending.
It gets weird (in a good way) towards the end, with the story turning existential and very... I really don't know the word for it? But for being a very low-budget game that re-uses a scant amount of art assets, the grandiosity and interest of the story can't be overstated. Great game.
You can fix her and/or ruin her. Or slay her. Or fall in love. Or go to war against.
The gimmick is you're told by a narrator in a Stanley Parable-esque intro to kill a princess in a shack. And then you're given decisions, visual-novel-like. And you just keep doing this, making decisions and heading towards an obviously-growing ending.
It gets weird (in a good way) towards the end, with the story turning existential and very... I really don't know the word for it? But for being a very low-budget game that re-uses a scant amount of art assets, the grandiosity and interest of the story can't be overstated. Great game.
You can fix her and/or ruin her. Or slay her. Or fall in love. Or go to war against.
2023
While it's more interesting than it's preeeeeeeedecessor (?), it's still not really good. It's frustrating that they seemed to take every design idea from Dark Souls except for the ones about interfacing with the game.
You've still got bonfires, souls, stamina, blah blah blah, you know the drill. But then, in lieu of interesting level design, you get a magic flashlight that kind of changes the level, sometimes. But sometimes it just makes it harder, or includes a slightly interesting puzzle.
But then the combat. Oh boy, it feels like too much. Fights aren't that interesting when it's just enemies hopping around corners and jumping at you time after time, and sometimes you need to use the magic flashlight to defeat things, which is just... such a mechanically frustrating thing. One thing a good Souls-like does is let you fight the enemies your way (outside of gimmick bosses), with your build. Not so much the fact here.
And then the worst part? Sliding forward during attacks. The art style, the weighty swings, the super grimdark weapon designs-- all of it is kind of severely undermined by the fact that the combat just really isn't as weighty as it initially seems.
I really want to like it, and I've heard there's a pile of patches that have already happened, and more incoming, but like... guess we're gonna wait!
You've still got bonfires, souls, stamina, blah blah blah, you know the drill. But then, in lieu of interesting level design, you get a magic flashlight that kind of changes the level, sometimes. But sometimes it just makes it harder, or includes a slightly interesting puzzle.
But then the combat. Oh boy, it feels like too much. Fights aren't that interesting when it's just enemies hopping around corners and jumping at you time after time, and sometimes you need to use the magic flashlight to defeat things, which is just... such a mechanically frustrating thing. One thing a good Souls-like does is let you fight the enemies your way (outside of gimmick bosses), with your build. Not so much the fact here.
And then the worst part? Sliding forward during attacks. The art style, the weighty swings, the super grimdark weapon designs-- all of it is kind of severely undermined by the fact that the combat just really isn't as weighty as it initially seems.
I really want to like it, and I've heard there's a pile of patches that have already happened, and more incoming, but like... guess we're gonna wait!
This is about best-in-class for modern baseball on PC. It feels great to play, can run on just about anything, and has a pretty good sense of humor (the name Knox Oxensocksen makes me laugh every time).
The mechanics are surprisingly deep for how casual it is, too. The franchise mode has an interesting way of 'casually' handling free agency/development/etc. I wish there was a bit more depth to it, and I wish there were about twice as many traits that characters could have to make them feel a bit more unique, but it's not by any means lacking as it is. Just something to make up for the fact that SMB3 doesn't have real players. Not that I would want them, really. I think they'd just kind of take away from how interesting and wacky everything is in this fantasy world of baseball gods.
It goes on sale a lot, runs on almost anything, and can't really 'age' because it doesn't use real players or statistics. If you want a baseball game on PC, this is the one you want.
Wait, this game doesn't adhere to the saying "speed doesn't go into slumps," so 0/5.
The mechanics are surprisingly deep for how casual it is, too. The franchise mode has an interesting way of 'casually' handling free agency/development/etc. I wish there was a bit more depth to it, and I wish there were about twice as many traits that characters could have to make them feel a bit more unique, but it's not by any means lacking as it is. Just something to make up for the fact that SMB3 doesn't have real players. Not that I would want them, really. I think they'd just kind of take away from how interesting and wacky everything is in this fantasy world of baseball gods.
It goes on sale a lot, runs on almost anything, and can't really 'age' because it doesn't use real players or statistics. If you want a baseball game on PC, this is the one you want.
Wait, this game doesn't adhere to the saying "speed doesn't go into slumps," so 0/5.
2017
This review contains spoilers
I love this game so much. The entire cast is great, all of the characters feel unique in both personality and gameplay, and it's... just fun to read.
It's like 70% visual novel/CYOA and 30% fantasy basketball (as the memes have often said), but it works. In the same way that playing a TTRPG, the dice are there to make a narrative mountain 'interesting' to climb, the basketball is there to make a few decisions 'interesting' to make.
The simple version of the plot is: There's a horrible authoritarian government that casts criminals into the "Downside", which is something of an arcane purgatory. Reading is illegal to learn. You end up in the Downside because you can read. Now, you lead a rag-tag band of adventurers (via READING) to try and escape the Downside through a very convoluted ritual where you need to win fantasy basketball games to escape.
Except only one party member can escape. And here's where the gameplay and story really have a fun gimmick: The fact that only your most 'enlightened' party members can be sent back up means that if you have favorites, they're probably going to be the ones to go. If there's ones you're bad at? You'll either start losing, or getting good.
The end goal is to start a revolution and overthrow the shitty authoritarian empire, and who leads that rebellion - and how it ends - is up to you, both through your narrative choices and how good you are at fantasy basketball. Why? Because if you lose in the playoffs, the other team gets to send somebody out, and they might be none too keen on seeing your plan come to fruition, given the celebrity that comes with escaping the Downside.
This game is meaningful, has a beautiful story, and the art direction throughout is great. It has a few fun twists and turns (that I've tried not to spoil!), PLENTY of Dark Souls-esque read-the-item-description lore, a literal book of backstory, and explores how religion can grow and evolve over time. If you're interested in story, this game is so, so worth your time.
Please, play it. Even if it's on easy mode, don't fret and play it. Though I'd say try and find a difficulty where there's a chance at loss, because losing isn't a game over, and can sometimes positively influence the plot.
Play Pyre. Just... it's art. Genuinely.
It's like 70% visual novel/CYOA and 30% fantasy basketball (as the memes have often said), but it works. In the same way that playing a TTRPG, the dice are there to make a narrative mountain 'interesting' to climb, the basketball is there to make a few decisions 'interesting' to make.
The simple version of the plot is: There's a horrible authoritarian government that casts criminals into the "Downside", which is something of an arcane purgatory. Reading is illegal to learn. You end up in the Downside because you can read. Now, you lead a rag-tag band of adventurers (via READING) to try and escape the Downside through a very convoluted ritual where you need to win fantasy basketball games to escape.
Except only one party member can escape. And here's where the gameplay and story really have a fun gimmick: The fact that only your most 'enlightened' party members can be sent back up means that if you have favorites, they're probably going to be the ones to go. If there's ones you're bad at? You'll either start losing, or getting good.
The end goal is to start a revolution and overthrow the shitty authoritarian empire, and who leads that rebellion - and how it ends - is up to you, both through your narrative choices and how good you are at fantasy basketball. Why? Because if you lose in the playoffs, the other team gets to send somebody out, and they might be none too keen on seeing your plan come to fruition, given the celebrity that comes with escaping the Downside.
This game is meaningful, has a beautiful story, and the art direction throughout is great. It has a few fun twists and turns (that I've tried not to spoil!), PLENTY of Dark Souls-esque read-the-item-description lore, a literal book of backstory, and explores how religion can grow and evolve over time. If you're interested in story, this game is so, so worth your time.
Please, play it. Even if it's on easy mode, don't fret and play it. Though I'd say try and find a difficulty where there's a chance at loss, because losing isn't a game over, and can sometimes positively influence the plot.
Play Pyre. Just... it's art. Genuinely.
2023
I don't think this game is bad-- it's actually a cute and fun puzzle game. It's just that it's disappointingly short and it feels like it ends after the tutorial.
You spend some time getting to understand the characters, mechanics, and how the scenes fit together. There are different 'sets' of characters, and you want to make them do something. That's the objective of the game. Unfortunately, as soon as you get a few that require you to think, the game ends.
It could really do with being at least double or triple the length it is, with puzzles that require more thought. There's one that requires you to establish a family tree, and it in particular stood out as the first one you needed to think about for more than 30 seconds.
I would definitely recommend it on a deep sale, but a couple of hours (at most) of light-puzzle entertainment just isn't worth the $15 or so that it's normally listed at.
You spend some time getting to understand the characters, mechanics, and how the scenes fit together. There are different 'sets' of characters, and you want to make them do something. That's the objective of the game. Unfortunately, as soon as you get a few that require you to think, the game ends.
It could really do with being at least double or triple the length it is, with puzzles that require more thought. There's one that requires you to establish a family tree, and it in particular stood out as the first one you needed to think about for more than 30 seconds.
I would definitely recommend it on a deep sale, but a couple of hours (at most) of light-puzzle entertainment just isn't worth the $15 or so that it's normally listed at.
2023
While this game has a fun art style, interesting worldbuilding, and the main 'puzzle' of learning languages is enthralling, the stealth segments are... bad.
The first couple are short and sweet and to the point, and they're fine, but once the stealth parts of the game become puzzles unto themselves, they really stop being fun. I might pick this game up again in the future, but as of now... it was less that the stealth segments were frustrating when I stopped, and more that I could see them becoming truly awful as I got closer to the end of the game.
That said, if you're patient and really enjoy a fun 'gimmick' for a puzzle game, it's pretty solid.
The first couple are short and sweet and to the point, and they're fine, but once the stealth parts of the game become puzzles unto themselves, they really stop being fun. I might pick this game up again in the future, but as of now... it was less that the stealth segments were frustrating when I stopped, and more that I could see them becoming truly awful as I got closer to the end of the game.
That said, if you're patient and really enjoy a fun 'gimmick' for a puzzle game, it's pretty solid.