DARQ was definitely a very unique adventure. A short one, too, but I rather have two enjoyable hours with a game than an endless grind that I cannot wait to get over with. And the 2 hours and 15 minutes I had with DARQ were absolutely worth it! First and foremost, the visual style and atmosphere of the game are perfect for the dream world it creates. It reminded me a bit of Tim Burtons work and ranged from creepy to downright scary at times. The puzzles however I really loved. No, they weren't too hard, but got me thinking and often employing some dream-like element of the world you were currently in. The only thing I didn't care about were the stealth elements. Each enemy you had to sneak past had a rather simple pattern and as soon as you figure that out, it's just a game of stop-and-go. But overall a really nice game. Looking at my Galaxy stats, I only got 8% of achievements, including dream journal pages, so I might jump back into this at some point again. :)
I just finished my New Game+ run of Jet Lancer and I loved every minute of it. I am not going to lie, it was extremely hard toward the end, but with an experience as rewarding, it was easy to stick to it. The gameplay is fast, tests your reflexes, but requires some strategy as well. Especially in New Game+ or while hunting perfect scores, you absolutely have to plan your loadout, chose the right weapons, specials and gear - of which there are plenty, which change how you tackle situations immensely. Some have complained about this aspect (i.e. the feeling that you have to play in a specific way), but I feel that choosing the right tools for the job (analogous to selecting the right weapon in an FPS, given a specific enemy and range) is part of the fun. And maximizing your scores is by no means needed to finish the game or seeing the True Ending. That you are able to achieve in New Game+ either way. It does add to the replay value, however and that is always a good point in my book. The story is over the top, the music AMAZING (made me rush over to Bandcamp and buy the OST) and the graphics a mix of low poly 3D (mainly for the map) and wonderfully detailed pixel art. A great combination. Last but not least I would like to mention the Accessibility options that allow you to do things like switching firing/afterburner/etc. from hold to toggle, adjusting evade window for projectiles or activating permanent invincibility. A game speed option would have been nice, too, but you can't have everything. Great game. Would Pewpewpew again! P.S. If you experience "Crash to Desktop" when launching the game from GOG Galaxy, try turning off the Galaxy overlay and you should be fine.
This game was a real treat. It is a bit on the short side, and some enemy layouts seem to be almost made to have you take damage, but apart from that it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Many different weapons, great music, a variety of different locations depicted in pixel art with a love for detail. Being a big Metroid fan, I loved the inclusion of a Shinespark-like ability. It only came in handy a few times, but those occasions showed well, that the designers knew what they were doing. Forget the movie, play the game!
I really wasn't sure about this game. It's definitely not my typical genre and while I do like City/Colony building games, RimWorld looked very abstract to me when I saw it on videos and streams. Eventually I jumped the gun. Now it is suddenly dark outside and GOG Galaxy tells me that I nearly put 10 hours into this game already! What is happening? I cannot help but to highly recommend this game, even if you are - as I am - not good with these kind of games. The AI storytellers (which you can see on the cover art of the game) provide different approaches as to how the game progresses in terms of events and for each you get to chose a difficulty level on top of that. So there's definitely something for every type of player. Get it!
when you quaff some beer shoot some dudes with a crossbow bolt through a wall get jump scared by a Wendigo do a flip in mid air throw the soap to insta-kill a boss and then smoke your cigar makes you feel worthy
... and was a bit disappointed that AMID EVIL just wasn't that. In hindsight, that's good, because it is its own thing! And what it is is fluid movement, satisfying, varied and crazy weapons with just the right feedback, amazingly atmospheric, colorful and sprawling levels - set in different realms, sporting their own theme! It's great is what it is. Buy it.
Let me start this by saying that I think >observer_ nails Cyberpunk (which probably already made some people angry, but you just can't please everyone). It feels like it could take place in the same world as Blade Runner, adds a few elements from Ghost in The Shell and the Horror of Layers of Fear. And in the latter lies the problem. Again, I loved the world that >observer_ builds, the investigation mechanic is interesting - although it does get repetitive - the surreal worlds you explore entering someone's twisted mind are fantastic and the horror atmosphere the game builds is excellent.. except that point where it interrupts itself constantly with loud noises and/or jump scares. I do not mind jump scares at all, because they can keep you on the edge of your seat and that is - I assume - what the developers wanted to go for here. But >observer_ brought it to a point where I actually got really annoyed. That doesn't happen to me all that easy, but I found myself rolling my eyes more and more, wishing for this game to FINALLY END! And the game would have lost nothing without all these constant annoyances. On the contrary. It's a shame, really. >observer_ is a great game, that shot itself in the foot and fell down the stairs.
I'm usually not a big fan of racing games, but throw SciFi in the mix and you got me! F-Zero, Extreme-G, Wipeout - I loved them dearly, and RedOut is scratching the same itch. And it's a really good one. An extremely fast racer with many unique roller coaster-like tracks spanning countless events, a plethora of different ships, all coming with their own stats, upgrades, passive and active devices you can install and - cherry on top - customizable paint jobs. I have currently invested about 13 hours in the game and only gotten through about half of the events the game offers. There's really a lot of them and they encourage you to master each track and the ship you're driving. And that is a challenging, yet rewarding process. Despite the speeds in "supersonic" range, you won't find yourself in the gutter all the time. The controls are tight, responsive and the strafing and pitch controls are a great addition to the genre allowing you to optimize your driving to a point - again, a challenging but rewarding process. Last but not least, the game looks fantastic. It's detailed, sometimes to a point where I misjudge the confines of the road, but still - absolutely beautiful. And it seems really well optimized, hitting 144FPS on a 1440p monitor without breaking a sweat. As I already hinted, if you like games such as F-Zero, WipeOut, Extreme-G, you will LOVE RedOut.
While the main game offers enough content as it is, the Dreamlands Planes are a welcome addition if you plan on maximizing all your abilities, as they add a welcome increase in difficulty to keep up with your increase in perks. Would've been nice to see a few new maps, but the addition of the new perks and ESPECIALLY the Epic weapons make up for it.
