I have played pretty much every major CRPG since Baldrus Gate, it is my favourite genre by far and this is a truly great one. Yes, there are bugs. Quite a lot of them (no game breaking or crashes for me, but the fact that charge bug out from time to time for example is anoying). There are some truly great set pieces in the story (the end of act 2 was amazing). And a few of the NPC are definitly on pair with the best from Biowares glory days, in fact I don't think I have played a game where I have this much problems picking what characters I want in my group. This feels like im playing a epic tabletop campaign more than it feels like im playing a CRPG (I mean, not that surprising since it's based on one). It's a strange feeling, and I don't exactly know whats makes it feel different, but there is something there that really resonate with me. it may not have the total freedom of Divinity OS, but it has better set pieces and a ridiculous amount of character customization. 5 starts might be one too much because of the bugs and wonky balance from time to time, but damn if it's not the most enjoyable CRPG since Divinity OS 2. Bioware? Who needs them with Larian, Owlcat and Obsidian.
9 bite-sized episodes, they added three more since release, (one of them VERY short) that will entertain you for a few hours. Funny lovcraftian-detective point and click. Not especially hard, a little moon logic in parts but given the subject matter some out there solutions to the puzzles kind of fits the mood. Overall great, but there is a kind of anoying issue in some of the episodes where you can only interact with some objects at certain times, the first time you get some dialogue but nopthing more, it's only later where you will actually pick up the item or do whatever it is you need to be doing. So you will constantly have to click on the same objects and use items on them, even if it didn't work the first time and even if you know it's the correct choice. Some times you will get a promt hinting that you should try that later but other times there is just no logic at all behind it, the game doesn't let you do it untill the time is right, i wonder if it might be an intentional design decition to not clog up your inventory too much. That would be a cardinal sin for an point and click but the game is funny and enjoyable enough that I can look past that. Thats the only issue I have, otherwise well worth it.
Overall i liked Murder by numbers a lot. It has a similar humor and weird characters from the Phoenix Wright series but with Picross puzzles as the main gameplay component. There are no real gameplay puzzles or choices during the Visusal Novel part of the game, everything is on rails, if you are stuck just talk to everyone and show every item you have, untill the next part of the story unlock. But the story and characters are engaging enough that it doesn't really matter that much. The picross puzzles did get a little tedious in the later part of the last case, not because they where too hard, but because you have solved so many before, it would have been nice if there where some more variants to mix it up. As it is now it's just the regular ones and the time based "hacking" minigames where you have to solve 3 to 5 5x5 grids in a timelimit. It would also be nice if there where some more meningful choices during the plot. That said, if you don't like picross puzzles there is nothing for you in this game. It's the absolute majority of the gameplay and you will spend most of the time doing them.
*Acidently picked the steam key on the kickstarter so I don't have it on GoG.* This is far from a bad game, but we have seen it before. Indie game in a weird whimsical dream world with heavy hints of more serious subtext are not especially new. I backed the game because i liked the devs previous game Pinstripe, and in the end I think that one is the better game. + The artsytle and music are great. Where the game absolutely nails it is in the atmosphere. The characters are weird and just a bit creepy. + The story is good, but if you played any indie games you will probably figure out what's goind on pretty soon. There are lots of hints throughout the story that will fill you in so when the big reveal comes att outright tells you, you probably already figured it out. - The game both in combat and in the puzzles is very easy, Never died to a enemy, only died once in my playthrough and that's just because i didn't pay attention in a room with lazers in the very end of the game. Pretty much every enemy will leave health when you kill them, and the bosses will give you extra health after each phase, and if you really want to you can just farm extra hearts, not that you will never need them...). The puzzles are also very easy if you just pay attention to what people say and what you read on notes. - The length. It's very short. It's pretty much just 4 fairly short dungeons and a hub area. I usually don't complain about game length, and many games can actually overstay their welcome but in this case it really feels too short, especially for how long it took for the game to come out (the game was set to be released 6 months after the kickstarter, it took 2 years). - The controls are slightly off, especially when you use one of your upgrade items, it's never really an issue since the game is so easy but it's anoying. Concusion: I didn't have a bad time, in fact I quite enjoyed it for the characters and general weirdness, but don't expect a challange.
MiMiMis last game Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun brought back one of the most underused genres from the late 90:s early 2000. With only half a dozen of previous games the Commandos-series, Robin Hodd and the previous 2 Desperados games blended real time tactics with stealth game play into a refreashing new idea. When it comes down to it, the genre is a puzzle game. You don't really have the choice of going in guns blazing or taking the stealth route. You are allways outgunned, and have limited ammo (a fact that might feel a little contrived but it's part of the gameplay loop. Instead you need to methodicly pick off guards one at a time without rising suspicion using each characters strenghts and weaknesses as best suited for the specific task. Need to move a body? Hector is the fastest but is also the most easily spoted, Kate and Doc might be better suited since they drag the body more slowly, but is it too slow before the guard patrol comes back? Need to lure a guard from a location? Hector can whistle and make them come to you, while Kate can lead them away and Isabell has a cat that can distract them. If you loved Shadow Tactics you will probably love this as well, it got basically the same gameplay with a new setting. But if you didn't like it theres not much here that will change your mind and if you expect vastly improved and expanded gameplay you will also feel a little underwhelmed. You have guards that are harder to trick and wont leave their poisition, you have big guys that only one character can beat in close combat. The skills are pretty much the same, a trap, a lure, a object that can blind, a "sniper rifle", a reusable throwable weapon, a animal that can distract, a call so guards will come to you. It's pretty much exactly what it was in Shadow Tactics, except for one character who have some really unique skills that give you a lot of flexibility. Is that enough for you? Then go ahead. You will not be disapointed in Desperados 3.
Dont own it on GoG yet, but finished it on another store. Quite frankly one of the best point and click adventures since the golden days. Excellent plot and well written characters, even side characters who only get bit parts are fleshed out. While the main theme of a team who work in the shadows against supernatrual threats have been done almost to death, many times before, the unique twist and turns this game take are well worth it, especially one twist is especially glorious. One thing, thats either a pro or con depending on your patience for moon logic is that, it's pretty light on the puzzle side, all the different chapters take place in a limited area, so no need for backtracking over the entire map to find that obscure item you need and since you pick your team every mission and they have unique skills many puzzles can be solved in several ways. The only complaints are minor ones, the engine is a little wonky sometimes when it scale character models, who move around and animations are quite limited. There are also some of the voice acting that's a little uneven and didn't really fit the character. But this is starting to be very nit picky. Get this game. It's a true gem.
Thronebreaker is great, part visual novel, part deck builder. It's pretty much a more advanced version of Gwent from The Witcher 3 with a engaging story with some grueling choices. It is slightly on the easy side when you learn to abuse some combos and you will have far more resources than you will ever need during the game, so in hindsight most of the minor choices where you need to sacrifice one resource during a choice to gain something else matters little in the end, and the morale system is not that impactful since it's a fairly minor boost or debuf. See it as roleplaying instead. The combat is fairly easy, Some combos are clearly broken and if it was the only part of the game it might have been pretty bad, the hardest battles are honestly some of the puzzles where you have a unique hand of cards and need to do a specific task. The story however, is worth it, well written, and in the style of Withcer, pretty much no choice is good, and even if it looks like one is obviously the right, it usually comes back with a vengance and punish you later.
A humoristic take on cthulhu? Sure, why not. Gibbous is a good point and click adventure, it's not really hard, since each chapter is sectioned off in just a few areas and the spacebar will highlight everyting that's interactable, so you will never be stuck that long, and even if you are you can bruteforce the game by just clicking everything on everything. Overall pretty good puzzle design, with very little moon logic. Art design is good, music is good, voice acting is mostly good. The humor lands for the most part. I didn't really care for the resolution of the story, it's a littel too sequel-baity, but overall good but perhaps not perfect.
I like how the developers of the Steamworld games continue to try out new genres while still taking place in the same universe. This time it's a deckbuilder, and it manage to have quite a lot of depth without drowning the players in different cards and options. Every hero have their own set of cards. There are cards that get stronger if you play them together with another characters cards, and if you play three cars from the same hero you will get a bonus attack, that sort of thing. You can also upgrade cards and buy new, and unless you grind a lot you will never get enough resources to upgrade everything, so you will have to make some choices. You also need to have 8 and only 8 cards of each hero in the deck, and you need both basic attacks and special cards so you can't just go with the most powerful attacks. You can't make drasticly different builds for each hero, one of them are definitly the support class with boosts and heals, one is the main meele, one is the wizard, you have some choices (do you want your wizard to focus on 1, 2 or 3 different elemental damages for example) but the core role will not change. The game have the same charm and silly humor from the previous entries and it will be worth your time if you like deckbuilders or the series in general.
Production values are top notch, beutifull graphics and scenery, a great score, well written and acted and the story is overall well done (even if a little predictable). Overall well worth playing even if it's quite short (took me just under 3 hours) One thing you should know before going in however, is that if you read up on the game when it was annouced it has changed significantly. This is a walking simulator (i.e. an adventure game with focus on exploration and story and with practically no convensional gameplay), it's a very good example, just shy of what i concider the top games in the genre (Firewatch, Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch). You are an american who together with your ward, explore a remote norwegian village in search for your missing sister. But when you arrive the entire town seams deserted and you try to figure out what happend to the villagers all while searching for your sister. The name draugen might give you some ideas if you know your folklore trivia, but here comes the thing I mentioned earlier about the game changing. It was first announced as a survival horror game, and while there are still some horror elements pressent, it's nothing close to a survival horror. The name is not exactly missleading, but you might get disapointed if you expect something that's not there. If you go in expecting a narrative driven adventure, not something similar to Alien Isolation where you are hunted by a Draug, you will probably like this one.
