Louard_le_Barbare's reviews on GOG.com

Created on 11 January, 2026 16:46

Updated on 03 February, 2026 21:52

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series

Don't get too attached: The Game

The Walking Dead may be lacking in the gameplay department, but it tells such a fantastic story that you won't really care. As always with TellTale, all 5 seasons consist in a series of point-and-click segments separated by long interactive cutscenes (with some very occasional rail shooting and hand-to-hand combat). TWD is definitely tailored for casual players but the way it alternates between puzzles, multiple-choice conversations and QTE-fueled action makes for a fun and well-paced experience. It's never challenging or riveting, but it's never boring either... And anyway, you're here for the plot. Like every good zombie story (notably the comic it adapts), TWD is less interested in flesh-eating monsters than it is in human conflicts. By examining all that unites and divides its cast of well-rounded survivors, it becomes a harsh tale about what people are willing to put each other through to survive. Moral ambiguity reigns supreme, as the behaviors depicted are rarely excusable but almost always understandable. It's a thoroughly compelling narrative where any character can die... and you get to play a role in it. Sure, most of your choices aren't as impactful as the game would have you believe; NPCs will in fact usually NOT "remember that" and any positive difference you manage to make typically goes awry soon after anyway, all so that the devs don't have to build branching story paths. But overall, TWD has a knack for forcing you into excruciating choices without easy answers, and making you linger on whether or not you made the right one. My biggest issue is how buggy this collected edition can feel: visual glitches aren't uncommon, seasons 3 and 4 have long loading times and performance issues respectively, and you can't rebind keys or even switch to different keyboard layouts (good luck to AZERTY users). Still, it's a neat little package, and it's hard to say no to the 50 hours of great storytelling inside it. Get it if you like narrative-focused games!

1 gamers found this review helpful

Created on 20 November, 2025 12:21

Updated on 03 December, 2025 23:39

Interesting, but could dig deeper

Rue Valley is worth a playthrough. It's a well-made game that tries something fresh... But also, does not quite measure up to its own ambitions. RV takes obvious cues from Disco Elysium: an isometric perspective, text-based gameplay, a neurosis-ridden protagonist whose actions are decidedly mundane and unglamorous... But it also manages to find its own footing first through a great art direction inspired by comic books, and second by locking its unmotivated hero in a time loop mechanic (akin to something like Majora's Mask). Through these repeated 47 minutes, the game becomes a moving journey about how our mental health either drives us or prevents us from moving on, about tightly-knit local communities, and all the battles the people around us fight without letting us in the known. The narrative here is genuinely gripping and relatable, and kept me going even when the gameplay was losing steam. 'Cause yeah, sadly Rue Valley... isn't really the RPG it sells itself as. I may change my mind if I ever replay it, but as of now my issue is that this game fails to build upon its base mechanics: character creation lets you select "traits", but their effects on conversations seem largely cosmetic and the skillchecks that do take advantage of them are infrequent, usually fail... and can never be reattempted, which is ABSURD for a time loop game! Overall, the design is deceptively linear: most problems can only be approached a single way, which usually involves jumping through a bunch of hoops while simpler alternate solutions stare you in the face. That's not great for a genre supposedly built on player choices. Rue Valley's story is about how failure is not the end and can still lead to good things, and well... That's pretty true of the game itself: it doesn't quite succeed at what it tries to do, but at least its heart is in it and the result is commendable. It's a nice indie title, just not the great story-based RPG you may have hoped. Buy it when the price drops under 20 bucks.

7 gamers found this review helpful

Created on 12 November, 2025 23:59

This is what all true gamers strive for!

By taking inspiration from the infamous Zelda CD-i games, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore asks a question: can the most terrible games in existence be salvaged into something decent?... And after playing it, I can say the answer is yes! Arzette's premise is pretty brilliant. By emulating the non-linear design and gameplay style of those terrible games but implementing them properly, it actually makes for a fun platforming experience. It's all pretty basic metroidvania stuff, but it works well and is satisfying enough. Death comes quickly but has little consequence, meaning that it's never too frustrating. The controls feel slightly rigid at the start, but when you start getting tired of the gameplay or frustrated with the mechanics a new combat or movement upgrade will come to shake things up, meaning that the game only gets better as it goes on! Of course, Arzette revels in the aesthetics that made its predecessors so notorious. The cutscenes look like they're animated with MS Paint, and they’re so gloriously unhinged I completed every secondary quest just to see them all. The levels are painted by the same artist as the CD-i games and look pretty damn good - a reminder that behind the scenes, even bad games still have talented people doing their best! So Arzette is a much, MUCH better game than its inspirations... But not uniquely great either. I'm not of a fan of the constant backtracking: there are only 15 levels, but you'll need to replay them over and over again to open new passages with your latest items, hoping you'll stumble on something relevant to your current objective! A frustration that could have been diminished with, say, the possibility to teleport to checkpoints, or just a map or log keeping track of locked areas. Despite this issue, Arzette is a very fun and funny romp. It’s a loving tribute to terrible games, a piece of art that deeply believes that even the worst dumpster fires still have redeemable and inspiring qualities. It's worth a buy!

3 gamers found this review helpful

Created on 24 October, 2025 20:20

Updated on 07 January, 2026 19:38

Vampire: The Masquerade® - Bloodlines™ 2

It's basic, with no care for its lineage

As a sequel to a cult classic, Bloodlines 2 had an opportunity to reproduce its charm and depth while also smoothing out its (many) rough edges. Expectations started to sour when the game got a new dev team: it was going to take a miracle to save it... And boy, the miracle did NOT happen. To be fair, on its own merits VtM:B2 is... fine. Gameplay-wise, moving through Seattle feels good, the stealth works okay, the combat can be clunky but has its moments. The story and dialogue are occasionally undermined by sub-par voice acting but are solid overall: it's a pretty good portrayal of the World of Darkness and the colorful bloodsuckers that populate it. Nothing incredible, but on its face it all mostly works. The question while playing this game though is... Why is it called Bloodlines 2? This is NOT a successor, spiritual or otherwise, to VtM:B. It does not expand on its story safe for a few timid nods, takes almost no notes from its game design, and replaces the customization and management mechanics of the tabletop game with a generic skillpoints system. Unarmed combat moves and cosmetics are the only thing you get to add to your character. In fact, it drops all pretense of being an Immersive Sim and barely qualifies as an RPG, instead electing to be an open world action game like we've seen by the dozens. Think Batman Arkham or Shadow of Mordor, only less fun: all you do is follow quest markers, bust the skulls of cloned mooks, and meet NPCs who seemingly only exist to send you on unremarkable errands. For all of the OG's flaws, what made it special and beloved is that every quest had narrative depth and could be handled in multiple manners; each place and NPC felt like they had a real history; each character build let you interact with the world in a new way... It felt ORGANIC, something I never quite got from this sequel. Ironically, VtM:B2 doesn't care about its bloodline - and even disregarding the lack of connection to its predecessor, it's average and overpriced. Don't buy it, or at least wait for a massive discount.

30 gamers found this review helpful

Created on 24 October, 2025 17:37

It's basic, with no care for its lineage

As a sequel to a cult classic, Bloodlines 2 had an opportunity to reproduce its charm and depth while also smoothing out its (many) rough edges. Expectations started to sour when the game got a new dev team: it was going to take a miracle to save it... And boy, the miracle did NOT happen. To be fair, on its own merits VtM:B2 is... okay. Gameplay-wise, moving through Seattle feels good, the stealth works fine, and while rigid and repetitive the combat has satisfying quirks. The story and dialogue are occasionally undermined by sub-par voice acting but are solid overall: it's a pretty good portrayal of the World of Darkness and the colorful bloodsuckers that populate it. Nothing exceptional, but on its face it all kinda works. The question while playing this game though is... Why is it called Bloodlines 2? This is NOT a successor, spiritual or otherwise, to VtM:B. It does not expand on its story outside of some timid nods, takes almost no notes from its game design, and replaces the customization and management mechanics of the tabletop game with a generic skillpoints system. It drops all pretense of being an Immersive Sim and in fact barely qualifies as an RPG, instead electing to be an open world action game like we've seen by the dozens. Think Batman Arkham or Shadow of Mordor, only less fun: all you do is follow quest markers, bust the skulls of cloned mooks, and meet NPCs who seemingly only exist to send you on unremarkable errands. For all of the OG's flaws, what made it special and beloved is that every quest had narrative depth and could be handled in multiple manners; each place and NPC felt like they had a real history; each character build let you interact with the world in a new way... It felt ORGANIC, something I never quite got from its sequel. Ironically, VtM:B2 doesn't care about its bloodline - and even disregarding the lack of connection to its predecessor, it's very average and overpriced. Don't buy it, or at least wait for a massive discount.

Created on 01 October, 2025 17:31

Updated on 01 October, 2025 17:32

POSTAL: Brain Damaged - These Sunny Daze

It's okay, but it needed some more work

With the release of These Sunny Daze, the Postal's Dude mental world once again opens up to you - full of chunky pixels, bright colors, bodily fluids, distorted architecture and slightly out-of-date memes and political commentary... this time complete with a summer theme! Good news: this is more than just a map pack, and adds multiple items and mechanics to the game. Several weapons have thus been replaced with new theme-appropriate variants, most of which are neat: the new piss-tol (yes, really) and melee weapon are finally good enough to see some use after the first level, the sniper rifle is pretty cool, and the automatic shotgun is genuinely awesome. I've only mixed feelings about the machine gun, which is efficient but lacks a good secondary. You will also get to unleash all this newfound firepower on multiple enemy types, all of which are well-animated, engaging to fight, and fun to blast in the face. The grappling hook can now be used at any time, which adds some dynamism to the combat. Yet, TSD also disappointed me in regards to its level design. A lot of it is interesting on paper, but in practice it would have benefited from some reworks. Every place you'll visit in is structured in a very basic manner, rarely ever experimenting with non-linear layouts or new mechanics; the levels are full of unnecessary large empty spaces which break the pacing (and impact performance), and the enemy placement often felt uninspired. Some of the base game weapons are also either missing or well-hidden, which restricts your options to tackle battles. In the end TSD is fine (especially for this reasonable price) and I don't think I'll skip it when I'll have another go at P:BD... But the fact that it was rushed out the door seems pretty obvious. I replayed the main campaign right before this, and I found it had a lot of variety and a taste for surprise that I never really got from the DLC. Overall it's not a bad time, but it's not a mandatory buy either.

6 gamers found this review helpful

Created on 01 October, 2025 17:25

Postal goes BoomShoot... and it works!

For all its glorious insanity, the Postal franchise never had particularly good combat... Until Hyperstrange released this solid spin-off! Brain Damaged blesses our Postal Dude with high running speed, hordes of foes to kill, and guns that he never needs to reload - a pivot to the Boomer Shooter genre which befits the frantic nature of the series! The inspirations are clear, as several mechanics are directly borrowed from famous FPS games: you'll recognize Dusk's crouch-slide, Doom Eternal's grappling hook shotgun, Ultrakill's parry system... But P:BD owns it. It only steals from the best and implements it properly, making for very satisfying gunplay. The level design is IMO where it truly shines. The first few levels aren't the best, but once the devs find their footing the game becomes a true banger. Each place experiments with different layouts and combat configurations to great effect; some areas are non-linear, open-ended or puzzle-based, while others choose to focus on corridor shooting or big arena fights! This taste for variety is complemented by a nice art direction. While the game is full of pop-culture references that were already outdated at launch (due to their focus on 2020-era memes and politics), it is pretty creative with its monster designs and architectures and has some of the crunchiest low-poly graphics on the market. Each level has its own vibe, and I was genuinely impressed by the atmosphere of some of them (especially the horror-themed ones from act 2). P:BD isn't perfect though. The Dude tends to lack mobility during big battles, the screen effects when using powerups or dropping below 50% health are distracting, and some weapons feel redundant or limited in use - the abundance of ammo usually lets you stick to your best guns anyway. In the end, P:BD is a nice shakeup for the Postal franchise. It's very fun to play, and while it lacks the sandbox appeal of other entries it still feels consistent with them. It's a good pick for FPS fans!

Created on 26 September, 2025 19:08

Updated on 28 February, 2026 11:02

Obsidian's surprising spy thriller gem

GOG's efforts for game preservation are a great way to get your hands on titles you may not have played (or even heard of) otherwise. For me that includes this cult title that Obsidian released 5 months before their magnum opus New Vegas. At a quick glance, Alpha Protocol isn't incredible. The controls tend to be rigid and awkward, while enemy AI works in weird ways and isn't the most fun to deal with. The implementation of RPG mechanics also means that your character's abilities suck until you invest XP in them - and not all are even worth upgrading. It's all quite clunky. Yet, AP is much, MUCH more than the flawed 2010-era military-themed action game it first seems to be! Ultimately, despite the jank the mechanics work well enough, and include a variety of sub-systems that are fun to engage with: hacking minigames, a different aiming system for each gun, even e-mail management! What won me over though is the sheer number of ways you can approach the campaign. It's a game of choices, and not just when it comes to building your own playstyle. The dialog system indeed lets you decide how the protagonist will tackle issues, who will be turned into enemies or allies, which secrets will be revealed or remain buried. The story is a well-written, twist-heavy conspiracy thriller commenting on the War on Terror and the military-industrial complex... And it's pretty awesome to have a say in the way it plays out. The roleplaying is some of the most rewarding I've seen: behaving as a jerk yields advantages, and even choices without major impact will grant you useful perks! I had as much fun playing as a sneaky silver-tongued hero than I had as a bloodthirsty gun nut. In the end, AP is in fact a fascinating title that evokes Splinter Cell, Metal Gear, Deus Ex and even Mass Effect... but still manages to feel like its own thing. If you like any of this stuff or just choice-based gameplay in general, chances are you'll enjoy playing and replaying this diamond in the raw!

7 gamers found this review helpful

Created on 19 September, 2025 09:37

A game good enough to revive its genre

Pillars of Eternity is basically a modern translation of the Baldur's Gate series and its Infinity Engine derivatives, clearly emulating their unique brand of real-time action, isometric exploration, deep storytelling and painted graphics... And well, pretty much each of these aspects is nailed. It's an enthralling adventure with unique characters and exciting combat, set in eye-popping environments - seriously, the beauty of prerendered visuals should not be underestimated! But while it is clearly inspired by classic CRPGs (and DnD in general), it's far from a nostalgia bait ripoff. The character building system is complex, offering a staggering number of spells and combat maneuvers to master. And as expected from Obsidian, PoE's writing is consistently highbrow, almost poetic at times; the worldbuilding rises above your average "dwarves and elves" MedFan setting with its detailed lore and magical peculiarities. You will be showered with questlines featuring memorable characters and exploring bold, esoteric themes... Many of which will force you to take complicated moral decisions! But PoE isn't free from issues, some inherited from its inspirations: like for the BG series the lousy AI often makes it feel like you're babysitting a bunch of brain-damaged kids through the chaos of the real-time combat. While most of the fights are unchallenging, this becomes an actual problem whenever you stumble upon one of the campaign's sudden difficulty spikes. Plus as often with Obsidian games, the decisions you make fuel somewhat obtuse approval systems that can lead to disappointing endings for some story arcs. In the end PoE is a fine game, and a big, beautiful, generous adventure that will satisfy your retro CRPG cravings. That being said, as good as it is I don't think it stands out that much either, and I get why part of its target audience found it disappointing; the genre has indeed better or more significant works that I'd recommend prioritizing over this one.

2 gamers found this review helpful

Created on 25 August, 2025 13:03

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - Season Pass

A great trio of add-ons

Those expansions are definitely high-quality. While each features a different design philosophy, they all explore the theme of Eora's gods and the lengths mortals will go to for them. All three stories are well-integrated within the main campaign, but the latter two only become available at the end, prolonging the game at a time when you may itch to see its conclusion (and in the case of TFS, possibly when some companions are unavailable). In a nutshell: - The Beast of Winter has you diving head first into the realm of the enigmatic Rymrgand, confronting you with his mordbid worldview. Combat is fairly scarce (though neither nonexistent nor unchallenging) as the game design instead focuses on puzzle-solving and worldbuilding. It's not the best DLC of the bunch IMO, but it's the one I enjoyed exploring the most, especially since it contains pretty cool revelations about Eora's past. - Seeker, Slayer, Survivor adds a gladiator storyline to the game, reminiscent of the ones from Oblivion or Fable. It's basically just a series of arena fights, most of which cleverly experiment with monster types and combat configurations: it's thus a must-play if you enjoy PoE's 2 battles, while still being surprisingly story-driven and full of cool lore. In fact, my biggest gripe with it are the ludicrous stat requirements needed to uncover the full picture of what's happening. - The Forgotten Sanctum is set in a dungeon designed to feel as lively as possible, featuring as much exploration as it does combat and still rewarding lateral thinking, diplomacy and even stealth. Its mix of strange visuals, bizarre horror and hilarious writing (largely due to my man Tayn and his Imps) reminded me of Planescape: Torment - which is high praise. My only issue is how brutal the final boss is, especially since the rest of the expansion isn't very hard. Overall, these are all fun to play and built with tons of care, making them pretty much a mandatory buy for anyone wishing to experience PoE2!

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Don't get too attached: The Game

Interesting, but could dig deeper

This is what all true gamers strive for!

It's basic, with no care for its lineage

It's basic, with no care for its lineage

It's okay, but it needed some more work

Postal goes BoomShoot... and it works!

Obsidian's surprising spy thriller gem

A game good enough to revive its genre

A great trio of add-ons