A collection of ideas stitched together into an adventure game which manages to be highly restrictive but also very unclear in direction. It has some good ideas like the premise, opening song, pharmacy mini-game and arcade sequences, but also some awful ideas like invisible timers, instant death scenes and few hints on how to progress. Some of these are forgivable because of the age of the game and its technical limitations, but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating or any more enjoyable to play. There also isn’t a lot of content - there’s no depth to the setting or characters, the humour was passably funny and some scenes were literally pointless, which is a shame as the graphics were colourful, the music catchy and the concept different.
What starts off as a simplified isometric stealth game quickly morphs into an overly complex RPG with lots of conversations, trading, wandering around and combat, but not a lot of stealth. Artistically it’s very stylish and has a good setting with plenty of depth and what could be a very interesting world to explore, but the game is a bit too awkward to play. The menus are quite fiddly, the isometric angle and controls makes simple tasks difficult, It’s not as smooth as it could be, the audio / voices is frequently buggy with characters talking over each other and the AI seem particularly dumb and simple, often sprinting on their patrol paths or not giving chase at all. Side quests are far too long and convoluted and significantly slow down the main plot of the game, the upgrade, trading and crafting systems are unclear and combat is nothing more than attack spam with no finesse or option to utilise any potentially good abilities. Which is a shame, as once you get past all of these issues and the game gets going, it can be pretty good. The central story isn’t as strong as it could be, but the setting is deep and rich with lore, although it doesn’t seem to stick to its prison planet theme for very long. There’s plenty of content and customisation options, the world and plot is expansive with multiple warring factions and different types of enemies, but actually navigating it can be a chore due to the stacked architecture, frequent chasms and poor fast travel system. Getting the multiple endings offers some replay value and overall, I found it entertaining enough, but it wasn’t always fun.
A very stylish cyberpunk adventure with a depressing yet hopeful dystopian setting where everyone is a slave to technology in one way or another. The whole aesthetic is great – the pixel art graphics are detailed with plenty of colour, there’s a great mix of grime and advanced technology and the augmented reality option adds depth to each of the locations, making revisiting them less of a chore. Frequent references to old technology invoke nostalgia and highlighting current concerns of how technology is evolving is done well, if a bit preachy at times. It plays quite traditionally for an adventure game with a simple yet effective user interface. The story is good, going from predictable and mundane to silly, especially in the final act, but uses the various setting and overarching themes well. There’s a good level of challenge in the puzzles although it can be a bit of a conversation fetch quest at times and it could have done with clearer signposting, but the leaps of logic are all logical and some adventure game quirks are covered in a humorous way. There’s no voice acting, but the constant soundtrack is varied and good. There’s no hint system, everyone seems far too friendly and helpful which doesn’t lead to much drama or conflict and there isn’t much replay value, but the game length is of a good length and these are minor issues in an otherwise solid game.
A mix of body, ethical and psychological horror as you play as 5 different characters each being tormented by a sentient computer at the end of the world. Graphically it still looks pretty good considering its age and the full voice acting and animation is impressive for its age. The music is annoying and overbearing, which I guess is the point as it makes you feel uncomfortable, and the world is bizarre yet recognisable enough to be relevant with its stories of ethical dilemmas and redemption. The story is good, but the puzzles are poor as they are very unclear and it’s far too easy to make a mistake and be locked out of completing a chapter, forcing you to restart and use a walkthrough. As it’s not a long game this isn’t too much of an issue, but is off-putting, especially in the final act where you have to follow a nonsensical sequence precisely otherwise you will fail to get a good ending.
It could have been good as an explorative RPG with plenty of oppressive atmosphere and Lovecraftian lore, content and intrigue, but with no save option mid-level, no narrative to drive things forward, not many weapons for each character and some punishingly unbalanced combat, it becomes a dull, repetitive chore. As a randomly generated rogue-lite, the levels are far too long, far too unbalanced and there isn’t enough variation to make a second run worthwhile. It doesn’t explain how a lot of the mechanics work and it’s also buggy with sound effects cutting out, artifacts not working and enemies constantly getting stuck on the environment. The minimalist music and design aesthetic adds to the atmosphere, but there’s only 1 or 2 tracks and they get boring after a while. There’s a good variation in enemy types, but they move far too quickly, shoot too much and as such, combat (and the game) can change from fun to challenging to frustrating to dull too easily. However, the biggest issues are the design choices which significantly spoil the experience. • Status effects are applied frequently and for too long, often once per room and always require a special (limited number of) and normal heal item to cure. • The merchants infrequently appear, are overly expensive and trading system is unclear. • The sanity meter has no indication of what will or won’t affect you, forcing you to die or miss out on lore content. • Side quests, which lead to a whole other level including boss, are essential for beating the game yet easily missed.
An awful side scrolling brawler with a silly plot and imprecise combat. The premise is solid, but the story goes from daft to stupid but never becomes funny, ultimately being nothing more than political fluff. The pixel art graphics are basic and look cheap, the sounds were bland and the game play was repetitive and annoying rather than enjoyable. Combat is chaotic and imprecise leading to lots of frustration and annoyances. Once you do learn the game isn’t really a brawler but a simplified real-time strategy, it becomes much easier, especially once you have the upgrades unlocked. Thankfully the game is very short and whilst it does have some replay value, it’s just not very good overall.
Exceedingly cute and enjoyable to play, the game is really charming with its idyllic setting and friendly commerce arrangements. Its simplicity makes things easy, but the cartoon graphics and gameplay mechanics are good as is the moving story that will melt your heart. Placing the objects in the campsites was a bit fiddly, it was a bit disappointing the characters glitch through the tents and finding all the optional challenges could have been made a bit easier, but the music’s good, the setting’s charming and I really enjoyed it. The final level was a bit odd, coming out of nowhere, but was a nice surprise and added to the kid-friendly adventure.
A taster rather than a full game with a unique setting, superb animation and use of music. The levels are full of detail and use the orchestra to great effect, but the awkward control mechanism, especially when it takes control whilst falling, makes it frustrating at times. It’s not very long or difficult and is a bit too simple with its design, but it is something different and mostly enjoyable to play.
Gorgeous cell shaded graphics and top notch voice acting, but the actual game play leaves a lot to be desired. Apart from the card battles, there’s little else to do except read the story and collect resources – a cross between an ARPG without the enemies and a visual novel, complete with meaningful and meaningless choices. The story is good, although quite predictable, and even though it has war, betrayal, monsters and lots of characters, it didn’t feel as exciting or engaging as it should have been - a Witcher’s adventure would have been far more entertaining for many reasons. The “choose one evil over another” thing gets old quick, the Witcher’s barely made an appearance and being locked out of content due to arbitrary decisions was rather annoying. The game is far too long with a slow and meandering pace which meant it took both a long time to get invested and I was bored before the end. It was enjoyable enough and the card battles looked great but they were often unbalanced and somewhat restrictive. There doesn’t seem to be much depth to the tactics – whoever has the better cards will always win. The puzzles were different but ended up being either trivial or impossibly challenging and most times, when you did solve them, they never felt rewarding. The economy was unbalanced, the morale system completely trivial and I had a few bugs and crashes, but nothing too bad overall. You have to admire the effort and depth they put into a card game campaign with its narratively branching story, superb production values and sheer value of content, but I don’t think it was my kind of game.
A short platformer that has lots of mechanics that are poorly implemented which makes for a frustrating experience. The concept and the main game play is good and shows a lot of promise with its setting, style and overall game design, but it needs a lot of polish to truly recommend. No map, terrible hit boxes, unbalanced power ups, overlapping music, distorted sound effects and very basic pixel graphics unfortunately outweigh the charming presentation and free price point, but if you are willing to endure these shortcomings, there is the makings of a good game beneath it which I did enjoy at brief times.
