Sadly, customers tend to both complain AND kind of demand studios/directors/authors to become one-trick ponies, and I guess I'm guilty of that, as well. Guacamelee (all its iterations) and Guacamelee 2 are some of my favourite game ever, and I kind of hold Drinkbox in high regard for having developed those games, so when I heard they were developing a "roguelite-ish action-adventure RPG" of sorts, I was less than ecstatic about it. The game has been on other storefronts for a while, now, and since it wasn't high priority, I basically avoided getting it until I saw it was coming to GOG. Since I like to support my store of choice, letting publishers know it is viable to release games here, and I do like Drinkbox, I decided to get the game anyway. I was far from disappointed. NStW puts a spin on the Zelda formula by letting you switch forms at will, you begin the game as an amnesiac androgynous naked homo sapiens-kind-of-thing that soon finds a shapeshifting wand and discovers they are able to transform into all sorts of other creatures (not at first, as transformations start out kind of limited, but soon enough). The game is deep enough if you want it to be, with all the mix-and-matching of skills (both active and passive) from different forms while you level each one up. You get all sorts of quests, some more memorable than others, but pretty much all of them are extremely fun and don't overstay their welcome. In terms of gameplay, it's your standard Zelda-like, it won't wow you in this regard, but it plays smooth and fluid, everything working as it should (which is more than could be said about most AAA titles coming out, these days). The art is gorgeous, if it's your cup of tea (it's definitely mine), and Drinkbox's brand of humour still permeates the game, so, if you enjoyed it in Guacamelee 1 & 2, it's still here -- if you didn't, well, it didn't change much, and it probably still won't cut it for you. All in all, an extremely nice surprise, HIGHLY recommended.
Now, I've seen a lot of gratuitous hate being thrown at Nightdive because of this version of the game, so I'll try to take a more sensible approach. The game is still the same great game it has always been. Graphically, there wasn't much they could have done, since all the original material was lost, and they did the next best thing they could, turning to AI to "clean up", raising the FMV fp/s, upping the resolution, etc. YMMV in this regard; I, for one, prefer some things the way they looked in the original version of the game (some details, like rain, steam, fine print, etc., were lost or blurred in the upscaling process). Due to the FMV being 60fp/s while the voxel portions of the game remain at 15fp/s the game feels clunkier than the original, as well, with characters moving around in what feels like stop-motion while the backgrounds run at full 60fp/s, which will probably feel a bit jarring for people playing this version. Putting that aside, my main issues with this port are of a different nature: while trying out the game, I experienced two crashes-to-desktop, I couldn't trigger specific lines of dialogue that were needed for the story path I was aiming for, the shooting range wasn't working as it should, I couldn't even get the disk from Runciter's. Now, I don't mind the game looking the way it does -- it's not ugly, by any means, it looks like Westworld's Blade Runner, which is fine --, I don't care about the sloppily-made menu, the difference in the KIA interface, all that jazz, but I can't forgive gameplay issues, because this was supposed to be an ENHANCED edition, and in terms of gameplay it ADDED problems. Hopefully they'll fix this, but I'm not placing my bets on that. Even if they do, stick to the original ScummVM version, which is way smaller and still plays and looks better. Get this version only because it comes with the GOG original Blade Runner, since it's the only way to legally purchase it, now, but ignore the EE altogether.
But it still won't let you rebind keyboard controls. I guess they save that convenience to those who own or prefer a controller.
It's a pretty decent "hardcore" point & click adventure, puzzles tend to be good, striking a perfect balance between being too easy or downright frustrating. Graphics are beautiful, if you're into pixelart. Gameplay is your standard p&c affair: you point, you click, you talk to people, you manage your inventory, you solve puzzles. It would have been a great game, if it wasn't for the appalling translation/localisation. Seriously. A lot of heart clearly went into making this game, and it shows, but the editor/translator did a poor job with their end of the game. A point & click adventure kind of lives or dies by the strength of its story, characters, etc: basically, its script. I don't know which is the devs' native language, but it definitely isn't English, and unless you speak their language, whatever it may be, I can't recommend this game. Maybe it's better in whatever language it was written in, but its English localisation is very, very, very bad, almost to the point of making the game unplayable.
There's not much I could add to what other people have said in their reviews, already. This is the game I had been waiting for. In my humble opinion, the team at Double Fine outdid themselves with Psychonauts 2, it improves upon the original in pretty much every aspect (I'd like a "save anywhere, anytime" feature, like the PC port of the first Psychonauts has, but the save system is completely fine the way it is, anyway). The writing is most definitely the best Tim Schafer and Double Fine ever put out; as much as I love the character development and the story in the first game, what they did with this one is miles ahead. Topical (I know, I know), relevant, emotional, extremelly funny -- Psychonauts 2 hits all of these without ever feeling forced. Gameplay is a refined version of what we got before; more fluid control, deeper (but, at the same time, streamlined) combat that hits the perfect balance between being too hard and too easy -- it's just... right. Level design is as creative as it had always been, maybe even more, with the two new Psi-powers we have available, that open up a couple more exploration possibilities. Still lots of stuff to collect, for those who loved the collect-a-thon aspect of the first game, so there's some replayability value in that, also. All I can say is that if you like the first game, if you are a Double Fine fan, if you enjoy clever, deep, funny writing, if you miss playing a really good 3D platformer that isn't trying to be an homage to the 32/64-bit classics, then look no further, this is the game for you. I know the price point may be expensive to a lot of people, but I don't regret for one second the money I paid to be able to play what is definitely my GOTY (perhaps even GOAT) via my store of choice. If you can, get it. It's simply amazing.
Disclaimer: This is a score for sort of all the games in the Legend trilogy (Legend, Anniversary and Underworld). Though I'm not particularly young (I did play the original Tomb Raider on a friend's SEGA Saturn, during that first year it was a Saturn exclusive), these are the Tomb Raider games I remember the most fondly, this is the Lara Croft I like. While the Core Design titles were certainly groundbreaking, paving the way for what would become the action-adventure 3D genre (while it lasted, but that's a different story), they're also extremely clunky and most definitely don't stand the test of time, and I wouldn't blame a younger gamer for not being able to get into them, considering just how janky and hard to control they are. *I* wouldn't want to replay them, to be fair. Legend, though, fixes all of that, all the while maintaining what is -- to me -- the perfect game length. Lara now moves smoothly, controlling her actions, her platforming, her environmental puzzle solving, everything is a breeze. Not only did Crystal Dynamics ditch the dreaded tank controls, every action is fluid and smooth. While the graphics obviously show their age, I do think the game still looks gorgeous, plus, you won't need a beast of a PC to run it, while getting great graphical results (just don't bother with the Next Gen Content, turn that off, since it has some graphical issues that Eidos/Square-Enix never bothered to address). Don't expect much from the plot, though don't expect too little, either. These kinds of games aren't known for they stellar scripts, character development and whatnot, but, still, I think the folks at Crystal Dynamics did a very decent job with Legend, in that regard. It's... well, it's Indiana Jones, but with a contemporary British lady. Nothing wrong with that, just don't go into it expecting the next Shakespeare. If you missed out on this trilogy, if you like action-adventures, do yourself a favour and pick up this game. It's just that good.
