Undertale is the story about a human kid who goes down into a world of monsters and traverses among this secret kingdom. The graphics are simple but iconic, and the equally iconic music is some of the best modern Chiptunes around. The characters are extremely memorable, and they have unique character development based on the actions you take during the game, mostly decided through combat, but the game has a few tricks outside of combat as well. Choices you make are referenced throughout the entire game, creating a very flexible narrative. Some of your actions are surprisingly permanent, though you might not realize at the time. However, do not let the narrative heavy design let you think this is a straight up RPG. No, it is a Bullet Hell game that will test your reaction time and reflexes. The hardest path, which I STRONGLY advise you NOT to take, is extremely demanding. I'm by no means any sort of fan of Arcade Shooters and Bullet Hell, but the oodles of charm and delight of the Pacifist path kept me playing until the end. However, now that everyone has the best possible happy ending, I just can't bring myself to play this game anymore. Please, just let the characters of Undertale have a happy ending. Please don't hurt anyone. Just play the game and be good. 4/5.
OK, this one is tough to review. This game very intentionally works against your best efforts through the controls and the physics engine. However, despite that, it's a fully realized artistic vision. Is it fun? Maybe, if you know how to enjoy losing and watching all your work get ruined with one slip of the controls. Fans looking for light, comedic body horror should also be interested. I only got about 7 or 8 hours of play out of Surgeon Simulator before I got sick of the game, but there's a good variety of surgical scenarios to delve into here. It is definitely more fun with friends watching and heckling and sharing in your triumphs and disastrous mishaps. It's kind of a party game in that respect. I don't really know. If you want to play a game where the point is that you win and lose through sheer stupid stinking blind luck and nightmare controls, this would be a good one to get on sale. 3/5.
Get it for the scroll merchant, especially if you dabble in the Wizard class. It's free. 5/5
Makes combat bloodier. That's it. A 5/5 DLC for being opt in blood effects, rather than Dragon Age's opt out/modding. It's free too.
Samorost 2, while neither particularly good or bad, it is very family friendly. Basically, you're a cute little gnome guy looking to save his little rocketship home. You visit a beautifully rendered fantasy planet and you do the puzzles and generally have a fun, relaxing time. Puzzles are fairly straightfoward, and can usually actually just be solved by clicking around and seeing what all the various background elements do. It's pretty short and can be beaten in one setting. I'd give it a 3/5 really, but it should hold value for somebody looking for a game with a complete lack of violence, or somebody who likes interactive adventute game landscapes with lots to click on. Definitely check out Samorost 1 for free on the web and maybe consider buying Samorost 3 as well, which provide more of the same.
Das Schwarze Auge aka The Dark Eye is a German offshoot of early Dungeons & Dragons. It takes place in a fantastic and fully realized setting called Aventuria. This point and click adventure game can serve as a wonderful introduction, if you're so inclined. It's a tale about a downtrodden peasant lad with a mild telekinesis power whose life changes when he meets a mysterious fairy girl. It has danger and peril, with good attention to the lore both in terms of the world's environments and character backgrounds. All in all, it's not nearly as special as its sequel, Memoria, but it got me down the road to collecting the English language books that were released in recent years. On its own, it's probably a 3/5 adventure game with pretty standard stock character archetypes, but it introduced me to The Dark Eye and the world of Adventuria, so I'll give it a solid 4/5 for the impression it made.
Stasis is a really solid point and click adventure game. It's done in the same gameplay style as the 1999 game Sanitarium. This makes it stand out, in my opinion, since there really weren't a whole lot of games like it ever since. The story is about a father who wakes up in a mystery compound from the titular Stasis, unaware as to where his family went. The gameplay is mostly reading posthumous diary entries, and manipulating item puzzles with the environment. The atmosphere is astoundingly morose, where you stumble upon scene after scene of violence after the fact. The environments are especially impressive, considering as how this was made by a very small team of devs. I liked the interpersonal and personal drama of the diary entries. There's a few characters in the game you interact with directly, and they're pretty loathsome experiences. The secrets of the compound unfold as you advance the plot, which raise more questions than answers. It's got a satisfying but open ended and absolutely ****ing miserable conclusion. However, please note that the game is actually easier than you'd think, since the danger presented is almost entirely scripted to startle and disgust, without really being a true threat to your safety. It's more likely that you'll die at your own hand, in secret Easter Egg cutscenes. If the themes of suicide bother you, then avoid this game. If the themes of body horror and personal horror appeal to you, then definitely buy this game, (and I think you'll especially dig the surgery scene.) So, all in all, this game isn't fun or relaxing but it's moody and compelling horror and dread. If you like your narrative games dark and hopeless, this one is a fine choice. 4/5.
NWN2 is hard to review. On one hand, the modules included are some of my most memorable DnD video game adventures, however they sometimes fall very short of where they're supposed to go in terms of characterization and plot. The gameplay is equally baffling as NWN1; real time combat, based on a pen and paper system that is entirely turn and round based. The level cap is also absurdly high, and I've always thought 3.5 DnD basically falls apart around or after Level 12, and you'll be pressured to multiclass if you want to kick butt. My biggest gripe is that the camera is just a nightmare, and I'm not even sure how that was allowed to go to retail. However, I thought the original campaign was great, and I really felt for many of my party members, but it all falls apart in the end. I had to use God Mode just to pass the horribly, horribly scripted final boss, and then sheer stupidity awaited me in the ending. However, the game continues into Mask of the Betrayer, which is a truly epic 5/5 story... but you have to play the very long original campaign for it to truly make any sense or have any emotional impact, and still you're ridiculously high level so expect combat to be a slog. I was an Eldritch Knight, which was really cool, but so much time was wasted involved in buffing before each individual combat encounter I couldn't just auto-attack my way through. It's a pretty satisfying tale otherwise, and it's been rightfully compared to Planescape: Torment. Storm of Zehir is a blast, and probably the star of the show for some. It's reminiscent of Pool of Radiance, where your party travels the countryside looking for conquest and mystery. I just couldn't get into Mysteries of Westgate, but I am glad it was included. There's a lot of great storytelling here, but the combat is mostly boring, extremely complicated, and unfun, and there's plenty of both to be had here. Overall, in my opinion, it's a 3/5 package, with some flashes of 5/5 brilliance.
$7.99 USD gets you one new companion, one new race, and one new class. There are many better purchases on GOG that are actually actual full on classic and indie games for about the same price or less, however, this does bring something to the table if you're really really into Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Tiefling is a classic DnD/Pathfinder player race, that compliments many different class options. There's multiple types of Tieflings too, with their own stat adjustments, based on their Demonic or Infernal heritage. The cosmetics of the Tiefling are fairly robust compared to other player races. The new class is Kineticist, for all your Avatar: The Last Airbender type RP needs and elemental combat powers. The new companion is very fleshed out and fits well into the grand scheme of your party, but I feel as if maybe she should have been in the basic game all along. IDK, I bought it, I don't regret it, it adds a fair amount of useful options, but $8 dollars is a lot for what's essentially a mid sized addon. 3/5.
Leaning more on "experience" rather than "game," Bad Mojo has a lot of unseemly sights to show you, and an odd control scheme for you to navigate these grody scenes. I rather like the story it tells and the way it tells it, but it's essentially a riff on "The Metamorphosis" written by the troubled Franz Kafka, right down to the ever copious father issues and number of fatal mistakes you can't predict coming. However, while not really grand in scope, it oozes (literally) plenty of ambitious 1990's charm that you don't see these days. It's not great by any means, however it is unique, and I can't think of any other games like it. Taken in on its own I'd say it's probably a 3/5 experience/game but I'll boost it to 4/5 just for the oddball premise of becoming a monstrous vermin and the disgusting visual storytelling. Try it out if you want something out of the ordinary, but with the recommendation of getting it on sale.
