Christopher Lannoo's Reviews
StarVaders is a game that takes the best influences from the genre—the seemingly simple basics that can be iterated on to make it as complex as you want, mostly—and adds its own unique twist. Maybe the best way to describe the game is ‘what if Cobalt Core leaned more into Space Invaders,’ with this one taking the best from both of those classics without being a copy/paste job. The game looks classy, plays wonderfully, and sounds amazing.
Despite there being a lack of big emotions and intriguing environmental storytelling, there is an absolute gem of a puzzle game to be found.
MiTale has survived an incredibly delicate balancing act where they mix many different gameplay mechanics to make something truly unique. It makes me happy to see that they have succeeded at making these different aspects all feel as part of one world.
Koira doesn’t do too many things you haven’t seen in games before. The puzzles are pretty easy if you’ve played any other game, and even some of the designs, like those of the statues in the forest, take inspiration from other games. The story isn’t particularly new either, but fortunately, the way it’s told through the eyes of you and your dog works incredibly well.