Samantha Lienhard's Reviews
Storytelling and character development aren’t Earthlock’s strongest points, but it has some interesting twists on classic JRPG gameplay. If you miss those classic games, Earthlock: Festival of Magic is worth a look—just don’t expect anything earthshaking.
Detective Hunt – Crownston City PD is a little rough around the edges, but its multiple paths and intertwined stories show potential.
Another Code: Recollection is a beautiful remake that I can hardly believe exists, bringing two niche games back when they could easily have been forgotten. In many ways, it’s a fantastic remake – enough that I wish it had all the puzzles and story details of the original so I could feel fully satisfied. Instead, the changes left me with some mixed feelings, but this remake is a solid narrative adventure game in its own right.
It's hard for a game to live up to expectations when you've been waiting for years. As a result, I might have hoped for more from the story of Long Gone Days than it actually delivered. However, it has a good cast of characters and presents a view of how terrible war is for civilians, presented through an RPG-style structure. Despite some bugs and other flaws, Long Gone Days is still an enjoyable experience.
Gylt is a short horror game with a lot of good ideas. It doesn’t break any new ground, but it has a solid structure that provides a clear path to follow while rewarding exploration at the same time. The world has enough potential that I wouldn’t mind revisiting it in a sequel, but either way, it’s nice to see a game like this find new life now that Stadia is gone.
If you're hoping for something new with Layers of Fear, you should be aware that the majority of your time will be spent on the original Layers of Fear and Layers of Fear 2. At the same time, if you just want to replay those games, keep in mind that the new structure means it's not as simple as that. But for fans who want to experience the games in a new way or newcomers to the series trying it out for the first time, the new Layers of Fear keeps the games largely true to the originals' themes while also making some notable improvements.
Bayonetta 3 is a strange mix of some of the series’ best moments together with some of its worst. At its high points, Bayonetta 3 easily stands with or even surpasses its predecessors, but its glory is marred by questionable decisions and missed opportunities. How much importance you place on the story will likely determine how you feel about this entry. If the story is an afterthought for you, you’ll enjoy the high-quality combat and intense action, but if the story matters, prepare yourself for tonal differences and storytelling that raises more questions than answers.
After all these years, the final chapter of Faith turned out to be worth the wait, and with all three chapters bundled in the Unholy Trinity release, there’s never been a better time to play. The dangerous world of Faith requires some patience, but the unsettling atmosphere and intense demonic encounters make it worthwhile for anyone who loves the horror genre.
Despite some flaws, Signalis is a delightful addition to the survival horror genre in the style of the classics. A lot of care has been put into its world, and its gameplay never outstays its welcome. If you like traditional survival horror games and want another game that fills that niche, Signalis is a worthy title to keep in mind.
If you love 3D collect-a-thon platformers, Kao the Kangaroo is worth taking a look at once its bugs are patched. It might not bring anything new to the genre, but it’s a short slice of what makes 3D platforming fun.
Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a simple game with creative ideas and an emotional story.
If you like your horror games to have a strong focus on exploration and a satisfying story to tell, you should come away from the surreal world of Mundaun feeling well-pleased with the experience.
Blending survival horror gameplay with overt sexual themes and a cosmic horror story, Lust From Beyond isn’t a game for everyone and it knows that. It’s targeting a fairly specific audience, but if you fall into that audience, you’ll find a satisfying, compelling, and often macabre experience.
The story might be a bit too slow and ambiguous for some, especially when it comes to the ending, but Shady Part of Me is filled with clever puzzles that should appeal to fans of the puzzle-platformer genre.
Amnesia: Rebirth stumbles a little with its narrative-based approach and certain gameplay choices, but every time I started to feel frustrated with its direction, it had a nightmarish encounter waiting to remind me that no one does heart-pounding terror quite like Frictional Games.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons is cute, clever, and fun, with a beautiful world to explore and entertaining puzzles to solve.
Maid of Sker might not be the scariest horror game out there, but the tense moments, sound-based gameplay design, and intriguing story come together to form a solid horror experience nevertheless.
Although it occasionally becomes tedious and some sections can be frustrating, Skully should please fans of the genre looking for a 3D puzzle platformer with a fun, well-told story to accompany its platforming challenges.
The story resolution won’t sit well with everyone, but it’s still worth playing for the mystery and clever puzzles.
While its storytelling might leave you with questions, LUNA The Shadow Dust is a beautiful game with some truly clever and challenging puzzles.