Joanna Nelius's Reviews
In all, Planet of the Eyes is by all accounts a carefully crafted game. It’s clear that the developers put a lot of time and thought into everything from the art, to the narration, to the gameplay. But its greatest shortcoming is that it’s not a longer game. The game provides a satisfying experience overall, but not the emotional resonance. At the same time, however, there is beauty in its subtle narrative. How you feel about the game will come down to this: if you are a novel-person or a short story-person.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm delivers another emotionally-charged episode in its second installment, Brave New World, hitting all the right narrative beats to set up players for a grueling journey in episode three—even if it's saving many key elements that tie into the original game for the final episode.
Hell is Empty was satisfying in the sense that it delivered something out of the pages of a crime drama, but as far as keeping continuity with itself and with the original game, the episode left much to be desired. These first two episodes leave such a strong emotional resonance that stick around long after they end and, unfortunately, episode three isn't on par.
Ultimately, for those who prefer story to collecting better weapons, there isn’t a big enough incentive to keep progressing through the challenges.
The Red Strings Club uses every cybyerpunk trope—implants, sentient androids, all-powerful corporations—in ways that are meaningful.
Without a central idea to fall back on, Past Cure is just an unorganized mess.
Tarahumara mythology is fascinating—just the break I needed away from the Skyrims and World of Warcrafts of the fantasy genre. I might never have learned about the Tarahumara and listened to an indigenous language for the first time. But, Mulaka stretches a bit too long for my taste.
EMPYRE: Lords of the Sea Gates is an easy entry into the isometric RPG genre for newcomers, but has enough interesting features for those familiar with the genre to consider checking it out.
Hob is a rare gem. It has mass appeal, regardless of preferred genre or style.