Nate Lakritz's Reviews
Cleo - A Pirate's Tale is a fun-filled adventure where you'll encounter characters with a ton of personality. Exploring island areas, conversing with NPCs, solving basic puzzles, gathering items, and searching for a legendary treasure is a pleasant experience for all ages.
Potion Craft lets players put on their chemist hats and strategically brew a plethora of potions. A medieval backdrop provides a casual environment to discover new recipes, earn some coin, and become a master alchemist.
Although Rabi-Ribi presents itself as a light-hearted adventure about chibi animals, it's actually a frantic, bullet-hell RPG under the hood. It might be the best modern Metroidvania title we've seen in years.
Symphonic Rain is perfect for someone new to visual novels and provides an unforgettable story that will stay with you for quite some time. It's short, sweet, and packs a punch that you don't see coming.
With scenery straight out of a Norwegian travel postcard, Embracelet offers a peaceful coming-of-age tale that doesn't get too complex and ultimately hits the mark.
Beating up blobs is everything you've ever dreamed it to be. Not much is unique about Plasma Puncher, but that's fine when just about everything else is done right.
Buddy Simulator is an innovative indie adventure set in an RPG world with some clever meta moments. It could use some quality-of-life improvements and bug squashing, but still hits the mark from start to finish.
A Little to the Left is a family-friendly puzzler that's great in short bursts. It doesn't have a whole lot of content at the moment, but still provides a few hours of relaxing brain teasers to solve.
Although the game could use a bit of polish around its UI framework, a ton of thought was put into countless popular culture references and cubed graphics. If you're looking for a gorefest though, this isn't the place to find one.
I can count on one hand the number of times where Tokyo Dark fully takes advantage of its powerful storytelling abilities, and you're left looking for more of them.
If you're looking for a well-polished arcade experience, Infernal Racket is a great option. Most players will find the game to be a good way to spend their coffee break, while others will inevitably become obsessed and won't rest until they clear the entire game.
Alongside simplistic combat, The Tale of Bistun tells a compelling story that offers a glimpse into Persian mythology and doesn't overstay its welcome. It keeps your attention with smooth traversal through charming landscapes backed by a solid narration.
SCP: Secret Files offers five distinct missions, each with a drastically different style. It doesn't have a whole lot of interactivity, but does an impressive job of conveying an uneasy atmosphere in each unique chapter.
I went into Beans expecting a frantic coffee shop game, and instead found a peaceful store simulation. Still, the game is just fine as a slower-paced goofy title. From start to finish, Beans shows everything that goes into running your favorite local coffee shop, and that nothing beats a freshly brewed caffeinated beverage.
No Stick Shooter is a solid retro throwback with a knack for replicating the classic arcade style and bringing it to the modern spotlight. A techno soundtrack beats along with lights and lasers as you progress through each stage, earning points and defending your turret at all costs.
Though the amount of content is definitely lacking in Fred3ric, it offers straightforward gameplay and enjoyable melodies. Detailed backdrops also enhance the experience and keep levels looking fresh.
While it doesn't do anything new for the platforming genre, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake offers innocent adventures with iconic characters across Bikini Bottom.
Mages of Mystralia is a beautiful looking game containing balanced gameplay surrounded by solid folklore. The spellcrafting system is one-of-a-kind, but contributes to puzzle-solving much more than it does combat. Either way, the puzzles are varied and fair in terms of difficulty, but weak character development and jumpy pacing will surely throw you off.
Vostok Inc. is enjoyable more for its concept than execution, as it was quite clever to fuse a twin-stick shooter with an idling game. For those who have already beaten their fair share of clicker games, there isn't enough reason to play this one until the endgame.
Heliborne is a great tribute to the helicopter's contributions in modern warfare, while it focuses mainly on the helicopter entity itself, and not so much anything else. In some ways this makes the game feel unfinished, but you can be sure to find a beautifully crafted helicopter model awaiting your arrival.