Michael McCann
Tharsis is a time-waster. Nonetheless it is a time-waster that's thoroughly recommended wasting time on - particularly good for fans of strategy and decision-based titles.
The saving grace for Thunder Paw is that generally sprites are cute, and music hits the mark for driving progress forward without being too repetitive. Whether or not that's enough to entice is up to the individual to decide. There's conceivably a compulsion to play on and best the unfair challenge, particularly with an early monkey boss level, which required keeping up with an increasing pattern speed in spite of a gimped weapon range. One hopes it might be a worthy first attempt, and it is if that's the case, but otherwise it is just a bit "rough." An oddity indeed.
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is a potentially great RPG, trapped under a less-than-stellar console port.
The Stretchers is a jovial, anarchic affair. It looks like a Dreamcast title and, in some respects, feels like playing one too. That comparison isn't meant as a pejorative to say it's dated, as it isn't, and certainly it has a charm all of its own
Return of the Obra Dinn is without a doubt a thinking man/woman's piece of crumpet. It is someone that you can take out on a date and have a riveting conversation with, but then scratch your head about some of the things they've said afterwards.