Nirav Gandhi's Reviews
Twin Mirror's concise narrative and innovative detective gameplay is heartfelt and earnest, though the small-scale, personal story is left open-ended.
Pumpkin Jack's delightful NPCs, boss battles, visuals and music outweigh the clunky platforming and uninspired combat. This is the perfect game to ignite your Halloween Spirit.
I loved Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and so I loved my time with Wrath of the Druids. But after a 55 hour base game, a change of pace would have been very welcome.
The original Doki Doki Literature Club is a phenomenal horror title, but loses a lot of the elements that made it so impressive on its translation to consoles.
There are strokes of a masterpiece in here, with excellent music, whimsical characters, starkly themed visuals, just enough narrative push, and management tools that allow for the player to really experience their own story. If you don't optimize the fun out of Cult of the Lamb, there's an incredible amount of it to be had.
The Quarry manages to, after all these years, harness the things that made Until Dawn a classic and replicate that feeling almost perfectly. Besides a few story hiccups in the last act, these characters and performances are going to keep you and your friends' eyes glued to the screen all night long.
Sonic Frontiers is a mess of ideas from other, better games. But when the music swells and Sleeping with Sirens is blasting your eardrums with a guttural scream while you plunge a 300 ft sword into a titan the size of a skyscraper, none of that will matter. The heights of Frontiers are the highest highs Sonic has ever seen, and i had more fun in this mediocre game than i had in all the many, many better games i played this year.
Harmony shows off DONTNOD's narrative chops with unconvential storytelling, unique deicison mechanics, and stellar character designs.
While it doesn't offer much new to management games, Nova Lands perfects and streamlines automation in a variety of clever ways.
GYLT is packed with great atmosphere, music, and spooks galore, but the juvenile theming leaves the narrative wanting.
Oxenfree II didn't knock my socks off like the first game, but it's a smartly written and thrilling sequel to one of my favorite adventure games ever.
While I wish it allowed for more freedom, Shadow Gambit is an admirable meeting of stealth and strategy with just a drop of immersive sim.
Mirage delivers what I've wanted from Assassin's Creed better than it has in over a decade. In a fantastically recreated 9th century Baghdad, finally I feel like an assassin again.
Good for genre veterans and even better for newbies, Steamworld Build is a steamlined, silly, and smooth city-builder that's fun from the first foundation block to the last keystone.
While sometimes it asks too much of players' brains, Botany Manor features some of my favorite art direction ever and a wondrous world to explore.
This grief management simulator is not for the faint of heart; be prepared for every agonizing minute of every day that follows death.
Despite boring story segments, this game finds great humor and ultra-malleable gameplay that breathes fresh air into tactics games.
I recommend Tiny Glade for any lovers of cozy games, city builders, sandbox games, or playing with LEGOs. It’s beautiful, chill, and full of heart. It does exactly what it needs to, and is so smartly designed it seems to predict what you are trying to do while you’re figuring it out yourself. I can tell I will be spending many more hours building these beautiful diorama worlds. Can we build it? Yes we can!
Traversing a terrifying, multi-dimensional modern art exhibit for 2 hours can get tedious, but it never stops piquing your curiosity.
The Medium presents intelligent horror and innovative gameplay inspired by Silent Hill, but far overstays its welcome and fails to provide closure. The split screen mechanics work wonders for new kinds of puzzles, but a myriad of technical issues hinder immersion.