I guess calling Kaichu a bad game wouldn’t be entirely accurate. It looks nice and performs fairly well. But it just doesn’t do enough. A single playthrough takes roughly 30 minutes and even then it starts to feel a little samey towards the end. Kaichu is simply lacks depth. Quite frankly, I even struggled to find things to write about for this review.
The Fridge is Red stands or falls on its atmosphere and it has that part down on lock. Sadly, the storytelling isn't quite on the same level.
Scorn is gross and disgusting in all the best ways. It's a remarkably unique experience that will alienate many, but will undoubtedly find an audience of people that cherish every part of it. How big that audience is remains to be seen.
The Winters' Expansion is a worthwhile distraction for fans of Resident Evil Village and will deliver a couple of fun hours, but if you feel satisfied with the main campaign of the game already you won't necessarily need to return for this one.
Signalis harkens back to the classic survival horror experience, and it does so beautifully. With its stunning presentation, unique story, and an atmosphere that you draws you in from the get to. It manages to carve out its own little space in the canon of the survival horror genre, that can keep up with the classics.
Blacktail lets you inhabit a beautifully realized fairy tale world, and while the gameplay can sometimes fall into the mediocre rather than the great, it still works as a whole package due to how the whole thing comes together, and an amount of charm that cannot be understated.
Birth is a short, quaint, but most importantly effective, exploration of the loneliness and isolation one might encounter living in the big city.
DREDGE is a great fishing adventure game, with Lovecraftian horror influences. It's admittedly simple, but it absolutely works, and fortunately it ends before it could ever run out of steam.
Gripper sounds like a cool concept, but its execution leaves much to be desired. It simply makes too many bad decisions in game design to be a fun experience, instead it's primarily a frustrating one.
Bramble: The Mountain King is a dark fairy tale done right. It pulls you in with all the whimsy and charm of an enchanted forest, before it disturbs you with the horrors of a wronged soul.
Bat Boy is a very competent 2D action platformer, and lots of fun can be had with it, even if it's a rather challenging game at times. Sadly, the repeated crashing in one part of it impacted my enjoyment quite a bit.
Planet of Lana is an exciting adventure with well built puzzles, breathtaking set pieces, a stunning art style, and a score that underlines it all perfectly.
Liberté has many interesting ideas, and one that with time could become something good, or maybe even great. But for now there's simply too much missing to recommend it.
For fans of the original System Shock, this remake delivers a faithful recreation of that game. But for newcomers, it's arguably a little too faithful to the original and ends up feeling outdated.
Dordogne is an intimate adventure that reminds us how important the small moments in life can be.
Layers of Fear is an enjoyable walk through a hall of mirrors that reflects your inner nightmares, but there isn't much to hold on to outside of the cheap thrills and flashing lights.
Astrea: Six-Sided Oracle presents an interesting new combat system that creates complex scenarios for you to navigate, if it weren't for the not yet perfected balancing that at times makes things more straightforward than they should be.
El Paso, Elsewhere feels good to play and is beautiful to look at. But even more than that, it's simply an outstanding piece of southern gothic fiction, with a quality of writing that blew me away.
Cocoon is another triumph by Jeppe Carlsen, with simple but effective puzzle design in beautifully realized worlds to explore.
Phantom Liberty is a strong expansion to the base game, and a reminder that, despite the rough start, the Cyberpunk 2077 universe is one I'd love to see further expanded in the future.