Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Reviews
There's maybe a third of a good game in here, weighed down by a mountain of big and ambitious ideas, none of them given the time and attention they needed to really function.
I honestly can't remember the last time I've enjoyed a long-form point-and-click adventure this much. It reminds me why I love the genre so much.
It functions both as a broadly traditional but significantly less rigid MMO and as a 'lost' Elder Scrolls. There's much I wish it did better, but I can't fail to be drawn in by the sheer substance of it.
The Forest remains a huge achievement, and a survival horror game that somehow manages to keep those two elements surprisingly separate and yet let each impose upon the other in very interesting ways. I do wish it had been tidied and bug-fixed by now, but I can't stop wanting to play despite it.
If you play in co-op, you'll probably be able to ignore the flaws long enough to have a jolly evening or two with some friends (Windows 10 friends only, of course) and if you're dead set on rolling around in the blood and gore, I suggest this is how you play it.
Despite my (relatively minor) gripes, Red Embrace is actually a pretty enjoyable little game that doesn't take itself too seriously and delivers a well-proportioned slice of blood-sucking boy love.
The Thin Silence felt tedious at first because I was lacking motivation to continue.
There are a ton of great ideas here, and I particularly dig this whole concept of a management game that's about a production line for silent slaughter rather than cash-generation as such, but the best stuff can struggle to breathe through the excessive micro-management.
Wizard of Legend is a good, if lopsided game. The moment-to-moment combat is highly flexible and seldom anything less than satisfying, especially in co-op. It's just a pity that while your arsenal of spells and artifacts is massive enough to be remixed a thousand ways, the maps, bosses and enemy types only fit together in a handful of configurations.
It may take a few tries to discover how to land a date, but playing Monster Prom is some of the most fun you'll have trying to figure out a game's mechanics.
As it is, despite having spent dozens of hours playing this, I've always felt at arm's length.
Creative Assembly's love for history absolutely bleeds through.
It's stuck with me, it invaded my dreams last night, it's impactful like a knife tip is impactful. It's inescapable that at times it's sophomoric, but it's worth it for the more pervasive disturbia that ultimately rules.
As it is, it's a lovely, fun game that too frequently reminds me of its mistakes. And despite that, I want to keep playing. Which is probably rather important.
There is something great glinting just below BattleTech's dour and crusty surface. So much now depends on whether future updates will dig for it or not – I pray they do.
Frostpunk may be one of the most tense, exciting city building survival games on PC, but for a game with such an emphasis on innate justice, and heat, it leaves you surprisingly cold.
Considering the sheer amount of content and the fact that it's actually both pretty AND well written, I'd argue that it's well worth [the price] if you're into otome games and a fan of (somewhat dark) fairy tale reworkings.
I like it, but its snickering spirits will only haunt the tortured recesses of my mind for a few short days.
Pivross is a 3D picross game that still needs some work
Anno 1800 could have been any one of a hundred shades of mediocre, and I would have had a much lighter, breezier time talking about it. But whether I end up adding it to my list of perennial must-plays, or retiring it in despair at the whimsical capering of Captain Bumeggs, it’s an undisputed heavyweight, and an experience I’d recommend to anyone.