Hey Poor Player
HomepageHey Poor Player's Reviews
While I wish I was more charmed by Ravva and the Cyclops Curse, I’m still glad I played it. As a fan of pixel art and retro flair, this is a pretty satisfying game. It’s definitely challenging and occasionally unfair, but for the minimal asking price, it’s hard to say no. And though the game is very linear, I am aware of one hidden area you can discover. If you’re a fan of retro and want a new platformer, I’d check out Ravva and the Cyclops Curse. Here’s hoping the next title by Galope makes good on the promise of this game.
Crimson Spires isn’t quite like any VN that I’ve played before. It’s familiar in form, but, thanks to a heavier Western emphasis regarding its narrative, feels fresh and new in many ways. Whether you like action, suspense, or romance–or just want a new VN–I highly recommend taking a trip to Bataille. It’ll be so good that you won’t want to leave! …Not that you’ll have much of a choice in the matter.
Song of Farca is a top notch surveillance simulator that will simultaneously please players and make them paranoid that someone like Song is watching their every move. With intense cases that require invasive tactics to solve, Song of Farca asks players to make morally ambiguous and legally gray choices that will affect not only Song’s life, but Farca’s future. This was one of the few games I’ve played this year where I was glued to my chair from start to finish, unable to pry myself away from the scintillating story and cleverly addicting gameplay. Song of Farca is an absolute must-play and one that I really can’t recommend enough — just like I recommend keeping your webcams taped over.
While I wouldn’t want to play it time and again, El Shaddai is an experience well worth having. Some of the sights and sounds in this game are so different from anything I’ve ever seen in a game that I can only marvel at them. The gameplay may be simple, but its ever-changing stages keep things fresh long enough for you to reach the end. It isn’t quite a holy experience, but it’s one I won’t soon forget.
If you loved Maneater and are looking for content to sink your teeth into, Maneater: Truth Quest delivers just that. At just $15, it’s hard to argue you’re not getting your money’s worth for an expansion that should take most players around five hours to complete. However, if you already ate your fill of mercenaries and sea monsters the first time around, I’m not sure it offers quite enough to warrant coming back for a second course.
A compelling tale about a psychological breakdown and loss brought to life with a vibrant comic book art style, there’s a lot to like about this debut. For a first release, it’s a pretty fantastic job, despite a few minor hiccups.
Nothing to Remember had a solid vision and the bones of something great, but nothing really came together to make a memorable experience. The immersion factor wasn’t there, the story moves along entirely too slowly, and there’s little focus in anything that would have helped keep players invested. Nothing to Remember genuinely looks good, but its well-designed façade hides an unnecessarily convoluted method of storytelling devoid of any handholds that would allow players to get a good grasp on anything. What a shame, considering this genre is still relatively unexplored, that an otherwise promising entry is such a forgettable letdown.
With an unbelievable look, tight gameplay, and bravura moments which shouldn’t work yet do, Song of Iron breaks away from the pack and stands alone. It is a stunning achievement and an absolute must-play. Hear the song and join the fight.
At the end of the day, Clid the Snail is a fun but flawed first effort for Weird Beluga. I enjoyed the game’s more deliberate approach to its gunplay, and the weapon variety and shell customization options kept the action feeling fresh. Add to that some excellent puzzles and fantastic worldbuilding, and there’s no denying that there’s a lot to love here. That’s why it’s such a shame that things become so frustrating due to the developer’s artistic choices. After all, it’s hard to focus on a firefight when it looks like half of the screen has been slathered in vaseline. Perhaps the developer will add a patch down the road to remedy the muddy visuals. And if they do, Clid the Snail will be a much more playable experience. As for me, I’d probably wait and see if they clean things up before taking the plunge. However, if those issues aren’t enough to dissuade you, escargot ahead and give Clid a shot.
Despite any aforementioned hiccups, Patron is an addicting medieval city-builder that can hold its head up high amongst the others in this well-established genre.
Townscaper is minimalist in every sense of the word — minimalist gameplay, minimalist UI, minimalist sound — but the sheer amount of potential hidden within this title defies its style. If you’re looking for a new obsession or a nice little title to play during lunch breaks or just before bed, Townscaper is the soothing sandbox town-builder that will do the trick. The town-building aspect may be instantaneous, but you’ll soon learn you spend an awful lot of time discovering all the little signs of life that spring up along the way.
Murder Mystery Machine utilizes a fun detective mechanic that makes you really feel like you’re connecting the dots, but there are a few technical issues that brought down the experience ever so slightly. With that being said, it’s one of the few detective games that actually feels like you’re piecing the puzzle together instead of being lead to the correct answer, so be sure to get your brain ready for some extreme teasing. If you love murder mysteries and want a fascinating story with a lot more going on underneath than initially meets the eye, booting up Murder Mystery Machine is a no-brainer.
If you love classic survival horror titles, Tormented Souls needs to be on your radar. It’s a terrifically terrifying love letter to Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Alone in the Dark. With brilliant puzzles, a genuinely scary setting to explore, and unsettling monsters to face, it’s the kind of game that will shock you to your core and stick with you long after the credits roll. While it undoubtedly wears its old-school inspiration on its bloodied sleeve, make no mistake: Tormented Souls is a modern survival horror masterpiece.
No More Heroes 3 dazzlingly outshines its predecessors in many respects. The combat is vastly superior, the overworld map makes a triumphant return, and the art styles and music are so brilliantly executed to the point where I want to buy the entire dev team a round of drinks. In the team’s eagerness to return to a clearly beloved franchise, I think a lot of fantastic storyline ideas came together in a way that didn’t always fit perfectly, but No More Heroes 3 was never anything less than a total blast. If you’ve already played the other three games in the series and loved every second, I have no idea why you’re still reading this article — go get No More Heroes 3 already!
I hate dunking on a game made by solo and small teams, but Confessions is blah at best and extremely irresponsible at worst. I’m not saying it shouldn’t exist, but mental health professionals should have been consulted to add things like list of resources for grief, depression, or suicidal thoughts. People are confessing to committing crimes on here FFS (assuming they’re being truthful, of course). If you have an interest, you’re welcome to check it out on Steam for $2.99 or itch.io for free, but do so at your own discretion. Post Secret remains the superior analog version anyway.
Honestly, there’s not much of anything I can say negatively about Toodee and Topdee. If you’re looking for something new to play, or if you just want to support an up-and-coming indie team, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
OBAKEIDORO! is a fantastic, family-friendly version of Dead by Daylight that just about anyone will find addicting. At first, I thought I’d only want to play it for a round or two, but I found myself unable to put down my Switch until several hours later. OBAKEIDORO!’s charm is in its deceptive simplicity — there are so many little balancing acts happening at once that melt together into pure casual, spooky fun. Bet you can’t play just one round of OBAKEIDORO!; once you’ve entered this creepy cute world, you’re here forever!
Dragon Star Varnir is a fun JRPG overall, and, while it might be a little on the niche side, I’d still recommend it. Unfortunately, I’m not sure which version to recommend. Sure, the Switch version comes with a bunch of DLC and is entirely uncensored (did I forget to mention that?), but the graphics are, like, really crunchy—and I say that as someone who normally doesn’t care much about graphical quality. If that isn’t enough to drive you away, though, then the Switch version’s probably the way to go. The more content, the better, right?
Considering it’s a game all about cars and congestion, you’d think Mini Motorways would be a tense and stressful endeavor, but it’s by far one of the most addictingly chill game I’ve played in recent memory. I’m pretty sure it lowered my blood pressure, setting a nice calm mood right before bed. Players expecting a sandbox city planning game will be momentarily disappointed, but after only a few minutes with it, that disappointment will melt away (along with the day’s worries and woes). If you need to relax, like, right now, you must check out Mini Motorways.
Arashi: Castles of Sin had so much potential. With satisfying sneaking and a wide selection of interesting tools to use, it’s easy to recommend to fans of the genre or anyone who likes the idea of a VR version of Tenchu. It’s just a shame that the barebones swordplay makes what should have been the game’s most exciting moments feel like a repetitive slog. As it stands, it’s still a solid game. But with a bit more polish and refinement, it could have been so much more. If you can overlook the tacked-on swordplay, you’ll find Arashi: Castles of Sin gives you a lot of gameplay for your $30. The stages are massive, so you can count on spending 8-10 hours making your way through the game’s campaign. So set your expectations accordingly, and you might just find this to be a welcome addition to your PSVR library.