So Many Games
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How to begin summarising an experience like Without a Dawn? For all its brutality, there’s a gentleness, even something delicate about how it presents its themes. Mental illness can be the harshest of things, but telling these stories can’t be as rough, as people wouldn’t be able to listen. Jesse Makkonen sticks the landing beautifully, though, with a game that’s as thoughtful as it is creepy. I found myself recognising so much of my own mental health struggles, without ever feeling attacked. No, I felt seen and understood, and that’s all you can ask of art. To make you feel seen and heard in a way that’s mesmerising and haunting.
Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo walks a tightrope between fetch quests, quizzes, short stealth, and traumatic stories and does it with confidence. It’s a balancing act that works well for a narrative-heavy game that explores, above all else, disappointment and insecurity in oneself. Galla Entertainment manages to do this by drawing inspiration from popular franchises while placing its own identity front and center, something remarkable for a small studio and their debut.
FREERIDE is a heartfelt and imaginative journey that prioritises emotion and introspection over traditional gameplay. Its dreamlike world and memorable characters leave a lasting impression, even when clunky mechanics momentarily break the spell.
Deck of Haunts gameplay loop, with the building phase during the day and the combat phase during the night, will keep you coming back for more as your mansion grows bigger and stronger. There’s a real power trip to be had, but just like giants can be taken down by many smaller enemies attacking at once, it’s tricky to not get overwhelmed by all these people wanting to figure out your secrets. But finding out your own strategy is a ton of fun, whether you go in for the kill or choose to cause madness galore.
Everything combines to create an incredibly addictive game. Drop Duchy throws you into its gameplay immediately, not bothering with too much story in a similar vein as Slay the Spire. You’re here for the gameplay, and boy does it deliver.
Like some of the best narrative games in recent years—I’m looking at you, Citizen Sleeper, 1000xRESIST, Spiritfarer, and Celeste— Many Nights a Whisper is ultimately a meditation on what it means to be human. Why we put ourselves under the stresses and burdens that we do and what ways we look for when it comes to finding ways to get away from those. And it succeeds in a magnificent way: not by telling us what to think but by making us question things we take for granted.
Despelote will extend its hand to the player and invite them on a Virgil-like walk through the ever-increasing tension that permeated Ecuador in 2001. While the gameplay is not adrenaline-fuelled, its earnestness serves to be equally captivating and the primary motivation to see the game through.
StarVaders is a game that takes the best influences from the genre—the seemingly simple basics that can be iterated on to make it as complex as you want, mostly—and adds its own unique twist. Maybe the best way to describe the game is ‘what if Cobalt Core leaned more into Space Invaders,’ with this one taking the best from both of those classics without being a copy/paste job. The game looks classy, plays wonderfully, and sounds amazing.
Old Skies is a shining example of a strong, well-written, and original story. Considering the subject, that’s an impressive feat. With the game's other shining examples of strong voice acting, superb music, and wonderful visuals, it was worth every second of the time I spent with it. I can’t recommend this enough to any point-and-click fan out there, and even if this genre isn’t your forte, it’s still worth a shot.
The team’s incredible hard work has produced a wonderfully unique, deep, and rewarding game that fulfils its ambitious scope and has easily been seated as my favourite visual novel of all time.
Despite there being a lack of big emotions and intriguing environmental storytelling, there is an absolute gem of a puzzle game to be found.
Seafrog has reeled me back in time and time again with its upbeat, humorous writing and stellar animations. It’s such a joy to watch our skater-mechanic seafrog do whatever they’re doing in any given moment. The various characters you meet along your journey conform to their game’s nonsensical but hearteningly silly atmosphere, leaving you with a smile, even if behind that you grit your teeth spending more time platforming and less time skating.
Come to Sacre Bleu looking for an above-average, speed-focused platformer with some extremely satisfying movement, and I basically guarantee you’re in for a good time, despite all the technical issues doing their best to drag you down. It won’t change your life, but it’ll make for a good weekend, and potentially much more than that if you’re the type to get swept up in speedrunning.
MiTale has survived an incredibly delicate balancing act where they mix many different gameplay mechanics to make something truly unique. It makes me happy to see that they have succeeded at making these different aspects all feel as part of one world.
The imagination is clear throughout, and the team at Caracal Games has done a wonderful job in creating an interesting world that deserves your attention and time. If you're looking for a unique Zelda-like, with a rough 20-hour playtime and a mysterious sci-fi tale, then Star Overdrive might just be what you're after.
I don’t often get to be surprised by video games anymore, but I have to admit that Promise Mascot Agency really knocked it out of the park for me. I went in expecting some kind of meme game akin to Goat Simulator and instead got a game that took its hard-boiled yakuza mixed with magical mascot beings conceit seriously.
Koira doesn’t do too many things you haven’t seen in games before. The puzzles are pretty easy if you’ve played any other game, and even some of the designs, like those of the statues in the forest, take inspiration from other games. The story isn’t particularly new either, but fortunately, the way it’s told through the eyes of you and your dog works incredibly well.
YOUR HOUSE is a strong, inventive experience that stumbles occasionally along the way due in large part to its ambitious design. Though the rough edges sometimes take away from the enjoyment and impact of the story, the strong portrayal of the lead character, Debbie, helps make this a mystery worth unravelling.
I don’t hand out 5-star reviews lightly, but there really is no better word than “perfect” to describe Star of Providence. In mere tens of hours, it captured my heart while repeatedly kicking my teeth in, daring me to come back after each aching defeat and keep learning how to speak its language.
Wanderstop is a distinguished work of art. While the pacing was a bit hit or miss at times, the game uses its tea-shop sim mechanics and introspective narrative to create an unprecedented meditative space for players. The wit, whimsy, and wonder of the game aesthetic are charming to the core, encouraging the player to drift into a comfortable rhythm of self-reflection.