Alien Rage?

A highly productive month with barely any stinkers or replays!

AI: The Somnium Files - 38h / 100%
American Arcadia - 7h / 100%
Anger Foot - 19h / 100% - BEST
Deadlight: Director's Cut - 10h35m / 100% (2 playthroughs)
Gone Home - 3h45m / 100% (2 playthroughs)
Resident Evil 2 (1998) - 2h5m (Claire A) - REPLAY
The Chant: The Gloom Below DLC - 4h
The Pedestrian - 5h25m / 100%
Twin Mirror - 13h25m / 100% (3 playthroughs) - WORST
VLADiK BRUTAL - 12h10m / 100%
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 15h25m / 100% (2 playthroughs)

AI: The Somnium Files is a mystery detective visual-novel-type adventure developed by Spike Chunsoft who are also known for the Danganronpa series which is more or less similar to this game. It's quite a girthy title in terms of length, but every line of dialogue is voiced and you have the option to either stick with the original Japanese VO or have a go at the English dub, which is serviceable at best as it's often the case with anime-anything. The story is broken down into multiple routes, all of which can be accessed via the flowchart option, but you are technically forced to go through them all if you want to view the true ending anyway. There is quite a bit of mystery and the biggest twist is, well, twisted enough to consider it as such, but the writing just comes off as weird and tactless at times: you've got the gritty stuff and then you've got the over-the-top "japaneseness", there are so many scenes where it's supposed to be an emotional setup, only to have one of the characters crack a sex joke, I'm all for innuendos and the like but the awkward timing really ruins the vibe. Aside from the questionable remarks at inappropriate times, there are possibly all QoL features one could think of that I wish most VNs would have by default: you've got characters dossiers and all the other trivia neatly listed in a separate menu, the flowchart not only allows you to quickly jump from one route to the other but it also grants accesst to every single checkpoint, if you've missed something specific. Cutscenes can be sped-up and an autosave is created upon every scene switch, manual saving is available at all times except during some cinematics. The first-person exploration aspect where you can scan the environment for clues and additional commentary as well as the somnium segments are the reason it's not just another VN where you simply hold down the spacebar, the somnium levels in particular are the most creative and fun bits in the game since you're constantly left wondering what the next one is going to be like. I've played the whole thing on the Deck from start to finish as I thought it was made perfectly for such a handheld, it's ran at clean 60fps but it's advised to launch the game via desktop mode to avoid any unnecessary crashes. If the aforementioned issue in the narrative department doesn't bother you, it can easily be recommended.

American Arcadia is an interesting genre mashup developed by the Spanish studio Out of the Blue, a title as well crafted as their previous work Call of the Sea which I've already covered. The game is quite unique for how it blends 2D platforming with 3D first-person segments, all of that wrapped around a Truman Show-inspired setting with a solid voice cast, a really catchy theme song that is also an integral part of the story, a striking color palette and some decent puzzles. The overall presentation is terrific, though the real highlights take place during the final 2 chapters where things truly kick off. The artstyle is very reminiscent of Virginia and the platforming shows bits and pieces of Limbo, especially with how trial & error based some of the levels are. You'll come across the usual UE4 shader compilation stutters, but aside from that, the game performs relatively clean and ends on a satisfying note without becoming a drag. Sadly AA flew sort of under the radar and has not been met with satisfying sales figures despite receiving nothing but praise (I too never knew of its existence until Humble included it in one of the Choice lineups). But this masterpiece is most certainly worth your time and money.

Anger Foot is a hidden gem developed by the South African studio Free Lives and is by far the most fun I've had in August, the first time I've learned about that game was during one of the demo fests on Steam, I believe it was one of the very first demos I came across and I knew since then it'd turn out a hit. Mixing the chaotic nature of Hotline Miami and the fast-paced gameplay from Post Void, it comes with distinct pleasing-to-the-eye visuals, smooth and responsive controls, a kickass and dynamic gabber soundtrack, a not overly bloated campaign and hilarious over the top humor with lots of creative puns in an amusingly twisted setting. It's basically very similar to Fight Knight, except that almost all of your actions are performed using your feet. The game's got a very speedrun-ish feel to it due to how fast you get from point A to point B and how short each level really is, though you won't get through the whole thing as quick if you aim for completing all challenges and unlocking all shoe modifiers, some of which greatly alter the mechanics. There is a tiny problem in terms of balancing in how you unlock the most powerful shoe after beating the first boss, but it doesn't completely break the game: if anything, it makes it even more cathartic to blast through. Some challenges can be quite tough compared to something as straight forward as "score 15 headshots" and there are performance issues (devs are looking into it as we speak), but I ultimately found it hard to put down and never even noticed how quick these 19 hours have passed. A certified banger!

Deadlight: Director's Cut is a short 2D platformer with survival horror elements developed by the Spanish studio Tequila Works (Rime, Gylt, the original release took place in 2012, 4 years later a survival mode has been added and the game has been "repackaged" as the definitive Director's Cut version. I've played it back on 360 when it used to be an XBLA exclusive and thought it was impressive, it's wearing the The Walking Dead influence proudly on its sleeve and combines it with Limbo's cinematic presentation, the fittingly grim artstyle of the cutscenes drive the rather simplistic plot forward and the environments are richly detailed. The many collectibles scattered around each level aren't just that but also contain additional lore, the voice acting is competent and the difficulty is mostly fine, even on Nightmare. The game does come with a fair share of bugs though: sometimes mid-level checkpoints are not saved and you have to redo the entire level if you quit (the longest level is somewhere around 10 minutes), your character can fall through the floor if you reload a chekpoint at a not so convenient time and the platforming feels rather clunky at first, but works as intended if you give it a little time. Nothing super amazing, but I've enjoyed it for what it offered.

Gone Home is one of the pioneer walking sims developed by Fullbright (Tacoma, BioShock 2: Minerva's Den DLC) and released in 2013. This is one of those games where it really pays off going in blind: all I knew is that it was about exploring a gigantic house, nothing else. The game emphasizes environmental storytelling and the execution is superb: if you are into searching for clues through someone elses belongings, it can be a riveting experience. What really stood out to me is the ominous atmosphere and how it felt like playing a horror game: that's something you won't get a taste of if you properly inform yourself. There are no jumpscares, but the sense of being watched is looming around every corner, much like in The Painscreek Killings. There is quite a few things you can interact with and sometimes it's accompanied by commentary that further unravels the story, the voice acting is pretty good, an FOV slider along with some additional modifiers make for a very accessible title and the dev commentary mode adds extra insight on how the whole project came about with neat little secrets. I do think the asking price is a bit too much, but it often appears on sale so if you're into exploration at your own pace and a narrative told by what surrounds you, definitely pick it up.

The original Resident Evil 2.... a no-brainer annual replay and a timeless classic! It warms my heart knowing that some indie developers are still experimenting with the good ol' PS1 survival horror aesthetics (Crow Country, Alisa), but there can only be one OG. It is admittedly my least favorite from the original trilogy (yes, go ahead and grab the pitchforks), but this is mostly related to nostalgia since I've played them in the 3>1>2 order, also being one of the reasons why OG 3 is my all-time favorite. The RE2 mod community is massive and the amount of content at this point is enough to release an extra 3-4 fullfledged entries, you'll probably see some of the better total conversions on my next completion lists. But I've decided to only do redo the canon route for now (Claire A, Leon B). Leon B was going to be included, but I've tried to beat it without saving and foolishly died close to the end. With the Seamless HD textures applied, the pre-rendered backgrounds are refreshingly high-res to gawk at and makes it worth the revisit. The biggest problem with vanilla RE2 is how it's too easy on Normal but daunting on the Sourcenext PC-exclusive Hard mode that I've already cleared years ago, all routes with no saving and highest ranking possible. For a relaxing nostalgia trip, Normal is more than fine and I'm sure the other mods will step up their game in that regard. It's been rereleased recently on GOG with some tweaks and minor improvements, though you won't see anything new if you already have the Sourcenext port installed, but it too comes with full mod support.

The Gloom Below is the only (and thankfully free) DLC for the Canadian AA survival horror adventure The Chant released in 2022. If I wasn't an achievement whore, I probably would have retired it: this very DLC was Brass Token's chance to revamp everything that was wrong with the base game, yet they've made everything even worse instead! Continuing from one of the 3 endings in the main game, The Gloom Below sets out to expand on the already confusing lore of The Chant's universe... by barely explaining anything and turning the game into a string of arenas with massive balancing issues and crappy roguelite elements. I pretty much never pick the easiest difficulty on my first playthrough, haven't done so even once in at least 10 years... but this DLC made me and I could give less fucks. What I really despised about the main game is how everything is essentially running on a timer: stay in one arena for too long and you'll start panicking without being able to defend yourself, the durability of your entire arsenal is far too low, but at least most encounters supplied you with enough resources to BARELY get by. That is not the case in TGB: same shit but you have 3 times the amount of enemies, fuck all to work with and what you obtain is too weak against the enemy type the game throws at you (this is why the RNG bullshit doesn't work here). With the exception of the first and last cutscenes as well as a bunch of lore documents and 2 new weapons, there is nothing new to see here and the environments are much more copypaste / boring to traverse. I never label replays or DLCs as BEST or WORST, but TGB has certainly been the lowest point in August.

The Pedestrian is a 2D puzzle platformer developed by Skookum Arts and released in 2020, so far being the only project said developers have worked on. One might say there is no real story being presented here, but some cracks of clarity start to show towards the final level so it's not entirely without a message, if anything it takes a somewhat unorthodox approach of getting the point across but in an admittedly clever and original fashion game design-wise. Some of the later puzzles can be real brainteasers at first sight, but they can all be solved with a little bit of patience and it effectively understands when to dial down on difficulty for a brief moment and when to pick up the pace. The environments are colorful, the music is relaxing and it does not at all overstay its welcome. Playing it with a controller can be cumbersome and the absense of a simple puzzle reset button can be jarring, but everything else is top tier stuff, especially the satisfying ending: an easy recommendation, once again thanks to Humble for introducing me to more hidden gems.

Twin Mirror is probably DON'TNOD's worst creation yet, an interactive movie so awfully dull it pains me to even write about it. Its strongest quality is the beautiful environments reminiscent of Alan Wake since all the events also take place in a small rural surrounded-by-woods town, the main menu theme is alright and the mind palace mechanic did have potential (very similar to the memory replay segments in Remember Me). But since this is a game that is largely carried by its story and characters, this is where everything falls apart. The writing goes nowhere over the course of the entire playthrough, the characters have either expressionless or uncanny faces and not a single person is memorable in any shape or form, there is barely any music, twists or heights and the cutscenes can't be skipped on subsequent playthroughs which makes achievement hunting extremely unbearable. There's multiple endings, but as you might have guessed it, none of them felt satisfying and to label the story as rushed effort would be an understatement. After Remember Me, Life is Strange and Vampyr, this sure has been a massive downgrade in quality: avoid at all cost.

VLADiK BRUTAL is the most recent Half-like stitched together by one single person and a project I've heard of years ago, it really caught me off guard when I actually saw it on the Steam store for a measly 10 bucks, but after doing some research and considering the possibility that this might be a lot better than one could have imagined I caved and picked it up: lo and behold, this is yet another certified banger! I quickly rediscovered my love for slavjank shooters and VB is exactly that, in all of its glory. It's extremely on the nose with the Half-Life / S.T.A.L.K.E.R. / Metro 2033 stuff, but it's so pleasantly trashy that I can't help but embrace it. Every single weapon here is actually fun to use and with the exception of the crowbar in the beginning, you'll be using all of your firepower: the regular and sawed off shotguns are oh-so-satisfying! The soundtrack is dynamic and fits the action perfectly, the ammo drop system encourages you to be more aggressive and hide less, the post-Soviet environments are illustrated extremely well and the atmosphere, in particular during the calm moments where you get to breathe in the surroundings, is phenomenal. The loading times are fast and the overall length is just right for the asking price, more than that in fact. I've written down a bunch of complaints, but at the time of me writing this paragraph, it's already been patched and fixed, everything except the primitive cannon-fodder AI behavior and the bosses being too easy. Here's to a successful Half-Pife!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is one of the very few movie-licensed action-adventures that came out as genuinely fun to play, though I've already had no doubts since it's been developed by Raven Software, a team that used to pump out one banger after another up until they've been sent to slave their asses off for CoD. It comes from an era of edgy muddy-looking UE3 games with a very recognizable color palette, bloom overload and just straight up unhinged levels of brutality: the wonderful characteristics of the 360/PS3 generation. The fighting mechanics here are not hard to learn or to master, but it perfectly encapsulates Wolverine as a character and what it would be like if you were able to control him, basically rip and tear done right! And it's not just a good time: the whole thing is actually better than the movie it's based on! It does start to get repetitive real quick due to same-ish level assets and a few mini-bosses too many, the cutscenes are not skippable and there are no subtitles. But since it's not an overly long game and some spectacular boss fights along with light platforming are thrown in the mix, I'd say it's a well-rounded package and worth at least 1 playthrough. Since Hard mode wasn't unlocked from the start I had to run through once more (sadly you don't keep your upgrades from the first playthrough), but after deleting the Movies folder and thus "disabling" every cutscene in the game except the ingame-engine ones, I got through it in one session with no issues and had just as much of a blast. This game is what Insomniac should use as a template for the upcoming Wolverine title and greatly improve on its drawbacks.

Neat game, but I remember it having loading screens everywhere with the framerare being inconsistent, at least on 360. It seems to perform better on the One / Series consoles though so I'll see if I can track down a physical copy, it's a really good game otherwise.

I forgot to add a couple games to the thread, specifically Kirby's Dream Land and Severed Steel. To talk about them quickly, I will admit in my review I did on my profile I was certainly harsh on the game but it isn't terrible but there are SO many better games you can be playing. I'm realizing a lot of Indie Games at least from what I played are just copycats/clones of better games that I would rather be playing which I've become very disappointed by, but the Indie games I've loved were more refreshing and exciting and even if they did have elements from other games they made them feel new and unique. Man, I don't know. Maybe it's just me but the sweet spot for a lot of games nowadays seems to be in between Big Budget Blockbuster/AAA and Indie, so I guess the more middle ground of studios that are AA (I think that's the term?) like Flying Wild Hog, Ryu Ga Gotoku, Rebellion, Giant Squid, that kind of stuff. The stuff in between that those and other studios like them are currently doing the most interesting things that appeal to me right now. Anyways, it's a generic shooter that mashes Titanfall 2, F.E.A.R, Shadow Warrior 3, Turbo Overkill and a bunch of other games and doesn't do anything of it's own while having the most generic and dull neon mush of levels and lighting I've ever seen. (Okay, to be fair, Severed Steel came out before SW3 and Turbo Overkill, but I can't help but thinking how much better those games did with these ideas than this)

Kirby's Dream Land on the other hand was pretty nice! After not being that amazed with the Kirby offerings on NES and SNES too much, this Game Boy title is actually solid because it set the foundations of what a modern Kirby game is. Even without copy abilities it made battles and bosses more interesting and it's so different from the Spring Breeze game in Super Star that it's still worth playing on it's own. Graphically there was still lots to work out for characters, but they managed to introduce so many mainstays of the franchise so I'm pretty impressed altogether.

Kirby gets a 7/10, while Severed Steel gets a measly 5/10. Kirby is obviously one I can recommend and it's also short. I mean, Severed Steel is also short too but it's MUCH more boring and lifeless in comparison.

I found Severed Steel to be a breath of fresh air in the FPS genre with how free-of-boundaries its movement system feels (unlocked Y axis FTW!) and how smoothly you can connect all of your actions while quite literally being amidst the hail of bullets and all the explosives being set off around you, which is further complemented by the destructible minimalist neon environments, extremely snappy gun accuracy and the perfectly fitting jungle dnb tunes: the entire package already sets itself apart from all the other shooters on the market, in pretty much every department. Games like Titanfall 2 and Shadow Warrior 3 are significantly less versatile in offering the player complete freedom over how to approach the adversary, but I do agree with Turbo Overkill being the more compelling game, even though it's not a level-headed comparison by any means. SS should also be treated as a fullfledged arcade title, it wasn't even going to have a story in the first place and that has never been the developers intention, the fun you'll have will be determined by how often you utilize the games mechanics.

The Painscreek Killings is what you should play next, it does all these things incredibly well.

I'm joining the Anti-Final Fantasy club, spending a considerable amount of time in the PSP version of FF1 and being utterly disgusted by the even slower combat in FF7 I've decided to no longer bother with FF anything anymore, even though 15 and 16 seem like games I could have fun with.

Then there is the Medal of Honor series that, with the exception of the first game on PS1 and Airborne, always brought more jank than quality to the table and almost every entry felt like a chore to play despite the terrific presentation and outstanding music. Perhaps it's for the better the series have been buried for good at this point.

Halo too has done better in 2 and Reach, but every other entry is either incredibly boring, shallow or the mix of the two, the original and 4 being the worst offenders.

It's time I catch up on the last few Games Beaten threads, I've been somewhat absent from the forums while trying my best to work on my backlog and get shit done, but May was certainly not one of those months with much to report, all thanks to primarily focusing on Ghost of Tsushima. It's been more of a laidback mopup / revisit sort of month with only 3 short new completions:

Alisa - 11h50m / 100% (3 playthroughs) - REPLAY
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - 5h40m - REPLAY
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - 2h35m - REPLAY
Layers of Fear (2023): Director's Story DLC - 1h10m
POOLS - 2h50m / 100% - BEST
Slender: The Arrival Remake - 1h30m - REPLAY
The Excavation of Hob's Barrow - 10h50m / 100% (2 playthroughs) - WORST

Alisa is an indie survival-horror game I've been eagerly waiting for to reach its "complete" state after going through a barrage of patches and I suppose you could say the wait's been worth it: I'm a huge fan of the original RE trilogy and Alisa evidently tries to replicate the aesthetic and desing philosophy of the very first iteration of '96 while adding a significant amount of jank on top, intentionally that is. As for what it gets done well, I truly felt at home with its pre-rendered backgrounds and similar tunes, its bizarre setting also feels like a weird mix of Alice in Wonderland and, obviously, Resident Evil which makes it unique enough to avoid being labeled as a cheap knock-off. Now onto the not-so-great and rather debatable stuff that probably won't bug you as much as on your first playthrough: Alisa's movement and reload speed is obnoxiously slow and almost every enemy type is way too fast, using firearms is basically a death wish but there is a melee weapon you gain access to almost right at the start and that has got to be the most broken / exploitable piece of self-defense, it does suck how the game encourages you to rely on that tool alone though. There is either the option to play without auto-aim (again, enemies being super quick on their feet makes it worse) or have it enabled for which the game penalizes you by throwing less resources at the player, an anything but ideal solution for a feature that doesn't even work properly half the time. Much like you can stunlock most enemies with your melee weapon, they too can gang up on you in a corner and keep at it until you drop without being able to return the favor: getting stunlocked in RE '96 was indeed possible, but it would be 100% on the player. There are no difficulty settings, but the game utilizes an NG+ system similar to Dark Souls by slightly increasing enemy health / damage with each subsequent run and you'll have to play through the game at least 4-5 times to view all possible endings as well as unlock all the goodies anyway. On a closing note, Alisa can be stressful up until you get used to all of its intentional quirks and only that's where it really starts to shine. For the asking price however, you can certainly do a lot worse.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a western FPS from the devs of the original Dead Island and Dying Light and functions as a prequel to the original released in 2006. Definitely a vast improvement over the first game, superb audio design with a well directed story, cinematic gunfights and simple yet engaging quickdraw duels, the whole package being of just the right length before it gets boring. You still take control of 2 characters but unlike in the original, you get to choose who to play as at the start of almost every chapter, though the only true difference in gameplay is how the slowmo quickdraw snaps onto everyone with auto-aim or requires to mark each enemy manually. Running on Techlands home engine, it also comes with drawbacks previously seen in Chrome games as well as the original Call of Juarez such as shimmering textures, nasty popups and complete lack of facial expressions, especially the latter affects the overall presentation a bit. The 2 "open-world" levels were also rather lackluster, the lack of coop is questionable and only appears in The Cartel, an entry I'd rather remove from my memory and I've ran into a couple crashes here and there. All things considered, the game excells at being a fun FPS and as long it's not a complete disaster on the technical side, it's more than enough to entertain me and entertain me Bound in Blood surely did. It used to be my favorite in the series, but that was until Techland redeemed themselves with their next gem (again, The Cartel never happened).

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is where things get polished up to the max and the series truly peaks: we have a story that isn't really connected to the previous games despite sharing similar locations, but it's told in a very creative fashion as we're experiencing events as they unfold in the main protagonists narration, there are some really amusing set-pieces and the presentation is simply great all around with great voice acting and rocky western tunes. The visuals have been Borderlands-ified and look even better with striking colors and sharp textures, the shooting is extremely responsive and satisfying with all weapon types, the progression system is kept simple but motivating, the dules have been revamped and made slightly more user-friendly and the last-stand-mechanic aids the pacing of the game to reward a more aggressive playstyle, which obviously beats staying behind cover and waiting for your health to regen. Sadly you don't get to ride horses in this entry, but that's about the only "complaint" I've got really. FOV and the comic panel border can both be edited, though a simple toggle and a slider would have been more convenient. The game's length might come off as a downside, but I don't think that applies to Gunslinger: the 3-4 hours of pure action end just when they have to and despite the budget cuts in the story department (no fully animated cinematics), every single minute here is pure fun.

The latest chapter in the Layers of Fear anthology dropped just before Halloween last year and while it was completely free, I wasn't very impressed with it, much like with everything the remastered versions of the first 2 games have offered. It's a short campaign stitched together using previously seen assets, most of which are from Layers of Fear 2 (my least favorite Bloober Team project yet), the story is being "told" in the same way as the base games by throwing text scraps or voice lines at the player as he's being guided through constantly warping corridors: y'know, we've already been there. The unique take on the Director's Story is how you literally get to direct some scenes on a movie set, with multiple possible outcomes and that's the only reason you should ever think of playing the DLC as it is kinda fun to mess around with the options at hand. It's a neat little extra if you thought the 2023 bundle didn't have enough content, but you wont miss much if you skip it entirely either.

POOLS is a walking sim I never expected to end up loving as much as I did, it's definitely a game of acquired taste and not everyone's going to "get it" or be into it. There is no story to speak of, no enemies to run away from, no combat or hide and seek mechanics: just you stuck all by yourself in liminal spaces filled with tile corridors, chlorine and waterslides leading God knows where. I've played it with in-ears on max volume on a big screen and I found it absolutely terrifying despite very well knowing there's no fail state or anything alike to be afraid of, it's simply pure atmosphere in an oddly intriguing setting. You can tinker around with FOV & fisheye settings to add some extra immersion on top, but it's good enough out the box, there are no performance issues (some reflections are not displayed correctly in later levels though), the level design is mazey but not to the point where you can easily get lost and it basically creates the illusion of being a world of endless hallways while simultaneously remaining fairly linear, that on itself is nothing short of phenomenal and the fair price of less than 10 bucks as well as playtime of approx. 3 hours is the cherry on top. Except the aforementioned minor artifacts problem, I think it's perfect as is and an easy recommendation for the explorers of unknown.

The original Slender: The Arrival released far back in 2013 and it isn't a game I have fond memories of: a shoddily put together piece of software full of questionable design choices and an alarming high amount of frustrating moments. But this is thankfully not about the original but the long-awaited 10th anniversary update where Blue Isle Studios overhauled the entire game in Unreal Engine 5, completely free for the owners of OG! I've had no high hopes since the bar was set pretty low and all I expected was the same abysmally designed jumpscare-filled theme park but in prettier. Turns out I was off, way off: this remake is infinitely better and addresses all of my complaints I still have written down in my "review bible". The difference in graphics is pretty much day and night, every single level has been carefully redone and it's all the more evident if you've replayed OG recently. The performance remains smooth from start to finish, you can finally change your FOV in the settings, the bullshit difficulty has been toned down to a fair level, the animations are of much higher quality and several other OG bugs have been ironed out to opt for the best experience possible: there's even additional chapters to expand on the lore! The only 2 problems I've had with the remake is how dark the game gets without the torch and how much brighter it becomes when you whip it out, these things were somewhat uneven in comparison to everything else. But if you happen to dislike OG as much as I did and always wanted to play a more definitive version, this is certainly it.

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a point & click horror adventure developed using the AGS engine released in 2022, I've had my eyes on it ever since I've seen its publisher: Wadjet Eye Games, a team notorious for making some of the more memorable p&c titles, their most prominent work being the Blackwell series. This one however hasn't been developed by them per se, but they've offered their advice during the making: sadly I can't say I'll remember much of anything down the line as most of the game is rather unremarkable and since I've only had 3 completions this month, one of which is a DLC, it'll have to be the bearer of the WORST game of May 2024, even though it's not broken or insuffrable to play through by any means. It actually employs some clever tricks to double down on the horror aspect, one of them being these well-timed close up shots of uncanny face models. The ambient soundtrack also sets the tone for what's to come, the voice actors get it done, the plot is quite mysterious and the artstyle as well as the majority of backdrops are charming all around. It must have been the straight forward puzzles, the absence of meaningul multiple dialogue choices and the game only having one below average ending that must have ruined it for me since anything Wadjet Eye Games lays their hands on I hold to a high standard and Hob's Barrow just can't quite get there. It is very similar to Kathy Rain in how its paced out so if you enjoyed that p&c adventure, there might be something in for you but all in all, it's a "meh" from me.

Someone post for me

Black

Project_Hel is definitely a DLC worth picking up, it doesn't even really feel like as if you were playing more of the same despite being set in the same universe and the music is just as good, I will also start playing the sequel real soon as I've recently replayed both the first and its DLC. As for The Chinese Room, absolutely adore the universally hated Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs but dislike Everybody's Gone to the Rapture due to its pacing issues and what the story revealed to be about in the end, it's kinda like the Firewatch situation where the game remains consistently brilliant and keeps you on the edge, only to drop the ball with its disappointing conclusion.

Velvet Assassin, my beloved

Modded Shadow of Chernobyl?

Right on!

yes but which one of the three is it?

The original Dead to Rights?

I got nothing for now

No, but you are very close :)

Assault on Dark Athena it is then 🤷🏻‍♂️

Looks like the Starbreeze engine, might be one of the Riddick games, most likely the 2004 version of Escape from Butcher Bay, the remaster would have been slightly darker with sharper contrast.

Gray Matter

That it is

Scars Above

ARMA: Cold War Assault?

Ghost of Tsushima









Been dying to play this on PC and it did not disappoint, easily number one priority game at the moment

Yes
That was sooo fast 😄

If it wasn't for that dudes haircut I would never have guessed it lol

Giving up my turn this time