Hollow Knight understands the value of discovery
Hollow Knight embodies the sort of excitement and mystery I’ve always wanted out of metroidvania-style games
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Desync is stylish as hell, and just as frustrating
Just on its aesthetic alone, Desync had me hooked. It drops you into its neon-cyberspace with nary a clue as to where you are or what your purpose here is. Static and interlace effects dance across the screen as you make your way through the hub, grungy synth scoring the scene. It’s a very striking…
Alwa’s Awakening Review – Deliberately retro, for good and bad
I’ve gotten to the point where I approach games that trade on being retro with a bit of trepidation. It’s too easy to fall into the trap of evoking that era’s design principles without understanding why games were designed that way why it doesn’t really fly these days. Yacht Club Games’ Shovel Knight tangled with…
Flywrench Review – Test your limits
Difficult games always feel like a test to see whether you’ll best whatever it throws at you or if it’ll prevent you from moving forward due to its challenges exceeding what you’re physically capable of. Before Flywrench, I hadn’t encountered any examples of the latter. Any time I stopped playing an extremely hard game was…
Linelight delivers a calm, elegant puzzle solving experience
For a genre that seems tailor made to unwind with, I wouldn’t call most of the puzzle games I’ve played over the years relaxing. Tough, taxing; sometimes frustrating, but ultimately rewarding: those are the words I’d use to generally describe them. I love puzzle games, but they always have a habit of driving me up…
A Normal Lost Phone grapples with some interesting topics, but falters along the way
With how much personal data cell phones carry these days, the thought of losing one is terrifying. There’s a lot of damage one can do with even just a bit of access to someone’s life. With full access? I don’t even want to think about it. A Normal Lost Phone from developer Accidental Queens plays…
Islands: Non-Places Review – Surreal mundanity
What are “non-places”? They’re the spaces we filter through so often that we pay them no mind. Bus stops, parking lots, lobbies, and so on. Places we spent a fair amount of time passing through, but never pay any attention to. Transitory spaces where our minds wander or we distract ourselves with our phones while…
Traipse About a Beautiful Parkour Playground in Refunct
Refunct is one of those perfect examples of a pleasant surprise. I came across it by pure chance during the Steam Winter sale. Saw it was cheap (less than a dollar at the time) and that the reviews were good, so I figured it was worth a shot. Plus, it described itself as a “peaceful,…
Callum’s Top 10 Games of 2016
It’s New Year’s Eve. Usually the end of the year is bittersweet, but it also provides some kind of relief. We made it through another year, now let’s make the next one better, we tell ourselves. The start of a new year always feels like a fresh start of sorts, a chance to wipe the…
Soar the skies and restore color to the world in Lantern
Videogames so often deal in destruction and violence that anytime one comes along that focuses on rejuvenation it feels fresh. That the entire crux of Okami, for example, was to restore life and color to the world was a big part of why it resonated with me so deeply. I always prefer games that focus…