Reviews
Reviews of the games I play, aiming to quickly encapsulate the game’s essence and quirks. Most games have an audience; my goal is for the review to make it clear to you whether you are part of a game’s audience (whether or not I am).
A game about surviving and escaping a collapsing city on an artificial island. Gameplay includes elements of 3D platformers, adventure games, survival games, and even dating sims.
Gameplay is split into a series of areas you must navigate and survive. Debris, damaged buildings, and uneven terrain present obstacles to get around, while earthquake aftershocks and newly-falling debris present threats to avoid.
A game modeled after classic JRPGs, but using them as a jumping off point rather than something to slavishly recreate. The mechanics start with Chrono Trigger as a base and the story premise is reminiscent of Final Fantasy X, but I Am Setsuna goes in its own direction and has its own strong identity.
A deceptively simple wingsuit game. Glide through procedurally-generated mountainscapes and score points by passing near surfaces and through narrow gaps. Each run continues until you crash against a surface, but you can immediately restart. While it only takes a few minutes to get a sense for everything the game has to offer, it’s a game you can keep playing for a very long time.
A short (though duration will vary considerably with skill) masocore 2D platformer with Atari 2600-inspired pixel art. Progress through five areas and overcome deadly obstacles in your search for the Troof. Whatever that is.
Some obstacles are deadly due to their unpredictable nature and are clearly intended to take you by surprise, though if you have fast enough reflexes and proceed with caution you can survive many of these even the first time you encounter them.
A game that has you walking around the physical world to find and catch Pokémon, improve and evolve them, and participate in asynchronous multiplayer battles to take control of Pokémon Gyms in real-world locations. A lot of the depth and draw comes from the real-world social interactions that emerge from multiple players in the same physical area.
A third-person arena shooter starring busty schoolgirl ninjas armed with water guns. After four brawlers and a rhythm game, a shooter is a refreshing change of pace - but is clearly outside of the developer’s area of expertise and the experience is not up to the series' usual level of polish.
A rhythm platformer like its two predecessors. Your character runs automatically, you avoid obstacles and collect gold by jumping, sliding, kicking or blocking at the right time, and your actions affect the music.
This third installment keeps the aesthetic from Runner2 and most of its additions (characters and skins to unlock, levels with branching paths, optional mid-level checkpoints, etc.
An interactive story wrapped in the style and presentation of a SNES RPG. Play as the same technicians from To the Moon, investigating and rewriting the memories of a dying client to grant their life’s wish. The client this time is an old man who was once the boy in A Bird Story, but the content of that game is not a prerequisite to understanding this one.
A mediocre idle game mixed with a mediocre twin-stick shooter to form something that is sometimes but not always more than the sum of its parts. The game takes place in a series of six star systems. The planets house the idle game mechanics - on each one, you can buy and upgrade buildings from a menu to generate passive income.
A golf RPG with pixel art aesthetic and comedic tone. Progress through eight nine-hole courses with a huge variety of side content along the way. Golf is the main focus, and many optional challenges are contextualized drills on specific golf skills, but there are also one-shot minigames such as racing an RC car and more-developed side modes like mini golf, disc golf, and drone golf.