Recent reviews by Howard Beale

In the age of microtransactions, its refreshing to see a return to actual expansion packs. $15 for 6 civs (2 brand new ones and 4 variants), 10 maps that a higher quality than the average map in the base game, and a new singleplayer campaign.

Great value, and the quality of what's on offer here makes me excited for the future of the game

its good now

Masterclass in FPS movement and level design. Absolutely not nostalgia for nostalgia's sake. Anyone with a passing curiosity or interest in the FPS genre owes it to themselves to spend some time with DUSK.

Cheeky and charming JRPG (kinda) tonally similar to Earthbound and Mario RPG. Warmed the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cockles of my heart and made me smile like a big dumb idiot.

An intriguing premise constantly at odds with Davey Wrenden's subpar writing ability.

A character study of a hobbyist game developer told through the exploration of his games is a really compelling idea. But this premise is completely hamstrung by its underwhelming execution. Taken as a work of fiction, the story is clumsy and unsure of how to develop itself past the first 30 minutes. Taken as a work of non-fiction, the narrator comes off as an unsympathetic, self-centered/self-pitying, uninteresting jerk. The emotional aspects of the work lack subtlety and border on melodrama. The narrator's lack of voice acting talent makes the weak script come off as overly whiney.

The visuals and "set design" are fantastic, though. Exploring some of the areas without narration was a delight. The messy house level was definitely the high point of the game.

But excellent visual design can't save this overwhelmingly flawed game. Not recommended.

Bleak, devestating, and cynical.

LISA's tone is dark, but its skillful writing keeps the atmosphere from being too melodramatic or cringeworthy. The game's goofy humor hardly ever falls flat, and balances out the bleak aspects (giving those moments of bleakness an even heavier weight). The aesthetics are great; I can't imagine this game working as well in any other style of presentation.

It's a SNES era jRPG with a distinctly American voice. A fantastic achievement for a one-man team.

The best game that I've played so far in 2015.