Recent reviews by WolverineJon

You might like "Below the Crown" if (but not only if!): You like quick and punchy 2D tactics games that feature a high density of interesting decision-making!

Any new roguelike deckbuilder that hits Steam will inevitably be compared to the game considered the greatest in the genre, Slay the Spire, and this new game -- "Slay the Spire 2" -- is no exception.

This game may have done the nearly impossible, though: Where so many other roguelike deckbuilders have tried to recapture the fine balance, replayability, and snappy gameplay that makes StS so fun, "Slay the Spire 2" actually does seem to successfully capture, and even perhaps surpass, the feel and features of StS.

Congratulations to the developers of "Slay the Spire 2" for somehow successfully managing to improve upon the formula established by Slay the Spire, where so many others have tried to do so but in one way or the other fallen short!

You'll probably like Laysara: Summit Kingdom if (but not only if!): You're hankering to play a city builder, but are a little burnt out on the typical residential / commercial / industrial / traffic / power grid / water / garbage / etc.; and instead would like to try a game with a different theming, but which eases you in really nicely with a really high-quality tutorial which flows into an equally nice campaign mode, which includes some light story elements.

I've been playing JRPGs and CRPGs since the original NES releases of "Dragon Warrior", "Final Fantasy", and "Ultima: Exodus", and the original IBM PC release of "Wizardry".

"Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter" is perhaps the finest video game RPG I've ever played.

The above is not to say I've comprehensively played _every_ major RPG release. Indeed, "Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter" is the first game I've played in the Trails series.

I went into the game completely cold, knowing only that this was a remake of an older game in the Trail series, and based only on a hankering to play a longer-form JPG, combined with the highly positive Steam reviews.

I downloaded the demo, and was quickly hooked by the top-tier worldbuilding, the enjoyable battle system, and the likeable characters. I bought the game (at full price! For me, a very rare US $60 PC game purchase!) and ended up loving the game.

(I did almost bail at the game's very first fight in the sewers, which is an entirely real-time combat battle, with the turn-based combat system not being introduced quite yet -- what I had been wanting to play was a turn-based RPG. If this is you, too, then stick with the game for 5 more minutes: The bulk of the game's combat _is_ indeed turn-based. I ended up really liking how the real-time battle system acts as a brief setup the beginning of the ensuing turn-based battle -- or against trivially easy enemies, they can be finished off in real time without having to go into turn-based combat at all.)

They say that good storytelling in video games is rare -- and that's because it is -- but "Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter" is an exception. Like a good novel, it features foreshadowing and mysteries: Some that can pretty readily be figured out in advance, others... not so much!

"Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter" also ran great on both my fairly low-end desktop PC, and on my Steam Deck (no tweaks needed).

Highly recommend at least trying out the demo, to see if "Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter" is a game that you'll really like, too.

Can't wait for the next entry coming later in 2026.

You'll probably like Romancing Sage 2: Revenge of the Seven if (but not only if!): You enjoyed the brief "theorycrafting" portions of Final Fantasy 1, where you select your party members at the beginning, and the spells for your mages; and you'd like a JRPG which may be light on story, but where those types of strategy decisions come into play more often!

First off: Tactical Breach Wizards features the wittiest writing in a video game that I've come across in my long history as a gamer, so it's got that going for it! Beyond that, the world imagined by Tactical Breach Wizards -- a modern world, but where magic is real, and thus is the primary tool employed by special-forces agents -- is a great playground for the turn-based tactical combat gameplay.

So, you might like Tactical Breach Wizards if (but not only if!): You want a mash-up of witty writing with stylish turn-based tactical gameplay that makes you feel smart and awesome.

You might enjoy Evil Egg if (but not only if!): You like moving with your controller's left stick, and directionally aiming and shooting with your controller's right stick. If you want to mix some adventure and exploration in with your twin-stick shooting, try playing "Minishoot' Adventures". If you just want pure action, play Evil Egg.

Great tracks! However, several of the individual tracks have some rough editing at their endings that makes this OST album as a whole a little bit annoying to listen to.

These specific tracks end very abruptly, having no fade-out or other short period of silence at the end, resulting in the next track seeming to start up equivalently abruptly:

2. Entering Orbit
3. Let's Imagine it Freely
8. Galactic Finale
9. For All Of Us

For these, it would be ideal if the track would repeat (like it does in the actual game), but then fade out a little ways into the repeat. (This approach seems to be pretty typical in video game OSTs with looping tracks.)

Track "7. Enter the Lost Prism" has the opposite problem, where it has about 10 seconds of silence at the end, resulting in an overly-long delay before the next track starts playing.

Again, I really do like all of the tracks individually (hence my purchase of this album!). I'd be thrilled to flip my review to Positive if an update correcting these issues were to be issued!

You'll probably like StarVaders if (but not only if!): You want to play a really excellent and smartly-designed turn-based roguelike deckbuilder that incorporates positioning of the player and enemy characters on a grid, and has top-notch sound and graphics design. Recommended for fans of Cobalt Core, or of any Slay-the-Spire-like games!

You'll probably like Monster Train 2 if (but not only if!): You want to play the best roguelike deckbuilder not named "Slay the Spire" available on Steam; you like lots of fancy stats and progression displays on completion of a run; or you want a game with _just enough_ story elements sprinkled in to keep things interesting (like the old Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri)!