Recent reviews by Basil

Fate and identity are brought into question in this terrifyingly beautiful indie game. Built on blood and love.

A sincere and intense love-letter to classic survival horror in the ilk of Resident Evil, System Shock, and of most prominence, Silent Hill 2.
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Good game, like Silent Hill 2 but with anime space lesbians. ~6-7 hours on a first play-through.

Play it if you like Silent Hill, Ghost in the Shell, and crying a whole lot. The more you put into this game, the more it will pull you into it's bloody red depths.

If you don't wish to play it I recommend this deep-dive by PowerPak Signalis is Horrifying and Beautiful
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A classic mix of exploration, combat, and puzzle solving (to be expected of the genre). Though utilitarian in it's mechanics, they are used exceptionally well:

• The world is easy to navigate¹, rich in detail, and rewards curiosity. Every room has a purpose.
  
• The combat is punchy, frantic, satisfying, and often feels just the right amount of "out of control", never letting you get complacent, but avoids becoming overwhelming. You are given many tools to navigate this at your pace.
  
• The puzzles are relatively simple, devoid of moon logic, and mostly consist of "bring item here" or "combine two". Though there are several that require some head-scratching, the solutions are never far away. By and far the BIGGEST puzzle is managing your inventory.²

The gameplay and narrative are bound to each other. Many elements are dietetic and serve to deepen the themes of the story. Throuple this with the exceptional audio design and you have a ménage à trois that'll leave you satisfied, though scratched and bloody.
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(headphones recommended)
Rich and deep, full of crisp, unnerving, often alien (and yet familiar) sounds. Compound this with the outstanding heart-pumping, and often melancholy soundtrack by 1000 Eyes and Cicada Sirens (the Vinyl proudly on display in my living room). Following in the footsteps of the talented Akira Yamaoka combining the unsettling, the sad, and the raw. The music fits this twisted world like the familiar hands of two lovers.

Exploring the world of Signalis will treat you to melancholy tracks full of layered and unsettling piano, strings and synths. Crisp and clear lending to that feel of this music existing in the same space as us. As if echoing down the halls, often just slightly off-key, maybe from a bad record or malfunctioning speaker.

Then that corpse stands up.

The melancholy melts away revealing the bloodied suffering underneath tearing apart flesh and metal alike.

A cacophony of pounding industrial noise. Metal against metal, crashing and screeching. Blood rushing in your ears, the banging of drums. The sound of senseless, excruciating screaming in your mind. This is panic, straight up. You are in danger from a threat beyond comprehension, give it the levity it deserves.

The combat music may be painful at first, but beautifully it evolves with you the player. Horrifying and frantic to begin but as you play and become accustomed to the horror the industrial noise-core becomes more focused, pumping, and determined in a way that drives you forwards, not away.
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Rich and viscous like blood red wine, leaving your lips raw and stained with the crimson lipstick of a selfish lover. It will leave you confused, a little lost, but also... a little bit leashed to it's side. Always pining for the next drop, a clue to your purpose, an answer to a question unspoken. This is where the game sinks it's nails in and holds you until your spent.

Answers will not come easy, and often leave you asking for more. But that isn't to say the game is devoid of a satisfying story. There is progression, character arcs, and cutscene a-plently. Though it is through exploration and an attentive eye are where the player is rewarded. This is the type of story that demands another go. Knowledge you gain in later chapters recontextualises recontextualises recontextualises as you repeat the cycles of hope and suffering that is this game.

The story itself is presented in a convoluted way, details spread unevenly across the game. If you've played a Silent Hill game you know the feeling. You have a purpose and a direction, but the "how?", "why?", and "what the ♥♥♥♥??" are drip-fed. Although not every question is answered, and some things are left ambiguous; the story reaches a powerful and gut-wrenching conclusion If you fight hard enough for it. Many of the smaller details require you to pay attention, ponder, and remember. (note taking recommended)

The major themes are worn on the sleeve; Oppression and Identity dance around each other in a slow waltz. These are explored and expanded on constantly; tearing away each layer to explore the next, down and down to its' core. Because of this the themes can resonate with many different stories. It could be one of fate, being drawn unconsciously forward to your ultimate goal. Or it could be one of self-discovery, a coming out story fighting to exist in a world that hates you.

The world-building is deep and oppressive, with a retro-futuristic vibe straight out of the cold war. Much of the tech is inspired by the crunchy and satisfying cassette futurism of the 80's and 90's. Dipping into the stringent economy of war-time utilitarianism thanks to it's heavy German identity. Concrete, steel, and stone permeate the environments with it's brutalist language. Cold and uncaring; perfect backdrop for such a personal story.

To those familiar with their classic anime, horror, and literature, this game is chockablock with throwbacks and homages. Though some times distracting, they all serve a purpose beyond "winking at the audience" and fit the narrative well.

• Classic horror like H.P. Lovecraft and The King in Yellow serve heavy thematic inspiration.
  
• The style and world-building of 90's anime like Ghost in the Shell, Evangelion, and Blame!
  
• The rich history of environmental story-telling and gameplay straight out of Resident Evil and Silent Hill.

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This is the kind of game that feels like it was specifically made for me. A thought-provoking non-linear experience, drenched in the themes and aesthetic of the 90's. Calling upon my favourite anime and classic horror novels already adorning my bookcase. Heavily inspired by my favourite game series. Music that would kill a small Victorian child. And a story that just keeps kicking me in the gut as I eagerly ask for more.

This is a rare example of a game with texture. If you reach out and touch the surface you find yet more detail. The scratches on the walls, the mirror in a bedroom, the description of an item, all have something to say, and all further elevate the story. Even the references, history, and borrowed elements (e.g. classical music) all are in some way linked to the themes and story this game seeks to tell.

I am happy to call this more than my favourite game, it is my favourite piece of media I have experienced to date.
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"I have become whole again.
I wear no mask
and I hate everything"

¹ There is an area that is the one major exception to being "easy to navigate", keep a notepad on hand.
² Originally there was a harsh limit on inventory space. There is now an option to change it, but if you want the original experience try keeping it default and consider this as a teaser if you need it: (slight ending spoiler) The way the inventory limit forces you to play is important to the storytelling or if that's not enough (Bigger ending spoiler) Your "play style", that is to say how much you save, heal, and kill are some of the factors for different endings. The limit forces you to either play carefully and hoard, or to push forward and take risks..

Reasons to buy this DLC:
- If you like to figure out the "best" and "optimal" way to solve a puzzle.
- if you like digging in deep to mechanics and pulling every iota of efficiency out kicking and screaming.
- Wanting to have unique and fresh challenges to overcome that flip your preconceptions on their head.
- Experiencing the world of Factorio as a newborn deer, scared of the new, confused by everything, curious of what lurks behind the next tech stage.

Reasons not to:
- The gameplay has been streamlined for a more "one-problem; one-solution" puzzle.
- You like being able to solve problems your way, even if it's not "meta"
- You dislike being able to see the hand of the developers arbitrarily inflating complexity for "their" specific idea of fun.

The worst thing this DLC has done, is be divisive. In the past Factorio has allowed a huge amount of player agency, freedom to solve problems your way. Now we are seeing players are either able to engage with this new approach, or they crash against it hard.

This DLC was built for specific types of players, if you enjoy this DLC congratulations you're one of them. For everyone else, there is sandbox settings, and mods (eventually)

I wish I didn't play this DLC so soon after release. I will be coming back once I or other members of the community are able to mod out the developers single-minded solutions to the puzzle game I love so deeply.

For more information consult the other better written negative reviews. Or the forums.

I like this game, I truly feel seen.

Steam really needs to get out of the "Yes/no" binary ffs. MIXED review.

I really wish I could love this game, we have had lot of wonderful memories together. The art, the music, the memories~

But them I remember that every day it beats the piss out of me with its bare knuckles.

Review at 22 hours in, still on my first run though this is normal from what I see.

This isn't a hard because its challenging, though it has it's moments. what it is truly; is a creators vision not aligning with game design foundations. It's a GREAT vision, and although I've cut my life expectancy in half from the blood pressure, I love the good that's in this game. The issue stands that there are some serious game design faux pas embedded in the bones of this. Extreme punishment for failure, poor signposting (not talking about yellow), crucial mechanics are not explained. Crucify me if you like for this, but it's also a wiki game; just because something *can* be discovered in the game, doesn't mean it *will* be.

If the goal was to create an immersive experience around being a powerless part of nature; frustration is the enemy of immersion. There are ways to punish and reward the player for engaging with your creation that don't cause them to be frustrated and "switch-off". Instead, it chooses to "reward" you with an opportunity to experience the game for longer than 15 minutes without giving your head another contusion.

I will finish this game, and I plan to finish all the other stories as well; but it is a violently abusive relationship, and i can't in good conscience recommend anyone attempt to *play* this.

Watch an experienced play through, preferably without commentary. Or turn on all the remix mods to say "♥♥♥♥ you" to the devs for designing the default experience around the highest levels of play.

I love this game for what it does right, great experience, great art, design, soundtrack. Terrible game play.

****
EDIT
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I just completed the survivors story and, now I can only push my last point harder. This game would have been far more enjoyable had I not gone in blind.

There were no answers in the core gameplay, you won't get your questions resolved. You have to extend your gameplay out across multiple characters or ludicrous fetch-quests, at which point the "Big moments" turn from being amazing spectacles and strong resolutions of a characters plot to:

"...OH thaaaats what was happening, huh I guess that's neat"

Would have been nice to know the significance while it was happening, but eh.

A visually VERY impressive game full of interesting and funny characters. It was a gem to talk with everyone and investigate the mystery of the """Event"""

Unfortunately that's the end of what was fun about the game. There are some irritating quality of life issues that you need to know before you go into this game:

It's timed! your actions progress time and it is a limited resource. This would be fine, except most actions take time without alerting you, meaning you have to get everything right the first time to maximise your time to play. WHICH WOULD BE FINE except some mini-games are luck dependant and a bad run can lock you out of an achievement, 30 minutes into a run.

Write down everything! There are no in-game notes. You have to be taking notes yourself for every interaction in order to get the biggest achievements. If a gator tells you they're Pat's 13th cousin 2 removed then you better write that down. also their entire history because it may be the hint to connect them to Jane Doe on your mother's husband's side.

The family tree is a big part of the game, and I had a blast assembling what I could. There are two things you need to know. 1 - The family tree is upside down, oldest generation at the base, youngest at the top.
2 - the gators aren't all right about their relationships. "cousin" doesn't always mean "cousin", It can mean friend, 2nd cousin, complete nobody I met once. Again, this would be fine, experimenting is key, testing how they fit together, except, it takes in-game time, so, it's not a fun puzzle to complete.

There's more to talk about with the mini games and long 'cut-scenes' that make replay-ability (in a timed game remember) teeth-grinding.

I hate that I have to choose a "Yes" or "No" to recommend this game, It's cute, has so much charm, the music is peppy, and the world it funny. The gameplay lets it down, and honestly could use some fine-tuning. I recommend it based on the charm alone, but it wasn't fun to play. Watch someone else play it.

This was a work of passion, and it shows. While the graphics and short gameplay can be a deterrant, I recommend picking up this game, even if just to experience a neat short horror experience.

Some notes about the game; It's not "scary" in the classic sense, and there are no jump-scares, but its forboding and dark with real elements of story and horror. The simple retro-inspired graphics and music reminds me of something I could have played as a kid off a floppy disc, the retro elements are on-point.

If you look to play this game here's a quick tip; there are two difficulty settings; new and original. New is the dafault and is a bit tricker, where as original is quite easy. If you struggle with the gameplay consider swapping to enjoy the story a bit more.

I remember playing a demo of this a decade ago, not much has changed gameplay wise. Right now the game is mostly a sandbox of "survive as long as you can". It's a good engine and has great bones. Unfortunately not my cup of tea. If your looking for a survival base-building experience, this is not that. This is a rouge-like through and through where you will need to grind and grind and grind to get anywhere near "base building". "This is how you die" is the tagline, but honestly, i could have done with less "death" and more compelling gameplay mechanics and less instant-death & brutal punishment.

The line between win and lose is razor thin which results in some very upsetting losses. Too many negative feedback loops; It's hard to get invested when a single bite defeats the purpose of playing on. Better off scrapping that character and starting again.

Great fun with the custom mode! personal favourite is maximising zombies, turning off respawns and fighting to reclaim land block by block.

Mixed bag for me, hopefully the devs can get their vision across and make a well focused game that imparts their brand of creativity.

This game unfortunately misses almost all the important tenants of a good stealth game. While it does do some things right, like the lock-picking and scoping of the houses, it looks like it's trying really hard to be grand theft auto meets thief.

One major issue is the lack of a "caution" state. All too often you will find you're suddenly running for your life because old misses Powell noticed her bedroom wasn't locked and called the cops (who are already on her street). Something all stealth games need is a way to manage fail states, something that lets the player engage with the game even when they mess up. Most games do this by allowing the player time to prevent the alert; take out the witness, disable the alarm, or get out of dodge.

As it stands there's no way to stop an alert, and the "caution" state lasts about as long as it takes to read "Burglary discovered by-" and then cops are here.

This wouldn't be so bad, but the game makes escape frustrating due to the lightning police response, and the one-hit capture. Not to mention the fact being spotted once drastically nerfs your rewards, it encourages players to save-scum rather than let the game play out. Personally I'd have liked to see a much more relaxed response; allow the player to understand what went wrong, figure out their escape, and weigh up if they can smash and grab anything on the way out. Right now you can either, run all the way to your car (the game punishes you for not parking your car in a parking lot), or sit in a dumpster for 5 minutes.

It's hard to embrace failure in this game, and the issues of an imperfect design are made worse by punishing players for not meeting perfect requirements.

I'd love to see the devs take another crack at this because it's so close to a great stealth game.

A fantastic experience that on the surface may seem simple, but hides a surprisingly deep narrative. some puzzles take time and the game is not without its bugs, but it's far better than many AAA titles can boast.

No shortage of fun to be had (Could do with a few T-shirts!). I have no hesitation recommending this to anyone that will listen.