Recent reviews by 535

Every bit as fun, clever, and weird as the rest of FLEB's work. If you played FLEB's other games and enjoyed them, if you think "wacky jigsaw puzzles" thinks like a fun idea, or even if you just have a few bucks to spend and an afternoon to kill — play this game!

Eternal Threads lets you feel like a proper investigator — a true detective — in the best possible way. You spend the game looking for evidence, witnessing events, and learning the story of the people living in this house, both individually and together. But this isn't a passive investigation; the more you learn, the better you get to know these people, the more power you gain to affect what happens to them and to guide them to a better fate than dying alone in the dark and the smoke.

As the sequel to an amazing game whose plot really didn't seem to lend itself to one, The Talos Principle 2 had its work cut out for it. The philosophical tone of the first game certainly seems reasonable to carry over, but also felt like it already had closure by the end. And the gameplay was driven almost entirely by solving puzzles, which the ending didn't seem to leave room to continue.

Well, if you're only familiar with Croteam from their work on Serious Sam, I'll let you in on a secret: they're actually damn good at writing, plot, and characterization. No dangling plot threads? No motive for solving puzzles? No problem!

I was immediately drawn in by the world they had created and characters and themes driving it. When the time came to get down to the business of solving puzzles, their reintroduction was handled impressively smoothly and plausibly. Those puzzles expanded on the best mechanics from the first game and introduced fitting new ones while removing or significantly altering those which had been less fun.

While I can't say TPP2 is perfect, of course, it easily comes as close as any game I've played. Many sequels to iconic, original IPs (no matter how good on their own) end up standing in the shadow of their older sibling. But TPP2 easily stands shoulder to shoulder. Or maybe even a bit taller.

I will also say this, though: anyone who is particularly frustrated by minor technical issues may want to wait until after the release period has settled down a bit. I did run into a number of minor — but persistent — graphical issues (though I found the game so engaging and the issues unimportant enough that I elected not to wait for them to be patched) and it sounds like others have seen the same, as well as some gameplay issues I didn't run into.

TL;DR? If you enjoyed The Talos Principle, I'm almost certain you'll enjoy TPP2.

Short version? Solid 8/10, really, and I'm typically a fairly harsh reviewer.

Long version? Hoo boy.

NMS has a history, which most people know. At release, it wasn't what a lot of people had been expecting, and a large slice of public opinion turned very sour, in spite of it being what, had it not been for the hype, would have been a decent game. Certainly not amazing, but at least decent. After a launch like that, a lot of developers would have written it off as simply a failure, and probably moved on to the next project. Hello Games, however, as though they felt they had something to prove (and perhaps they did feel that), simply… didn't stop working on it. In the six years since the game was first released, a steady flow of updates — some minor, some very major — have been delivered. New features, more content, gameplay refinements and rebalances, and more have left the game very much changed from its initial release. But without fundamentally altering the game's core.

And that core gameplay? I feel as though I shouldn't find it nearly engaging as I do. On the surface, NMS is pretty grindy and samey. Every space station, aside from its inhabitants, is identical. Every planet, despite the procedural generation, leaves you with the feeling that there are an unlimited number of nearly-identical clones of it out there. Every creature is composed of the same set of parts, which you will begin to recognize. The story/lore aren't particularly cohesive. And, in my experience so far, the space combat is simply horrifyingly bad.

But… I also can't seem to stop playing it. ~70 hours at time of review. And I think that's down to, again despite the game's procedural generation, there simply being so very much content, and the fact that the story/lore, while often a bit scattered, is actually pretty interesting and engaging. The result is that it's pretty easy to get something out of the game, regardless of what you're going in for.

Hang out with friends? The voluntary-only, shared-universe multiplayer offers a fair variety of mission objectives and nice rewards for completing them. Explore, cataloging everything you find, and reaping the rewards? There's a whole galaxy out there, literally. Stake your claim and build a little world of your own? There's a lot to customize. Race through the plot? Godspeed. Learn an alien language, dig into the various races' lore, shoot down pirates, make a killing in interstellar trading. Your imagination isn't the limit, but it also probably won't run out of things to do before you've gotten your money's worth out of the game.

I have long been a fan of this series, and was lucky enough to stumble upon this entry on the day of it's release, having had no idea it was coming.

The Room games are all exquisitely designed and presented, and Old Sins is no exception. It is, in a sense, something of a casual game: there is no heart-pounding action, no impossible challenges, and certainly no requirement that you play in particular stretches of time, though you may find yourself having trouble putting it down. Because what Old Sins offers you is a rich, atmospheric experience, ready for you to explore in your own time. It is filled with puzzles against which to set yourself, full of "ah-ha" moments and sudden intuitions. Nothing in the game is excessively challenging, though, and it features an excellent hint system for those who are too engrossed in the story to risk being stuck for long on any individual puzzle.

The game is short, yes. I was able to complete it for the first time at a leisurely pace in about four hours. It is nevertheless, however, well worth the small sum the developers are asking, especially if you've enjoyed the previous entries in the series. There is no requirement to have played the earlier installments, however — Old Sins is entirely a standalone adventure, and one that begins to show glimpses of the wider world in which The Room is set.

I can hardly contain my excitement for more games in this series.

The best space-bending philosophy game you'll ever play.

Excellent space-bending puzzles. Reminiscent of Antichamber in very good ways.

Engaging and utterly charming, Heaven's Vault already has me captivated after just a few hours. I want to explore and learn everything the game has to offer. It pulls off with flair the very difficult task of building an immersive story by showing rather than telling, and it works wonderully.

I had been hoping that the unusual interface was somehow woven into the game's narrative, but after a couple of hours playing, I've seen no evidence of that. Instead, Kingsway seems to be fairly basic and uninteresting roguelike RPG with a slightly clunky interface, which hinders gameplay somewhat. (Though the moving combat windows — and therefore attack buttons — are an interesting twist.)

Overall, I simply can't recommend the game. It doesn't offer enough in return for your investment of time and interest.

I expected quality writing and excellent humor from this game — Asymmetric also makes Kingdom of Loathing, after all — and that's exactly what I got. What I didn't expect was the amazing soundtrack and graphics!

Yes, you read that right. Amazing graphics. While the game's visual aesthetic is stick figures and simplicity, that aesthetic is executed with brilliant skill. Parallax depth, butter-smooth animation, and exquisite attention to detail make this game a real treat for the eyes.

And ears. And funny bone.