Recent reviews by Knowingest J. Drawbridges

Hollow Knight: Prepare to Die Edition. Easily the largest, most difficult, and most fulfilling MetroidVania I have ever played. The story's depth and the OST turn it into a nearly perfect game.

Silksong immediately matches the difficulty of Hollow Knight's end game content, and the game only gets harder from there. I highly recommend playing (or re-playing) Hollow Knight to 100-112% completion before playing Silksong; not just because of the story but because the game may be quite difficult or confusing at times if you are new to these games.

Expect plenty of traps, false walls, hidden entrances, and difficult platforming. Relatively important objects can be very hidden away

Ori is a MetroidVania masterpiece, with a focus on precision platforming. A must play for fans of the genre or platforming in general. Ori also has some of the best jumping animations I've ever seen in a platformer. Ori looks fluid and alive as he moves around.

The game is short and sweet, with minimal dialog to slow it down. If you already know where you are going it can be beaten in a few hours. Ori lets the player make their own checkpoints, so you can quicksave as needed. The movement is wonderful, and going fast feels FUN.

Visuals, soundtrack, and story are all top notch as well.

Nine Sols is an incredible game. Not a perfect game, but still a wonderful experience. A tragic and heart wrenching story tied together with an amazing soundtrack.

The game can be very difficult, but it is always fair. You NEED to parry in this game, so you need to learn each boss fight so you can avoid damage. This felt OK since it usually doesn't take long to just restart a boss fight. My only gripes were that I had to look up the locations for a few things that NPCs had mentioned.

Compared to a game like Hollow Knight: Nine Sols is a slightly longer game, and has a much larger focus on dialog and boss fights. Nine Sols' movement and exploration is good, but it's not really why you're playing the game.

The boss fights in this game are incredible. The final boss practically felt like I was playing street fighter.

Between the gameplay, incredible story, artwork, and music, Hollow Knight is more than the sum of its parts. Hollow Knight is an incredible experience for both casual players looking to explore, and hardcore players looking to race or challenge the unforgettable boss rushes. HK also just has incredibly tight platforming controls, it's a joy to play.

I think people will remember this game for a long time.

Peglin might not be as good as Slay the Spire, but it's a lot closer than I thought it would be.

Most systems in the game follow the exact same formula as Slay the Spire, including the prestige system. If you liked Spire, you'll probably like this too.

I can't recommend Obra Dinn enough. It is an incredibly unique puzzle game that I will remember for a long time. The story, voice acting, and visual style come together to create one of the most well presented games I've ever seen.

The deductions can be difficult, but I really enjoyed looking for the small details that could imply someone's identity. Where they are standing relative to others in the scene, how they are dressed, etc. It felt great to notice a subtle detail that suddenly makes you realize who someone must be

It's an enjoyable game for many reasons, but if you are a fan of murder mysteries or maritime history Obra Dinn can't be beat

If you liked Hotline Miami, you will like this game

A puzzle game about looking at things from other perspectives, both literally and figuratively. This game is one of the most carefully made and highly detailed works of art I have ever seen, while also being one of the best puzzlers I have ever played.

It doesn't even belong on steam; it belongs in a museum.

A 1 to 4 player coop shooter along the same lines as Left 4 Dead, Payday, etc. Dozens of hours of enjoyment to be had, even just playing with strangers.

Good sense of humor, amazing environments, tight controls, and it is currently under 3GB in size.

Classic roguelike gameplay, streamlined into the process of picking spells from a catalog to define your build

It is truly a classic roguelike game, It is turn based, grid based, permadeath, completely randomly generated, and HARD.

In my opinion, Rift Wizard focuses on the FUN part of these classic games. Interesting spells, combos, summoned units, etc. Rift Wizard doesn't even include basic mechanics like an attack, character stats, etc, instead it focuses entirely on interesting spells that are chosen by you.

The environments and enemies are random, but the spells are always chosen by you. You choose every spell and upgrade manually, with no RNG involved. In this way Rift Wizard is somewhat unique because it is a randomized game that keeps the player in constant control.

The game never forces your hand, and in that way it seems very fair. All of my deaths were my own fault, because I could have simply made different choices.

For the record, I have played over 40 hours and have never beaten it.