Recent reviews by MPL

This game has some of the most fluid and rewarding combat of any 2D side-scroller I've played. Add in a satisfying progression system and a neo-noir atmosphere and you've got a masterpiece.

Fun characters and voice acting, but the detective gameplay holds your hand a little too much. Often I had an idea I wanted to investigate but couldn't because I hadn't asked some random character about a specific item. Also, the ending is just ridiculous and frustrating in its unrealism.

Fun and addictive! If you ever wanted to play one of those mobile-ad games with waves of hundreds of enemies, this is the game for you.

Possibly a little overpriced, but I still recommend playing. After experiencing the base game and both DLCs, I think the second case in this DLC is my overall favorite. Deducing everything before filling out the blanks is so satisfying.

One of the best puzzle games I've ever played. As a player, you are given access to 12 different murders and tasked with discovering what happened. Doing detective work in segmented scenarios like this is incredibly enjoyable—each scene feels like its own unique journey to the solution. Despite the small "size" of each case (each is only a few different screens at most), there is a lot of intricacy in small details you may initially overlook. The difficulty is spot-on: the solutions required investigating and mental effort, but I was never frustrated or had to turn to looking up hints. Finally, the story is also great. Each case dives deeper into the deception and corruption behind the mysterious idol. The only thing I wish was different was the ending—so unsatisfying!

The base game and the first DLC held some of the most enjoyable puzzle game experiences I've ever had. Unfortunately, this second DLC severely fails to live up to those expectations. Like the Spider of Lanka, there are only three cases. However, these cases are much shorter and less enjoyable. The main problem, as others have mentioned, is how the text/clues are treated. The environmental clues are so obtuse sometimes that you're incentivized to use the thinking panel as the means itself of figuring out the solution. This is not fun. Rather than discovering the whole solution through careful detective work, you're sitting with a jumble of words trying to imagine what sentences would work with the grammar provided.

The third case is a complete non-case. There's barely any investigating and it mostly relies on what you were supposed to know from the first two. Unfortunately there are massive overlaps in what words can fit in different blanks ("found" something vs. "obtained" something, "destroyed" the "bridge" and left vs. "obtained" the "idol" and left) which render this tiresome and frustrating. I eventually had to look up a solution for the first time in any golden idol game despite understanding the scenario.

Overall, I didn't have any of the "Aha!" moments that I enjoyed so much from the base game. I unfortunately cannot recommend this DLC (although definitely get the sequel, rise of the golden idol).

An incredibly short + sweet entry in the point-and-click genre. Hilarious and poignant. Strongly recommend if you enjoyed the Monkey Islands and have a spare hour.

I've never been so rewarded for making racially stereotypical judgments.

This game is beautiful and well-crafted, but the atmosphere lacks substance. If you don't find a companion, walking through a desert can very quickly turn boring and drag on. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're looking for a time-killer.

Open-sea fishing with a Lovecraftian twist - what's not to love?

DREDGE is a short but sweet fishing game that catapults the player into an unknown world with strange happenings. The mechanics are engaging, the fishing is calming, and the dialogue is immersive. The best part about this game, in my opinion, is its atmosphere. From the beginning, the player is warned about nighttime: it's chaotic, dangerous, risky. When I am playing games, I often like to test the waters (no pun intended) of the dangers communicated to the player. It's fun to experiment and see what will happen if I jump off a cliff in an open-world game. In DREDGE, however, I honestly felt no desire to play by my own rules. I let myself be scared by the vague warnings of the characters around me, and really tried to pretend I was a fisherman in these unknown waters. It takes a special game to get me in that headspace: kudos, DREDGE.