Recent reviews by Kyreni

If you are a fan of Delicious, Diner Dash or similar series, you can't go wrong.
Heart's Medicine takes the well known time management style and adds lots of inventive mini-games relating to patient care.
Story: +
There is also an enthralling story intertwined with Allison's internship - been compaired to tv shows "Grey's Anatomy", "General Hospital", "ER" and even "Days of Our Lives" by folks hearing the story unfold. Sometimes it's a real tear-jerker.
Gameplay: +
The mini-games mixed into the time management style gives a nice break from the normal "Chain events and do everything as fast as possible". I found it a little more difficult to chain events in Heart's than other similar titles. There are still a few click-and-drag actions that I haven't been able to get the gold hearts on, and not for lack of trying! The Gold Hearts are a nice new feature, giving a little help with bonus ratings. There are the usual challenges and bonus stages, similar to other Delicious titles.

I'm about half way through at this point (don't let my play time fool you - had to leave game idling on menu for a while), and have nothing negative to say.

I'll start by saying that I rarely write reviews on games unless I have a very strong opinion (for better or worse). Otherland is one of those games.
I consider myself a veteran MMO player, as well as a fairly casual gamer. While I appreciate some guidance and instruction, I've played enough to find my way around without having my hand held.
At this point in time, I can't bring myself to recommend this game, and here's why:
Short version:
Pros:
*Interesting concept - worlds with different themes. That's what had attracted me.
*Try classes out before selecting.
(Short list since I'm not through the tutorial yet)

Cons:
*Little to no instruction in the tutorial (except for movement)
*No skills page to learn what your combat moves actually do. This is a deal breaker for me. (Edit: You do get access to this after choosing your class)
*Don't seem to be able to re-arrange the skills in my hotbar to where I want. What is intuitive for someone else might not be for me. Granted, I didn't pay a huge amount of attention to this, but given the only way to access skill tooltips is in the ESC menu, it likely won't work. Another deal breaker. (Edit: found it. CTRL key for anyone interested)
*No traditional account creation. Had to wait for an automated activation email.
*MASSIVE ping rate - 700+ms - and I'm in Europe playing on the EU server -.-

Long version:
Upon starting up Otherland, I found myself confronted with a typical ELUA and a fill-in for my email address. Entering my email informs me that I'll be emailed account activation instructions shortly. OK, that's different. After about 15-20 minutes wait, I finally received the activation email. In I go, and find myself with an androgynous... android? avatar and an NPC with a trophy over his head. No interaction instructions, eh? Fine. Start running the gamut of usual MMO controls and stumble across the action button. Get some basic instruction on movement and a little avatar customization, then away we go to the class training area.

Four portals, one to test out each class before choosing your favorite. Great! No regret for picking one that doesn't suit you later. Unfortunately, there is also absolutely no instruction for combat basics or class descriptions. Not everyone reads player tutorials or class descriptions on websites, guys. Ok, so I try to check out the skills to see which does what. Skills page? Where? No? Had to go into the pause menu to get the cursor and hover over each skill. Really? So far I haven't seen much difference between the four classes. Root grenades for the ... what was it... Energizer? didn't seem to work, and I lost patience before figuring out the Assassin's sneaking. I have yet to actually choose my class and plan to give them another run, but so far I don't see myself playing this much if at all.

The concept of different themes in each world was an intriguing one, and I hope I'll find more intriguing things if I can bring myself to play beyond the tutorial... otherwise Otherland will be one more Early Access regret purchase...

Update: Completed the tutorial and selected my class. Now have access to the skills page, inventory, and all that jazz. Woo. Followed up with the 'Rescue us from the corrupted sim' quest line, then got sent to the area after. Where I was stuck in a loading screen. I wasn't impressed before, and I'm still not that impressed. The four classes feel pretty stale. Your usual shoot'em up or hack'n'slash types, but the ping rate is still so terrible that it makes no difference. I feel like I'm poking mobs with a butter knife... My advice: don't waste your time or money unless there are some major changes since this review.

While I've only played for about half an hour at this point, I'm having a blast with Gunpowder. Even gave the hubby a laugh when he asked: "What are the pigs?" "Well, those are the bag guy's piggy banks." "Why are you blowing them up?" "So he can't finance his world take-over plans, of course!"

I'm enjoying the puzzles. They start simple to learn the mechanics, then increase in difficulty at a good rate. They aren't so difficult that I pull my hair out, but neither to I always get best time + 3 piggies on the first try.

My only gripe with Gunpowder: the sound! I like to keep background/environment sound on while playing games but at a minimal level, with sound effects just above that. Gunpowder is an all-or-nothing setup for sound, and I was nearly blown out of my chair when it started up! The default volume was WAY too high! Even the sound effects were blasting. So that I had some game sound, I had to turn my system volume and speakers nearly down to nothing so I could play without wincing. My hope is that there will be an update later on to incorporate volume sliders.

Overall I'm enjoying Gunpowder, and would recommend it to anyone who likes puzzle games to pass the time.

I think the only properly functioning part of the game is shown in the video!
While it was released in 2006 originally, it feels horrid and incomplete. The "tutorial" barely shows you how to complete tasks, much less informing you which building is what!

Some of the sound effects are so loud that they drown out what little instruction there is... when the volume isn't randomly resetting to ear-splitting defaults.

Too bad there woudn't be any use to requesting a refund... Poor quality isn't grounds for a refund anymore, though.

A casual TBS that knows how to laugh at itself. Simple interface, very low learning curve and lots of snark, Highborn had me laughing in seconds. Whoever heard of the villian complaining about having to click through too many text boxes or the hero being bored by his own inane speech?

If you enjoy city management sims, you'll enjoy this. You handle ONLY the mass-transit system for the city (which can be MASSIVE), and occasional requests from residents. The interface and road/track building can be a little clunky at times, but once you adapt (and find a few video tutorials) it gets easier. It's like CitiesXL or SimCity, but without the micro-management and whining residents. Or giant robot attacks...

A combination of tile matching and dungeon running, it takes pieces of different game styles, mashes them together, and lobs them at your head. Not only are you matching tiles to defeat monsters, open doors and unlock treasure chests, but you have missions to accomplish in order to advance and upgrade your equipment. Sometimes they come easy, sometimes you want to grab the little Indiana Jones look-alike by his 8-bit feet and swing him around, screaming 'RUN FASTER, &#@%&!* YOU!!!'

A fun trip, challenging without being overwhelming. Simple, cute graphics and the '3D' mechanic is entertaining... once you get used to it and stop throwing yourself off clifs accidentally.

An entertaining visual novel-like story. Great way to spend a rainy morning. The story was sweet without being overly sappy, and while short, it drew me in and made me want to explore the world and find out why Johnny wanted to go To the Moon...

Great puzzler with a unique twist. Kept me busy for hours!