Recent reviews by Auld

RimWorld is my desert island game. If I could only play one video game for the rest of my life, it would be RimWorld.

A city-builder game for people who have gotten bored of city-builders. Please be aware: this game will keep you up until 2 in the morning.

This game has eaten up too much of my life... If you're reading this, send help! Give me an intervention or something, please!

Limbus Company is the only gacha game that I've spent money on not because I felt like I had to, but because I genuinely wanted to support the developers. I don't know how to give higher praise than that.

Like a very gross but bizarrely captivating fanfiction I once read, Pizza Tower is the freakish spawn of Wario and Sonic the Hedgehog, dialed up to eleven and polished to a mirror sheen.

Pizza Tower is a platformer that never wants you to feel too comfortable, constantly throwing new mechanics at you at a pace that is always exciting but rarely overwhelming. It's extremely dense with collectibles and secrets, and trying to find them all is a challenge that will likely multiply your total playtime several times over. There is zero chance that Pizza Tower will not see an extremely healthy speedrunning scene, and I fully expect it to make an appearance at SGDQ this year.

If you like platformers, get Pizza Tower. If you're nostalgic for that fun 90s aesthetic, get Pizza Tower. If you like games that aren't afraid to get just plain weird, get Pizza Tower. If you don't fit into any of the above categories, you should still get Pizza Tower, because that's how good it is.

The Case of the Golden Idol is a cerebral detective-puzzle game in the vein of Lucas Pope's Return of the Obra Dinn, one of my favorite games of all time. It's clear that some inspiration was taken there, but comparing the two games directly wouldn't be fair, so I'm not going to.

What you should know is that Golden Idol is a game for detective game fans who like to earn their victories - even in the early stages the puzzles get very complex, and I appreciate the game's minimal hand-holding. The interface is fast and responsive, with no downtime between swapping between different environments or UI elements. The game is on the short side, but the density of the puzzles makes it well worth the asking price. If I had to offer one criticism, it would be that there is a strange lack of consistency in the Golden Idol's polish, such as sudden smash cuts in places where there ought to be a transition. It's a bit awkward, considering the excellent stylization of the game's visuals in many other places, and it makes the production feel more low-budget than it deserves.

I wholeheartedly recommend The Case of the Golden Idol at full price for fans of both Obra Dinn and detective games in general, especially those who want a meatier challenge than they're used to.

Psychonauts 2 is the long-awaited sequel to the cult classic 2005 title Psychonauts. It is more confident, more polished, and more thoughtful than its predecessor in practically every way. The platforming gameplay hits a lot of those mid-2000s nostalgia notes, but where Psychonauts 2 really pushes the envelope is in its story and characters. It's really rare to see a game this earnest and empathetic, without even the slightest hint of cynicism or sarcasm, and that's worthy of respect (and a few awards, probably). The graphics are also a treat. The game makes liberal use of seamless portal placement and perspective transitions, and they're cool every time.

I think my only criticism of the game would be that the controls can be a little restrictive. You can only map four of your psychic powers at a time, one for each shoulder button and trigger, meaning you'll need to be frequently swapping them out as you unlock more powers. Fortunately, this is quick and doesn't interrupt the experience as much as it could have, but I still wish there were more buttons to work with.

Also, Jack Black plays a brain in a jar. That alone is worth recommending this game at full price.

Rhythm Doctor is another brilliant one-button rhythm game from the developers of A Dance of Fire and Ice.

Though the game is listed as Early Access, it certainly doesn't feel like it. The whole production is incredibly polished -- all that's left for the developers to do is to add the rest of the game's acts, and even then the robust and fully-functional level editor ensures that we won't run out of content to play until then. The dialogue and story content are entertaining, even laugh-out-loud funny at times, and they never feel like a chore you have to get through just to play the game.

My biggest criticism of their previous game A Dance of Fire and Ice was that if you missed a single note, you had to start the whole level over from the beginning. Rhythm Doctor sidesteps this issue altogether by using a regular ol' scoring system based on your number of misses, and I will forever be grateful for that. My only criticism of Rhythm Doctor at this point is that there aren't enough levels. Keep going, developers! I believe in you!

Seeing a series swap to an entirely new genre -- in a mainline title, not just a spin-off -- can provoke some anxiety. You'd think there would be some growing pains, like the developers are still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.

With Yakuza: Like a Dragon (aka Yakuza 7), this is not the case. This game is a love letter to the classic JRPGs that it references constantly, while retaining the complex soul of the Yakuza series as a whole. It has a plot with twists for days that still remains coherent and followable. The characters are consistently endearing, with an even greater focus on character exploration and development than previous games in the series.

The English dub (another first for the mainline series) is surprisingly good, and you can always use the Japanese dub if you feel like it. Matt Mercer plays Goro Majima, and I will take any excuse I can get to listen to Matt Mercer's voice.

The biggest criticism I can think of is that the start is very slow, even by Yakuza series standards. When it gets going, though, it goes HARD. This game is very long, too, with a ridiculous amount of optional side content, so if you're a busy person you might want to watch yourself before you get sucked in and neglect all your real-life responsibilities.

I can't wait to see where the series goes from here. Judging from the quality of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, it's headed in the right direction.

Monster Train is a game that wears its Slay the Spire influence completely unapologetically. It's impossible to not compare the two games, but really that only helps to highlight Monster Train's strengths. The primary difference between the two deck-building games is that while in Slay the Spire you attack with cards, in this game you use cards to strategically place units that enter combat automatically at the end of your turn.

I think my biggest criticism of Monster Train is that it's not called "Hell Train", which in my opinion is a much cooler and more fitting name. I guess they didn't want "Hell" in the title, in case it comes to consoles or something. "Heck Train"? Hmm...

(You guys ever played that 2009 WiiWare game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord? Probably not, because it wasn't very good. Until recently I kind of thought it was a surreal, half-remembered dream, but then I played Monster Train, a significantly better game, and it all came rushing back to me. It's likely that the similarities between these two games are completely coincidental, but I just thought it was amusing.)