Recent reviews by MiniPixels

PROS: 3D Factorio

CONS: Game doesn't do anything unique enough mechanically, thematically, or artistically to escape being "3D Factorio"

Satisfactory is addicting but not memorable, it successfully translates the genius of Factorio's gameplay into the third dimension but in one of the most bland and sterile ways possible.

Factorio's plot is nothing to write home about, but the game oozes this otherworldly atmosphere and feels distinct in it's visuals and presentation.

Satisfactory's "FICSIT" the megacorporation you work for fits seamlessly with the dozens of games that have beaten this concept to death over the past decade. Maybe when this game released in early access as an Epic Exclusive I would've had less of a problem with this, but in the big 26 on Steam the "Do it for the company" trope is very tired.

I don't dislike this game, it's very fun and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a factory builder, it's just depressing to see it blend in with the hundreds of space games with no personality.

It's a D&D tactics game with cats where you can breed the classes and pass down their spells and abilities, this concept alone was enough to sell me on the game but seeing the early gameplay leading up to launch was confirmation this would be a home run.

The gameplay loop is incredibly addicting, go on an adventure with cats, bring back food and money, use food to breed better cats and money to make your house more appealing to improve your kittens.

The combat is very satisfying, items and abilities go well together and you can find some pretty crazy combos. Once you find spells or abilities you like you can try and breed them into later generations leading to more combos.

Just like Isaac the game starts small in scope and slowly expands with new abilities, areas, and bosses. At the time of writing it's almost been a week since launch and I've barely scratched the surface of what's hiding in this game.

The presentation here is phenomenal, it's a great example of why I love Edmund's characters and art style and it's complimented perfectly by Ridiculon's best soundtrack.

I struggle to find words to do the music in this game justice, it's goofy, chaotic, beautiful, atmospheric, catchy, memorable, tonally appropriate, and fun. It is everything I want out of a video game soundtrack and more, and I haven't even heard all of it.

Mewgenics has become a contender for my favorite game and it hasn't been out a week, the combined effort of this team has resulted in one of my biggest inspirations as an artist and my favorite rogue-like since Isaac, my final opinion will have to wait until I see the credits but I can confirm Edmund was not lying when he said this is his best game.

My pick for the most influential rogue-like ever made, and what got me and many others into the genre.

Very simple dungeon crawler formula that starts slow and naturally shows it's hand over time, eventually progressing into an incredibly in depth, infinitely replayable masterpiece.

The game will start and almost immediately present you with an obvious final boss, but once you beat it a few times and get a grasp on things the game may start to feel a little shallow...

This moment is the biggest roadblock for people seeing the actual game, if you keep at it and win a few more runs you'll hit a point where the game suddenly gets longer, more in depth, and harder, with a new "final boss" to beat accompanied by new strong items to use.

This cycle will repeat over and over but become more engaging, and more in depth each time until over the course of hundreds of hours you end up with a game with several branching paths, 100+ bosses, and no run ever feeling the same or getting stale.

Early on finding out what all the items do and seeing neat combos is really fun, later the focus will shift to trying to beat a boss that seems unreachable, and eventually trying to slowly unlock all the items.

As you learn more and gain access to new possibilities it becomes increasingly clear how much control you as the player actually have over the run. Towards the beginning your success in a run will seem heavily luck based, which is true to an extent, but you'll find out you have much more influence over things over time, it's very rewarding to get better at improving your odds.

The art style is just perfect to me, it's simple but expressive and charming, Edmund's drawings have been a huge inspiration for me, this is among my favorite pixel art in games.

The themes are heavy handed but not preachy, it simultaneously keeps a light hearted goofy tone while keeping the subject matter serious. I was raised catholic and found this game shortly after I made the decision to reject the faith, so it resonates with me a lot. I'm very happy they took what at the time was a less explored "edgy" angle.

The soundtrack is very well made, songs are memorable and feel coherent with the theme, the newer Repentance tracks are especially good.

My main concern for new players is that the game has A LOT of items, eventually close to 1,000. Early on once you unlock a decent pool it's very easy to forget what some do after you haven't seen them in a couple weeks. Almost all of them are useful in specific circumstances, but in the wrong ones they may ruin your run so It's very important to learn what your picking up.

I used to play with the wiki open and reference items there, but eventually through the steam workshop "External Item Descriptions" was made which I would highly recommend to anyone playing the game. Soon this should no longer be an issue with Internal Item Descriptions coming as a base feature in Repentance +

Speaking of... all of the DLC is very worth it, they all add boat loads to the game and are a big reason why it's so dense, if you can pick everything up on sale I would highly recommend doing so, otherwise you can wait to see if the base game "clicks" with you and go from there.

Overall it's one of my favorite games and I highly recommend it, if your looking to dip into the rogue-like genre this is where to start.

For my first few years of becoming addicted to pinball this was the only game that felt realistic enough to hold me over in between trips to arcades. Now years later while owning a real machine, it's fun and addictive enough that I still find myself coming back to it.

It is such a stark contrast in quality compared to any other virtual pinball on the market. The game is gorgeous, the lighting immersive, it's sound effects are satisfying, it's soundtrack memorable and catchy, the callouts quotable. The ruleset is a great balance of being approachable yet incredibly in depth, and the layout is just fun to flip. It's everything I could ask for from a pinball machine and more.

That being said the game is very challenging, it's not easy by any means but that's part of why I love it so much, I would attribute a lot of my early skill in learning the basics to it's difficulty, it may also just be preference, I tend to gravitate towards shot making games over flowy games. Although that may be a product of this games early influence on me, who knows.

In the pinball hobby many people talk about their "dream themes", usually big licenses like movies or shows that is their all time wish to be turned into a real production game. This is mine, the game oozes so much charm that I would buy a physical one in a heartbeat and I really hope that day comes.

It's virtual pinball that's incredibly immersive and has the best emulated ball physics I've experienced. It's very sad that the devs seem to have abandoned this project, I would love to see more tables added to this in the future, or better yet if someone could make a production run of this game please and thank you. :)

The original Hollow Knight is difficult but relatively accessible, this is not.

Silksong is a game specialized for the masochist souls lover (me) and it's unfortunate that the large majority of people won't be willing or able to experience the beauty of this world.

While the original was comparable to dark souls it managed to avoid the many sore spots of the franchise, Silksong leans further into it's souls inspirations and unfortunately shares it's most infamous weak-spot. This game manages to pull a few boss runbacks that are arguably worse than anything in a souls game. Forget running past enemies to attempt the boss again, how about 3 minutes of precision platforming WHILE avoiding said enemies?

Difficulty aside the game is gorgeous, it's very tonally distinct from the original and delivers an atmosphere that most games dream of achieving, the soundtrack is another home run, it's very different but sells the world perfectly and is comparable to the original games OST.

It plays noticeably different from the original, muscle memory from the first game is difficult to break and the game starts very slow, I was initially disappointed but once you unlock more abilities and the move-set clicks the game picks up and becomes incredibly addictive.

There are so many satisfying movement abilities that effortlessly chain into each other, the skill expression possible while playing this game is staggering, well executed combos feel like dancing and leads to some of the most satisfying combat I've ever experienced in a game.

Exploration and level design is top notch, the world keeps on giving and feels much larger than the original, it's a very fun map to fill out and I didn't even see everything.

The end game content is handled the same way as the first game which I am not a fan of, you can beat the game "early", miss out on content/bosses and receive an unsatisfying ending or go through a long, tedious, and difficult endgame to recieve the "True Ending".

While I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game, after beating the final boss and realizing the game was structured the same way as the first I did not have the motivation or energy to see the rest of the content. There are entire areas of this game I have not seen, the game is hard and exhausting enough by the end that I don't mind that for now. Maybe another time.

Despite being more flawed than the original I do think I like this game more, it's an incredibly unique and gorgeous game with some of the best combat I've experienced.

If you've played Hollow Knight, enjoyed it, and are up for a challenge I urge you to take a chance on this game, like the souls franchise it is immensely satisfying to learn and improve at. Even if you don't see the "True Ending" I found the ride worth it and look forward to playing it again in the future.

In a genre completely dominated by one company A Hat in Time is one of the first games to sit comfortably next to Nintendo's catalog. It is an incredibly charming and cute tribute to the greats, doesn't try to hide it's Mario inspirations, and in some aspects manages to exceed the quality of those games.

It strikes a near perfect balance between the more open mario 64 type of level design, and the more linear mario galaxy feel. Levels feel much more open and inviting to exploration while still offering plenty of focused linear platforming challenges, the time rifts found throughout levels are a great addition and give the designers more opportunities to fully lean into that sunshine/galaxy straight shot level design without breaking the atmosphere.

Movement feels good but lacks the extra spice that Mario Odyssey or Pseudoregalia have. However while playing the game it really doesn't feel like it needs it, the main hat switching mechanic is fun, all the hats on offer are fleshed out and explored well, and it's just fun to play and control.

Much of the charm of this game comes from the character designs and the phenomenal voice talent behind each of them, the writing is very exaggerated and goofy which means walking a fine line between endearing and obnoxious, I personally love the tone and think they captured what they were aiming for perfectly, the performances are very over the top yet still charming and evade being too grating or annoying.

The soundtrack is consistently enjoyable and fits the tone of the game perfectly with some really stand out tracks that are extremely memorable. It's a great example of how important music is to support the atmosphere and identity of a game, the soundtrack has a coherent flavor to it despite going in plenty of different directions and it wouldn't be the same without it.

Overall It has some minor flaws here and there such as stiff reused character animations, or general buggy interactions, but they're overshadowed by the immense amount of charm resulting from the clear passion that was put into this game, it's a great time and makes me smile the whole way through.

As far as the remaster goes it's fine, it has keyboard and mouse prompts which is a big thumbs up and supports refresh rates higher than 60hz unlike Elden Ring (seriously wtf).

In terms of the game itself the logical part of me should absolutely hate it, there are so many obtuse and bad design decisions resulting in a terrible new player experience. There are whole sections of the game that feel designed from the ground up with the intention of being as annoying as possible. I could not imagine playing this game to completion when it came out without the use of a guide, items and areas that are integral to progression can be easily missed or are purposely hidden in places you would never think to check, and good luck accessing the DLC without looking it up.

The biggest problem in the souls franchise will always be the boss runback in my eyes, and this game displays it at it's very worst. The average difficulty of bosses is much lower compared to later entries, however expect to familiarize yourself with the 1-2 minute stretch leading to each one as you'll be spending more time trekking back than actually fighting the boss itself. It's a cheap way of making death more punishing, makes every boss in the game more annoying, and shows no respect for the players time. As I've fallen in love with these games I've learned to deal with it, but it will always be the biggest scar on this franchise, Elden Ring is proof that these games are more fun without it, good riddance.

Despite all of these criticisms I do still love this game, It's a testament to how souls gameplay is lightning in a bottle, it is such an addictingly satisfying formula that even in possibly it's clunkiest depiction I'm still absolutely obsessed with it. This combat system is so unique in the fact that progression feels earned rather than owed to the player, in so many games after killing a boss I feel that I won not because I'm good at the game but because I was a high level or stocked up on potions before hand, progression in Dark Souls almost never feels that way, victory almost always comes from good execution. It's a franchise that doesn't owe the player the credits at the end, you have to go accomplish it, and that makes everything so much more rewarding.

As time has gone on the franchise has drifted further from the level design of this game and it's a real shame, there are so many moments when opening new shortcuts that contextualize the scale of things and sell the interconnectedness of the world, newer entries like DS3 or ER manage to do this with distant views and set pieces which works great and is very impressive, but I would love to see a new entry that could use the strengths of both types of design.

Overall it's a very unique and addicting yet flawed experience that's an acquired taste, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone as their first souls game, Dark Souls 3 or Elden Ring are much more palatable in comparison. With any prior souls experience however there is so much to love here, the series has spent the past decade distancing itself from this games clunk and lack of quality of life features, but there's something really special about this atmosphere and level design that the newer games lack and I hope to see a return to form in the future.

I played this as a wee lad back in the day and watched all the cutscenes online because the game was really funny but I couldn't beat it myself at the time due to it's difficulty.

I've always remembered it fondly despite never actually beating the thing and decided to come back to finish it and see what I had missed, and I'm very pleasantly surprised at how well it holds up to my memories of it.

Despite being clearly built from the ground up with the level editor in mind the game really doesn't feel dragged down at all by it, I find most games (platformers especially) built with an editor in mind really suffer from it and the level design is usually limited heavily by the editor. Battleblock is a seamless experience though, all of it's levels are created using simple objects and concepts but still feel like their potential is fully realized. I will say there are definitely some sections of the game that feel almost deliberately annoying or obtuse, but the large majority of the gameplay is well designed, razor-tight platforming.

I had a really good time revisiting it, the soundtrack is a blast, it's humor and gameplay are timeless. Great game.

Possibly my most anticipated game release ever, and it's managed to exceed my expectations.

It has expanded upon and improved on what Undertale started in almost every way, the battle system is more engaging, the story more captivating, the characters better written, the art-style more polished, and the soundtrack equally as phenomenal if not better.

I knew from Chapters 1&2 this had the potential to be something very special, the wait has been long but with the new additions I can confidently say it's the best RPG I've played and the game still isn't even finished yet, all they need to do now is stick the landing, and I have no doubts that they will.

Thus begins the third round of waiting, which thankfully won't be too long. :)

It's a simple, charming RPG built on the foundation of an addicting combat system and a killer soundtrack, it's memorable, re-playable, and very difficult not to fall in love with.

The great JRPGs of the 90s all suffer from the same weakness, unengaging combat. This is what sets Undertale apart, the decision to turn each encounter into different bullet hell minigames is ingenious and adds skill expression into a genre that desperately needs it.

The writing is incredibly goofy, the game is a constant barrage of jokes or nods to the player, but it still manages to make you take it seriously when it wants you to. I find very few games that manage to strike this balance as well as Undertale does.

It's hard to believe it's been almost 10 years, this game came out at a very pivotal point in my life, there are few pieces of art that I consider integral to who I am as a person but this is one of them.

It's an indie gem and is just as good as when it came out, play it.