Recent reviews by PhyreMatrix

Alba was a gem of a game to play. You got to run around a small island taking pictures of the local wildlife all the while gathering support to stop corrupt politicians from building a hotel resort on a nature preserve. Hooray for saving the Earth, environmentalism and whatnot. It's got a wholesome casual vibe while being grounded in reality and I liked that you could get information of all the animals you found in the wild. It's sweet.

Gameplay wise you can take things as fast or slow as you want. This isn't Pokemon so you aren't going to spend hours searching the bushes to find rare species and the game does provide you with hints on your journey for where to find certain animals. With maybe one or two where I found I actually had to listen to the bird calls to figure out where the last one that was alluding me was.

Overall, this game was quaint, wholesome and somewhat educational. It made me feel like you could never be too young or old to do your part to save our planet.

The only way I know that this game is still Early Access is because there’s a watermark in the upper right hand corner reminding me during gameplay. And that makes me smile. Not necessarily because it’s in early access but it doesn’t FEEL like it’s still in early access. And also that means there’s a lot more to come in what currently feels like an already complete game. Though I might be jumping the gun a little bit I’ve only spent about 40 hrs in it so there might be glaring issues around hour 50 that I haven’t experienced yet.

I still have fond memories of My Time at Portia so I had high expectations for Sandrock. And I must say it’s already shaping up to be just as good and possibly better than its predecessor.

This time around you’re not in a lush green landscape. Sandrock is in the middle of a desert. So you have all the constraints of desert living to deal with. The first of which is lack of resources. As with most desert environments you don’t see a lot of trees. And the game will punish you if you go chopping all the existing ones in sight. And while you can ignore this the townsfolk will remind you after your first offense that it’s against the law. The way you’ll be gathering resources early on is scavenging for them. That’s right buddy, you’ll have to recycle them wood scraps you find if you want any lumber. And surprisingly there’s plenty of trash in Sandrock to pick up. Actually trash in the form of dregs will be your main source of fuel for a while since wood is scarce.

And you know another thing that’s hard to find in the desert? Water! Almost all your machines require it to run. You can collect dew from plants to make up reserves but what you’ll most likely end up doing is purchasing it from the greedy hoarding church because who better to be put in charge of the town’s life sustaining resource than a religious institution. Nothing can go wrong with that, right?

Now when you’re not picking up trash and trying to make ends meet you’ll have to contend with the town’s eclectic population. The number of personalities you’ll experience range from a clear antagonist in Yan (read a**hole) to Grace, a grad student who works part time as a chef for the local inn. She’s terrible in the kitchen but will bust out a wealth of info about the history of Atara and her research of the Free Cities.

Mining is something that has come a long way since Portia days of diving into various non descript caves that all pretty much look the same. Now the ruins you explore feel more like uncovering a piece of the old world and look like areas such as malls or abandoned train stations. Combat, while improved, still consists of pretty much button mashing but now there’s a fatigue parameter.

Also when it comes to relationships Sandrock gives you plenty of options to choose from. You have a secret admirer who’ll put unsigned letters in your mailbox to Arvio who gets a bit cringy (imo) with talks of babies when you go on your first date. Hopefully developers will let you romance the mysterious resident bandit Logan because, women love bad boys, am I right?

Anyway Sandrock is a beautiful game that’s shaping up to better than it’s predecessor while introducing some inspired dessert mechanics and writing that just leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.. but that could just be me.

Who would have thought a game about online dating would have so much personality? Not me, I'll tell you. Because generally speaking whenever you have a game with one guy and X number of girls its rarely deep and "personality" isn't high on the quality side. I will say that this game sort of renews my faith in online dating apps. It displayed a range of people who all felt very genuine. And I do appreciate the Callum conversations inbetween each date. Not only is he funny but his interactions with Vinny are cute. It's exactly how I'd expect a wingman to be. Probably the best parts of the game in my opinion. And this had the potential to be very bad and cringey.

And even though the game is short and there's no story outside of the premise it was fun to play. Each of the girls had their own unique situations and real world issues and even the mental health aspects lightly touched upon wasn't overdone. I would play another one of these from the point of view of Callum or from a female perspective (because women can find all sorts of quirky individuals on these things). Overall I'd recommend it as one of the more down to earth dating sim novel type games.

No one is shocked more than I that I've spent almost 30 hours in this game. And it's not some idle game as one might assume. There's some serious management going on in this game that is both sexy and business. It's part management sim, part visual novel and that's where a lot of the fun comes in. Honestly the subsequent playthroughs after the first add a bit more to the story and occasional gameplay elements to not make it stale but once you figure out your management strategy and style it's not too difficult running through the game multiple times.

For me the game shines in it's writing. And I know what you're thinking "is there smut?" and my answer to that is "if you want". This game has nudity and sexual content but the majority of it is in written form and all of it is avoidable. The choice is yours. You can keep it "All Business" without the "sexy" parts but I don't know why you would. I mean the word "sexy" is literally in the title. And the tags are a pretty good indicator of the type of content. But if you were expecting for the game to be something like those hentai games with bewbs in your face and sausage swinging you might be slightly disappointed. This is a sex positive game so characters are treated with respect and dignity for the most part.

Anyways I've enjoyed this game. I've already gone through 3 playthroughs but will probably try to unlock all the content eventually. Because business that is sexy is also fun.

Creaks is a pretty good example of game as art. Like many games from Amanita’s catalog you’re going on a weird escapade in a strange new world. This one happens to take place inside and underneath the walls of a writer’s apartment. This adventure puzzle trip has that same unique drawing style and while descending the tower? building? dilapidated structure you’re going to meet some interesting characters while trying to progress and not die.

Some of the puzzles do take a bit of thought to successfully traverse them and new elements are added as you progress it’s not overall too difficult to figure them out. I thought the story was simple but cute. While your character did seem a bit on the confused, not sure what to make of his situation, and a little bit scared I thought that added some charm to his overall dull personality. There were so many questions left unanswered or maybe I just wasn’t smart enough to intuit them. Either way by the end of the game I didn’t care and was just happy to finally exit this mysterious world.

The music adds to the sometimes creepy atmosphere and there were times when it just stopped that made me feel uneasy but rest assured there’s no horror elements or anything to jump at. Overall I really enjoyed my experience in this strange and quirky area. The painting mini games were also a nice side touch. Showing past events of one of the bird characters.

I don’t know what I like more, the actual game or the community speculations about the characters. I’ll admit that I don’t normally play this type of game. But Stardew makes farming feel charming. It definitely helps that in this small town there are quite an eclectic mix of NPC you can meet, befriend and eventually “settle down” with. If you’re into that sort of thing.
This game took me a while to get into. Maybe it’s because it forces you to farm to make any sort of income. Your farm is your bread and butter afterall and it takes work to make money. Sorta like real life. Anyways to break up the monotony of tilling the soil you have the option of accomplishing various daily tasks which might range from anything to harvesting resources, scouring the dungeons for items or minerals or farming stuff. These are pretty much what most tasks amount to.

For me, what I found to be a draw was the various goals you have to unlock the Community Center. As you farm and explore new challenges and areas open up for you to undertake and some of them are not as easy when you get into the desert or Mr. Qi territory. These quest definitely had me losing track of time and before you know it you’ve sunk Sims like time attempting to reach level 100 in the desert cave having slipped from my grasp on oh so many occasions.

I will say that the Stardew community is also a major draw for this game. Whether you’re looking for tips and tricks, quality of life mods or just rumors and gossip on the town’s residents it’s like an extension of the game itself. Sort of like good reality TV for a game? Not that that makes any sense. This game has probably taken on a life of it’s own well past what the developer envisioned for it. Or maybe it’s exactly what they were hoping for. Either way this game is a gem in the vast treasure trove of life sims.

I've played Roguebook for a while now and there's something lacking in this deck builder that looks like it sets itself apart from other games of this type but doesn't really do anything new. While it's beautiful and challenging and you have the whole ink reveal mechanic that offers a degree of flexibility I feel like there's some things missing from it to make it stand apart from the rest.

First off you're thrust into this book that gives the impression that there's some deep story here. Some reason why you're trapped in this book. You start off with 2 very distinct character types and have the chance to unlock 2 more during your runs but there's very little substance connecting them as to why they're running together. I finished the game and played through the Epilogue twice but it's pretty much more of the same. Maybe it’s my mistake for equating book to story. Okay I’ll own that assumption but then what else does this game have to offer? After 20 hours of playing I’m not quite sure. Progression just feels stagnant.

The thing it does offer is a significant scale up in challenge once you unlock the Epilogue and add modifiers. But once you figure out which synergies work with all the character pairs you kind of just stick with that to win what battles you can. RNG and luck play just as much or are worth more than actual strategy in most boss battles. Is there more to this game I’ve yet to uncover? Probably, but there’s not enough going on to keep my attention long enough for me to find out. It's not bad but there's much better games out there.

Road 96 is an unique adventure where you don’t matter but maybe, just maybe, your actions do. Going into it there are some strong political undertones and politics plays a big part in your journey. This game is unapologetic in this regard. You might even say it pushes a political agenda. However, it does provide options for you to react to the world around you as you make that sacred journey up north.

What really stands out about this game for me is the variation in story. There are 6 chapters and you play some nameless teenage runaway hoping to avoid the Pits and escape a facist dictatorial regime. Your story isn’t important but those you meet along the way are. The game revolves around several side characters and how you interact with them which ultimately might lead to a change in government rule, preserving the status quo or viva la revolucion!

Each character’s story is very loosely connected to the politics of the area but you meet them at random points in your journey whether you choose to walk, hitchhike or ride in style by taking a bus or taxi. There are also various abilities you learn from fellow travelers you meet along the way. Each having a chance to teach you something that might make your next trip a little bit easier.

All stories lead to the same goal at the border and you can never take the same route twice. You might fail, succeed or die but every choice you make has a chance to tip the scales to a different outcome slightly.

That being said, this game actually has a decent replay value. Abilities carry over between games and even after playing through twice I haven’t uncovered all characters' stories. In addition to the very diverse cast you’ll meet the game features an incredible soundtrack that adds to many interactions. I know there’s a chance I’m going to die whenever I meet Jared but if his default serial killer vibe doesn’t unsettle you his theme music during your encounters will. There’s also a number of engaging mini games presented that vary with each interaction. You have the opportunity to do anything from being a bartender to robbing a burger place or driving a getaway car. This game really kept me engaged and I had fun doing all the silly side missions. Ultimately though this game is short with each playthrough taking about 6 hrs. This game is definitely worth the price tag attached to it. I had fun and it was refreshing for an adventure game.

This game falls under the category "I wish Steam had a neutral button". It's not terrible but I'd be lying if I said it was a good game. This game, much like the small town it portrays is shallow and lacking depth. You play a woman who just finished a work project so she takes a break from her "big city" living to do her dad a solid and work his job delivering mail on her vacation time. Okay I can get behind that premise. It gives me the idea, like with most adventure games that I'll face the difficult choice of staying in the small town or returning to Meredith's fast paced lifestyle.

So I think this game wanted to be an adventure game. Think about similar titles featuring small towns like Tell Me Why or Road 96. Yeah you're in a small location where not much happens but then you have to have compelling characters to drive the story forward. The majority of the characters in this game fell flat for me. Out of a town with maybe 10 side characters you interact with, only 3 had any semblance of depth and 2 of them were the main character's love interests. And even those 2 were lukewarm relationships at best. I mean there's so many things the developer could have fleshed out more. I mean you work with a degenerate gambler, there's an old lady living with cats, even an uptight a**hole who plays games while he works at some motel in the boonies. SO much wasted potential.

Then there's the mail truck simulator mechanic, which is your main interaction for the majority of the game. You deliver mail everyday. You can take your time and you pretty much can't fail at your job. Everything goes at whatever pace you want, however, there's no incentive for me to do anything else in town because there's nothing else to do. Even when you choose to hang out with the town's residents after work. All side interactions are summed up with a couple lines of dialogue and rarely lead to any new discoveries or information about your hangout buddies.

I don't know, it's just if you're going to have an unengaging game maybe litter it with engaging side quests or mini-games? Or something fun so that when I have to make that "ultimate" choice at the end I feel some connection to the town I spent two weeks in? I had high hopes for this after playing the demo but for me this game fell short of all expectations.

If you want to go on a fun adventure I suggest you skip this and play something like Road 96 or any title by Dontnod. Or you could deliver mail in real life. I bet that would be more entertaining than this game.

Spiritfarer is a beautiful game about dealing with loss and the connections we make with others. As you guide Stella on her journey to bring others to terms with their death you'll experience heartwarming stories from diverse cast of characters all with their uniquely personalities and dispositions. At it's core there's a lot of resource management and fetch quests. Those are broken up by the various minigames woven into the story. As Stella travels with her companions you'll visit diverse locations while traveling on a boat.

Visually speaking the game is beautiful with locations and environments vibrant with color and flashing lights. Though those flashing animations aren't always easy on the eyes if you're a bit sensitive to such things. Navigating the UI is simple and it's relatively easy to keep track of multiple tasks. The soundtrack also fits well with the environment giving you soothing melodies and more up tempo beats with different mini-games.

The writing is superb whether Stella is interacting with random NPCs or side characters. Every personality really shines and stands out. And even though Stella's of the "silent protagonist" variety every conversation she has seems really special. Heartwarming, and wholesome , this game will give you all the feels. It's a slow processing game and some time will feel a little bit monotonous with the upkeep but I'd definitely recommend it for it's diverse cast of characters and story.