Recent reviews by Rezza Smolder

Super Kiwi 64 is a game. It's a game.

if you were expecting something mind-blowing, this isn't it, but it is an entertaining side-adventure to what will likely be a short yet uneventful afternoon/evening. You'll be reminded of a bygone era of gaming with its N64-era inspired graphics, the vaguely familiar characters with cartoonishly large eyes, and, of course, a soundtrack that has no right being as good as it is on an indie title such as this (for the most part).

Super Kiwi 64 is a classic collect-a-thon, though it's very hands-off in its approach. Don't expect a guide or tutorial here. The icons are fairly straightforward, but some of the collectibles may require a bit of searching through the limited-in-scope levels. I beat the main game and the free update campaign in under an hour and a half, and there's a time trial mode tacked on too if that tickles your fancy.

It's cute. It's a fun distraction. It's so free that it's basically a rounding error on your bank account. Throw the dev some pocket change to vote with your wallet for a small indie dev. You'll be pleasantly whelmed.

Dredge is a game best defined by its atmosphere. From the beginning of the game you are surrounded by mystery, intrigue, and...fish. Dredge, at its heart, is an inventory management game with some light exploration themes.

The core gameplay loop has you going around to various fishing spots or floating wreckage to perform a variety of timing-based minigames so that you can fill your tiny fishing boat with as much loot and cargo as you can pack into it. When you can't fit any more, you navigate back through the twists and turns of the 5 regional island chains back to a vendor, and you dump it into storage or sell it.

Without getting into too much detail, there are threats in the waters of each region, and they all have very specific gimmicks. I'd say the tension is real, but it's only a matter of time until you understand their gimmick. Some of them in particular are more annoying than anything (I'm looking at you, final quest area), so your mileage may vary on whether or not you like that risk-to-annoyance factor. Either way, they pose a credible threat, and their inclusion is a tone setter for the game as you manage your haul and how risky you want to be.

The story is...well, what you want to make of it. Each island has its own little subplot, and there's an over-arching Lovecraftian story related to the core mystery from the start of the game. It's enjoyable, to say the least, but I felt like the theming and the gameplay could've been tied together a little better.

Overall, I did enjoy the heck out of finding various fish, exploring the islands, and maximizing the gains from the limited inventory system. So, tl;dr: if you like text-based stories, item management, and exploration, then you should consider giving Dredge a shot. It's a smaller dev, and, for its price, Dredge is an extremely solid entry.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting Cloud Gardens to hit quite the way that it did. My expectations were relatively low for what appeared to be an atmospheric garden sim. What I received instead was a complete zen experience that had me sucked in within the first 30 minutes.

Stress is something that just sort of creeps up on you, and I was surprised by just how quickly it melts away as I tended to various rooftop gardens, dilapidated buildings, or abandoned greenhouses. The core gameplay is relatively simple: you place plants down, then you place random objects themed to the environment next to them to watch them grow. There's a simple point system that builds on itself where placing more plants and objects within a specific radius creates a multiplying effect, and the more difficult levels really make you capitalize on every inch of available space. That said, I was flying through the levels relatively quickly. In fact, I was progressing so quickly that I wanted to slow down.

There's an interesting creative mode where you can just go ham with all of the bits that you unlock in the various levels. I found myself making sprawling towers and abandoned factories just for the fun of creating something. I've never been particularly one for horticulture, but the game had a grip on me that I couldn't easily explain. I still haven't finished the levels available- I'm saving them for a rainy day- but this game definitely will be one of my go to chillout games when I really feel the need to unwind.

tl;dr: You put plants down, it plays pretty music, you make neat landscapes.
Zen out of Ten

tl;dr: The game is amazing if you like random elements and arcade-y gameplay. Don't be intimidated by the difficulty curve.

I played Risk of Rain 1 a lot with my friends for several years after it was released. When I saw the early footage for Risk of Rain 2, I was intrigued how the jump to 3D would affect the gameplay for what had been a side-scrolling, sprite-based coop hack and slash. I purchased a copy of Risk of Rain 2 as soon as the early build hit Steam, and I can confidently say that it didn't just meet up to my expectations, it surpassed them by a mile.

Risk of Rain 2 brings all of the rogue-like elements from the first game and fits it into the third dimension quite nicely. Chests and items are still here, though there are several different variants. Many of the items and characters from the first game return here, but some obviously had to be pruned because they just don't make sense outside of the side-scrolling setting. (I'm still holding out for a THQWIBB UPDATE!)

Enemies function much as they used to, though I will say that one of my biggest, and only, beefs with this game are that flying enemies are a huge pain to deal with on certain characters, especially on higher difficulties/longer runs. Elite enemies are back, each adding a nice visual flair to go along with their variation on enemy mechanics, and their many different flavors make longer runs a treat as they gleefully smash your teeth in.

Secrets are just as varied, some of which took quite a bit of digging to find. I'm quite happy with the unlockable characters released thus far, but it's a shame that some didn't make the cut. Maybe there will be some DLC characters in the future. Regardless, each little nook and cranny of the currently released maps feels like it could hide something. Most of the time it's just enemies, but there are several hidden features waiting for the adventurous types.

I am writing this before the artifact update hits, but I'm excited to see what's in store there. Risk of Rain 1 had some fantastic artifacts, and getting each of them was a trial in their own right. Speaking of trials- Prismatic Trials! Each seed presents a pre-baked challenge to pit yourself against the world's leaderboards. If you find yourself bored of the constant randomness of a normal run, Prismatic Trials are a good compromise. It's the closest thing we'll get to a true speedrun outside of the current "ending" available.

All in all, Risk of Rain 2 is a fantastic solo or coop experience to just plug in, start a run, and whale on hordes of enemies. The runs that make it to the point where you have so many items that you can barely see your character are the best, and the challenges, updates, and secrets make returning to it casually after a hiatus just as fun as sinking hours and hours of time into.

I cannot recommend this game higher enough. Factorio is a great 2D-isometric sandbox game devoted toward indulging my wildest management fantasies. Now wait, I know I've lost a lot of you right there. Bear with me:

Have you ever straightened a pencil on your desk? Have you ever just been bugged by a crooked picture frame? Have you caught yourself binge watching How It's Made? Factorio is watching a product come to life in front of you. Your interaction with the environment, your equipment, and figuring out how to mesh everything together seamlessly makes it oh so rewarding when the final product rolls off the assembly line.

Do you like survival games with hordes of enemies? Somehow, Factorio manages to wrap two completely different styles of game into one. While you're laying down new belts, you may get attacked by hostile natives bent on destroying your precious creations (and to a greater or lesser extent, yourself). Hole up and hunker down as enemies become increasingly more aggressive. Research brings new opportunities and new weapons, and the feeling of being scared to leave your base only to emerge later armed to the teeth and getting some well-deserved pay back is sublime. Overall, I loved this game. Yeah, occasionally it gets a bit slow as you try and up your production, and while having a simplified tech tree from only 3 real resources, copper, iron, and oil, may seem cool at first, there are some pretty extreme production bottle necks due to the over-reliance on iron ore for most of your items, but that's about my only real criticism.

Pros:
Runs on a potato
Easy to pick up, rewarding to master
That feeling when everything fits together just right

Cons:
Staring at progress bars
Getting overwhelmed
Mid-game learning curve