Recent reviews by Señor Topaz

This game plays a lot like Greak Memories of Azur. So if you enjoyed that game, I think you'll enjoy this one too.

There are plenty of similarities in story and gameplay. Both games have an evil 😈 force that has beaten the good citizens of some medievally-name Country to submission and certain annihilation as their central antagonist. Minions lurk in the surrounding woodlands, shores, caves and villages, limiting travel and essentially trapping the citizens in their local hideouts. In both games a sword-wielding protagonist (who had been prophesied to defeat said evil despite having no full knowledge or recollection as to what's going on and what has brought the evil about) appears mysteriously from the forest. Given the doomed situation, our hero ends up running all of the errands for the townsfolk (which can be surprisingly trivial given their dire situation), all the while vanquishing minions and bosses while piecing together what's really going on. Both hero's travel with sidekicks with different abilities who assists them in all their tasks.

The main difference between the two games is 1. In Dust you play as a furry instead of an elf 2. The gameplay in Dust is significantly easier and the game shorter than in Greak 3. In Dust you cannot swap out sidekick and hero 4. Dust has fewer puzzles 5. Dust searches for his true identity while Greak searches for his lost siblings and 6. This game doesn't give off Zelda vibes.

The writing in Dust is elevated by Fidget (your projectile wielding sidekick) who provides some sass, comic relief and wreckage of the 4th wall with references to saving progress, mashing buttons, and things you shouldn't be able to put in an inventory. I found her humerous.

Like any true 2D Metroidvanian, both games feature skill and weapon acquisition over time with some areas being inaccessible until certain skills are acquired, save points, and random merchants seeking resources throughout each level. There's also plenty of platforming that requires more precision as you advance.

Overall, Dust an Elysian Tail is quite similar to Greak: Memories of Azur. Uniquely, it's a cute, simplistic Metroidvania that is more relaxing than challenging... ideal for casual gamers. The writing is mildly humorous albeit a little tedious at times. For parents, the game does feature mild violence, mild blood and non-greusome depictions of dead furry villagers after a battle.

The game can reportedly be beaten in well under 20 hours. And it is fairly priced without discount. So, I give it an 8/10.

I enjoyed this Short, sweet and free point-n-click puzzle game. It stars Milo, a loveable cat in search of a new friend at Christmas.

PROS
The animation is hand drawn which makes the whole atmosphere feel a bit nostalgic.
All but one of the puzzles are fairly straight forward.
It's Christmas themed and it's free.

NEUTRAL
The game is very short and can be beaten in under an hour.

CONS
Steam is "still learning about the game" so there is no completionist badge for getting all achievements.

Overall, I'd recommend it.
It's a charming game that left me wanting more (in a good way) so I purchased the original game too!

3.4.24 UPDATE:
I would recommend adding the "List of Redeemable Codes (Past and Current)" guide by Sky to your favorites. Here the devs drop limited time codes that get you free bootlegs. When a new code is posted to the guide, you simply go to your mailbox in your room or the Cafe, put in the code and you get a free bootleg instantly and sometimes an additional item. The codes generally last a few weeks before they are deactivated. This is a nice feature because getting bootlegs is definitely a grind. And now you know what the mailbox is for!

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I've had a lot of luck when trying out new genres the past couple of years. Cassette Beasts was no exception. This game constitutes my first JRPG and first Creature Capture game (nope, I've never played a Pokémon game).

I must admit this game has been a ton of fun. The music is quite catchy and the main song is very peaceful. It has an "I ❤️ the 80s" retro theme with its pixelated graphics, limited voice acting and character wardrobe. None of which took away from the gaming experience in 2023.

The gameplay is enjoyable with plenty to do on a large map... you can even play with a friend! Most of the tasks are fairly straight forward, but if you want to 💯 the achievements you will have to grind to find at least one of every bootleg type, obtain a copy of every beast and obtain additional info on every beast (there are a lot of beasts, evolutions and fusions). You can adjust the difficulty to your preferences, but I found the default to be very enjoyable.

The price is extraordinarily reasonable. At $19.99 you can feel good picking up this game at full price... on any sort of discount, it's a steal. In fact, the devs could have fairly priced it at $24.99- $29.99, but I do appreciate the lower price point.

I haven't said anything about the story or gameplay. Both are interesting and engaging. Most of you are better gamers than I, so suffice it to say, "you won't have much trouble naturally figuring out some of the less obvious elements as you progress through the game." ... battle strategy, chemistry, how/ where to find bootleg beasts,
etc... and for the things that weren't intuitive to me (like how the heck do you beat a ghost!? And where on New Wirrell is that gold coin??), steam guides and youtube videos have been a big help.

This one's a 10/10 for me. It's not a perfect game by any means, but the devs have given it a ton of love and it has been a real treat to play. I strongly recommend you give it a try.

THUMBS UP TO THIS GAME
This is a short and sweet puzzle game where you move stars to create constellations. There are 50 puzzles in all with 9 straight forward achievements earned by playing through them. There are no instructions so you'll have to figure it as you go, but you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly. The puzzles are fun, the music is serene and the price is great at $0.99 before discount. Overall, it's a fun puzzle game.

THUMBS DOWN TO VALVE
For reasons that have nothing to do with the game itself, Valve may not award a completionist badge for this game, even if you get 9/9 achievements. Some folks get it, some folks don't and Valve has no explanation as to why.

P.S. It's not a bug in the game, all of your stats are there. According to the discussion boards, it seems to be a stupid money decision on Valve's end that limits profile features in some games. Not the devs fault. I would recommend this game.

Achievement spammer... nothing more, nothing less.

1. Bought Reflex on discount with coupon. It cost me less than $1.
2. Hit "play", sleepy classical music started playing. Put the Steam Deck in the baby's room and lulled 'em to sleep.
3. Cleaned the house while the little one slept and earned 1502 Steam. I don't know if there's an actual game somewhere in this lot of code, but the acheivement spamming works on Deck at least!
4. Now that the house is clean and I'm filled with a sense of accomplishment, I'm getting caught up on some work. Now I should have a few hours free time before I go to bed ...best use of pocket change in a long time!!!

Good, fair puzzles until the last two categories that is. 🤯

If you do not have an advanced degree in botany AND geography, you will not be able to "play" the last two categories... flowers🌷 and countries 🌎.... you can only hope to survive them. The length of the words, clustering of shared letters, Latin roots, and the sheer number and size of the puzzles in these categories made them strenuous, laborious, irksome and every other synonym you can think of for hard as h3ck! These levels are not a game... they are exams like the ACT/SAT that require a tutor and months of prior prep. After burning through hundreds of hints, I eventually gave up and just looked up all the answers. Y'all even with the answers, flowers was brutal... EVEN. WITH. THE. ANSWERS.

I should have known something wasn't right when they offered me 50 hints at start and gave me 10 more after each category completion (the first two games only offered 10 at start and one more after completions).

If you're here to hunt achievements, be careful! This is the first Jurassic Park. Those achievements are hunting you and you won't realize it until you get mauled by the ones you didn't even know where there. This is serious. These achievements are opening doors now. And if you're here for fun, little Timmy I suggest you turn around and go back. This is going to be so much worse than being electrocuted on that fence. Trip your friends and run for your lives!

Now, I know there's a lot of you out there -much smarter than I- who will have plenty of fun whilst being eaten alive by the attractions. For me though, it wasn't worth the aggravation and definitely wasn't worth the measly 30 achievements.... even at $1 price point. But I'm too far in to turn back now. I gotta see this through. Tell my family I love them.

And to you devs, I only have one thing to say. "Mr. Hammond, after careful consideration, I've decided not to endorse your park." 🦖 P.S. Hawaii and Africa are not countries.

Any who, to get all 30 achievements don't forget to use up all your hints and complete at least one daily puzzle in addition to completing all puzzle categories.

This game is easier than wordle 2 and 3, but has fewer achievements. As with all 5 games, guides are available to help you when you get stuck. First 2 games are a little stingy with the hints.

Decent word puzzle. Hints are a nice touch and there are guides available to help you if you get stuck... which you will because some of these puzzles are quite difficult. Not a bad way to earn a few achievements.

Will: You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you.
Jack: That's not much incentive for me to fight fair, then, is it?

I think alot of people will love this game. It's a three musketeers type fighting game with the color commentary to match. The story and animation are light hearted and endearing. The music is a nice touch too!

It's a swordfighting game, but the fighting is different. There is a heavy emphasis on swashbuckling and parkour over hand-to-hand combat. You will be significantly out numbered in combat as the game progresses and parrying, dodging, running away, escaping to higher ground, surprising enemies, and throwing random objects, are just as important to staying in the fight-if not more- than just striking with your sword. In other words, in the Pirates of the Carribean scene when Will Turner and Jack Sparrow first spar, you'll be fighting like Jack, not Will.

My cons are:
-The dialogue has become annoying over time
-The lock on/enemy targeting system is frustrating when surrounded by a group of enemies and will get you killed
-The difficulty increase from boss to boss is a bit steep
-The collectibles add nothing to the story or game play

Tbh, these are all little things. There were no serious technical issues and the storyline is exactly what you'd expect from a swordfighting comedy based on movies like Pirates of the Carribean, The Three Muskateers, The Princess Bride and Don Quijote.

Overall, the first couple of hours were great fun, but the game is beginning to feel a little tedious, like I'm playing just to complete it and not for fun. I'll update if anything changes.

7/10 for me, but the reviews are glowing, so most players seem to really love this game. Be warned though, the game is very short.

Initial impression: Annapurna Interactive's JOURNEY meets Netflix's KLAUS in this dazzling adventure where you manipulate time to revisit a lifetime of joys and sorrows.