Recent reviews by Israfene

Think of this game as an interactive story with light puzzle and platforming elements WITH THE BEST FREAKING JUMPS EVER. They have just the right amount of elasticity and glide, giving you a good amount of floaty control while still allowing you to leap around recklessly like a crazed mountain goat.

BUT. Getting through the levels will be a chore at times. Fortunately, the wry British narration and the lovely, nuanced soundtrack are there to usher you along the compelling narrative. While there are a few levels that are brilliantly designed with some really smart interactions among the shapes, do note that in most of them you are basically shuttling quadrilaterals from point A to point B.

BUT. The jumps.

Conceptually, the game is quivering with wild possibilities. A puzzle game inspired by Dali's and Escher's work?! Yes please and thank you kindly!

And then I think they ran out of coffee. And ideas.

What could have been a truly fantastic and bizarre experience turned out to be a rather dull and forgettable slog. The game's surreal elements, intriguing at first, are relegated to humble window dressing and mundane props. The puzzles on normal difficulty were so basic that I really DID feel like going back to bed. Nightmare mode was better but it did not compensate for the game's overall unrealized potential.

The initial spark of genius was there, but it quickly flickered away and it's back to fumbling in the dark.

Brilliant despite being linear and simple, The Sexy Brutale's strength is its charisma. It is absolutely captivating when it comes to the story, the atmosphere, the characters, the music, and the art.

You definitely don't play the game to beat it, you play the game to experience it.

Give it a go if you are of a patient and inquisitive disposition; if you think you might enjoy exploring the black, velvety secrets of The Sexy Brutale mansion and its unfortunate guests. It is a meticulously crafted game, perfect for those who find great value in small details.

The devil is in the detail.

I am genuinely afraid to play Factorio again. I am convinced it is actually an undiscovered black hole, disguised as a video game. Those measly 35 hours of playtime happened over a disturbingly short span of time. It was a frenetic, obssessive experience filled with logistics and many, many, conveyor belts.

There is always something you can automate. And tweak. And modify. And improve. And perfect.

Always.

A truly well-done reboot of a classic sim, building, and management game. This is essentially Theme Hospital 2.0 with vastly improved graphics, user interface, and user experience. It has successfully inherited the original's signature addictive, choatic gameplay and quirky, comical humor.

Two Point Hospital is the perfect ant farm for those who like to watch their little humanoids scurry around the hospital and occasionally vomit/expire on the floor.

CSD is one of the few (or the only?) cooking time management game that ISN'T plagued by the modern epidemic of energy bars, gems, and levels that progress into the realm of impossibility unless you spend real money on upgrades and nonsense like that.

The game spices it up by including chores squeezed into your already frantic queue as well as cooking events outside of your restaurant. Enjoyable but demanding, CSD makes haphazardly slapping together a burger so oddly satisfying.

Oh and please please read the spam mail. So much funny.

Sacrilegious.
Irreverent.
Absurd.
Brilliant.

This point-and-click adventure game is short enough that you probably won't go to hell because you played it. But I strongly recommend confession and self-flagellation afterwards just to be safe.

Whenever a sequel actually keeps all the good stuff from the previous one and adds EVEN MORE good stuff to the second one, my life starts to make sense and all's right with the world.

If you play CSD 2 you will develop the superpower to keep track of 10 different thoughts in your brain while doing 10 other tasks at hand.

You will be one of the greatest multitaskers known to man.

You will also be a kickass Starbucks barista.

An extremely clever and original puzzle game, Gorogoa represents the true potential of video games.

They can be more than just diversions to pass the time. They can be more than just commercial money-grabbing lines of code. They can be expressions of human creativity and intelligence.

They can be art.

Suffers from quantity over quality syndrome, resulting in a massive game world that is twice the size of the universe and feels just as lifeless and empty. There's countless towns, npcs, quests, and mobs to encounter, but few are interesting or compelling.

Sacred has the foundations of a good ARPG but it fails to capture the spirit of a great one. Buy it on sale if you've exhausted your catalogue of old school ARPGs and you want those nostalgic feels.