Recent reviews by KaleSteak

Roadwarden is one of the few narrative-based games where upon completion I almost immediately started a replay. Probably the most in-depth use of the Ren'Py engine. Great worldbuilding with lore in part designed to inform the decisions made from actions taken, words spoken, and alliances chosen. And yeah, there's a lot of them, most of which have a substantive effect on the overall experience and which doors open or close. The "where am I going to sleep tonight" mechanic makes planning and adapting (or abandoning) your plans substantive and engaging. Hopefully the devs will continue with DLC or further games with the same pull.

Not a lot of games on Steam get into the "Overwhelmingly Positive" review category, but, damn, so far they have all been impressive. I think Cloud Gardens has been one of the most impressive games released in the past several years at least as far as casual/chill games go. The ethereal post-apocalyptic vibe uses simplicity itself as a core feature.

The mechanic of causing growth of plans in a given radius from a placed object is creative and unique, and instills a need for strategy while not detracting from the vibe of the game. The (rough) theme of nature reclaiming the works of humanity imagines the indifference of nature to our many accomplishments, wars, engineering, love, hate... everything. The questionable realism of growing a maple tree directly on top of a highway sign somehow doesn't manage to detract from this.

This is clearly and undeniably a labor of love. The convergence of pixel art, cyberpunk aesthetic, and immersive storyline contribute to a deeply beautiful atmosphere, yet one that feels a bit directionless. The tragedy here for me is that there's so much here that works, but it's spoiled by an over-reliance on jarring mini-games that at best are short detours that stretch the progression of the storyline, and at worst are frustrating exercises that suck you out of the experience. When I got tired of the frequent off ramps, it got to the point where I stopped playing.

Should you buy this game? Maybe. If you don't mind the mini-games, are a particular fan of pixel art or side-scrollers, then go for it. It's not a terrible game. For me though, I can't recommend it.

So, first off, it's an Early Access game and it feels like it. If you've played the original, you'll notice that there are fewer customization options, and only one option for armor (unless you feel like going Leroy Jenkins in nothing more than your shirt). Stealth is essentially not implemented for a couple reasons. First and most obvious, there are no silenced weapons. Second, and related, you will in the full release get to choose between multiple squads, but at the moment only the Army Rangers are available, and their kit is clearly geared more to big and loud than sneaking around.

That out of the way, This is definitely a game worth getting. While true to the original, the added gameplay concepts bring a new element to the game. Most obvious may be the wall breaching charge, which allows your guys to blow through almost any wall where you feel a new door would better suit the feng shui. The blast has a huge effect radius, so you can take out/stun baddies who weren't expecting visitors behind them.

In the end, yes, it's worth getting even in this initial stage of EA, as this level of quality is only going to increase with updates.

Though the early access-y elements of this game have been annoying or frustrating a lot of the time, this game is fun as all f. It's come so far throughout development not only in adding additional systems to the car, but also massive amounts of quality of life improvements. Before, it took forever to find the right bolt, and cleaning up bolts on the floor from disassembly was excruciating. Now, you vacuum the bolts up along with other small parts and can cycle through them easily. Getting the engine out was a pain, now they have an engine lift, and a stand for working on the engine. Looking forward to seeing what comes next with these folks.

All due respect to the dev as this is a solid concept, but the content is far short of fully realized. Progression is particularly grindy, and interactions are either gimmicky mini-games (think golf swing mechanics), unsatisfying repetition (e.g. the mining mechanic) or tedious recipe-crafting. Make sword, sell sword. Get request for custom sword, make sword, sell to client. Wash rinse repeat. I'd recommend this as a time-waster at maybe a couple bucks, but the modest price tag of $10 feels pretty excessive for the limited content.

I'm going to go ahead and recommend this one. Although it's literally a game where you build cities, i'ts NOT a city builder. It's more of a puzzle game.

The goal of Islanders is simple: choose from "packs" of buildings, then see what you get. Place the buildings on an island (or near it in some cases). Different buildings have different point values, and those are modified by the presence of nearby buildings, features, or environment. Some buildings have a negative base value, but huge modifiers if they have certain things nearby. Each time a score goal is hit, a new pack is generated. Get enough points, and you can get to the next island. Run out of buildings before getting to the next island, and you're outski, game over.

Islanders is a simple game that can be played in a laid-back manner. There are no time limits, no real suspense, just putting down buildings. At the same time, there is a challenge that increases as you go on, as it becomes harder to keep hitting the goals, especially when space becomes increasingly limited on a given island. Despite that, the game shows you on-the-fly how your score will be affected with a certain placement, so the flow is smooth.

If I had to think of cons, I'd say that I sometimes yearn for a more complex, dynamic gameplay experience. Having to take roads into account, population numbers, access to resources, weather consideration, etc. At the same time, that would go against the main focus of this game and its simple genius of presenting an aesthetically pleasing and simple puzzle game with enough challenge to keep players interested. Devs: not bad, dudes.

Having a deus ex machina level plot twist at the end of a 20-minute game with no real investment in any of the characters or the story just doesn't work, feels lazy. The game had a lot going for it in terms of concept (a little campy but okay) and the artwork was on point, but it didn't follow through in any real way.

Really hard coming up with a thumbs up or thumbs down on this one. The new offroad course is cool enough, but actually driving the cars was never the real draw for me. As others have said, you don't really find the Wrangler or the GC except in the show room or auction, which kills the point of doing a full rebuild. On top of that, I have almost never seen the GC on auction, and I haven't seen the Wrangler at all. So when you really get down to it, if your play style resembles mine, you're only getting the two Willys, which are almost identical.

Immersing and enthralling, The Room both challenges problem solving and satisfies the itch of those who like to tinker. The hint system comes in handy if you get stuck, but is entirely optional. I didn't find any of the puzzles extraordinarily hard, but still enough to not be boring.