Recent reviews by Teddy

I found the Beast Inside more annoying than amusing.

The story may be fine, but the storytelling is not. It uses a lot of monologue from the protagonist which fails to engage me. It gets really annoying if you are trying to figure out how to complete your objective while the protagonist keeps on repeating the objective over and over and over. The environment in this game looks impressive, if not a bit lacking of atmosphere sometimes. The characters however look awful. Scavenging the entire place for matches and lamp kerosene is a pain, there's nothing else worth searching for apart from some storyline letters that didn't engage me to begin with. The outdoor environments are the best ones, the indoor level design is very linear and too awkward to be convincing or appealing. This game does have combat scenes and they are impossible to complete on a controller, I had to switch to keyboard and mouse for those which turned them into a piece of cake. The game has a few jumpscares up its sleeve, but they are very, very cheap. Every time you get killed, it's more annoyance that strikes over random BS that the game throws at you, instead of me as the player realizing that I made a mistake or I should do better.

After I quit the game to try another indie survival horror title I've been meaning to try, and finding out that that game is a lot more enjoyable, I decided to abandon The Beast Inside. I don't think the game is a lot of fun. I do recognize a first title from an indie developer deserves some slack, but I don't think their first game is good enough. I would recommend them to invest into story telling, gameplay mechanics and level design for their next one.

Yet another Resident Evil (remake) that is absolutely gorgeous and fresh. Capcom is doing what Disney can't pull off. Is this the Capcom renaissance? I hope it lasts forever!

The Witness is a hidden gem in puzzle games, beautifully designed in every aspect imaginable, but what surprised me is that it is - apart from the early game - exceptionally difficult! This game is hardcore when it comes to puzzling. It is so hard that I think accessibility is significantly reduced by it, since a difficult puzzle is not the same as, for instance, Dark Souls difficult. Games like that are beatable with devotion, dedication and persistence, but that will get you nowhere in The Witness. To beat this, you need the mental capacity. Or cheat and look up everything.

The Witness is on par with great puzzle games like Portal (2), Talos Principle, or Myst. Those are the memorable ones I've played (with more to come) but the Witness is without a doubt the hardest of these games. I was stuck on some puzzles for days. I was not able to complete this without the use of pen and paper, or screenshots where I could draw in, and it looks like I am not alone here. I am not sure if it a wise move to make a puzzle game this difficult. The end result is a game that I think most players will not be able to complete or enjoy because I believe intelligence is actually required for a player to finish and enjoy this. The game does not hold your hand, you are left with figuring out the rules through trial and error and although the game is clearly designed to be beatable, you do have to think outside the box multiple times. The difficulty should not be underestimated, even if you've completed multiple puzzle video games and do sudokus and crosswords in your spare time. The Witness is not for everyone.

I would only recommend this to players that fit the profile of high intelligence, strong analytical skills, can think outside the box and a 'bring it on' mentality. If you are *not* 'blessed' with high intelligence, or easily get frustrated when you don't understand what the game wants you to do, then stay clear. You will hate it and leave a bad review.

If you get this game on sale for a few bucks, it may be worth your time. Other than that, my biggest critiques (without spoiling too much hopefully)

- This game REALLY needs a mechanic to prevent repetition in haunts. On my first savefile, I got the same haunt 3 times in a row. A big turnoff as you get bored already.
- Game mechanics are really hard to figure out first playthrough. I had to look up a guide. It's confusing.
- Processing the bodies is really repetitive
- Endings are boring and not worth it
- The special endings require specific *random* haunts to trigger.

The only positive aspect about this game is some of the haunts/scares, but they only work once of course and tend to repeat.

If you're looking for a creepy horror experience, Visage is a good buy. Technical performance is good, it does have quite a number of gameplay issues but those are not serious enough to ruin the game.

Pros:
- Excellent horror experience without overdoing it
- Great graphics, sound design and voice acting
- Feels like an escape room
- Good amount of content and variety to keep things interesting

Cons:
- Inconvenient controls and inventory management are really unnecessary
- Cryptic puzzles or weird "video game logic"
- Level design of the main house
- Chases in the main house are unfair
- Needle in a haystack situations

Wrt the chases: yes, you will get chased and die if you get caught, but there are so many situations (thanks to slow movement and level design of the main house) where you start off cornered with no escape or you get stuck in the environment, making these chases unfair. Players should die when they make a mistake but Visage will kill you off at random. However the game does not set you back or punish you if you die, you resume at the last checkpoint so although really annoying this flaw is forgivable.

Some parts of the script are way too cryptic, I do not expect a lot of players to make it through without a guide. In some cases the devs were aware that it is too cryptic and they "solved" it by simply telling you the problem/solution and that is disappointing.

However, since the horror experience is REALLY good (without going into detail) it is definitely worth recommending. I felt that consulting a guide did not ruin the game for me.

This game gets a bad review over a game breaking bug that wouldn't allow me to progress: without trying to break the game, the game shut down on me at random with an UE4 crash (no details because of spoilers - available on request). Reloading the save causes it to UE4 crash again. Tried all the 'solutions' online, contacted support and submitted the crashlog with no response in 2 weeks.

Without the crash, I'd say the game is mediocre. Lots of effort spent on the graphics but the game is quite simple in terms of gameplay, the puzzles can be a bit random, the voice acting is subpar and overall engagement is not as high as I would've liked it to be. Only one scene got me impressed, the rest is somewhat boring. Tried the Medium because I really liked Blair Witch but the Medium didn't do it for me.

This game is heavily based on SoTN, and makes zero effort to conceal that. You could almost be as blunt as to call it a really close copy, or the sequel that came from another developer, while still carrying plenty of mechanics as an addition to the good old stuff. Another really welcome addition to the list of excellent Metroidvania games that I hope will never stop growing!

The game lacks fun factor, and there is very little motivation to keep playing once you've seen it all. And that's a shame for a roguelike. It is a game that sets very high standards, the art style, sound design and technical performance really are top notch, it is challenging, it is creative, and it has some very cool unique gameplay concepts. Your first runs will be terrifying at times. But once exploration is over, once you get the hang of how to play the game efficiently, once the surprises are over, doing a run is equally fun as doing the dishes.

This game is really, really, really good!
Pros: MUSIC!!, amazing artwork, cool gameplay concept, variety, control, storytelling, level, character and enemy design, technical performance
Cons: A tad short, a very few annoying gameplay quirks, repeatability

I really like this game.

It is 'only' a 3 hour game, but a delightful one. Beautiful artwork, slightly disturbing sometimes, fun puzzles, collectibles, amazing attention to detail, sound and ambiance.