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My Playtime: 1.6h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (~11 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Creepy Tale is a short adventure game where you have to survive from creatures that want to eat you.

Pros:
- Unique gameplay that relies on trial and error
- Checkpoints through chapter select

Cons:
- Sometimes it can be confusing what the game wants you to do

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you like a short adventure game with a unique atmosphere, buy it at a sale.

---

The setting in Creepy Tale looks like the medieval era with the dominant use of brown color and simplistic, yet realistic-looking characters. Despite the usage of brown colors, it's still easy to distinguish objects from the backgrounds due to the darker color. Moreover, the monster design also goes well with the artistic style to set the atmosphere.

Gameplay
Creepy Tale is a game of trial and error. It's a game without words, where you need to figure out what the game wants. It consists of 8 chapters, each focusing on a location and how the main character has to escape from the danger that lurks in it. It's mostly about monsters that eat you whenever they see you, although there are also other things.

You need to pick up objects and use it to other objects. If you enable the hints in the options, they will be highlighted, or you can just spam the interact button to find anything interactable. It's easy to do so since you control your character with a keyboard instead of a mouse.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2600590382

Sometimes, it's not clear what the game wants you to do. You might not pick up some objects because they are too small and not noticeable from the background, or you might not understand that a certain object can be used in a certain way since the items are only available in this game - things like that end up forcing you to do trial and error, and failure means death. You need to restart the chapter again, although luckily, checkpoints will be there to save your time most of the time.

I like how it gives you the sense of creepiness at the beginning; the thought of a monster coming out and eating you can be scary, although that feeling will disappear as you play. The monsters will not be as scary anymore, although the creepiness will still be there even just a little bit. It really stands up to its title.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2841743989

Puzzles are also available from time to time. You might need to do trial and error to either solve or figure out the rules. Sometimes, the rule can be so obscured that you won't know unless you already know the answer.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 1.6h. I admit that I used a guide to bypass some solutions since the game can be cryptid at times, and it can be exhausting to redo with trial and error. When these kinds of things happen, I end up getting annoyed at the game since it's more like figuring out what the game wants rather than actually playing. And that's what I felt most of the time. Luckily, the game is short and the transition between the annoying puzzles and the ones I could figure out is quite scarce.

Creepy Tale is a game with a unique, creepy atmosphere. It's a game that tests your ability to figure out what you should do without words, and pay attention to your surroundings. It might be annoying to figure out what the game wants, but the gameplay and presentation itself help to make the game enjoyable. Moreover, the short length does well to contain my patience. I could recommend it to those who like games with a unique atmosphere, although do buy it on a sale.

My Playtime: 1.7h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): No.
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Floating Farmer is a short, easy puzzle game where you have to rotate tiles in a grid to make a path for an animal to their home. It has 50 levels in total.

Pros:
- 50 levels
- Option to change perspective and rotate the camera

Cons:
- Slow and unskippable animations

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you like short and easy puzzle games, buy this one at a sale.

---

Floating Farmer uses 3D, cute visuals for the animals. The tiles and UIs look rougher than the animals, but they look good enough for the asking price. That being said, I hate how the game forces me to wait for the animations to finish, even when the level ends. It can take a very long time to wait until the animal goes home, especially on the later levels when the path can be quite long.

Gameplay
The land is split into several tiles, and you can rotate each tile around like a Rubik's Cube. However, you only need to worry about the surface; it's like playing with a Rubik's Cube but with a height of 1. As I said before, your goal is to make a path so that an animal can reach home. Each tile has a path with different shapes, sometimes no path at all, and you need to arrange them so that they connect each other.

As you play, a new challenge will be added. The animal's children will also be added to the mix, and you need to connect the path including the tiles with the children. Sometimes, you don't need to use all the paths to clear the levels. However, with the addition of the children, you are forced to create a longer path. This adds a bit of challenge to the game.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2888494386

However, that's the only thing that the game has. There is no more added challenge to the levels. The only thing that they do is to make the field larger, but it doesn't get too large for you to worry about. I didn't have to work my brain much; I might have to think a little when the path didn't connect, but all it took was a little bit of brute force to get the solution.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 1.7h. The game is very easy to beat; you will hardly work your brain from it.

Issues
The game froze after I finished the last level. I had to close the game with Alt+F4 because of it.

Floating Farmer doesn't feel like a puzzle game. It's too easy for me, although luckily, it doesn't take long to finish. I just hate the slow and unskippable animations. You can't close the tutorial, even though you read and understood the text. You have to wait for the animal to walk home after you finish a level, you need to wait for the next button to show up after that- there is just a lot of waiting time in between.

That being said, it's still a nice puzzle game if you don't mind a mediocre and easy one. If you want to play a game that doesn't make you think too much, this game is for you, although I'm not sure what to say about buying a puzzle game that just needs brute-forcing to solve. Maybe it's good for children? Who knows.

My Playtime: 0.4h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (~44 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

PLANETS OF WAR is a short FPS game with an auto clicker embedded in it. It has 4 levels in total.

Pros:
- In-game auto clicker
- Beautiful-looking backgrounds

Cons:
- No challenge
- No auto clicker on the last level
- No clear indication of game over and when the level starts
- Autoclicker is turned off after moving to the next level

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

No.
Unless you want easy achievements, it's not worth it to play this game.

---

If there is one thing to say about the game, it's that the background is superb. I don't know how the developer did it, or whether they just bought an asset pack, but I'm impressed with the look. The same can't be said for the animation, though. It looks cheap and not realistic.

The same also applies to the rest. The HUD is ugly; it's basically just some squares strapped in the screen, without any effort to make it pretty. Enemies' animation is weird even though they were walking. There isn't even a clear indication of whether a level starts or ends.

There is no option to show a subtitle. Luckily, the voice is quite clear so I can make out a bit of what the game is saying. The story is quite straightforward; it tells about an alien race that tries to invade the Earth and how you have to beat it. It's basically just there to make the levels make sense.

Gameplay
As I said before, there isn't any clear indication of whether the game was starting or ending. It starts with a narrator telling the story, and suddenly some soldiers are running from left to right. I didn't know that the level had already started; I only knew that I had died after I went through everything again. The game will freeze slightly after you get the game over and the narrator will speak again, indicating the level restart. The worst thing is, you can't skip the talk.

The game doesn't work on a 144Hz monitor. My monitor is set to 144Hz by default and I was confused as to why I couldn't shoot the enemies. I can change the weapon mode, but most of my shots don't seem to go through. I died a lot of times until I realized that I had to change my monitor refresh rate to 60Hz. The game works well after that.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1246989904

It's basically an auto-clicker game. You need to click on everything that has a health point, which can be known after you shoot at it, or wait until the cursor changes its color to red. Clicking everything can be tough for your mouse, but luckily, the game has a built-in auto clicker in the game. Just change the weapon mode to auto and it will shoot automatically without you having to click - you just need to hover your mouse to the enemy and it will shoot on its own. However, the game doesn't seem to remember this option; you need to switch it manually after you move to a new level, and there isn't any auto clicker in the last level. Luckily, there is only one enemy there so my mouse is safe. Hopefully.

There is no challenge. You might have a health point, but it's not like you'll lose if you know what you're doing. The health system is like a tower defense game, in a way that your health will only be depleted if the enemy goes to your base. I don't know what the base is from level 2 onwards, but I still managed to finish the whole thing without worrying about it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1132265469

Length and Difficulty
Despite all my issues, I managed to finish the whole thing in 0.4h. The game is easy, you just need to direct your mouse to the object that suddenly appears at most. It's played like an arcade shooter game where the view moves and new enemies will show up, except that you won't die as long as you know what you are doing. It's very easy to beat the game, and it's meant to be finished quickly.

PLANETS OF WAR is a game where you don't have to play. It's as if the only purpose of it is to farm achievements; there is no challenge or depth to it. The last level might be funny, but I don't even know what I played after finishing the game. I don't recommend playing it at all unless you want the easy and quick achievements.

My Playtime: 55.9h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): Yes (~4 achievements).
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (~28 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

LunarLux is a turn-based RPG with some action elements. Fights are turn-based, but attacking and defending are done through minigames. Attacking is mostly done like Paper Mario where you need to press a button at a certain time, while defending is more varied based on the enemy attacks.

Pros:
- Varied enemies' attack
- Difficulty selection to fight stronger enemy variants that are switchable anytime
- No random encounters
- A lot of side content and collectibles

Cons:
- Some attacks are too overpowered compared to the others, rendering them useless
- Battle strategy is mostly the same
- Fights can be redundant for a prolonged time

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you like games with a lot of QTE for its attacks, enjoy the dodging part in Megaman Battle Network, and don't mind a little bullet hell segment, buy this game.

---

I'm impressed with the pixel art in LunarLux. Despite the small figures, characters are drawn in detail up to their expression. Sometimes, it might be hard to make out what the characters are doing because of it, but most of the time the characters' emotions are portrayed well. However, the same can't be said for the character portraits. I feel that they look out of touch with the pixel art due to its lighter color, and the portraits sometimes don't match well with what the character was feeling.

The story is cliche. Most of the plot points can be guessed right at the beginning. The game also seems to make it kid-friendly by not making it too dark, giving one bad guy to blame for everything. That being said, the major threats that the game explained at the beginning are not resolved by the end of the game. I didn't like this part one bit, even though it might be done as a sequel bait. I think it would be better if the threat was eliminated from the story in the first place.

I think that the character development was done too fast. I found it strange to find a character flip a 180 right after I moved to the next main story location, and without any additional dialogue to promote the change.

Gameplay
You need to travel from one planet to the next, exploring everything in its tracks. On the way, you also can collect some collectibles and finish quests. I like how you are encouraged to explore everything. Sometimes, you need to backtrack after a certain feature is unlocked. It's optional and the reward isn't that noteworthy, but it's still fun to do the backtracking because of this.

Combat
LunarLux allows you to choose from 20 Active Skills, with some being unlocked at the beginning, with 10 Support Skills to bring. You can choose 1 Active Skill and 1 out of 3 Support Skills, which are randomized from the 10 you choose before the fight per turn. Active Skill can be either damaging or helping you for survivability, such as generating shields to protect you from attacks. Support Skills, on the other hand, are more varied. It can give you SP that can be used to use Active Skill, recover your HP, increase your Active Skill damage, and many more.

Attacking is done in a QTE. The QTE varied based on the type of attack. Some might not require you to use the QTE, although I found that the ones with it deal better damage. You either need to press a button at a certain time or mash a certain button to trigger it. Some Active Skills also give an additional effect like healing, stunning the enemies, and many more.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3253749857

Defending, on the other hand, is more complicated. Each enemy has a different attack. Attacks have different types, and they are done differently for each enemy; you have to figure out whether to dodge or use a shield. Your shield usage is limited to the number of shields you have, which can be replenished with either Active or Support Skill.

Strangely, these combat mechanic isn't taught well. I didn't know there were different types of attacks at first; I just found it strange that sometimes I can move to other tiles and sometimes I can't. Moreover, I didn't realize you can replenish your shield with an Active Skill either. This causes me confusion in the first few hours, on the tutorial enemy. The tutorial only comes a while later, in an optional NPC you can talk to. I wish it were embedded into the tutorial battle as well.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3253750087

Luckily, it was easy to learn the basics. Once you know what to do, you just need to figure out the enemy attacks. And that's the next problem. Each enemy has different types of attacks, and you need to check the timing for each of them. It's always fun whenever you have to face a new enemy because it also means that you need to learn their attack patterns again.

However, the difficulty doesn't seem to scale well. I found enemies to be easy in the normal difficulty; they have too little HP, and they die faster than you can learn their attacks. Moreover, the insane difficulty has enemies with bulky HP. It's way too consuming to kill them, and you will most likely be one-shotted from them since they are meant for the end game. The second hardest difficulty seems to be more manageable in this regard with bulkier, but still manageable HP.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3041301063

Fights can be pretty repetitive, though. Luckily, the game doesn't have a random encounter. Some late-game enemies' HP are too bulky and you'll have to spend minutes to finish each fight. It can be brain-numbing, especially in boss fights, if you keep on dying.

Some Attack Skills are stronger than the other. This makes the strategy to be revolved around certain Active Skills and become repetitive.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 51.4h with most content finished. Most of the bosses and enemies are done in the hardest difficulty at first fight, with me switching to normal for second encounters to save time. The hardest difficulty isn't fun to play at the beginning; enemies have too much HP and you deal too little damage to kill them. It's only manageable once you start nearing the end game with most tools at your disposal. That being said, it's still a fun game to play, especially if you don't go hardcore like me. Heck, I even played it like this and am still having a blast with it.

The harder difficulty has a bigger HP, damage, and faster attack speed. I also noticed that a boss has deadlier attack animation in a harder difficulty, although they are barely noticeable.

Combat is what makes LunarLux shine. It might be repetitive and mind-numbing at times, but it was fun to figure out the enemies' attacks and how to dodge them. The game shines a lot from its minigame in both attacking and defending, especially when you have to think of a way to deal as much damage as possible to finish the battle faster. Or you can also take a slower pace and incapacitate the enemies.

There are several strategies that you can take, and they all work. It's just that some will make the fights faster than others. And most importantly, your skill is tested in this game. Despite being a turn-based game, the gameplay is also similar to action RPGs, albeit simpler. I could recommend it if you like QTEs and dodging.

My Playtime: 7.3h (100% achievement, finished the game twice for the true ending)
My First Playthrough: 4.5h
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (11 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Niko wakes up in a strange house. In a world that is unknown to them, they are asked to return the sun to save the world. They only have one shot. That's OneShot, a unique puzzle game that tells about Niko's journey as a messiah to save the world.

Pros:
- Unique puzzles
- Two endings

Cons:
- Saving naturally can only be done at a certain time
- Sometimes it's hard to navigate to the area that you are supposed to go to

Specs
I'm switching between these two machines, although I used my Steam Deck for the most part.
Steam Deck: AMD Zen 2 4c/8t 2.4-3.5GHz, 16 GB RAM, 8 AMD RDNA 2 CUs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you enjoy a unique puzzle game with lovable characters, buy this game.

---

The visuals are one of Oneshot's biggest strengths. Despite being an RPG Maker game, it uses customized assets for everything, and the use of the portrait was done very well to match Niko's emotions. On top of that, the cutscenes whenever Niko enters a new area are truly a sight to behold; the glowy atmosphere and Niko's expressions make everything look beautiful and cute at the same time.

The story is pretty simple at the beginning. Niko wakes up in a house and finds a lightbulb that turns out to be a sun. They are tasked with a mission to return it to the tower to save the world. That's the whole premise that the game has, and in doing so, Niko has to interact with a lot of people. Since Niko comes to a world different from the residents, some terms don't make sense to them, until you finish playing the game.

And then something happens. Oneshot is a story that was meant to be played twice. My reaction after finishing the game once was just mediocre, and I didn't find anything great about this game. That whole impression changed on the second playthrough. Your questions from the first playthrough were answered, and new lore was added on top of it. By the time I reached the end, I couldn't hold back my tears during the dialogue. I didn't realize that I cared for these characters so much.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3259116927

Gameplay
The world has 3 main areas, with several screens that Niko can explore in each of them. You might get lost due to the vastness of the area, although it's still fun to explore everything. You need to pick up some objects and either use them for other objects or combine them with different objects in your inventory before using them. The objects you have to pick up are also noticeable, so you don't have to worry about missing out.

The puzzles are where OneShot shines. Sometimes, it's just a simple one that requires you to pay attention to your surroundings. Often, you'll find that you can't find any clue in the game and have to resort to looking through other means. I won't go into details because it's related to how to solve the puzzle, but it's such an out-of-the-box process that you won't often encounter in other games. I like this part a lot, although it gives me such a hassle when I play it on my Steam Deck. It ruined my experience because of it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1540020797

However, saving is limited. You can save by exiting the game with the X button in the app, but doing so will void you of an achievement. The proper way to save is by resting on a bed, which can only be done once. You need to reach the next bed after you use the last one, and it can take a long time to find. Moreover, the first bed isn't accessible until you progress the story a little bit.

Length and Difficulty
I finished it in 4.5h on my first playthrough. I then play it for the second time for 2.8h, updating my playtime to 7.3h. It's recommended to play the game at least twice, even if you already can have all the achievements in your first playthrough. You'll miss out a lot just by not playing it for the second time.

As for the difficulty, it's not hard - you can brute force some puzzles, but most of them are simple enough as long as you know what to do, provided you played it in Windows. It's another thing if you played it on Steam Deck or Linux.

Issues
As I said before, a lot of the in-game experience is ruined if you play it in Steam Deck or Linux. I know the game isn't supported on those devices, but I thought it's best to let people know since it can be played on those machines. In fact, I managed to finish the game in Steam Deck after bypassing the problematic puzzles on my Windows device.

OneShot is a one-of-a-kind game, a game where you can relate to the characters and make you rethink the story. Despite the simplistic puzzle, the way it's being introduced and incorporated into the story is unique; something you won't find every day. If you enjoy playing a unique game that can touch your heart, I recommend playing this game.

My Playtime: 10.8h (100% achievement, finished the game)
My First Playthrough: 6.7h
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (12 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Papers, Please is a game set in an imaginary communist country where you work as an immigrant officer, a person who decides whether someone can enter the country or not. You have to check papers, verify them, and decide accordingly. It has 20 endings based on your choice.

Pros:
- 20 endings
- Addicting gameplay
- Shortcuts to save time

Cons:
- Not to be played for a long session since it drains your concentration
- No option to review your mistake

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
It's a unique game with an addicting gameplay loop. If you like games that can keep you busy, this game is for you.

---

Papers, Please is drawn in a pixelated style, where 1/3 of the screen shows what happened in the checkpoint that you are assigned to, while 2/3 of it will be focused on your work-related purposes. This makes it easy to keep track of your surroundings while doing your job at the same time. However, I wish that your desk could be bigger - sometimes you can't line up all of the required papers on the table without overlapping them with each other, adding my time to make a decision.

Your name is pulled on the lottery and you become an immigration officer. Dialogues will cover the day-to-day events, whether it's related to your family or your border. Your moral choices will be questioned from time to time; some will reward you, others will not. At the end of the day, the choices that you make will determine the ending, prematurely or not.

Papers, Please has 20 endings. It doesn't track which endings you have obtained, but it will say which ending you got, and the ones that don't end prematurely will have a credits screen after the epilogue. That being said, the endings are brief. It will tell what happened to you and your family, and the country that you serve, Arstotzka. I like the presentation since it has that military feel. Glory to Arstotzka.

Gameplay
You work as an immigration officer. The rules are simple at first. You check the passport and see whether it's expired or not. Reject it if it's, and allow the person to pass if it's not. More rules will be added as you play, giving you more things to work on and pay attention to. Sometimes, you might even forget to check one or two things, and if you allow entry for someone who shouldn't be allowed, you'll get a citation. Two citations per day are fine, but more than that will result in a fine of $5 per person.

You need to manage your resources. You only get $5 per person that was correctly allowed to pass, and time is limited. You need to process as many people as possible to afford your rent, food, and even heating. Sometimes, a terrorist will attack the border, cutting your day and revenue short. This will add up eventually, forcing you to skip on the necessities if you don't have enough money. You and your family's well-being will be damaged if you don't tend to them, which will result in death.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246023217

Luckily, there are events. They won't happen daily, but they might or might not give you more revenue if you choose the right thing. It's not a big money, but it all adds up. That being said, some of these events will lead to the endings, which might or might not cut your playthrough short. You need to choose carefully.

With more mechanics added up, it might be hard to keep up. The game helps by giving some purchasable shortcut keys as an upgrade. Although I didn't find them helpful at first, especially the first two, I ended up getting used to them and can't play properly without them. It really cuts my time to do the job a lot. Speaking of shortcuts, I also like how the rulebook has quick links for everything. I didn't realize it existed at the beginning though and had to flip them manually.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=177977465

Your concentration will be tested. There are a lot of things that you need to check, and you might even miss them from time to time. That being said, you are also still expected to work fast because you need enough money for daily necessities. More and more papers will be required, which means more things to check. However, I can't fit them all on the table without overlapping each other sometimes. There are a lot of papers to check starting from the middle half, and it took me more time to check since I prefer to line them up before processing them. Luckily, the game makes the documents in the end game a bit simpler, although I wished it would be more simplified quickly.

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game at 6.7h with ending 20. I then continue playing to get the rest of the achievements, which ups my playtime to 10.8h. I didn't reach all endings, though.

The game is best played in short bursts. It just took so much of my concentration and I can barely play it properly after I finished it. It's also the reason why I won't recommend getting all endings right away - if you want to do that, you might better off checking the guides and videos for that.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=168010147 

I like how the save file works, though. You can load your save from any day that you want. It will autosave each day, and if you load a save from an older date and finish the day, the save file will branch out, making it easy to get all of the achievements and endings. I played the game from the 12th day after I finished it to get all the achievements. Speaking of days, it has a total of 31 in-game days.

As for the difficulty, the game offers an easy mode where you can get an extra $20 each day. Although I didn't use it in my first playthrough, I found it very helpful to keep my money from going almost 0 after that playthrough. However, you still need to work on a bit, especially if you want to play cleanly without accepting bribes. I usually managed to process ~10 people if the day wasn't cut short.

Issues
Sadly, the game doesn't offer a way to review your mistakes. It will give you a citation that contains the explanation of what went wrong, but sometimes, the game gave me a citation even though I was sure I wasn't wrong. This happens often on the expiration dates. I had double or even triple-checked it, and sometimes the game still says that I let people in because they have forms with expired dates. I wished I could check what went wrong to not repeat the same mistake - I ended up just relying on luck, hoping that the game didn't call me out whenever this happened.

Papers, Please is such a unique game. It's a simulation game where you play as an immigration officer, checking papers left and right to allow people to enter your country. It's a game that demands your concentration and attentiveness while forcing you to go fast.

After playing the game, I had to salute immigration officers who have to put up with these things - I wouldn't be able to keep this up daily. But still, the gameplay is addicting. I could recommend it if you like unique games that can keep you busy, although don't play it for a long session since it'll tire you out. Or just do it and force your brain to suffer. Your choice.

My Playtime: 1.6h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (6 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Labyrinthine Dreams is a puzzle game told in a narrative. Puzzles will match the setting and theme of the narrative, using a new rule each time. There are 5 types of puzzles in general, with 1 being used several times in between the other 4.

Pros:
- Different puzzle types
- Autosaves
- Nice storytelling

Cons:
- It's hard to tell the collision in the first puzzle

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you like short and easy puzzle games with nice storytelling, buy this game. It's extremely cheap on a sale too.

---

The visuals are just like what you'll see in an RPG Maker game, albeit with slight differences. It uses default assets for the environment with original assets for the characters. Moreover, it heavily uses a single cutscene image for the narrative. I like the presentation this way. Despite the still images, the narrative fits well with them, and the background music also helps to enhance it.

The story tells about what happened to the main character and what she experienced. It tells them one by one, giving a catalyst for the puzzle section. It's a storytelling style that I never get bored of - I like how cleverly they mix both. The soothing music and voiceover also help bring the dialogues to life, along with the beautiful-looking cutscenes. The story makes me think about life a bit actually, and it also gives a nice moral message at the end of it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=676300022

Gameplay
Labyrinthine Dreams is a puzzle game with a different set of rules. There are only 5 puzzle types, with each having ~5 levels. You'll finish them without realizing most of the time, and the transition between the narrative and puzzle won't make you bored doing them.

Despite the different rules, it's easy to figure them out. It took me a while to notice what to do in the first puzzle, but it didn't take long for me to understand the others. Some also follow the rules of other puzzle games so you might be familiar with them.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=367226967

It's easy to finish the puzzles - most of them won't require you to think. There are a few exceptions for it, but it shouldn't pose too hard. Level progression doesn't seem to be a thing here - I found the first puzzle type to be harder than the last 2 puzzles. The game is intended for casual players and it shows in this department.

Length and Difficulty
I finished it in 1.4h. The rest of my playtime was spent getting the last achievement to finish all puzzles without resetting. The game can be finished quickly if you rush it and follow a guide - it only took me 0.2h to finish 2/3 of the game for that achievement that I mentioned earlier. As for the difficulty, it's easy to finish, although some puzzles will still require you to think a bit. Still, it's nothing that you should worry about, especially since there are guides that can help you if you're stuck.

Issues
It's hard to figure out where the collision in the first puzzle is. I had to reset the level a few times because of it.

Despite the easy puzzles, I'm impressed with the narrative. Labyrinthine Dreams does a good job in all aspects. The cutscenes, the voiceovers, the background music - they seem to be doing all out on everything to set the atmosphere. I would recommend the game for the experience first and the puzzle second, although the puzzle part is still something that can be enjoyed if you need a little brain teaser.

My Playtime: 19.2h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (48 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): Yes (~1 achievement).

Epic Battle Fantasy 3 is a continuation of the Epic Battle Fantasy saga, telling the story of Matt, Natalie, and Lance who is facing an evil being that threatens the world. Despite being the third game of the series, knowledge of the prior games is not needed.

Pros:
- 6 areas + boss
- 4 difficulties
- Different skills and weapons that need to be changed based on the area and bosses

Cons:
- Some fights rely on RNG on the hardest difficulty

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
It's a solid RPG game. Play it if you enjoy the genre, especially if you like to strategize rather than mindlessly attacking enemies.

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Being a Flash game, Epic Battle Fantasy 3 was displayed just like other games made with the same engine. It's simplistic and cartoonish; characters are drawn in chibi style although the cutscenes and battles are drawn in full size. It's mostly drawn that way to make up for the height difference, and I prefer this style over the non-chibi style in the maps. The expressions, especially the NPCs, are displayed better this way.

I also liked the dungeon design. There are usually 9 maps that are connected. You can see a chest sticking on the other side that can only be accessed from another side of the map. It makes me pay more attention to my surroundings and gives room for curiosity, where I should go to reach that chest, or whether there is something that I missed. Some chests are also well hidden to go with this.

The story is pretty much straightforward: there is an evil being and the party is going to beat it. NPCs are separated into 3 types: 1) those who give tips to the game mechanic, 2) those who give side quests, and 3) those who give tips to the enemies and bosses of the area. As you can see, the story is not the strong point of the game.

That being said, I liked the cutscenes. It shows up after you beat each boss, telling the story of how our protagonists pass the area. They are always being foolish or cute, and it's always nice to see them in action.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=924197185

Gameplay
The world of Epic Battle Fantasy 3 is divided into areas. There is a village at the beginning where you can buy supplies, which connects into 5 different areas that lead to the final boss area. Each area has a different theme, focusing on enemies and bosses in different elements. You need to change your strategy each time, especially when you are playing on a higher difficulty.

There are no random encounters. All monsters are shown on the screen and battle will be initiated only when you interact with them. Although some enemies will block the path to the next area, others will be placed randomly on the screen. The thing is, enemies won't respawn unless you move to other areas (or the village), and enemies that block your path won't respawn if you beat them already. You don't need to fight if you don't need to, and beating all enemies at least once is enough to finish the game.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=756903416

Gears aren't just there for fashion. All gears are equal - they roughly give the same stat boost while giving different resistance buffs. You need to mix and match them based on the enemies and areas, and upgrading them will also give an additional effect (on top of stat boost) that might be beneficial for the party.

Combat
Battles are challenging, especially if you just reach a new area. Enemies will be higher leveled than you and can wipe out your party if you are not careful. You need to change your gear to resist their types and formulate a new strategy, taking out the most troublesome enemies first. Sometimes, enemies come in waves, spawning a new set of enemies after you clear out the current wave.

The thing that I liked about the game is how you don't have to go back and forth to the inn to heal. Your HP and MP will be automatically regenerated if you take a few steps outside the battle. It doesn't take long to recover back to full health, even if one of your party members died in the previous fight.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2279705095

Speaking of dying, you can always retry the fights. Escaping from battle will always succeed, and you can check out the enemies that you are going to face beforehand and either plan your strategy or maybe try your RNG against them. In a higher difficulty, you need RNG to beat the enemies if you don't want to waste your items sometimes.

Bosses are challenging. You can have an easier time beating the first few bosses by over-leveling, but the last two bosses are something else. Your level is capped at 30, so you can't over-level. And they hit hard. This also applies to the other bosses, and you'll need a different strategy and different gear to beat them. However, I hate that sometimes you need to rely on RNG to beat them in the higher difficulty, hoping that their fatal attack doesn't connect.

Length and Difficulty
The game has 4 difficulties and I finished the game in 19.2h in the hardest one. It's hard. You'll need to rely on items and permanent stat-boosting items, especially for the last two bosses. You'll get a party wipe a lot when entering new areas, and you need to pray that the RNG doesn't wipe you out.

That being said, the hardest difficulty can be enjoyable for those who like to play hardcore games - the game doesn't rely on grind and levels to beat at that level; you need to check your gears too. To be honest, I still don't know how to beat the extra fights that unlock after beating the game without luck at that difficulty unless you play in the new game plus and use the perks that come from that. Those who are more casual will not have to worry about them by playing in the easier difficulty, though.

There is a new game plus. You'll get to keep your items, and the game will give you other optional options like disabling the level cap.

Epic Battle Fantasy 3 is a game where you need to rely on strategy. It's a solid turn-based game without any pointless battles. The only time you need to grind is if you want to grind for materials to upgrade your gears, but I found that I could have enough money by the end of the game to buy all materials without grinding. It's a perfect game if you like to play games that only focus on the combat.

My Playtime: 23.5h (100% achievement, finished the game)
My First Playthrough:
Grindy Achievement(s): Yes (~1 achievement).
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (12 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Monstronomy is a monster-taming game with some gruesome lore beneath it. You'll see some jumpscares and videos that are unrelated to the game as you play, which tell about something else that went behind the scenes.

Pros:
- 101 monsters to catch
- Secrets to discover

Cons:
- Slow combat
- Lack of QoL fixes
- Long backtracking inside building areas

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

No.
The game lacks several QoL fixes and feels pretty much barebones, plus it doesn't use its strength for puzzle solving well.

---

The game looks like a watered-down Pokémon game, especially on the battle screen. On the good side, the monsters all look great and diverse - there were cute ones as well as the scary ones mixed in. Also, the evolutions give some sort of resemblance to their prior forms while still showcasing new features.

However, the edited videos need some work, especially on the text. Some text can be hard to see, and I'm not even talking about the ones that were made intentionally hard to see. Some of them used colors that either didn't mesh well with the background or were too dark, and the font sometimes didn't match the video. As for the content itself, it hardly shows anything of value and tends to be repeated from the ones already shown.

Monstronomy is a dark take on the Pokémon game. It starts just like any other Pokémon game where you have to pick your starter and go on an adventure. Then you'll quickly realize that something was wrong. The game wasn't subtle in showing these secrets and urges you to find out. You are supposed to figure out what happened on your own, although it shouldn't be hard to figure out a glimpse of what's going on as long as you pay attention.

The postgame is where you'll mostly figure out everything. Sure, you might be able to access some content before finishing the game, but you might have to do it several times if you do it that way. You are supposed to gather clues from the videos and dialogues in the game, which you can use to do some tinkering on your own. However, I was kinda disappointed with how it turned out. It wasn't as scary as I thought; the worst of it is just some intended inhumane experiment. I was hoping for some creepypasta within them all, but it never shows up. Heck, I even wondered what the use of the jumpscare and the scary atmosphere in those videos is if it's being like this.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3228622966

Gameplay
Just like Pokémon, you have to explore the map and capture some monsters. The monsters are varied, but resources are limited. You'll have issues finding enough money to catch the monsters at first, especially if you don't want to sell anything. This will be rectified after you finish the game, although I wished that it wasn't made as scarce in the beginning.

I liked how the game made use of status and stats modifiers. Both of those skills seem to be the best in this game - you'll have a hard time defeating a monster that raises its defense stat a few times, and some status ailments can permanently stun you if done right. However, that also means that strategy will be limited to one tactic, which is used by different monsters with different typing to cover the weakness and resistance chart. This also makes some monsters seem to be better than others, especially if they have access to these skills easily.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3228620308

Fights are boring. You can't speed them up, so you have to wait for the slow animation to finish. This is made worse when your character leveled up - the exp gain sound and delay will be repeated twice, meaning that you have to wait twice as long until the fight ends. The thing is, the game never differentiates the length whenever you get a huge or low exp, and this also applies to when enemies' HP is depleted.

On the plus side, I like how the evolution works. All end-game evolution grants a secondary typing, and once you get a certain item, you can switch between the two and learn moves from both evolutions. This expands the monster capability as well as the move coverage, especially when faced with enemies that give you a disadvantage.

Despite the numerous puzzles, some of them feel bland. They tend to be similar in nature, forcing you to input combinations based on the given hints. Well, the method of acquiring the combination may be different, and it sometimes can be too vague to figure out. The ARG puzzle that requires you to browse in the real world was clever, although the next steps can be too confusing to figure out on your own.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3228619675 

Monstronomy is a game where you have to take notes, figuring out the story based on the given hints which sometimes might lead to secrets. However, the game doesn't seem to make use of this strength - there aren't many puzzles that were made like this, and the ones that do barely reward you with anything. I know that you will learn more of the truth in some of them, but I wish there were more than that.

Length and Difficulty
I finished everything in 23.5h. You can finish it faster if you want; I was taking my time and collecting all the monsters with their evolutions, which took a lot of time to do. The game isn't difficult to beat. You can just grind to bypass any difficulty. The one that can be challenging is to beat the post content, but even that will only be difficult if you don't have a lot of high-level monsters.

The game has 2 endings, but there aren't many differences between them and you can see them both by saving before the final boss.

Monstronomy is a unique game. It feels like those creepypasta games that will try to give you the creeps as you play, except that they didn't deliver. As you continue playing, the creepiness is just gone and replaced with puzzles and secrets. It might be interesting to figure out what happened, but the game doesn't use much of this strength.

In my opinion, the game was lacking several QoL fixes; the monster-taming game feels barebones with its simplistic strategy, the UI is too simple and too similar to Pokémon, and there was a lot of backtracking needed when you are inside areas with a lot of enemies. Not to mention that all enemies are the same. I know it's being like that because of the theme, but I wish there were some differences, including more of the in-game plot instead of the "endless" fighting and random videos popping left and right. I wish I could recommend it, but I realized that I wasn't feeling much when I played this game, and the battle's slow pace irritated me in the end.

This game was reviewed with a key provided by the developer for free.

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My Playtime: 5.2h (100% achievement, finished the game)
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (24 achievements).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

LiEat is a short story set in a world where human-shaped dragons and humans live together. It consists of 3 chapters, each telling a story of a human and a dragon's travels.

Pros:
- Touching story
- Superb art style and music

Cons:
- Some areas tend to be reused
- Text can be hard to read for some people

Specs
Steam Deck: AMD Zen 2 4c/8t 2.4-3.5GHz, 16 GB RAM, 8 AMD RDNA 2 CUs

Yes.
If you like short, emotional stories, buy this game.

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What separates LiEat from other similar games is its visuals. It's one of the best out there, showing such detailed portraits and several cute cutscenes that show the whole scene in detail. At times, those cutscenes were smoothly animated, showing no difference from the cutscenes until you realized that it was moving.

However, I found the in-game maps to be too bland. Some rooms are reused, and areas are made to look bigger with a lot of duplicate spots that lead to the reused rooms. Luckily, there aren't many areas to cover in each episode, and the game is pretty short and straightforward to begin with.

The story spans within 3 chapters, with each having a time skip of a few months from each other. It tells the journey of a man and a newly born dragon, focusing on certain creatures in each chapter. The world of LiEat lies in a place where supernatural beings exist; all animal-shaped humans are called humans, even though some of them have unique abilities that ordinary humans can't have. And then there are dragons, human-shaped beings that were born with special abilities, along with a retractable horn and wings.

Despite the dragon theme, it's not a story where you fight each other. There are fights, of course, but that's not the main focus of the game. LiEat tells about the strange things that happen in the town, and how you investigate the source of it. It's not that hard to figure out what happened - heck, you can even guess who the culprit is after you meet everyone in the town. If you hate scary games, don't worry, the game isn't scary at all - even scenes that are supposed to be scary were made cute with its silhouette and art style.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1579991267

But again, the investigation part is just the main plot. LiEat shines in a way that is more subtle than that: the interaction between the characters, especially how cute Efina, our baby dragon protagonist, is, and how she grows up in each chapter. You'll see how she bonds closer with her male protagonist too, which finally shows in the last chapter. That chapter is the real tearjerker. There were 3 endings, and all of them will tug your heartstrings.

Gameplay
As a game that is mostly focused on the story, you'll mostly just walk back and forth following the given instructions. Sometimes, you'll be able to battle enemies to level up, although most fights are optional. However, I had an issue in following where to proceed in the last chapter; there were a bunch of places that you need to recheck and I'm not a person that likes to check the same place twice.

There wasn't much tutorial about combat. I didn't know that you could recover your health by resting - I thought looting recovery items by interacting with everything was the way to go. You are also required to interact with everything to find some equipable items that will help you with the game - sure, you can proceed without replacing your gear, but the game will be too grindy.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=748298651

The game can be grindy depending on how you play. If you manage to find and equip the legendary weapons, you can beat the game without worrying about levels. However, enemy attacks can be too dangerous if you don't have legendary weapons, and you might die easily if you don't grind for levels in that state. Leveling up can be boring, but once you get enough level, you don't have to worry about being attacked at all.

Length and Replayability
I finished the game in 5.2h. Each chapter can be finished in ~1.5h, even if you are aiming to get all endings. Each chapter has 2-3 endings, which will have a different story based on the ending you chose. Most endings can be achieved easily, although you need to figure out what is it beforehand. The game will still tell which are the good and bad endings, though. It will show the credits screen and you'll be teleported to a post-game room if you reach the best ending.

Despite its short length, LiEat manages to make such a heartwarming story with a little bit of emotional touch at the end. The game can be boring sometimes with their back-and-forth "backtracking", but the story will be worth it. At first, you'll see the cuteness of our heroine. In the end, you'll be getting emotional with how the story ends. I recommend it if you like heart-wrenching stories.