Recent reviews by BaronessRomanova

This is more of a card-battler style of game than it is a mostly casual deck building game, though there are elements of selecting cards to boost your abilities in the games. It is an interesting mix of solitaire style card layout for you and your opponent, yet you must mix and match cards to create a poker hand in order to do deal damage. If there is a chest, you need to create the hand it asks for in order to open it an gain access to different types of cards; each type either does a different kind of damage or provides you with a different type of defence. There are a few levels to the cards, so you have stronger capabilities as the game progresses and the enemies get tougher to fight.

It is simple enough mechanically, though there is a little luck as it all depends on what cards are turned over and what cards the enemy will select. As with poker the higher scoring hands take more time and patience to set up, though being able to take unmatched cards from your opponent's board helps a little. The casual side of play drops off a little as you need to keep track of cards a little for when you are setting up for a hand, which may mean putting in a bit more thinking than your were wanting to do in a more laid back game.
Taking damage build up your 'rage' pool, another name for mana, which grants you the ability to cast any of the spells you have gained access to either though allies or acquiring the card. You gain these cards by winning battles or spending the limited silver you get at a merchant; it is good you can customise your combat to your play style somewhat, however the computer tends to be on the more aggressive side which means you can end up in a race to deal damage rather than bother defending.

The story is simple enough; you are an unnamed being who has no idea how they arrived in the area or why they are there, only they have a destiny to fulfil. Don't let the simplicity fool you, there has been a lot of effort to ground the story in history and has used the tale of Beowolf for inspiration. Gives the story some way to stand out from the rest of the casual games.
Visually a lot of thought has gone into the design of the map, characters and cut scenes in order to create a blizzard wrought land and yet have enough of a colour palette to distinguish all the elements from a bleak winter setting. It is mostly a 2D game, though there are some basic 3D models during the combat, which is where the charm of this game lies - I could leave the 3D models.
The sound choices are gorgeous and fit with the mystical vibe of the setting; they are mostly calming and ethereal, though are played on a loop when in the map. It can get a bit repetitive after a while, mostly during combat, where most of the game play takes place.

The repetitiveness is why I have given a thumbs down due to how much time is spent in combat and mostly making the same poker hands. As much as I liked this game, it is rather easy to want some variety after a while. I wish there was a neutral option as I am sure some people might no have as much of a problem with the repetitiveness as I did.
In addition, I am going to have to not recommend based on how much grinding you need to do in order to get some achievements. It doesn't feel like the right game to have grinding, though I do understand the game needs some way to have progression, so sits in a weird spot of not completely casual but a bit too casual to require the time investment you might need to get all the achievements.

A fun and utterly brilliant strategy game, where you play as a disease which has the only goal of wiping out humanity. Easy to pick up and play, whilst not demanding too much time.

You can clearly tell this originally started out as a mobile game, because at the start you only have the option of playing bacteria and unlock the later types of diseases by completing a play as the previous disease. You unlock the virus by winning as the bacteria, and unlock the fungus by winning as the virus, etc. This doesn't take away from the game for myself, it makes it much easier to start and get into this strategy game as you have such limited options at the beginning.
For each win, you not only unlock a new type, you also unlock genes for each of your diseases and this allows you to customise your diseases more to make them better in certain situations. For example, you can unlock genes which allows you disease to thrive better in cold climates or improves transmission by air.

There are 4 difficulty levels for the game; easy, normal, hard and brutal. At the time of playing I have only selected normal, though it is nice to see there are harder difficulties for more experienced strategy players or those who are looking for a challenge. It is also clear to understand what will happen on the different difficulties and it makes it much easier to find the level which suits you.

Once in the game you have access to a world map and you can select which country in the world you would like to launch your newly created weak disease. To help you decide where you would like start incubating, each country has some symbols when selected which will tell you how wealthy the country is, what the climate is and which borders are open.
Now that you are released into the world, you can monitor which countries are infected, how many people in the world are infected, how many have died and how far along the cure is. You even get fabulous news updates which will help you keep an eye on what events are happening and anything you can exploit to spread further and faster around the globe.

As you infect more people you harvest DNA points to use for evolving, you can boost how you spread around the world (transmission) or your abilities to survive in different parts of the world. In addition you can select your symptoms which can both increase how you spread between people and how deadly you are.
The great part is different combinations of symptoms can create some hilarious results, which help you and hinder the humans as they fight against you. And make no mistake, they will try to fight back and develop a cure. You can mutate and break the cure bottles to slow them down as they try to overcome you, alternatively you can get the dlc and play as the humans creating a cure and figuring out how to triumph over this new plague wrecking havoc all over the globe.

Overall, this is chill strategy game you can pick up and have a run, with no need to invest many hours in a play through to achieve your goal. A great entry level strategy game for those who are either new to the genre or are like myself and want something more casual.

Such a great visual improvement upon the original game. The world is more vibrant and detailed, no longer does the world feel a sparse in places and is now teeming with life. Even something as simple as the roads are rich with plants and cobblestones, they no longer have that slightly unfinished feel to them.
This very much seems to be the vision Bethesda had for this game, now fully realised.

I love the additions of extra content in the form of fishing and survival mode. The additional challenge of managing your basic needs whilst adventuring adds a new layer for management if that is your thing - making sure you have enough food and sleep, but also not too much inventory that you don't become over-encumbered and suffer stamina drain.
It is good see aspects of the game which we super easy to ignore have a greater importance if the players choose, rather than easily becoming overlooked game mechanics. You have to plan your travels, as you no longer have fast travel in survival mode, and think about combat a lot more (even on the lower difficulties) - can you afford to fight everything in the dungeon and carry everything back out?
Do you have enough energy? As feeling too tired will slowly cause all your magicka to drain and the screen to get more blurry as time passes. Carrying too much makes you feel tired quicker, can you get back to a rest point/ shop in a reasonable time? This level of planning is brilliant and I really enjoy having it as an additional option to the game!

Do you like money? Do you like puns? and Do you these things combined?
Well then, this is the perfect idle clicker game for you. Powered by puns, the aim of the game is to make so much money you break Earth Capitalism itself and need to setup elsewhere in the Galaxy.

As an idle clicker game, it is designed to be played in bursts and left to tick over until you are ready to come back to playing. You start on Earth and have 8 stalls you need to level up, more stall more money. Nice, simple and powered by puns. You can buy managers after a while, who will run the stall for you and saves you having to be there to click. In addition, you gain external angel investors who will boost your profits and take your cash pile to new heights.
It is a fun game, though it is incredibly snowbally in terms of mechanics. The first few days will take a long time to start building up enough money to buying the upgrades and managers, but once you reset it becomes easier to reach where you last reset. Until you can achieve where you started in a few minutes and soon you will be able to access new places and more puns!

It is a fun idle game, which is pun-centric and makes it pun-tastic in my opinion. There are also regular events to keep changing things up and offering something new to do, but don't break the game as it is competitive with other players.
Honestly, if you want a tongue-in-cheek game which you can pick up and put down at your leisure then this is for you.

Horror and romance combined, what is not to love?

This is a short, introductory visual novel about an obsession with getting a kiss from a being seen in your dreams. A year has been dedicated to achieving a smooch, the problem is the being is an Elder God who needs summoning to this reality and you need a certain book to carry out the spell.
The novel starts with you receiving the Necronomicon - pink, embossed in leather and looking distinctly like a diary. Then requires you to work through some occult rituals to reach your prize.

The visuals are good; an anime style with a fair amount of pink in the aesthetics. The room is not too bad, though the perspective is not the best. It is a minor ♥♥♥♥♥♥ and is easily overlooked as this can be completed in 30 minutes. Especially when you account for the character design and the attention to detail in the items you can find in the room. The creator definitely has talent and you can see the improvement if you check out the full game - Sucker for Love: First Date.
The voice acting of the Eldritch being is good, some of the lines remind me of Monica from Doki Doki Literature Club. It is a nice source of inspiration and really adds to the mix of horror and romance. Though this is definitely a distinct experience.
The interface is simple, easy to use and intuitive. You can navigate through the story easily and perform the rituals required with little difficulty. The only thing to keep in mind is not rushing through the chanting.

A pink, cute and whirlwind romance which results in the destruction of humanity and probably end of reality. It is fun combination of Lovecraftian horror, comedy, romance and tentacles. Does what it says on the tin and is a worth a play.

I loved this game so much, I actually have another 100 hours on top of this, which aren't added as I played offline. It says a lot about the game when I pre-ordered it, instead of waiting for the game to come out and buying when it is cheaper or on a Steam sale - like I usually do.

I was not let down by the hype I had at all; Skyrim is a fantastic addition to the Elder Scrolls series, a whole region of Tamriel loving and painstakingly developed, and references to the other regions can be found. The world building is so beautiful; there is so much detail in the factions, races, religion, regions and the politics of Skyrim. It is inspiring to see and I adore all the books, scrolls and writings throughout the game - it adds such a life and history to the game which makes my world building heart sing, especially the use of Roman and Viking history to flesh out the world. It also reminds me so much of why I fell in love with RPG games in the first place.
In summary: Skyrim is a region of Tamriel which is currently on the edge of war with the Third Empire, specifically a civil war between the Imperials and the native Nords. The nine different holds are each run by a Jarl, whom has to pick a side in this war and try to protect their people at the same time. Into this rich and vibrant world, on the brink of violence, you find yourself on the way to the chopping block due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. To make matters much, much worse dragons are now roaming Skyrim once more, led by Alduin the Nordic God of Destruction.

The character creation is nicely slotted into the opening sequence of the game, though the fact you can't skip the prologue and to straight to character creation is a bit of an annoyance. The sequence is on the longer side and does get a bit tedious after the first couple of plays. Once in character creation, you have a variety of races to chose from and options for customising your character's face and body. You can easily spend a good 30 minutes tweaking your character to make it just right, I certainly know I did.
Each race has its own perks and boosts to stats, though you don't appear to be limited in skills as they level up through use. This use of skills enables you to level up your character and increase either your health, stamina or magicka. It is nice to see the stats and skill trees are simple, as you do have a fair few skill trees which you can level up. The introduction of making skills legendary and you can level them up again to go past the previous maximum cap of 50 is nice, you can reset your build if you don't like the one you have levelled up or just fancy a change in play style.

Once in the game, you have a nice and quick tutorial which will take you to the first settlement, then from there it is easy enough to run around and do what you would like in the world. The fairly empty map will soon fill up as you explore Skyrim; you are certainly encouraged not to fast travel and are well rewarded for doing the long trek, with many caves, forts, camps, lairs and settlements to be discovered. You can only fast travel to a location once it has been discovered, but going near the area will bring up a symbol on your map to help you make your way back to it at a later date.
This is a great feature, though your map does soon get overwhelming and I don't think there is a way to toggle between which kinds of symbols you wish to see on the map. though the games has fantastic number of mods and there could be one in the Steam Workshop. It is handy as a lot of these places are related to the hundreds of side quests this game has, and the guild quest lines. You can easily fast travel back to the location to complete these quests and once you have done everything in the location a little note saying cleared will appear underneath. A handy note so you don't have to remember if you have done everything in the place or note, especially as there are so many locations!

The variety between the Main quests, guild quests and side quests is good, though can get a bit repetitive after a while. There is often a fair bit of travelling involved and while a horse can help, it still can be a pain to spend a lot of time travelling too and from the quest site. The Steam Workshop is great for this, as people have made so many innovative quests. My favourite is The Forgotten City mod, as it adds a fabulous time travel murder mystery to Skyrim.
All the dlc adds something great to this game, being able to build your own house and furnishing it to suit your tastes, plus the inclusion of a vampire/ vampire hunter quest line and a whole new region to explore near Morrowind. Gives you enough to keep coming back and playing without feeling like not much new was added. I like the options for where you can build your house and the fact you can display items encourages you to hunt for unique items.

The sound track for this game is mind blowing, it moves between intense and soothing so easily as you traverse the world, and gives a greats heads up for when an enemy is rushing towards you. It is so easy to get lost in this game as the music is captivating, I even have used it to get work done as the songs are that engaging.

Overall, definitely a game to play!

Getting around to this game was a bit of a rollercoaster: first I was excited when I saw the trailer back in December 2019, then I was sad it got delayed, then League of Legends had the Sentinels of Light Event which borked so much lore I never wanted to give Riot my money, finally T B Syken did a Let's Play on his channel and I was super excited to get this game all over again.

The intro trailer, with a mixed of 2d art and animation, sets the scene who what happened on the Blessed Isles (now Shadow Isles) and how the impact of what happened then can be seen in the present. The story begins on the neighbour of the Shadow Isles, the city of Bilgewater within the Serpent Isles. Sarah Fortune, the current ruler of the city, is facing conflict from rival pirate captains, whilst Illaoi, a local priestess, is carrying out her duties in the city and dealing with those who are causing problems. Both of which soon have the Black Mist from the Shadow Isles causing them problems, which they need to sort out, and on the way encounter others who can aid them: Braum, Yasuo, Ahri and Pyke.
What is great about this, is how following the initial stories of these 2 ladies forms the tutorial for the game. I feel this is not done in an intrusive way and it clearly sets up the game play without feeling like a section of game you could skip. I also like the way it introduces you to Bilgewater and establishes what it is like to live in such a dog eat dog city. I like that you explore the locations in an isometric view and switch to a tactical team fighting view when you encounter combat; you can get an impressive view of the environment when wandering around and then when in combat you can just focus on the fighting.

Mechanically, at first it appears like a standard RPG game. Walk around, interact with objects to get loot, get loot and crafting materials after combat, compare items to improve your character, gain xp points to level up and upgrade your characters abilities. What they have done to keep this fresh is you only have 2 options per level for upgrading you abilities, so you modify the character for your play style, but you also create the team comp around that too. They did a great job in taking the abilities from the League of Legends game and translating them into a different format. I like how they branched out and added to the 4 abilities from the game in order to give you more combat options. I appreciate the nod to items in the League of Legends game making there way into items in this game, it is pretty neat.
What really brings a fresh take to the tactical fighting is the 3 options for 'lane' abilities - you either cast fast for lower damage, equal speed and damage, or slower but more damage. In addition to this, the area has zones which can be good or bad for you, or enemies have certain abilities which mean certain 'lanes' are better against them. Adding more tactics to the combat, as you have to manage note just the enemies but also the environment at the same time.
I also like how you get side quests from buying 'rumours', on top of the usual talk to npcs. It is a different take on the side quest process and fits with the city, plus I think it makes the side quests more manageable as you purchase them when you want them. Plus there are optional bounties which are fun to fight.
The map definitely comes in handy when exploring, there were a couple of times I almost ran past stuff because they were tucked away. I do like the addition of a scan, it lefts you notice the less obvious things you can interact with or is useful when you want to double check you have everything.
The key thing I like is the fact xp points are shared across your party, even those you aren't using. It doesn't penalise you for having to use a certain characters in the main quest line and means you can switch between them as you wish - instead of being tied to a group by levelling.

The art is so amazing! I love how stylistic the 2d cutscenes are, plus the portraits for the characters when they talk is so detailed. Everything about them says so much about who the characters are with how they stand, dress and accessories. I love how they took all that detail and put it in the character models, they put effort into giving them different walking and sprinting animations, which really goes give a sense of weight to the larger characters and a sprightliness to the more agile ones.
Also, OMFG the Poros are so cute!!!!! I want to cuddle one.
Anyway, the 3d models and animations are so well done. Especially when they are both combined with 2d art, the cinematics are so good. The attention to detail in the models and scenery is fantastic, it is nice to see how much effort went into breathing life in the world. The way the lights sway in the wind, the changing time of day and the people actually casting their fishing lines is brilliant.

A surprise prologue episode for the Dysfunctional systems series, which seems to have come out of nowhere and is an attempt to give some backstory to Winter Harrison from Episode 1.
After a fully funded Kickstarter, the series was cancelled in 2015, so when I saw this on Steam I decided to give it a purchase as I enjoyed the first episode. I don't think disappointment even begins to cover this brief and tedious visual novel.

This game was created to attempt world building for the Dysfunctional systems series, however most of the game is sub-par in comparison to the previous release. The plot is joining Winter Harrison for her first week at Mediator school, the classes she attends and the people she meets.
It took me 81 minutes to complete this and in all honesty it felt much longer with how dull, monotonous and repetitive the story was. I appreciate the first 3 days of a new school a teen attends might not be the most thrilling on plot starts, however the most interesting thing about the episode is left toward to end and as quickly as the twist arrives, it is dashed with a rug pull end of episode screen looms over you.

In all honesty, most of the episode is a major downgrade from the previous episode; the writing quality, characters, art and soundtrack have dropped across the board. In terms of art, there is a moment at the beginning in the car ride to the school where you can see the talent of the artists behind them, but the rest of the art (until the woodland background during a run) looks to be nothing more than typical 'anime' style characters instead of the loving crafted semi-realistic characters we saw in the first episode.
The music is a continuous soundtrack throughout most of the game, with the odd addition of footsteps or world interaction - completely different again and gives the impression of a side project instead of a game the developers were truly hoping to make.
The writing doesn't even pass as world building; it is more akin to a dry info dump on the reader and they have to subject themselves to a lack of personality for the characters. A 180 from the impression of them we had built up on from Episode 1, and the supporting characters who were introduced as part of this prologue are most bland and unforgettable - the one exception is Margret and I am disappointed we didn't get to spend more time with her.

As much as I hated not recommending Episode 1, I would wholeheartedly tell everyone to avoid this instalment in the series. It is not worth the money and feels like a side creation in an attempt to appease the people who backed the Kickstarter - I do hope whatever project Dischan Media is working on will receive the full love and attention the first Episode received and they will return to top form soon.

I have missed the intro music to this game, such a beautiful theme and it almost feels like a cold welcome (as welcome as the eerie notes will allow) as we enter into The Room 4 and follow a new character on their puzzle filled quest for strange and mysterious The Null.

Set in London, and your employer has sent you to the manor of Waldegrave estate. You have been instructed to search the home of ambitious engineer Mr Edward Lockwood and his high society wife artist Abigail Lockwood nee Waldegrave, whom he scandalously married, for they have disappeared under mysterious circumstances related to the Null. Armed with a briefcase containing notes about the couple's history and a floor plan of the manor, you clamber up the stairs to the attic on a dark and dreary November night - the rain pattering above your head in an unyielding rhythm, as the thunderstorm outside drones on.
Surrounded my dust and belongings, lurking in the dark is a strange shape which seems to be obscuring something significant upon a table. With a flick of the switch on the floodlight and you are beholden to a giant peculiar looking dollhouse resting upon the table, which seems to be waiting for you to explore its many puzzles and discover the secrets within.

The intricate mechanics from The Room 3 are once more here, though the camera seems to move a lot more seamlessly and the developers have updated the look of the eyeglass you use. The game remains as complex as ever, though instead of moving between locations as you did in the second and third games, you are in the attic and diving deep into the many layers of dollhouse. I really like how this seems to have come circle, back the the first Room game where you were only in an attic. The tutorial is generous, though potentially a little bit too long
As always, the rooms require you to move around to different locations to complete a puzzle in order to progress to the next stage of of another larger puzzle. It is rewarding when a bit you noticed earlier comes into play and you can solve the task at hand, it helps make the puzzles quicker to complete however the game is forgiving and if a rummage around the scenery doesn't help then the hints will.

They have amped up the Lovecraftian aesthetics to this game, it was more of an ominous underlying inspiration in the first three games - artfully giving cosmic horror hints and they are here in full force. I believe this is due to the previous games setting the stage for what a mechanical puzzle laden Victorian London setting would truly be, combined with The Null appearing to be a re-occurring element in a way Lovecraft's Necronomicon does in his mythos. Generous helpings of horror litter the house and generate an oppressive atmosphere to the game.
The developers spare no detail and every room is loving craft with care and attention - the strewn papers around the Study, the blazing fire in the Foyer and even the meats and herbs hanging around the kitchen. I enjoyed the nod to the previous games by bringing in locations we have visited in previous games in to the puzzle and the use of smoking books, themed to the rooms you visit, a clever way to both tell the story of the married couple and add another sinister layer to the game. The different colours of ink are a handy way to keep track of who's perspective you are reading from.

The sound design is fantastic as always; the creepy background sound creates a slightly oppressive atmosphere as you explore the dollhouse, with creaks and squeaks as you open doors and turn metal levers. The sounds used are realistic, I didn't even realise it was raining outside at the time of writing this as it blended in well with the game.
I like the hollow sounds as you enter into a room in the model house, it reminds me of a slightly unsettling door bell and the second notes is lower than the first representing you going down. As there are puzzles within puzzles, it is a nice touch the old sounds from Room 3 have been brought back when you are entering into the smallest of puzzles.

This is the best game yet in the series and I adore all the work they have put into this game; the level of details in each room and how well crafted the puzzles are. I am hooked by this new story into The Null and the people who are after it, I am hoping if there is another game there might be a mention of A.S and the character you played in the previous three games. I am also wondering if they were employed by this organisation and if there is a link to the mysterious Craftsmen.

Highly recommend this, definitely give it a whirl even if you have not played any of the previous games!

From TellTale Games, is the episodic detective noir investigation game The Wolf Among Us, based upon the comic book series Fables. As you would expect from a comic published by DC's Vertigo it is dark and gritty, and certainly not the gentile fairy tales you might know - it certainly has an adult rating for a reason.

You spend the game as 'Bigby' Wolf, Sheriff of Fabletown and tasked with trying to protect the Fables from the 'Mundies' (humans) and themselves - no easy feat and made all the more challenging by many of the Fables blatantly disliking Bigby. Add in sarcasm, short-temper, foul mouth and a constant war with his monstrous nature, and you have an intelligent and pragmatic man who can be symptomatic or remorseless, whilst being blunt and cynical at the situation he is in.
Said situation is you and many other Fables went on an Exodus from the Homelands and have lived many centuries in the mundane world. Life is difficult for all, in 1980s New York, and is about to be rocked harder with the death on an unknown Fable. Throughout the episodes, Bigby is to investigate the situation to find who killed her and why, descending ever so slowly down into the harsh world most Fables are scrapping by in.

As expected of a TellTale game, you walk around and explore the world by clicking on highlighted points and choosing what you do with them, or you complete a series of quick time events to progress the story. Whilst the game says choices matter, they don't seem to matter as much as you would think here - the game will tell its story regardless of what you pick, and the dialogue choices seem to more determine if Bigby can start to gain a bit of trust from his fellow Fables or if he remains the cruel being they all fear.
Either way I thoroughly enjoyed the narrative and had great fun playing a reluctant anti-hero bordering on out right villain. It was interesting to see how people reacted to you following your nature. It was also nice touch that depending on the choices you made you could unlock a bit more backstory about the Fables you encountered.

The art gives away this is a TellTale game straight away, the characters are in the Borderlands art style (not sure what it is called, only it is not cel-shading) and has a slightly desaturated colour palette to build the gritty noir environment you will be playing in. The pops of vibrant colour in the night lighting add to the seediness of the world you are about to step into.
The character designs show who the characters are clearly, and you can still see the essence of who they are, even though they are having to dress and fit in with the humans living in New York. These little touches really bring the characters to life and you can feel how lost and confused they are at having to hide who they are and are no longer living the lives they once knew.

I would highly recommend this game; I was definitely gripped by the sinister story and wanted to learn so much more about these much dark tales of the Fable characters. It really reminds me of the Grimm's Fairy Tales I read as a child, not the sanitised Disney versions and am delighted to play through a drama fuelled, noir style detective game.