Recent reviews by BaronessRomanova

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.

With the lockdown due to the pandemic, and no way to meet in person, I was recommended this game by my friends as a way to keep playing board games together.
When you pick up this game you have access to classic games such as chess, poker, dominoes, jigsaws and mahjong. In addition there are already a bunch of games you can purchase as dlc to play with others.

What really makes this phenomenal is the Workshop section, where there are hundred of games you can subscribe to and play for free. On top of this, many people have created scripted variations of games in order to allow them to run more efficiently, and they have translated them into other languages to make them accessible globally. Thousands of hours of work has gone into the workshop section to virtually build already existing games, and there is also the option for you to create your own games if you either want to bring your own ideas to life or recreate a game which is not currently in the Workshop.

You can either host your own game, publicly or privately, or create your own game for people to play. The table size is huge, so you can play board games which have lots of expansions and there is a generous maximum number of players - 10.
The lighting is good, which makes it easy to see the board and all the pieces and or cards easily. The zoom function works well, and you also are able to rotate your camera the full 360 degrees, giving you fluid navigation of the board and can clearly keep track of what is happening in your games.

I have both enjoyed being able to play old games which I played years ago and have great appreciation and respect for everyone who had given so much in to create all the Workshop content. It is definitely a great purchase and you will get oodles of hours entertainment out of this.

I saw Stupendium's video Vending Machine of Love on YouTube and decided to pick this up after hearing a witty and pun intensive theme song, full of sexual references and parodying OnlyFans. He looked like he was having a blast making the song and video, not taking it too seriously and figured this game would be just the same....................
Wow, holy moly what did I just play? Dark comedy indeed. Over the top and not taking itself too seriously, check. Packed full of well crafted lore and interesting social commentary, check. Definitely earned the mature rating!

The premise is golden; the corporation Shize LLC has decided to release every single version of soft drink they have created, as part of their Heritage 2020 Collection to honor the creator family Shize.
You, unnamed customer, will have access to the drinks and be able to catalogue and consumer them at your leisure. These beautiful, flirty and sometimes outrageous cans are waiting for the you snap (erotic) photos and spray them with water, and will give you feedback during your private session.
As a reminder, this is about soft drinks and nothing else - get your mind out of the gutter.

In all seriousness, this brilliant game is a jarring experience as you journey though the cognitive dissonance of extremely sexualising an highly unsexual object - a soda can.
In the Thirst Date section, each can is comes with corporate branding and blurb, detailing some history about the can. At the bottom of the 'profile' there is a likes and dislikes section they have underneath the corporate blurb (highlighting greed, corporate drama and family tragedy) and an About paragraph for the product. It feels like something you might see on a "dating" app, dating show or a pornstar profile (incidentally Drag Queen Jujubee parodies this with her introduction to RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars).
Once in the game, the cans are even more sexualised with a breathy, sometimes coquettish voice. They are adorned in various ways; accessories, lingerie, piercings and various fetishes/ fetish gear. The dialogue is blatant sexually charged and the subtitles show this is not to be taken seriously, as everything is caricatures of a societal demographic . There are definitely moments when I couldn't help but laugh at the puns.

Mechanically, it is a simple rhythm game; you have a short amount of time to 'snap' or 'spray' as per the indication on the screen, the more you click in the 'box', the higher your score and faster the slider moves. The scale starts at F and goes up to an S. Upon 'completion' of each level, the can opens and the liquid inside spills out out all over (accompanied by orgasm sounds), the next can is available for you to try.

This is a phenomenal game which takes a solid aim at both the real-world advertising strategy of sexualising a product to make it seem more appealing, and the commodification of people in a sexual manner though satire (the soda can is a clear stand in for people). I also like the glimpse in the parasocial relationship corporations/ businesses of all sizes have with their customers and followers, it was quite interesting.
If you fancy a game you can complete in under a couple of hours, and don't mind some over the top explicit content, then give this a whirl.

A beautiful, cinematic graphic novel based point and click adventure about climate change and saving the world. Opening with a bang, the cut scene explains how it is the far future and the Earth has been destroyed. In a matter of a few weeks the last remnants of humanity will go extinct and time travel is the only hope of saving everything.

You are Bent Svensson, a retired and jaded scientist who deeply believed his research into blue-green algae would change the world, even save it. In the end, his wife left him and his son has taken over his research - though resents him for spending so much time on his work. He has had most of this lab work taken from him and has a therapist for his workaholism, as it landed him in hospital. Once keep to make a difference about climate change, he has begun to think he is not responsible for the whole world.
That is, until a strange and resourceful young woman arrives at your home. She is claiming to be from the future, saying she needs your help as you research is the only thing which can save humanity from extinction and claims you ARE responsible for the whole world.

This eco-thriller adventure is laid out in a series of chapters; driven by strongly motivated characters as they work through point and click puzzles to advance the plot, as you to learn more about the time travel story you are presented with and to work with the young woman to try and save the future of humanity. Not that it will be an easy feat, given various people have their own reasons for being interested in Bent's research.
Mechanically it is everything you would expect with a point and click adventure; you have to hold the mouse to select options on various items and interact with the world, plus you need to combine items in your inventory to make new ones for various obstacles. As it exists in a 2D format, you need to click to move around in a location or select an arrow to move to a new location. The mouse curser change to make it legible about what you can interact with, which makes it easy to navigate around.

The artwork is in a graphic novel style; with a picturesque backgrounds containing detail and vibrancy, even at night. The characters are drawn and move in an animated style, set apart slightly from the world they interact with and yet fit stylistically with the world around them.
I personally like the use of cut scenes to help drive the story along, and is well balanced with the actual gameplay itself - just enough cinematics to enhance th experience and plenty of puzzles to really make you think. These cut scenes appear panel by panel, as if you were reading a graphic novel, and really fit in well with the game - plus you can really get a feel of who the characters are as they talk free with each other in these scenes.

The voice acting is pretty good; all the lines were delivered well and you got a sense of each characters personality and mood. The only downside is the voices did become a tiny bit repetitive when you have various dialogue options and were trying to work out the right selection or right order in a puzzle, it was also a little stilted at times and broke my immersion at a couple of points.

An action packed point and click, I would definitely recommend if you fancy an afternoon of logical puzzles and a save the world mission.

This dark point and click adventure retains the chose your own adventure style of the previous instalment Disturbed. Set 10 years since the plague was banished from the land by a farmer, who we know is called Von, you follow a man called Gabriel who has been exiled to Greyrock with no memories about his past. The premise of this game is to discover your past and uncover the mysteries surrounding Aramour.

The lore and world building is much better, the map of the previous game has been used as a starting point and more locations to explore have been added. There are a few spelling and grammar mistakes, which gives the impression the game might have been rushed out a little too early, but I do like how a lot more has been added to this world.
Combat has been added and I do like the mechanics behind how it works; the more items you have, the more combat options you have. This adds variety to combat and stops it being too repetitive. I do like how you can gain companions and they help you in combat.
The puzzles are still logical and fairly straight forward, does require a bit of back and forth movements to complete the tasks. The creativity and variety of deaths still exists, something I certainly appreciate, I do like how the multiple deaths merge with the story and help you progress through the story.

The art style is incredibly similar to Disturbed; it uses the same stylistic, black and grey artwork, and certainly highlights the depression and isolation Gabriel is feeling. I personally prefer the art of the previous game as more of the darker greys were used to great a spooky and chilling atmosphere, mostly lighter greys are used and it takes a little bit of the horror edge from the game.
The soft background music is not intrusive, though does much to build a creepy ambience - especially with the the ever present chilling wind. Much of the sound comes from interacting with the world; discovering items, using items, encounters, etc.

Overall it is great buy for the price, there is a lot to explore and a lot of options you can select in your journey around the world. I do think there is not as much horror as the previous game, but there is sill enough horror elements for me to enjoy.

After picking this game up to play with friends, I can honestly say I have had a fun evening with this game after forgetting how much I enjoy social deduction games.

The premise is simple, as with all the social deduction games I have played; as a crew mate you have tasks complete in order to prepare your ship for launch, while impostors attempt to sabotage the departure and kill off the crew. You are randomly assigned a side and are not supposed to speak until either a body is reported, or an emergency meeting is called.
As the crew, your completion of tasks raises the group task bar (important to pay attention to), fix sabotages and find the impostors. Whilst dead, you can still complete your tasks to help your team, though are unable to participate in any discussions.
As an impostor, you have access to the ship vents to help you sneak up on the crew or escape from the crime scene. Should you be ejected from the ship, you are still able to sabotage the ship and help your fellow impostor if there is more than one in a game.

Aesthetically, it is a cohesive and minimalist romp around a tech laden, sparsely decorated ship; bold colours for the characters to contrast against the more muted colours of the ship, making it easier to see what you can access in order to complete your objectives and bringing the gadgets to life. The option of customising your is a fun touch and I appreciate this addition.
Following the spartan theme, the music is kept to the background, focusing on the alerts. It is much easier to have discussions with the minimal noise and it fits with the space theme nicely.

Mechanically simplicity is what makes this game easy to pick, and the banter with other people to find the impostor(s) makes it hard to put down. The two key skills needed for this game is the ability to keep track of what other players are doing (information retention) and being able to make your case. For £4 it is an excellent price for some lighthearted fun with no grinding or high pc requirements, though I suspect it is not as much fun with random people online. There are also 2 additional maps which have been released for free, but I have not played them at the time of writing - I am hoping they will add a nice amount of variety to this game in order to prevent it from becoming too repetitive too quickly.

I would recommend for most people, though the similarity of some colours could be problematic for those who are colourblind or have colour deficiencies. Overall it is simple and effectively executed creation, plus one heck of a fun time with friends! Proof you don't need to have big and complex games in order to have a fantastic time.

Update 15/12/22: Finally tried the new Hide and Seek mode, it is sooo good! The music is replaced with a creepy synth beat, with a base which sort of mimics a heartbeat, putting you on edge as a Crewmate and is tension to revel in as a Imposter stalking the corridors.

There is a timer to this game mode, which can be whittled down faster by doing tasks and there is a detector which lights up as the Imposter gets closer. Your aim as a Crewmate is to survive and hide, using vents in a fun role reversal.
As the Imposter, you start later than everyone else and get to watch yourself transform into a manical killer whilst the crew scatters. You have to find and kill all crew and no vents to help you get about. Once the timer runs out you do get a bonus timer and get signals of where Crewmate are, in a last ditch bid to litter the map with the corpses of all the Crew.

Highly recommend this game mode, it is super fun, tense and a great change of pace from original social deduction game play.

Update 2 22/11/23: Finally got around to the new Fungle map and am enjoying it. The new design is vibrant and the vents being disguised as tunnels is fun. It is an interesting layout which combines elements from the previous maps into a whole new theme, crash landed and stranded in an unknown place.

I picked this game up because I was intrigued to play a story driven puzzle game, as sometimes the story within puzzle games can be quite lacking - more of reason to move between puzzles than a central concept. I can certainly say I was pleased to find a nice prologue to larger game, based on the game ending with a hook for a much larger story and the relationship between grandfather and granddaughter.
The premise is the grandfather has passed and the granddaughter, Sarah, is collecting her things from the house. While poking around, fond memories are touched upon in a whimsical manner.

The few puzzles in are pitched at the right level, challenging enough for a more casual game but with plenty of room to increase difficult as things were to progress in a bigger game. The attention to detail within the puzzles and the game as a whole it lovely to see- the grandfather's writing in cursive and small mementos he has within the attic make his character come to life.
The voice actors fit the characters, with plenty of dialogue for an introduction. The script seems a little stilted, however this is probably because we don't really seen to know much about Sarah and her grandfather at this point- I am sure things will flow much better in the rest of the game and we learn more of their personality.
The music seems to have been carefully selected to bring the setting to life and instil a lighthearted sense of wonder, I anticipate more well selected music in the rest of the game based on the current music choices so far.

I will briefly gloss over the issue I had with getting the game to launch and the achievements to pop; I appreciate this has been created by a small team, so minor glitches might happen. Trivial thing really, but worth mentioning in case others have problems, I would recommend trying to launch the game again as it is definitely worth giving a go.
This could be a well done puzzle adventure game once it is fully complete, there seems to be a lot of potential for exploring different worlds and a variety of puzzles to be created.