Recent reviews by VidNinja

A fresh, yet familiar new experience in the Darkest Dungeon universe. Lost a little bit is the initial charm of the first game, and the new roguelike mechanics may not be for everyone, but this new entry is still a chilling, unique "one-more-run" experience that looks and sounds fantastic and challenges players of all skill levels to conquer it's dark, twisted quests.

This fourth outing in The Room series takes the lessons from the previous game and sands down the edges into a more polished product that's as beautiful and eerie to experience as any of its predecessors. The dollhouse is a fantastic aesthetic choice to build a series of puzzle rooms into as well as a overall game-length puzzle box out of. It lead to far more joyous "ah ha" moments than I think I experienced in any of the previous games as clues for each room could be scattered and discovered throughout each of the other rooms already explored. The mechanic of locking off completed rooms was also a brilliant choice to avoid redundant backtracking. These games have only gotten better, and I'm eager for the next four in the series!

Continuing to widen the variety of puzzle settings and mechanics all while tying the various "stages" together with an game length puzzle-box setting. Brilliant choice that suits this latest entry well. The inclusion of extra bonus puzzles that lead to different endings is a refreshing new spin on the series. And being able to hunt for these additional challenges after completing the main game without having to start it over was a mercifully wise decision.

Second verse, same as the first, but now with a little more variety in the settings. The different themed puzzle rooms feel a little disjointed but luckily the art design and atmosphere remains at peak quality! Expanded lore for those already engrossed in the mythos of the series!

A brilliant and humble start to what will hopefully be an ongoing franchise that will span dozens of sequels! Charmingly beautiful yet hauntingly dark atmosphere, a generous but non-intrusive hint system, and fantastic brain-exercising puzzles. Top marks. Can't wait to devour the rest!

Wow. The developers of this game have quite the set of game design/storytelling cojones! Intense. PITCH dark. And kind of amazing! Got under my skin, like only my fav kind of horror games can! Bravo!

Well... It's good. Not great.

Amazing sense of style in terms of the art/character design and soundtrack. (Though the SFXs get obnoxious at times, footsteps in particular).

The Majora's Mask Murder Mystery gameplay mechanic is quirky and refreshing and worth a look. Doesn't wear it out its welcome either (4-6 hours to finish)

The controls are paradoxically not as smooth as they could be, and likely better suited to a controller. (Seriously, right-click-and-hold to move, left click to interact, and a keyboard button to spy through a door? Dafuq?)

Very little challenge in the game outside some obtuse puzzle logic. (The only actual "threat" in the game can literally be pushed aside and ignored with next to no effort).

Story compliments the art design and is similarly stylish but drones on with WAY too much dialog heavy exposition at the end, and you'll see the narrative "tricks" it attempts coming a mile away.

Very little replay value. The additional collectables are a pointless scavenger hunt that pays off with a lackluster alternative ending.

It's on sale for $15 during the Steam Summer sale right now but honestly I'd wait until you could find it for 10$ or less if you feel like trying it out at all.

The gold standard for helpless first-person horror, this game does atmosphere almost better than anything else in the horror genre.

Explore a creepy old castle late at night with no idea who you are or what's going on. All you have to defend yourself is a lantern that can turn out to be your worse enemy once you start to encounter some of the other... things... lurking in the shadows.

Will you stick to the lit hallways in an effort to maintain your steadily dwindling sanity, or will you brave the darkened corners and hidden hallways in order to avoid being seen by the evil creatures who are hunting you down?

A hammy 3rd person horror-ish action game that's a giant bear hug to fans of horror writers like Stephen King, the game itself is not without its charms, but is bogged down by less than stellar gunplay/driving sections and embarrassingly ludicrous writing and dialog.

Dated by today's gaming standards in both technical and creative aspects, this one is probably only worth scooping up on sale if you haven't played it in years and want to revisit it.

Rarely will you find such a magnificent translation of a board game into the video game format. Armello streamlines a lot of the usual rules-crunching required for in-depth board game play, leaving the players of this 4-player king-of-the-hill skirmish with only the task of figuring out the best way to achieve one of the many victory states before the other players do.

Wrapped in the aesthetic of what amounts to Game Of Thrones crossed with Disney's Robin Hood, Armello makes for a wonderful competitive 4-player experience. WIth a variety of player characters to choose from, each with their own strengths and challenges, there's something in this game for every kind of player. Whether you choose the combat-centered wolf clan or the sneaky, backstabbing rat clan, there's no doubt that your playstyle will be catered to by the numerous options available to every character.

Whether it's with friends, with strangers online or even on your own, the game is easy enough to dive into for single hour sessions at a time, and there are a lot of unlockable trinkets that spice up the gameplay to be earned the more matches you play. (Not win... just play!)

About the only criticism I personally have with the game is that sometimes victory can often be decided by a single roll of the dice, negating a whole game's worth of effort in one turn. Luckily this is a two-way streak, as I've often won rounds of this game completely unintentionally simply by sitting idly by and watching the dice toll out defeat for my rivals for me.

You'll be hard pressed to find very many more video games that pull off what Armello is trying to do: bringing the multiplayer board game experience into the versatile mutiplayer landscape of Steam and online gaming! Don't miss it!