Recent reviews by Delco

I was late to the Myst franchise party - having first played both Myst and Riven within the last decade or so. I may lack the nostalgia factor, but I can't understate how much I've come to admire the passion that Cyan puts into rebuilding their old classics through a modern lens.

Riven's puzzles are notoriously difficult, and I have no shame in admitting I needed a guide for my initial playthrough of the 1997 version (I simply lack the puzzle-solving chops that some folks have). That being said, this in no way detracted from my appreciation of the world building and exquisite atmosphere presented in the 1997 version. I've come to love the lore of this franchise, it ranks highly as one of my favorite fictional worlds.

As for the remake - it's clear that a great deal of thought was put into how best to translate these old puzzles to a real-time format, unrestrained by point-and-click navigation and fixed perspectives. Some things are simplified, some are COMPLETELY different - some of these changes are controversial, others are clearly necessary to accommodate the new playstyle, including VR! I played the whole remake using my Valve Index, and I must say - Cyan is one of the few companies that truly *gets* VR design. It's evident throughout Riven that they considered how well these mechanisms and landscapes would function under the context of VR. This is accomplished impressively while retaining the familiar yet otherworldly visual style of the original. As I streamed the game to my friends, they can attest to my excitement when I encountered a familiar area that had been totally revamped - there were multiple points where I was absolutely blown away.

FMV characters are gone, replaced by mocapped 3D models. Many have criticized this, but I understand that it was simply necessary with the real-time format with the ability to be viewed in VR, it "comes with the territory", as they say. Despite that, barring some weirdness, the characters are some of the more impressively captured and rendered characters I've seen from an indie studio.

Avoiding more spoiler-y topics, I will wrap up my long winded review here.

This is not the same Riven from 1997. It is a new, refreshed experience put together by a very talented team who clearly loves the source material from which they worked. This is a worthy remake of an all-time classic, with enough new content and lore to provide a fresh experience for existing fans, while retaining enough complexity and intrigue to once again stump a new generation of fans.

I am not great at writing long reviews, but I need to at least write a few words about how much I love this game.

It could very well be one of, if not my single favorite game of all-time. Read nothing, just play it. You know the drill, haha.

An incredible remake of this classic. It's an amazing feeling to see these worlds in-person through VR.

A masterpiece in puzzle/mystery games. Very few games have given me the same feeling of cleverness that this game did, it will always remain among the most memorable games in recent years for me.

Brush up on your sailing terminology, put on your thinking cap, and play this game, you'll be glad you did.

I doubt I need to add to the pile of positive reviews to convince whoever may be reading this to buy the darn game and play it. But holy mackerel, this is it, they've done it.

That's all I have to say, they've done it, and I wish Valve the best of luck in their future endeavors with VR, they certainly know how to go about it.

Pistol Whip puts you in the shoes of Neo or John Wick (I'm noticing a certain trend in that aspect, hehe) and it feels absolutely incredible. The freestyle nature adds tons of replayability to the levels, you don't have a set enemy for each beat, you are presented with a group of targets; you create your very own choreography for a high-octane action sequence.

This game is my favorite VR game of 2019, maybe even my personal GOTY, and with new scenes on the way, I'm going to recommend this game at it's full price.

Absolutely 100% a worthy sequel to Job Simulator, Owlchemy Labs amazes me with the level of polish they put on their games! The amount of content easily justifies the price, this is a full game in VR! Definitely a must buy for first time VR users and old VR users alike.

I am now a fan of mechs, thanks to this incredibly well made and detailed game. The VR interaction is something I've always wanted in a cockpit simulation.

I really enjoy stealth games in VR, but there aren't a whole lot out there. Unknightly is great to scratch that itch, I can't wait to see where it goes!