Recent reviews by Eulerian

To me, the puzzles were quite logical/direct and required less lateral thinking this time around (compared to previous entries in the series). So if you felt Between Time was too difficult, you might find Regular Factory more approachable.

Visually, I think I prefer Between Time for having more locales (time travel lab, Mayan temple, alchemy lab, saloon, futuristic lab), in contrast to Regular Factory where most rooms look pretty similar.

The puzzle variety is decent, and nothing stands out to me as unfair, though there is one puzzle partway through that could really stump people who are unfamiliar with a particular type of game.

Overall, I enjoyed Regular Factory. While I don't think this game will appeal as much to enthusiasts looking for a challenge, it's a solid game that will put your observational skills to the test.

I dunno. For a game that's been out for almost 6 years at this point, you'd think that'd be enough time to address major game-breaking issues that several people have complained about.

Not the case - there are so many clipping bugs that I had to restart entire chapters several times. I'd do things like use a crowbar to open a hatch, just for the hatch to spring open and trap the crowbar underneath the floorboards where it could no longer be accessed. At the end of one chapter, I got stuck in a wall which prevented a cutscene from triggering even after teleporting back inside. Another time I'd pick up a key and it would fall through my hand and through the floor.

Light sources are required in order to progress through certain areas, and yet there were no instructions provided for Valve Index users in terms of their necessity or how to even turn them on (you have to press in the analog joystick).

The puzzles are not intuitive. It's mostly "inspect everything until something scary appears out of nowhere." At this point they don't really feel like "puzzles" to me.

The scary bits of this game mainly rely on jumpscares in dark areas, which I think is overdone here. It's fine in moderation, but it's another thing when it's your sole method for making a situation scary.

At first, the story seemed kind of interesting, expressed in what I assumed was metaphor or delusion. But then a sequence near the end of the game dumps a bunch of exposition on you that kills most of the mystery and somehow ends up being a lot less interesting than what the metaphors implied.

By the time I was done with the game, I just felt uncomfortable and fatigued. It wasn't really all that enjoyable, either as a puzzle game or a horror game.

It's a fun (albeit stressful) game that demands a lot of focus, micromanagement, and prioritization. I'm sure all sorts of neat strategies will come through as I play this more.

Though I think this game would be a lot more enjoyable if the task windows would stop spawning over whatever I'm trying to work on. It seems to happen way more often than random chance would dictate. I feel like the difficulty should be in finishing the tasks, rather than making it harder for the player to actually work on the tasks.

If you enjoyed the original Supraland, I think you'll like this one too.

However, it's worth noting that most of it is endgame cleanup. The main story is over before you know it, but you'll only be at 30% completion or so. That remaining 70% comes in the form of hidden treasure chests, collectibles, upgrades, side-missions, etc. In terms of overall game length, it's about half compared to the first game + its DLC (22 vs. 41 hours for me).

Don't let the reduced length fool you, though. The secret areas are tougher to find this time around. It's an impressive feat in terms of level design -- the chests are both everywhere and nowhere!

I thought the narration was great. After a certain point you actually start to see these basic shapes as actual characters with personalities, strengths, and flaws. Probably the main reason to get this game, IMO.

The game's first half is pretty good, but I think it loses its way in the second half. I had been really excited to see how red and green could combine forces to do really cool things, but then we never got anything like that again for the rest of the game. The game's difficulty also levels off around this point, as most puzzles then become a matter of making staircases for the weakest jumpers over and over again. A bunch of new characters get introduced without much exposure to each, so I didn't really develop the same attachment to them as I did the initial set of characters.

Otherwise, it's a pretty neat game - a quick and easy one to try out if you've got a few hours to spare. (I show as 5+ hours but I took two long breaks, this is maybe a 2-3 hour game or so)

Imagine 23 back-to-back rail-rides that have been timed to rhythmic synth-pop music, themed with cyberwave elements from Blade Runner + Tron + Lawnmower Man, and then cranked on LSD.

This game is a trippy, surreal, and incredible experience -- loads of fun. I was consistently blown away by its ability to deliver one creative surprise after another. The level "Parallel Universes" in particular is a brilliant and well-executed idea - you could make a whole game out of that.

The level designs also function as metaphoric backdrops for the game's story. You play as a heartbroken young woman going through various stages of grief and recovery. The story is mostly shown rather than told, so the finer details are more open to interpretation -- but I think if you've ever gone through heartbreak yourself, you'll find that a lot of the story is very relatable.

In terms of game length, it's on the shorter side. If you played each level one time and somehow managed to not die, you'd be done in an hour. But more realistically, factor in deaths and repeated attempts (especially if trying for gold ranks), and the game length multiplies from there. Steam achievements also add some replayability, since many of them are rather specific skill/anti-skill tasks that you probably wouldn't achieve through normal gameplay.

You may find the game a bit overwhelming if you're prone to motion sickness or sensitive to flashing lights, so that's worth keeping in mind before going in.

But all in all, I had a blast. The preview trailer + screenshots don't really do this game justice. Definitely give it a shot!

It's a short, free game complete with block puzzles, demon girls, techno music, and tough boss battles. What's not to love?

Colorful pixel-retro style rhythm puzzler where you redirect colored orbs into switches and doors. There are 51 levels plus 12 bonus.

Most levels are easy, but there are a few tricky ones in there where you'll need to plan ahead and make sure your timing syncs up.

I wish it was longer, but there's a workshop feature if you want more.

The Last Express is one of my favorite games from my childhood. But this version is not the one you should get.

First, the positives:

You play as Robert Cath, an American doctor who secretly boards the Orient Express without a ticket in order to meet with your friend Tyler Whitney, who has called upon you urgently with no further details. To your surprise, you find that Tyler has been murdered in his compartment. Assuming Tyler's identity, you embark on this crazy mystery/adventure to figure out what on earth is going on and how you plan to deal with the situation at hand. This game operates in real time, where things unfold whether you're ready or not -- and the plot will change depending on what you do or don't do. You'll be finding ways to sneak into people's compartments, eavesdropping on conversations, and occasionally getting into fights. The train itself was designed based on an actual sleeping car Jordan Mechner found through a network of train buffs (the same kind of car used in the Orient Express), just sitting there abandoned on some train tracks in Athens.

The end result is a very fun and immersive adventure game with unique mechanics and a memorable story. Unfortunately, it wasn't a financial success at the time despite receiving glowing reviews from those who played it. Broderbund's marketing team quit in the weeks prior to the game's release, so very little was done to actually promote it. The game sat on shelves and quietly disappeared a few months later. But for those who played it back then, it was really something else - one of the best adventure games out there.

So on the one hand, it's great that this game can now be experienced on Steam.

On the other hand... there are a lot of negatives with this "Gold Edition":

This version of the game has a clunky UI forced over everything, adding an unnecessary hint system that spoils the plot and tells you exactly what to do. Obnoxious popups clutter the screen. Tutorial popups can be disabled, but bio unlocks and achievement unlocks are there to stay. The hint system itself is occasionally bugged. There were times where I'd randomly click it to see what it'd say - and despite being further along in the game, sometimes it would tell me to do something that already occurred way earlier on (such as meeting up with Tyler). Sometimes the hint bubbles would just be completely empty. The whole thing is unpolished and buggy.

Various sound files are missing, such as the sounds of the train and wind when you're either on the train roof or when you open your window. Certain subtitles are also missing, such as when you pull into a new station. They also got rid of the scene at the very end of the game with the cool music and the changing map of Europe over time.

Movement is bugged. Sometimes the engine will interpret a single click as several clicks, forcing you to overshoot your intended destination. The turnaround zone is inconsistent and often shifted incorrectly, resulting in a frustrating experience of turning around when you're trying to move forward. The cursor will occasionally bug out and get stuck on a particular sprite, and it won't resolve itself unless you restart the game.

Fight scenes have had unnecessary slowdown added during moments where you need to attack or interact with the assailant. The cutscene skip button is an unnecessary addition that doesn't work half the time, and occasionally the screen will be locked when you exit a cutscene.

The main menu is supposed to have a clock where you can move forward and backward through time by holding down the mouse button on two gems -- this has been disabled. You instead have to use dedicated backward/forward buttons that only function with individual clicks, so rewinding time becomes a chore of multi-clicking. Normally you're allowed to "buy time" in a temporarily-rewound state by right-clicking the glowing corner icon. This feature has now been disabled with no alternative button to satisfy the same function, so if you wanted to explore an alternate version of events, you only have so much time to do it - which means you either have to exit the game early or let that timeline become permanent.

The Last Express is a lovely game, but this version is a mess that wasn't tested at all. The devs stopped commenting in the discussion forums sometime in 2014, so it is unlikely that they plan to fix all the various bugs that people have been asking about for some 7-8 years now.

The only real reason to buy this game is if you want the achievements, but even then, there isn't much to them. Most achievements come naturally from playing the game and interacting with things. There is an achievement called "101 Ways To Die," but most of the deaths in this game don't actually count towards its completion. Meanwhile, many of the obviously-losing endings that you'd assume would count still don't. In the end, there's maybe 12-13 losing endings that matter, and they're totally arbitrary. There's no rhyme or reason behind it.

If you want to play a proper version of this game, get the GOG version, which is just DOSBox over the original game. You'll have to mess with your resolution settings a bit, but that version is free of issues and plays just like it did in the 90's.

Wow! It's Mega Man, modernized. The stages look great, the graphics are colorful, the music is super catchy, every weapon is a delight to use, the bosses are interesting, and now you actually have a compelling reason to use the boss weapons in-stage.

The Double Gear system is also fun and intuitive. You can temporarily increase your power or your speed (or both!) at the expense of burning out afterward if you overload. Note that the bosses have this system too. Things are a lot more strategic this time around. It's a definite improvement on the old Mega Man formula.

However, if that isn't your bag, you can technically still play it safe by just stocking up on E-tanks and spamming everyone to death. The game does let you do that if that's all you want. The "Superhero mode" (hard mode) is also a little broken in that you end up with more bolts (currency) than you know what to do with, which ends up making the game easier due to your ability to max out all your tanks and equipment each stage. Some may see all these "easy-making" workarounds as a plus, while others may see it as a flaw in trying to be too accommodating -- an unwillingness to enforce a particular style of gameplay/difficulty.

For you achievement hunters out there, this will take maybe 4+ playthroughs. I did a Normal-mode run for most of the game-related achievements, a Casual-mode run for the no-item + buster-only achievements, a Superhero-mode run, and a Normal-mode sub-60 speedrun. At least one of these runs needs to have no game-overs if you want to snag that achievement too. There are also extra challenges for earning medals, including a rather difficult 30-stage gauntlet (Dr. Light's Trial).

I enjoyed this game a lot, and it inspires a lot of confidence in the future of the series. This is a must-play for any fan of Mega Man in general.