Recent reviews by Kiwi

Rain World is one of the most unique games I've ever played; you won't find the same experience in any other game. Seriously, there's nothing else like it. Every aspect of the game: the sound, the art, the gameplay and world design are nothing short of excellent.

I could write an essay on everything I like about Rain World, and in my opinion, the game is virtually flawless (besides a couple bugs here and there). That said, the game is kind of niche; not everyone is going to enjoy it, so rather than rant about how great the game is, I'm going to explain what kind of experience to expect from this game.

The central idea of this game is to simulate an ecosystem that you are actively a part of. All of the creatures interact with each-other, you, and the world as a whole. The AI is quite advanced, for example: each creature has their own opinion of you and will react to how you behave. It is actually quite fun to just watch all the creatures AI interacting with each-other. If you're a fan of emergent gameplay, this game has a LOT of that. Another cool thing about this game is the procedural animations, they're quite impressive and I haven't seen another game attempt them on the scale that Rain World does. They look silly sometimes, but that is a part of the game's charm. The procedural animations combined with the dynamic AI make the game (and ecosystem) feel very alive.

• This is a slow burning game; it requires some patience from the player. You cannot brute force your way through this game; it requires slow and thoughtful decision making, with quick responses to emergent gameplay.
  
• The main gameplay focus of this game is survival before anything else, treat it as such.
  
• You will not always make hard progress; sometimes you will spend an entire cycle just scouting ahead before even attempting to proceed to a new shelter.
  
• You should not be concerned with "beating" an area (getting to the end): rather, you should be concerned about "mastering" the area: learning the specifics, nuances, and layouts of each individual area(In other words, learning how to live in that area!)
  
• This game's progression is primarily player-focused: your character is the same at the end of the game as when they started, but the player will be significantly better than when they started out (In other words, the game requires you to learn and develop your own skills)
  
• The game uses RNG, but your success will rely less and less on it as you get more experienced.
  
• The AI is quite advanced and you should treat it as such; if you are aggressive to a specific creature, it will remember that, it might even tell it's friends. Likewise, if you're nice, the creature will be less aggressive towards you and might even help you!
  
• The controls are not bad, you just suck. I know, I know, that's pretty blunt but it's true; slugcat can be very precise and quick if you actually put in the effort.
  
• Most deaths are your fault; it won't feel that way when you start(trust me I know!), but as you get more experience you will start to agree.

If most of that sounds good to you, then I would highly recommend this game.

Probably the best story I've ever experienced in a videogame. The "monster" parts of the gameplay are kind of lackluster but everything else is done very well. The puzzles are mostly great so it's deffinatly not just a walking sim with monsters. The story is very interesting and will likely leave you thinking about it long after you finish.

If your hesitant to play because you don't like horror, the game is actualy not that scary in a "startling" way. Rather, the game leans much more towards lingering existential horror. It's more of a narrative based game than a horror game but that's fine, it's probably better off this way.

I thought the story was fantastic and I don't normaly like sci-fi that much. It almost baits you into thinking it's very tropey when it's actualy not at all. It's also one of the best examples of a story that works best as a game.

Highly recomended for anyone who enjoys story-driven games

A true return to form! Fans of RE 1-3 will love this game. It's a bit short for $80 (about 8-12 hours depending on your playstyle) but also has good replay value. The story is intriguing and the atmosphere is great. The combat is not the best I have seen in a first person game but is still pretty satisfying and gets the job done. The level design, while not quite as great as the Spencer mansion in REmake, is still pretty damn good and is really fun to explore and traverse. The puzzles are also too easy but they are serviceable.

I really hope Capcom continues this trend with future RE titles.

Dark Souls is a fantastic and unforgettable experience with an immersive world and innovative multiplayer components. Brilliant level design and combat mechanics are what make this game great.

The difficulty in this game is often exaggerated. The game is challenging, but always fair. Whenever you die, its always your fault, not because of some cheap game mechanic. The game is not so much hard as it is punishing. Choosing to give an extra greedy hit against a boss can mean the difference between life and death. Unlike most RPGs, power in this game is more than just a numerical value, actual player skill plays a bigger part. The immersive atmosphere and the feeling of overcoming challenges are great.

This game is the most incredible gaming experience I have ever had. I can remember every moment of my first playthrough, from my naive first steps, to what I felt while the credits rolled. I have never before seen a game with such thought put into it.

However

After spending over 200 hours on the console version of the game, I decided to buy the game on steam. I was disappointed, the PC port is a joke. The graphical settings are extremely lacking, the vanilla game won’t run in full resolution and is capped at 30fps. The store page isn’t kidding when it says that a controller is recommended, the keyboard and mouse controls are horrible. On top of all that, the game uses Games for Windows Live, which doesn’t let you access your save file if you are not connected to the internet. Edit: The game has been ported to steamworks, not sure how this affects the online just yet, but at least you don't have to go through all of the GFWL account nonsense

Fortunately, some of these things can be fixed with mods, DSfix does a great job of fixing most of the problems the PC port has, and DSMfix fixes the problems with the controls (I still recommend a controller though).

I could go on and on about what makes Dark Souls so amazing, but this review is long enough already. If you are willing to install some mods to make it work, I would recommend this game to anyone, even to those who don’t like difficult games.