Recent reviews by Alan

To start off, I have never owned the original edition so this review is probably most relevant to anyone looking at this as a new purchase rather than an upgrade.
Gameplay wise, it bears a very close resemblance to Fallout 3 (without all the settlement crap in Fallout 4), and while the story isn't exactly award winning, it can still be quite entertaining as you discover more about the world. Choices matter in that if you annoy a group of people too much, they'll become more hostile towards you... although if you do want to avoid being forced to wipe out an entire settlement because they all attacked you (oops!), you can apparently just leave the area for a few days!
It has all the usual RPG elements as you level up your character and eventually become an unstoppable killing machine force for good.
This is the edition with all of the DLC, so for a new purchase, go for this one!

Just a small game that's actually quite good fun for a quick session, or longer if you're going for all the achievements. It's completely free with no in-app purchases (it's listed as having them since there's a donate function that was added so the game wil qualify for Steam points items) and is only 300 MB, so there's nothing to lose by giving it a go. It comes in a short story mode, and endless mode where as the name suggests, you keep going for as long as you can. In both modes you can upgrade your ship after collecting credits or gems.

Supraland is one of those games that you see everyone recommending, but it's not until you actually play it that you realise just how good it is. It has the usual metroidvania aspects you'd expect - make your way through a (literal) sandbox world collecting items and abilities that you can use to retrace your steps and reach previously unreachable areas, and does a really good job of combining abilities.
The puzzles are introduced really well, and there are a few stages that take a bit of thinking, but it's well worth holding out until that "Eureka" moment arrives. I'd strongly advise against using guides in this game, as even the puzzles that have you scratching your head are seemingly obvious once the solution 'clicks' in your head after a while. As you'd expect from a game of this type, there are a lot of secrets that while not essential to the game, do provide a bit of a boost and a sense of achievement. Usually these are found when you get into some area that you think shouldn't have been obtainable, think you've broken the map, and then find a chest :-)
There are a lot of pop-culture references that while not critical to the story, do provide a bit of a chuckle when you notice them.

The only potential downside to this game is that the song played during the end credits is incredibly catchy, and you'll spend ages with it stuck in your head...
🎶 Warum warum! 🎶

I'll admit I was torn about this game initially, as it takes a while to get to the stage where you can appreciate it properly, but it is worth it once you get there. First things though, are the pitfalls to watch for. If you play with a controller, ignore the next paragraph.

Trying to play this game with keyboard and mouse is like boxing with your PC - it's just unplayable to the extent that I almost refunded this game as soon as I started playing. It's not that it's a bad console port, it's absolutely abysmal and there's genuinely no reason it has to be this bad to control. If you're fed up with people saying "just use a controller" and still want to play with KBM, then the NAIOM mod is essential for this game ( https://www.nexusmods.com/nierautomata/mods/12 )

Next issue is that the prologue chucks you in at the deep end with very little guidance on what to do, and has zero save points. In addition to this, there are three boss fights, and if you die you're back to the beginning all over again... repeatedly in some cases. Sure, once you've made progress in the game and know what to do, then going back to the prologue isn't so bad, but it's so immensely frustrating (even more so if you're trying to play with KBM before using the mod mentioned above!), that the request refund option seems even more tempting. Or just switch it to easy mode for the prologue and return it to normal after!

However, once you get the controls sorted and proceed past the prologue, this game really starts to shine. It has the usual JRPG elements with increasing character and equipment stats, with plenty of side quests. Unlike some other games, these side quests are almost required at the beginning as you'll end up being severely underlevelled for later boss fights if you stick to the main quests only - plus, you miss out on a lot of the story without them!

Without going into spoilers, there are multiple endings, and the game does not stop once you reach the first one. All quests and items are repeatable later if you don't complete them on the first playthrough, so there's nothing to worry about missing permanently.

The story can get a bit unclear at times, or maybe it's just me(?), but things do fall into place later. Just try to avoid wikis and discussions regarding the story until after you've experienced it yourself!

I was initially hesitant to recommend this game after the sellout to Epic and the fiasco that was the Humble Bundle 'standard edition labelled as ultimate with no option to upgrade other than removing the standard version from your account and rebuying it' (yes, this is what I did), but it is actually a good game and if you can put grudges aside, then it's really enjoyable.

The story starts off a bit strange, and you have no idea what's going on - unfortunately this requires game progression to know why Jesse is in this strange building in the first place, but it does (eventually) all fall into place.
Gameplay is a metroidvania-ish style where you pass a lot of areas that you don't have access to (yet), and once you upgrade the powers, the game gets a bit on the easy side. A fully upgraded launch power can take out all enemies except bosses in one hit. Puzzles and secret areas are in abundance, and the real ultimate edition, which you'll get if you buy on Steam, has the Alan Wake DLC which is pretty good too.

This game has a lot of negative reviews due to what happened with Lab Zero and Mike Z, which while certainly not anything you'd want to promote, the game itself is still good and I'll stick to that in this review (most of the ex employees of Lab Zero have moved on to a new company, Future Club, so check them out too!)

If it's already in your library it's definitely worth playing. There are a few annoying sections that require near pixel-perfect timing of moves, but these are fairly limited and can be passed with a bit of patience. The story is quite interesting, and while not emmy award winning, it is enough to keep the player engaged. Combat can involve various techniques to stack combos, or as will most likely be the case, just simply button mashing until the enemy is defeated!
The game contains a decent number of side quests and coming back to previous areas once new skills have been obtained. While there is a fair amount of backtracking involved, it gets a lot quicker once you pick up new skills.

This game does get a lot of flack, and I initially started playing it thinking it would be one of those "so bad it's good" type games, but it is actually quite good. It's obviously not going to win any awards for story, but it comes with the usual Duke-style humour (if you don't like that, well you wouldn't even be reading this anyway...) which at times is a bit on the cheesy side, but let's be honest, it's exactly what is intended!
The game itself is quite fun, with a few side-mission type events such as Ego-boosts and the usual over-the-top bosses.

At first playing this game, i was tempted to give it a negative review. When playing keyboard and mouse, you pretty much have to guess what the controls are, which you can't change and makes it very difficult to get going. To save anyone else the hassle, the less obvious ones are:

Melee Attack: E (wish I found this out earlier!)
Reload/Charge Sockwave: Middle Mouse Button

The game also has a trust system, with the side effect that your teammates trust you less if you shoot them (you can't harm them). Unfortunately, they also have the incredibly frustrating habit of running in front of you every... single.... fecking... time you're attacking the enemy. This just means you have to run out of cover and straight into the enemy to avoid shooting your teammates half the time!

Negative points aside, once you work out the controls and learn to minimise friendly fire, this game is really good. It has multiple endings (all based on the aforementioned trust system), and a pretty engaging story. The levels are fun and non-repetitive, although boss fights tend to be a case of 'look for the shiny area and shoot it'. You can upgrade weapons and character stats for both yourself and your teammates, although you can only take a maximum of two of them with you each time, with some situations requiring less.

Voice interaction isn't essential, and more of a gimmick since you have to respond with specific keywords. I found it easier just to use the keyboard to select a predetermined response. Handy if you don't want to talk to your PC, although there still will be a lot of swearing when a teammate walks in front of you while attacking!

Overall, this is actually quite an enjoyable game and despite the negative points mentioned earlier, I still recommend it.

While I'll avoid spoilers for this game in this review, it -will- contain spoilers for the previous (original) Life is Strange game - if you haven't played that, you may want to avoid this.

...

This game focuses on the relationship between Chloe Price and Rachel Amber, and if you played the original game, right from the beginning of this one you know what's going to happen to Rachel. This doesn't make it any easier when you see the unanswered calls from Chloe on Rachel's phone as you hear the snapping of Mr Jefferson's camera in the ending though. Much like the original, this game has consequences for pretty much every single decision you make, and even if like me your teenage years are long behind you, you still find yourself rooting for Chloe throughout the game despite the fact you start off wanting to tell her to do what she's told by her mother and teachers ("get off my lawn!"). The story shows the introduction of David (aka Stepdouche) into Chloe and Joyce's life, and although he hasn't actually done anything wrong, you still want Joyce to listen to Chloe and kick him out. There are options to attempt to make amends if you so desire, but it still boils down to Chloe being the rebellious teenager who quite clearly hasn't gotten over the loss of her dad and sees David as an unwelcome intrusion.
Other characters make an introduction here with a bit of backstory too, and even Frank doesn't seem so bad after all - although he obviously gets a lot worse by the time the original Life is Strange takes part.
In a way, the lack of the time rewind ability makes the choices and consequences seem more authentic, as you only get one shot each time. The backtalk ability does seem a bit forced at times, but it's still quite satisfying to win an argument with someone this way.

Overall, I'd strongly recommend this game, along with the original one. If you picked the 'wrong' ending to the original Life is Strange and didn't save Chloe, this game will make you want to replay it just to save her.

Oh, and this game is no longer infected with Denuvo crapware, so that's a bonus too!

Dex is one of those games that when you play, you think "How did I never notice this game sooner?". It's similar in style to Beyond a Steel Sky with elements of Deus Ex added in with a choice of character augmentations and skill upgrades, and set in a pretty captivating cyberpunk setting. The story keeps you locked in until the end, although it does leave a bit of "Is that it?" after the ending. The entire time leading up to it is engaging and the side quests actually fit in really well with the rest of the story. End result is you'll actually want to do them all, not just for the XP and quest rewards, but also to tie off any loose ends.

Combat is pretty decent once you get the hang of it, and depending on how you chose to upgrade your skills (hand to hand, ranged weapons, stealth hacking, etc...) you'll have different ways of dealing with each enemy. There's also the hacking mini-games which are quite interesting and provide an alternative to just running around beating everyone up!

Overall this is one game I'd strongly recommend.