Recent reviews by callcifer

Across the Grooves is a beautifully drawn and written supernatural VN, just like previous entries from the developer Nova-box. This time, the story revolves around a Parisian banker named Alice and a mysterious record she receives one day from an ex. The record sounds different every time it's listened and, to a limited extent, has the power to change history. The story is accompanied by a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack and is full of references to the last several decades of western musical history.

If anything in the above paragraph sound interesting to you, why not give it a shot?

Haven is the best game I've played in recent memory. Not particularly for its gameplay and mechanics mind you. They are fluid, intuitive and fun (controller recommended), but nothing special. Where Haven truly shines is in the relationship of its central characters, Kay and Yu. The game is full of so many small shared moments of daily accomplishments, struggles, worries and bits of intimacy. In more than two decades of gaming, I have never seen such brilliant depiction of a healthy, grounded, loving, adult relationship. For that experience alone Haven is worth half a day of your time.

No one writes sci-fi like this anymore.

Beautiful Desolation is a new adventure game from Nic and Chris Bischoff, creators of Stasis and Cayne. They've taken what was great about their earlier games and expanded it vastly.

The world of Beautiful Desolation is intricate and full of lore, oozing charm from every crevice. It's designed to have the player lose themselves in the world without any hand holding. It's up to you to pay attention to dialogue and the clues contained within. It took me roughly 11 hours to finish the story and I was fully immersed for all of it.

If you are interested in great sci-fi with extensive world building, you should definitely give this a shot.

PS: fellow penguins might like to know that the Linux port is flawless.

Challenging and unique take on city builders.

A Plague Tale: Innocence is a brilliantly crafted narrative set in 14th century France with endearing characters, excellent atmosphere, immersive environments and superb voice acting.

Fantastic little point&click adventure with a cute story.

This was a completely unexpected piece of work from Zachtronics given their past games, but it is surprisingly well done and it couldn't have been more timely.

If you are a tech worker in your late twenties / early thirties like so many of us these days, this game will speak to you. It will reach you on a level you didn't think possible because it's about you.

It has left me in sombre reflection and could even push me towards major life changes, who knows.

If you even remotely fit the profile above, Eliza is most definitely worth a few hours of your time.

An excellent, voice acted sci-fi story with high production values, from a tiny team. What's not to like. Strongly recommended.

Probably the best RPG I've played since Baldur's Gate. The ending is somewhat lackluster, but I've thoroughly enjoyed every step of the journey. Strongly recommended.

The most unique, well crafted, smart puzzle game I've played in many years. I'm quite convinced the people who've designed these levels exist on a separate plane than us mere mortals. Gorogoa oozes charm and intelligence at every step, and it deserves an hour or two of your time.