Recent reviews by nameoftheyear

Insanely good. This is a sci-fi Disco Elysium for 2022, with just as much sharp writing about the dehumanizing cruelty of capitalist systems and about the sublime warmth of lifting up others who suffer in their own ways. While it is not as grimly humorous or characteristically bizarre as Disco Elysium, I do think the quality of corpo-space age worldbuilding lends Citizen Sleeper's many characters and sub-stories just so much compelling depth. There are many plot threads that I'll never forget here -- from walking into the lair of a blind AI trained to kill sentient programs, to the desperate deal-making of a disgraced bounty hunter sent to cash you in.

Genuinely this game took me by huge surprise, and is no doubt one of my top five Games of the Year. I can't recommend it enough.

10/10

I was in the mood for a Wizardry-like dungeon crawler recently and it brought me to Potato Flowers -- and this game has surprised me in being such a charming and fresh take on the classic genre that I couldn't put down.

Let's set expectations appropriately: Potato Flowers does feel like a small indie game. The graphical polish is sparse, the UI is often unintuitive, and there is still minor but noticeable jankiness everywhere (like the music tracks that don't quite loop). That said, if you're not a stranger to the dungeon crawler genre, then none of this will be off-putting. If you're in deep, I'm certain you've finished jankier games before.

Instead I found myself gravitating to the parts where Potato Flowers accomplishes a whole lot with very little resources. The visuals are simple, but consistently charming, and able to convey a lot of characterization with very little detail: Your tavern proprietress slash company boss comes across as warm and earnest thanks to her excited little wave when you come across her in a dungeon, or her diligent broom sweeping animations during the opening of the game. She's always a welcome presence after a day of dungeon diving. And that charm extends to the many characters you meet, who do not have extensive backstories or plot involvement, but do illustrate snippets of dialogue with tiny 3D dioramas. Again, this game does so much with so little.

The combat mechanics are simple yet fascinatingly fresh. There are no random battles: every enemy placement is an assigned encounter. You have nearly perfect information every turn about what an enemy's weaknesses & resistances are, what move they'll execute next turn, and who they'll target. Combat in Potato Flowers is slightly closer to a tactics game in this regard. The complications come not from the enemies you face, but the economy of resources you have: a Stamina meter that adds an additional cost to every action, and comes with the complication that every unit must spend a no-action Rest turn in order to restore stamina (and do actions again); a Spirit meter that is your MP-like cost for using skill, but comes with no way to restore Spirit except exiting the dungeon, thus serving as the resource for how long you can keep exploring; and of course a Health meter, which actually refills at the end of every battle, meaning that you're encouraged to go hard in every fight.

The result of the above systems is a core loop of exploration & combat that's actually really engaging but also really relaxing. Potato Flowers has steep difficulty barriers that dungeon crawlers often do, in terms of encounters far above your level -- but the game also has no major penalties for losing, and a very lax win condition (you just need 1 party member to survive & they'll all get full EXP). So you're always encouraged to take on big challenges, or peek into dark corners filled with unknown monsters. It's not so tense like most Wizardry-like games are, but the key here is that Potato Flowers leans on this lighter tone and supports it with the rest of the game.

Potato Flowers in Full Bloom is a really joyous and extensive game, fully worth it for the price in my opinion. It sticks to the winning dungeon crawler formula while also simplifying & shaking up systems often enough that I think there's lots to enjoy here for gamers both new to the genre and vets looking for a lovely dessert of a game. It's really hard to get the dungeon crawler formula right, and I'm thrilled that Potato Flowers hits all the right notes!

Carto is a little puzzle adventure game full of vibrant hand-drawn art, charming music, and some of the most unique spatial puzzles you'll ever see. I think the game is perfectly paced with puzzle mechanics that are separated into themed worlds, all of which gradually ramp up in complexity, and never wear out their welcome. Carto is extremely approachable and the kind of game I'd be excited to show to friends or family who aren't gamers.

This game took me about 5 hours to 100%; none of it bored me or wasted me time and so I think it's plenty worth the price.

I had hoped to like Fell Seal, being a big fan of tactical RPGs and the very games that inspired this one; but I was so turned off by the poor UI, the mismatched aesthetics, and the dull story. Its resemblances to games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre are only superficial and I found that Fell Seal lacks any of the charm, polish, or wit that made those games captivating.

Incredible, meticulous, detailed catholicpunk metroidvania. A must-have for fans of the mechanics of Hollow Knight or the atmosphere of Dark Souls. One of the very few games to understand and translate the vibe of the Souls genre successfully.

One of my favorite run-based games of all time, one of my top action games, and easily one of the best releases of 2020. Don't miss out on Hades.

Fantastic small-scale game, deeper than a typical arcade shooter and feels mechanically satisfying enough that I want to jump in for a round every once in a while. Looks and sounds great. Lots of accessibility & difficulty options if you just want to get through the main campaign. Definitely worth the purchase.

One of the best search action (metroidvania) games out there. It's short at 4-5 hours, but that's the perfect length in my opinion.

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