Recent reviews by DyaMetR

I don't know up to what point would others recommend this. But I feel this is a match made in heaven.

It's as if Half-Life 2 was already prepared for VR from the start. The adjustments made here are really good and makes for a really fun VR experience.

Why didn't Valve revisit Half-Life 2's VR mode and improve it?

An amazing experience. For free!

Give it a try. It's a must play.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is what you would expect from an FPS during the Modern Warfare fever: Regenerative health, extremely linear and short (4 hours on hard), easy base difficulty, arbitrary RPG elements (which make the game even easier), level design that requires a HUD marker, QTEs that could be part of the gameplay and mechanics that are only going to be used once in the entire game.

However, the gunplay is solid and satisfying enough to be fun coupled with an entertaining story and an interesting way of presenting the narrative: Since we're playing through the stories told by an old retired cowboy, details get revealed over time, modifying the environment dynamically or even changing how situations play out altogether. This also explains why is the story so bombastic (killing hundreds of goons, surviving to impossible odds, etc.) helping to not break immersion as the game constantly reminds you that what you're playing through is not necessarily real (and potentially exaggerated).

Overall I liked my first playthrough, although I feel that the gameplay interruptions makes it a game not immediately replayable, as the breaking of the gameplay flow can make it feel like a chore.

Played this game on 2013, and forgot to write a review, but what I remember was something alongside these lines:

A prime example of not having faith in a franchise that used to inspire FPS games back in the day, deciding instead to ride on the IPs recognition while providing something you've seen a thousand times before.

A linear, short and mostly forgettable singleplayer story mode of merely 3 hours in the hardest difficulty which has you killing the same hordes of generic middle eastern goons, with your obligatory stealth and turret sections for which the game isn't obviously designed for.

Unless you're making some kind of curiosity trek along the Military Shooter era of FPS, I would stay away from it.

Just like the first The Room game, it presents intricate and interesting puzzles, which will make you do various motions with the mouse in order to solve them, helping to create immersion while breaking monotony.

It has a very good pacing as the puzzles are segmented in smaller pieces which allows you to slowly yet steadily progress through, reducing the chances of getting stuck.

It will also give helpful hints to the player in order to help them have a different point of view without spoiling the solution.

While short, for what it costs, it's definetly worth it.

Absolutely recommended for anyone remotely interested in puzzle games. Even if you think you're not cut for the task, the game will help you just enough to not spoil the solutions, yet drive you in the right direction.

It's free, it's silly and light hearted. Give it a try.

Don't get me wrong, the mod is not perfect, but the quality given FOR FREE is more than enough reason to play it.

• Refreshing gunplay. Weapons have recoil and will require the player to shoot in controlled bursts for maximum accuracy.
  
• Well balanced difficulty. Instead of having bullet sponges your enemies are regular human beings that can be killed from one shot to the head, but they come in greater numbers and their weapons are more effective.
  
• Detailed and believable level design. Most of the puzzles are intuitive.
  
• Enemies interactions are really well made and makes you feel like a fearful unstoppable force, making you understand in first person why the rebels were struggling so much against the Combine.
  
• Replayability. Even if it's basic the achievements and secrets will be enough reason to replay it. Having the chapter selector comes in handy for this.

• Short. I can't really blame the author here since the level design is detailed and well made but you can complete it in roughly 3 hours on the hardest difficulty.
  
• Some puzzles are rather criptic and either require trial and error.

If you have the requirements (Half-Life 2: Episode 2) and are a fan of Half-Life this is a must play. The mechanics are refreshing and the new point of view gives an insight on the struggle that the rebels had to go through.

It'll make you feel like a monster, just how the Combine are.

Misterious and charming, Forgotton Anne has a marvelous world building that will capture you from the first minute and won't let you go until you finish it, and even then, you'll see yourself dragged into it thanks to its replayability.

There are collectables that the game encourages to find, which rewards the player with knowledge about the world around them, discovering little stories behind the scenes. Makes exploration something enjoyable instead of a chore, which is appreciated.


I will explain in more depth what I mean:

The game has classic Prince of Persia like controls. Your character can move around freely, jump, grab on ledges, climb, sprint and more. This means that you can not only move at your own pace instead of a point-and-click one, but also it mixes exploration with platforming.

On one side, it keeps gameplay fresh, but unfortunately the controls are clunky, Anne needs to turn around, stop sprinting or walking with an animation that locks the player in and jumps are imprecise.

Fortunately this for the most part is not a nuisance, there's no health bar so falling down is not punished and usually the platforming consists of jumping gaps, climb boxes or walls, or even parkour through roofs. In these sections the controls work well enough but it's on the latter parts where it becomes a problem.

There are a couple of instances where there's platforming based on timing jumps and here is where the controls really show its flaws on its entirety. Delays and imprecise jumps make these parts frustrating.

Personally, although this is the major flaw of the game, and something that will probably turn off some people, I wouldn't have wanted it gone. I hope that in future games from these developers we can see more like this with refined controls.

Story-wise there isn't much more that I can say that either the store page hasn't said, or that I haven't stated. I got this game gifted to me since I had it on my wishlist but forgot about the premise, and I was greatly surprised with how it turned out, I was captivated from the first minute.

My favourite part was the fact that you can make choices on how to act and talk, affecting the world around you and how it'll treat you.

About the replay value once you finish the game you're presented with the ability to go back in time, replaying other chapters. This coupled with a collector's hub allows the player to explore locations for missed collectables, as well as granting the ability to make different choices and change the course of the story as well as unlocking achievements.

Misterious, challenging and beautiful, Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight is an open-ended 2D action scroller with an absolutely amazing visual department with fluid and detailed animations on a pixelated, but beautiful art style. Its single map contains a maze to explore with different environments that hide different visuals and enemies, hiding upgrades, items, easter eggs and even new environments that will encourage the player to explore. Its designed to be replayed, with a New Game+ mode, and additional difficulties that will prove to be quite the challenge.


Now onto the details:

You're thrown into the shoes of Kaho, a priestess of the Lun village, which has fallen victim of a curse that has extended itself throughout the land, and it's your duty to find a remedy.

Throughout the story you'll discover more about the world around you, and will meet unique characters, be it allies or foes.

To be honest, one of the things that made me try out this game was seeing it on Youtube and being stunned by the animation quality and art. It's brimming with personality. Unique and expressive characters and beautiful backgrounds make for a stimulating experience, with each area containing different environments and enemy types, each with their own theme.

Gameplay reminded me of Dust: An Elysian Tail, and breaks down in three main categories:

• Exploration
  The game is set on an open-ended environment, which means that you'll be trapped in a single level where you can go back and forth to any direction you want, and revisit places at any time.
  
  This kind of gameplay has it's pros, and cons:
  Pros
  
  • Allows the player to pace the gameplay and explore the level to their heart's content without having to worry whether they'll miss something out.
    
  • The environment is refined and there are many multi-purposed areas. This means that some passageways are initially unreachable by the player, which with the later found upgrades, can be explored, bringing life again to what seemed just another cleared area. With the addition of fast-travel on the latter half of the game just makes exploration more entertaining.
  Cons
  
  • Requires backtracking. One of the bad things about these kind of games is that, until you start getting oriented, and/or receive fast-travel, you might find yourself mindlessly walking around the same areas over and over again, which can get a bit repetitive, more so in the first half of the game.
• Combat
  Combat is composed of two components: Melee, and ranged attacks.
  
  Melee has a simple 4 combo mechanic that can be repeatedly used with no cooldown, it's simple yet satisfactory to use, and very effective.
  
  Ranged attacks are done with a bow and an infinite amount of arrows, so you don't need to worry about ammo since you'll be using it, a lot. The bow is the most complex of the two, allowing for charged attacks that, with upgrades, can charge to different levels, attacking in different ways. Other upgrades include rate-of-fire, charge speed and damage.
  
  However, our protagonist can also dodge by rolling. It's a really effective and useful mechanic, nullifying any damage done to Kaho when on a roll.
  
  The only frustrating aspect is contact damage which makes some boss fights frustrating as you'll find yourself taking damage before learning that some characters will roll and move like the player, only that they deal damage by merely touching. Obviously this is based on preference, as the game will give you the tools to overcome this, and you'll have to approach combat in a different way.
  
  
• Items
  There's a simple inventory system, with slots for consumable items, and passive items. They are sold by different merchants with the in-game currency obtained by either secrets or killing enemies.