Recent reviews by Dogsbody

Musical in video game form. Not difficult, seems like a kids' game for adults, but entertaining and thoughtful with a unique setting. These are the kinds of experiences I hope to have with a video game in 2024.

Solid short Metroid-like. The jumps required are a little too precise not to be frustrating considering how fast you move in the air, but you can overcome them with persistence. Expect to get angry. Also, broke the game trying to fullscreen/change resolution. Dev said to press + on the forums, and this worked to fix it, but it's a serious bug that's existed for 3 years, so I suggest not trying to change the res and be prepared to refund. Overall it's definitely worth the price, though.

Yes. Oldschool adventure with puzzles that are mostly not too obscure, solid writing with humor that frequently works, plenty of parody. One of the better adventure games I've played.

Also amusing to see American culture through the lens of the Irish.

Unpolished, awkward and tedious movement; annoying map features in a game that requires a lot of dying and backtracking (only 3 map markers distinguished just by color, plus the map itself inconsistently reveals itself even after you've encountered a beacon that is supposed to show the current area); combat that feels clunky and punishing for the wrong reasons... The core problems with the game are not sufficiently overshadowed by the unique visual detail and interesting worldbuilding.

Some of the more interesting character designs (mostly enemies) I've seen in a Metroidvania. The lack of a distinct path of progression gave me a serious case of Castleroids, though, when I found myself constantly battling in places far above my level because I missed a key upgrade. It was honestly pretty cool how far the game let me advance without getting that item. I was probably 10+ hours past when you normally get it.

If you enjoy serious exploration and don't mind doing a bit of research to progress, this is a great game. It's not for new players to the genre, though.

Normal difficulty is sufficiently hard but gets a bit too easy at the end. I was killing every endgame boss on the first try. Recommend Hard if you're any good at these games.

I'd ignore the whiners who complain about the fast travel items costing too much. It's a pretty trivial amount. I bought probably 100 of them, and never had to farm for money once. It may be that they are just mad because bad. Very likely, in fact.

Great TDS with very unique mechanics.

Most of the negative reviews seem to be from those who had the game in early access. According to the forums, the dev was forced to trim back some of the more complicated game mechanics in order to meet deadlines. There just wasn't any more funding. So fans of that earlier version are now punishing the dev for it, who I'm sure would have preferred to release that version if time had allowed it, too.

The release version is simplified but still excellent. If you come into it with no understanding of the history, you'll enjoy it very much. And if you want to play the old version, that's still an option by selecting it in betas. So really, you're getting two takes on the game for the price of one.

Solid adventure game, and pretty funny. Suffers from a lot of the usual problems, though, such as having a few obtuse puzzles that all but require you to look at a guide. Looking at you, skunk puzzle...

Solid, well-rounded metroidvania that runs on the easy side, even on Hard. It suffers from the flaw that many games with upgrades fall into, which is that the early game is actually more difficult than the latter part. The last 5 or so bosses I didn't die, or died only once or twice before defeating them, leading to a bit of an anticlimax. Still, it's a charming game that will hold your attention to the end.

Thoughtful and rewarding. Very unique. Try the demo! The final case doesn't quite land but everything else is fantastic.

Quite original, and very entertaining. Plays like solitaire, with plenty of strategy but of course a lot of randomness to contend with. The most important part: it's fun.