Recent reviews by IovoI

The best thing about this game is: it surprises you every time you think you've seen and done everything already.

OneShot is an unique experience. First of all you want to know as little as possible about OneShot to fully enjoy it. The gameplay is simple but very creative. It breaks the fourth wall in a plausible way and makes it one of the games features. The story was nicely told. It has managed to leave me in a highly emotional state. The graphics are simple but beautifully drawn.

STORY
At first glance it might look generic: you need to lead young hero to save the world. But there's more to it. You don't want to know too much about it though, trust me. It is for sure charming. The characters are interesting and nicely developed. Every major character has its own unique personality. To give you a glimpse of the awesomness of the character design let me give you an example: at some point you will meet George. She's a dice-headed girl which personality changes with every playthrough. Get it? A dice → randomness → random personalities :) I've also enjoyed nice humor in the game.

GAMEPLAY
At first glance the gameplay is like in classic point and click games: most of the time you talk to characters, explore the world, collect items and solve puzzles. Sometimes it made me feel a little bored but it might be my own fault as well – I am not good in these types of games. For example I was wandering around without any sense for half an hour because I've never tried to merge some objects from my inventory. It has some fantastic and creative features in gameplay though I won't talk about because it'd ruin your experience. I'd be glad to see a feature where you can skip a dialog window for a character you've already spoken with and some kind of reminder with the most important messages and clues.
It is recommended to play this game in the windowed mode which was a minor problem for me until I get used to it. Fortunately the experience was well worth it. From what I've read it is a game that requires you to have at least 2 playthroughs to fully appreciate it and I can easily see why. I've finished it only once but I've had a great time with it anyway. I will come back to OneShot in later time though (and I do it very rarely).

LEVEL DESIGN
There are three main locations to explore. All of them were diverse and have had their own soul that made them memorable. The smaller locations (like rooms or houses) were mostly made of the same assets so they look similar even though they're different. Totally acceptable for me. There were also some nice exceptions from this rule of course. There were some places that made me feel a bit frustrated because it took some time to 'travel' through them. Especially when I had to go through them a few times. For example a corridor that looked all the same or an elevator. Fortunately it was really rare.

VISUALS
Personally, I love the visual aspect of the game. I am a great fan of pixel art and light and color based artstyle so I had a lot of pleasure looking at the levels' and characters' design. But of course it is a matter of taste.

SOUND
There's almost no dubbing in this game, except for a few special places. The music was enjoyable. It fitted the places you've been visiting adding to the immersion. Lots of locations have had their own theme which was great.

CONCLUSION
Is OneShot worth playing? I think it might be a good choice for:
– people who look for unique gameplay,
– people who like games that are experiences,
– people who don't mind slow-paced and simple gameplay,
– people who don't mind reading,
– people who enjoy pixel art based on color and light,
– people who are able to think outside the box.

My Steam recommendation is only my personal opinion that states if I've enjoyed the game or not. If you want to buy this game, please read some reviews – you might have a different taste :)

HUE is a puzzle-platformer where you change the background color to solve the puzzles. This concept is way more interesting than it might sound, I suggest to watch a video to fully understand it. The gameplay is fun, the controls are very good even with k+m (although the devs recommend a controller). The difficulty and variety of the puzzles rise with time perfectly. The lenght of the game is perfect for such a game in my opinion. It took me ~5 hours to beat it. The visuals are minimalistic yet charming but some people might not like it. The music and dubbing are pleasant.

STORY
The story is okay. It is linear and quite simple as you'd expect from a puzzle game. You are looking for your lost mother. The story reveals mainly through monologues of the main character's mother. You can interact with most of the characters in the game if you want to know more about the Hue's world or just to hear a funny joke. It has no impact on the story though.

GAMEPLAY
It is the most enjoyable part of the game. The devs recommend a controller to play the game but I have played with keyboard and mouse. Still, it was a lot of fun. I had to get used to controlling the character with WSAD but it wasn't much problem. Have in mind though that you will probably have to control the character with left hand too because you will need the mouse to change the colors of the background. I haven't checked if the keys are rebindable. The lenght of the game was perfect for me personally (~5 hours) but some people might be disappointed it is too short. The puzzles' difficulty was rising with time perfectly but generally it isn't a hard game. New features appear systematically so you won't get bored with the same kind of puzzle over and over again. The puzzles require a bit of thinking and a bit of reflex.

VISUALS
Personally I liked the artstyle of the game but it is a matter of one's taste. For me it fitted the concept of the game (changing the background colors) perfectly. If you are a demanding gamer in terms of graphics just check the screenshots to see if it is something you will like. The variety of levels' design was okay.

SOUND
The music is minimalistic but charming and pleasant. The only dubbing you will hear is mother's voice reading the letters to her son. The rest of the characters are quiet but you can interact with them.

Don't mind my recommendation because it is only my subjective opinion which shows if I've enjoyed the game or not. If you are considering buying this game, read the review and decide yourself.

ANTICHAMBER is a puzzle game based on a concept of thinking outside the box. The story is almost non-existant. The gameplay is enjoyable for most of the time although controls might be a little clunky sometimes. There are various puzzles and most of them have interesting and unusual concepts but they aren't very hard. Visuals and music are minimalistic but it fits the concept of the game greatly. It's one of these games where the less you know about it, the more you enjoy it.

STORY
This game is about solving puzzles so there is almost no story except trying to find the exit from the maze. Sometimes you can spot some minor similarities with Portal, especially being trapped in chambers full of puzzles. Although in reality they seemed more like areas than chambers to me.

GAMEPLAY
Most of the puzzles have interesting concepts. Actually sometimes it's hard to call them puzzles but I don't want to spoil. Especially the beginning of the game is surprising but once you get the gimmick the puzzles become a little less interesting and way easier to solve. It might turn out that the biggest puzzle to comprehend is the maze you are trapped in. The controls might be a bit troublesome from time to time but nothing game breaking.

VISUALS
The design is very minimalistic, mostly in black and white and some bright colors. It fits the style of often abstract puzzles but not everyone may like it. Sometimes I've got motion sickness because of the game but it was usually happening when I was looking around too fast. Nonetheless have in mind it might happen to you as well.

SOUND
Music is minimalistic yet athmospheric. Any dubbing in this game doesn't exist.

Don't mind my recommendation because it is only my subjective opinion which shows if I've enjoyed the game or not. If you are considering buying this game, read the review and decide yourself.

ANODYNE is an ordinary game, probably worth a try only if you are a fan of the genre. Gameplay is rather boring and controls are often a nuisance. The story is hard to understand and it makes it uninteresting. Levels' design varies nicely and it is the most pleasant aspect of the game and its strongest point.

STORY
Story is either too hard to understand or poor. Whatever the reason is it makes it hard to keep track of what's going on. It could might as well have had no sense at all as the game is made in a dream-like style. It means it could have been just as abstract as the dream itself (which would make an interesting concept if it's true). The humor was nice, there were a few places where I had a good laugh.

GAMEPLAY
Basically the game is about exploring, looking for collectibles, solving puzzles and fighting.
EXPLORING. The world is build of many different areas, areas are build of levels. Levels are screen-wide squares, you can see one level at the time and you move from level to level. The biggest problem here is lack of a proper map. Sure you have a symbolic map but it's just gray squares. It shows only how levels in the area you're actually in are connected, nothing more. It means you have to wander through the levels until you memorize what's where. It's important because it's an open world and you will have to come back to the same places a few times. Too much walking could make you feel a little bored.
COLLECTIBLES. In order to progress you have to find cards which will open the gates to the next areas or locked levels.
PUZZLES. Most of the puzzles are easy. However the game won't hold your hand and you'll have to learn everything yourself. Puzzles varies in different areas which is nice.
FIGHTING. There are different kinds of enemies and you have to adapt to their style of fighting. It's rather simple though. Also every boss has it's own style but they're not that difficult either. Your biggest enemy will be the controls. I've died so many times becuase my character didn't do what I wanted or because I've jumped into the hole.

VISUALS
It's very retro pixel art style so you have to be a fan of it to appreciate it. For sure diverse design of the areas is simply the greatest point of this game. Black and white town will always remain in my mind for its creepy and unique atmosphere.

SOUND
Everything about this game is a love letter to the old consoles and so is the music. Again, you just have to be a fan to appreciate it. As far as I remember every area had its own, quite short music samples but nothing really remained in my head.

EPISTORY is a wonderful experience, well worth playing it. Interesting concept (typing game) followed by stunning origami-like visuals. Beautiful story unfolds nicely with time. Gameplay is enjoyable and does enough to keep you interested in playing until the end although controlling character might be a little tricky sometimes.

STORY
Charming story with an interesting ending although it doesn't look like it at the beginning. The closer towards the end of the game the better clue of what's coming you have.

GAMEPLAY
In general gameplay is really fun. As it is a typing game all you need is your keyboard actually (imagine my surprise when I've accidentally found out that you can even control menu with typing). The controls might be a little clunky sometimes but once you get used to it it shouldn't be a big problem. There were 2 or 3 times when I had to replay nest-battle due to controls issue. Personally it wasn't much of a complaint for me but I can imagine that it might get somebody frustrated. One time game has crashed after I've beaten one of the levels and I had to complete it WHOLE once again. And of course it had to be the most boring level in Epistory...
Over time the game introduces new features and times it perfectly to keep you interested in playing:
- languages which let you open new levels, territories and kill new enemies,
- skills related to languages which you can upgrade to be more powerful,
- diffculty in battles (especially in nest-battles) where you have to switch between skills to beat different kind of enemies.
The only major minus of the game for me was nest-battles that have become a bit repetitive and boring at the end. Maybe the game's just adapted to my typing skills and lowered the difficulty of the battles, I don't know. It killed all the excitement though.

VISUALS
The game is simply beautiful. Origami-like design gives so much charm I could stare at the surroundings for hours. There are a few levels of the game and all have their unique look and setting.

SOUND
The music is pleasant, the dubbing was good although there's not much talking here - you will hear the narrator most of the times and occasionally inner thoughts of the character you control. Later in the game I had a few times an issue that nest-battle music didn't switch off after killing all the enemies.