Recent reviews by George.jl

Aahh, Stray... The cat game everyone was waiting for!... I am going to keep this review like the game: Nice (not amazing!) and short.

To start off, I enjoyed my time with it. In my opinion when it was over, it had just started overstaying its welcome, so the game's length is just perfect. I finished at around 7 hours with some achievement hunting but definitely not a completionist run.

On the positive side, the game's of very high quality. With stylish visuals, great graphics, an awesome cyberpunk setting, interesting soundtrack and very good sound effects. It really is a charming project.

On the neutral side, its story although interesting, is very cliche and predictable. There are some interesting touches throughout the story telling, but you really need to look for them, since almost all characters encountered are forgettable. I think that some of these aspects were done on purpose, and that's why I do not absolutely criticize the game for them. I just wish there were one or two interesting characters, since the basis with the cyberpunk setting is there. Also on the neutral side, the game's environments although very beautiful, feel a bit same-y and the grim-dark atmosphere gets a bit old. That being said, the environment fits the story perfectly, so I guess the story is to blame again.

On the negative side now, I was very disappointed when I realized that the game is ALMOST a walking simulator. It is not a walking simulator, but the gameplay really is nothing interesting. Apart from some stealth-based areas and some light puzzle elements there is nothing more to it. The exploration aspect is too narrow, and the control over the cat's movement is very limited with Assassin's Creed inspired movement where every jump or interaction is a guaranteed success with a simple press of a button. I would love some cat platforming. And some combat... After about 3/4 of the game, I was really sick of JUST running around without much more to do. Granted, there are some extra buttons you can press, but they are nothing special and also feel very limited. I think this lack of real gameplay mechanics is due to the developers' focus on the cat part of the game. Ok, yeah, controlling a cat is interesting, cute etc etc, but still, some gameplay elements are needed in order to make Stray really shine!

I loved everything about the game, mainly except for its gameplay. Or rather lack of. If the gameplay was meatier and less movement-limiting with some combat mechanics, Stray would have been amazing. Now it's just decent.

6/10

A recommended game for its interesting world and main protagonist but still, I don't think that anyone would really lose anything but skipping on this one. I hope a sequel will address my issues and prove to be a real masterpiece. Until then, I kind of feel disappointed with Stray.

Best (Greek) visit-our-village-advertisement ever. Insta-cult!

False advertising on split-screen coop. Refunded. Thanks, EA!

A very nice premise, with concept cars being tested in destruction arenas like in Wreckfest or Destruction Derby games.

The game is pretty fun for what it is, with cool and cliche riffs playing while you are wrecking your (and hopefully the enemies') car.

The various levels are fun but mostly rather simple, with the only goal to be the last man standing.

The content of the game is unfortunately very limited, with about 2 hours of fresh gameplay. It took me about 1.5 hours to 100% the game, with all the achievements included. Of course, since it's just a mindless wreck-everyone game, it could potentially offer some replay value to fans of the genre, even without new things to explore.

It really is nothing special, but at this price tag I would say that it is recommended for quick destructive fun. There are absolutely better games on this type of game, but still, the paper-based graphics and physics feel new, and could entertain you for an hour or two.

5/10

Great idea, very mediocre execution. Only buy it under discount or if you have really played all other games in the genre.

An interesting walking simulator, but an overall mediocre experience. It reminded me of Firewatch, but felt short on every single aspect, maybe except for the graphics which were very, very good.

The sound design and soundtrack are top-notch, with good dialogs and voice acting. The story, which is the main interest for a game like this, manages to stay intriguing till the end, but ultimately feels without a real climax or proper weight. The game touches on some very sensitive matters of life, but does so a bit too light-heartedly that kind of puts off the pace of the story telling.

The gameplay is also pretty stale, with the typical wandering around of walking simulators, but with some pretty serious backtracking that feels too boring, especially when you are invested in the story and want to find out the answers to your questions.

A great attempt on a walking simulator, but nothing special really. Better handling of the story and (a better finale) would really increase the overall experience.

5/10

Recommended under heavy discount, and only for walking simulator fans that have nothing better to play. There are many and much better walking simulators out there.

This game is a masterpiece. Plain and simple. It takes the FMV genre and twists it so much that creates something new and spectacular. Through its quirky jokes and satirical speech, it tries to touch serious matters about propaganda, politics and war.

You are playing as a live TV broadcaster, and mainly try to choose the "correct" or "best" information to convey to the public. Most of the times, you face the consequences of your choices, and most of the times they are pretty brutal...

The amount of content in the game is beyond belief, with up to four different (FMV) videos playing at the same time with no cuts, which can last for more than a dozen minutes.

The script is amazing, the gameplay is hectic and meaningful, with implications both on the story and your performance as a broadcaster. There are also choose-your-own-adventure type of chapters where you just read the story and make your choices. And boy do your choices bite back...

With 14 different endings and a lot of interesting choices and twists along the way, the game has much to offer. Maybe even too much for an FMV game.

A single playthrough is about 10 hours long, but the asking price for the amount of work that was put into the game is a steal. A completionist could easily get 40 hours out of the game, but that would prove to be too much of a chore.

Definitely grab it, even at full price, and when you start, give some room to the quirky humour... Serious society issues will rise through this TV satirical masterpiece.

The best FMV game I have played, and most probably by far. The whole team made an excellent job: UI, OST, SFX, Acting, Story, Script, Choices, everything...

10/10

A must play.

An interesting and rather amateurish take on the "Her Story" recipe.

The story was interesting throughout the gameplay, but quickly fell flat due to an abrupt ending. It is definitely worth a playthrough if you are a fan of this type of games, but don't expect anything exceptional.

I actually enjoyed that it was made in a language other than english (german) and found some of the cultural differences/references pretty interesting.

The acting and UI are very, very good, but the story feels like it required a bit more polish. Also the english translation/subtitles contain mistakes that most of the times can lead to confusion (i.e. wrong verb tenses).

It's a 5/10 (but a "good" 5 not just a "mediocre" 5). There many games in this genre, and Jessika does (almost?) nothing to differentiate itself, but stays enjoyable and interesting.

Even for fans of the genre, I would recommend buying on sale, since it can be finished in a single 3-hours-long session.

I would love to see a new game from the developers, and would definitely support their effort.

A very cool little game. A classic type of point-and-click adventure with an interesting take on graphics!

I bought the bundle with every Cloak and Dagger game, so I can't wait to hop into a more polished and lengthy experience!

It's free and about 1 hour long, so you lose absolutely nothing!

Just give it a go, now!

An absolutely must-play game.

The best single-cut camera I have ever seen in a video game, which constantly moves (most of the times smoothly, more on that later) and creates immersive shots of areas of interest, being dialogs between characters or landmarks.

The story is also compelling, interesting and thought-out. The amount of lore put into the game is crazy. I played for around 60 hours and the game has still new dialogs about the lore. The voice acting is top-notch and the chemistry between the cast is superb.

The soundtrack is also pretty fitting, although a bit forgettable. The same cannot be said about the sound effects though, which feel satisfying when talking about combat, or just realistic when referring to ambiance and nature.

The combat is also pretty awesome, with a pretty high skill-ceiling: You can be a brute and just spam attacks, or you can exploit all mechanics offered to you, and parry, dodge, block, command your son, use runic attacks (kind of magic), or manipulate effects around you. It's a very satisfying and robust combat system. The only downside, and it's kind of big actually, is the camera, which often sweeps around when an enemy moves too fast, or gets completely disoriented when you are surrounded by many targets. Not game-breaking, but I definitely died a bunch of time due to bad/awkward camera controls.

The only downside of the game are the boss fights, which except for the cinematic main-villain ones, where too forgettable and same-y. There are only a handful of "special" creatures/bosses and these get rehashed and reskined far too many times.

Apart from that, the game really is a masterwork.

I will give it a fairly low score for its quality, an 8/10, just because the bosses kept letting me down, while I was constantly expecting for something new and cool to happen!

Full price is more than worth it for the content and quality of the overall experience.

Can't wait for the PC version of Ragnarok!

That ending scene back home was a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

Give us Bloodborne now, Sony!

Inspired by the Overcooked series but not limited to the series' design choices, Out of Space tries to tackle the frantic fun of the cooking series, in space!

It is pretty fun and overall well thought out, but most of the difficult stages are too time consuming for this type of game. I am talking about 1-hour stages.

The good thing is that the game offers virtually infinite replayability since the stages are randomly generated, based on difficulty. I haven't (and will not) played enough to know for sure how same-y the stages feel.

On the bad side, the soundtrack is pretty boring, and the amount of bugs encountered are far too many for a fully released (non-early-access) game. Especially, the multiplayer connectivity was too clunky and most of the times required a restart of the game for one or more of the players involved in order to successfully connect.

To conclude, this is not a bad game, and for an indie title from a small development team is pretty well-made, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone over the overcooked series. But for someone that has completed overcooked and needs a similar game, this is a good alternative!

6/10

I would not recommend buying the full 12.49€ asked, but a 50% sale is a pretty good deal for the game.