Recent reviews by Matthew

I have two complaints.

First, the game has no major choices. You get the illusion of choice, but the only choice that matters is a Mass Effect 3 style choice at the end to determine which ending you want to view.

Second, the story starts as very grounded and thoughtful. However, several of the endings are quite fanciful, and none of them realistically deal with the main subject of the story, the therapeutic AI program.

The game also doesn't deal with economic class very well. Namely, the main character drops off the face of the earth for 3 years and does almost nothing except brief part-time bookstore work, but manages to maintain a nice apartment in Seattle. Ignoring quality, a 1 bedroom apartment in Seattle is roughly $2000/month, or $72000 over the 3 years of her depressive episode -- and that doesn't include food costs. This character would need an immense amount of cash to support herself during this time period.

Us normal folk can't simply stop working for 3 years, or pay the bills by working part time at a bookstore, unless living with our parents. Us normal folk would also find ourselves unhireable, especially by major tech companies.

However, I don't consider this a major complaint against the game, since these issues only become annoying in light of the fantastical endings and lack of interesting choices. The game felt realistic and compelling up until the latter half.

SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS

There is no ending where the therapy AI's main problem gets addressed -- that it provides awful advice. "Play a game on your phone for 15 minutes!" or "do some breathing exercises" are not great ways to help someone improve their mindset or their lives in a long-term way. The game acknowledges these bad treatment options... but never comes to the conclusion that those problems could be improved. The game even lists some easy ways the treatment could be improved (like directing people to rent assistance programs), but never follows up to see if those proposals would work. This is an extension of the latter half of the game dipping into sci-fi fantasy.

The game relies on scripted jumpscares and splattered blood and gore to create fear. The game also contains a lot in the way of negative exploration space: dead ends that punish you for exploring because there's nothing in that direction. These are made worse by a character that walks very slowly and can only run for a moment or two before slumping over, wheezing. The monsters in the game provide nothing new in the way of gameplay innovation. The three enemies can be defeated by, in order:

- wait in the closet until the enemy goes by
- walk, don't run, next to the enemy
- walk/run away from that enemy until they disappear

Spoilers: it indeed is all a dream! Sure, there's a bit of extra story there, but if the idea of playing a character through a nightmare landscape with no consequences doesn't appeal to you, you probably won't like this game either.

Alternatively, one could play Fran Bow for a similar artstyle and horror aesthetic with a story that's much more ambitious. Indeed, the horror of that game relies on atmosphere building and body horror, rather than the overused tropes of jumpscares and blood splatter.

10,000,000 has simple graphics, a simple soundtrack, and simple but addictive gameplay. Alas, this game brings nothing new or groundbreaking to the world but manages to be deliciously fun. Definitely worth the low price.

Starseed Pilgrim requires patience. First, the player must discover the control scheme and, soon after, interpret the arcane interface. Second, in the existential vein of game design, the player must determine their purpose and chart the course of their journey. If that journey involves discovering the story and reaching the end of the game, then the next step is to develop the skills needed to outrun the encroaching darkness and satisfy the requirements of the 'challenge levels' in the game.

If by this late point in the game you understand the control scheme, GUI, have mastered control of your seeds and have discovered that there is, indeed, a story and challenge like levels, then take a moment to step back and realize that this is a game not about gardening, but colonialism.

You are escaping from an encroaching darkness, but by upsetting the already existing balance of the new world, you bring that same terrible fate upon a place that would have been better off without your existence. Your constructs, your plants, may seem beautiful, but they are merely decorations, fleeting attempts at meaning and growth which simply provide a foothold for the darkness.

With that alone, you should be able to predict the end of this game and the overall message Starseed Pilgrim conveys. What is the historical outcome of pilgrims, fleeing from persecution and slaughter?

Pilgrims bring the same darkness with them and, regardless of their noble intentions, spread the same disease they tried to escape.

In Starseed Pilgrim, if you can somehow initiate yourself into the esoteric knowledge base required to play and enjoy, then you will not be rewarded further. Knowledge, in this game, is its own reward, and once that has been gained, then the remaining game is very much the equivalent of the Baby-Saving minigame in Stanley Parable: a tedious grind that does indeed become more potent in meaning with time, but spending the required time and effort (and at the time of this review, $5.99) to reach that false 'nirvana' results in self-destruction.

Recommended to those who would appreciate Starseed Pilgrim as a piece of fascinating artwork, the kind of person who wants games to travel the route of James Joyce into oft-inaccessible academia. Definitely not recommended to those looking for a fun romp in an indie game: go play Terraria or Minecraft instead.

Your turns should play like this:
Check to see which tiles you're working and which specialists you have assigned.
Make the decision on whether to buy new units or tiles with your cash, or spend your money buttering up city-states or smoothing over deals with other nations.
Check to see how close you are to your next Social Policy, and attempt to decide which will be most advantageous.
Focus every move on a particular victory, especially on higher difficulties.
Beware of neighbors, friends, and then enemies, in that order.

Civ V standalone is an okay game, but you must meet two criteria: 1) enjoy micromanaging city development and 2) not want the punishing difficulty or complexity of a Paradox game. Without the micromanagement, the game is a bit overly streamlined, especially for fans of the incredibly punishing and un-intuitive Civ IV.

If you get Gods and Kings, the additions are absolutely game-changing. Religion can confer huge, if non-easily seen advantages, perfect for the more in-depth player, and spying provides a rather satisfying risk-reward payoff which becomes ever more important near the end-game. The expanded city-state quests spice up diplomatic play and can give the game a story-like feel, where your goal is to fulfill missions (among the grand strategy, of course).

Brave New World kicks the complexity up a notch, but cannot be as strongly recommended. BNW adds trade routes (a lovely, dangerous system which can make barbarians even more infuriating) and totally revamps the culture victory. The best part of the expansion is an improved UI which somehow feels far more intuitive, but otherwise, only buy if you've played 60+ hours of Civ V + Gods and Kings.

For the base game and expansions in a megabundle, I would recommend this at the price of $40, maybe optimistically $60 if the player is sure they'll adore every second.