Recent reviews by Simon

Astonishingly well designed and executed. I'd forgotten just how slick a full-on console game can be - and having it on PC makes it all the better. Also works remarkably well on Steam Deck. Great story, visuals, writing. Movement in the game is magical. The creators of this game make it all look effortless.

Still fairly early in ME1, so can't comment on the other games. The Legendary Edition has effectively retrofitted the first game to live up to my memories of the original, while ironing out a lot of fiddly PC oversights/bugs like controller support, weird textures etc.

Striking also how little annoying filler there is in ME1 compared to more recent RPGs and action adventures. No crafting wasting your time, less quest density generally so you don't feel like you have a massive, insurmountable shopping list of things to do.

Beautiful, overwhelming, frustrating, obtuse, thrilling.

Ultimately a somewhat hollow-feeling experience, but thrilling and awe-inspiring in the beginning. Worth seeing the galaxy, even if you don't stick around.

(ASIDE: I have an odd, desperate urge for someone to mod this into a game set in The Expanse universe)

Heat Signature managed that rare thing: a procedural game with character and wit. It hits a sweet spot whereby it can be enjoyed by relatively casual gamers such as myself while also having evidently high challenge options for mroe hardcorep players.

Although operating in quite a different way, the procedural, interconnected nature of the player characters and their generated motivations feels reminiscent of Shadow of Mordor's semi-procedural enemies. It succeeds in imbuing the world with a greater sense of depth and investment.

That the mechanics are exquisitely interlocking helps.

Also, the simplicity of the game's spacey bits doesn't stop it from feeling MORE SPACEY then a lot of space simulators. It captures the feel of ship-to-ship shennanigans perfectly.