Recent reviews by v_input_output

honestly highly disappointed in myself for not shouting about this game from the rooftops when it first came out. gorgeous gameplay and gorgeous art. a fitting endgame for people who enjoy this "split-mind" genre. gonna be seeing NIDUS in every kaleidoscope and pulsing row of lights that catches my eye for a long while.

it's pronounced "vvvvvv"

This game is so damn good. The level design and controls are as smooth as an ice cold glass of Dr. Pepper on a summer day. It's not meant to be an easy game, and the difficulty curve of Soft Game leaves something to be desired, but Hard Game is definitely where Soft Body shines. Tasks that are infuriatingly difficult at first eventually lighten up, only to be stacked on top of one another in rapid succession. There's no feeling better than grinding out later-game levels and then returning to earlier ones just to find that you've become a LITERAL GOD all of a sudden. Add on to that the Halloween levels featuring not a single bullets, and multiple secrets I still haven't even discovered the meaning of yet, and you've got yourself a game that's worth far more than its asking price. 100% recommended buy.

This rhythm-based puzzle platformer came out almost five years ago now and it holds up pretty damn well, especially with the addition of an entire fourth level as a FREE update last year. There's a reason it has one of the highest ratios of positive to negative reviews across all of Steam. Do yourself a favor and try it for yourself.
Btw buying the soundtrack as well is totally worth it; rather than being a straight-up rip of the music in the game, it's remastered and very slightly remix to sound amazing as a standalone experience. Doubly so for the boss tracks.

Ruby & Majesty is a fantastic puzzle-based action-exploration game. It was designed with solo play in mind, hence the extremely simple controls (one joystick per character, no buttons needed outside of menus), but the puzzles are compelling and creative enough that playing with a friend is still a rich and satisfying experience. Plus, as the characters each have their own unique roles to play in every puzzle, playing with a friend essentially nets you two games in one-- just switch controllers and start a new game, perhaps in Flipped mode for an even fresher experience.

[Edit from original review: I have found both endings of the game and appreciate them both.] There are some extremely hard post-game puzzles to contend with, and from everything I've seen so far I get the feeling this game has much more to offer in terms of lore and gameplay.

Speaking of which, I'm really excited to see what people manage to come up with in the Steam workshop as well, and I'll definitely be experimenting there myself eventually. There's definitely opportunity for both devilishly hard reflex tests and for mind-twisting button and wall gauntlets.

You should definitely buy this game, and nab the soundtrack off of Bandcamp while you're at it. Share it with a friend or enjoy it on your own. Embrace a better future.

Highly minimalistic twin-stick shooter (though you can use M&K for better aim at the cost of harder dodging) with an unsettling, almost horror-like atmosphere and soundtrack. The screenshots don't really capture or imply what the gameplay looks like, so go check the trailers to better understand. You start with slow-moving enemies that chase you, then you shoot and kill them at which point they start chasing you but faster. Since you move much faster when you aren't shooting, and different level mechanics limit you to certain areas or strategies in different ways, the game becomes half about finding a solid, reliable strategy for each screen and half about executing it. If you aren't having success or getting stuck in a section, it's more likely that you're not doing the former than the latter. Post-game challenges and speedruns are what have kept me coming back to this game over and over, and they'll likely continue to do so forever.