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I got to the evil spider basement and noped right out.

Has impeccable PS1-Era vibes and mixes survival horror & semi-metroidvania exploration really well. Definitely worth a look if you want something nostalgic, but also entirely fresh and new in a lot of ways.

It's everything I love from Forager & Minecraft: Skyblock, but with some nice quality of life mechanics and new twists to keep it feeling fresh. Definitely worth it if you're an incremental fan that wants something a bit more hands-on for once.

El Paso Elsewhere takes elements usually found in walking simulators, and mixes them into a short but satisfying Max Payne-esque third person shooter. It's one of those kinds of games that if you vibe with every part of it, it'll feel like one of the best games ever- but if you're not keen on any singular part it won't feel as good.

The shooting mechanics are solid, but don't push any boundaries. The slow-mo, dodge roll, and dives are fun to play with, but ultimately it was easier for me to blast them away with the shotgun up close, hose them with the repeater, or snipe them from afar with the rifle rather than engaging in combat acrobatics.

The level design is equally serviceable, feeling more like a chaotic funhouse maze than an explorable environment. There are a couple of large setpieces that help break up the monotony from time to time, but they were few and far between. It fit the story quite well, as you’re trapped in a twisted liminal space conjured from the antagonist’s tormented past, and the repetition was an intentional game design choice to highlight James’s struggle against the void. Making the level design more ‘fun’ would have created a disconnect between what the player is feeling and what James was. El Paso, Elsewhere is meant to be a struggle, and while that limits its replayability and fun factor for people who don’t vibe with the plot, it made everything feel far more interesting for me. It’s also fairly short, so the drudgery never became a true negative.

The collectables were a neat highlight, but few and far between. The projectors were a neat window into James & Janet’s deteriorating relationship, but the radios and their hilarious non sequitur pill cop episodes or one-off jokes provided small bouts of levity that inspired me to actively seek out on every level. Unfortunately, some are pretty hard to find, so I didn’t get them all.

Visually, El Paso, Elsewhere belongs roughly 18 years in the past, with low-poly models, visibly pixelated textures, and modernized lighting that creates a very brooding, liminal aesthetic that feels both unique and nostalgic. There’s a very distinct visual style and intentionality to how El Paso, Elsewhere looks that I think helps set it apart dramatically in a market that went past oversaturation years ago. Some people might dismiss it for looking archaic, but I personally love how it looks.

The OST is in two parts- the background music which is solid score with a surprisingly number of tracks. I’m not kidding, there are more songs than levels to the game- and while a lot are pretty short, the sheer variety present really helps break up the intentional monotony of the core gameplay loop without undercutting the immersion.

The second part are 11 tracks of experimental rap songs that kick in during pivotal moments of the game. As someone who rarely listens to rap/hip hop, I found myself rather drawn to each song as they played, as they’re quite catchy and due to their tailor-made nature fit the gameplay of each moment perfectly.

The story is where El Paso, Elsewhere really shines through however, told through a series of skits and monologues during gameplay and between levels, where James reflects on his life while traveling through the void on an old hotel elevator. They’re very raw, emotionally, and I could not help but be sucked into James’s mixture of self-depricating humor, genuine regret at a life lived poorly, his enduring love for Janet, his rising resentment towards the void and its denizens, and his compelling acceptance in the face of his looming death.

I didn’t expect to empathize with James as much as I did, and now that I’m finished I feel an odd sense of relief and loss. On reflection, I think it’s because most protagonists tend to be blank slates and everyman type characters, so having a game where you play as a distinct and distinctly broken person felt like an incredible breath of fresh air for me.

Ultimately, the El Paso, Elsewhere wasn’t particularly deep, nor did it go particularly far, and it didn’t need to. Instead, it delivers one of the most emotionally immersive experiences I’ve ever seen in a game. On a pure gameplay level, it loses its novelty after the first hour or so and drags on for another six, but every other core element of the game carries it hard for the rest of the duration. It’s an art house film in gaming form, with all the benefits and handicaps that brings, and even though I only finished it a few hours ago I’m already craving more- both of games of a similar caliber, but also from Strange Scaffold as well.

Genuinely one of the best Roguelikes I've played in years. It evokes so much of the same design choices that made Slay The Spire good, but differentiates and elevates itself with deeply customizable dicebuilder gameplay mechanics and an aesthetic that blows me away every time I look at it.

Each character is an absolute marvel to play too. The sheer build variety potential is insane.

Thronefall is everything I wanted from the Kingdom series, but with so, so much more.

+ Rather than only having a couple of structures to invest into, Thronefall gives you a ton with no chance to buy them all in a single run, meaning that efficient decision making is key to building a successful fortress.
+ Having a hero that can actually fight on the front lines makes the game way less passive during the nighttime invasions.
+ Especially since you have to choose between upgrading your monarch or upgrading the town/troops.
+ Having the ability to choose a starting set of perks & equipment massively increases replayability.
+ It's $7, that's an absolute steal for how good this game is already.

Based on my impressions from the demo and first few hours of the early access version, Techtonical is legitimately one of the best automation sandbox games I've played so far (and I've played almost all of them).

It's got the multilayered factory building of Satisfactory.
The cozy underground feel of Stoneblock, but way prettier.
Multiple points of interest to explore and loot- some of which require items/progress to access.
And an actual story! Which alone sets it apart a fair bit.

Didn't make it to the credits since Firmament felt very incomplete, glitchy, repetitive and featured surprisingly simple puzzles despite Cyan's legendary pedigree.

Turns out they made this with heavy assistance from exploitative machine learning tools, so go figure it looks so dull and the lore is nonsense.

The classic Cyan creativity is dead.

Incredibly solid turn-based combat with a heavy focus on manipulating the turn-order timeline to your advantage, with fantastic pixel art and a jamming soundtrack.

My only beef is that the runs take waaaaaaaay too long. Like, 2 hours minimum, if not moreso.

Definitely could use some more character ability customization too.

If I hadn't been playing since launch and someone told me this game is almost 10 years old, I'd call them a liar.

Warframe is an incredible experience, and while it's definitely a massive time sink, it's the best among them.

A solid fusion of the Auto Chess & Tower Defense genres! Tiny Tactics doesn't bring too much new to the table for either, but offers a decent amount of customization, variety, and content for the price.

Pros
+ Visuals look decent.
+ Music is catchy but not overly distracting.
+ Lots of unit variety, with spares so you can hit your class quotas easily. The Tavern system helps this a ton too.
+ Mazing
+ Talent tree progression gives players some control over how they get to play.
+ Each unit class seems equally viable.
+ $10 is a very fair price for this game.

Cons
- No speed controls - This is my #1 gripe, since levels can go on for quite a while. If nothing else I'd like to see a x2/x4/x8 speed setting added.
- Talent Tree has unit unlocks - I'd rather they be unlocked by simply playing levels/from the start since I'll rarely pick them over major passive upgrades.
- Talent Tree could have more options - this is a personal preference more than anything, but I love hyperspecializing and the current tree feels pretty basic.
- Units can look a tad samey, especially packed so close together. Makes it hard to remove 'useless' units that I want to sell.

Edit: I wrote this right before the x2 speed update went live, which helps a ton but I'd still love to see more speed options.