Recent reviews by Aenea

First things first: I'm a massive LOTR fan and I have been starving for a new LOTR game for a long long time.
Return of the Moria is a survival / combat / adventure game. I like the genre, thus I like this game.

General points of the game:
- The game is faithful to the lore which I love infinitely! All the nods to the fellowship and Gandalf <3
- The random generated map is nice and gives replay value. I play both multiplayer and solo.
- You can build your own fortress and build pretty much anywhere. I like that you can parkour-build your way into places. You can problem solve by building.
- You fight things living inside Moria. The fights are easier with company, but if you die you are not punished too harshly.

This game has a couple of things that it does better than some:
- Food is plentiful and you are not forced to farm a lot in order to survive. But if you make better food, you get significant benefits from it.
- I love the joyful things: You can sing while mining. You can sing while holding a beer on your head!
- After you get fast travel, setting up a new base is easy. This enables you to build multiple bases.

At first I was hesitant if Palworld was really worth it. Like yeah, it's fun to shoot the team rocket people in the face. That was really healing since they are so very annoying.

- Exploration, check.
- Lots of new pok- I mean pals to learn (I know none of their names, that's ok)
- Base building was dissapointing, too hard to build and problem with clipping objects.
- Farming for stuff is ok I guess
- The collecting of things can be very laborous sometimes.
- I like that I can fight with my pals, and be active part of the fight
+ LOTS of bosses, this was great
+ I can ride multiple pals, this was awesome

BUT. The best part if the Elephant pal. And then they added THE FROG. My life is complete and this elevated the game to be 10/10.

I wanted to like this game more.

Let's start with the obvious things:
- The idea is great
- I love being a cat
- Being a cat is whimsical, fun and enables gameplay which is different
- I enjoyed the futuristic theme

But... I just wish there was more of it.

More often than not, I tried my best to explore all the different nooks, crannies and alleyways. Only to be met with an insurmountable obstacle. This leads to the feeling of being in a pipeline towards the goal, rather than the open world.

Also the puzzles, quite often they are "turn a lever to do X" while this is ok - After a while I hoped there was more challenge. More moving parts, a possibility to move wrong things. Nothing too hard, but something more challenging.

The controls are sometimes annoying, leading you to die untimely death. This is unfortunate, because OF COURSE you want your furball to survive at all costs.
This being said, I think it's worth it, because the learning curve is low for the controls and the overall gameplay is really chill.

In summary: The game is mostly relaxing, story driven and cute. If you enjoy cats, scifi, RPG or puzzlesolving - give it a go.

Born too late to discover Earth
Born too early to discover space
Born just in time to discover this game

Also

Baboons!

Valheim, a pleasant and highly addictive surprise.

I had no expectations going into this game. Viking theme seemed cool, the mechanics were mildly interesting.. the graphics seemed quite oldish and bad.

And then, it grabbed me.

Build! Build some more. Build better and bigger as your skill grows. Build as you get new ideas. Castles, bridges, warehouses... No limits, only building. (Insert Kylo Ren MORE here)

Also survive. Farm food, farm animals, fear for your life. Dwarves, skeletons and other horrors will surprise you and chop you up if you are unprepared. Test your might against bosses.

Also explore. Having the feeling of good old adventure, more often than not I find myself quoting Old Samwais: "If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been". And far and wide you can go, as the map is truly HUGE.

Oh and about the graphics.. after the start they will grow on you. And the game IS beautiful.

Have you ever watched those ghost hunting shows, thinking the people in them are just sissies?

Well, this is Your chance to prove yourself! Gear up and venture into a haunted location. With more or less courageous friends.

If you're lucky you might encounter a more friendly ghost. If unlucky, it's a demon. Say your prayers as the house creaks and thumbs around you, hide in the closet while the ghost hunts you. Run for your life when IT IS COMING.

Amidst all of this, don't forget to set up your gear. You need those clues to find out what's haunting you and the location. Oh and just one thing... IT can hear you. And your friends. Who are possibly also taunting it with NO REGARD WHATSOEVER towards safety.

5/5 Will stay in the van again.

So what can I say about Call of Cthulhu?

Let's begin with the story. It is slowly developing, eerie and gives a sense of "this is not going to end well". So in that sense, it stays true to Lovecraftian style. Also a haze between madness and just really bizarre events is really difficult to convey - and in this regard the game delivers.

About the gameplay: The game mixes puzzles and discovering environment - with unsettling scenes and some genuinely scary parts. It has nice roleplaying elements with skill checks and decisions that will affect the destiny you will face in the end.

The game is still far from a survival horror - the scary parts are quite rare. This makes the game resemble more of an detective or discovering mysteries -type of game. The plot carries nicely trough the game, an unfolds bit by bit.

If you are looking a good scare this game might not be the best choice. But if you enjoy a more relaxed thrills, this game will immerse you into the world of the Great Old One.

And I, for One, welcome our new Overlord.

I was clueless and died a lot.
Lots of shenanigans and jumping.

>Be me
>Follow more competent people around, no clue what's happening
>We win

>Also be me
>Trying to find anything as a D-BOI, run around aimlessly
>Can't
>Suddenly a random D-BOI arrives, he helps me
>After him like 8 D-BOIs more
>We escape together

6/5, will be oblivious again