Recent reviews by Glitch

What horrors wait in the dark? Dwell into the unknown depts and learn secrets better kept hidden. Binding of Isaac: Rebirth was developed by Nicalis and released in 2014. This game is a top down, roguelike, dungeon crawler twin stick shooter, that can be controlled either by keyboard or controller.

As you boot up the game, the story is presented every time, but as a summary to escape his mother Isaac dives into the basement and the game starts. Armed initially only with his tears you must kill every enemy in the room for its doors to open so you can progress. Different rooms can appear on each floor, from treasure rooms that contain items that modify your character in many possible ways, to stores hold items to be bought, to the boss room and many others, some not even being initially visible, but knowing patterns they can be accessed.

Speaking of items, this game has a vast array of items that interact with other items, making your survival easier or harder, all dependent on the items chosen. A good portion of fun this game offers is learning not only learning builds that work better for your playstyle, but learning all the possible interactions items have, and how to optimize them.

The enemies’ design is also something to be discussed. Some enemies have a rather simple look, but as you dive deeper and deeper, enemies become more deformed and twisted, and like the items, learning enemy patterns is key to surviving.

As you gain experience in the game and win a few runs, you may discover more characters, items and even new floors, further increasing the complexity of this game and the replay value. There are also challenges that unlock specific items and daily challenge runs, which may provide something more for experienced players.

With all secrets, items to be discovered, the different characters and runs, it is easy to recommend The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

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Developed by LocalThunk and released in 2024, Balatro is a rogue like deck builder with a Poker theme. Using the card combinations from Poker, customize your deck to better suit your playstyle and bend rules to achieve great scores.

The basic mechanic of the game is simple, play poker games until you win. Games are presented in “antes”, groups of 3 poker rounds where the third round has special conditions and modifiers. The modifiers present part of what makes this game unique.

Between each round, the player has access to a store, where a number of cards can be bought, which can also be altered. Cards can be bought as booster packs as well as Tarot cards, Planet cards, and Jokers. Each of these booster packs allow the player to select different cards for their decks and customize not only the score of specific card combinations, but also card modifiers, score multipliers among other things. The amount of customization possible in this game really transforms what could be an addicting, yet simple, deck builder into a complex rogue like, where rules are bent and almost all can be modified.

Another notable feature this game brings is the little details. From the effects in the cards, to the small screen shake when points are added, all details that are so well made and implemented an already impressive art style and game.

If deck builders are something you already enjoy, I highly recommend Balatro, even if you never played Poker before, it is truly a fun addicting game.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for more recommendations and reviews.

Initially developed in 1996 by Accolade and available on steam since 2014 brought by Nightdive Studios, Deadlock is a turn-based strategy game set in a faraway planet with different aliens competing for its domination.

As an agreement between different alien species to stop fighting for the rights over Gallius IV, a competition of sorts was set where either by building city centers or driving away the competition would determine the winner.

After choosing your character, you choose your initial position in Gallius IV, and the first colony is set. Wheater by building, or by pushing away the other races by any means necessary, you choose the path to total domination. Each different alien species has advantages and disadvantages, suited better for different play styles, so experimenting until you find one that better fit your playstyle is important.

Each species can develop different technology and units, further differentiating playstyles and allowing challenging runs. In another great customization setting, before starting the game, you can set not only the winning conditions, but how much of an opposition the enemies will be, which technologies are available and even how the world is going to be created.

Considering the turn-based mechanic, this game is relaxed in the beginning, but with increasing complexity on resource management, strategic placement and even contacting the black market for all your necessities, I can’t recommend this game enough.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.

As cards from a fading deck, wake up in a fragmented world with no memory or understanding of the erasure of your reality. Loop hero, developed by Four Quarters and released in 2021, is a rogue like deckbuilding game. The game starts presenting the main mechanic, the lack of direct control over your character.

As other roguelikes, losing runs is not only part of learning the interactions between items, but also unlocking new cards that will further increase the complexity of interactions and synergies. Speaking of which, a good portion of the learning curve is the control of what enemies will spawn in the map you create, what items better suit fighting those enemies, and what environmental cards would better suit the previous combination.

Behind the initially simple appearance, this game hides a myriad of interactions that can both help and hinder the player. The game can be divided into 2 main sections, the expeditions where the random maps are generated, along with enemies and resources to be gathered, and the camp, where those resources can be used to build different structures to enhance specific traits of the character, give new abilities and even provide some help. You can also learn more about the world, enemies, and resources.

With all the previously mentioned complexity is complemented by beautiful graphics, an incredibly relaxed and flexible playstyle, and customization options that range from graphical to game speed. Considering all this game offers, I highly recommend Loop Hero.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.

Following the memorable and impressive Knights of the Old Republic, the Sith Lords is a third person turn base roleplaying game set in an old Star Wars universe. This game was developed by Obsidian Entertainment and originally released in 2004.

As the original game, the focus of this game is its story and the interactions between every character, but more than the almost directly diametrical choices present in the previous iteration, this game presents possible discussions of morality and the place of Jedi and Sith in the universe, as well as the influence that choices take in the environment and people around.

As established by other Star Wars properties the game begins, after the character creation, with a text crawl that explains the story so far, but as the game begins the tutorial section starts with a droid in a broken-down Ebon Hawk, where most basic mechanics of the game are presented.

Like many roleplaying games you wake up with little to no memory of previous events and slowly, sometimes with the help of other characters, learn about your past and your place in the future. Your character is an exile, with all connections to the force severed, and with the unfolding of the story, you discover more about your character and about your companions.

Another interesting addition to this game is an affinity system, whereby specific dialog choices modify how other characters perceive you and further increase the connections you can make with them, or decreasing them, if those are negatively impacting the affinity. Similarly, force alignment can also be influenced, directing the development of the story even further.

Other than the many characters the player can interact with, there are battles spread around the different worlds that can be visited. The combat system follows the same mechanics present in the first game, where different equipment and skills present actions that can be queued and decided by dice rolls, hidden from the player’s eyes. On the topic of equipment, this game presents many customization options to better suit different playstyles and character builds.

Although we may present a bias view due to appreciating the game, it does have some flaws. Some missions can softlock the game requiring usually loading to a previous point after restarting the game and some aspects feel rushed and incomplete. But with all of that said, the story development and characters are incredibly written and are, by themselves, what drives the game and its enjoyment.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a Star Wars story and a roleplaying game, I highly recommend Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.

Developed in 2019 by Tendershoot, Michael Lasch, and ThatWhichIs Media, Hypnospace Outlaw is a simulation investigative adventure game set in a pseudo-90s internet, where you act as a moderator for an innovative system that allows interaction while sleeping.

Although not like more classical presentations of the point and click genre, it is hard not placing this game in that method of control, even though you can also use the keyboard to input specific commands and you can even use a controller, the mouse still the easiest way to navigate the game.

The game sets itself in the last days of 1999, where the player is an enforcer for a new way to be connected while sleeping, Hypnospace, a product from Merchantsoft. Your role is to act as a moderator, seeking activity that violates the codes of conduct and subsequently reporting them.

As new cases are presented, time moves on, and a thicker plot is presented. It is up to the player to investigate, pay attention to the clues spread on this inventive internet and discover the true crimes behind Hypnospace.

With a combination of great music, a plethora of content hidden and an enticing story, Hypnospace Outlaw is easy to recommend.

Yet again Guybrush manages to complicate things deep in the Caribbean. Initially released in 1997 and available on steam since 2018, was developed by LucasArts and is a point and click adventure game.

With what can only be described as a drastically different art style, the game starts off with a flyby of Monkey Island right before showing Guybrush Treepwood in a rather anachronistic boat getting players up to speed in the story so far.

Different in graphical style but perfectly fitted in the logic of the previous games, Curse of Monkey Island has a new graphical interface whereby holding the left mouse click a coin with the possible interactions is presented. An inventory is also available with all the items collected to be studied, combined and used.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3240386226

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3240385711

Another interesting feature is the difficulty selection, where you can choose between normal and Mega-Monkey that has a few extra steps in some puzzles, nothing too intrusive and all so well stitched into the plot that their addition doesn’t feel forced.

Once again, the game is compartmentalized into chapters and there is no way of losing the game, so exploration is not only encouraged as it is its own reward. Call backs, references and visual gags are spread throughout the game.

Unlike previous installments, this game is presented as it was originally released, no graphical enhancements, no commentary track, no hint system, just the game running on ScummVM.

Although as presented it can be a bumpy ride, The Curse of Monkey Island is highly enjoyable and like the other games of the series I highly recommend it.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.

Released in 2015, Downwell was developed by Moppin and is a rogue like platformer. It is hard to describe such elegantly simple game in a concise manner. Your character jumps down a well and, with gunboots, stores, and weapon caches, has to survive an impressively long well, all the way down, to face a variety of enemies.

This combination of genres creates something akin to the right amount of salt to French fries, something that is good is just so much better. As a rogue like, the placement of platforms and enemies change every time, and as a platformer it demands the player to develop a good movement control. Every segment down the well feels like a reward on itself. As you try over and over to go deeper into the well, you unlock new characters and color pallets.

The simple yet distinguished art style is complemented by an equally interesting set of sound effects, different for each weapon, and a soundtrack.

This game is simple, fun to pick up and play and hard to master, so I highly recommend it.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.

Developed by Crystal Dynamics and released in 1999, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is an action 3D platform game with emphasis on puzzles, almost metroidvania like in some points, with a third person perspective that can be rotated. This is the second game of the series, but considering the completely distinctive style, it feels like a rebirth to the series, although the story is a continuation of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.

From the events of the first game, Kain lived through millennia and innumerous transformations that changed the once human into a vampire and made him transform the world around him. Human kingdoms are but a memory of what they once were by the action of 6 lieutenants vampires Kain created, and the pillars of Nosgoth were twisted as a symptom of the decay of the land.

You play as Raziel, one vampire lieutenant that evolved past Kain by gaining wings. For that transgression, your wings are ripped away, and you are cast into The Lake of the Dead, but instead of oblivion, Raziel is reborn by the will of The Elder. Like some older games, a good portion of the lore is explained in the manual so reading it may be a good step towards understanding the story.

The game consists of basic mechanics used in each segment of the story being tied directly to the story progression. The manipulation of puzzles and the navigation of obstacles is one of the main game mechanics, achieved by switching to the spectral realm to the material realm and the glide ability. Another section of the game consists of the combat, achieved by Raziel automatically facing the nearest enemy and using any weapon available, attacking them. Although not a vampire anymore, Raziel still needs to feed, not with blood but souls, another important part of the game.

Progression is also achieved by gaining new abilities devouring the souls of you brethren vampire lieutenants, deformed by time into unspeakable forms. As a metroidvania those new abilities will allow you to reach new segments of the story and seek out useful artifacts in your quest.

This game features an impressive art style, where each new area has a new theme, weapons, and enemies, giving each a unique feel. Another high point is the voice acting, that combined with all the environmental storytelling creates a memorable story.

As the time of writing, the game has been removed from sale but if you already own the game, or if its listing is reinstated, I recommend the game, although the game does have some points that feel dated and even making it to work can be challenging.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.

Released in 2023, Risk of Rain Returns is a side scrolling rogue like platform shooter just like the original game with reimagined graphics. The main mechanics are kept the same, with difficulty being determined by the time spent in game and items being randomly distributed throughout the maps.

There are different characters to choose, each with different skills that can be unlocked in the trials, a new section of the game whereby completing specific challenges in special maps you unlock said skills. As a rogue like, repetition is something expected. With each new attempt makes the game feel more fluid and achievable, and as you progress you unlock more items that will make surviving an easier task.

The game consists of navigating the levels to find the teleporter to the next level while looking for chests containing equipment and fighting hordes of enemies that drop money and experience points. You can choose to try finishing each level as fast as possible so the difficulty won’t increase as much, or you can explore the map to gather all the available items and look for the secrets. Hidden in the game are the artifacts that can change the game, but you do have to look for them and some are very well hidden.

You can also learn more about the lore of the items, enemies, characters and even locations of the game on the log section.

Overall, Risk of Rain Returns is an improved version of the original, even with some accessibility options, making the whole experience a bit easier but not removing the value of the original game. There are also plenty of achievements to unlock, making the progress a bit easier.

Considering the impressive art style, the same soundtrack of the original game, and the almost infinite replay value, I highly recommend Risk of Rain Returns.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.