Immortal Redneck Review
- Sat, Jun 14th 2025Remember Redneck Rampage? That old DOS FPS from back in the 90’s where you control a redneck fighting aliens? Well, what happens when you put a redneck in Egypt and tell him to fight mummies and...
Date Everything Review - Yes, Really!
- Fri, Jun 13th 2025Date Everything. Yes, really. In Date Everything, you’re able to D.A.T.E. all the items in the game. Of course, this means “Directly Acknowledge a Thing’s Existence.” Silliness aside for a moment,...
Revenge of the Savage Planet Review
- Sun, Jun 8th 2025There will never be enough cooperative story games in this world. I can’t get enough of them. But, I still want them to be well-designed, fun to play, and easily accessible to play with whomever I...
Spirit of the North 2 Review
- Sat, Jun 7th 2025Becoming one with nature. Enjoying moments of zen in beautiful surroundings. Running through vast environments, enjoying the thrill of exploration and discovery. Developer Infuse Studio has refined...
Shovel Knight Dig Review
- Thu, Jun 5th 2025So, confession: I never played Shovel Knight before. I knew of it and I was always curious about it, but I never really got around to actually playing it. Now, thanks to Shovel Knight Dig, the...
Preserve Review
- Sat, May 31st 2025There’s something about sitting in the middle of a beautiful landscape, playing Preserve, that makes it even more wondrous. I had the opportunity to write this review while sailing up the Fjords and...
Frog Legs Review - Short, Silly, and Surprising
- Thu, May 29th 2025Firstly, let me just say that Frog Legs is silly, short, and fun. It doesn’t take itself seriously, is meant to be completed in one play session, and is less than $3. As such, this review won’t be...
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo Review - Dawn of the Yoyovania
- Wed, May 28th 2025Indie games are often the sources of some of the most innovative ideas out there. A lot of these games also wear their inspiration on their sleeves. It’s impressive when a game can both bring its...
Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade Review
- Wed, May 14th 2025Looking for something new in the roguelite scene, my attention was caught by a handsome tiger warrior in the trailer for Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade, an action RPG with roguelite elements by...
Clash: Artifacts Of Chaos Review (Xbox)
- Mon, May 12th 2025I made it no secret that while I love the first person genre, I’m always on the lookout for games outside of my comfort zone to check out, so when I stumbled across Clash: Artifacts Of Chaos, it did...
- Written by Sean Phillips
- Category: Reviews
- Hits: 1281
The best way, I think, that I can describe Nikoderiko: The Magical World is that it’s essentially a Crash Bandicoot-style game. That is, you run on a 2D plane that sometimes transitions to 3D, from one end of the level to the other, collecting various items on the screen while avoiding traps and either avoiding or taking out the various enemies. Nothing really revolutionary but still a fun concept. However, Nikoderiko doesn’t really bring anything new to this genre to make it stand out from the others on the market. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, mind you, just that it could’ve been the next great mascot platformer.
- Written by Leon Sarambi
- Category: Reviews
- Hits: 1370
I've always been interested in unique gaming gimmicks. Ones that are either using a very used function of a controller or very obviously just a way to get a headline in a gaming article to sell a big piece of plastic that you will only use for one game *coughsteelbettalionforthexboxcough*. Having a gimmick can ruin or enhance an experience, especially if it's one where you don't need any special skills or equipment to use. Enter “Before Your Eyes”.
Before Your Eyes is an immersive story focused first person experience with a unique gimmick. If you have a webcam, you can control the experience through your eye movements by blinking. You blink to select stuff, blink to skip cutscenes, blink to draw, blink to move objects, etc. There is a mouse option if you do not have a webcam, but to get the full experience you should use your webcam, or in the case of the PSVR2, your VR headset. I played through the game twice, one with the blinking mechanic and one with the mouse. Playing with the mouse almost feels like cheating because there are certain story elements where you are asked to keep your eyes open and there's no suspension or challenge when you can just literally pull your hand away from the mouse for a few seconds. With the webcam, those holding periods feel agonizing and you have to force yourself to keep unblinking for longer then you want it to be, it feels rewarding to do so. The issue with the eye controller is that the game is VERY emotional and you'll start to feel it when you cry, having to blink and you'll see yourself skip important cutscenes because you had to wipe your eyes. So, what is the game about anyway?
You play as Benny, Who just woke up on a small boat in what seems like an ethereal land. A Cat? Fox?...Catfox? with one ear is on the boat with you. This is the Ferryman, and he tells you you're dead and on your way to see the Gatekeeper. He informs you that you will need to give the Gatekeeper a story to see if you are worthy of being brought into paradise. You are then taken to your memories to go through your story, starting from your youth to your eventual death and everything that happens in between.
The story does not sugar coat anything and this is where the premise of the eyes being the controller can falter. A lot of the scenes in this game are very emotional. To the point where you will be crying or have issues with keeping your eyes open. However these scenes are where the game will demand you to keep your eyes open for longer periods of time then normal and this can physically hurt while you play. Again, you can switch to mouse controls at any time, but then it does not feel like a full experience because the game was built around you using your eyes. So if you do play this game, please make sure to do some eye exercises beforehand.
The visuals are very simplistic, but great at showing off the little details that the developers put in with every action. The hand drawn action commands and the pop it gives whenever you make a selection is a good touch that connects well with Benny’s story and background. The feel of the different scenes fit well with the themes as well, with all the memories being set like a play and limited visibility like you would if you had to remember specific events from your own past. The soundtrack fits well with the visuals as well, lots of piano and string music throughout with the occasional percussion and synth sounds that punctuate the memories you will encounter.
Initially I was going to go into more detail about the story of Before Your Eyes, but after writing an entire page and a half about it, I decided against it. This review was going to be a short one anyway since this is a game that you need to experience first hand and it may have a different effect on you. Much like how games like “What Remains of Edith Finch” and “Undertale”, your experience may differ from mine and I wanted to explore my feelings on the game. However, that would ruin the experience for you to go give it a shot yourself. So, I implore you, go play Before Your Eyes. It's a 2 hour experience that you won't forget.
- Written by Joshua Wyld
- Category: Reviews
- Hits: 857
Ever dreamed of being an alchemist in a fantasy town full of anthropomorphic villagers, slightly dangerous monsters, and a wealth of ingredients for your potion-crafting needs? Alchemist: The Potion Monger is all of those things and more, and provides a heaping dose of things to do in a casual setting that allows for you to grow your knowledge and skills at your own speed. Even after spending numerous hours with the game, there’s still more for me to find and do. Though it takes some time to craft the more funny potions in the game, the journey to get there can be a rewarding one, even if it takes a little longer to get there than I expected.
- Written by Joshua Wyld
- Category: Reviews
- Hits: 686
The concept for Copycat is rife with opportunity. Lovingly and fully voice acted by a cast of Australian locals, Copycat is driven by the concept of a nature documentary narrator following your cat, Dawn’s, adventures through adoption and rehoming. Your new life is upended when a “Copycat” tries to take your newly found place in the family with an elderly lady named Olive. Olive and her daughter also have a lot of real life issues that they’re having to handle, and you get caught up in the effects of all of them, while also battling with the implied trauma from your last family. People tell me I’m an emotional guy, and this game does nothing to prove them wrong. Throughout the game I was on a rollercoaster of emotions, all of them culminating in an incredibly fulfilling ending that was worth the price of admission.
- Written by Brandon Billingsley
- Category: Reviews
- Hits: 931
Castlevania is perhaps the most well known vampire video game series, famous for its gothic horror elements and of course, the constant threat of Dracula. Much like the vampire the series is based around, it rises and falls time and time again. Recently, it has been re-emerging from its coffin with the success of the animated Netflix series that’s still considered to be among the best on the platform and seeing re-releases of older games. For example, the Anniversary collection which features the original NES/SNES titles plus a few extras like Bloodlines and Kid Dracula and the Advance Collection which includes the GBA trilogy of games as well as Dracula X. With the recent announcement of Castlevania Nocturne getting its much needed season 2, now seems like a good time to talk about the most recent collection of re-releases, Castlevania Dominus Collection.