Technically I beat this last month on the PC Game Pass. Wow, what a game! The characters, the style, the graphics, the story, everything. It's a beautiful game. Expedition 33 is a turn-based combat game where a group of characters go on a journey to prevent a tragic cyclical event. The voice acting for each character is absolutely perfect, and each character has a unique fighting style. The story is (mostly) perfect. I would give this a ten, but I thought it became a little convoluted towards the end. This is strictly personal preference, and I know a lot of people who disagree with me.

There are a lot of compliments I can give to Expedition 33, but I urge you to go in blind and give it a try! Especially if you have Game Pass.

"Mile 0 is a prequel to the game "Road 96," which was a surprise hit for me a few years back. Unfortunately, this prequel lacks the charm, the dark interior, and unique quirkiness that the original had.

Mile 0 is half the play time of the original, and somehow feels both rushed and dull and drawn out. The gameplay almost exclusively consists of boring minigames and empty choices,, with a very predictable story. In the original game, you were learning about this highly political and corrupt world, and you felt like you had to tread carefully. In Mile 0, you already know the right path and you're just waiting for the story to catch up with you.

Mile 0 also doesn't feel as polished, and the animation feels janky. I also had to restart a couple of times due to bugs. Overall, it feels kind of empty…

That said, it’s not a terrible game. There is still some charm, and some of the new characters were interesting. I loved seeing familiar faces. Zoe took a hit to her character. She no longer has that mystery and nuance that made her so interesting in Road 96.
I was hoping that Jarod would make an appearance since he was the most interesting (and terrifying) character in the original game. No luck :(

Overall, I will still keep playing games that take place in this world. I really like the world-building and the characters. I need to see more Stan and Mitch. I even feel bad giving it this negative review, because I can tell the developers do put a lot of love in there games. Still, I would not recommend it.

Steam Deck Compatibility: I tried to play this on the steam deck months ago but after an hour of playing, it crashed and wouldn't stop crashing at a specific moment in the game. None of the online fixes worked so I replayed it on my laptop to be safe. I don't know if this has been fixed yet or not.

Inspector Waffles is a pixel point-and-click detective game. You play as Detective Waffles, who is investigating the murder of another cat named Fluffy. The game has a lot of charm (I say that a lot, but it's true!). And it reminded me a little of Darkside Detective, which I love.

The art is cute, and the game has a noir style to it. The writing consists of dry humor and animal puns, which is perfect in every way. Characters are likable, and the story is a good ol detective plot. Nothing crazy happens, and the twists are not mind-blowing, but for what it is, it's a very cute and worthwhile game. There are a lot of games like this, so it doesn't stand out too much, but I think the jokes and the writing are its strong suit, and if you like point-and-click detective stories, it's worth playing for sure.

There is a secret ending that I did not get, but I might watch it online instead of going back and replaying. I'd recommend Inspector Waffles, but only on sale.

Woo, my first retro review! I just bought a CRT TV and downloaded a bunch of emulators on my computer, so I’m ready to dive into a lot of unplayed retro games. I played the Silent Hill 2 remake, which was good enough to draw me into the world of Silent Hill. I tried playing the first Silent Hill, but the tank controls were too confusing for me and I was really bad at it. I still wanted to get the story, so I watched a playthrough on YouTube. That prepared me to play Shattered Memories, which is a reimagining of Silent Hill 1.

In Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, you play as a father named Harry Mason. He was in a car crash with his young daughter Cheryl. When he wakes up, she’s gone!

Honestly, I really liked this game, even though I gave it a somewhat low-ish score. The thing is, while playing it, it is so frustrating. Like, why did they add this to the game frustrating. There are many poor choices the developers made that bring down the enjoyment of the game. Still, after beating it, I thought, dang. That is a good story! Plus, some of the gameplay mechanics were really innovative and creative for it's time.

Without heavy spoilers, I’ll share some pros and cons I felt while playing. For one, the nightmare world was a great concept with a truly terrible execution. It’s this icy world Harry slips into that’s kind of like the otherworld. It makes sense metaphorically and adds a neat new idea, but my god was it awful to play. In this world, monsters constantly chase you. You don’t have time to look around, you can’t fight back, and you’re always in chase mode. You have to find the exits every time, and it gets harder each time. It’s just trial and error and lots of running until you get back to safety. This is the only time monsters actually attack you, but it's not scary, just boring and anger-inducing.

On the other hand, the game has one of the coolest concepts ever (and what drew me to it): the game adapts to your playstyle and choices you make. It’s not the first or last game to do this, but Shattered Memories just does it so well. Throughout the game, you find yourself in a psychiatrist’s office. You, the player, are answering questions about a variety of topics throughout the game. It's very similar to the psychiatrist in Until Dawn. I never knew that Shattered Memories had done it first. Also, the choices you make in the game (even micro choices like where you look when someone is talking to you) can make changes in the game. It's very detailed and honestly impressive for a wii title.

The narrative is strong, following a similar formula to Silent Hill 1, but going off in its own direction. There are multiple endings depending on your choices. You can also take pictures and scan objects to unlock secret conversations or memories, which add depth to the story. I never considered the game scary. knowing that there are certain times that enemies can attack, and its never sneakily or sudden, takes away the horror and haunting atsmophere. A horror game can still be scary without weapons (Outlast, Amnesia) but you still have to give the player a sense of paranoia and unexpected threats. Shattered Memories is never unpredictable with the world-building.

Shattered Memories is very linear, which can make replaying feel like a chore despite the multiple endings. It always seems to guide you directly to the next area without much room for exploration. I think the game was originally made for the Wii, but I played it on a PS2 emulator, so I can’t really comment on the controls or motion controls.

Overall, I think it’s worth playing! It had a lot of creativity but didn’t quite stick the landing all the time. It's very expensive finding a copy so I recommend emulation. Next time I'll be playing Silent Hill 3!

(US) Pricecharting Prices for Shattered Memories:

PS2-

$290 - No case

$478 - With case

$650 - NEW

Nintendo Wii -

$80 - No case

$90 - With case

$190 - NEW

PSP -

$70 - No case

$131 - With case

$167 - NEW