A blend of CYOA meets VN, Heart of the Forest relies more on the strength of its license than anything else. It is worth pointing out events in the game ARE loosely inspired by actual protests opposing the logging operations in the forest of Bialowieza, Poland. License? Yeah, this is based on Werewolf: the Apocalypse from World of Darkness setting.

We step into the shoes of Maia Boroditch who is on her way to aforementioned forest along with her friend Anya to join the sit-down effort protesting the devastation of the primeval forest. She's of Polish origin with some ties to the region, but nightmares about wolves and the forest itself make no sense. It doesn't take long before the tourist act is over and Maia ends up embroiled in what's actually about to go down. It involves discovering her own history and being inducted into a brand new society she knows nothing about. Awooo, indeed.

I have to admit Heart of the Forest didn't exactly make a great first impression on me. Story is, well, what you see is what you get. A lot of chest-beating and howling at the evil logging company and corrupt politicians enabling it, characters who stand in divided "we kill to send a message vs surely we can use words first" camps, but oddly enough... that's Werewolf: the Apocalypse for you. Big aspect of the license, besides playing as a raging bundle of fur, is the ecological angle where you protect both material and spiritual worlds. It's the latter the game nails far better, in my opinion. Especially as you get vivid descriptions of invoking ancient rites, conversing with Patron spirits and just the alien nature of the forest. Having accompanying surreal art greatly helps with selling the team's efforts. General writing quality is enough to get the job done, though. Some descriptions are relegated to hyperlinks and your character sheet so expect to reference those.

Speaking of which, there's the whole CYOA aspect to touch upon. There are definitely choices affecting your stats and outcomes to decisions that warrant multiple playthroughs. I got the impression managing your three resource - Rage, Willpower and Health - is what truly matters as there's no RNG to contend with. Certain actions increase you abilities so you decide what to focus on. My complaint is game takes until the halfway point to remember it's actually about Werewolves, and then it drowns you in new information. Bit jarring, but as someone familiar with the material it was a relief to finally get. What I didn't like was the pivotal moment of choosing your Tribe, only to get a list of mere FOUR +1 to pick from. Werewolves aka Garou have this entire society I won't go into since you get you a decent primer on it from various characters. As far as it pertains to protecting Bialowieza, at least.

Would I recommend Heart of the Forest? It could've used rich tabletop rules better, but what you get fits within the CYOA framework with its lite approach. As far as I'm concerned game edges into recommendation territory mainly due to its presentation and tackling the spiritual side you might not expect coming from a Werewolf game. Taking just a smidge over an hour to finish it's a really short game, albeit one with replays adding very tangible value.

Games taking place in the real world, even more so using actual existing countries as such, are surprisingly rare. Add JRPG into the mix and you get Long Gone Days. Is it worth it?

After a very brief in medias res opening we assume control of soldier 716 deep within the underground Core base since he's been selected as replacement leader after current sergeant got himself injured. Not knowing much beyond the fact you serve Father General, you're transported away with your unit on a brand new operation. All wearing Polish army uniforms to Kaliningrad in order to "de-escalate the situation". Well, our boy is a sniper and he quickly discovers those aren't military insurgent heads he's been popping. Inadvertently involving a company medic, our pair pieces together the Core isn't exactly being altruistic, end up on a blacklist and have to flee to save their lives. As they join refugees in the city they adopt names – Rourke and Adair – while hoping to save themselves and get the word out as to what's REALLY happening. Military machine marches on across Europe with both overt means and subterfuge wherever it can.

Don't get me wrong, there's some heavy handed political and moral preaching involved here, especially when you get to Germany with a newly rising political party, but I think the novelty of taking place in our real world is enough to carry a rather straightforward story. It's the kind of setup where antagonist is rather obvious and his "you are the sacrifices I'm willing to make" approach to realize his own idea of world peace is nothing new to genre aficionados. What works is plot taking you across multiple countries, where you're at first lost because your characters only speak English until you find a local, where you get to see the fallout firsthand. From population displacement as they flee an approaching army to a city that's under martial law. Somehow, this makes distractions like side quests all the more cumbersome when someone asks you tear down posters or find lost pets.

Your cast gradually expands as you advance, but aforementioned Rourke and Adair are main characters since everyone else rotates in and out depending on story relevance. I'd say Lynn is the strongest supporting character although that could just be my bias given I picked her for bonding scenes. No hidden agenda on my part, no sir. On unrelated side note: game did not deliver on the romance front if that's what you were looking for. What's available aplenty is survivor's guilt, PTSD and everyone struggling to do something against this seemingly overwhelming organization even governments seem to be in cahoots with. All the while trying to stay chipper. For my taste? It's a bit too much on the activist side where everyone is irrationally eager to jump into the thick of it. Even pick up weapons as normal civilians let alone help total strangers when they admit they're turncoats from the very enemy.

I wish there was more to say combat-wise here, but it's classical turn-based affair presented in first-person perspective. Grounded setting means the most outlandish enemy you'll fight is a drone, but what enemies exist are neatly presented. Character art gets a budget bump compared to typical pixels you'll see in the game world. If there's something worth pointing it's that encounters are fixed and there's no concept of leveling up. Most battle rewards include a choice between a curative item or restoring SP which you use as resource for skills. You acquire skills when story progresses past certain milestones. What I'm trying to say is, Long Gone Days isn't some systems-heavy dungeon crawler, but rather quite the opposite. Just remember to stun and/or blind enemies for easy wins, even boss battles with their enormous HP pools. You do get to play around with character equipment as far as customization goes, but you'll have to make do with what you find out there.

Would I recommend Long Gone Days? Well, I was on the verge of giving a proper TL; DR review, but quickly realized it would be a padded overkill on my part. Taking about ~10 hours to finish, and getting a bad ending because I think I concluded some battles too fast to get dialog choices, this is not a long investment if you're remotely interested in the premise. As the opening splash screen will inform you, this was made in Unity Engine but you could've fooled me and said RPG Maker was involved in how it plays. Some really nice assets and even higher fidelity "animated" scenes for pivotal moments.

I was going to call Citizen Sleeper a CYOA, but at its core this is more RPG territory. After all, you're selecting options informed by narrative as well as mechanical backgrounds that result in decisions when they matter, at least as far as they pertain to your character. Speaking of...

You step into the shoes of a Sleeper, a digitized mind in an artificial body, as you wake up in a daze on a failing space station. Erlin's Eye stands at the edge of interstellar society and has become a focal point of sorts. Lost in your memories and making connections with various individuals, you also realize things went astray, both on Erlin's Eye with its vying factions and a much wider corporate collapse that preceded everything. Everyone has to make dues, and Sleeper has an additional problem - your body is rapidly decaying, and only your corporate owners have the stabilizer that can press STOP on the expiration date.

Citizen Sleeper is a rather straightforward game where you manage two key resources: the condition of your body and Energy, which fluctuates at a much faster rate. Yes, there are cycles that you plan your actions around, but the game itself is not timed... few instances notwithstanding, and even those don't result in a game over. You better become acquainted with d6 fast because rolling dice is your primary means of interacting with the game. There are five Skills in the game, right? Well, since there's no combat to speak of in this affair, completing Drives, aka character-related quests, nets you upgrade points you then allocate to those Skills. What THAT translates to are perks. Like the invaluable "let me shuffle my entire hand to get a chance at better dice" one, but also determining some Skill tresholds and generally making rolls easier up to +2 bonus. Your Condition is extremely important, as it is divided into five segments, and the worse it gets the fewer dice you have available in the cycle. Let's just say acquiring some stabilizer should be your primary concern, and since that's tied into accumulating money you have an incentive to actually do things.

Which could land you in hot water since you end up in this Sims-like loop of trying to balance your needs: when to go eat for Energy, when to work for money, and how to optimize your Condition, between actually doing the narrative content, which is the main draw. The simplest way to imagine how Citizen Sleeper operates would be to visualize all locational and character actions as reputations that require multiple repeated actions on your behalf to advance. Say you need money. So you go work at the bar, and each "shift" is a separate dice rolls with relatively easy difficulty. On success you net yourself X amount of money, and on failure you get less, with neutral being somewhere in-between. But as you're doing those shifts, something like "get to know the locals" progress pie is filling in the bottom with every success. You only get to fill it once, and after you do a unique event tied to that place happens. Perhaps you meet the cute owner who has her ideas about having a distillery, and she ropes you into helping, which activates another chain reaction. Almost the entirety of the game is structured in this manner; even if it sometimes involves tangible resources you have to provide, sometimes you just have to wait a particular number of cycles, sometimes individual events are timed albeit never too tightly, etc.

Until the very end, when you've dealt with your problems, have completed most of the Drives, and are flush with money/stabilizer, there's this careful dance going on with choosing where to go and what to do next. I was surprised by how certain Drives can give you a possible ending without much fanfare. Endings you can refuse, mind you. Three episodes added post-launch are worthy additions you might want to hold off on until you're comfortable with your Skills and resources. Keep that scrap on-hand, Sleeper.

Unlike my usual ramblings, I've barely touched on the narrative because it's best experienced firsthand. There's some great writing here with characters packing their own stories from every walk of life. Even setting itself is a puzzle to work out. I haven't even mentioned the station's Cloud which provides a separate layer of hacking and dangers that go with it, for example. The art style they went with for character portraits is just wonderful and meshes natively with the ever-looming model of Erlin's Eye in the background. Presentation elevates this game far above "just RNG and text".

For what was supposed to be a short review, this certainly went on. Would I recommend Citizen Sleeper? A firm yes.

Back in the ancient days of Diablo, Throne of Darkness and Nox I was quite partial to a good ARPG. I’ve definitely fallen out since, but that doesn’t mean industry has stood by idly. Warhammer 40k is also right up my alley… so why not combine the two? Exactly what Warhammer 40k: Inquisitor – Martyr sets out to do. Whether it succeeded or not is a tricky question, though.

I have to commend the game for how it uses the license and, well, for having a more fleshed out story than you’d expect. It’s also worth noting Space Marines are not in the focus here as Martyr’s story is decidedly rooted in Inquisition engaging in their clandestine affairs. To keep the story brief: you assume control of an Inquisitor as long-lost eponymous battleship has suddenly re-appeared in space. With it comes the heretical mystery of what a fellow Inquisitor Uther Tiberius was up to to all those centuries ago that prompted a quick getaway. Taking a stroll through the ship’s decks you realize things are not well as there are daemons everywhere, not to mention advanced locks you cannot get past. So begins your mission to navigate the murky waters of the Imperium in order to recruit capable individuals who can help.

Tone throughout the game is grim as one would expect considering you’re dealing with shady smugglers, derisive Eldar of all factions and rival Inquisitors who have their own sinister agendas. I did appreciate rare moments of levity, such as when a pair of Mechanicus priests start debating which aspect of the Omnissiah matters more and our frustrated protagonist tells them to “get of his Vox channel”. Speaking of characters they never really go above the archetypal they’re representing, but this is not necessarily a negative. Since they keep chiming in during missions it can become annoying if you can’t stand them.

However. This is a story that could’ve been at least a full third shorter if not more considering how many filler missions there are. Don’t worry, there’s PLENTY of actual throwaway bite-sized missions you can clock out in under ten minutes, but what I’m talking about here is critical path campaign progression. I suppose they really wanted a place to cram all those journal entries for investigation experience… which ended up being a source of annoyance. My impression was they simply had too much written material that couldn’t make it into actual story so it exists in this form.

Putting that aside, ARPGs live or die based on couple of elements. Far more than any story or writing, it’s the moment-to-moment gameplay, loot-driven economy and classes that are key here. That’s also where real issues begin for Inquisitor – Martyr.

There’s an uphill battle for the game pretty much immediately since it has only three character classes to work with. Just as many were added in DLC eventually, but those starting three are; Crusader, Assassin and Psyker. If you know your way around RPGs you can guess what each of them represents. Thing in Warhammer 40k is both melee and ranged warfare play a role which in this case translates to everyone being able to use both. At least in some form and varying advantage starting out since you get to pick a kit as well. In the case of a Crusader, for example, you could use your chainsword but also switch to a bolter. Reason to do that, beyond statistical advantage, is because active skills are actually tied to your weapon class. You generally have a limited “toolbar” + dedicated healing and rare situational ability buttons game will allow in defensive scenarios.

Above is the big question and source of consternation for some. Personally? I’m not against the idea. What I don’t like is how character level up points are relegated to choosing your passive bonuses for the dullest percentage increments you can imagine. Allocating attribute points among the three is achieved by doing heroic deeds aka in-game related achievements. Add to that three Perks, devs really loved that number, you get to choose and you’re still just juggling stat increments as they gradually snowball. I wish there were more tangible, active skill choices to be made. You also have to account for your belt and armor deciding what two slots do leaving you in that agonizing “do I go for raw stats or life-saving ability?” dilemma. On the other hand, getting to customize exactly HOW your healing pot works is a great idea. Concept of multiple health bars to get through like shields/armor is not novel, but Suppression aka dedicated health bar against crowd control effects is something I’d like to see more of in action. Beats strictly relying on percentage chance when that stun is going to land and get you killed.

For once I won’t leave the worst for last so I’m tackling itemization here. I understand how these games operate. You start doing “runs” where you can get the most time-efficient drops because regular stuff turns useless to you. We have a big problem when 95% of gear is vendor trash while you’re leveling to just finish the campaign. Are you supposed to be doing DLC missions or Void Crusade to get the good stuff? Mind you, this is coming from someone who played as Hierophant and had to equip full retinue as well. Keeping FIVE characters up to date with their gear still left me with basically everything getting sold or salvaged. I also played on +5 level difficulty and loot quality bonus so quantity of drops was not the issue as every mission conclusion meant I had to go back to the ship and dump my inventory. Perhaps this could have been offset if what useful gear dropped was interesting, but generally I just found myself blatantly equipping minute improvements. There’s simply too much granularity in the sea of rainbow loot that they become interchangeable and that Archeotech Relic implant from 25 levels ago was still somehow better anyway. Leaving crafting as a solution provided you care to acquire blueprints and get the resources.

Since I brought up DLC, and I have over time acquired all of it, it’s worth giving some remarks without going individual reviews. There are 20+ pieces of DLC with only three bearing mention; Hierophant and Sororitas both add their respective class, and standalone Prophecy which adds Tech-Adept with unique opening as well as serving the role of an integrated expansion for the base game. I would say Prophecy is a must-have since it continues from a cliffhanger ending, but all three boost anemic character choices. Hierophant was entertaining since you practically don’t need a weapon with your four-man retinue being a murder wrecking ball you just point to a general direction and watch mayhem unfold.

Finishing on a high note I have to say the game really does Warhammer 40k justice. Yeah, you’ll grow sick of the same tilesets and limited soundtrack, but that just comes with the territory. If I noticed it in under 20 hours, which is NOTHING for the mileage these games get, I can only imagine how someone with hundreds of hours feels about it. Sound effects are spot on and voice acting definitely delivers. Everyone has just the right dose of arrogant, zealous and insufferable, albeit with too much voice modulation at times. I was surprised by the sheer amount of voice acting in general. On entirely unrelated note you also get to control an Imperial Knight mech in couple of levels for MAXIMUM JANK.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

ARPG using a well known license, Warhammer 40 000: Inquisitor – Martyr has some issues that warrant mentioning. Taking control of a secretive Inquisitor tackling a 5 000 year old mystery is certainly a ride, aboard a Chaos corrupted battleship no less, albeit one marred by limited character development and uninspired itemization. Both sizable flaws for the sort of simple package this is. Still, if a Diablo-style game wearing 40k skin is what you’re looking for this will scratch that itch as presentation does the license justice. Moment-to-moment gameplay manages to throw a life raft to a game suffering from persistently underwhelming itemization, and which of the two you care for more will ultimately decide how much you fall for the final product. STEEL ENDURES.

Only exposure I’ve had to somewhat overlooked Mana series so far has been Legend on PS1, and having now played this Trials of Mana remake I wish I was there for the original back in the day. Not because the remake is bad in its own right or anything like that, however. Rather to see what lasting impact it may have left on audiences of the time.

After watching a mercifully short into stating the Tree of Mana is not doing so well, and it dying would lead to magic disappearing from the world, you realize something is amiss here. You get to choose your own party from six available characters. By “choose” I mean a lead, who will determine which storyline you’re on, and two others. Storyline? Yes, that’s what makes Trials stand out – there’s the main story, but characters are divided into pairs so two characters share a common antagonist and their associated bits of the game. Striving to make a sensible party I chose Duran the warrior, Angela the magician and Hawkeye the thief. Little did I know two of them were on the same page in wanting to deal with the Crimson Wizard who has affected their kingdoms negatively. Every character gets a short prologue establishing their motivation, and then you proceed to recruit the other two somewhere along your journey.

Certainly a refreshing setup which also makes it somewhat difficult to talk about the story, given I’ve only played the route where Duran + Angela get the spotlight. No matter who you picked you’re approached by a distressed Faerie suggest you help each other out. Getting more than a simple passage through a sealed cave you end involved in a world-ending threat. Game did get a good chuckle out of me when Duran set out wanting to get stronger after his king tells him “you gotta change your class, boy”. I expected some narrative fluff, but he straight up tells him how it is. Angela and Hawkeye, comparatively, leave their kingdoms under much greater duress.

This is where you could raise a valid question of should a remake stick to the original in aspects where it could perhaps improve upon? Because you can definitely tell Trials is remaking a SNES title. This translates to a condensed 20-ish hours long experience that could have perhaps ended up inflated into some open world monstrosity, but at the same you also get barebones, well, everything, in the narrative department. Characters are just archetypes with hints of something under the surface while story is the definition of formulaic. That’s before it gets repeated with you re-visiting the same locations, mind you. Entire affair has you being lead by the objective marker even when you have the perceived freedom to choose your next destination. I would like to point out this is not necessarily bad, and is actually quite a change of pace compared to modern games where everything has to be convoluted and over-designed, but you either like or can’t stand that simplicity so know what you’re getting yourself into.

Before I get to combat it should be pointed out game is presented as locations on the overworld which you eventually get to travel across. Takes a good while before it opens up and until then you’ll be trudging along figuring out how separate locales connect. You get your typical towns to rest and shop for weapons/armor/items at contrasted by adventure fields where combat is met. I found these to be designed just right. Not too big and not too small. Corridors they are, but with enough leeway and enemy density to not make you groan.

There are two standouts when it comes to collectibles in the game: Li’l Cactus who hides herself in almost every location prompting you to get her stamps for rewards and seeds. These seeds you plant in pots at the Inn and they instantly grow to sprout items for you. With seed quality and pot level in mind you can keep a steady supply of curatives, and even some gear on the ready. I saw it as more of a bonus than something you must do or you’re missing out. Except those ??? seeds which you need to to change classes. Speaking of….

Remembering I didn’t play the original, combat changes are not exactly something I can comment on, but had you told me this was a 1:1 adaptation you would’ve easily fooled me. You get your light and heavy attack, but besides mana key resource you manage are CS crystals you use to fire off your Class Strike ability. You get them by, shocker, collecting blue crystals enemy spew out when hit. Mana is something you restore with items, all healing goodies in the game are candies of sorts, but CS you re-fill by being aggressive and fighting enemies. It’s a free-flowing resource meant to be used. In terms of how you actually get to customize your chosen heroes it comes down to stats. You get a varied number of points upon each level up and allocate them. Not as simple since every character can invest into every stat, but each character gets different active or passive skills out of. This means STR is not necessarily useless to Angel the magician even though it won’t turn her into a threat-gobbling tank like it will to Duran. Or how SPR gives Duran of all people healing capabilities not even a magic powerhouse like Angela gets. It’s worth considering how to spread your points.

Except that can be somewhat difficult as you can’t see the entire stat ability list given it gradually reveals itself as your character progresses. I’m talking about changing classes. Every character gets a choice between Light and Dark, first change at lvl 18. This is the big character-defining moment you’ll get to do once again at lvl 38, although then it will require a specific special item acquired from aforementioned ??? seeds. Better pray you get the specific one you want. Not only does a new class change your character’s appearance, so far only weapons would be shown, but also open up additional CS’ and grant new active abilities. Thankfully, you can reset, but item involved is even scarcer than some class ones. It’s not DLC per se, but remake adds post-game content which includes one final class change and overtly long dungeon that reeks of tacked-on.

In case the above has you looking for guides, don’t. Silver lining is that Trials of Mana is an easy game on default difficulty. I died only two times: because my entire party got petrified in ten seconds and when party AI was so set on bailing they would walk into all the telegraphed attacks of a certain pattern-based boss. Yes, real final boss of the game is your companion AI. Original game apparently had co-op which is sadly now gone, but you can switch between three characters as well as given direct commands for items/abilities. Even with a tactics-like menu where you can determine their behavior, there is still no way to tell them directly to MOVE WAY FROM DANGER which becomes bigger and bigger problem as you keep playing. Enemies will telegraph their attacks in combat arenas and it’s no problem for your character, but its a total toss of the coin for your companions.

I would usually squeeze the production stuff in the final paragraph, but it warrants separate discussion in this case. Let me be perfectly clear on something. I’m not the kind of “subs vs dub” kind of guy and people should be free to play games however they wish, but what went happened with English VA? Did they use the game to debut a lot of would-be voice actors? Have open table for amateurs? Mana spirits got hit especially hard, but not even some of the main characters were safe. Let’s just say I lucked out picking Duran. If this is a breaking point for you just remember that Japanese VA is included.

Lastly, production proper. For a game that was never localized back in the day and remains fairly obscure as Seiken Densetsu 3 this is a mind-blowing effort which seemingly came out of nowhere. I guess the Japanese audience really likes the original. We’re not talking AAA values here and people can debate “anime” visuals, but quality is consistent throughout while maintaining the chosen aesthetic. Soundtrack is somewhat lacking which can once again be attributed to it being an orchestral version of the original. You can actually toggle the original in the options if that’s your thing.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Remaking a SNES action RPG was never going to be straightforward, and Trials of Mana has its ups as well as downs. Marketing itself on choosing a party of three out of six characters upon which certain storylines will turn out differently, this is a game that warrants multiple playthroughs to see every minute change. Not even dubious English voice acting could sway me from the class changing mechanic as you pray to RNG gods those ??? seeds sprout you the items you need. Is there something wrong with a game that sticks so closely to the original? At least narratively, that is. Trials of Mana ends up being a game with now formulaic story, archetypal characters and barebones combat... all of which somehow works because game knows precisely what it’s modernizing and how to go about it.

My Pathfinder: Kingmaker tale began back in 2021. Some years removed, and about 35 hours of restarts and false progress, I finally managed to settle on a character with which to finish the game. Was it worth the wait? That remains to be uncovered. There are some widely accepted myths that have to be dispelled, though. Might even need Greater Dispel.

While you can spend a good while reading through all the dialog hyperlinks, great feature existing in modern CRPGs, the opening to Kingmaker lays out matters in rather straightforward fashion. Hopeful adventurers have answered the call of the kingdom of Brevoy and are now being officiated by Jamandi Aldori, a noblewoman setting them on their course of action – tame the territory of the Stolen Lands, claim it as your own and you’ll be named baron. After fending off the attack on the mansion where you’re housed, already exposing this won’t be so simple given the number of conflicting interests and region itself being a powder keg just waiting to explode, you gather your party and venture forth to the nearest place of civilization in the region where adventure and more awaits.

Keeping in mind this is a 100+ hours affair and above is merely the prologue I haven’t told you much at all. Game is an adaptation of a six-part Adventure Path series of books released for Pathfinder proper. How does it translate to game form? Well, while there is an overarching plot thread you’re looking at a sequence of individual stories that tend to hit differently. Early on you’re dealing with strange Trolls who can resist fire, but things eventually escalate as your barony grows in power to catch the eye of neighboring Pitax where you’ll have to deal with dangers of civilization instead. What I’m trying to say is individual chapters are not exactly even and transitions were abrupt for my taste..

This is a CRPG which guarantees heavy emphasis on written text. Even more so given the scope/scale of Kingmaker on top of the kingdom management aspect. I’ll get into it, I promise. There’s definitely bloat here that could’ve been excised. Level of writing quality mirrors the unevenness of individual chapters. I’d overall put it into “decent” category as it tries to do too much tonally. There are rare standout moments, like when a particular slimy diplomat gives you honest advice in his own roundabout way, but when drama mattered I was rarely moved. Planescape: Torment this is not, but is that a prerequisite for a game to be enjoyable?

Lastly there’s one topic to deal with in the narrative department - characters. You’re working with an entire kingdom and cast of characters keeps growing. How are the companions, though? I’d say a balanced mix of special snowflakes and down-to-earth regulars. From your stalwart Valerie, a middling fighter because of her build, to a Goblin murder ball that is Nok-Nok they come in all varieties. Personally, I ended up caring more for combat and Kingdom roles they can fill over their largely archetypal personalities. Needless to say there are personal quests to tackle with actual consequences to be had. Let’s just say Pathfinder: Kingmaker has one of the longest end slideshows as it goes into how all companions fared after the finale. My favorites? Easily Ekundayo, Non-Nok and Jubilost with their brands of murder and mayhem.

There are two pillars in Kingmaker and while they’re not exactly equal latter can still end your game if you’re not careful. I am talking about your customary isometric adventuring, but also the Kingdom mode. Maligned by many and for the most part beloved by me after getting into the groove of things.

For you see, there are in-game TIME LIMITS on chapters that affect both modes of play. This is where I have to ask you all to put down pitchforks and torches so I can cast that Greater Dispel. One of the great misconceptions Kingmaker suffers from is people assuming this time limit has major detrimental effect on the experience. Seeing as I’m fresh from finishing the game it’s a non-issue provided you go about it reasonably. This means learn your ruleset and like with every RNG system you rig the odds in your favor. Since so much can be mitigated with good dice rolls you quickly learn direct healing takes a backseat to buffing your party instead. Or you don’t, and opt to camp after every encounter wasting a full rest. In reality it’s the overland travel that will consume most of your time. Invest in arcane so you can put down those teleportation circles in your towns and eat food that increases your movement speed. Even with all that in mind I can assure you you’ll end up with days to spare doing nothing in both adventure and Kingdom mode. With that tangent done, time to move on...

To the bread and butter of the adventure mode segment. Owlcat did do us a solid by patching in a turn-based mode as alternative to real-time with pause the game launched with. I prefer turn-based and only occasionally switched to deal with trash encounters. If you’ve played other CRPGs you’ll recognize the offering at hand - six-man party, fully craftable protagonist and bonus option of hiring just as customizable mercenaries in case you don’t like any of the companions. One of the biggest draw of the game is the munchkin aspect. Ever wanted to create that perfect character that dips levels into half dozen classes for the bonuses? Well, now you can. Or don’t. I’ve played on Normal difficulty, which is admittedly still a bit gimped, and single class playthrough with stock companions worked just fine. There were annoyances in the last two chapters as I didn’t like certain Fey enemies game throws at you, but no bosses or earlier encounters posed any danger for my smug Sylvan Sorcerer and his cohorts. You get the full stretch of experience from level 1 to 20 so keep that in mind with the armory of equipment you’ll acquire along the way.

There are issues here and I can’t attribute them all to Unity Engine. Some like frequent loading screens becoming longer I absolutely can, as well as camera spazzing out, but what actually got on my nerves was turn-based combat locking up necessitating a switch to RTwP so it can reset. This seemed to occur more as number of combatants grew. There are also “problems” that stem from Owlcat’s design decisions. They like to pepper regions with locations that are way about your expected CR (challenge rating) turning them into traps unless you paid attention to locale descriptions or environmental clues. Sometimes they just get you.

I’ve delayed talking about the Kingdom management for too long already so let’s get to it. Needless to say you succeed and claim Stolen Lands which in turn makes you a baron. Well, you gain access to another mode usable from your throne room and to limited degree on the overland map. First, you get to assign advisors and these can be your companions or other key characters you recruit along the way. They handle problems, opportunities, research, advancements, etc. in their own flavor. Each of these takes fixed amount of time to resolve, once again feeding into the timed aspect, and BP (build points) to get started. You acquire those on weekly basis based on myriad of actors such as your advisor’s proficiency level, kingdom’s stats centered around economy primarily, and also buildings you’ve build in towns. Yes, plural. You start with your capital, but will with time acquire other regions in Stolen Lands which bring their own events, place to build new settlements and benefits of adventuring on “home turf”.

Kingdom mode is the actual big picture where not only events from adventuring bear fruit, but also where major decisions are made that will impact your game dozens of hours later. Your main character’s alignment is key aspect in how your kingdom shapes based on choices. I could not shake the feeling a Lawful Charismatic is the way to go if you wanted optimal outcomes, though. I haven’t tried it myself, as any possibility of replaying a game this massive is far in the future, but Chaotic kingdom with a trickster ruler would be amusing. Some of the decisions you can make are, well, companion leaving your party worthy. At the end of the day I really ended up liking the Kingdom mode. There is that initial helplessness while you’re struggling to piece it together, but sometime during chapter 2 it clicked for me. Do NOT ignore crisis or they’ll fester and be the cause of constant penalties to Kingdom’s stats. This is the sort of game where you want to tackle the main story first and then do everything else in the leftover time.

Now is where I’d say more about combat if it wasn’t an adaptation of the ruleset. Provided you’re a complete newcomer with no D&D or Pathfinder experience you’re in for a learning cliff. Thankfully, Kingmaker has a vast encyclopedia and glossary for you to reference, not to mention those aforementioned hyperlinks are used for not only lore dumps but also to break down formulas. You can see plainly what goes into your attack vs enemy’s defense, and change something to alter it. Buffs. Answer is almost always more buffs. Even this is not such a consternation on normal difficulty, though. Haste, Prayer, Blessing, and True Sights should be your general go-to spells.

On the production side this is fairly impressive given the fact game was at least partially Kickstarted. Yes, you’ll notice certain small areas get re-used, but this is also a game that has a time system, weather and seasons included. Definitely punching above the belt considering chapters take you to various locales. I wish the soundtrack had more standout tracks, though. Main theme and final boss showdown track embody that bombastic CRPG glory perfectly. I’ve also I played all three major DLC and reviewed them HERE, HERE, and HERE so as not to clog up this already overly long reviews. Give ‘em a read.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a CRPG of truly enormous scale, one where your hopeful adventurer ends up claiming the Stolen Lands and becoming a baron in their own right. What follows is turn-based/real-time with pause affair as your barony ends up dealing with various crisis. At times buckling under the weight of Unity Engine and Owlcat’s own design choices, there is nothing alike from other developers. Kingdom mode is divisive, as is the largely misunderstood timed nature of the game, but both can be tamed leaving only the layered complexities of the Pathfinder ruleset to contend with. New players should arm themselves with willingness to learn and for the veterans there has never been a greater opportunity to build that character you wanted. Kingmaker has its audience, are you among them?

It's interesting when you accidentally stumble upon a representative from games you're not that well-versed at. That was Chronos: Before the Ashes and how it just might be a gateway title of choice into Souls-likes. Rough around the edges and very compact in scope, but a decent appetizer to see if this sort of thing appeals to you.

As apparently seems to be the norm in the parts, game intentionally keeps things vague. What opens on some sort of shaman narrating about their people and lifelong goal to defeat the dragon in ritualistic manner around a campfire leads to our protagonist, male or female, waking up on a shore next to a decidedly very not-fantasy laboratory. Or so you think until you see a big red crystal floating about. Touching it transports you to some sort of fantasy land where they're used as transportation devices. Needless to say there's a connection here as you find notes and scant few non-hostile individuals willing to share their thoughts on the matter. Knowing little you buckle up and continue your quest...

There are couple of things worth noting here.

First is Chronos' gimmick - every time you die, you age a year. Aside from getting a perk every decade, your stat growth which you CAN manually adjust with points on each level up, apparently inclines away from physical prowess as you get older. I couldn't confirm this seeing as I finished the game at 35 and could have probably shaved ten years from that provided I wasn't as greedy or prone to rolling off dangerous high places. Further differences from similar titles would be absence of some ephemeral currency you lose on death so you want to recover it and ability to continue your game precisely where you quit from. Transportation stones pull double duty as checkpoints in case you do die and enemies respawn, however. If there's no currency to speak then what's progression like beyond allocating stats on level up? Well, you find weapons and better shields over your journey and former can then be upgraded via shards. Better start praying to RNG gods because those drop randomly from enemies. No new armor sets are to be found so better get comfortable with your green tunic and red scarf. At least there's enough weapons of slow and light inclination.

I already mentioned it in the opening, but this is a short game. This translates into making every area and enemy type count, of which there's a decent offering. Most features present will be well established to anyone remotely familiar with these games so I'll just briefly list them; light and heavy attack, block and parry, very few healing items replenished on death, generally deadly enemies that can do you in, etc. One neat addition I liked are four magical stones you come across that unleash a special ability when the bar is full. Said bar gets fuller faster the better you are at playing the game aka time you parries and evades or press the attack. Just one can be equipped at a time which mitigates the fact the very last one lets you siphon health when dealing damage effectively sidestepping the healing item limitation.

Are there negatives to Chronos: Before the Ashes or am I just waxing poetically here? Depending on how you look at it, but you could argue a lot we take for granted is off to some degree. Your movement is clunky and deliberate leading to many situations where overextending yourself with just that one more attack can end poorly. There's enough annoying enemy types to become noticeable the further you get. Heavily-shielded types are especially excruciating as I can see someone playing with slow weapons just giving up. Although not an issue personally, but there are light puzzles in the game that could be frustrating to someone looking for a more straightforward action game. Some are "take object to the next room" and yet some will have you matching patterns or connecting beginning/end points with lines.

My final recommendation is wary, but positive. Unless you're more experienced with Souls-likes in which case this just might be an awkwardly executed first effort.

I'll cut the usual preamble short and just say if you're familiar with the Telltale formula you already have an opinion on Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy The Telltale Series. In a general sense, at least. What I will get into is where the game stands in relation to established framework, other Telltale titles and should you bother.

Following the Guardians of the Galaxy, as lead by Peter Quill aka. Star-Lord to, well, whoever bothers to remember his moniker, we start with a rather peculiar premise - Guardians defeat Thanos the Mad Titan. Yes, THAT purple raisin guy. Just before they kill him our big bad seems to have had a stroke of luck by finding the Eternity Forge, some sort of artifact the gang then takes since it seemed to be so important to a galactic-level threat. After the Guardians are done celebrating their victory and deciding who they're going to sell Thanos' body to, to pay off their bar tab, true power of the Eternity Forge is revealed for it can bring dead people back to life. Bad news? Well, it's a double whammy as Peter dies before being resurrected, emotionally damaging his already unstable team in the process and Hala the Accuser waylays the group determined to take the artifact and restore Kree empire. In the background of all this Peter is getting weird visions of his deceased mother that don't exactly match his memories of her...

It's possible marginally more cohesiveness went into writing this game as compared to most of Telltale's efforts which they penned on episode-by-episode basis, and usually to the detriment of the story. That's not to say all five episodes were created equal. Far from it, actually. Game left a negative impression on me until it was salvaged by the last two episodes. Ironically, it was not the humor Guardians of the Galaxy is known for or soundtrack choices which largely fell flat, but instead some genuinely touching scenes that ended up selling the game to me. I'm not sure what that says about your project when it mostly comes across as knock-off Tales from the Borderlands which preceded it.

Looking at characters themselves they don't exactly go beyond their already established personalities you may be familiar with from the movies, but I like how you can actually talk to them. Gives your crew more room to breathe even if some like Drax can quickly wear out their novelty given time to do so, for example. Seeing some of their memories as you progress through the episodes and revealing their true selves behind posturing and bravado was the highlight of the game for me. It would've been nice to see more of that rather than how many quips a minute writers can cram in. I guess that comes with the property and refusal to upset the status quo, though.

Gameplay-wise? I'd have to refer you to the opening paragraph. Appropriately enough, QTE-driven action scenes take the form of all Guardians of the Galaxy fighting as a team rather than you controlling Star-Lord and others getting relegated to the background. What little else you'll be doing is holding forward/occasional lazy input and making sure to pick those correct dialog options because "the story is tailored by how you play" although we can debate all day long how true that actually is. I did notice some potential major forks later on, but given A) this is a licensed property and B) Telltale scripts don't REALLY do such major departures, I would guess they all converge sooner rather than later.

So Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy The Telltale Series still gets a recommendation after all that? I changed my mind as I played and not even the incredibly naive finale managed to sour it. At the end of the day this is a high adventure in space with a band of misfits who have to learn to live together while risking their lives guarding said galaxy. Not necessarily the best use of the license, but if Telltale games are already your drug of choice go for it.

I wouldn't really call Coffee Talk a coffeehouse simulator so much as relationship counseling center, but both aspects have their charm even in their uneven nature.

You play as the barista running the eponymous place special for one thing - it's a coffee shop open only at night. As your regular Freya points out this means you don't make nearly as much money as you could, but you don't seem to mind. Playful jabs imply you're loaded. Speaking of Freya she's the first character you see and one who will frequent the shop on nightly basis. Highly energetic freelance writer of short fiction for the local newspaper her potential developments in career prospects spark the premise for the game. You see, she's been approached with an idea of writing a novel. What's her pitch? To use stories, identity protection enabled, she hears at the coffee shop for inspiration. After acquiring tentative agreement on your part begin two weeks of customers visiting with their dramas, story arcs and orders to brew.

Coffee Talk is a straightforward game with not much to comment regarding the GAME department. Boiled down to basics it follows a simple loop of "customer enters, says what they want to drink and you use a combination of three ingredients out of nine to create the drink". Putting it that way is incredibly impersonal, though. You don't start with all the ingredients at first and I was stumped couple of times. Sure, customers generally give you clear instructions, but from time to time they themselves are unclear on what to order or give you vague instructions. Keeping in mind you can cancel five orders per-day this isn't really an issue so experiment away. After you finish the Story mode you unlock Endless mode in case you want to spend more time brewing.

Narrative department, however, is where the game truly shines and is carried by character writing. There's no main story per se since you're a barista watching things unfold on the other end. Freya is your constant, and I was surprised the game included her new fiction pieces as days went on, but it's all the others who are sources of stories. Did I forget to mention this is a fantasy world set in the equivalent of 2020? Well, I just did. This translates to odd pairings like a vampire model and werewolf hospital admin with their shared history, or an unlikely partnership between a half-orc and mermaid game developers [maybe] blossoming into something more. A lot of topics are touched upon usually mirroring real life struggles. Classism, racism, and just people being people. Fantasy element adds extra angles to familiar issues. Ultimately, game rides or dies based on how much you care about the characters and I largely did. Gala, wise and collected werewolf, was probably my favorite with the impression he leaves on other character(s) with his words.

Easiest way to think about Coffee Talk is to imagine a VN with pixel graphics and rudimentary potion mixing. If you're interested do check out the Workshop as there are mods adding full voice acting to the game.

Historical RPGs are a rare breed, especially if they go beyond the well-trodden territory. The Thaumaturge stands as an exception given both its setting and mixing it with the supernatural elements. Did you ever want to capture Slavic Pokemon and celebrate the affair with some vodka? Here we go.

Year is 1905 and we see a weary man step off a train somewhere in the Caucasus mountains. His name is Wiktor Szulski and he’s come seeking help. Dealing with a certain situation in the village he finds Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin and this is where we finally discover who our protagonist actually is – a Thaumaturge. Derisively referred to as wizards, witches, and all other terms they are individual with supernaturals abilities to find and “tame” mythical Salutors who are, in turn, attracted to flaws in people. Wiktor has seemingly lost connection to his talent and Rasputin manages to restore the psychic link while also himself becoming fascinated by how this procedure works. Now owing a debt to the eccentric mystic, Wiktor accepts his company having received news via telegram that his father has died. Catching the train back to Warsaw our unlikely duo is entirely unprepared for what is about to transpire.

I’ll get into it later on with some gameplay points, but I would say as far as RPGs go The Thaumaturge definitely falls more on the narrative side of things. Which is good when you look at what it has to offer. As much as the core thread of the story revolves around our protagonist and his sister Ligia sorting out the legacy their father now left in their care, game is in equal part about the state of pre-WW1 Kingdom of Poland. If we’re talking genuine diversity this is how you tackle the subject – there’s so much going on along cultural, religious and ethnic lines that’s firmly in the background. Someone with familiarity from the region would likely get more from plethora of information developers put in than I did, but it was still a tremendous effort adding identity to the game. With the supernatural element it falls into historical fiction looking at a narrow period slice.

Which, in turn, saddens me to say the storytelling fell a bit flat. Or rather, there aren’t many highs and lows which would stand out to the player. Whether you’re resolving a serial killer case on the waterfront or mingling among the nobility looking to snag a new Salutor the package is just SOLID all-around. That sounds like a weird critique, but I can’t put it into words better. Action you get is reserved for combat bits and dialog gets to call the shots for decisions. Dramatic moments like using your Dimension Force aka Witcher Signs to affect events are spread out scarcely enough to stand out, maybe? Perhaps it’s down to English localization with its subdued, down-to-earth performances that it all comes across as somewhat mundane? Maybe it’s just me.

Characters also get some of the aforementioned blow back. I would say key players; Wiktor, Ligia, your childhood friend Abaurycy, father’s acquaintances and enemies, etc. get enough attention, but you’ll have to dig in order to find more than surface level. This is not your typical RPG where characters spout their backstories at the drop of a hat. Keep in mind Wiktor also hasn’t been to Warsaw in 15 years since his father sent him packing to Paris. This ties in with Abaurycy who was easily my favorite character. Possibly because his overacting was incredibly refreshing compared to everyone’s dour and serious deliveries. It’s a shame game takes a bit too long to divulge some information regarding relationships that would have actually had higher impact were the player informed earlier. I was surprised by how long it took me to actually GET Wiktor as a person because he presents himself as this phlegmatic individual. Everyone’s favorite royal advisor has a role to play and it was interesting to see him in those pre-Romanov days.

In terms of major gameplay systems there’s a few at work in The Thaumaturge.

First would have to be investigations aka using your Thaumaturge Vision, lest someone sues saying it’s Batman Vision, to find various clues which our protagonist will then piece together and give you a Conclusion. You’ll want to find all of them not only because they unlock dialog choices and make optional stories available, but also because they net you experience individually. You’ll need that to upgrade your Dimension Forces aka Word, Heart, Deed and Mind. What’s the catch? Well, clues have Dimension Force requirements before you can uncover them. Coming from someone who spread out his points evenly throughout the game I never had issues with the system. Yes, it means I didn’t max out any of the four. I appreciate writers going the extra mile and giving all clues little write-ups that make it worthwhile to pause and pay attention.

Second and third are two sides of the same coin since they both benefit from all the investigative work you’ll put in: dialog and combat.

Conclusions you uncover will be used in pertinent conversations as newly unlocked options + Dimension Force levels you’ve invested in also open more choices. In classical RPG fashion there will be mutually exclusive choices, ones where your morality is tested and even a few where your choices come and bite you back 15+ hours later. I mentioned it in the opening but Salutors are drawn to flaws in people. In turn, this means Thaumaturges themselves possess a flaw as well with Wiktor’s being Arrogance. Playing into it or choosing not to also becomes a factor in the story as it advances. Did I forget to mention whenever you acquire a Salutor you must also accept the flaw it comes with?

Which leads me to combat. Once again, investing in Dimension Forces unlocks new attacks and upgrades for those attacks for this is a turn-based RPG. One where you have clear order of action visible so altering it by disrupting enemies or making yourself faster is always tempting. When you boil it Wiktor only has four attacks + Strong one which you can only use when you’ve broken enemy’s focus. You’re usually choosing whether to damage health directly or bide your time for the “limit break” attack. Expanding your Salutor stable is where the real variety comes from. Keeping in mind you’ll always control Wiktor, with the occasional guest character you have no input over, your mythical Salutor is the only second party member you can count on. Each brings their own set of abilities, alongside a finisher move, and you bring them all into every battle with full freedom to rotate them in and out.

Harsh reality check? You’ve probably spent more time reading these paragraphs than you’ll have to weigh your tactics. On normal difficulty game is too easy as long as you’re using Salutors to cancel out enemy advantages as intended. I died precisely once at the very end when there was an additional wave of enemies I did not anticipate. Dimension Force Heart is important because it determines your health, but lack of conventional levels and in-combat healing methods mean you can win out by taking your time. I dread to even consider it, but some kind of turn limit may have drastically upped the stakes.

So how to conclude this overview of The Thaumaturge? It’s a game you can definitely tell developers poured their soul in. All those character and location entries in your journal could have just been horrendously modern database points, but there’s flavor text and honest to god artwork to each of them. An RPG that simultaneously makes me yearn for more, wondering how are Thaumaturges seen in the rest of the world, but also realize it’s a specimen that would probably lose freshness in a sequel. Especially considering some of the endings I went back and replayed to see. I could also do without UE5 shenanigans that made my GPU fans sound like they’re about to take off.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

The Thaumaturge is simply a solid turn-based RPG that came so close to being a very good one. Taking place in turn of the century Warsaw, Poland we step into the role of Wiktor Szulski who has only recently returned to his troubled city having befriended a certain Rasputin. Taming and controlling mythological figures called Salutors, he now has to contend with matters left behind by a recently deceased father as well as city crying out on the cusp of WW1. Gather the clues, tame more Salutors and embrace your flaws, expand your combat abilities to deal with… well, a rather easy game. I do wish storytelling was a bit stronger and more focused considering multiple endings involved. Maybe some of it got lost in localization considering this comes across as historical fiction centered on Poland.

Perhaps revealing my age here, but what can you say about South Park that hasn’t already been said over these 25+ years it’s been airing? Well, South Park: The Stick of Truth is most definitely a valiant effort to marry that signature offensive humor and RPG mechanics with a single question hanging in the air – did it work?

Assuming you know nothing about South Park at large, game starts with Cartman narrating events surrounding the epic war between humans and elves fighting over the eponymous Stick of Truth. Wielding the artifact bestows ultimate power in the kids’ game of play pretend. With that context we create our protagonist, nicknamed the New Kid, and following some shady backstory by his maybe parents as to why they had to secretly move to South Park we come across another fellow from Cartman’s group. This kid is Butters and he proudly proclaims he’s a Paladin before taking you to KKK. That is, Kingdom of Kupa Keep where Cartman, resident Grand Wizard, and others now dub you “Douchebag” and think you can conveniently tip the war in humans’ favor. After all, you seem to have an uncanny knack for making Facebook friends...

What the Stick of Truth is at its core, embodying both a major selling point and valid deterrent against trying the game, is being South Park: the Game. Coming across as dozen episodes crammed into arc-based narrative vehicle, what we get is all the vulgar humor and shock value you could ask for. I don’t think the license ever came this close to letting you play IN South Park and having that original character only adds to the experience. Sure, this leads to lack of coherency as one minute you’re busting out your LARP group’s best warrior out of school detention and some hours later you’re dealing with Nazi Zombies, and yet such absurdity not only works in the context of South Park but is also enabled by kids letting their imagination run wild. On the flip-side there’s the unavoidable inequality of content. This tends to be the case when you have arc-based stories, but not even being self-referential gets them out of jail. Enlisting the Girls faction was both excruciating busy work and funny, though.

Bonkers scenarios and general absurdity carry a lot of the game and yet it’s those familiar character who seal the deal. I won’t summarize in detail beyond saying they’re replicated accurately, but sociopath Cartman who fancies himself the mastermind manipulator ends up being the mover and shaker for most of the game when he’s not teaching you, well, fart magic. By all accounts the Elven Kingdom lead by Kyle are the better adjusted ones in this game of “who gets to control the wooden stick” with the New Kid simply ending up with KKK by happenstance. Your Companions are filled by series’ main cast, from sensible Stan to now cross-dressing Kenny, who even beyond critical story points get to chime in with their comments. Game being written by creators’ themselves makes it crystal clear there is no distinction to be made here.

Before I start yammering on about, you know, all the GAMEPLAY stuff, one point bears repeating – this is South Park. It’s offensive to the extreme, and if you’re unfamiliar it might take you aback before tickling you with a purple dildo. I don’t mean just that you can choose a Jew as your class, but there’s also a lot of touchy subjects being broached here with all the nuance and sensibility you can expect from a show that has a singing turd living in the sewers.

If the first half South Park: The Stick of Truth happens to be authenticity befitting the license, as provided by two creators themselves being heavily involved, then the other half has to be the RPG one as delivered by Obsidian Entertainment. Already known for developing buggy, but cult classic titles this one came out of the left field for many players. Why? Two reasons, really – drawing from JRPG traditions of Super Mario RPG title(s) and releasing in a polished state hitherto unseen from their studio. Hmmm, makes you think.

Latter I can’t say much about beyond congratulating on a job well done, but former I can and should discuss about for a bit.

You do get to fiddle around with equipment and skills more than you usually do in JRPGs, but this IS one wearing the guise of an established property. Turn-based combat featuring the New Kid + another companion on a separate battle screen with fixed positions attests to that. If you have any further doubts the protagonist can optionally acquire Summon-equivalents for massive damage. Why did I bring up Super Mario RPG earlier, though? Because almost everything you do in combat, short of using items as far as I can remember, requires some sort of action input. Yes, you’re not going to sit back and watch pretty animations play out passively. From pushing a button when objects highlight, mash buttons to deliver fire farts, give directional inputs for your assassin brothers to strike from the shadows or simply time shields correctly to block damage. This is non-negotiable as game doesn’t treat it as something optional. If there’s a silver lining here it’s that actions themselves are not too difficult or involved. What few I failed I did so because the element of surprise got me. Since we’re on the combat there’s a surprisingly amount of variety here from both damage types to enemy types. Mana is your farts energy used to cast “spells”, btw. Similar to equipment you’ll get your grubby paws on, it all seems overwhelming at first, but you don’t have to engage with the systems on some intimate level to advance.

You’re not just doing combat, though. You have to run into those enemies first and you’ll be doing that on interconnected screens in a somewhat condensed town of South Park. 2D nature of the game still allows some foreground and background action as you slip between the two to find all the chests and collectibles tucked away. It’s actually impressive they managed to cram just enough out-of-combat abilities for a 12-15 hour game so you want to re-visit locations to explore them fully. Handy fast travel, map and CHEST MARKERS also help. On top of typical leveling you’ll get perks based on how many people you’ve befriended on totally-not-Facebook. Add equipment to the mix, of which weapon damage is the hard determinant you want to go for and armor is entirely up to you, with some add-on modifiers and there’s just enough elements to engage with on every level of the game. If you want your Douchebag to looks a specific way there are customization slots like hair styles and accessories. Provided you don’t there’s a way too many armor sets which lead me to go through unsortable inventory after major milestones. One thing this game sorely misses.

Visually I think I’ve said everything already in that it’s really obvious – this game is South Park presentation-wise. Art style is attentively recreated down to there not being any jarring moments when you see 3D intruding. VA cast is here to bring characters to life and even their fantasy LARP re-designs all look great. I wish the four farts you get masquerading as spells were more distinct visually, but hey. There’s a surprising amount of achievements related to farts if you’re going for those.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Effectively a turn-based JRPG with action commands doing tremendous fan service to the license it’s based on, South Park: The Stick of Truth is exactly what it says on the tin. Creating a protagonist and choosing a class, going with Jew gets some extra interactions, lands you in a South Park LARP scene as humans lead by Cartman are facing off against elves for the eponymous stick. In good old tradition of the show you can expect absolutely bizarre scenarios like raiding the Unplanned Parenthood clinic, vulgar humor taking no hostages and even the New Kid’s own sordid backstory. In all ways that matter you already know if you’re going to like this game or steer clear. As far as my opinion goes: it’s an amusing JRPG with just enough elements to be engaging, not overstay its welcome and SPARKLE.

I’ve found it increasingly difficult to talk about stealth games. What’s the point? People who know, know. Then you have games like A Plague Tale: Innocence which definitely aims to cast the net wider than just your skulkers in the dark audience. Does it succeed, though?

What begins with a teenager accompanying her father on make-belief hero’s quest quickly turns into a nightmare set in rural France during the 14th century. Amicia de Rune, a noble tomboy, quickly finds herself without mother and father as armed men invade their estate leaving only carnage in their wake. Sole objective remaining to find her five year old brother Hugo and take him to an alchemist as directed by her mother. Why? Well, Amicia hasn’t seen much of Hugo on account of his sickly nature confining him to his room and their mother’s mysterious healing seems to have been the only remedy for his condition. With no one else left it falls on our heroine to reach the nearby village, find alchemist Laurentius and get him to continue the treatments. However, in the shadows of it all, a mysterious plague is starting to spread with Hugo seemingly playing a pivotal role.

One thing I really like about the narrative is just how much gravitas there is to events transpiring. That’s not to say Amicia or Hugo are above humor, especially as they both change, but with ever-escalating stakes this is a story where what appear to be the End Times get the warranted treatment. Even while we don’t know exactly what’s going on until a good halfway point we have an established antagonist to hate from early on. It’s equally pertinent to character development since Amicia especially gets more than her fair share, but our protagonists have their hand forced more than once before the story’s over when it comes to moral event horizons. Sometimes you have to kill to survive.

Despite having a small cast of characters I was disappointed more of them didn’t get additional attention.

Beyond our immediate siblings, who go from a somewhat rebellious teenager learning what it’s like to be a real big sister and, well, a five year old coping with matters far beyond what he should be worrying about, it’s the resident alchemist-in-training Lucas who sees the most nuance. Probably because he’s the first “sidekick” introduced and finds himself in awkward situations out of his depth. There’s a particular oddly humorous cart-pushing scene that gets a callback by a different character towards the end of the game, Rodrick the smith in this case, but plays out to a drastically different outcome. There are also the thieving twins who end up saving Amicia’s life and vice versa, but one is essentially a YEAH, GIRL POWER and other joins the group too late to matter significantly. I’ve already hinted at the fact, but the real antagonist of the piece takes a good while to reveal himself and never really builds upon the connection he has with Hugo. Or rather, one he develops.

In most stealth games it is extremely advantageous to find yourself breathing down your enemy’s neck because that means you can initialize the desired takedown. Well, in A Plague Tale: Innocence that’s bad news because Amicia doesn’t have melee to begin with. From the tutorial game establishes slingshot is your weapon of choice and that never changes throughout the game. You get your pick when it comes to different ammo types, be it regular stones to fire-starters and helmet-melting alchemist concoctions, but you ALWAYS want to maintain distance and distract enemies with sounds. Light sources also play a role, albeit somewhat lesser until the secret is finally out of the bag and you have to contend with rat swarms since light is the only thing they avoid. This results in guards also carrying torches… and Amicia conveniently has tools to extinguish fires from afar.

Final results are these rather confined zones clearly meant to funnel you from A to B using whatever latest gadget you now have access to, but near the end of the game you are given more leeway in how to go about clearing levels. Keeping in mind there’s a somewhat tacked-on upgrade system, with only few truly altering upgrades like ability to fire off two shots before restringing, and that your craftable ammo types draw from the same pool of crafting materiel, you’ll be spending quite a decent chunk of time scrounging looking for ingredients. I did this more because I wanted to rather than being compelled, however. If you end up relying on certain mixtures that can A) protect from an enemy about to stab you or B) easily clear a large area of rats, you’ll run into serious rationing issues and could hamper your upgrades.

With all of the above does the game deviate from stealth norms? I wouldn’t say so. Inability to do direct confrontation means you’ll value those few levels Rodrick is with you, for example, since he can get up close and personal to snap necks. Most of the time you’re throwing pots to distract enemies, using your slingshot to headshot strays and navigating your way around rats. Much, much later you become the real menace to everyone else due to a unique ability unlock, but that happens so late it feels like a welcome reprieve from skulking around for so long. I just wish levels were more than pretty-looking corridors made only further obvious by levels set in the countryside when you can go off the rails and show your kid brother some frogs.

In terms of problems there’s one that stands out for me in A Plague Tale: Innocence – escalation of events and desire to have setpiece moments, not to mention couple of boss fights, really ends up conflicting with core designs of the game. I can’t got into it clearly due to spoilers, but this is a game designed to be somewhat slow on moment-to-moment level as you’re darting between torchlights and wondering just how much resources to spend to get past those two armored guards blocking the way. Not watch a henchman get covered by rats only to ignite his sword and chase after you, or to handle 5+ enemies with headshots while covering your ally. Systems in the game aren’t built for such snappy reactions and you’ll feel the sluggishness. My only deaths came from rats acting unpredictably and those tense action scenes when experience just wasn’t on the level established up to that point.

Lastly, all I can say about production is the game looks and sounds gorgeous. Character models are probably the weakest aspect which isn’t saying much considering game makes terrific use of lighting, ambient and otherwise. One of the benefits of employing darkness and gloomy atmosphere, I suppose. Soundtrack and voice performances especially stood out. Strings, give me more strings. I vividly remember one scene when our assembled group decides they now have the weapon and it’s time to take the fight to the Inquisition they’ve been running away from the entire game. And then everything clicks. Now that I think about it the soundtrack ends up highlighting so many key aspects of the game. From locations to events and big character moments.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Stealth adventure with aspirations to be more, I think A Plague Tale: Innocence could’ve dropped some of those “more” aspects and it would’ve resulted in better overall package. Amicia de Rune has to save her brother Hugo amidst what appears to be plague in the 14th century France, and this five year old is somehow linked to it all. Escaping the Inquisition you must master your slingshot, scavenge for material to craft ammo and upgrades, all the while avoiding the ever-growing rat swarms as well as guards. Game takes a while to truly give you the freedom to use all the tools at your disposal and towards the end stealth seems to suffer at the altar of action and highly produced set piece these systems weren’t exactly built for. Older sister learns what it truly means to be one.

Game I've been meaning to play since it came out originally, then postponed checking it out until the Switch release and only now three years removed have I sat down and played through 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. Surprisingly, I managed to last all that time without getting myself spoiled so expect the same from this review in case you want to check it out for yourself. It was definitely worth the wait.

Game opens bombastically as a teenage girl amidst the panicked mass summons this giant robot called Sentinel out of thin air and not long after gets thrust into battle. Girl is Iori and she's quickly joined by her classmate Juro with his own Sentinel to fight these mechanical Kaiju destroying their city. Guided by a mysterious voice our pair makes it through only to end up in an even worse place – a 1985 high-school where everything is normal with no ruins in sight. Fast forward and we now see a military youth who appears to be chasing after a girl... in 1944. Something impossible involving blue lights happens and Hijiyama is now living with this not-exactly girl out of an abandoned warehouse in 1985. Just to make things confusing even further this is followed up by yet another battle scenario where our boy is inside a Sentinel of his own. How many of these are out there?

If the above came across as scatter brained that's because 13 Sentinels chose the most ungrateful premise as its core tenet. What would be even more difficult to write than tackling something traditionally seen as challenging like time travel? To approach it with an ensemble cast of THIRTEEN (13) characters, of course. Each of them gets a prologue section intersected with five battle scenarios which culminate in the beginning of The Final Battle. I'll get into it more when I tackle the actual strategy tower defense mode, but there are three modes in the game: Destruction, Remembrance and Analysis. Remembrance is aptly named as that's the majority of the game with characters going through storylines and events that actually lead to the Final Battle itself. Analysis mode keeps track of all events and so-called Mystery Files you can unlock to get greater understanding of what's transpiring.

I want to make something crystal clear so you don't go into the game with misplaced expectations. This is NOT a puzzle game where you'll be expected to solve anything on your own – there are no items to combine and correct action is never beyond your Thought Cloud which acts as inventory and journal in one. Real mystery of 13 Sentinels comes from myriads of perspectives, bite-sized nuggets of information and sheer layers of complexity. You're playing for the story, which I've only scratched in the opening as bait for potential players, and characters who are themselves piecing it all together. I did have fun trying to figure out just what is going on before the game gives you enough pieces to pull the rug from under you with revelation after revelation. Don't be afraid you'll be left in the dark if mysteries are not your forte because game will explain everything rather too neatly towards the end. Perhaps some ambiguity would've helped, but so much of the narrative hinges on crucial information you cannot leave to player's imagination.

If extensive story development is one half of the narrative black then 13 Sentinels' characters are most certainly the other, and I can't tell you which is better. Eponymous characters are naturally not created equal and I had favorites, but they're all highschoolers who may or may not be what they seem. Surprisingly there's a valid reason why this age old anime cliche is in place here. Many familiar archetypes are here from stern, ominous Gouto who really likes to push up his glasses, to UFO nerd Natsu-chan and everything in-between. All their stories are worth playing through... which you'll have to do anyway because you don't really have freedom. Remembrance and Destruction keep tabs on one another to balance story progression. This means you'll juggle characters or go fight some battles to a certain threshold before further stories unlock. At no point was I annoyed by this, but keep in mind you WILL have to do combat.

Speak of the devil...

Enter aforementioned Destruction mode aka tower defense employing real-time with pause and ability cooldowns. In reality I've just summarized the entire thing in that sentence. Sure, holographic presentation of the city and abstracted units give a different aesthetic from gorgeous 2D visuals the rest of the game employs, but all the visual effects from various weapons quickly endeared me to it. After the tutorial you start with the entire roster of thirteen protagonists to choose from with different specializations based on what generation their Sentinel is. Close combat, long range, all-rounders and air support specialists all have a role to play based on their abilities, movement rate and even pilots themselves with their own individual skills. What's the catch? Well, you can only field six characters in any mission, as others are relegated to fixed Aegis defense slots, and characters can do two battles in a row before they're overloaded and you need to bench them. Add optional special requirements missions present and you're naturally trained to rotate your Sentinels. Game even gives you the general gist of what kind of Kaiju you can expect to see in the mission so you can make informed choices.

That would be simple, wouldn't it? We go beyond simple. Completing missions in Destruction mode and going through character stories in Remembrance mode will grant you meta-chips. These are used to pick and customize Sentinel abilities as well as Aegis' aka tower in question you have to defend, own field-leveling abilities you have a limited number of uses with. After you're done with the first block of ten missions you then proceed to unlock another feature – statistical upgrades to your Sentinels via improved armor, generator, etc. For the most part you'll be using the former ability customization way more than the latter unless you're willing to grind missions for meta-chips. In case you're worried battles will get in the way of just experiencing the tremendous narrative don't be because you can REALLY trivialize the mode by playing on Casual difficulty. If you opt for Normal there are missions later on that will test your ability to put together a coherent and stay up to date with your abilities. You know it's go time when theme song starts playing for a particular mission in the style of mecha anime game draws from.

So what's 13 Sentinels like to actually play?

In the effort to maintain sanity you're juggling between Destruction and Remembrance modes. Analysis is something you can take or leave depending on how much attention you're paying to tiny bits of extraneous information. Timeline feature contained therein is handy to reference events, but knowing more about this “hemborger” meal one character likes may not be on your agenda. I forgot to mention you unlock Mystery Points as you complete missions in combat mode and you can use said MPs to gain access to Mystery Files for further clarity. Part of me wishes there was more of that P&C adventure tradition in Remembrance mode, but it's clear developers went for simpler mechanical approach. Since game takes place in certain time periods and characters are constantly shifting about you can expect to re-visit locations aplenty. This only began to grate towards the very end because I wanted to see the finale, but game kept taking me back to flashbacks of earlier routes I'd already done because by god, you will see that scene from every character's perspective. I get the reality of creating all those assets, though.

Production almost always ends up being a footnote in my reviews yet with Vanillaware games they're practically the main appeal. Gorgeous 2D art balanced by futuristic imagery present in battle mode, and strong soundtrack really carry the game on that front. That, however, is no stranger to this developer. Sheer scale of the script is what steals the show. Could it have been done with less convolution? Probably, but you can tell writers really went off the rails with so many characters and motivations that end up working toward one focal point. There's some unevenness among the thirteen protagonists and yet they all get their big moment to shine. I especially sympathized with a certain hoodlum who ends up in a time loop trying to get out.

Final Thoughts and Rating?

Ever wondered what navigating a mind-bending story involving time travel with thirteen fleshed out protagonists would be like? 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is here to help. While the story primarily takes place in 1985 Japanese high school, the game's second mode, that being tower defense strategy employing real-time combat with pause, is unfolding during The Final Battle. Seeing through those thirteen interwoven stories with plenty of drama, romance and intrigue actually sets the stage for the former. Both the adventure and strategy bits are on the simple side carried entirely by gorgeous Vanillaware presentation, stellar soundtrack and script that has to be experienced first hand as most of it will overwhelm you. Until everything clicks together and you start figuring out exactly what is going on.

Sometimes you crave a traditional P&C adventure game and stumble upon the likes of The Excavation of Hob's Barrow. An archetypal representative coming from a torch bearer of the genre in modern day or studios working under their patronage - Wadjet Eye Games. Whether that's positive or negative will depend entirely on your outlook, however. I do have some opinions on the game itself.

We're brought to a later point when Thomasina Bateman, our intrepid heroine, returns to her ancestral home so she can seemingly visit her ailing father, and conveys the events of her adventure to us after the fact. It would appear our charming antiquary's invitation to village of Bewlay for excavation operations, in case the title wasn't a dead giveaway, did not go as smoothly one usually expects considering the nature of the work. Arriving by train, Thomasina is quickly warned by antagonistic villagers to steer clear of Hob's Barrow, if they even deem to talk of it. There are personal stakes involved and one ally means our girl will persevere, though.

If you ask me I think the script rubs it in a bit too blatantly with something supernatural afoot. You can't really dismiss certain imagery as anything but. This is then juxtaposed with mundane chores you'll be engaging in for most of the game. Considering you ARE actively working the investigation angle and trying to get on some people's good side, like the elderly gentleman on who's land the Barrow is and you need his approval to start digging, it does make sense so I can't slight it too much. Real issue is The Excavation of Hob's Barrow goes off the rails in the very last act. If there was a train involved I'd be able to say literally and proverbially, but alas. I'm not sure what happened there but we reach an escalation followed by climax I don't think the meandering story up to that point has really earned. You're going more based on second-hand information and events preceding the game with just handful of scenes really setting it up. Ending befits the kind of, well, Lovecraftian turn of events, but I can't say more beyond that.

Leaning on the above. If there's a sister foundation stone to P&C adventures next to the writing it would have to be its puzzles. Once again, we're seeing a mirror situation - some very simple "item you need is two screens over" and "basic information gathering from characters" turns it decent puzzles in the final act. You finally get to use all those mysterious stones and play a jig, but unless you've played the game in entirely doable one sitting, you may be left stumped. There is also some light trial and error, but overall even those challenging puzzles can be brute forced. Shock comes more from game pulling a 180 on you without the customary ramp up to prepare you.

I like to leave it last and in this case production most certainly warrants attention. Hope you like brown and green locales because that's what you're getting with foreboding dose of purple. Former works in creating a very dank atmosphere fueling this mystery story as you realize just how isolated Thomasina really is. People will debate endlessly about chunky sprites, but I like them. They have character and just enough detail to leave the mind wondering. It helps when your game is enhanced with occasional cutscenes for that extra cinematic feeling. Since we're on the topic characters should be mentioned. Every adventure game has its stand outs and you need a varied, if not strong, cast to make an impact. The are a few here of which the children were especially amusing. They all play second fiddle to Thomasina herself, though. Stupendous performance for which I was glad to hear Samantha Beart received notable attention. Portrayal of a woman engaged in excavation wearing PANTS in an era when women did anything but takes certain finesse without coming across as obnoxious, something I'm pleased to report indeed is the case. By necessity of the story we get to see much more of vulnerable Thomasina than you may expect.

Very mixed write up, but would I ultimately recommend The Excavation of Hob's Barrow? If you're not expecting a masterpiece and want a moody, rural mystery with a twist.

There's that something when a game you started playing on a whim ends up resonating with you on unexpected level. Welcome to the Karoshi Club turned out to be such a case. Not because it spoke to ME specifically, but rather due to the way it broaches such a universal modern day theme.

Opening with a disclaimer decrying the state of layoffs in the video games industry of 2023, at the time yet blissfully unaware said practice would continue well into next year as well, we see one Kenji Haishima. Ex-developer out of a job for a good while, he receives a fortuitous phone call from a certain company offering him the position of Sales Specialist. His dilemmas start as they've seemingly contacted the wrong person and you're left with whether you tell the truth or lie and play along for personal gain. Visuals seem to capture the 1990s Japan during its Lost Decades economic crisis, but subjects explored are timeless.

What Welcome to the Karoshi Club really is happens to be an extremely lightweight Visual Novel letting you choose how you Kenji presents himself as framed by TRUTH or LIE binary options. At its very core game is about, albeit exaggerated for effect, his inner turmoil of dealing with stress and expectations induced by job searching. Our protagonist comes to the verge of being paralyzed by his own thoughts and over-analyzing hypothetical scenarios. Coming from someone who has done modern job seeking it is a dangerous trap to fall into and one that almost feels comforting in its wrongness. Yes, down to receiving three different endings game offers for replay value.

There are no real life achievements, however.

I'm not against action games at all, but beat 'em ups specifically tend to not be my area of expertise. Which makes Midnight Fight Express an interesting case. On one hand it's not another tough-as-nails title this genre seems to breed like crazy, and on the other there's quite a bit of replay value provided challenges are your thing. Let's not rush ahead of ourselves, though.

You know I'm a story-first kind of guy, but in this case I'll state it plainly - narrative just gets in the way. Is it because of presentation since you're working with dialog boxes hitting that pause button on action or, at best, distracting from what's going on so you're mashing MASHING to get through? Most likely. As short as they were I did appreciate cutscenes aplenty. So what's the story we're dealing with here? You're Babyface, a badass dude interrogated by two cops as they're piecing together exactly who you are and how you landed yourself in this situation. You'll be returning to that question room between missions told in a flashback. You wake up with a case of amnesia and nothing but seemingly intelligent drone to guide you on your mission to bust out. Whatever it is you've done that has lead everyone in the city, from gangbangers to special forces, to want to kill you needs to be finished by sunrise.

Good news is action system is very solid. It's your basic press a button for light and hold it for heavy attack, with another button for counter management. Needless to say you'll be expanding your repertoire beyond that and using clutter, as temporary weapons or just something you throw at enemies, plays a surprisingly big role. When you add increasingly prevalent firearms towards the end you have another aspect of combat to work around. Even better news is as you play through 40 missions the game has you'll unlock skill points, and Midnight Fight Express handles upgrades in the best possible way by giving you entirely new moves and maneuvers rather than some statistical bonuses. Going from having no counter capability to five possible ways of countering certainly adds to your moveset. That very same design ethos applies to everything else as well. In fact, I wasn't sure if I was going to continue playing the game after the first few missions, but steadily unlocking more ways to dispatch enemies and control the scene endeared it to me.

Playing the game is akin to controlled chaos you adapt to over time. Game continually introduces new enemy types and they're more than just re-skins as you have to factor in what weapons they use, aggressiveness of their AI or specific approach to take down. It's a testament to how much I enjoyed the experience that only couple of enemies really got under my skin and certain "insta-kill if they get close" can go die in a fire. Thankfully they're relegated to one level. That is, unless you want to play around in a sandbox mode which lets you fine tune everything from enemies, weapons present and down to your own available skills in order to test yourself. I didn't bother much with it as playing through the campaign on Normal, where you can still try to complete myriad of challenges or go for achievements, was just enough for me. I wish levels lasted longer than single-digit minutes, but we can't have everything. There is the occasional break from clearly offices and warehouses of goons when game introduces a unique level, but locales did get somewhat old for me. With camera drawn just far out to give you clear view of the action you don't register low polygon enemy models clearly assembled using the same customization system you can also use to dress up Babyface with the funds acquired from mission completion.

Since I've touched on the production briefly I have to say the soundtrack is incredible. I'm not 100% sure, it sounded to me each level had its own accompanying track for maximum effect. More than level layout, more than whatever story was going on it was the soundtrack that stood out the most. And yet it doesn't overpower incredibly kinetic sound effect coming through from every punch and thrown glass bottle.