The good

I was curious about it mostly because of its crazy mechanics. You can use your own limbs to solve some puzzles of the game, and then regenerate as if nothing happened. It is also a game by Swery65, who seems to be pretty popular and I enjoyed D4 so why not give The MISSING a try? And... It was a slight disappointment at first. The controls feel a bit clunky, I didn't understand why or where I was really but the game is quite pretty visually and I was still curious so I kept going.
And honestly, the story was great and was what kept me going mostly. It is easily the best point of the game and it makes the game worth it for its story alone. Well, it's more about how the story is told to us and how we're made to experience it. That and its atmosphere and aesthetic are really awesome. I took a few screenshots but couldn't decide which to share and I wanted to avoid some spoilers so I decided to keep them to myself. But I really liked the art style.

The bad

The game is a bit clunky, there are some annoying part and getting dismembered, burned, broken or killed over and over can be a bit troubling due to how explicit it is shown despite being greyed out. Some animations also will feel annoying due to their repetitions (the broken bones one comes to mind).

Conclusion

Despite the game slightly lacking with its gameplay, it is easily one of the greatest surprise of the year already and I'm pretty sure this would have been my BLAEO GOTY if I had played it last year. And I definitively recommend everyone to experience the game if possible. It sure was a great experience to me despite its few flaws.

The good

It is a very good platformer with great control. Everything works flawlessly and obviously that's a great point for such a game. The level design is also pretty well done and you get enough new things going on to keep you on your toes as you advance in the game. The story was its strongest point to me, with a well told and illustrated story through lots of metaphor.

The bad

The game is brutal, very brutal even. There were a bunch of hard parts which will test your patience. The game however offers an assist mode to alleviate some of its difficulty and you can fine tune it, though the developer doesn't recommend using it. But I still used it a few times and I still ended up with well over 1k deaths... Also, if you're not super attentive, you might miss some point or message of the story since a lot of it is told through you experiencing the world around Madeline (the protagonist you play as). But if you're curious and feel like you missed stuff (like me) you can find a lot of information about Celeste's story on the Internet which is a good way to catch up on the great story.

Conclusion

It felt a bit overhyped to me. It is indeed a good game but I guess my enjoyment didn't reach the level of the mass. This is most likely due to the brutality of the game, something that I wasn't super fond of. But it's a great challenging platformer, if that's your thing, and the story is pretty well told with lots of metaphor to catch. The assist mode is a very welcomed feature and I would easily recommend the game, the experience was worth it. Just be prepared though, it is a very challenging game.

The good

It's a great throwback at the original Pokémon game on the Game Boy, specifically the Yellow version. At least that's what I thought right away. We can have a Pokémon walking by our side along with our favourite (the one we got on the box, Eevee or Pikachu). We can even ride on bigger Pokémon just for fun! It is set in Kanto, so with first gen Pokémon which is great for me.
They also made the experience very easy for casual players also. Which felt pretty great to me as there were a lot of convenience things they added. For example you don't need to lower a Pokémon's health to catch them, just throw some berries to increase your chances or you can try to catch it right away if you wish by throwing some Pokéballs. Also, we now see all the Pokémon physically around us in game, we no more need to aimlessly run around in the grass and hope that the RNG will show us this or that Pokémon. A great way also to (try to) avoid all these Rattata or Zubat.
The other good point of Pokémon is that it's super colourful. Exploring the world is a nice experience and seeing all the Pokémon around in the wild is a refreshing experience.

The bad

But almost all these good points come with an equal bad points. Since it's set on Kanto with the original 151 Pokémon, it's quite a limited number compared to other games recently, I think? My last was Pokémon X and it felt more complete. Though there was an easy trade center accessible for everyone, something that is not in Let's Go. The fact that they made it so easy makes the game sort of less exciting also, we can cherry pick which Pokémon to catch and it's a basically one button catch. It's not too bad but it can feel a bit bland at times.
There's also this, that happened due to my own personal uninformed action, but having picked the Eevee version and not being able to have Eevee evolve made me pretty sad. I was looking forward to evolve him and have a cute Flareon following me around. Didn't happen though and I wish I had picked the Pikachu game instead. And yeah I know it might have been obvious but I was just too excited and assumed things without checking...

Conclusion

Overall, it's an okay Pokemon game, very enjoyable for its beautiful and colourful graphics, lively world and if you're nostalgic about your first Pokémon game. It feels a bit lacking though so don't expect too much to avoid being disappointed but it is also a fairly relaxing experience. I believe that would be the best way to enjoy it for what it has to offer.

I have won this game on steamgifts!

The good

It is a simple hack and slash game where you mostly bash people and parry a few times in between (vs. Boss most of the time). But it's a great type of game to have mindless fun and it is a genre I enjoy so that is good. You have a fairly interesting story that is by no means anything grand or awesome, but it was entertaining to follow. The game shows a fair share of humour as well. And honestly it was pretty fun all around. There's 3 level of difficulty but you need to beat the previous one to unlock the next. So I only did normal and hard. There're lots of challenges also to do, like beating various kind of opponents or surviving xx seconds/minutes with non stop waves of enemies coming at you. Do note it is a kinda ecchi game with various outfits, lingeries and accessories to unlock and pick from. Which is a positive, to me at least haha.

The bad

It gets a bit repetitive after a while. There's barely any variation in fighting and only Bosses really require blocking. I spoiled myself as well by using money cheats. Which adds stats to your character (the more items you unlock the more stats you gain). So I was kinda OP from the start. The game is also fairly short (but has lots of content). I believe it is a niche game (ecchi stuff and everything), so definitively not for everyone.

Conclusion

All in all, as said, it makes for a fun game to play despite being rather short. It's still a bit expensive but at 75% it would be a fair buy to me. And as a gift I enjoyed it quite a lot! If you're into that kind of game at least. :D

The good

It is a rather fun and relaxing game. It is pretty simple since all you have to do is clean up but it is still rather satisfying to achieve. It is a pretty crazy idea for a game but it does work in turning itself into something not bad to play. Also, putting everything into fire was really enjoyable. Plus the game is quite pretty visually.

The bad

Cleaning can still feel like a chore after some time. And missing 1% for a full clean up is also rather frustrating. Especially since I tried my best to burn everything!

Conclusion

Anyway, it's a decent game. Might be funnier with other people though. But if you can get this one for cheap then it's worth a try. It might not be mega fun but it is rather satisfying to play.

The bad

So I'm pretty late to the party I suppose, and I finished Pyre quite recently so unfortunately I ended up a bit less enthusiastic than expected with Transistor. I had a hard time getting into the story. At first I was intrigued and wanted to learn more but in the end I couldn't really get it all and thus it was hard for me to really enjoy it much. Also, you will need a gamepad I guess to enjoy the game. At least I preferred that to playing using my keyboard. It is also kinda slow to start and can feel a bit repetitive. At first, you have so few abilities that it gets boring rather fast.

The good

But once you unlock more abilities and learn how to use and combine them, then it starts to get a lot more fun! The fighting system is pretty neat and quite unique to me. Slow time, plan all your actions and unleash everything in one go! The art and soundtrack is once again very nice. I enjoyed Pyre' soundtrack better still, but they did a very nice job here as well. Though to me, the highlight of the game really is its gameplay and artistic style. There's a NG+ also to restart the game with your level kept and all your previous abilities as well. This might be quite interesting but I need to beat more game so I won't be doing it. Still it's a good thing to have.

Conclusion

So, in the end I can say that it is a pretty solid game. I wasn't very much fond of the story but I am probably to blame as you had to piece things together and thus explore a fair bit I suppose to gather all the pieces. I still enjoyed its ending at least! Anyway, the gameplay was pretty neat and it was enough to keep me going. Coupled with nice art and music, that is enough to say I enjoyed a good game there! And if you haven't played it yet, try to play it before Pyre! You'd be doing yourself a favour I believe.

PS: Yay for beating one more game this month! Right on time xD

This game is a gift from Bangle for the Stealthy Santa event hosted by Ninglor. Thanks again!

The good

Let's get this out right away. This game is a masterpiece. It took me a bit of time to get into it yes, but time was needed to understand the world I was dropped in and to become acquainted with the characters around. So, the biggest part of the game already, the visual novel part, was really really great. Story wise, I really enjoyed my time, learning about the world, what happens here and there, everything in Pyre is really interesting.

The cast is fabulous as well, and you should easily get a few favourites out of all the characters at least. Personally, my favourites were Jodariel for being the way she is, Ti'zo because everyone needs a cute mascot and he was a really lovable one and Sandra because well, she is Sandra. I'm not going into any details here to avoid spoiler. By the way, I'm still a bit sad I made a quick decision without thinking properly about all its consequences. Which, to me, proves that they definitively worked hard on the story, with worthy and impactful decisions to take. Something that is always very nice to have!

The smaller part of the game, where you have to play some competitive matches, 3 vs 3, is also really solid and well-thought-out. The more I played it, the more it grew on me and after a few games, I was really enjoying it a lot. Surprisingly! Since at first I wasn't all that interested honestly. But even for that, they did a marvellous job!

The art is also incredibly beautiful. Colourful, unique and well, I just really enjoyed it. And then there's the soundtrack. And they totally nailed it. They recommend to play the game before listening to it, and I kinda think the same too. Because it could potentially spoils you I guess. And you might probably miss the context also (pretty sure some tracks feel a lot more powerful and impactful because of what I experienced as well). But anyway, if you're still curious and do not mind, I'll link you some cute and relaxing track, a catchy tune, a more "powerful" style, and its "Black Mandolin" version and my favourite one, I think? It's hard to choose! But I wanted to share some, for myself as well.

The bad

I don't really have any bad things to report, honestly. I could say that the game is best played with a gamepad. And I thought it was better to click through the dialogue and navigate using the mouse so having to switch between mouse and gamepad was a bit meh? Though nothing really that annoying. And that's pretty much all I can think of.

Conclusion

Pyre is a masterpiece. It might be a weird or unusual mash up for some, but for me, it worked flawlessly. And with that, my first steam game down this year is already a very serious contender into the best played game of 2019! And I highly recommend it to everyone. Play Pyre people! It is very much worth it.

The good

It is a charming and colourful game! You play as Mae, a 20-year-old college dropout, who's returning to her small home town. There, you'll be free to explore the town as you wish and interact with everyone. Of course, the more you interact the better the game will be since the game is all about that. But with such top notch writing, it would be sad to not enjoy it to the fullest by talking to anyone and exploring everything! And with this game, you'll be served a bit of everything. From funny dialogue to awkward moment to moment full of emotions. Coupled with a pretty neat soundtrack, the recipe is almost perfect!

The bad

So what is bad about this game, well, maybe too much going back and forth? Also the ending felt kinda rushed, in a certain way at least. Or some part of it I should say, but no spoiler. The game also has a pretty slow start I guess. I mean, getting into the game took me a bit of time but it was very much worth it. Other than that, I will blame that night platforming game also. The first time it was okayish, the second time started to feel like a chore already and when you have to repeat these a few more times it was kind of a pain. I didn't really enjoy these night event that much. Same goes with the rhythm mini game (like a guitar hero with the gamepad) but that is because I suck at these kind of games.

Conclusion

Well, what else can I say. Yes I was a bit disappointed by how fast the ending came and these platforming night mini games but the experience was still really great overall. I really loved how well written the game is. And how relatable the game felt too. Definitively a recommendation to anyone who enjoys narrative game. And no spoiler but Bea is the best!

First of all, I haven't really played any Fire Emblem games so the universe is pretty much new to me. Meaning, I had no particular feelings regarding any characters prior to this game. So I really just went into it for what it is, a musou game.

The good

It's a great fast paced hack and slash/musou/action game. There are a lot of characters, that you have to unlock, with enough difference in gameplay to make most of them interesting and most likely enough for everyone to enjoy. There are a ton of missions to do once you beat the campaign and a ton of stuff to farm to upgrade your characters. All of this makes up for a super addictive game and this despite a fairly simple gameplay overall.

The bad

It can be a serious time sink if you're trying to 100% the game. There's just too much farming to do. I have no recollection of the story honestly so it most likely wasn't anything to write about. The DLCs felt a bit like a cash grab (some additional characters were just reskin, same moveset as older characters already in game) but if you want more it is kind of a must buy (so yeah I bought it...). Managing your inventory turned into a chore later in the game when you're hunting for specific stats.

Conclusion

In the end, I can't say it is a perfect game by any means. Yet I had tons of fun with it, a lot more than I expected. It's a really engaging game that I had a hard time to put down. But after so many hours I kind of feel burned and even a bit bored so time to put the game to rest. I got a lot of other games to play too so it's for the best. But I can easily recommend FE Warriors to anyone who likes musou game! I sure had a blast with it.

I have won this game on steamgifts!

The good

An interesting card game, pretty addictive too. Some great card design. You can get all cards without paying a single cent (so it's only convenience micro-transaction if you do not wish to farm or finish the game yourself). Lots of fan service, if you like that :D

The bad

As usual, long winded story that despite an interesting start gets boring in the end. And it is sad to have so many great card design but the chibi 3D models are all the same depending on the card type only. They didn't bother to give them a few personalisation like a hair style or hair colour fitting the card design. The rubbing system is quite boring, on PC at least (might be better on Vita with touch screen maybe?). The UI for opening or organising your cards is fairly annoying to use.

Conclusion

In the end, it's a nice game if you like card game and fan service. Collecting cards can be quite addictive too. There are a bunch of downside though but it is really cheap on sale and at this price point (2€/$ currently) I believe it's worth it if you're into that particular kind of game or curious to try one.

I have won this game on steamgifts!

The good

A simple hack and slash that can be played online with other people. You can still find people playing it online to this day which is great and all people I've played with were nice. There are four different characters to play with.

The bad

The game is pretty boring if you play it solo only since all mobs will focus only you, forcing you to dodge a lot and interrupt all your combos so you have to focus for very long fights which honestly is a bit of a pain. Gameplay is a bit too simplistic and there are only 10 levels making it a fairly short game. Story is meh. There are four extra characters behind a DLC sadly.

Conclusion

Overall, I probably can't recommend the game, especially not for such an outrageous price. The game feels really unpolished/unfinished. It definitively lacks content but since I got to play this game for free, I can say it wasn't as bad as some reviews make it seems and I even managed to have some fun, thanks to the people I played with. But it is definitively not for everyone.

This game was a gift from SG user icaio. So it doesn't appear on my win list but despite my ever growing library of untouched games, at least the games I won/got gifted are on the right track!

Anyway, there isn't that much to say about Shuyan. It fulfilled most of what I expected out of it, only falling short in term of combat. That part was kinda annoying, slow and boring too at times, with some weird timing to get. Good thing it is not mandatory, at least the training to learn some techniques can be skipped. Else I would've most likely never managed to beat the game. I didn't bother with the tournament mode yet, I only finished the story, which was the main appeal to me. It was pretty straight forward. Basically a bad guy shows up and you're the good guy who wants to slay all evil. Pretty simple but it worked fine. The art is really great as one can notice via the screenshots on store page and it has to be noted that the voicing was done by KK (Kristin Kreuk)! For those who remember her. I only noticed that in the credits after beating the game though haha. But it was a nice surprise since I used to be kind of a fan of her (watching Smallville mostly for her until it was too boring for me to follow it at least :D)

So yeah, definitively a nice game, there were a few choices also (not sure how important they are, outside of one) and if the art appeals to you, I believe it's worth playing Shuyan story. Just don't let the fighting discourage you and you should be good to go.

I was prepared to be kinda disappointed. And it delivered just that. It was quite boring overall I have to say. I mean, outside of Clem, and a bit of Javi, I could care less for any of the new characters in the game. Worse is that the people you are supposed to care about are either not really developed, dead or poorly written and annoying. The story overall also felt like it wasn't that well planned, or so it seems. Though I guess during apocalypse the plot could be summarized as try to not die and learn to survive. But really the story wasn't that engaging for me. And since between season 2 and 3 there was a time gap, we had flashbacks. But while they were interesting to learn what happened in between, some were pretty poorly timed. So yeah, some parts were enjoyable and interesting but most other parts were forgettable and kinda boring. The good thing is that for once, most choices were rather simple for me due to who I cared about and whatnot.

Anyway, while I keep blaming the game, I still managed to finish it, and it's not that horrible. In fact, I enjoyed some part as said, mainly whenever Clem was involved. But it's a decent game if you're into the game series but I don't watch the show because again, I don't enjoy its poor pacing. But the game did enough to keep me going until I finished it. It's pretty short as well especially compared to previous Telltale games, which is almost a plus in this case since it doesn't drag the poor experience too far I guess? So I guess it's worth giving it a shot (on a 75% discount) if you started the game series and you're still there. And we're so close to the conclusion of the series now with just one game left after that New Frontier game, if I'm not mistaken. And I'm curious to know how it will all end for Clem.

After finishing WD New Frontier, I was curious to see if maybe, I was bored because I'm already tired of the Telltale games in general or not so I tried to start this one and see how it went. And it went pretty good overall. I'm not a big marvel fan, I've seen the movie some time ago (only the first one, not sure if there are others out or not yet) and it was okay though I barely remember what it was about. So when I started this game, I pretty much discovered the universe once again. And while it wasn't the best story ever, it managed to be pretty entertaining overall!

Talking about entertainment, I noticed that compared to the last Walking Dead game, this one had a lot more of exploration and small puzzle. It's all very simple overall but still, it gives you some more interaction with the game instead of just watching how it all plays out. On the other hand, while the game was pretty fun and all, it was kinda lacking whenever they tried to go a bit more sentimental. I had trouble feeling emotionally touched for some reason but that's pretty much the only real poor part. The ending felt a bit short as well, but it managed to wrap the whole story overall decently still so that's a plus. An other thing to note is that in this game I regretted some choices I made, which was pretty cool and made me think about the decisions a lot more than in the WD New Frontier game.

So, does that mean I recommend this one? I'm not sure. One thing I know is that yes I enjoyed it. More than WD New Frontier. But I also played it right after being kinda disappointed in Telltale so I'm not sure. But it's a cool game, it was pretty fun also and I really liked that for once it wasn't all that serious. Though it's the kind of game I'd only buy on a 75% discount still as it's still a lot more like an interactive movie than a full fledged game.

I have won this game on steamgifts!

I beat this game some time ago now, but since it will get out of Early Access in a few days, I suppose it might be a good time to talk about how great this game is now. And in case you didn't take the hint yet, I'll say it more clearly. Dead Cells is awesome!

So, what is this game? Basically, Dead Cells is a fast paced action game I'd say. Everything you do has to be fast. You're encouraged to be fast and it's awesome how precise and enjoyable the gameplay is. The game is kind of a mixture of genres, defining itself as a Roguevania (combination of roguelite and metroidvania). And it is a quite accurate definition. It is also a hard game. Really hard game. I can see how people would rage quit easily, especially towards the harder level as there's basically only one life in this game. You die, you restart from zero more or less. But the addiction is really strong with this one. You go on collecting weapons. Leveling your stats as you find upgrades, building a character that fits your playstyle. And enjoy the thrill of rushing through enemies. Killing or getting killed. But always rushing to get to the next part, place, level, boss. With the fear of dying keeping yourself on your toes. Always. But it was a very good feeling and I had a lot of fun playing this game.

Anyway, I guess Dead Cells can be a hit or miss due to its nature. I mean, dying in this game can be really infuriating. Especially if you're far into the game. But if you can cope with this then it's an instant classic. A true gem of a game that is totally worth its low price. A superb game that everyone should give a try. And if you happen to give it a go, good luck out there! You might need a bit at least!

I have won this game on steamgifts!

The game looked quite appealing, reminding me a bit of Party Hard, but instead of killing people, you're now cleaning the crime scene. I kinda hoped to have lots of fun with the game but it fell flat pretty fast. At first, the nice art, great soundtrack and refreshing ideas were pretty awesome. But after a few levels, it started to get really repetitive, slowly killing any fun you could have by getting more and more boring.

I don't understand how it got so many good reviews but I guess to each their own. As for me, I can't really recommend this game unless you get it from a bundle, then it's worth a try. But if it wasn't a steamgifts win, I wouldn't have finished the game at all.

I have won this game on steamgifts!

There isn't really much to say about this game. You get numbers that you have to link together without interlinking lines. And that's it. Playing through all 100 levels proved to be a bit tedious and the game was quite buggy graphically, everytime you want to move out of the window, defeating the purpose of playing in window mode.

In the end, if it didn't had letters achievements and wasn't a steamgifts win, I would have dropped the game half way most likely as well. Though I'm not really fan of the puzzle genre, so maybe you might actually enjoy that game more than me.

I enjoyed this small grindy rogue like game on the Vita when it first released there, so when I heard it was coming to PC, I applied for the beta and was lucky to get picked. It's a very simple and surprisingly cute game. I believe that's the best way to describe the game. I can't exactly name any strong points other than its cuteness haha but that was enough to keep me entertained. Though the dialogue might be a bit long-winded at times but sill it's what I enjoyed. The game itself however, being quite simple can get boring pretty fast if you're not into it.

So, objectively, I guess it's not a game for everyone, but if you're a bit interested in it maybe wait for some good sales to give it a go. As for me, I was happy to get back to it after so long and finally beat it!