Radiolight

Ok, this one was a disappointment. I hoped for some Firewatch vibes, but the game couldn’t come even close, with its boring story and bland dialogue. Bread and butter of these types of games (walking simulators) is its story, atmosphere, curiosity to find out what happened, how, why. I had none of these during my playthrough and just wanted to see the end as soon as possible. Exploring campsite and surrounding environment deep into the woods while chatting with your partner over the radio about your findings and theories sound very promising (again, Firewatch did it masterfully) but this one comes short in every aspest.

Boomerang X

This one was awesome, arena shooter with unusually high skill ceiling. You have only one weapon, but you get introduced to a couple of different skills along the way as new enemies and more complicated arenas come into spotlight. One of them is bullet time and you will use it constantly because hitting enemies’ weakspots in full speed is really hard. I barely managed to beat final boss fight, was so close to activate in-game provided health cheat, but I’m glad I didn’t in the end. You also have achievements for very skilled players to beat levels under certain amount of time and separately without using bullet time skill. I only did some for couple of first levels and fucked out of there.
Icing on the cake is new game + that unlocks after beating the game with new enemy compositions and that ups the difficulty significantly. Only managed to beat 3 out of 13 levels, realized this is out of my skill range and uninstall the game. :)

Planet of Lana II

Won this in a group giveaway and since I haven’t played the first game before I downloaded it and finish it right before playing this one. I’m glad to report that sequel was so much better. First game only had the most basic puzzles and you will know how to solve them from the get-go, no thinking necessary. Sequel improved immensely in that department, with quantity and especially quality. It is much more like LIMBO now, with escape sequences added on top of nice puzzles to complement the whole experience. They are not like those in Ori games for sure, but still very good and not overused since there are only 2 or 3. End of the game leaves a space for a sequel and I would be happy if that eventually happens.

Card Shark

Before playing this game you don’t need to know anyghing about poker or any other card game. Because you will not playing them, but instead learn how to (successfully) cheat in them. You are constantly introduced to new ways of doing it which keeps the game always fresh.
What I didn’t expect to get here is a good story. I thought that cheating mechanic will be the main part of the game (which it is) and that story will just be there in the background, checking another checkmark. I was so wrong. Interesting characters and quippy dialogues carried the game, I couldn’t wait to finish with the main part just so I could read more of the story. The game has beautiful watercolour esthetic. It all happens in the 18th century France which is a setting that is rarely used.
I liked the game so much that I started another playthrough right after finishing in order to get more achievements. Another little gem from Devolver.

Viewfinder is a refreshing puzzle game, using a mechanic I have never seen before. Puzzles are great, although on the easy side. Some new mechanics are gradually introduced but not too many of them since game is not very long. That was a positive thing for me as it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Story generally isn’t that important in games like this, and it is Viewfinder’s weakest part. I stopped caring about it very early as it was very boring, no mystery about it or wandering what will happen next.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is an exquisite game. I haven’t played anything from Atlus before so this was my entry ticket into that world of dungeons, social bonds and careful calendar management. It is much more lenient than Persona games, but if you are careless you could miss your chance to do some stuff you wanted.
First impression was not positive at all - game has problems with some wireless headphones. Not all of them but Xbox Wireless Headset which I own is one of them and it is known problem since release and they haven’t patched it. It is not some minor incovinience - there is no sound, at all! I have tried everything, every troubleshooting advice on the web and none of them worked. When you change audio source in-game you could hear music for a second and after that back to silent. In the end I had to connect them via cable which solved the problem.

From the start first thing I noticed is best-in-business menu and UI design. Game is a masterpiece in that department, it doesn’t get better than this. There are a lot of UI tutorial prompts in the first couple of hours for every single thing and new game mechanic. It didn’t bother me at all since they were short and to the point. Metaphor has captivating world with very interesting lore and I constantly wanted to find out more about it. Politics, religion, inequality and racism are heavily incorporated in it so it is not just about the hero saving the world. Nothing in the world is black and white, even main villain has some validating arguments for things he’s doing. Story is very linear, there are not any major choices or story forks which is good since the game is huge. There are more than 40 archetypes (classes, jobs) in game with a couple of skills each, and when characters learn other ones they can inherit those skills and use them in addition to their main ones. We also have synthesis skills that require 2 specific archetypes be present in the party in order to use them, so the number of combination you could make is endless.

Funny thing from my first big dungeon - I didn’t know that MP is premium at the beginning of the game and that you have to manage it very carefully. I was almost empty and just arrived to do a boss fight. You can’t do it even if you are half full, and there is no vendor to buy MP replenishment like it was in the tutorial dungeon. They don’t have to be done in one day, you can return to town to sleep off and return tomorrow to continue from where you left off. But there was a problem - I have wasted days doing relationship bonds and I could’t get back since from the story perspective I have to do it this day. Tried to return and was greeted with a game over screen.
Am I softlocked? Fortunately no, since if protagonist is using Mage archetype he refills 1MP to each party member for overworld kills (enemies that are weaker than you and you don’t enter turn-based battles fighting them). And so the grind started - clear all of them to get 20MP or so in 10 minutes, exit dungeon so they can respawn. Rinse and repeat for an hour :D
In the end I had so much fun playing the game, although I wouldn’t recommend spending 100+ hours in a game in just 2 weeks.

Little Goody Two Shoes - it was a such a mixed bag as I already posted in one Discord group. Imagine you have to eat in a restaurant for a week. You have 4 courses and a dessert but you have to eat them all. Courses are small but well made, you enjoy them. Little by little it’s a dessert time which is huge sundae cup. You are so excited and… you find a hair in it. Oh well it happens. You carefully continue and… another hair. Then broken nail… You don’t believe it but remember - you have to eat it. Tomorrow is groundhog day - small and enjoyable main courses, and huge dessert with all funny ingredients. And it goes around and around for a whole week.

If my terrible metaphor is not enough, lets expain a bit further. Game takes place during exactly one week, and every day is segmented into 6 time periods. They mostly consist of doing minigames, go on a date with a love interest or just moving the story forward. In minigames you earn cash (more the better you do) which you can spend on items that replenish your health, stamina or sanity. Story is fine, some funny dialogue and overall cozy atmosphere. The problem is the last 6th segment of the day, Witching Hour, which introduces actual gameplay - some puzzles and enemies. That should be great, game so far was basically glorified visual novel, but it is so poorly implemented, so cumbersome, annoying and frustrating with trial and error gameplay. I was enjoing every day for the most of the time, but dreaded the moment when I’ll have to play final part, and it pissed me off every single time. Game would be so much better without those parts, if they just sticked to ‘mostly visual novel’. I even thought of leaving a negative review on Steam, but decided against it because other half of the game is good. It was ideal candidate for a mixed review if Valve ever give us an option for that in the future.
Achievements

The Last Case of John Morley - this was a very short detective game and not a particularly good one. From the start it is obvious that it’s an indie game with a very limited budget. Unimpressive looks, bad facial animations and voice acting. But all that isn’t that important, I wasn’t expecting Frogwares Sherlock Holmes game after all. What is important however is that vast majority of the game is incredibly dark. I understand that it is the tone of the game, you are visiting old dusty manor and asylum, but you don’t need to slumb RBG values to all zeroes. You don’t see absolutely anything until you basically touch the wall or object with your nose, it was terrible. You have a lamp during some part but it doesn’t help much. It feels very cheap. I even managed to stuck myself in one place after falling from the stairs so I had to reload.

The story itself was not that bad, nothing to write home about, but serviceable. There is not much puzzles, maybe 2 or 3 in the whole game which are different from the regular find the key for locked doors or lock combination in the documents. Whole game is on-rails, you move into new area, find a locked door, find a key at the very end and return to unlock door and proceed to new room. There is no exploration or even thinking what is next to do at any point. What I must commend is the ending itself which caught me by surprise, can’t say that I expected it.
Achievements