Recent reviews by Blemmigans

This is the Factorio I've always wanted. Ants are the perfect theme for an automation game, and while that alone caught my interest enough to try Microtopia, I have been so pleasantly surprised by the level of depth, polish, and relaxing vibe this game has. It has far surpassed my expectations, and has absolutely become my favorite automation game, above Factorio, Satisfactory, Shapez, and Dyson Sphere Program.

I love the way it looks, and the chill ambient music. I love how free-form the pathing allows you to be, making it less rigid and unforgiving than other entries in the genre. I love watching my flying ants returning from a new island with new resources for the first time. I love the way the gates blink red and green as ants walk past, giving that ant-powered computer vibe as the logic checks resolve and my ants' paths diverge. And I love that there isn't an enemy presence screwing up my hard work, so I can focus on optimization rather than maintenance.

Microtopia is beautiful, engaging, and thoroughly satisfying, so if automation games are your jam, you'd be missing out by not giving this one a try.

The writing's good, which got a few laughs out of me, but after 16 hours of wondering when the gameplay would start to feel fulfilling and less like a chore, I've come to the conclusion that it won't.

This game is exceptionally boring, outside of its brief and infrequent story beats, and as much as I'd love to continue for the story's sake, the tedious pacing of Starstruck Vagabond's mind-numbingly repetitive and uninteresting gameplay loop has put me off bothering.

For someone whose reviews are as critical as Yahtzee's, I'm impressed he put his name on a game this frustratingly dull.

I thought I'd just about finished the game after 25 hours, and I was thoroughly satisfied with my experience. Turns out, that was just Act 1. This game is stunning, and I'm blown away by the fact that there's more. (Edit: 56 hours in, there's still more!?)

The art is absolutely beautiful. The fights are a notable step up in difficulty, which might frustrate some people but I am absolutely here for the challenge. Some of these fights are so sick, I almost regret beating them because it means they're over. The movement feels amazing, and the variability in your choice of combat style is a brilliant addition. The world and the lore are immersive, understated, and engrossing, as ever.

Team Cherry have done the impossible. They've 1-upped Hollow Knight. This might be my new favorite game. I honestly expected this to be a slightly inferior Hollow Knight, and what I got instead is still blowing my mind with how phenomenally good it is. The love for this game from its developers is evident at every turn, and I am overwhelmed with the respect I feel for what they've achieved.

I don't care how long the next release takes. I will wait as long as they need, because these devs know what they're doing. They make masterpieces.

I'm loving this game. I've always been a huge fan of arcade racers like Wipeout, Extreme-G, BallisticNG, TrackMania, etc, and never felt like weapons and collision with other racers were necessary to my enjoyment of the first three. I just liked the cornering, the lines, the speed. Phantom Spark has the same feel as those games I've mentioned, distilled down to their most fundamental essence.

The game looks beautiful, first of all. It's pleasant to watch the scenery go by at speed, and the tracks are really well communicated, so I never feel like I was cheated by questionable level design. Speaking of the tracks, they're meticulously designed, not only in terms of how they're communicated, but also how they're paced. Arguably some of the most satisfying courses that I can recall playing, honestly. They have the perfect amount of emphasis on balancing control and speed, with a few different terrain types to adapt to that keep things exciting throughout.

With regards to the audio, the game sounds fantastic. The 'engine' audio is really satisfying, and the chill drum'n'bass soundtrack is perfect for the vibe I want from a cathartic, high-speed, arcade racer. I'd happily sit and just listen to it if playing the game wasn't so compelling.

Most importantly though, it feels incredible. The controls and the physics are so comfortable and responsive; it's an absolute joy to play. I feel genuinely relaxed while racing, despite the seriously difficult gold medal times that I'm chasing.

I will mention that, while it's tagged as Multiplayer, it only has Local Multiplayer and the ability to race against other players' ghosts as far as I can tell, which is in no way a deal-breaker for me, but it's worth knowing before you buy it.

I'm incredibly fond of this game. Respect to the devs for polishing the game-feel so well. Phantom Spark is wonderful, and I can see many hours of my life being spent chasing 100% completion, as this is definitely the kind of game I would happily boot up when I'm not sure what I want to play. It's so comfortable, so cathartic, and so easy to pick up and put down. I'd absolutely recommend it to any fans of the genre.

This game came out of nowhere. I'm not sure how to say all the good things I want to say about this game in my review without it turning into a rambling monologue, so here's my take as concisely as I can given my level of enthusiasm:

I own over 900 games, many of which are of high quality, and in the category of 'fun adventure', not a single one has competed with my time adventuring in Jak & Daxter or Ratchet & Clank until I played Revenge of the Savage Planet.

Sarcastic, dystopian, absurd humour, absolutely incredible animation (I laugh every time I launch this title, man, it's crazy), fantastic sound design (also funny!), great music, co-op plays like a dream between Canada and New Zealand. Creature collecting, metroidvania-style progression, in a wild open world, with interesting enemies, and puzzles, and like... Polished! So polished! I bought this, played it, and the grin on my face, man. This game has achieved, for me, what I'd basically given up on expecting from 3D adventure games in 2025. Made me feel like a kid again, laughing my ass off, with my best friend, and I would buy it again today, and tomorrow.

I want everyone to be talking about this game, because I think it's incredibly entertaining, and I'd love for everyone to experience the pure gameplay goodness and brilliant humour it has to offer. Thank you devs, I'm having a really, really good time!

I've always wanted an ant farm without the risk of an ant outbreak. I'd never considered the possibility of programming those ants, but in prospect, that's even cooler. That's what this 'game' is. It's a sandbox more than anything, but it's the most enchanting thing I've engaged with in ages.

I have taught my little herbivorous Bibites how to avoid predators, and each other, to reduce competition for food. Initially, they were dying before even finding food, but through trial and error, I've now got them thriving efficiently despite predation. Watching the patterns they're creating with their emerging pheromones as they settle into new feeding territories has made me feel like a kid again.

This is a beautiful creation. I can't wait to work on a parasitic Bibite.

This might be my all-time favorite rhythm game, which is saying something, as I've spent more time than I care to admit playing Rock Band, Patapon, Guitaroo Man, Crypt of the Necrodancer, THUMPER, etc etc. Something about this game keeps my otherwise racing mind calm, relaxed, and focused.

The music is a vibe, with a lot of the tracks being genuine 'would listen to this on loop for hours' type bangers. The rhythm challenges are pretty straight-forward in their execution, and are more about focus and endurance than having to match any crazy time signatures or obnoxiously complex rhythms. It's a game that is much more about consistency and responding appropriately to audio cues than some of the more 'hardcore' rhythm game alternatives (e.g. Osu).

Aesthetically, this game is top-tier, with beautiful animations and a unique style that I find incredibly appealing. It's a cathartic game, that'll challenge you while making you feel good, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for something rhythm-based to occupy their mind with.

A number of the other reviews I've read complained of boredom, so I'll preface this review by saying that Cloudpunk is not an action game. It's a narrative game. It's for those of us who like the combination of driving and listening to something that we can immerse ourselves in. As for those complaining about the voice direction; they're just objectively wrong, and that's okay.

I picked Cloudpunk up as a sceptic, but a sceptic that really just wanted to fly deliveries in a sci-fi setting. What I got was a really engaging story, great voice acting, compelling characters, a fantastic synthwave soundtrack, and ultimately, fulfilment. I couldn't put it down.

It's pretty linear, story-wise, and the choices you're asked to make definitely had me second guessing myself, but ultimately I don't think they have a huge impact on the events that take place in the story. With that said, it's so nice to just fly around in the rain and let the dialogue wash over you. It's equal parts relaxing and exciting, with story beats that kept me playing just to find out what was going to happen next. It turns out it's exactly what I was looking for at the time of purchase.

I've just finished the story, which took me about 10 hours, but for this game, I'm going to wait some time, and play it again, with a focus on finishing off the achievements, rather than grind it out now. This game deserves another full playthrough.

I really hope many others get to enjoy this gem as much as I did. There's something kind of special about Cloudpunk, that I've struggled to find in other games. It's like being a passenger on a really good road trip. If you like that idea, try this game.

If you've ever tried to learn to navigate a computer or network via the terminal, and enjoyed it when you got it to do what you wanted it to do, then you'll probably like HackNet. It's gamified hacking, with a really comfortable learning curve. It does expect you to learn the game's command-script language, but it's simplified and very accessible, as well as rewarding should you take the time to learn how to use it to its fullest. The story and dialogue are engaging and well-paced, and there's plenty of entertaining chat logs to browse while you're digging around on other peoples' computers. Not to mention, the soundtrack is absolute fire.

So far HackNet has provided me with some healthy doses of adrenaline, and the perfect amount of challenge; enough to keep my brain engaged with whatever puzzle I'm solving, without driving me to the point of frustration. I'm well immersed, and for the price, it's a steal. Highly recommend.

The games industry needed to be reminded what fun feels like. BattleBit Remastered is that reminder. A game far better than its AAA competitors, with an indie game price tag. It will run on a potato, so there's no barrier to entry. The gameplay is top-tier. The maps are fun. The guns feel good. The attachments are numerous. You can strap mines to a drone and fly them at your opponents. You can rappel from a helicopter. You can blow up walls. You can smack talk your opponents as they camp on your corpse. If this game loses GOTY in 2023 I will riot in the streets.