Recent reviews by Entropy Phi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8VYSG4sBHs
I think it's pretty easy to tell if you'll like Dusk immediately by looking at it. If you're a fan of old-school FPS/arena shooters it'll absolutely be up your alley. Retro Doom, Quake, Unreal Tournament, Duke Nukem, etc. fans will feel right at home. If you played those games in the past and hated them, this might not be the title for you. If you've never touched them at all, consider if you like playing super fast-paced action games that have some stylish flair. While it might seem like a strange comparison, Hotline Miami has a similar "stylish, loud, and bloody" theme to this title.

Comparisons aside, it's an old-school FPS with some modern techniques. Everything you could do in those old shooters is present, along with some neat new additions. Camera and movement controls feels miles ahead of their older counterparts, and you can even pull off full front/backflips just for the heck of it. Each weapon feels meaty and the music gets your pulse pounding. The art, while generally low-res and low-poly, is consistent and fits well with the intended theme. Visually it could pass for a PS1 title if some VFX were removed. The small (mostly one man?) dev team definitely deserves some props for pulling it all together in to a fully-realized vision.

Now on to (a few) cons. The old-school FPS/arena shooter genre didn't die out just because devs got bored of making them. There's a lot to examine in why game design shifted away from these old techniques, but that's much better suited to a looooong discussion. To keep it short, while this game accurately recreates those old titles, it also carries some of their baggage. Despite being heavily combat focused, you can complete almost every section without killing anything. In fact, a lot of the time you're better off just running past enemies. There's not much incentive to sit around and lose resources fighting them when they pose minimal threat just being avoided. The level design is also a point of contention for me. From what I experienced, levels often boil down to key/button hunts. Wander around aimlessly to find the red key to open the red door to get the blue key to open the blue door to press the button, etc etc. It never got too frustrating, but then again I didn't have a desire to play the game all the way through when most levels used this formula. This could change later in the game than I played, but I wouldn't expect it to that much. Obviously I'm still recommending the game despite the above, so don't take those points too harshly.

As I said at the start of this review, you should have a good idea if you'll enjoy the game almost immediately from looking at it. It's fast, loud, stylish, bloody, and overall pretty metal. On the other hand, it carries both the good and bad of the old games it draws inspiration from. It accomplishes exactly what the devs (presumably) set out to do. I can't fault them for their execution, but then again I see why these games are few and far between nowadays. Regardless, it's a labor of love, and certainly worth checking out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeUk0jYwlPw
Lost in Vivo is yet another 90s retro horror game in the current wave of similar titles - but I wouldn't group it in with all the rest. It doesn't have excessive VHS or noise filters just to obscure some poor low-poly graphics. Things actually look decent for the self-imposed graphical limitations. It's a strange mix of low-poly and some pixel art textures along with a few modern effects like Bloom.

The game plays much like the old Silent Hill/Resident Evil titles where you have linear sections, semi-open puzzle sections, and plenty of weird cutscenes and creepy stuff happening in-between. This game also adds quite a bit of fourth-wall breaking and "alternative" gameplay styles at certain points. Not to spoil anything: some of these work well and add a unique touch, while others are predictable, having been done many times before.

The bulk of the game you'll be walking down slightly-too-long corridor sections, exploring some minor branching paths, fighting numerous creepy enemies, and generally just experiencing some spooky ambiance. The music and sounds work quite well, setting a foreboding tone. There could definitely be more sound effects to add more life to the world, but for what it is, the current audio does the job well.

The combat, like many other reviewers stated, somewhat devolves in to an action experience after a while. Although I don't think it ruins the gameplay like some might suggest. The enemy AI is a little boring in general, mainly just walking directly in to you and clipping your body, but the weapons all feel nice to use. Acquiring different tools and collecting ammo was a nice addition. However, since there are no healing items, you either need to die or stand around (possibly for minutes at a time) to regain health. I always opted for a quick death in those situations, which does detract from the horror.

All that aside, the game is quite buggy. Just off the top of my head: pressing the attack button while running does nothing but stop you from running, switching weapons with the number keys doesn't work about 50% of the time, reloads glitch out with the other animations giving you instant or non-reloads occasionally, almost every enemy clips in to your body, you can get stuck in the geometry (thankfully I was always able to get out), and enemies can also get stuck in the geometry. Worst of all: there are major sequence/save breaks that I see a few others have experienced. Thankfully I never ran in to those, as I wouldn't have the heart to start the entire ~3-4 hour game from scratch.

Overall it's definitely a weird and creepy experience, which is why I'm recommending it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at least once or twice with some novel sections. That and the monster/audio design is actually very unique. It's a game to play once and be happy you experienced it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOjKQ-6CyFw

Honestly, there isn't that much to say about the game. It's an interesting vignette that hints at a larger story. You explore two rooms for about a minute until the setting changes, and then you look things over again. You can't really do anything besides look around and wait once you've seen it all. Even if it had no impact on the story, it would be nice to allow players to interact with objects around the apartment, giving them a little more to do than waiting.

The setting, mood, and visuals work quite well. The audio is solid, but there isn't that much of it. The story is mostly just implied from what you see/hear. I'd love to see more work from this developer, as this just feels like the slightest appetizer possible.

P.S. This game is set 2 days after The Blair Witch Project released. Might not mean much to you, but it changed a few of my views on it. At least the visual style is quite similar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEW8bqBvkYQ

(Ignore my play-time, I played through the whole game when it initially released on itch.io)

Paratopic is a surreal, somewhat lynchian experience that is just odd enough to stand out amongst many other "weird" horror titles. As you'll see mentioned everywhere, if you're a fan of David Lynch, you'll probably find a lot of that eerie style very prevalent here. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this if you dig that sort of stuff. If you like weird stories with plenty of open-ended questions, you'll enjoy it as well. If you like slow-build horror more focused on atmosphere than jump-scares, you'll feel right at home.

On the other hand, this game is most certainly not focused on "gameplay" - as nebulous as that can be. There are no obstacles or challenges to overcome, no puzzles to solve, and no enemies to face. Your only interaction with the game comes in a few dialogue choices (which appear to have no impact on the story), a few objects to interact with, and traveling from point A to point B. If you're a person who can't play a game just for the story and atmosphere, then you'll want to avoid this. Honestly, the game could be a short film and I'd probably enjoy it about the same. Nothing wrong with that, just be aware of what you're getting in to.

As long as you know what you're getting in to, I think this one is worth picking up. The setting is just strange and open-ended enough that you'll be thinking about it for a little while after playing. I'd happily play more games expanding this universe, or even something entirely different from the developers. It just leaves you wanting more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrffm8xDhLY
If there's only one thing you get from any reviews about this game, it's that if you love Elder Scrolls, this is gonna be right up your alley. Yes, there are no fantasy elements whatsoever (except brewing potions), but it's strong enough to be a very compelling game without them. Notably, the combat system is far better and more interactive than Elder Scrolls (which is notorious for mediocre first-person combat).

KC:D follows a "nobody" hero from peasantry to basically knighthood. Unlike most other games, you aren't some "chosen one", and you start out being pretty much awful at everything. You won't be slaying scores of enemies and saving the world from day one. When you start the game, you can barely even swing a sword or shoot a bow at anything more than 5 feet away. Battles with more than one enemy at a time can often be a death sentence, even at higher levels.

Like many other RPGs, skills are boosted individually by repeated actions. Fight a lot and you'll get better at combat, do sneaky things and you'll get stealthier, talk to a lot of people and you'll be more persuasive, etc. In addition to just increasing these skills, you'll unlock unique talents that you can pick and choose, providing some good bonuses along the way. My only minor gripe with the talents is that the game has two types. Straight bonuses, and trade-offs where you get something good and something bad. In almost all cases, the straight bonuses are the optimal choice. The trade-off talents don't give you enough of a positive benefit to make up for their negatives most of the time. Not a big deal, just something you'll think about as you level up.

The story and setting is "historically accurate". In that most of the things that occur "could have happened" and the major world events definitely did happen. You'll learn a little bit of history passively while playing, even if you don't really notice. The main story has quests of all shapes and sizes, from large-scale battles to dialogue-focused detective work. There's plenty of interesting one-off quests that aren't related to the main story as well.

You'll notice the word "bugs" pop up in many reviews for the game. Around release there truly were quite a lot of bugs. Very few game-breaking, but often an occasional laugh when an NPC does something silly. However, credit to the team, they've done a great job of improving the game and cleaning up outstanding bugs with every patch. It's very noticeable how the various bugs have seemed to drop off over time. In addition to bug fixes, they're constantly working on new content, having already released some major DLC in additon to some smaller free stuff. They have a roadmap for planned DLC and free updates, so it doesn't look like support for this game is ending anytime soon.

All in all, I've had a ton of fun with this one. Something about it keeps pulling me back in. I've completed it twice now (once normal, once completely unarmed), and I'm moving on to my third playthrough (hardcore) at this time. It's just a great experience overall. Even if you only pick it up to hold you over until the next Elder Scrolls, I don't think you'll be disappointed at all. I highly recommend it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs_6x9heyBs
Agony is, quite unfortunately, not a very good game. The visuals (especially the environments) are often the high point of the experience. Most of the art is relatively high-quality, except in certain situations. Character animations and lip-syncing are quite poor, detracting from the otherwise appealing visuals. In addition, there are numerous spots where there is just "too much". There's tons of objects, colors, particles, and everything else all mashed in to a tiny space. This was clearly done to push the "hellish" atmosphere, but often comes off as cluttered at best, and downright ugly at worst.

Now, on to the real problem: the game design. As nice as this game can be to look at, actually playing it is everything but a good experience. From convoluted level design to numerous poor gameplay elements, you'll quickly tire of things that wouldn't feel out-of-place in a game from 20 years ago.

A shining example of this is the possession system. When you die, your spirit leaves your body and you have a limited time to find a new host. There are other humans scattered around levels, acting as "extra lives" of sorts, as long as you've manually taken a bag off their heads. A minor inconvenience, but it works with the theme of the game. Where things go wrong, however, is when you have to possess demons. The only time you ever actually want to possess a demon is to destroy some barrier so you can progress. Other than that, the demons are utterly worthless. They cannot interact with anything in the environment like humans can, reducing their capabilities to killing things or breaking other barriers. Why does the game give you the ability to kill your living checkpoints? No reason, other than that's a demon-y thing to do.

Oh, and about using them to get past barriers... Once you do, there's no way to manually leave the demon's body to continue on. You can't press a button to eject your spirit and you can't fall off a cliff and die or the game ends. The game just randomly decides at some point to pull you out of the body. What are the criteria? I have no idea. I've tried waiting multiple minutes in one spot, running halfway across the level, killing numerous humans (which only makes the game harder), all to no avail. Every time I've left a demon body has been completely random. You just accept that the game wants to pull you out and you continue on.

This isn't even touching on all the other negative aspects, including things like: boring trial & error puzzles, poor AI, clunky movement, and tons of iffy level design. Anyways, if you're like me and don't mind spending the money just to see some cool worlds for a few hours, go for it. Otherwise, give this one a pass.

Bacon Man is a pretty wacky game with a lot of heart. I'm not the best at tough platformers (I only got to the final world in Super Meat Boy), and boy does this game get tough. There's plenty of parts where you might get frustrated for a while, but I always seemed to be making progress gradually. The beat-em-up and boss sections were a lot easier for me, and those can even be made easier by leveling up a bit if you get stuck. The platforming is mostly all insta-death, so skill is the only thing that'll help you there.

Gameplay aside, what really kept me going was the goofy storyline and funny characters. There's a lot of humor to be found beyond just food puns, and it's done pretty well. The characters I encountered all had their fair share of jokes (both original and tongue-in-cheek references). Excaliboar was a favorite of mine - the grumpy rival/sidekick who's always trying to show you up.

I did a mini-review with a bonus recipe/cooking segment based on the game. If you want to hear more of my opinions or learn a little bit about making "Bacon Man Bacon" then check it out. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FTpYS4V3sQ

Quite honestly the best experience I've ever had playing a platformer. It is incredibly hard to put down once you get started. The platforming and puzzles are mostly what you'd expect; but the meat of the game exists in the surreal locations and striking scenarios. INSIDE is visual storytelling at it's finest. It will stick with you for a long time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIKu_FEB2v8
3..2..1..Grenades! is a neat little local-multiplayer game. Great fun with friends. It's mostly focused on different variations of deathmatch where your only weapon is a grenade (or grenade variant). You can get all that from the trailer, so here's a few points that stood out to me:

-Numerous modes ranging from simple deathmatch to destructible floors to a form of basketball featuring a throwable pug.
-A couple different grenade types to pick up in most levels.
-Story mode (featuring all variations of levels and boss fights) or quick play.

-A fair amount of secrets to find throughout the game.
-Intentional secrets such as gold/silver grenades (collectibles) and hidden weapons.
-Unintentional (but still fun) "secrets" such as out-of-bounds or advantageous spots in levels.

-Patterned bosses that don't pose much of a challenge.
-Only two boss fights (which is the same boss at two different points in the game).

-Obviously the game works best with 4 humans, but AI is there to fill in the gaps.
-Brainless on Easy, mostly ignored on Medium (never tried Hard).
-Occasionally get stuck in places and become free kills.

-Heavily inspired by N64 games.
-Audio sounds a lot like Banjo-Kazooie and similar titles
-World layout and level unlocks are very similar to Mario 64.

-Quite a few minor bugs, but nothing gamebreaking.
-Bugs generally didn't affect the gameplay at all.

-The "basketball" mode.
-Honestly a minor thing to bring up, but it's very hard to score so the matches often lasted a long time.
-My least favorite game-type (breakable floors being my favorite).

No screen-looking here. Good luck trying to use that excuse when you lose to your friends. Great fun at parties or in close-contact.