Recent reviews by excal

When a game chooses to emphasize story and atmosphere rather than nonstop action, it must capture the player's attention to avoid slipping into the walking sim trap. The Invincible succeeds from the very first minutes, placing you in a situation where rushing ahead feels reckless and careful movement feels essential. Each step carries weight, and that tension comes from a combination of superb narrative technique and outstanding visual design. This is not survival horror but a novel presented as an adventure, and fans of that style will find plenty to love.

Narrative-driven adventure done right, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow moves from suspenseful to downright ghastly, with the journey between filled with excellent writing, impressive presentation, and flawless atmosphere. It feels like Lovecraft meets Edgar Allan Poe meets pagan folk horror, all wrapped in a point-and-click that will not challenge your puzzle-solving skills but will masterfully play with your mind and push you to follow the heroine toward her inevitable demise. The game itself takes about five hours. The experience will stay with you far longer.

Trash.

The game focuses so heavily on graphical fidelity that it seems blind to every other aspect of good design. The result feels like overcompensation for inconsistent and tension-free stealth, shallow combat, level design that discourages exploration, bland enemy types, upgrades that do not encourage experimentation, and jump scares that never land. Enemies hit Jacob cheaply every time, no matter how prepared the player is. The Callisto Protocol is not scary. It is not fun. It is not engaging, interesting, or even mildly worthwhile. It claims the style and mechanics of Dead Space but uses none of them with any real skill, creating something that feels like a crude imitation. It plays poorly, it lacks originality, and it treats the player with open hostility. The one jump scare trick it does have is repeated so often that it becomes absurd. It has no business calling itself a worthy successor when it cannot even stand beside the weakest imitators. Playing The Callisto Protocol made me feel like I was wasting my time, and that is not a feeling I often get from games. With repetitive combat and a world that has no tension but plenty of pointless violence, it can go suck an egg.

The Bookwalker delivers an engaging narrative that more than makes up for its mechanical shortcomings. While its attempts to refresh point and click gameplay fall short due to systems that never fully come together, the worldbuilding, dialogue, and overall story are compelling from start to finish. The premise is creative, the meta elements are intriguing, and the blend of exploration, puzzles, and strong writing creates a memorable experience. Choices narrow a bit later on and the combat can feel simplistic, but the emotional core of the story and its reflection on the humanity of fictional characters give it lasting impact.

The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines comes across as bland and forgettable, with little that distinguishes it from countless other indie action titles. Its generic design and lack of meaningful ideas leave it feeling like an entirely skippable experience.

Fun.

Little Nightmares shows how much can be achieved with a minimal approach. It delivers sharp visual storytelling and pairs it with engaging gameplay. Its detailed art style, strong animation work, and excellent sound design help it stand out as one of the most distinctive horror games available.

KarmaZoo is a charming cooperative puzzler that leans into wordless teamwork in a way that should be chaotic but usually turns into something surprisingly smooth. Its light humor and adorable character designs make it endlessly fun to unlock and experiment with the many characters available. It is undeniably sweet, built around being considerate to strangers, and that wholesome tone works in its favor. Also, you can be a duck, which is always a win.

Even without that deeper search for meaning, the game offers a beautiful experience that gives players a brief escape from the noise of everyday life. Its ending is simple in the best way, poetic and powerful at the same time. You can look for symbolism in every corner, or you can just enjoy the climb. Either approach works, and this is an adventure we fully recommend. There is plenty to discover in the world that Jusant presents.