Recent reviews by Hollapeno

The touching story of a loving dragonfly and a dino with stank breath.

Beautiful open-world car-exploding brain-blowing adrenaline-pumping Mad-Max badassery.

Oh, and amazing optimization for PC. So there's that.

10/10

One of the more terrifying games in the horror genre. It's almost as if PT had a baby with Amnesia mechanics and buckets upon buckets of paint. This might be a "walking simulator", but don't let that fool you because this game will make you soil yourself. Scares are more on the jumpy side but there are some VERY unique moments that make you go "Well ♥♥♥♥, horror ain't dead after all!" Great atmosphere, phenomenal voice acting, original and clever camera tricks/transitions, amazing sound and level design, and most importantly, scary as hell.

Move over PT, Layers of Fear is in town.

9/10

The game that shouldn't exist but does.

It hurts so good.

One of my favorite zombie shooters, now featuring the entire L4D cast. There is no reason not to pick this up.

Best MMO I've ever played- truly Free2Play. None of that Pay2Win business. Combat is very fun and graphics are gorgeous. Poor optimization but it's still enjoyable. Highly recommended!

9/10

Not the best Resident Evil game, but an enjoyable action game. Smooth controls, optimization, and high productions values make this a cool Michael Bay production.

Recommended?

High-stakes gritty film noir mystery littered with difficult moral decisions, all pulled off with superb style.

This game is a must buy. Heck, it's worth it just for the really purdy Bigby and Snow. Explaining the story is complicated and hard to do without spoiling anything, so all I will say is this: Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

9/10.

What would you give to see your future? And what would you do if you knew what it held?

Enter Year Walk. YW is a short game, but a very haunting experience. It's unique, it thinks outside the box, it's something you ponder over well after the game ends. Let's dive into what people are looking for in a review, shall we?

Story: Pay attention. That's all I can say without spoiling too much. The post-game content contributes a lot in this aspect!

Gameplay: Original. This game does require you to do thinking, so don't expect to walk in (hah) and romp through all the puzzles- you won't. Puzzles can involve anything: memorization, sound recognition, unexpected controls, you name it. Solutions are never convoluted- you might be surprised!

Graphics: Beautiful. Simply gorgeous, even when you're looking at a bloodied doll. Love it!

Sound Effects: Headphones on, volume up; the sound is superbly done. Everything sounds perfect- the snow crunching under your shoes, the creaking wood of a windmill, the water running in the creek. Is that a woman singing in the distance? Is that a baby wailing... wait. Is that the plippity plop of blood I hear as well?

Soundtrack: The soundtrack is beautiful and immersive. It can range anywhere from "Wow, I could meditate to this!" to "Holy fudge I'm going to die!" Like I said: headphones on, volume up! Lose yourself in Year Walk.

Replayability/Post-Game Content: Only finished one walk so far, but definitely looking forward to jumping back in! After you beat the game, you get access to a nice fat journal in which clues are scattered for you to find. The clues unlock the true ending- it's unsettling.

So is it scary?: To be honest, YW is not necessarily scary, but it's downright creepy. The atmosphere is done very well! There are a few jumpscares, so players with heart conditions beware!

The Bad: Just a tad too short (~2-3 hours). A wee more content would be nice!

Year Walk is a solid puzzle/pseudo-horror game. If you could see the future, then you'd know it's in your best interests to buy it!

[8/10]

Do I recommend this game? Hell yes I do.

Plot - This game's plot is amazing. It's complex, but not to the point where it's convoluted. It's a very enjoyable ride full of twists and turns and one that will keep you thinking. If you're looking for a mindless shooter, this is it. If you're looking for a intriguing and thought-provoking shooter that raises questions of ethics, this is it as well. Stay after the credits! Characters are loveable (talk to them- they feed you small morsels of their background). Bonus points to this game for being genuinely funny! It cracks jokes and comments naturally through conversations; nothing feels forced.

Gameplay - This game truly revives the art of grandiose boss fights. Bosses appear frequently, are innovative and unique, appear and are menacing, and most importantly, they're pretty freaking huge. Many will make you go "Holy [censored]!" The gunplay is very fun as well. Each body part of each enemy is destructable, and enemies will adapt to every predicament they're in. There's not a gigantic variety of guns, but you won't even notice; the moment you realize the plethora of ways to fight each battle, you will forget everything else. Assault? Sure. Snipe? Sure. Support? Sure. Turn enemies against each other? Why not? There's quite a bit of replay value here.

Sound - A superbly done pumping techno soundtrack. Sure, it might not be too memorable alone, but pair it up with the game and you get some seriously epic battles. Of course there's orchestra arrangements as well, but those are reserved for specific moments. Why didn't they release this beast soundtrack on CD?!

Graphics - Amazing art direction. The graphics look superb. The characters are emotive. Every scene, whether it be gameplay or cutscenes, looks great. The camera angles for cutscenes make them look VERY cinematic. Now, you might be wondering how you're gonna run this if you have a mediocre PC or laptop. Don't worry- this game is surprisingly smooth and easy to run. It runs great on my mediocre laptop, even with the plethora of gigantic explosions and machine parts flying everywhere.

Interaction - You can give commands to your team members just by talking. Yes, I'm serious. This game packs voice recognition software just so you can give commands, respond to questions and comments, etc. If you don't feel like talking, you can turn it off and use button controls instead. No problem! Depending on how you respond, your relationship with your teammates can either bloom or wither (relationships do matter, even in battle). One easy way to lose trust is friendly fire. Don't do it! The trust system is very important, as different levels of trust can cause very different events to carry out!

The Bad - Not much. Besides teammates being easy to friendly fire and sometimes all up in your personal space, everything plays great!

Verdict - Binary Domain is an amazing game. See it on sale? Grab it. Don't see it on sale? Grab it anyways. I'm sure you won't regret it. I have no idea why this game is so underrated- it's truly a hidden gem.

[9/10]