Recent reviews by jxsin

EARLY REVIEW: I've only completed the first chapter of this game so far, but I'm immediately hooked. I'm not a huge fan of visual novels, but I AM a huge fan of Picross games, and I've been looking for something to scratch the itch of a Picross game with some sort of progression besides "harder puzzles".

The writing in this game is pretty good so far. The dialogue is maybe a little tropey, but it's clear the writers were having fun and I'm enjoyin the story. As for the actual mystery in the story, it's unfolding at a nice pace with some early twists and turns, red herrings, the usual mystery fare... but executed very well.

As for the Picross puzzles themselves, it's too early to really comment on them. I have hundreds of hours across multiple nonogram games, so the puzzles at this stage are not really a challenge, I'm mostly in it for the story. I will say that I've encountered one timed puzzle so far, which could shake things up later on.

My one suggestion for the devs would be to maybe allow a skip of the initial puzzle tutorial in a future update. It was short, but a little annoying to be taught the basic rules of the game without a skip option, and no way to interact besides clicking through dialogue boxes. Maybe only add the skip option for players on Normal difficulty, or make the board interactable so that you can just solve the puzzle and skip the tutorial?

Either way, I'm really enjoying this game so far, and I'm excited to get back to it. If you love Picross and want a story-focused game that lets you solve Picross puzzles, this is it. If you're into murder mysteries and/or visual novels, but you haven't ever played Picross before, then this game seems like a great onboarding for the genre of nonogram puzzlers with a promising visual novel to boot.

This is a fantastic logic puzzle game that has built-in lo-fi chill beats to click hexes to.

If you love minesweeper and/or Picross, this game will definitely consume you, for a little while.

Which leads my my only minor complaint. It's very short. The sequels will undoubtedly make up for that, and this game is only $3. I spend just about 3 hours perfecting every level (with numerous retries), so it's still a huge value. This game definitely brought me more than $3 worth of enjoyment.

Also, if you play it, you'll probably find yourself rhythmically clicking hexes along with the music, which is incredibly satisfying.

This is hands-down the best couch multiplayer game on Steam. I buy new local multiplayer games all the time to try out when hanging with friends, and this is the one we always come back to.

The level editor (with Steam Workshop support) is great for custom levels when you get bored of the originals, and there's a random level mode if you really want to shake things up.

Single player challenge modes are available as well. It's a great way to play the game by yourself and get better than your friends, while unlocking new cosmetics and shiny medals to boost your ego.

If you have friends and multiple controllers, buy it. (There's online multiplayer as well, but I never touch it)

I actually really like this game, but I can't recommend it. Some people will dismiss the people complaining about the difficulty as babies and say "git gud", but the game's RNG is ultimately the deciding factor on whether you do well or not.

Three games out of five started on Normal difficulty had my starting ship location in a far off corner with only one way to go toward the objectives. And the event in the way of me progressing the game? The worst possible event in the game, Space Pirates, which is actually impossible for the captain to resolve without losing possibly game-essential cards for everyone on Turn 1. Turn 1, on Normal. Three times.

That's obviously a string of bad luck, but it really drives home the issue with this game. There's no balance. The difficulty doesn't scale up or down when you select a difficulty, you just get advantages similar to the Civilization series. Ultimately the game is the same on Easy as it is on the hardest difficulty.

I was compelled to write this review when I started multiple games in a row and figured "Well I've already lost this game" either on the first turn or several turns in. So I'd quit the game, delete the save, and start a new one. Get hit with Space Pirates on turn 1 again. Quit and make a new game where I might have a chance.

And that's why I can't recommend this game. If you have to actively go searching for a decent seed to start the game off, it's not a fun experience. There's a serious design problem with the balance of this game. All good procedural-generated games almost never put you in a no-win scenario, but this game definitely does.

It feels like they created all of the cards, planet locations, events, and the systems behind the game... then just put it together and didn't bother to make sure it felt fun to play.

In a real board game, you have no control over the difficulty besides adding or removing cards/pieces from the game or using house rules, so most games can be salvaged if there's an issue. This game is all digital, so they have the means to fake the RNG to make the first turns go by more smoothly, or dictate rules for the RNG (i.e. spawn locations never occur next to Space Pirates).

This game has great art, good music, and a fun premise. It's just frustrating to play and I definitely don't want to try it again with friends, even on the easiest difficulty.

This game is the product of nine years of development, and it really shows that the developers crafted every detail of the game with love. Owlboy isn't perfect, but it's definitely a standout title.

Owlboy's strongest attribute by far. The "Hi-Bit" pixel graphics are gorgeous and set a high bar for any future games using a pixelated art style. The soundtrack by Jonathan Geer is beautiful and emotive, making the soundtrack a worthy upgrade if you're the type to listen to video game soundtracks when you're not playing. Animations for the characters are absolutely on point. The characters' expressions and reactions during dialogue are very charming and expressive.

While I had a lot of fun with this game, it's not as polished in the gameplay department as in presentation. The game is often far too easy, with some spikes in difficulty in certain sections. I found myself breezing through the levels, with puzzles, boss fights, and other obstacles doing little to slow my progress. Occasionally, I would get lost in some of the levels if I decided to go hunting for collectibles as there's no minimap, though not much backtracking is required to progress in the game.

I loved the story and spent time talking to every NPC. However, I know the story is hit or miss for some. Owlboy's story pacing is pretty standard, breaking up the action in-between dungeons for narrative development and character dialogue. The characters are likable and distinct, and the story has some unexpectedly emotional turns. If you're not interested in the story, however, you're probably going to get annoyed at the interruptions.

Overall I'd recommend Owlboy to anyone looking for an aesthetically-pleasing game that's light on difficulty but high on charm. If you're an action platformer veteran looking for a challenge, this game will disappoint you. Owlboy is at its best when you just relax and let it pull you in with its story and presentation. I wish the game was longer or more challenging, but I came away from the game without regrets in my purchase, even going back to 100% it and see everything there is to see

The original Guacamelee! is one of my favorite "Indie" games that I own, and I was extremely excited when I heard that the Super Tubo Championship Edition came to PC. I purchased it immediately and just finished my Normal playthrough.

Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition adds a good amount of extra content, in the form of new levels, new enemies scattered throughout the game, a new boss, and new abilities. It's a "Metroidvania" style 2D action game, but instead of a bounty hunter or vampire hunter, you play as Guacamelee!, a luchador fighting his way through both the land of the living and the dead to rescue his love.

The Good:

*Unique art style drawing from Mexican folklore, specifically the "Day of the Dead"
*Great music and environments
*Tight controls
*Clever, rarely frustrating platforming sections
*Fun combat, with a mix of combo-based striking and grappling
*Simple story with humor and references to classic games all over every stage of the game

The Bad:
*Can't remap controls on a controller. This is a minor gripe, because the controls make sense, except for the new "Intenso" mode, which requires pressing LS and RS simultaneously on a gamepad. This is annoying, especially considering that RB and RT are both mapped to the same function, and either could have been switched to Intenso mode.
*Game is short. I wanted it to last longer. There is replayability in a Hard mode unlock and a challenge guantlet of sorts, with lots of hidden items to go back and find for 100% completion. But even with the added content, I beat the game in 9 hours (not 100%), with a considerable amount of backtracking and exploration.
*The new Intenso mode makes combat far too easy on Normal playthrough. Entering Intenso mode lets you just wail on anything until it runs out, forgoing combos and dodging entirely.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this game. As an owner of the original Guacamelee!, I received the upgrade at a discount (67% off, or $5). I had no issues replaying the game from scratch, because it's fun. I'd be less likely to recommend the upgrade to existing Guacamelee! owners at $15, because there's not THAT much new content. For new owners, however, $15 is absolutely worth it, even with the short length of the game. You'll want to get 100% completion, and then tackle Hard mode if you still haven't had enough.

This game is amazing if you love Castlevania-style action platformers. It plays very similar to a Castlevania game, with "Rogue-like" elements added in. The gameplay is very simple overall, with the amount of challenge you'd expect from an old-school game.

The gimmick of this game is that each death is permanent, but you choose one of your heirs for the next run. These heirs are all randomly generated, with their own class, magic spell(s), and traits that help or hinder gameplay (or change nothing, but are funny). The castle's layout changes every time you enter as well.

For example, you could choose your son the Barbarian, who is very strong and knocks enemies back further, but is near-sighted, causing the game screen to appear fuzzy except for the vicinity of your character.

Or you could choose your daughter the Paladin, who is good all around, and has ADHD, improving her movement speed. She's also bald, which doesn't affect gameplay, it's just cosmetic.

The game has a good sense of humor with many of the traits, and default Hero names (there's a text file in the game files you can edit to add your own hero names or replace them all).

It does get a little bit grindy once you hit a difficulty wall and need upgrades or better gear to progress if you're stuck, but luckily the game can be played in very short doses, plus you can save your progress and quit at any time.

And once you get multiple playthroughs, in New Game +++ and beyond, you will NEED to be decked out to not die instantly.

Overall this is one of my favorite games I own, and even though I feel I've completed it, I still have the urge to jump in again and try to slay one of the optional hidden bosses or see if I can get to New Game ++++.