Recent reviews by Rilant

Has achievement to find AR cats 10/10

PAM PA RAM. PAM PAM PA RAM.

At least I only wasted 49 minutes.

RAUS!

A very pretty game with too many major flaws for me to recommend unless a.) you absolutely adore puzzle/adventure games and b.) it's super cheap on a Steam sale.

The core gameplay mechanic is actually pretty great - you'll spend most of your time piecing together clues at crime scenes that then allow you to piece together a chronology of events that occured, viewing the murder with a sort of supernatural "spirit sense" with the hope that each will bring you closer to finding the titular Ethan Carter. Each locale is both technically and artistically impressive even by the most modern standards, so at first blush the game is a treat.

But though they boast about the open-world nature of the game as you load it up--this is a game that doesn't hold your hand--here it just means you'll very likely miss a few of the more obscure items as you travel the landscape. That wouldn't be so bad if each of them simply gave you more snippets of the story, encouraging subsequent and more thorough playthroughs of what could've been a very short but interesting exploratory experience. I expected this to be the case in the beginning, but instead you'll realize only when you reach the end and can't finish that everything is required. It's essentially a linear experience that believes its open world to be a strength when it isn't. It only serves to extend the extremely short play-time through backtracking, forcing you to figure out which small clue was missed and where it might be. A crude map is provided at the end to aid in this, but I suspect only those truly engrossed in the unfolding mystery will be dutiful enough to so tediously retrace their steps.

Speaking of that mystery, the story starts off and sails smoothly for the majority of the experience, offering up an intriguing tale that is effective at pulling you through, and as mentioned is potentially even interesting enough to make you put up with the backtracking you will most likely have to do. Unfortunately, the nonsensical ending sends the story off one of those beautifully textured cliffs you spent the last few hours walking around. I won't spoil it here, but it'll leave you rolling your eyes.

So, like I said, it's a unique enough adventure/puzzle/walking sim that if you love that sort of thing this could be worth a few hours of your time... when it's really, really cheap. Otherwise, look elsewhere and leave Ethan to his fate.

I never thought I'd say this about a Divinity game, but Original Sin is not only the best entry in the series, it's one of the best CRPGs in recent memory.

Do a little research beforehand (it's somewhat cryptic with certain things, but that almost adds to the charm) to ensure a good starting experience. And don't be afraid to experiment in battle - the crazy combat synergies are easily the game's strongest feature.

A fantastic first episode sets up an interesting murder mystery filled with difficult choices, great characters and a unique fairytale-meets-noir setting. Worth the time to check out, especially if you enjoyed The Walking Dead.

An incredibly unique experience on par with games like Journey. Bonus points for excellent subtle fantasy worldbuilding and an understated narrative style that uses visuals and emotion to communicate the story rather than words. Play this game.