Recent reviews by phantom7748

An excellently distilled time attack racer with vibes that remind me of the PS1 era. The short tracks encourage riskier strategy and pushing your luck, while the sound and fluid handling make it easy to keep pushing for better times like the best Trackmania maps.

Very well done, and I'd love to see more like this.

Tunic is the Zelda-like I was hoping for on its reveal years ago, but it's also far more. Everything is impeccable, from combat to style to music to puzzles. The game asks you to scratch at the surface and before you know it you will be fathoms deep.

In Other Waters is as many things as it isn't; it is alien, unique, pointed, and interesting. Instead of dramatic mechanics to sell a pressing or bombastic story to the player, everything about the game is reflective, almost melancholic, and more about discovery than action. What brought me to it was the interface and sound - the presentation is spot on, matching the beats and tone of the story excellently.

It's not without fault - in some areas the design clashes with what you feel you need to do and what the game wants you to do, but the descriptive prose and mystery that brings Gliese 667Cc to life is more than worth the bumps and taking the time to experience it.

I'm a sucker for games that push the interactive medium in interesting ways in order to tell their story, and In Other Waters succeeds fabulously. If you're at all interested in a unconventional game or like exploring alien biology, give it a go.

An excellent entry in the beloved platformer series. There's enough streamlining and experimentation to make it feel fresh, while retaining most of what makes Trine, well, Trine. Admittedly, there's a few cases where the streamlining makes for a simpler-feeling game with a few less toys to play with, but overall it's more robust and feels better than even some of Trine 2's mechanical failings. Of particular note are the bosses - while combat in general is more of a side-grade than an up or downgrade from previous entries, most of the bosses are genuinely interesting this time around and have a bit more to them.

If you're looking for a story-book platformer with a few puzzles, Trine has always been a go-to. Trine 4 is a solid best hits of Trine so far (yes, even 3), and I'm looking forward to see if they can do anything more with the series.

Picross is a wonderful puzzle type to pass time with, and if you're looking at this game you're probably familiar with it. It's not the most surprising or difficult kind of puzzle, but it is extremely relaxing.

For years I craved a way to scratch the Picross itch from a PC that rivaled Jupiter's endless (but quality) Nintendo titles, and Tomlab has not only scratched that itch but made an extraordinarily polished hub for PC Picrossing. If you're looking for some laid-back puzzles to work through, look no further than Pictopix.

While slightly different in topic and scope, Quarantine Circular is just as clever and just as excellent as its predecessor, Subsurface Circular. Decisions must be made that you cannot hope to know the outcome of, and to reach a conclusion you must consider all points of view - something the game provides very deftly. Sometimes, all you can do is prepare the best you can with as much information as you can gather. Sometimes, Quarantine must be broken.

This game is hard. But it's the hardest game anyone can beat, has a touching story, and a killer soundtrack. The devs' farewell chapter to the game is mindblowing and pretty handily catapults Celeste into the best-of-the-best for its genre.

You can beat this game in 6 minutes.

ABZU is made of something special; it's been a long time since a game has filled me with the purest joy imaginable.

This is a 20 minute long game (That I've played for far longer) that the wonderful developer continues to polish to the most fine sheen you've ever seen. Relax with the music and color in all the bits or test your paths and reflexes with speed and percentage challenges. All of this is fun to do with a simple yet extremely effective movement system and presentation. Definitely worth your time.