Recent reviews by redshadowhero

If you like sokoban style puzzle games with increasing difficulty, this is definitely that. For those that don't understand what that is, it's essentially a game where you push or move blocks around to solve the puzzles and get to the exit, which is exactly what this game is - at its surface. There's an extra "gimmick" of obtaining a rod that lets you pick up one tile and set that tile down over a hole to complete puzzles. Of course, what you think is a small puddle of water is actually a hole to an ocean. If you think that ~200+ puzzle rooms isn't worth the price of admission to this game, you're probably right. But this game is several times that.

It's got a nice plot that definitely is straightforward and doesn't require coordinating with others, use of a paint program, a number of pages of notes, and dozens of playthroughs that lead to you discovering yet another hint towards yet another set of puzzles to solve. Nope definitely not anything like that. This game doesn't hold your hand at any time and sets an increasing expectation that the puzzle is going to increase in difficulty even beyond the bounds of the game. You see that tile, you pick it up, you set it down. Another dozen hours in the game, and you realize that you can pick up tiles and set them down.

In this game, knowledge is power - part of the game is understanding these systems that underlie the deceptively simple appearance of the game. I've seen the term "metroidbrania" recently - a metroidvania where progress isn't gated by items you get while traversing the castle, instead gating you by how well you understand what's actually happening mechanically. And the stingy amazing community understands the assignment well and will spoiler everything and sometimes even refuse to give you the answer, because that's how the game works. If you know, you know

I believe I'm about 4-5 "endings" "deep", and I know there's way more to this game still. The plot has evolved on me more than once and once I thought I understood it, there's another layer. Come into this game without expectations - if you do, this game will quickly make sure you understand that it doesn't hold itself to any standard and will do what it wants. Don't get this game, get this game.

Crow Country is a survival horror game that clearly draws inspiration from the likes of Resident Evil but instead of a mansion, it's a theme park. While the controls and enemies seem to pull from RE and Silent Hill, the characters seem like charming renditions of Final Fantasy VII PSX characters - little polygonal figures. Each small "zone" is filled with interesting notes, puzzles, and enemies, and I generally had a lot of fun doing these puzzles and reading through all the flavor text.

Gameplay-wise, it's definitely more like a resident evil, though I found the aiming a tad frustrating at times. As you hold the button to 'aim', it's difficult to tell where the reticle is at times and Mara's hand "wobbles" a bit, but that's a minor inconvenience at most.

The plot isn't the best thing I've seen, but it serves for the purpose of the game, and even though I pieced it together by the midway point I still liked it well enough.

I've played through twice now and gotten everything except the S rank, so it isn't a hugely long game but still enjoyable and I'd recommend it.