Recent reviews by Scarfulhu

The third season of Telltale's Sam & Max has always been a bit of an odd one. In a good way! It's an inventive, off-the-wall, and impressive adventure game that mixes new mechanics and classic point 'n' click gameplay. One of the episodes even features a non-linear narrative that requires the player to learn information at different points in time to solve puzzles. It's truly a great game, with surprising emotional depth.

Skunkape's remaster brings it into uniformity with the other two remastered seasons. It feels like there are less changes and additions compared to those two, but I have no complaints with this update.

All in all, The Devil's Playhouse is absolutely worth your time.

Now that I've finished Rosewater, I can confidently say that this game is wonderful. I'm a big fan of point 'n' clicks, and Lamplight City became a firm fave when I first tried it. Rosewater explores that alternate history further, offering a somewhat steampunk American frontier.

The gameplay is relatively simple with straightforward adventure game design, but it delights in offering different pathways to your goal. You don't often see many point 'n' clicks going for this sort of design, almost seeming more like an RPG at times with how much choice you have in regards to how to proceed. (Within reason, this is still a linear graphic adventure!)

If you're a fan of Conquests of the Longbow or Fate of Atlantis, this one wears its influences on its sleeve. I'm eager to give it another playthrough or see others play it - just to know what they chose to do!

But where Rosewater truly shines is the characters and narrative structure. A party is gathered from all walks of life, in order to hunt down a lost fortune on the other side of the country. The vast majority of the game is one very lengthy road trip, in which you go on mini-adventures with the strange folks you meet along the way. All the while, your choices and the words you say build or break relationships with your party. This turns out to have major consequences for the game's conclusion.

When the credits rolled, I knew that this was a game I was gonna revisit. Grundislav has built something special here - a heartfelt western adventure. A road trip where the true treasure might just be the friends you meet along the way, as sappy as that sounds. It's a game I needed in 2025, and I hope to see more from Vespuccia in the future.

Enjoyable so far, and very polished! I shall be updating this review once I get deeper into the game.

Full review pending when I'm done with the game, but here's my thoughts on what I've played so far:

This game is incredible. As a role playing game, it understands exactly what it needs to be and what we want as players. I'm giddy going through this one and eager to play more!

A pitch perfect tale of folk horror with an emotional heart to it.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, and I was hooked by the mystery of what lies beneath the quaint English village of Bewlay. Thomasina is a distinct and likeable presence for the player to occupy, being a woman of reason and a skeptic to the strange. Who better to emotionally torment?

As a point 'n' click adventure game, Hob's Barrow is very solid - using the ever familiar AGS engine to good effect and implementing a mostly logical set of puzzles. The puzzles toward the end of the game were particularly satisfying to solve. I could give a few minor quibbles about the structure of some of these puzzles, but ultimately none of it detracted from the experience.

Cloak and Dagger Games are definitely one to keep an eye on, and I'll be checking out their other games when I get the chance. The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a delightfully spooky gem that I heartily recommend.

We don't have much so far, but Gloomwood is an excellent stealth/horror blend, evocative of Thief and Resident Evil. Currently, there's about 3 - 4 hours worth of content. If you have a problem with that, hold off for now. But for an Early Access release I was more than happy with this.

The atmosphere is fantastic, and the stealth and mechanics play just as I imagined. I've cleared out pretty much all I can, all the secrets and safes I could locate, and yeah, this is shaping up to be something special. If you want some tips - take things slow, pay attention to notes and maps, get yourself immersed in the world.

Gloomwood awaits, doctor.

You know - I think Moebius: Empire Rising gets a worse reputation than it deserves.

I will start by saying it's very rough around the edges. The animation is kinda wonky, the lipsync ranges from serviceable to terrible, there are a few bugs, and the sometimes after dialogue the game just softlocks for a few seconds before letting you click on things again. There's a lot technically wrong with Moebius, but I also found myself compelled by it.

That's the power of Jane Jensen right there - to make a rough game feel worth playing. It's mostly down to her writing. She has a knack for creating interesting and flawed characters that you want to root for, and Malachi and David wormed their way into my heart quickly. And into each other's, quite obviously. There's a queer romance subplot in here between the two which, while not paid off, was very charming. The cold and analytical Malachi softening for a protective labrador of a military man, I quite adore it. It's not often you see MLM romance in game which isn't an optional side path only for people interested. That's just part of who these characters are - I wanted to learn more about what made them tick, and see more of how their relationship would develop.

That part is just the subplot though. The main story is fascinating as well, surrounding the concept of 'Moebius Theory', detailing recurring figures through history. There are a lot of central concepts to the main plot which are super interesting as well, often skirting the line between reality and supernatural fiction. Jensen is good at that stuff, and it always makes me want to look up more on the game's subjects. If you liked that part of the Gabriel Knight series, you'll enjoy this too I think.

Where the plot is weakest is the fact that this is essentially the first part of a story that hasn't been completed. There are a number of threads which I really want to see followed up but... well we don't have anything else. I'd love to see the continued journey of Malachi Rector and David Walker, but Moebius didn't do very well. I totally understand why, but it's kinda sad.

As an adventure game - Moebius is pretty solid. Not many of the puzzles are difficult, but I did raise an eyebrow at a couple of the solutions. (One involving a kitchen knife was a little bit much I think, for tonal reasons.) But the analysis system was unique and super interesting to play with - picking out details to analyse people. It was really interesting to see how these characters lined up with real people from history. Jane Jensen's implementation of real world history has always been one of the most exciting things about her stories.

Ultimately, I kinda... loved this game. It's a guilty pleasure for sure. Not a game I could safely call 'good', but I do like it a lot. And you might like it too. Much like the game's protagonist, Moebius: Empire Rising is an odd acquired taste, but worth getting to know if you can bypass the prickly exterior.

The DLC propels Outer Wilds from a fantastic game to a near perfect game. Some might not vibe with a handful of the added gameplay elements here, but I really liked them myself. I feel blessed to have had the experience of both the base game and this.

Highly recommended, but only once you've finished the original game. Until then... there's more to explore here.

It's like Pokemon Snap, if the game was evil.

This game kinda defies explanation. I'd implore you to play it for yourself without any spoilers.

What I can say is it's a game where you explore space, and learn things through a lot of trial and error. It's also more than that, and the mostly finely crafted gaming experience I've ever had the pleasure of having - a gorgeous mash of gameplay, presentation and writing.

This is something I'd consider to be a 'bucket list game'. A game you absolutely must play through at some point. It's that special, and it's an experience I won't ever have again. Savour it.