Indika is mad, there’s no doubt about that. But there’s a method to her madness. You see, we could say the same about her game, which plays with its own aesthetic, interspersing a more grounded, somber tone with sudden bursts of playful retro elements, while growing increasingly unhinged as time goes by. Indika is a nun in an isolated, snow-laden …
Read More »Switch
Everhood
Everhood: An Ineffable Tale of the Inexpressible Divine Moments of Truth is as if Undertale and Guitar Hero had a rebellious son who became a drug addict obsessed with death. I don’t want to elaborate. But it’s my job, so here I am, elaborating. For you. The first minutes of Everhood: An Ineffable Tale of the Inexpressible Divine Moments of …
Read More »Timespinner
Timespinner is a narratively ambitious 2D Metroidvania that delves into a cycle of war and oppression while boasting a strong art direction and a brilliant soundtrack. It also leaves some of its mechanics underdeveloped, but you know, nothing is perfect in life. Except coffee. There’s nothing wrong with coffee. The game’s protagonist is Lunais, a young woman who lives in …
Read More »Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Based on Norse mythology, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is psychological horror disguised as dark fantasy: its suffocating atmosphere is the consequence of tackling such themes as depression and grief while diving into the mind of a character whose mental illnesses infuse each event with hopelessness and despair. Hellblade feels quite claustrophobic because it doesn’t observe these issues from a safe distance, but …
Read More »Sonic Frontiers
The other day, I went to the movies in a shopping mall near here to watch Amazon’s War of the Worlds (I tend to make bad decisions in life), but I never managed to get inside. For as soon as I saw some rails protecting the sides of the ramp leading to the parking lot, I did what anyone in …
Read More »Man of Medan
The Dark Pictures Anthology starts with Man of Medan, a game with some good ideas up its sleeve that are ultimately wasted on a very problematic story, which fails to develop interesting characters and build an intense horror atmosphere – especially during repeated playthroughs. The story follows Alex, a young man who has prepared a diving expedition with his …
Read More »ANNO: Mutationem
We gotta love strange, wacky games. ANNO: Mutationem doesn’t seem like that at first, with its overly serious plot and protagonist pointing to a by-the-numbers cyberpunk adventure. But nothing could be further from the truth. ANNO: Mutationem is bonkers, ANNO: Mutationem is bizarre; it’s just shy about it. We play as Ann Flores, who suffers from Entanglelitis, a strange disease …
Read More »Masquerada: Songs and Shadows
Sometimes, a great story is enough. Masquerada: Songs and Shadows, for example, stays on the shoulders of its fascinating protagonist and central conflict, as its simple, straightforward combat system would never carry a game on its own. We play as Cicero Gavar, a man who is summoned back from exile to assist in an investigation into the whereabouts of an …
Read More »Astral Chain
Astral Chain is a curious action game that’s constantly mixing genres to try and offer something new to the player alongside its complex combat system. However, it ends up cluttered, suffering from too many underdeveloped ideas, and a story so shallow that it makes the original Bayonetta’s feel like Primer in comparison. In Astral Chain, we control a cop in …
Read More »Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Developed by Starbreeze Studios, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a poignant adventure that combines dramatic and fantastical elements to tell a captivating story. With a simple control scheme that’s brilliant in the way it reflects the relationship between the main characters, A Tale of Two Sons fails only at one precise moment: the twist that leads to the …
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