Ghostrunner is a fast-paced cyberpunk parkour platformer. You run through intricate levels at top speed while performing parkour, platforming, combat, and puzzle solving.
This is a hard game. Keep this in mind before you buy or play it. There are assist settings you can turn on to make it easier, but those settings broke rather quickly after I turned them on. I'll elaborate on that later. Mostly just to vent :P

In Ghostrunner, you parkour through the world while attacking enemies. Most enemies die in one hit, but they also all kill you in one hit. This makes the game very challenging, as you have to master how each enemy works so you can dodge them while also not falling off the map. You have to clear all the enemies in each section to move on to the next one. If you get hit by one bullet or enemy attack, you have to start that section over. Each enemy has a unique way of attacking, and not all of them are easy to take down right away. It's very strategic, and you'll be restarting the game A LOT. Get used to the "Press R to restart" prompt. 

Let's start with the things I loved about Ghostrunner first. The cyberpunk aesthetic is incredibly fun. The world looks unique, and the worldbuilding sucks you in. The voice acting is wonderful, and you really feel like a badass playing the Ghostrunner. I couldn't wait to keep playing to learn about the world and about the ghostrunner himself. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the creativity. Each section of the game adds new abilities, enemies, and platforming levels so that the game is never stale. I can't state enough how refreshing it is to see a game constantly changing the way you play so you never know what's coming next. You are constantly learning how to fight new enemies and master new levels in the game. Plus, the visuals are just beautiful. 

Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad. The game does have some bugs. It wouldn't be so bad if most of them weren't towards the end of the game. especially the last level. The last level of the game is torturous in so so many ways. Most of my pain and anguish with Ghostrunner comes directly from the very last section of the game.

The final level is just horribly designed, extremely hard, and very broken. I fully understand that the final level should be difficult, but the difficulty jump is just unreasonable. One second I think I've got the game down, and the next I feel like a beginner who has never played a video game in her life. It just felt very rushed and lazy. This was proven even harder because of the bugs. The final level involves a lot of wall jumping. Suddenly, I just kept clipping through the walls or simply not sticking to them at all. The poor Ghostrunner would simply fall off the wall without a chance to even slide or wall jump.

Speaking of bugs, The assists I mentioned earlier would not work. You can turn on assist settings that give you an easier time while playing. There is one that makes your ghostrunner slower, so you can perform platforming better. Then there is one that lets you take one extra hit in combat before dying. I'm okay with platforming, but the combat was slowly sucking out my soul. I enabled the extra hit setting, hoping it would make my experience a little less daunting. The first time I played was on my desktop, and about an hour in, the settings stopped working. I tried several fixes, but none worked. I switched to my steam deck but had the same issue shortly after, so I decided to continue on without the assists. It's not a big deal, but I wanted to mention it for people who may buy the game because of these settings.

Overall, I really did enjoy my time playing this. Once I started, I wanted to continue to see what lay ahead. Ghostrunner is exactly what it sets out to be. If you watch the trailer and it looks like something you'd like, chances are you will like it. It does give you that accomplished feeling after you beat it. It's like a less forgiving Mirror's Edge with a cyberpunk twist. If the last level didn't exist, I would be less angry writing this review 😂

 I personally recommend Ghostrunner on sale, but the full price is justifiable too. It has its issues, but it also shines where it matters. 

Out of the Box is a "Papers, Please" inspired game where you play a bouncer who was just released from prison. You decide who to let in the club by following the rules given to you each day. Throughout the story you can choose to redeem your character and follow the law or to help your new employer by contuining your life of crime.

I think this game is a hidden gem. It's not spectacular but its a fun little game that deserves recognition. The story is interesting and It's a good length. The gameplay does get a little repetitive but the length of the game keeps it from dragging to long. I'm not sure what the other paths are but I enjoyed how my story turned out.

If I were to have a complaint, its just that they should balance the fakes a little bit better when letting people in. You have to let a certain amount of people in the club to raise the popularity, but sometimes the game throws fake after fake so that its impossible to get the amount of people you need, forcing you to let underage or drunk people in the club just to not fail out. Not a big deal, but worth noting.

If you enjoy games like Paper Please or Not Tonight and you want a similiar game, this is the one for you. it's a lot of fun. It's a little expensive so I recommend it on sale.