I’ve had my BLAEO account for a while now but this is going to be my first post here. I’ll try to catch up on some of what I’ve played recently

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April

ABZU is an absolutely wonderful deep-sea exploration game which takes you on a relaxing, meditative journey (Get it? Because it’s made by the same guys as Journey..!). It’s a visual masterpiece, the wide range of colors made the sea such an interesting place to explore. Granted, the gameplay is minimal but that didn’t bother me in the slightest, it lets you soak in all the wonderfulness
Verdict: Absolutely worth checking out

The Uncertain is an interesting but ultimately flawed point-and-click adventure. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where only robots survived until you find out that’s not entirely true, it takes you into the life of a robot mechanic whose life is changed when a spaceship lands on his front porch. The story and world building are very good and the game looks great but where it fails are gameplay and puzzles. The basic walking controls are already kind of wonky but the worst part were the chases scenes, the car is a mess to drive and the camera is all over the place, making it even more frustrating. Luckily there are only a couple of those. The puzzles are pretty much worthless “find item, bring item to the right place” type stuff which seem to be there mostly to bring some actual gameplay to the game.
Verdict: Great if you’re into scifi/post-apocalyptic stories and don’t mind the lack of good gameplay

DOOM is a fast-paced FPS full of blood and gore! I loved everything about this game! The basic gist of it is: kill all the demons. And kill them I did. The story isn’t anything particularly engaging but it’s not really trying to be either. The game really hinges on its gameplay, which is absolutely stellar. It’s fast-paced and precise and every action, from shooting demons’ faces off to cutting them up with a chainsaw, feels and looks incredibly satisfying. And the soundtrack really ties it together, making me tense or hyped up depending on the situation. Oh and it’s also freaking gorgeous looking
Verdict: Best FPS I’ve played in a while

Oxenfree is a supernatural horror adventure with a heavy 80s scifi influence. You play as a teenage girl coming to an island with a few of her friends. Everything is all fun and games until shit goes and down you’re all separated by a supernatural occurrence. Your goal is to find your friends and gtfo the island. IS. LEAVE. POSSIBLE. The game is gorgeously hand drawn as well as masterfully written (the whole thing pretty much hinges on it’s dialogue)
This was my second playthrough of the game and I have to say, I might have enjoyed it even more then the first time around (which is saying something considering it was in my top games from last year). I discovered a bunch of new story threads and unlocked a different ending (somewhat better, somewhat worse). I’m really looking forward to my inevitable third playthrough
For more of my thoughts on Oxenfree, here’s a review I wrote on reddit
Verdict: Get it, it might surprise you

Little Nightmares is an atmospheric puzzle platformer (in the same vein as LIMBO and INSIDE) with a really unique quirky horror aesthetic. As with other games in the genre, the story is kind of abstract and really hard to explain coherently (at least for me) but basically, you play as a little girl trying to escape a place filled with giant humanoid monsters. The game relies heavily on it’s atmosphere and excels at it, reminding me at times of Alice: Madness Returns as well as Spirited Away, it really captures the whimsical horror it promises. The puzzles aren’t particularly hard but engaging enough not to feel tacked on. My only gripe with the game is that the camera angles, which are deliberate to give it a certain atmosphere, make the platforming really hard. The game is what I think is called 2.5D (ie. the camera is always fixed like in a 2D scroller but you can move around freely in space) but angle of the camera makes it so you don’t really see whether you’re going to land on, in front or behind an object, which made me die a lot more than I’d like to admit.
Verdict: Definitely worth checking out if you like game like LIMBO and INSIDE

Epistory is a typing RPG, which might sound lame but is actually amazing. Let’s get the typing out of the way: it’s not a game to learn how type, it’s a game that uses typing as a innovative gameplay element. Basically, you only attacks are random words appearing over your enemies’ heads. Basic enemies have one small word hanging over their heads while tougher one can have multiple long ones. An interesting thing it does is that the difficulty adapts to your typing speed, if you’re a really fast typer you could get words like Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis for example, which looks like quite the challenge! But interesting isn’t the only thing this game has going for itself! The story might seems somewhat ridiculous to begin with but it is really heartfelt and takes on a whole lot of meaning at the end. My favorite part of the game though, was the design. The whole game word is made to look like it’s built out of origami paper and seeing parts of the world literally unfold before your eyes was one of the most satisfying design choices I’ve ever seen in a game. And it’s especially fitting for a game about typing!
Verdict: Don’t write it off because of the typing, I highly recommend this one

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May (so far)

Between Me and The Night is a point-and-click adventure game about depression. It has a decent story and a great aesthetic but the gameplay makes in unnecessarily frustrating. The controls, which shouldn’t be too complicated in a 2D walking simulator, are kind of a pain. There’s a lots of walking back and forth between the same rooms. Some of the puzzles are either badly designed or just not clear enough. I just kinda forced myself through it
Verdict: The story seems genuine but the gameplay ruins the experience. I can’t really recommend it

Puzzle Agent 1 & 2 are two point-and-click puzzle games. I’m counting the first Puzzle Agent as a SteamGifts win because the incredibly generous user I won Puzzle Agent 2 from gave me a copy of the first one when they saw that I didn’t have it yet. Both games are heavily influenced by Twin Peaks and Fargo and the Telltale writers really managed to capture both atmosphere wonderfully. The stories are absolutely non-sensical (as they should be) and the writing is absolutely hilarious. The puzzles range from really easy to extremely challenging but stay interesting throughout.
Verdict: Great for puzzle enthusiasts!

Lumino City is a point-and-click adventure game set in a fully hand-crafted world (as in they actually built the set, filmed it and turned it into a game). I originally wrote this game off but chose to play it on a whim. I definitely don’t regret it. The hand crafted background give it a really unique feel and give it a kind of stop-motion aesthetic. The story itself is pretty engaging, your grandfather got kidnapped and you’re traveling through this huge vertical city to find him but the world itself is the biggest draw here. Each new location introduces interesting characters as well as intricate new puzzles, some of which will most definitely challenge your brain cells.
Verdict: Another great one for puzzle lovers, but I encourage you to check it out even if you’re not really a puzzle person

Whispering Willows is a supernatural horror adventure game in which you play as a teenage girl of Native American descent trying to find her father in an abandoned mansion. And the Native American part isn’t just tacked on for diversity, it plays an actual part in the story: your character can harness her shamanic powers and make her spirit leave her body. All in all, the story’s kind of cliché but it works. What really struck me about it at first was the design. It’s a really great looking comic book-esque art style (although, no offense to the artist but the cutscenes look terrible). There are puzzle elements as well but most of it is pretty straight forward
Verdict: I found it pretty average

Metrico+ is a (yet another) puzzle game set in a world of infographics. There’s so much I loved about this game, it nails everything it sets out to do. First of all: the aesthetic. Infographics are supposed to be clear and concise yet aesthetically pleasing. This is pretty much what Metrico+’s art style achieves, it’s minimalist yet gets the point across and holy shit does it look good. Second: the gameplay. Being about infographics, all of the puzzles rely on input vs. output. As a computer science student, this feels incredibly clever: the game uses basic variables like your character’s horizontal or vertical position on the level, the number of jumps, the number of deaths… and incorporates them into the puzzles. You’re also progressively given a certain set of powers to keep the puzzles fresh and push their difficulty. Last but not least: the puzzles. Ingenious programming aside, the puzzles are actually pretty challenging. I actually got stuck on a couple and had to come back later with a fresh view on things.
Verdict: if you’re not sick of my puzzle recs yet, do check this one out

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My SteamGifts progress:

Overall library status:

Backlog Assassination Contracts

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And that’s all for now! I’ll try to be more active from now on :)