Well, I’ve been terrible at keeping up with writing reports here on what I’ve played. Guess writing reviews elsewhere kind of took the energy out of me for also writing reviews here. but anyway, here’s a very quick summary of what I’ve beaten since last time:
A fun point & click adventure game that was pretty easy. The game is clearly set just outside my own home city, even if it never explicitly says so, so it was fun to see all the little references to places and things I'm familiar with.
The game has quite a dark side to it, so don't let the cute exterior fool you. Overall though, this is a good game that fans of P&C adventures are likely to enjoy.
Well this was not what I expected. I was expecting more of a GTA-like game, but with a smaller setting, but it's more like an RPG. Lots of stuff to do and the story was entertaining, though some of the side-quests were a bit dull. Still really enjoyed my time with this one.
Another point & click adventure. This one feels like it was inspired by the old stop motion movies of old. Some of the pixel hunting could be a little bit annoying, but the game was overall not too hard and it had a nice atmosphere. I really enjoyed this one!
Cute metrodidvania with pinball controls. The concept could have been fleshed out a little bit more, but it was fun, and even though I'm personally not particularly good at pinball (even if I enjoy it) I had no real problems beating this game. I really enjoyed the upbeat atmosphere and soundtrack.
A simple strategy game with a good amount of replay value. A complete game of 50 years does not take very long so you can easily do multiple playthroughs in an evening. It is a bit on the simple side though, so it does not have a whole lot of replay value. Worth picking up on a sale.
A really good action-RPG roguelite about a family tasked with keeping evil at bay. Good storytelling, nice atmosphere and enjoyable gameplay. This is one of the best games of its type that I've played to date.
The Resident Evil series really went off the rails with this one. Parts of the game was enjoyable, parts of it was frustrating and annoying. Shooting zombies was still fun, and the game had good, but not outstanding gunplay. The chase sequences, of which there were many, were pants though. The game had 4 campaigns, and all but the last felt like it was made for co-op, with the last campaign putting the second player in control of a faceless nobody who was not even allowed to interact with stuff and was just teleported around when player 1 did stuff. Overall a pretty mediocre game that would probably have been better if they had focused on making one solid 10h campaign rather than 4 so-so 7h campaigns.
A good co-op puzzle platformer with solid mechanics, great graphics and a charming story. The mechanics were a lot less abusable than the ones in past Trine games, and fewer puzzles could be completely cheesed. I think Trine 2 might still be the better game overall, but Trine 4 is very solid, and you get to bounce on a happy seal, which is always a plus.
Ballads of Reemus: When the Bed Bites 
1.8 hours, no achievements
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A short & easy P&C adventure game about a bard/exterminator who just keeps making things worse. The game was cute and at times funny, and the short length meant that it did not overstay its welcome. Worth playing if you have it, but not worth going out of your way to get.
Well, it's Borderlands 2 but worse. Like Borderlands 2? Then you'll probably enjoy this one. The mechanic of having to manage oxygen levels is mildly tedious and the low gravity environments that the game takes place in can make for some fun movement, but overall there's little new here. At least it was shorter than Borderlands 2.
I’ve also been doing some more semi-professional reviews, so if you want to take a look at those, here’s what I’ve been playing for that since my last post:
Dragonborne - A new Game boy game (you know, the big grey brick that was all the rage 30 years ago!) that got released on steam earlier this year. You can run the game on a real Gameboy, so it’s the real deal!
Fantasy General II: Onslaught A recently released DLC for Fantasy General II, this one lets you control the lizardmen, which had some unique mechanics of their own, giving them a unique playstyle.
Airstrife A new SHMUP with nice pixel art, though sadly a few flaws keeping it from being outstanding
Imperator Rome: Heirs of Alexander The most recent DLC for Imperator: Rome that was launched alongside a patch that finally made the game what it should have been at launch.
Battle of Polytopia: Minimalist 4X game that can be played in <1h. Graphics was cute and it was easy to get into
Battle of Polytopia: Cymanti tribe A new faction for Polytopia! Adds a bit of complexity to the game, though not too much.
Dakka Squadron: A flight action game about Space Orks! Not awful, but also not great.
Cardaclysm: A semi-roguelite deckbuilding game with good production value but a bit too much grind.
Armored Brigade Nation Pack: Czechoslovakia – Netherlands: A new expansion for the really solid tactics game Armored Brigade adding new nations. Czech it out! (Sorry)
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante: Narrative chose your own adventure style game with solid writing and a compelling story
Neurodeck A deckbuilding game about fighting your inner daemons. Not on par with Slay the Spire, but I still thought it was fun. More forgiving than these games tend to be.
Shields of Loyalty Kind of Fantasy General 1.5. Still in early access, with a long way to go before it’s ready for prime-time, but it has a good foundation.
Warhammer 40.000: Battlesector Just a preview of two levels from this game. Full game is not out yet. This looks like it might become one of the best 40k games to date!
Tactical Troops: A really solid turnbased tactics game with gridless movement and teleporters. Was greatly delayed, but as someone who got to play the first intended release version, I can say that the delays were justified.
We are the Caretakers A pre-early access preview of a game about saving space rhinos!
Unity of Command II: Barbarossa The latest DLC for Unity of Command II is just as good as the last one! Unity of Command 1 was incidentally one of the favourite games of the lead designer for Bioshock.
A Token War: A simple strategy game that feels like it has one foot in puzzle territory. Pretty solid
Voodoo kid An old point & click adventure game that just got a re-release. Kind of Monkey Island for children.
Field of Glory II: Medieval - Reconquista: Maybe more history lesson than review :P
Causa, Voices of the Dusk: A new TCG that plays it very safe. Is in dire need of a larger playerbase to really get anywhere.
I also really got into writing pen & paper RPGs since last time! Got offered a few RPGs in exchange for writing reviews (though the Mutant: Year Zero review is one I wrote just for practice)
Mutant: Year Zero My personal favourite pen & paper RPG of the last decade
Symbaroum A great dark fantasy RPG that’s currently in a bundle on Humble!
Symbaroum: Advanced Player’s Guide: The player’s guide for Symbaroum. A solid expansion
Symbaroum: Monster Codex Who does not like a good monster book?
Symbaroum: Game Master’s Guide: The Game Master’s Guide for Symbaroum, not a necessity (unlike some other RPGs) but contains some good stuff.
Alien RPG: Starter Set They made an RPG based on the Alien movies, and it’s surprisingly great!
Alien RPG: Chariot of the Gods: The adventure that comes with the starter set. I gave it a separate review because it deserved it
Tales from the Loop: Starter Set And finally a review of the starter set for Tales from the Loop (which by the way recently got a TV series based on it).
Now this is interesting and makes me lament how much my roleplaying hobby died out in recent years. Did you actually get physical books for reviews?
RPGs are on the upswing again! The success of D&D 5th edition has really revitalized the hobby, and we’re now seeing how a lot of players who got into it thanks to D&D 5e are now starting to branch out to other games.
And yep, I got a bunch of physical books sent to me. Got everything that’s been released for the Alien RPG for an example, and I’m currently running the adventure “Destroyer of Worlds” with my RPG group.
I can’t even blame it on Covid, though. My group simply fell apart and that whole online roleplaying was never my thing. In fact, I actually reviewed some books for Legend of the Five Rings we were running all the way back in my first report here on BLAEO. Glad to hear hobby is on the uptake.