The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy has three full-length games in it, including the bonus episode in the first game. I'll write a review of each one down below. The games are visual novels where you play a lawyer who has to successfully solve cases. It's a linear game so failing to solve a case will just give you a game over screen and start you on your last save. The gameplay usually consists of two phases. Investigating: where you go around and talk to people and collect evidence. Then the trial, where you have to correctly present the evidence at the right time while calling out witness testimonies. The two phases usually go back and forth. 

Overall, it was a lot of fun. I know the games have a huge following so I don't think I fell in love with them as much as other people did. I'm still very glad I played them. I thought the characters were very likeable and charming. The cases were hit or miss. Most of them were so creative and had some unexpected twists. I was very bad at the game so I did have to cheat through some of it. At least I learned something about myself. I should not be a detective or a lawyer. 

I definitely gravitated towards the friendship between Maya and Pheonix. As well as Detective Gumshoe. He's a great character. He deserves a spin off game.  I also love the frenemy relationship between Phoenix and Miles Edgeworth.

I felt indifferent to Pheonix as a protagonist. He never did anything that wowed me, or that made me love or hate his character. I do like how he interacted with his friends. His reactions and inner monologue add to some very funny dialogue too. The game has a lot of comedic moments. When I started the game, I thought it would be more serious with a more accurate portrayal of the court system.  Once I got used to the goofy tone of the game, I really enjoyed the comedic side of it as well as the occasional dramatic moments.

 One personal pet peeve I had with the games is that the culprit is almost always the witness, or given away to us right at the beginning. I want to try and guess who the killer is.. Oh, also the fact that the main characters keep getting framed for the murder on multiple occasions. Maya, Miles, and Maggie were framed like two or three times. 

I'll write a little review of each game and case below. I'll be vague but be aware of the spoiler tag!

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

This is the first game in the series. You are introduced to most of the recurring characters. You meet Phoenix, Mia, her sister Maya, Gumshoe, and Miles Edgeworth. This is a fantastic introduction to the world of Ace Attorney. We learn about the characters and we are given the tone for the series. It has some solid backstory and character development. The comedy hits the mark and the cases are well written. . 

 The First Turnabout The first case is the shortest. It serves its purpose of setting up the gameplay and characters. It introduced my least favorite recurring character. (Sorry, Larry, you're just too annoying 😭). The trial is pretty straightforward. It's a great tutorial. It's short, to the point, and has a couple "gotcha!" moments for the player. It also demonstrates Pheonix Wright's lack of experience but strong dedication to his friends.

 Turnabout Sisters The second case is more involved. We also meet Maya, who becomes a very important character throughout the series. I was actually shocked when Mia died. It was a huge bummer because I was looking forward to exploring her character. Luckily, they bring her back in other ways. The case itself wasn't very memorable. Or at least I don't remember it. It does establish Pheonix and Maya has a dynamic duo. I would then get Mia and Maya's names mixed up for most of the game. 

Turnabout Samurai: The third case is bigger and better. Lots of comedy in this one. Some world building and plenty of fun side characters. The case itself was kind of confusing. It had my brain working overtime to remember what was happening towards the end. I didnt see that ending coming. Overall, fun case, and the writing was tight.  I like that it gets referenced a lot in the rest of the trilogy. 

Turnabout Goodbyes: This is the final case (if you exclude the bonus episode). This is a fantastic case. The story is gripping. It adds so many more layers to Miles Edgeworth. He only gets better and better. You get some flashbacks of Pheonix and Miles past and it has many twists and turns. It brought some good backstory, character development, and the comedy is spot on, even if its a more serious case. It also introduces undefeated attorney, Manfred von Karma. A ruthless prosecutor who feels like a rael threat.

Rise from the Ashes: This is a bonus episode. I did not like this one. It was added later for the Nintendo DS. I like some things about it. Maggie is a good character. The side characters they introduce are unusual, in a good way. They set the episode apart from the rest.  The story would have been pretty good if condensed more. What ruined the episode for me was that it was soooo long. The final case of the third Ace Attorney was two hours longer than this one, and it felt five hours shorter. The pacing on this drags on, killing any momentum I had for this case and the next game. The DS mechanics didn't age well, especially on PC and the episode was also added in much later, so it messes with the narrative a little bit. 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All

This is the second game in the trilogy. It's my least favorite game, but I still enjoyed it. It introduces a really cool new gameplay mechanic, a fierce new prosecutor, and one of the best cases in the whole trilogy. 

The Lost Turnabout: This is another introduction case. Even though it serves as a tutorial, I like how they came up with an idea to make Pheonix feel like a newbie attorney again without making him dumb. There is a returning character, a couple of twists. Nothing crazy. It's simple and not the best written case, but I enjoyed it. Overall, solid tutorial. 

Reunion, and Turnabout Such a good case! This case gave us so much backstory on Maya and her culture and powers. We are also introduced to the magatama, which adds a whole new layer to the gameplay. Pearly is introduced and although the villain was obvious, the motive was not so predictable. I also really like Lotta. It was nice to see her back again. Overall, a very solid case. I like that Mayas spirit world mixes with the somewhat realistic world of judges and courtrooms. It led to some hilarious dialogue and reactions. It also raises some good questions about Maya's abilities and the result of using them. 

Turnabout Big Top: oof this case. At first I was really excited about this case. The circus setting is so interesting to me, and I loved the wacky list of characters it introduces. I used to be obsessed with magicians like Criss Angel as a kid, so Max Galactica was an emberassing and hilarious reminder of that. I liked the clown, I was intrigued by the ventriloquist, and theres a teenager who tames wild animals. How cool is that?
Then it started getting weird. Firstly, the logic in the case started to unravel pretty quickly towards the end. I won't go into details, but there is a lot of luck that went into this murder plan. The murderer ends up being a character that isn't even introduced until the very end of the case.  Oh, and also, two grown men fall in love with a sixteen year old girl. There is a love triangle between Max - who is 21, and the ventriloquist - who is a 31 year old man. Apparently it's fine because his puppet loves her.. and not him… They have a huge fight over her and Max even talks about marrying her the whole case. There are even moments where Pheonix and the judge develop a crush on her. She's 16! And she's sheltered and niave, which makes their obsession with her even worse. There are things I enjoyed about this case but I wouldn't go back and play it;

Farewell, My Turnabout: These final cases are just too damn good. This is one of the best cases in the whole trilogy. This case has danger, mystery, twists, and fascinating characters. The stakes feel higher than they ever have. Plus, on a side note, detective Gumshoe gets some nice moments. I love his character and he deserves more appreciation. So many characters worked together in this case. It truly felt like a finale. I even finally grew to like Franziska. Also Miles Edgeworth gets better and better. Some twists could have been handled better and I was hoping for some more character development from Pheonix himself. But these are small gripes in an overall fantastic case. It's also the only case in the trilogy to have multiple endings.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations

This is my favorite game of the trilogy. It learns from the best parts of the other two games. It contains a tightly structured narrative that contains humor, high stakes, and gives our favorite characters a wonderful send off. The cases build on each other. Each one brings something important to the story. 

Turnabout Memories: I was wondering how they were going to do a tutorial case again without making the characters forget how to do their job. I was pleasedly surprised to find out this case is a flashback. We now see a rookie defense attorney, Mia Fey, take on her second case. She is nervous and inexperienced, and she has Phoenix Wright as a client. This is a wonderful introduction, as usual. The case does several things right. It shows us how two main characters met. It introduces some important characters. It sets up a narrative that will be relevant throughout the game. Plus, it explains some questions we had in the previous games. My only complaint is, why did they make Pheonix such an idiot. It wasn't set that long ago, but Phoenix is unsufferable. I'm glad he did some growing up lol

The Stolen Turnabout: This case was pretty good, but I honestly don't remember much about it. I remember liking some of the twists and the misdirections. There were a couple of good side characters, and one character I wish we saw more of. I was surprised to find out it was not a murder case we were working on. But then it quickly became a murder case. Overall, solid case, but too much Larry.  

Recipe for Turnabout:  Probably my least favorite case in this game, but unlike in the second game, I actually enjoyed every case in this game. Even if this was a weaker story than the rest, it's still a funny case and a nice reprieve from the more serious cases around it. Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where they show you who the killer is right away, even if he doesn't show up until later.. It makes up for it by having the killer be so obvious on purpose because hes such a weirdo. Furio Tigre is actually such a fun villain. This case goes full strange. I love it. The beginning hook gets you and its a wild ride throughout. Unfortunately, the case does drag a little bit. There are definitely some unnecessary parts. Some annoying characters too. The chef is the worst. And while it does introduce some interesting characters, it also leads to some unfortunate wasted potential. An example is the character Viola. Viola is so fascinating and I love her story. She's barely on screen. I would love to see her return. This case does not take itself seriously. I think it was meant to be a palet cleanser for whats to come.  

Turnabout Beginnings: This is another flashback case. This one features a younger Mia and Edgeworth. This one is great. It exists to set up the next episode, but its a great set up. Lots of suspense in this one.. Armando is a captivating character in his short screen time. You already know how it ends based on the knowledge given to you previously, but you still wonder what will happen. Knowing how it will end but not the details makes it even more nerve wracking. I really enjoyed it. 

Bridge to the Turnabout: This is it! My favorite case. This case does so many things right. They built up this case throughout the whole game and all the pieces of the puzzle fall in perfectly. The stakes actually feel high again, with Maya in danger and Phoenix unable to save her. It was a genius idea to switch perspectives and have us play as Miles Edgeworth. The villain felt like a real threat. There were plenty of twists. One was really obvious but the game treated it like it was a much bigger surprise than it was. All the characters played a role. There were plenty of emotional moments. Especially with Maya. This felt like a great send off to the series. I know they made more games after this, but if I stop here then I'll feel content.

In conclusion, Ace Attorney w as a wild ride and I enjoyed it a lot. I like games with a more serious tone so it wasn't my favorite visual novel, but Im glad I played it! Feel free to tell me if your opinions matched mine or are totally different. 

Animal Farm is a text based choice game. It is based off the Animal Farm book, but it does take its own paths away from the source material. I never quite understood how my choices were effecting things or how to get the other endings. I chose to call it quits after two endings. It isn't clear what the end goal is. I know the book doesn't end happy, but the game has an unclear objective so you make a lot of choices at random. The gameplay is also too repetitive, so replaying wasn't fun.

It's not a bad game though. It's simple to play, the dialogue is good. It's represents the book and it's meaning in a clever way. I'd recommend this game only if you are a big fan of the book.

Steam Deck Compatibility: Animal Farm is "verified" on Steam Deck and it worked perfectly fine. Same with Ace Attorney since I forgot to mention it.

Not for Broadcast is an FMV Choice game. You work at a news station and you get to decide what gets broadcast and what doesn't.

Wow! What a hidden gem. I started this game thinking it'd be a little comedic management game where I have to hit the right buttons and turn the right knobs. While it is a comedy drama (dramedy?) it's also much more complex than that. 

There are a lot of moving parts in this game. It apparently won a Guiness World Record award for having over 42 hours of FMV footage. It definitely deserves it. There is so much FMV happening in this game, I can't imagine how much work it was to put it all together. 

Not for Broadcast has a lot of British humor. If that's your thing, I undoubtedly recommend it. It also contains deeply impactful moments. As the player, you are given choices throughout the game. The choices really do matter. The game is a political FMV set in a fictional world. It takes a lot of inspiration from real life situations and events. The political tension is high in the game and there are a lot of opinions from the audience. The game has you choose what you want to air and what you don't. You control the station. You decide what the audience sees. It's a brilliant mechanic that changes the story in multiple different ways. The closest comparison I can think of is the game "Papers Please." In both games, you have an important job to do, but you have to make those hard hitting choices knowing there are more important things on the line.

The characters are wonderful. Some you love and some you hate.  A lot of them are overdramatized and hammed up for comedic reasons, but a fair share of them carry the plot a lot. One character is "the goat" as the kids would say. 

There is a lot of bonus content. Extra footage and challenges can be found on the menu screen. You can even see more FMV footage that wasn't caught in the broadcast. 

Overall, a hidden gem for sure. The choices really do matter and will put you down the path of one of the fourteen different endings the game provides. I did only play the game once. I got the best ending and didn't want to go back in for a second time (yet). Unfortunately, the Not for Broadcast is fairly long for a game that has that many multiple endings. 

Some segments drag on a lot and aren't fun to replay. Maybe one day they will add a skip feature or a way to speed up on multiple playthroughs.

Steam Deck Compatibility: This game is "playable" on the Steam deck. Overall, it worked great. I got stuck on the menu a couple of times, but it worked fine afterwards. The game doesn't require fast movement speeds so the deck was preferred over PC for me on this game. 

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a sequel to Marvel’s Spider-Man (2018). It's been like 5 years since I've played the first game so I don't remember that much. The biggest complaint I kept reading was that this game was way too similar to the first game. I guess it's not terrible that I waited so long to play since it didn't feel repetitive to me. 

Overall, I only have a few small complaints about the game. There were some strengths and weaknesses, but I think it was worth the sales price I paid for it! 

Miles Morales is still a likeable character. The voice actor (and writing) did a great job conveying him as a nerdy young kid who has a lot of new responsibility on his shoulders. He also has some brand new abilities that set him apart from Peter. You get more of them as you continue the game. If I remember correctly, the combat is more advanced in this game, and it allows you to tackle battles with more variety. 

If I had to point out the weak parts of the game, it's probably the villains and the story. I didn't care about any of the villains, especially the tinkerer. They focus on certain characters a lot in the game and the story beats didn't hit me emotionally or get me excited about what was going to happen next. On the other hand, there were some characters introduced that I really liked and felt added to Miles character. One character definitely felt like a much needed addition to the games. 

I am going to be very petty here, but I hate how they changed Peter's face. They made him look younger and cleaner-looking, but I thought the old face fit him a lot better. The original face looked like a 20 something year old guy who has been through much more than the new face has. Also there are a few annoying bugs in the game. I had to go back to the checkpoint a couple times to continue a few missions. 

Back to the positives, I love that this is a modernized version of Spider-Man. I can't recall if the first game did this, but there is an app you can use to do side missions and see crime in the area. You can also read up on a social media feed that talks about you or things happening around the city. Also the incorporation of podcasts to listen to while you swing. The modern twist sucked me more into the games world. 

It is a short game. I did a lot of looking around and had some idle time. The completion time is around 7-18 hours, depending on how much side content you do.  I didn't mind the length. It didn't feel like it overstayed its welcome. 

I really  had a lot of fun with it. It provides plenty of challenge, but it always feels balanced. It gives you the freedom to do what you want. I really enjoyed just swinging around the city. I think I liked the first game more, mostly because of the story, but both are definitely worth your time. I'd recommend buying this one on sale just because of how short it is. I really, really hope Spiderman 2 comes on PC soon because I'm dying to play it. 

Steam Deck Compatilibity:  This game is verified on the Steam Deck. I used a steam dock and controller to hook it to the tv, so i didn't play it directly on the deck. I did have an unrelated issue of the deck not wanting to read my controller, but after playing it plugged in, the game itself worked great. There were no issues with the deck itself while playing. 

Mail Time is a cute little exploration game. You are a newly trained mail scout on a mission to deliver your first piece of mail. The gameplay involves you going around the forest, picking up missions from different animals. The missions are to talk to the other animals and deliver messages for them. They all have little stories and personalities. You get to know them more as you do their missions. The main story mission is to deliver a piece of mail to someone named Greg so you can become an official mail scout. In order to do that, you have to help the animals around the forest until you can get information on where to find Greg. 

I feel kind of bad writing this review. I think it's a really cute game with plenty of love put into it. Personally, I did not like it. 

I was really excited to buy this game because I love cute exploration games like "a short hike," which I just recently replayed. Something clicked in that game that didn't in this one. .

To start, I'm terrible at directions. There are 15 different characters in the game and you have to go back and forth multiple times between most of them. I had the worst time finding them. Most of the game was me running around until I bumped into someone I recognized. I really wish they incorporated an optional minimap into the game. The forest isn't that big so I know this is mostly a me problem, but keep this detail in mind if you are directionally blind like me. 

I also thought the game was a little boring. It is just running between characters and getting tiny tidbits of information that you deliver to the next character. If the characters had a bigger emotional impact or grander stories, then it would feel more rewarding to deliver their messages. I didn't get a sense of satisfaction when I completed a character's questline. The world didn't change enough for it to feel like it mattered. 

The game is also a little buggy and the movements felt odd. The platforming felt a little slidey, and jumping and gliding onto things was hard sometimes. 

Lastly, I really thought the ending was disappointing. I won't spoil it, but it was rushed and the message at the end didn't make sense in the context of the story. I know the story isn't that important and it's just a cute mushroom game, but the ending felt like a slap in the face, if I'm allowed to be a little dramatic. 

There were definitely some good things about the game!  I do like that you can customize your character. The scout is such a cute character and the forest setting you play in is lovely to look at. The vibrant cartoon styled art speaks to me. The characters you run into are also quirky and fun. They each have a fun little personality. The dialogue is simple but well written. The game almost feels nostalgic and you can't help to smile at some parts. 

Overall, I didn't like it, but Its inoffensive and very adorable. I just wouldn't recommend it. Maybe if they add a map, I will complete it fully :P 

Steam Deck Compatibility: It is "playable" on the steam deck but not verified. It worked fine. A little buggy but that is probably the game itself. The character creation was a little buggy due to the deck controls but after that, it worked perfectly fine. 

Bokura is a two-player side-scrolling puzzle game. You can't play it by yourself or with a stranger. You have to put in a code from a friend to be able to play  It's both local and online co-op. We played the online co-op which worked great. No disconnections, lagging, or any other issue. 

I went into this game completely blind so I want this review to be the same. I didn't even read the store page, which would have given away some things that really surprised me in the game. I actually got my boyfriend to play with me, even though he is very picky about games. He only plays competitive multiplayer games, but he played through the entirety of this game and had a lot of fun. So good job Bokura! 

You and a friend play as two boys who run away from home. On the way, weird things happen, and the world gets very strange. You have to work together to solve puzzles and continue on your journey. 

The gameplay consists of doing puzzles together. The puzzles are fairly easy, but do provide some challenges throughout. A lot of puzzles later in the game require communication and teamwork. You can do certain things that your friend can not. Vice versa. Without teamwork and communication, you can't solve the puzzles. 

The story has dark moments and there are a couple choices that dictate the ending. I didn't really understand the ending, but I think you are supposed to play through the game multiple times to get the full story. I'm not sure about that, so if someone has played, feel free to verify if that's true. 

I love pixel art and I think the art looks great. The characters have depth and different personalities. Overall, I think Bokura is a hidden gem. The less you know about the game, the better. I just wish my ending was better or that I understood it better. We might have to play another run together to get the full story. 

I definetely recommend Bokura! It's worth the price.  It's a short game. The average length is 5 hours. 

Steam Deck Compatibility: Bokura is "playable" not verified on the steam deck. It works great. There is a small issue when putting in the room code. It will say it can't connect to the server, but then it will connect anyway. If it doesn't connect you can put in another code. It's a small annoyance, but otherwise it works wonderfully. 

Twin Mirror is a Don't Nod game (Life is Strange, Tell Me Why)  that takes place in another small town called Basswood. You play an anti-social ex journalist named Sam Higgs. Sam is called back to his old town after the death of his close friend and he soon starts to suspect that everything in Basswood is not what it seems. 

Twin Mirror was…. average. I loved the concept, but not the execution. The protagonist is a journalist who is a bit of a misanthrope. He's highly intelligent, but he doesn't get along with others. The catch is, he has another version. of himself, his double, who has a lot of empathy. Throughout the game, you can choose to listen to your double, or make your own choices. 
 
Like I said, really fascinating concept, but the game itself is very bland. The story isn't very exciting. It never really builds into something bigger. There were no hard hitting or emotional moments. The characters are also kind of boring and your other persona isn't very likable..  I thought there would be more emotional moments involving the other Sam, or even moments that allow you to grow attached to him. There isn't. I didn't like either version of Sam really. 

Most of the gameplay is you "investigating" crime scenes. You do not have free rein to investigate as you want. It involves walking around until you find every object you can interact with. After interacting with all of the found evidence, you have to piece together the crime scene. It gives you multiple choices scenarios and you just keep clicking on them until it tells you that you got the correct one. It's impossible to get it wrong because the game forces you to keep trying until its correct. I got stuck at times trying to find a piece of evidence I didn't interact with, or trying to understand the vagueness of the scene (talking about the camp scene. If you know you know)

As far as choices go, most don't matter. Towards the end they matter more. There is (minor spoiler) one choice in the game that decides almost the entire ending… and they make it very vague. The character is supposed to know what the choice means, but the player (me) has so many questions. They didn't explain it well at all. I ended up watching the opposite ending on youtube to get the full story. I suggest playing the ending again or watching the other ending because seeing both improves the game. 

Overall, Twin Mirror isn't terrible. Just disappointing. I'm a big fan of these cinematic choice games. This one will unfortunately just get lost in the mix of avarage choice based walking simulators. There were some things the game did a great job at. The small town feel was spot on. It felt like a proper detective story (even if he's not a detective.) You being able to choose how the story ends is nice. Plus the voice acting was very believable. I think the worst part was the gameplay. Not just because it's a story heavy game. I washed dishes and did chores in Detroit: Become Human and didn't have a problem. Twin Mirror just lacks that spark of originality that compensates for the lack of good gameplay.

Overall, I would recommend this one on a steep sale, or maybe just skip it. If you already have it then give it a shot. It's a very short game. As long as these games keep coming out, i'll keep playing them.  

Steam Deck Compatibility: This game is verified on the Steam Deck and it worked great. I had no issues.

Dave the Diver is a casual sea exploration game where you catch fish, fight enemies, and work at a sushi restaurant. There is a main story with plenty of missions and content to keep you coming back for more. This is a very well made game and a lot of creativity and love went into it. The graphics look great and there are a lot of quirky moments in the animation style and story.

The game constantly adds new gameplay mechanics throughout the whole game. I was getting new tutorials until the very end. There are plenty of side activities you can do. The main story isn't as important or appealing as the side activities most of the time but none of the side content is required, although they usually add more game mechanics and enhance the game.

All that being said, I think this is a very good game with a lot of effort and care put into it, but ultimately, it wasn't for me.
I found it very repetitive and some of the gameplay mechanics were tedious. Especially a few minigames. There are a couple moments that drove me up the wall, but overall, it is a mellow, stress free game.

It was a weird feeling because the amount of content in the game made me feel more rushed and conflicted than intended and somehow I found myself both bored of the repetitive days, and stressed trying to complete everything in the game. Overall, I did the main missions and a lot of the cooking missions, but I didn't go super deep into the game. There are still plenty of things to explore and do.

Overall, very well made game that I do recommend, but I'd do some research to make sure its for you. By the end, I was more relieved than sad that it was over. I may go back for the Godzilla DLC though!

Lost Words: Beyond the Page is a sidescrolling Puzzle Platformer. The game is set between the pages of a diary and a fantasy story as you explore the personal life and the storybook of a young girl named Izzy.

I got this game as an extra bonus in a bundle, so i went into it completely blind. This was both a lovely and emotional experience. It balances the scale of sweet and sorrowful so well. The main subject matter hit me deeply as I went through something similar to the main character. The watercolor art style is absolutely beautiful and the music and voice acting are very well done.

If you like storybook type games, I recommend this one for all ages.

Ori and the Will of the Wisp is a sequel to The Blind Forest. I played the first game years ago. I don't remember much but it definitely hit me emotionally and became an instant favorite of mine. This sequel also hits all the emotional beats. 

The soundtrack is beautiful. It borrows a lot of the iconic songs from its predecessor while adding some new ones. The sequel keeps the same art style but updates the graphics. It looks beautiful and vivid. The world feels very lively and you can tell every area was well thought out! 

In Will of the Wisp, you get more abilities and new game mechanics. Combat is even more important than before. 

The platforming is still great. It's so smooth and satisfying. Nothing feels better than having a game respond to your movements correctly every single time. 

The story itself is probably the most controversial part of the game. No spoilers! There are a lot more story beats in this game and it leaves you with a lot to think about. I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it. I do give props to the developers for taking risks and trying a new direction with the narrative. I still enjoy the first game's story more, but this one has more messages to unpack and reflect on. 

I think there were a couple missed opportunities in this game. One being  Ku not being a playable character or a partner. Ori and Ku only work together for about five minutes of the game. Combining Ori's abilities with Ku's would have added so much to the game, and also added more of a narrative to Ku's character.

Overall, both games are fantastic. The Blind Forest instantly transports you to this new world with this lovable protagonist. It nails the atmosphere and has you cheering Ori on the whole time. Will of the Wisp has a slightly darker tone while still taking you on this epic journey with even better combat and abilities. Both games are fantastic and worth playing! Steam Deck Compatilibity:This game is verified and works beautifully on the steam deck!

Cassette Beats is a monster collecting game where you wash up on a mysterious island with a town full of people who can't escape. You must try to find your way home while making friends, solving mysteries, and fighting the threats that plague the town. 

This game is sooo good. It's obviously inspired by Pokemon, but it adds so much more to the formula that it (imo) surpasses any modern Pokemon game. The battling system is more unique; there is a lot more free will to do what you want in this world, and instead of collecting monsters, you use cassettes to copy their DNA and turn into the monster yourself! You also gain human partners that you can build relationships with. They  join you throughout the game. Each partner adds new dialogue and unique perspectives. There is a neat fuse mechanic that lets you fuse you and your partners monster to make one unique, stronger monster during battle. 

There are a ton of unique side missions you can do that add a lot to the story. The tone of this game is a bit creepier, especially with some enemies you encounter, but it still manages to keep that usual optimistic and charming tone.

The thing I'm most impressed by is how much detail and love they put into this game. At first, I didn't expect much, but the more I played, the more details popped up. The soundtrack is great and the monsters were really thought out. They all look great and have unique descriptions and lore for each one. Most have an evolution and you can collect data on each one.

The details on the monsters, the enemies, the partners, the new abilities, and their strengths/weaknesses are all taken into consideration with much care. 

Overall, I highly recommend this game! Maybe I hyped it up to much, but it was an honest surprise. There is a lot packed into this game. I could have played for hours and hours more, but I had to move onto other games. 

Side note: Just keep in mind that the moving speed is very slow at the beginning and it drove me crazy. You will get a couple of abilities that make your movement speed very fast, so stay strong until then. 

Steam Deck Compatibility: This game is verified and ran great on the steam deck. I recommend this one on the deck if you have one. 

Celeste is a puzzle platformer where you play as a girl named Madeline who is trying to get to the top of the Celeste mountain. The platforming is difficult but it slowly introduces you to new abilities and areas that make the learning curve very satisfying. I love the pixel art and the relaxing soundtrack. There is also a deeper message in the story about facing your inner demons. 

The game has a lot of extra content, like collectibles and extra levels. I admittedly did not go for many of the strawberries or tapes. I do plan on going back soon to play the extra levels. Overall, the game was fun! It is difficult but not unfair. There were a couple chapters I struggled with, but overall, i really enjoyed this game! I definitely recommend Celeste. 

Steam Deck Compatibility: Celeste is Steam Deck verified, and it worked perfectly! I had zero issues while playing. 

Higurashi When They Cry Hou: Rei features three bonus stories. One story takes place after the main game and the other two are set in unknown timelines. Playing this game is not necessary to understand the full story of Higurashi. It's just extra bonus content. Out of the three stories, only one is worth reading, in my opinion. 

Saikoroshi-hen: The first story is by far the best and longest one. Rika is hit by a car while riding her bicycle with her friends. When she wakes up, she is suddenly in the schoolyard and her friends are acting differently towards her. Many other strange events happen and Rika is once again solving a mystery. This story isn't perfect but it fits in with the Higurashi universe. It lets Rika shine as the main character and it has that balance of comedy with a large dose of drama and dread.

Hirukowashi: The second story is a slice-of-life comedy. While treasure hunting, Rena finds a strange object. It turns out to be a magical artifact that makes her fall in love with whoever is holding the other artifact. There is no real drama or high stakes in this story. It's purely a comedy. It could have been a fun premise but there are too many questionable things here that make it boring and uncomfortable. For example: The super long mahjong game that took up half the story. or the fact that Rena falls in love with grown adults and they never discourage it. Overall, this is the second best story of the three but I still would not recommend it. The third one is just horrendously bad. 

Batsukoishi: Here we have it. The worst story of the bunch. I don't even know if you can call this a story and not just some creeps fantasy.

After Keiichi keeps losing at the club games, he goes home and fantasizes about what would happen if he won the games. What punishments he would give each club member. This whole story is about underage kids dressing in perverted ways while a lot of sexual jokes are made about them. I understand that Keiichi is a teenager, but there is nothing more to this story than the reader reading a risky story about underage kids. This is the shortest story on the list, but it even being part of this series (along with other similar parts in the stories) reduces this incredibly compelling mystery VN series by so much. 

Overall, I do not recommend this game. It doesn't add to the main story. Only one of these short stories was worth it, and its not going to be a big deal if you don't read it. The bad heavily outweighs the good here and I hope the next game (which I'm guessing are also bonus stories?) is much better. 

Steam Deck Compatibility:  The steam deck status is "unknown," but like most visual novels, it runs perfectly fine on the steam deck. 

Slay the Princess is a visual novel with multiple choices. You start out in the woods, on the way to a cabin. You are there to slay the princess. The story features multiple endings, but each ending is a new beginning. I can't say anything about the story without spoilers, but it was an interesting VN that sets itself apart from many others.

The handrawn art style really works for this game. It's also fully voice-acted, with multiple voices being used throughout. The voice acting is a lot of fun and it really adds to the atmosphere. The genre is a mystery horror. It's not super scary but there are definitely horror elements.
I got most of the endings. By the end it didn't emotionally hit me like it did others. I enjoyed it but I wasn't engrossed in it.. I gave it a higher rating than I initially thought, because the voice acting, the art, and the endings really wrap this up into a very unique experience.

If this looks like your type of visual novel, then I would recommend it. 

Steam Deck Compatibility: This game is Steam deck verified and it worked great. No issues. 

Echoes of the Fey: The Last Sacrament is a visual novel by Woodsy Studio. It is a sequel to Echoes of the Fey: The Fox's Trail. I really enjoyed The Fox's Trail. The fantasy elements were fun, there was a lot of lore, and I enjoy a good detective story. The Last Sacrament continues where the first one leaves off, expanding on the lore and the characters. You play again as Sofya, who is taking on two cases this time. Sofya's childhood friend Katerina (who is also the emperor's daughter) is seeking her help and protection. Meanwhile, Sofya is also being blackmailed by Katerina’s rival Nikola, into stealing something powerful. 

First, I enjoyed the story. There is a lot more going on and more characters are introduced. I did like the first game better but this is a fine chapter in the story. There are multiple characters to romance again and there is a lot more lore you can read about. I liked Sofya and Heremon's friendship/relationship better in the first game.  It feels like there are so many different directions this game went that they couldn't focus on perfecting all of the storylines. I also got an ending that I didn't like. It left some loose ends.  I'll have to replay to get the full experience and see if that changes my mind! 

This sequel also introduces a minigame called RiftRealms. It's a dnd inspired dungeon crawling game. It's a really neat idea but its very very clunky and way too easy. Even if you handicap yourself, it's almost impossible to lose riftrealms. I appreciate the effort they put into it, but I just didn't like it. It was slow and clunky and it connected to the main story so playing it multiple times is unavoidable. 

Overall, I'd still recommend The Last Sacrament, even if I like the first game better. It adds to the story and introduces some neat characters. It expands on the lore and is ambitious with its storylines. I'm interested to see what Sofya and Heremon do next. 

Steam Deck Compatibility: The game has an "unknown" status on the steam deck, but it worked fine with no problems!

It's Spyro the dragon. If I were rating this purely on the Spyro games alone, it's a ten. Spyro is nostalgia to the max. I love that dragon 😂

It might just be nostalgia bias, but there is a certain charm in the originals that felt removed from the remake. I can replay the originals all day but the remake was missing that special something that made me love Spyro games in the first place. I can't really pinpoint what my problem with it was, because overall they did a good job. 

The graphics look good. The character redesigns are cute. Hard to get used to, but cute. The voice acting was great and I could tell a good amount of effort was put into this remake.

It wasn't perfect. It did have some bugs and the camera angles were abysmal at times. The camera angles made the boss fights and racing segments more difficult. The original games also had this problem but not near this extent. 

Overall, I'd recommend this trilogy! If I were to rate my favorites in order, it would be Spyro 3, then Spyro 1, then 2.

I remember playing Spyro 3 the most as a kid. The minigames are so much fun. At least most of them. That firefly mushroom stomping game is evil. I remember loving the skateboarding minigames as a kid. The story feels more dire and Bianca was a great addition as a supporting villain. Most of your favorite characters from Spyro 2 are back, with some new characters and levels added. 

The first game is my second favorite. That nostalgia just hits hard when you see those dragon statues again. No minigames, just good platforming. Seeing all the different dragons was a lot of fun and the levels went from easy to very challenging. Some levels were much more challenging than I remembered. Especially the tree top level. 

I spent the least amount of time on Spyro 2.  I skipped most of the minigames and did enough to get to the final boss. No offense to people who love Spyro 2, but this game just felt like the awkward middle child of the series. I didn't like the talisman or the fact that you had to kill a certain number of enemies to use the powerups. Everything felt very calculated. For someone like me who does not go for 100%, I felt forced into doing a lot of minigames that I didn't want to. It felt more like a chore. I also didn't like how you got the abilities and the backtracking involved with them. It's still not a bad game, though! It introduced gameplay elements that are used in the third game, like swimming. It also introduced some fan favorites, like Moneybags and, of course, Hunter the Cheetah. Also it has the best final boss battle out of the three imo. I really enjoyed that Ripto fight. 

Overall, I recommend this trilogy. I'm not someone who goes for achievements or collects everything. If you are trying to get 100% you'll probably get more out of the game than I did. 

Steam Deck Compatibility: This game is Steam deck verified. It worked fine. I don't think I had any issues while playing. 

Retro City Rampage is an open-world, retro-style shooter. It's pretty much an 8-bit version of GTA. It has retro aesthetics and a 70s and 80s vibe with lots of older pop culture references. I want to start out by saying that this isn't a bad game at all. The gameplay is solid. There are a lot of fun references cooked into the plot. The aesthetic is fun and they definitely nail the atmosphere they are going for with the graphics and sound design. There is just more that I dislike.

I didn't like most of the missions. A majority of them are you driving from point A to point B back to point A again. The game is incredibly easy and the police don't add any challenges, making it very boring. There are some missions that increase the difficulty a lot because you die in ridiculous ways. There isn't much of a story. The story is a vessel to throw as many pop culture references as humanly possible into the game. 

I do think an 8-bit GTA game full of 80s pop culture references is the best way to describe this. Not terrible, but the opposite of games I enjoy playing. 

Steam Deck Compatibility: This game is Steam deck verified and it worked great! Zero issues. 

Songbird Symphony was quite a surprise! I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Songbird Symphony is a musical side-scroller metroidvania. You play as a little orphaned bird named birb (of course), who decides to leave home to find where he belongs.

The songs are wonderful. They are cute and creative and there are a lot of them! The pixel art is beautiful to look at. The character designs are frickin adorable. The characters ooze charm and the game has a lot of good messages, especially if you want to play with a young child.

This is a rhythm game so you battle and interact with other characters by using music. You get more music notes as you continue the game. The rhythm segments are difficult. It starts off easy but can get a little too difficult over time. I wish I could have kept up with it but unfortunately I fell behind on a lot of the rhthym parts.

They find creative ways to do the rhthym segments, like mixing up the notes or making them disappear so you can't see whats coming next. To counter the difficulty, the game makes it impossible to fail. If you fail the rhythm segments, you still get to continue on. There is no game over screen and you don't have to repeat any part of the game. You also can't die in the game either. The scoring for the rhthym parts is forgiving. I got an average B score even though I did terrible. You are able to replay the songs and try to get a higher score if you want.

There were a couple things that could be improved in the game. The difficulty spike is one of them. There was also an area that was confusing to navigate. The end of the game had a lot of puzzles for no reason. It felt like they wanted to pad out the time.

Overall, I highly recommend this game! Maybe on sale since it's a short game.

Steam Deck Compatibility: This game is Steam deck verified and it worked perfectly fine. This has been a good batch of games for the steam deck. Usually I run into some issues but not this time.

Sonic Mania is a remake… a remaster… a reimagining? I'm not sure. It has a lot of levels and elements of the old Sonic games but they've added so many new things as well. It's great. The graphics look crisp. You can choose which character you want to play. There are different modes. The old levels are there. It's full of nostalgia. They added new levels. They added in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine segments. What else can I say. 

If you enjoy the old side-scroller Sonic games, this is a no-brainer. I was never good at the old Sonic games but I loved playing them. i was better at the 3D Sonic games, like Sonic Adventures 2. I died a lot… a LOT. in this game. I think I got crushed by every block in existence. Also, the last level was terrible. It was such a bad idea to force the player to use all those orbs. 

Overall, this was great. I'm bad at it but that's just me. If you love the old Sonic games, then you probably already own this. If not, then I recommend it. 

Steam Deck Compatibility: It's verified and it works as intended. 

Sticky Business is a simple and cute game where you start your own online sticker shop. You design different stickers using the designs that the game provides you. Make a sticker, add it to your shop and the customers will buy them from you. Then use the in-game currency to buy more designs, packing materials, etc. The game is relaxing and you can move at your own pace. It's a good game if you enjoy art and general creativity.
Sticker Business does get very repetitive after a while. They are consistently updating the game with new stickers, but the overall gameplay mechanic got boring to me towards the end of the game. I would still highly recommend this game if it sounds like something you'd like. It's just so darn adorable and we need more wholesome games that help you unwind after a long day.

Choice of Life is a medieval Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game. It starts when you are born and provides you with two different choices throughout the game. The choices you make will either branch to another path in the game or lead to your demise. It's a simple VN with a good amount of variety.I bought it for $1 and it was fun. It's a short game. I got most of the endings in less than 2 hours. If you like those choose-your-own adventure books, then I'd recommend this one. Especially on sale.

Choice of Life: Middle Ages 2 is similar to the first. A choose-your-own-adventure story that branches to several different paths. This sequel improves on the first by adding more choices, more branching paths, and more endings. In this game, you play the Prince of the Kingdom, and you have to choose how to rule the kingdom and keep yourself alive. The gameplay is the same. It's a VN where you read text and make a choice. You get more variety in the locations you want to visit, which branches the story even more. It's still a short game but its a lot longer than the first one. It's about triple the time if you get all the endings for both.

Overall, if you like choose-your-own adventure books, I recommend this game, especially on sale!

Afterparty is a dark comedy game that was made by the same developers of Oxenfree. When this game was announced, I was extremely excited. I love Oxenfree and the premise of Afterparty seems so ridiculous and fun. 

In Afterparty, you play as best friends Milo and Lola, who have been recently sent to hell and now must outdrink the devil in order to escape. The game had some good moments, but overall, I thought it was disappointing. The hook is great, but it never lives up to it. The main characters aren't very likeable, and the drama is lacking. Where the minimal gameplay in Oxenfree was still engaging and carried by the atmosphere and plot, Afterparty feels like a chore. I got to a point in the middle where I thought I was going to get to the meat of the story. Instead, it told me I had to do this, get that, and take it to this, and do that, and this…. it felt like a short game that was still trying to pad out the time with tedious quests.

As harsh as I am on the game, I didn't hate it. I love the art and the atmosphere. The voice acting is good, and some of the humor hits. I don't think it's a bad game, and if you play it before Oxenfree, it's probably even better. Especially since I do compare games, whether I like to or not. Overall, I think its an average game. Between the thumbs up and thumbs down. I personally would not recommend this game unless youre a big Night School Studio Fan. 

Steam Deck Compatibility: Afterparty is verified on the steam deck and it works great! I didn't have any issues

Anglerfish is a good game, and I'm surprised it's not more popular!

To celebrate a bachelor party, you and your friends go to a bar called Anglerfish. From there, some crazy sh*t happens. The game has some interesting mechanics. You will die many times while playing, and every time you die, the game saves, and something changes. Keep dying and keep going until you can get to the end of the mystery. 

I want to be vague in this review. My advice is to go into the game blind. Anglerfish is weird, creative, funny, random, and spooky.  I didn't really understand the story, and I'm not sure the story even mattered. I think it was more about the journey than the destination. I was along for the ride the whole time. The atmosphere was spot on, and I managed to do multiple playthroughs even though I'm not the type of person to do so. 

This game isn't for everyone, and it can feel like trial and error at times. There will be a lot of repetition of the same tasks. To counter that, the game does change to make it easier or less choresome if you are struggling at a part. 

Anglerfish isn't for everyone, but I would recommend it both on sale or off sale. I had a blast and I can easily see it catching popularity at some point.

Steam Deck Compatibility: The status of Anglerfish on the Steam Deck is "unknown." It's not verified, but I didn't have any issues. There is a short section of the game where you have to aim a weapon with crosshairs and use quick reaction time, which was difficult with the trackpad. Luckily it didn't last super long. Other than that, it works great on the deck.

Sally Face: Episode 1 is a side-scrolling horror game where you play as a young boy with a prosthetic face who just moved into some new apartments with his dad. As he gets to know his neighbors, he discovers a mystery involving a murder.

I only played Episode 1 of Sally Face, but so far it has had a promising start. It raised a lot of questions and definitely had a creepy atmosphere. The art is nice, and I have no idea how the story will continue if I decide to purchase the rest of the game.

The puzzles are pretty straightforward. The first episode is just about going to different rooms and talking to different neighbors. It wasn't super engaging, but I can tell it will improve as the episodes go on. Overall, a good start. I would recommend checking it out.

Steam Deck Compatibility: Sally Face is verified on the Steam Deck and I didn't have any problems.**

Typing of the Dead Overkill is an on-rail shooter, but with your keyboard as the weapon. You are in a zombie apocalypse and will visit multiple areas infested with zombies. Words will pop up on the screen, and successfully typing out the words will kill the zombies. The game perfectly imitates low-budget 70's-80's action horror movies.
The humor isn't my cup, especially because I didn't grow up with cheesy horror movies, but it's a perfect way to practice something useful while never making it feel like a chore. I took a typing class in school. I'm a very fast typer now, but the class was so incredibly boring. I wish I knew about this game back then! 
The game is great, but I do have one complaint. The final boss battle was designed horribly. For all of the boss battles, you have to type out words to defeat the bosses, but in the final fight, it gives you a prompt and tells you to type out as many words as you can relating to that prompt. It makes the fight either impossible or the easiest fight ever. The reason is because thinking of answers to the prompts is too hard. The story and characters are generic, which makes specific adjectives hard to find in the short time you have. On the other hand, the game registers any word you type in, so you can just spam anything (not even words, just alskdfhlaskhdfsh) and it will register as a word and win you the fight. It was a fantastic idea in theory but the execution failed.
Other than that, I can't say anything bad about the game. It's corny and dumb, but that's the point. It's great for improving your WPM and even better for beginner typers. It has different difficulties, so it's suited for any skill level. There are also extra modes that I didn't even explore. I recommend this game for improving your typing!

Cat Cafe Manager is a cozy little cafe management game where you rebuild your grandmother's cafe from the ground up. Different types of customers will visit your cafe (such as Witches, Punks, Artists, etc) and each type will give you a specific type of currency as payment. You can use the currency on specific stores to purchase things for your cafe or cats. Each type of person also likes certain types of food.

It's a casual game with minimal story. The fun comes from customizing your cafe. You can choose your employees, which cats to adopt, and what type of furniture to decorate with. There is a large variety of furniture options to make your cafe feel like your own. There are also some fun and creative cat designs.

Overall, its an adorable and fun game. You serve food, decorate your cafe, interact with cats, etc. There isn't really a penalty for doing badly other than taking longer to obtain currency. It's perfect for someone who wants a casual relaxing game. It does get repetitive fairly quickly and goes on a bit too long. I would recommend it on sale.

Steam Deck Compatibility: This game is Verified on the Steam Deck. Overall, it worked very well. There was a bug when adopting and trying to name a cat; it would freeze up sometimes and erase the name, causing me to retype it again. It could be just a game bug.

Inscryption is a deck-building puzzle card game with a strong and unique narrative. You find yourself stuck in a cabin with no idea how you got there, and you're forced to play games with a being called Leshy. The game is full of fun strangeness and adventure, and it kept me hooked throughout.
I'm usually terrible at deck-building and card games, but the game does a really good job at explaining how to play. It also has an interesting story with meta undertones. The graphics are great, and the gameplay provides plenty of variety. If you like unique and strange narratives like Pony Island or the Hex you will probably like this game.

I would have given Inscryption a higher score, but there are some things that hold it back. The beginning of the game is actually my favorite, and I didn't enjoy the rest of the game as much. I still really loved it, but it starts out the strongest in my opinion. Also, after finishing the game, I looked up the lore to clear up some confusion, and I discovered that a chunk of the lore was not presented in this game and had to be discovered elsewhere. I believe part of the story comes from the game "The Hex" (which I didn't remember the story) and maybe some other source. I personally like the full story to be discovered in the game, unless it is said to be a direct sequel. Even if there are just clues to the story, I don't mind as long as all the stepping stones are in the game to lead me to the right conclusion. This is just a personal pet peeve of mine and might not affect anyone else. Either way, I definetely recommend this game off sale or on sale!

Steam Deck Compatibility: Inscryption is "Playable" on the Steam Deck but not yet verified. It did work very well, but it took me some time to get used to using the trackpad for the entire game. Its slower than a mouse, so its playable, but it might be more enjoyable on a PC. Also, there was a moment where you had to type in the game, and I had trouble pulling up the keyboard without pausing the game. A workaround for that is to press the keyboard buttons one at a time slowly, instead of at the same time.

Mythic Ocean is a narrative-driven choice game. You find yourself in the ocean with no memories of who you are. You then meet different gods and discover that you have a choice to change this world and choose who builds the new one. The gameplay is mainly exploration of the ocean and talking to different NPCs. You make choices that change the ending.

I think this is a very creative concept, I really enjoyed it and I would love to see an update or sequel that expands on it! It feels a little to short, and I could see a bigger and better game coming from this. Overall, fun game! Moving through the ocean feels satisfying and fluid, and I liked the different characters. I'd recommend it more on sale just because of the length.

Steam Deck Compatibility: Mythic Ocean is "playable" on steam deck and not yet verified. It works great though! Movement is great and I didn't have any issues at all!

This game is very divided among LIS fans, and I can totally see why. Overall, I did enjoy it, but I was on the fence for a lot of it. I played this game after Life is Strange 1, Before the Storm, and True Colors. I liked those games more, so playing this last probably affected my opinion. I'll write a spoiler review at the bottom to share all my opinions. 

Life is Strange 2 follows two brothers: Sean and Daniel Diaz. After an incident that went horribly wrong involving the police and the death of their father, the two brothers are on the run, and Daniel has discovered he has a new power.

First off, I really liked the main character. You play as Sean Diaz. He's the older brother to Daniel, and he has to lead the two to Mexico to evade the police. He is way over his head, but he still tries his best, and he cares about his little brother. 

The game also tackles some heavy topics, like racism and religion. It also features some very lovable side characters. I think the game does a great job at introducing characters throughout your journey and having them stand out in a positive way. They also do a great job at making the terrible, hateful characters stand out in a horrible way. 

I loved the atmosphere. I wish there was more soundtrack since these games like to use indie sounds, and it would have worked so well with the different locations and the open nature throughout the game. The tension is also great. I felt a lot of anxiety while on the journey. The atmosphere switches between both beautiful and nerve-wracking.

There are a good amount of choices in the game that actually do effect the game. I didn't realize a lot of choices existed until I got to the end of the chapter and compared my choices to others. Most choices were not very polarizing, but maybe it depends on what playstyle you're going for. 

A big thing I didn't like was the pacing. I felt bored playing a lot of the game. The other LIS games felt more interactive. You can't play as Daniel, so you don't get to play with the powers or solve puzzles. The gameplay feels very basic, other than finding collectibles. I usually don't mind minimal gameplay, but it is coupled with poor pacing. Some chapters are a lot of fun, and others  draaag. Some chapters are very long, and others are very short. 

Another problem i had was with Daniel himself. I'll add more in my spoiler review, but the game makes him a little too unlikable for too long, to the point where it's hard to fix his character later on. I spent most of the game feeling sympathetic towards Sean and hoping that Daniel improved as a character. I also have some thoughts on the ending, but I'll include that at the bottom. 

Overall, I've enjoyed every Life is Strange game and I'd recommend this one on sale. . 

Steam Deck Compatibility Life is Strange 2 is verified on Steam Deck and works great! I had zero issues. 

Spoiler review:
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I'm open to hearing other people's opinions on it. I hated it at first because it felt like my good choices led to bad endings. I know LIS 1 had a sad ending, but that was more of a mystery game in which you solved the mystery only to realize the tragedy of it all. It was meant to happen the whole time.

This was an adventure where you had one goal in mind, which was to get to Mexico and stick together. It seems like every ending has you failing that mission. I taught Daniel to be kind and not to hurt others, but because of that, Sean had to separate from him, most likely never seeing him again and always watching his back. If he teaches Daniel not to care about others, then Sean either ends up dead or with a brother who uses his powers for bad things. Either that, or Sean ends up in jail for 15 years as a cop killer. I figured that was one of the worst ending since his childhood is wasted; he could get physical or psychological damage from that, and it ends up on his permanent record. I didn't want to spend this entire journey getting to Mexico just to get arrested at the last second, like a Monty Python skit.

Also, they didn't tell us until the last chapter that Daniel would not face any repercussions from any of it (except house arrest), so instead of going on the run with Daniel, he would have been way safer staying behind at the beginning. He risked his life and lived outside for nothing.

I guess I wanted some kind of good ending since it felt like a long journey where so many sacrifices were made, just to end with a depressing conclusion. I am glad that my choices in the game did impact the ending and that there were so many different endings which is really nice.

Other than the ending, my only other problem was how they wrote Daniels character. I really wanted to like him more. He's young, and he's been through trauma, so it's understandable that he lashes out. The problem is just that they made him way too unlikable for far too long. The more I had Sean root for him, trust him, and support him, the worse he acted. He would do all the wrong things, go against my judgment, and take everyone's side but mine. I did get the high morality ending, but it was like Daniel was fighting Sean the entire way until the last chapter. I feel like my choices should have had more impact on helping him cope while also not being his punching bag. Sean also deserves happiness. Most of the conflict was caused by Daniel purposely not listening, which kept causing real consequences.

On a positive note, I really liked the side characters. Chapter 3 was my favorite. All the characters in that chapter felt like real people, and it was nice to see Sean and Daniel adapt to these different situations. Also, it was really exciting to see Chris again from the Captain Spirit game. I enjoyed that game a lot and I really wanted to see a full game with Chri-.. er..  I mean Captain Spirit!

Also David made a return from Life is Strange 1. It made me tear up hearing about Chloe. Overall enjoyed myself, would like to see a remake fix some problems though!

Bayonetta was chosen for my PoP and was also a SG win.

If I'm totally honest, I don't like hack n slash games. I think I've tried three different games in the Devil May Cry series because I wanted to like it soo much. I could never finish a game. With that in mind, I did at least finish Bayonetta. I'll try to judge the game based on its quality and not my preferences. 

The very first thing that happens upon hitting "new game" is that you are thrown into a giant battle of epic proportions with no idea how you got there. That really sets the tone for the whole game. The game throws you in the middle of this story, and it is unapologetic about its approach. At first I was confused, but now I absolutely love that about this game. As you play, things get more clear, and you can learn a lot about the witches and other parts of the lore.

Let's get this out of the way. Bayonetta is a sex icon. A girlboss if you will. There is a lot of fan service, and she's always showing off her… assets. She owns her sexuality and uses it to murder her enemies, so I 100% support all of Bayonetta's decisions. 

My least favorite thing is the gameplay, and that's just because I don't like this type of gameplay. I'm sure its fantastic, and I'm just terrible. There are a lot of fun combos you can do and spells you can unlock. There is a LOT of fighting, so make sure that's something you like before going in. It takes up most of the game. I didn't even care about the score I got at the end of the chapters because it didn't change. I stayed in the stone/bronze range the whole way through. I am a failure and I'm proud.

My absolute favorite thing about the game was the scale of everything. So many areas were massive, and the bosses were even more so. The game was beautiful, and the level and character designs were on a whole other level. It looked amazing, and I couldn't believe how well they were able to scale these arenas and bosses to feel like this big epic fight.  The game is incredibly hard (or at least it was for me), but it's very much worth it for that sense of accomplishment you get after every fight. 

Overall, this isn't my type of game, but I'm glad I played it. I don't think I'll play the sequels, but it was fun to try something outside of my comfort zone and gain an appreciation for this genre. If this is your type of game, I 100% recommend it. Also I did not play this on the steam deck, so no comment on how well it works there.

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals takes place 5 years after the first game. It does stand on its own, but having prior knowledge of the first game does add a lot of context to the sequel. I'd recommend playing this one after the first. 

We play as newcomer Riley, who just took a job setting up radio transmitters to help study radio anomolies. She is joined by a new coworker named Jacob, who will travel with you on this journey. This is mostly a creepy walking simulator with dialogue choices, and the gameplay consists of setting up these transmitters. 

I have a mostly positive opinion of this game. It's hard to make a sequel live up to such a great first game, but they do a really good job. 

I like the narrative and the main characters. Oxenfree is a very story-driven game, so it's important that the narrative carries the game. There are moments that definetely impacted me. The game is also fully voiced, like the first game, and the voice actors do a very good job at bringing their characters to life.  

There were a few things that made me like the first game better. I thought the first game was a lot creepier. Maybe because I know what to expect going into the sequel, but I was hoping it would surprise me. It just didn't add enough new mechanics to set the bar higher. It's also a little boring, for lack of a better word. There is a lot of walking and backtracking, but not enough engaging things to fill that gap time. It definitely picks up in the second half, though. 

Overall, I still think this is a great game. The story is great, the characters are likable, the visuals are fantastic, and there are some truly creepy moments, even if the first one scared me more. I also like that the walkie-talkie and radio play a bigger part in this game. If they make another Oxenfree, I will gladly play it!

Alba is a wholesome, cozy wildlife game about a young girl named Alba. Alba loves animals, and during her summer vacation to her grandparents house, she decides to study and help every animal on the island. Meanwhile, a big corporation is planning to replace the wildlife preserve with their fancy new hotel. Together with her best friend Ines, Alba tries to stop the hotel while also meeting lots of animal friends on the way.

This game is adorable. Alba has an app on her phone that displays an animal's information when she snaps a photo of it. The game consists of you going around the island, taking pictures of different animals (mostly bird species), and helping the community with different tasks. The gameplay is minimal but very relaxing, and it hits that part of the brain that feels good about positive accomplishments.

If I had a small gripe, it would be that when you take pictures of animals, they show up as a premade image of that animal instead of the picture you captured. It's not exactly a photography game, so I understand that it would be hard to implement that, but I played a lot of Toem before this so I'm spoiled.

Overall, Alba is a cozy game that is worth your time. I recommend it when you are stressed or just want to unwind after a long day.

I don't know what I expected when I went into this game, but it was even weirder than that. Boyfriend Dungeon is a Rougelike… Dungeon-Crawler… Romance Sim?

Your family is worried about you. You're shy and awkward, and you've never been on a date in your life! Your cousin lets you stay rent-free in his old apartment at Verona Beach, encouraging you to socialize and meet some new people. You also take up a job fighting in the dungeons and leveling up your weapons, which also serves as therapy to help tackle your deepest fears and insecurities. Did I mention that your weapons are human/weapon hybrids and you have the potential to fall in love with all of them? 

Dungeon Boyfriend is strange, and it knows it. It embraces its strangeness, which leads to a pretty memorable game. I don't want to get into the mechanics too much to avoid spoilers, but it's half dungeon crawler and half dating sim. There are a lot of characters to romance, or you can choose to just be friends. The game is very lenient about letting you choose how you want to approach each character. Even the dungeon-crawling portions are very forgiving. The game is not very difficult and is better for casual players of the roguelike genre. 

I enjoyed this game. I thought I'd hate it but I ended up getting all the achievements, which is not something I usually care about. I can see opinions being very divisive about the characters. Some were good, and others were… not boyfriend material. They each have very different personalities, so I can see the ranking being vastly different for everyone. The game is also LGBTQ-friendly, which is nice.

I ended up romancing everyone to get the achievement, but also because the most fun part was completing everything I could in the game. There were definitely some things that held the game back. There are only three dungeons (two are needed to complete the game) with around 12 floors each. Once you find everything, there isn't any replay value. The characters also felt like they fell a little short. Each romance had an anticlimactic conclusion. It's like the game had some really good ideas but just kind of… felt short. I can see a sequel really improving on this initial concept. 

Overall, the game is a gimmick, but the gimmick is fun and interesting I also recommend it for casual players. I found myself enganged in this universe and accepting every weird thing that was revealed to me. Also, Pocket is best character. Both weapon and character If you know, you know.