Short "peaceful, relaxing" indie 2D platformer with visuals that nicely combine hand-drawn 2D backgrounds with cel-shaded 3D models. Unfortunately, the level design isn't particularly interesting, and the platforming and general control feel awfully clunky, which becomes a bigger and bigger problem as timing-based elements take greater precedence further in; this isn't exactly Celeste, to be sure, but it's frustrating in ways I can't imagine the developers intended, and is more than enough to keep me from finishing this one. try it on deep discount, maybe

Played through the initial set of story levels to get to the credits and the "Your real journey is just beginning..." message. Don't think I'm going to bother logging in daily or otherwise engaging much with the F2P GaaS elements, but if you're a fan of Journey or any of the numerous games it inspired, it's still worth checking out (it's free, after all) just to see how it mixes Journey-esque levels with an MMO. The level design, story, and pacing are unsurprisingly not up to par with Journey or other top-tier games in that genre, but I had a number of nice online interactions (either passively, with messages left behind by other players, or by actively interacting with them; another player helped guide me through an obstacle-heavy chunk of one level) that add some interesting flavor to the experience. And even with the obvious graphical limitations resulting from Sky's mobile origins, the art direction is still quite nice to look at.

Benedict Fox is one of the prettiest 2.5D side-scrollers I've played to date, and the genre hybrid of Metroidvania and adventure game in a Lovecraftian setting is undeniably intriguing, but even with the various changes made to rebalance the game with the Definitive Edition upgrade, its various constituent elements just don't cohere together very well. In particular, there's just far too little sense of flow or coherence to the world design; despite the more recent addition of (optional) quest markers to the game, I'm still not really sure how you're meant to figure out where to go next without relying on a walkthrough, leading me to drop the game after a few hours with it. As for the story, it plunks you down in the middle of a poorly-defined supernatural mystery with key elements of its backstory and worldbuilding woefully underexplained, in a way that feels less like deliberate mystery or in media res storytelling and more like a crucial cutscene or two was cut out. I admire Plot Twist's ambition, but unfortunately, Benedict Fox falls well short of its potential.

Cool conceit for a puzzle game, and when it clicks it clicks really well… but only a few levels in, I already encountered what I’m pretty sure is a game-killing bug where a key I need to finish the level disappeared, and I don’t really feel like restarting the level, especially as the various manipulations of color-coded gems were already starting to overstay their welcome. Lots of potential, there’s a chance I’ll come back to it, but it just doesn’t feel as polished or tightly designed as it should.