TheMediaDiorama
2019
Architecturally ingenious, very MC Escher level design that makes for a unique short first-person puzzle experience. Some of the puzzles themselves were too easy and did not necessarily explore each puzzle mechanic to their maximum potential (particularly the double gravity tree). But, on the whole, a pleasantly hypnotising game.
2020
[My first game completed fully on a Steam Deck!]
Beautiful little gem! Lovely story on mortality told through the journey of a cute little ember, featuring some very soothing voice narration. Puzzles, while not challenging enough, are varied and never tedious. The world itself is filled with charm and collectibles, although pointless, to find. Just a sweet short game that never outstays its warmth and welcome. Loved it!
Beautiful little gem! Lovely story on mortality told through the journey of a cute little ember, featuring some very soothing voice narration. Puzzles, while not challenging enough, are varied and never tedious. The world itself is filled with charm and collectibles, although pointless, to find. Just a sweet short game that never outstays its warmth and welcome. Loved it!
2022
Solid writing as per for the 'Portal' franchise which admittedly made me laugh on multiple occasions (Cave Johnson is supreme!), and a great demonstration of the control schemes for the Steam Deck. Heck, I didn't even know about the gyroscope until I played it!
Unfortunately though, 30 minutes just isn't enough. PS5 had the brilliant 'Astro's Playroom' to demonstrate their hardware, so Valve easily could've turned this into more of a gaming experience for sure.
Unfortunately though, 30 minutes just isn't enough. PS5 had the brilliant 'Astro's Playroom' to demonstrate their hardware, so Valve easily could've turned this into more of a gaming experience for sure.
Stickmen fighting with various weapons. Great couch co-op fun with fluid movement...for about 30 minutes before the repetitive gameplay kicks in and leaves you bored. A glorified Flash game for sure.
2017
An exhilarating exercise in tension building. The chase sequences ranging from a horrifically disproportionate man to two thudding butchers truly had me exclaiming “Oh my God, run run run run run RUNNNN!” (you can tell horror games aren’t my usual cup of gaming tea…). It’s short and narratively vague, but these shortcomings hardly affect the grotesque intensity on display with some atmospheric puzzles to boot!
2022
Starting off as a warrior with just a puny whip and then eventually unlocking a queen of chaos who vaporises thousands of enemies within seconds. Yeah, 100%-ing this game was an absolute BLAST! So many unlockables, so many “ohhh just one more go” moments and so so so many flashing lights shrouding my screen in utter carnage. Sure, the presentation is somewhat clunky (particularly the menus), but who cares. You feel powerful. And power is all you want in Vampire Survivors!
2021
Floating castle of metroidvanian labyrinthine design, ‘Hollow Knight’ presentation in terms of bleakness and slick platforming, ‘Ocarina of Time’ enemy lock-on mechanism for dangerous sword slashing aerial manoeuvring. Yeah, Blue Fire was a short blast! Would’ve loved more dungeons, more variety in voids (think platform-based shrines from ‘Breath of the Wild’) and harder boss fights. But when jumping, gliding and wall running is this effortless, you just want more!
2019
A roguelike hack-and-slash centred around a loveable family known as the Bergsons. Lots of different playable characters representing each member of the family, from sword-wielding melee tanks to flame-producing ranged apprentices, so there’s a role for every sort of player. Having said that, ranged absolutely overwhelmed melee characters for sure. The bosses in particular favoured a ranged attacking stance. The narrative is cute with a few minor revelations, but it’s no ‘Hades’ (is anything though?). Powerful charms and relics, varied skills to upgrade. Overall, a tight roguelike with memorable characters.
2022
Hands down, one of the greatest single-player experiences ever. A beautifully natural continuation from its predecessor that really expands upon its characters, old and new, while retaining that grandeur of Norse mythology. What more is there to say? Like honestly…
The combat? Satisfyingly weighty.
The story? A legend in itself.
The boss fights? Beyond EPIC.
The worlds? Gorgeously designed.
Side favours and collectibles? Plentiful.
The most exciting first and third act ever in a video game. Heck, I could keep gushing at how this is one of the most intimate storytelling experiences in any art form ever. Not only the best PS5 game, but perhaps one of the best of all-time? Yeah, it’s that good.
The combat? Satisfyingly weighty.
The story? A legend in itself.
The boss fights? Beyond EPIC.
The worlds? Gorgeously designed.
Side favours and collectibles? Plentiful.
The most exciting first and third act ever in a video game. Heck, I could keep gushing at how this is one of the most intimate storytelling experiences in any art form ever. Not only the best PS5 game, but perhaps one of the best of all-time? Yeah, it’s that good.
2022
A purrrr-fectly short adventure in a dilapidated city filled with buzzing robots as you, a stray feline, must jump, meow and solve stealth-based environmental puzzles to free this trapped settlement of its own imprisonment. It’s perhaps too short and linear for the price tag, but the world-building is absolutely captivating. Loved it!
2021
Who knew a crow could be so nimble? It’s never nihilistically difficult (despite its gorgeously dark aesthetic) like ‘Cuphead’ or ‘Hollow Knight’, but challenging enough where any mistakes you make are yours alone. The combat is so so so tight, almost effortless. Wish it was longer with a bigger world(s) to explore, but the shiny polish exuding from each nook and cranny makes this an irresistible indie darling.
2022
I’m baffled by the good reviews, I truly truly am…
An open-world Sonic game SHOULD work. Running across sprawling horizons collecting rings (and not stat seeds that provide little to no increase, machine gears, vault keys, memory heart things and little rock statues…), rolling around at the speed of sound. But, Frontiers is not it.
The game is monumentally broken as the developers thought to throw as much “stuff” in as possible to see what sticks, to the point that the experience is beyond infuriating. The vault levels were recycled layouts from other 3D Sonic games, yet way more clunky. The fishing mini-game was out of place and tedious. The riff on map revealing, while slightly more intuitive that climbing a tower and simply looking out, never felt rewarding with random patches of the map uncovering nothing useful. The technical issues (yes, the pop-in is inexcusable) made most of the platforming frustrating.
But the combat…
The combat is possibly the worst I’ve ever experienced. Looping around enemies and mashing buttons with zero strategy. That was all tolerable, until the fight with Giganto. Quite possibly the worst boss fight ever? To the point where after multiple attempts, I decided to put down my controller and say “yeah…I’ve had enough”. Parrying is inconsistent, with the boss randomly flailing its arms thinking you’re in the hit box detection area. So imagine my aggravation when parrying was pretty much mandatory before your Super Sonic ring timer dials down to zero and you have to repeat the whole ordeal again. You can’t integrate combat-heavy boss fights when the combat itself is diabolically broken. And I’ve seen many compare the combos to ‘Devil May Cry’ and ‘Bayonetta’…you having a laugh?
So yeah, ashamed to say I didn’t make it past the first boss fight. The game was THAT unplayable for me. But hey, at least it’s still better than Sonic ‘06…
An open-world Sonic game SHOULD work. Running across sprawling horizons collecting rings (and not stat seeds that provide little to no increase, machine gears, vault keys, memory heart things and little rock statues…), rolling around at the speed of sound. But, Frontiers is not it.
The game is monumentally broken as the developers thought to throw as much “stuff” in as possible to see what sticks, to the point that the experience is beyond infuriating. The vault levels were recycled layouts from other 3D Sonic games, yet way more clunky. The fishing mini-game was out of place and tedious. The riff on map revealing, while slightly more intuitive that climbing a tower and simply looking out, never felt rewarding with random patches of the map uncovering nothing useful. The technical issues (yes, the pop-in is inexcusable) made most of the platforming frustrating.
But the combat…
The combat is possibly the worst I’ve ever experienced. Looping around enemies and mashing buttons with zero strategy. That was all tolerable, until the fight with Giganto. Quite possibly the worst boss fight ever? To the point where after multiple attempts, I decided to put down my controller and say “yeah…I’ve had enough”. Parrying is inconsistent, with the boss randomly flailing its arms thinking you’re in the hit box detection area. So imagine my aggravation when parrying was pretty much mandatory before your Super Sonic ring timer dials down to zero and you have to repeat the whole ordeal again. You can’t integrate combat-heavy boss fights when the combat itself is diabolically broken. And I’ve seen many compare the combos to ‘Devil May Cry’ and ‘Bayonetta’…you having a laugh?
So yeah, ashamed to say I didn’t make it past the first boss fight. The game was THAT unplayable for me. But hey, at least it’s still better than Sonic ‘06…
2021
Beautiful game, with gorgeous hand-drawn landscapes and a soothing score to help relax the player, but ultimately far too simplistic for its own good. The most creative level design is in the final level, and it’s a little too late by that point…
2021
Enjoyable mini game where the constant restarting gimmick of ‘Minit’ doesn’t necessarily translate as well into an arcade side-scrolling driving game. BUT, all money goes to worthy charitable causes, so that on its own is worth the small price.
2022
A technical mess, uninspired and an unnecessary reboot (low-key miss the old characters and the ridiculousness of the fourth entry), but is it bad? I don't think so. It's actually good fun! The humour just about lands, especially in a series of LARP-ing quests which were brilliant. A huge amount of content over a decently-sized map ranging from deserted canyons to sprawling malls. Plenty of collectibles, plenty of action, plenty of destruction. It's a Saints Row game, probably not the one people wanted but there you go!