Whimsicalish
2018
Fantasy theme with a slice of horror/thriller and romance. You're trying to survive for a couple of spooky nights with a ragtag group. Your choices count and will come at a price.
I like that some choices are timed and you are encouraged to see what happens when time runs out. The story was enticing to me; it didn't feel rushed or too long. There was world building and it was not fed to you in heavy bouts. They did a great job with the length.
The characters were interesting and I wasn't indifferent to any of them. The voice acting was good for (again) a FREE game. The illustrations - character art, background, and the lighting from their lanterns are beautiful. The mechanics were great and the skip to new interactions was great to find the other endings. Fantastic experience. I'm going to look at more of their work.
I like that some choices are timed and you are encouraged to see what happens when time runs out. The story was enticing to me; it didn't feel rushed or too long. There was world building and it was not fed to you in heavy bouts. They did a great job with the length.
The characters were interesting and I wasn't indifferent to any of them. The voice acting was good for (again) a FREE game. The illustrations - character art, background, and the lighting from their lanterns are beautiful. The mechanics were great and the skip to new interactions was great to find the other endings. Fantastic experience. I'm going to look at more of their work.
2016
I played this game MUCH longer than I first thought. I think I got this in a Humble Bundle? I don't normally play survival games so I am surprised how long I stuck with it. I had one playthrough and got all the achievements.
Your goal is to survive the apocalypse in your bunker. You have to manage your food, water, stress, and health. The air can kill you; wear your gasmasks. The wildlife can kill you; watch out for those teeth and claws. People can kill you....and they will try.
Travel to locations to gather supplies and build your new home. You can trade with NCPs or kill them to loot. I was pretty passive and non-aggressive with other survivors; I ran from most fights, ha. In the hours I put into the game, there really was only two things that was negative. I sent a party out in my revived RV caravan and they died...so I lost my RV in the wilderness. I read you could get a side quest to retrieve it but I never saw it after about 8 hours of playing. It was VERY disappointing to lose the RV since I spent the majority of the game to build it. Second, there are times when your bunker gets attacked and I find it odd you can't fight the intruders off. You can only hide or place traps. Strange that my character would just hide somewhere when they have a shotgun with ammo in the bunker with them.
It was a good overall experience. I did enjoy playing it and again, I don't normally play a lot of survival games.
Your goal is to survive the apocalypse in your bunker. You have to manage your food, water, stress, and health. The air can kill you; wear your gasmasks. The wildlife can kill you; watch out for those teeth and claws. People can kill you....and they will try.
Travel to locations to gather supplies and build your new home. You can trade with NCPs or kill them to loot. I was pretty passive and non-aggressive with other survivors; I ran from most fights, ha. In the hours I put into the game, there really was only two things that was negative. I sent a party out in my revived RV caravan and they died...so I lost my RV in the wilderness. I read you could get a side quest to retrieve it but I never saw it after about 8 hours of playing. It was VERY disappointing to lose the RV since I spent the majority of the game to build it. Second, there are times when your bunker gets attacked and I find it odd you can't fight the intruders off. You can only hide or place traps. Strange that my character would just hide somewhere when they have a shotgun with ammo in the bunker with them.
It was a good overall experience. I did enjoy playing it and again, I don't normally play a lot of survival games.
2008
A hybrid of fairly simple platforming with head scratching puzzles. You are encouraged to solve puzzles using time mechanics and platforming. By solving the puzzles, you get rewarded with more storytelling.
I did not solve all the puzzles so I didn't get the full story. It was (to me) a challenging game. I enjoy playing puzzles but this had some precise timing that made me stressed. I do feel bad that I'm moving on with this game without getting the full story. It wasn't anything against the game itself; I think it's just not exactly for me.
The game was beautiful. The mechanic to go back in time made it interesting. Each world added a new challenge to the puzzles. I thought it was really cool that when you go back in time, some songs went in reverse too. It has a lot of love into it.
I did not solve all the puzzles so I didn't get the full story. It was (to me) a challenging game. I enjoy playing puzzles but this had some precise timing that made me stressed. I do feel bad that I'm moving on with this game without getting the full story. It wasn't anything against the game itself; I think it's just not exactly for me.
The game was beautiful. The mechanic to go back in time made it interesting. Each world added a new challenge to the puzzles. I thought it was really cool that when you go back in time, some songs went in reverse too. It has a lot of love into it.
Really enjoyed this game. I don't normally play tower defense but I think I got it in a bundle. I started my playthrough back in 2018 but dropped because it would randomly close. It was suggested for the Steam cleaning event and I decided to give it another go.
You play as a heroine that has special powers and you need to stop an evil dude...of course. You meet a few people in your journey and they become your classes. One is an archer, one is a knight, etc. It was easy to learn how to play for someone that doesn't play many TD games. It has an option to play each battle with four different difficulties. You are rewarded scraps which is used to buy armor, weapons, and members.
My ONE bummer was the game would randomly close. It would always autosave so it didn't lose anything. But took away from the experience. I looked at the Steam discussion and didn't see others talking about that, so it must be something on my computer conflicting with the game? Other than that, pretty fun!
You play as a heroine that has special powers and you need to stop an evil dude...of course. You meet a few people in your journey and they become your classes. One is an archer, one is a knight, etc. It was easy to learn how to play for someone that doesn't play many TD games. It has an option to play each battle with four different difficulties. You are rewarded scraps which is used to buy armor, weapons, and members.
My ONE bummer was the game would randomly close. It would always autosave so it didn't lose anything. But took away from the experience. I looked at the Steam discussion and didn't see others talking about that, so it must be something on my computer conflicting with the game? Other than that, pretty fun!
2017
I love this game. It's a hidden object game with lots of character and it's made with lots of love. I can't wait to see what the team will create in the future.
Just remember to rest your eyes while playing this one. I foolishly played three hours straight and I can feel some eye strain. Only bummer, but I should be resting my eyes more often anyhow.
Just remember to rest your eyes while playing this one. I foolishly played three hours straight and I can feel some eye strain. Only bummer, but I should be resting my eyes more often anyhow.
1999
I was a bit worried since it's a stealth game and I'm not muchinto stealth. It exceeded my expectations, especially for a game that was released in '98/'99.
The game itself worked okay in Steam but it wouldn't play cutscenes. I was extremely confused after the first mission I stole a vase and then the second mission I was in a quarry all of a sudden. Thankfully the older Thief games have a lovely fan base that made a free "patch." It updated the graphics a bit, improved compatibility with new pcs, and (most importantly to me) it fixed my cutscenes. So that was necessary for me to play the game.
It aged fairly well for a game that was originally released in 1998. Heavy focused on stealth, tons of gadgets, original story, and some world building. I thought this was set in sorta medieval ages but there's magic and otherworldly enemies. It was creative and neat to see this new environment in an older game. Honestly even refreshing.
The Bad: well the voice acting isn't great. I mean it was made in '98 so I'm giving it slack. Sometimes the characters speaking would make me laugh. The cutscenes were fine. The protag and the soldiers are good for their time. The house servants in the game though? Oh man...it was like the voice actor wasn't taking their job seriously but it came off as humorous. It didn't bother my gameplay though, made me laugh.
I did not enjoy some of the maps. I felt the last three missions in the game were big MEH. A lot of underground dirt tunnels and the enemies did NOT compare to earlier enemies. I wanted to shake in my boots when I first saw the Haunts in earlier missions.
The Good: I enjoyed most of my time playing this gem. I like in older games, game devs weren't scared of using bright colors in their maps. Some "current" games on the top of my head that are dark and stealthy are covered in black and gray tones. Boring. This game had mansions with bright reds or greens on floor tiles, walls, furniture, etc. I wasn't expecting the big arsenal of tools either. Rope arrows to climb on high ledges, water arrows to drench torches so you can hide in the dark, etc.
All in all, I'm glad I played this game. I only played the missions on normal difficulty; there's harder content to play in the game to keep you entertained.
The game itself worked okay in Steam but it wouldn't play cutscenes. I was extremely confused after the first mission I stole a vase and then the second mission I was in a quarry all of a sudden. Thankfully the older Thief games have a lovely fan base that made a free "patch." It updated the graphics a bit, improved compatibility with new pcs, and (most importantly to me) it fixed my cutscenes. So that was necessary for me to play the game.
It aged fairly well for a game that was originally released in 1998. Heavy focused on stealth, tons of gadgets, original story, and some world building. I thought this was set in sorta medieval ages but there's magic and otherworldly enemies. It was creative and neat to see this new environment in an older game. Honestly even refreshing.
The Bad: well the voice acting isn't great. I mean it was made in '98 so I'm giving it slack. Sometimes the characters speaking would make me laugh. The cutscenes were fine. The protag and the soldiers are good for their time. The house servants in the game though? Oh man...it was like the voice actor wasn't taking their job seriously but it came off as humorous. It didn't bother my gameplay though, made me laugh.
I did not enjoy some of the maps. I felt the last three missions in the game were big MEH. A lot of underground dirt tunnels and the enemies did NOT compare to earlier enemies. I wanted to shake in my boots when I first saw the Haunts in earlier missions.
The Good: I enjoyed most of my time playing this gem. I like in older games, game devs weren't scared of using bright colors in their maps. Some "current" games on the top of my head that are dark and stealthy are covered in black and gray tones. Boring. This game had mansions with bright reds or greens on floor tiles, walls, furniture, etc. I wasn't expecting the big arsenal of tools either. Rope arrows to climb on high ledges, water arrows to drench torches so you can hide in the dark, etc.
All in all, I'm glad I played this game. I only played the missions on normal difficulty; there's harder content to play in the game to keep you entertained.
I generally had fun with this game. I played Skyrim on the console years ago and this felt like a continuation of that gameplay. It was fun for me...not sure about other Elder Scroll fans.
I like the combat and the fact I don't have to f***king tab my targets like in other MMOs. I just look, aim, and shoot a fireball. It's fantastic. I don't have to stand still to cast my spells. I enjoy you can dodge and roll during combat. You can sneak and rob NCPs which you can't do in WoW or GW2. You can create more fantasy with your character, like maybe they are thieves so you rob and murder NCPs. You totally can here. I played for 80 hours and stopped at max level. I think I saw 1/4 of the world map and that's not including the new expansion that just came out.
The two big things that aren't enjoyable. This game has an issue with lag. It's known and hasn't been adjusted. Sometimes it's not too bad...other times, it's annoying and very noticeable. I don't like that I can't do the main story quests with a friend. The game forces you to do them completely solo. Why? Let me play with my friends. That's why I bought the game.
I like the combat and the fact I don't have to f***king tab my targets like in other MMOs. I just look, aim, and shoot a fireball. It's fantastic. I don't have to stand still to cast my spells. I enjoy you can dodge and roll during combat. You can sneak and rob NCPs which you can't do in WoW or GW2. You can create more fantasy with your character, like maybe they are thieves so you rob and murder NCPs. You totally can here. I played for 80 hours and stopped at max level. I think I saw 1/4 of the world map and that's not including the new expansion that just came out.
The two big things that aren't enjoyable. This game has an issue with lag. It's known and hasn't been adjusted. Sometimes it's not too bad...other times, it's annoying and very noticeable. I don't like that I can't do the main story quests with a friend. The game forces you to do them completely solo. Why? Let me play with my friends. That's why I bought the game.
This time doesn't reflect on the hours I put into the base game or the previous expansion. Nor did I track my WvW time to collect rewards and S L O W L Y build my first legendary weapon. (One day I will get you Sunrise. You will be mine.)
Path of Fire introduced vast new zones and mounts! The mounts in this game differ from Elder Scrolls Online and WoW. The mounts do more than get you from point A to point B. The springer mount is a rabbit that can jump to reach tall cliffs. The skimmer ray mount can glide across areas that are dangerous, like sulfur pits, quicksand, etc. It brought a unique experience of mounts in MMOs. Not just something to ride faster. For the most part I loved the new zones too. Only thing I did not appreciate were the death pits: sulfur, quicksand, etc. If you run in the wrong area or accidentally fall into these areas, you're dead. Just dead. Quick. It ended being frustrating at times more than challenging.
We're not finished with this expansion. Not by a long shot. We still have two hidden mounts to earn and many, many achievement challenges. But we wanted to move on with the story a bit before we spent all our energy on challenges. I do not want to be burnt out again. There's so much you can choose to do in this game.
Path of Fire introduced vast new zones and mounts! The mounts in this game differ from Elder Scrolls Online and WoW. The mounts do more than get you from point A to point B. The springer mount is a rabbit that can jump to reach tall cliffs. The skimmer ray mount can glide across areas that are dangerous, like sulfur pits, quicksand, etc. It brought a unique experience of mounts in MMOs. Not just something to ride faster. For the most part I loved the new zones too. Only thing I did not appreciate were the death pits: sulfur, quicksand, etc. If you run in the wrong area or accidentally fall into these areas, you're dead. Just dead. Quick. It ended being frustrating at times more than challenging.
We're not finished with this expansion. Not by a long shot. We still have two hidden mounts to earn and many, many achievement challenges. But we wanted to move on with the story a bit before we spent all our energy on challenges. I do not want to be burnt out again. There's so much you can choose to do in this game.
2015
Quick, dark game about getting away with murder. There's not much for gameplay. You can speak with your parents, sister, and the two servants. You go through the house and pick up two items. You typically want one evidence to plant and carry one weapon...to use for murder. The task is to pin your sister's murder on someone else in the house. There's three of these games now!
There's no voice acting, except one scream. A few evidence items and half a dozen weapons. Pretty basic.
There's no voice acting, except one scream. A few evidence items and half a dozen weapons. Pretty basic.
2010
I gave it the old college try and I had to call it quits. I think I made it through half of the main story missions. The game isn't bad. I personally began to feel overwhelmed with bullets flying everywhere and maybe I'm just old.
My two main gripes: the controls were not fluid. There were many unpleasant times when I wanted to simply jump down a small ledge and this jerk would jump like a skydiver...and faceplant in the ground. As I'm getting shot by five dudes. It was horrid.
The main gripe was the missions to help the three gangs gain new territory. EVERY MISSION WAS THE SAME. You had to help the gangs get new territory to unlock more of their missions and the main agency missions. Each gang...so that's three times you initially had to do it. Then how every many times after that. You escort and protect a technician. Same enemies, same layout, same everything. How completely dull.
The game was fun to just mess around in the open world. Everything else...not so much.
My two main gripes: the controls were not fluid. There were many unpleasant times when I wanted to simply jump down a small ledge and this jerk would jump like a skydiver...and faceplant in the ground. As I'm getting shot by five dudes. It was horrid.
The main gripe was the missions to help the three gangs gain new territory. EVERY MISSION WAS THE SAME. You had to help the gangs get new territory to unlock more of their missions and the main agency missions. Each gang...so that's three times you initially had to do it. Then how every many times after that. You escort and protect a technician. Same enemies, same layout, same everything. How completely dull.
The game was fun to just mess around in the open world. Everything else...not so much.
2019
Cute, wholesome game. You wander around collecting golden feathers, talking with other residents, and exploring for coins. It is a laid back game with zero stress. Everything felt at peace. No enemies, health bars, anything to worry you. I could have spent more time collecting coins and there were a few people I didn't help out. I completely missed the fishing guy. But I do like you didn't HAVE to do all the things to reach the ending. If there was something you didn't want to do, it was okay to skip it.
The art style was vibrant and cute. The music and sound effects were good. I do like how the end did feel it wrapped a story or least added more to the character.
The art style was vibrant and cute. The music and sound effects were good. I do like how the end did feel it wrapped a story or least added more to the character.
2018
I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to play this one. There's much I haven't tried: online pvp, certain clans that were DLC, or complete the story. My 9 hours is nothing to how much content there is to explore in Northgard. It's a RTS game which isn't something I play a lot. I do like it felt more quicker pace than other strategy games.
You could get attacked at any time and other "events" would spice up each game. One game I was hit with a blizzard during the entire winter months; I quickly ran out of food since I wasn't prepared. Another game I kept getting attacked by undead. I think each map has unique objectives and neutral races that can hurt or help you. I like you can trade with these neutral races and they can become friendly towards you. Or you can decide to straight up attack them.
I had fun in this game and I'm not fully "finished."
You could get attacked at any time and other "events" would spice up each game. One game I was hit with a blizzard during the entire winter months; I quickly ran out of food since I wasn't prepared. Another game I kept getting attacked by undead. I think each map has unique objectives and neutral races that can hurt or help you. I like you can trade with these neutral races and they can become friendly towards you. Or you can decide to straight up attack them.
I had fun in this game and I'm not fully "finished."
In the first chapter I wasn't completely sold. The strange humor, the insane plot that was starting to build, and the crazy environment. It's a very "anime" game and I'm not sure how else to describe it; you gotta be prepared for the craziness. The game grew on me after chapter 1.
The humor kind of added an "unsettling" feeling by the mastermind. They would make inappropriate or strange jokes.
The environment became my favorite part. In these horror/survive genres you usually see gore, blood, and spooky realistic buildings and living areas. While you do see blood in this game, it's a hot pink color. Most of the rooms in the game are bright, neon colored, and sometimes hold questionable objects. I appreciate the designers thought more than dark, spooky room with blood splatters = scary.
The slight "negatives" were small. There was a lot of character development for most of the characters. Except one...it just felt like something was missing for them. I don't want to go too far into detail in case of spoilers. This game did some weird things with my saves on Steam. Sometimes my text would be missing on the save file but thankfully everything seemed to save/load correctly.
The humor kind of added an "unsettling" feeling by the mastermind. They would make inappropriate or strange jokes.
The environment became my favorite part. In these horror/survive genres you usually see gore, blood, and spooky realistic buildings and living areas. While you do see blood in this game, it's a hot pink color. Most of the rooms in the game are bright, neon colored, and sometimes hold questionable objects. I appreciate the designers thought more than dark, spooky room with blood splatters = scary.
The slight "negatives" were small. There was a lot of character development for most of the characters. Except one...it just felt like something was missing for them. I don't want to go too far into detail in case of spoilers. This game did some weird things with my saves on Steam. Sometimes my text would be missing on the save file but thankfully everything seemed to save/load correctly.
This is the only game in this series I have played.
While I finished the game on story mode, there's also classic where you can create your own team from scratch. Plus NG+. I skipped all the optional secret bosses. Honestly, there's more to the game I didn't fully experience but I had my enjoyment.
It's a classic RPG: you level, there's skill trees, upgrade gear, side quests, and even draw your own dungeon maps. That's the part that intrigued me the most when I first picked up this game. I did enjoy that mechanic, pretty detail oriented. It was fun exploring the different levels of the dungeons for the first time. Every level was different and every five levels had their own game mechanics and ecosystems.
I enjoyed the music and the cutscenes were well done. The voice acting was great. The dungeons had a puzzle feel and encouraged exploring. Beating the bosses felt rewarding. The FOEs were fun to see.
The biggest negative has to be no option for subtitles in the cutscenes; which is an atrocity in an RPG where most of the talking in thru text anyways. I'm not sure why they didn't include that even as an option. The dungeons had audio cues that were EASILY missed too. You have to be very vigilant to not miss something. It's not hearing friendly.
But all in all, I did enjoy the game. Toward the end, it was getting very repetitive to me and I was itching for something new.
While I finished the game on story mode, there's also classic where you can create your own team from scratch. Plus NG+. I skipped all the optional secret bosses. Honestly, there's more to the game I didn't fully experience but I had my enjoyment.
It's a classic RPG: you level, there's skill trees, upgrade gear, side quests, and even draw your own dungeon maps. That's the part that intrigued me the most when I first picked up this game. I did enjoy that mechanic, pretty detail oriented. It was fun exploring the different levels of the dungeons for the first time. Every level was different and every five levels had their own game mechanics and ecosystems.
I enjoyed the music and the cutscenes were well done. The voice acting was great. The dungeons had a puzzle feel and encouraged exploring. Beating the bosses felt rewarding. The FOEs were fun to see.
The biggest negative has to be no option for subtitles in the cutscenes; which is an atrocity in an RPG where most of the talking in thru text anyways. I'm not sure why they didn't include that even as an option. The dungeons had audio cues that were EASILY missed too. You have to be very vigilant to not miss something. It's not hearing friendly.
But all in all, I did enjoy the game. Toward the end, it was getting very repetitive to me and I was itching for something new.
2020
Really short experience; it allows you to start a session from 20 minutes, 40 min, or 60min. I knew beforehand that the gameplay is low. You're simply hanging out with your family during a rainy day.
You can explore some rooms, pick up a few items to hear the character's thoughts, and speak with your family members. At one point, I even sat next to my (in game) brother and watched the rain. That was all I did for a few minutes.
It was peaceful and welcoming. A good break from action/RPG games. The sound of rain was fantastic and there were times where I could almost smell the rain.
The imagination of a child exploring in their grandmother's house created some whimsical scenes. There's six of those cutscenes. They were spread out and felt fun. I do wish there were more items to click on and get a bit more backstory with the family. I had a relaxing time and it shared a wonderful message.
You can explore some rooms, pick up a few items to hear the character's thoughts, and speak with your family members. At one point, I even sat next to my (in game) brother and watched the rain. That was all I did for a few minutes.
It was peaceful and welcoming. A good break from action/RPG games. The sound of rain was fantastic and there were times where I could almost smell the rain.
The imagination of a child exploring in their grandmother's house created some whimsical scenes. There's six of those cutscenes. They were spread out and felt fun. I do wish there were more items to click on and get a bit more backstory with the family. I had a relaxing time and it shared a wonderful message.