I believe this is the only volleyball game I've ever played. And it's a fun time! Super simple and barebones, but when you manage to throw a power spike it's so satisfying!

The silly jokes in the signs on each city's field are also small, funny details.

The music is iconic, the sprites are fun, and the gameplay is simple but tight. I feel like the timing for countering or dodging the deadly hits from your opponents is too strict and ends up feeling unfair and frustrating, but then when you do manage is a great feeling too.

A classic.

Another one I played around the time it came out. Played it on Steam Deck and it's as great as I remember it.

The art style is fantastic - I took lots of screenshots! - and alongside the unique and atmospheric music it easily transported me into that robots-city. Stellar, fully-textured soundtrack that I go back to all the time. The song played by the robot-band is a total banger and it's too bad it's not part of the soundtrack! Good reason to revisit the game, I guess.

I really appreciate Machinarium's uniqueness, quietness, length, and stylish charm. Would love to see more of this world and characters.

2008

Hadn't played this one since the around the times it originally came out.

The challenges and puzzles are still impressive. It's truly remarkable how much variety of mechanics are at play, all revolving around time-manipulation. So satisfying.

Didn't care much for the tale it's trying tell, however. Felt like it was trying too hard to be deep and thought-provoking.

Regardless of that, the art style and music can now be considered nostalgic and they're definitely wonderful still.

A benchmark title.

What an absolute blast.

Played it on SteamDeck.

It's just oh-so-satisfying to follow the beat and hit, combo, dodge, and parry enemies to the music. It's brilliant!

I genuinely didn't want the game to be over, and at some point I just went to the training mode to just pass the time practicing combos and timing, so as to not progress on the story!

But tonight I finally went in for the finish, and loved it all the way.

The whole package is a fantastic mix of great visuals, fun and snarky writing, charming characters, super tight and fun gameplay, and an amazing soundtrack. Loved the whole band, the levels, the details, the vibes. It was somehow so wholesome and energetic.

A reverberating triumph.

Played it on the SteamDeck. I dig the gothic vibes of Castlevania so this was no exception - monsters, levels, music - they build a great atmosphere.

However, the game overall feels very “rudimentary”. Maybe because it’s an early GBA title, or that it tried to combine classic Castlevania with Metroidvania, or it’s just me that played this one after Aria Of Sorrow and the DS ones.

I basically enjoyed the movement, weirdly enough, and the core Metroidvania bits. Everything else felt lacklustre to me; the lack or super low rate of item drops, the even lower drop rate of cards - which made the whole DDS mechanic feel secondary - the super shallow plot and terrible dialogue. It pales in comparison with earlier and later series entries.

Still, it was one of the entries in the series that intrigued, and I still enjoyed it enough to finish it.

I've lost count of the times I've tried to keep playing this game after starting and playing it for a few levels but then forgetting about it. Ever since it came out!

This time, it finally stuck and I had a great time. Even though it's an early GBA title, it looks and plays great.

I really like the openness of the game overall. The levels, although somewhat linear, do have branching and/or hidden paths which keeps them interesting.

The time-limit stuff was mostly thrilling and fun, but also a bit frustrating a few times - specially on a couple of bosses.

All in all, it's a blast. I'm glad I finally completed it. It's possible that it is the first GBA game I ever played!

A shame that the Wario Land series is all but abandoned now. Waaaaaaa!

A super-intense, oppressive, and rewarding experience.

I remember playing the demo a couple of years ago and being both excited and scared from it - by the end of the demo I was conflicted; the gameplay had a heft to it that felt great, and the survival mechanics were engaging. But it was just too intense and stressing, so I decided to postpone playing it then.

Having now finished both Leon and Claire's campaigns, I am so glad I went back to the full game. I absolutely loved it. The police station felt like a big puzzle on itself. The overall pacing is simply excellent. The environments are filled with objects and details that make them worthwhile to explore and appreciate. The inventory management and equipment progression adds a layer of strategy and challenge that's fun and rewarding on its own.

And then Mr. X shows up.

I felt like the stakes and the intensity skyrocketed once Mr. X was thrown into the mix. Hearing his steps nearby (with headphones it was so cool how you could estimate his location based on the source of the sound of his walk), the music escalating as he approached you. Terrifying and blood-pumping.

The story and characters are intriguing and charismatic enough to keep everything entertaining, although the dynamics of both Leon/Ada and Claire/Sherry felt a tad contrived or cliche at points, but also campy in a fun way.

REmake 2 is just on another level. Thanks to this game I am now obsessed with the series. Can't wait to bite deeper into it.


Everything about this detective adventure felt unique and fresh: the visuals, the use of music and sound effects, and most importantly the mechanics and game loop.

The story is interesting and mysterious enough to keep us engaged and willing to solve it all.

It all feels meticulously designed to fit together perfectly.

At some times it felt overwhelming with the amount of things to solve at once, but that ended up changing to satisfaction once we managed to figure each clue out.

Having said that, by the end it felt like we weren’t solving the cases by following clues as much as trying a few combinations that happened to work.

Ultimately, Return Of Obra Dinn is a super rewarding experience. All encompassing uniqueness.

It nails the charming and chill vibes right from the start. It’s inviting and kind.

I really liked the storytelling, which is mostly implied or deducted with the hints provided by the stuff that you have to unpack on each house move.

Mechanically however, it was not easy to stay engaged after a handful of chapters. There’s no new gameplay aspects introduced later on or anything, so it feels repetitive after a few chapters and all the way to the end. And halfway through this it became tedious to have to organise some parts of the house that just weren’t fun for me. This led me to play it less frequently until I stopped playing it for months. Only today I felt like going back to it and finished it.

Overall it’s a well-polished and cutely designed experience that I’m glad I had, but it became repetitive and tedious after a while and was carried by the wonderful pixel art and chilled atmosphere of it all.

Although initially off putting, the art style quickly won me over and immediately felt just right for the story it was telling.

Mechanically, I don’t think I’ve played anything like this; perhaps Outer Wilds - which I loved - comes the closest but it’s a whole different tangent of this (and Obra Dinn is already on my queue, btw!). I was totally engrossed by it from the start.

The story was intriguing enough that I was thinking about it and coming up with theories even between play sessions across days.

This was a blast to play with my wife, who loves mysteries in general - which I guess made the whole experience just take around 4 days, and without need for hints whatsoever.

Although I was able to predict some of the twists in the story, in the end it was still a super rewarding experience.

If this team releases new mysteries with the same mechanics, I’ll happily support their efforts.

1996

I remember playing this years and years ago but not finishing it. Now thanks to the Steam Deck I finished the main, 'Quake' campaign and totally loved it.

It's so pure in its design and ideas.

A nostalgia trip to hell and back.

Surprised at all the less-than-favourable reviews about this one!

Obviously the main hook here is how you play as the monster that has to ravage through various facilities. It’s a great concept and it’s executed excellently.

I loved the feeling of movement - it was satisfying to move around so freely.

It has a clear metroidvania-lite style, where some paths are blocked until you gain the abilities to overcome them. I thought the lack of a genre-typical map in favour of an “echolocation“ system made the (shallow-level) exploration more involved and interesting.

Halfway through the game you get to play as other people and fire some weapons and use some armour (trying to keep it spoiler-free here) that’s very satisfying.

Finally, you get some light-puzzles here and there which keep things engaging and varied.

There’s very little story or plot here and it’s very simplistic. It’s a game clearly focused on the mechanics where the story was a nice extra to glue things together thematically.

It took me 6.5 hours to finish it and overall I’m satisfied. A visually great game with great music and atmosphere.

Played on SteamDeck.

Full of charm.

The open-ended exploration is super fun - like having almost-full access to an expansive theme park as soon as you go in.

The controls are fluid and the music is wonderful.

A short, chill, and lovely experience.

Played on SteamDeck.

played it on the Steam Deck

totally crazy plot but fun characters that i wish were more fleshed out

the gameplay clicked with me right from the start and felt very rewarding all the way through

the set pieces are wildly fun and visually fantastic

there were only a couple of occasions where the camera positioned in a way that was frustrating because the timing was critical - they were a minor nuisance, however and the only issue i found in the game

a very straightforward, super fun game