The Lamplighters League is an interesting game that falls short due to clunky stealth sequences and repeating level design. Have you played the board game Arkham Horror or Eldritch Horror? The Lampligheters League cribs a lot from the classic board games, throwing in some XCOM-lite tactics combat with the stealth sections of Mutant Year Zero.

The game has a lot of good writing and lore, and it really takes a while for the Lovecraftian horror to actuall manifest which is nice, I dig that. The characters are fun and charming, which goes a long way to creating that scoundrel pulpy adventure that you want. The game has a DOOM meter just like the board games, as you try to keep the various factions at bay while progressing your story.

But the clunky stealth before encounters really doesn't feel good. It's hard to make it work well, and to be honest you really do need to be able to pick enemies off in the shadows if you hope to survive, especially before you start unlocking new abilities and upgrades. That makes those first few hours a slog.

I made it about half-way through a run and decided to bow out. The game uses procedural levels which means I was hitting the same style areas a lot by the 20 hour mark. If the gameplay was top notch that wouldn't bother me, but there were just enough rough edges that I decided to put this down.

If you like tactics games, and want something that feels like Eldritch Horror or Arkham Horror, I would recommend playing it on Gamepass, or getting it in a sale. The Steam reviews are pretty unfair. There is a pretty good and fun B game here, but I have too many other A hits in my backlog to warrant spending more time on this. I actually need to go play XCOM 2!

A series that never appealed to me in the past, I could not get away from the mountain of praise that podcasts were throwing at this game, and living in Japan I see ads for it all the time when catching the train to work. I decided to give it a shot, and I was immediately hooked. Pikmin 4 has such a delightful tone, and the gameplay loop of setting out to explore, fight bugs, and explore the caves really hooked me in. I was really hell bent on getting 100% completion on each area, and I typically never do that in games.

Sure, this is no XCOM, Fire Emblem, or Starcraft when it comes to strategy, but it does have just enough there that will have you spinning plates and looking for the most optimal ways to kill your enemies while rescuing fallen comrades or uncovering ancient treasures.

It took me just over 20 hours to complete, and I have 100% on every region. There is a post-credits sequence that opens up A LOT MORE PIKMIN 4, and that was really awesome. I will continue to pick at that content, but for me even those 20 hours were more than enough to leave a lasting impression.

If you have any interest in a light strategy game and want an addictive loop that really plays well into casual "just one nice session" per day game, I really recommend picking this one up, it will surely have something to delight you with!

Alan Wake II had some pretty big shoes to fill, and in many ways it is the perfect culmination of everything that Remedy has made up until this point. The combination of Saga and Alan's stories was a great narrative treat, however I couldn't full-heartedly recommend this game. The combat is an absolute slog, especially in Alan's segments. That really brings the game down, as you fight with a never ending sea of shadows.

I also can't get over just how much the game is cribbing from Twin Peaks, particularly Twin Peaks: The Return. I understand that the first game was a homage to Twin Peaks and Stephen King, but the visuals, the style of the Koskela Bros. ads, the imagery for switching realities, even down to Scratch's leather coat. It really felt like they have enough of their own great narrative to pull on here, we didn't need to see owls and end every chapter with a song like The Return did.

I will play the DLC. I am a sucker for narrative and I love Alan Wake. But I don't think this is a great game.