Blanc? More like Janc.

I really wanted to like this but despite the inherent cuteness and nice music, the gameplay makes it a chore at even just 3 hours in length.

Platforming and movement just doesn't feel good, especially if you're playing solo as you'll probably end up constantly confused about which side of the controller is piloting which character.

The game isn't hard but some parts could've used better signposting. It doesn't help that I had to reload several sections due to glitches - either an event not triggering or my character straight-up disappearing off the map. In one case I reloaded and the game skipped a puzzle lmao.

Checkpointing is also really poor - I reloaded a level and had to play through a whole 10 minutes again.

Hated the part with the ducks - it went on way too long. Enjoyed this way more in the early going when it was just a simple traversal game. Also the fake-out peril moments did nothing for me.

Throw in not-great controls and an awkward camera and this just feels hugely undercooked. Shame.

This was just lovely. An affecting story with well-wrought characters, a gorgeous art style, wonderful score, and clever central gameplay mechanic.

While the material will obviously appeal to the trans community more than anyone else, I think as long as you're an open and empathetic person there's a lot here to enjoy.

Also really dug the Irishness and the glossary of terms for international players. I'm in for whatever this team is making next.

I had a lot of fun with this. It's a nice evolution from Five Dates with dates in physical locations and a total of 10 romantic prospects. The production values are slick, the acting is solid across the board and the dialogue has a fun, cheeky vibe even when it's a bit corny at times.

I think having more fluid dating options would be a nice improvement for a future game, where the guy and girl could date all 10 of the suitors, but I'm glad they added one gay option per character, and this is a solid sequel all the same.

I will say that this is by far one of the best-looking FMV games I've ever played, right up there with Late Shift. The cinematography looks incredibly cinematic, the acting is solid, and it largely feels like a "real movie."

The problem is that the script isn't terribly interesting; this is a generic crime procedural with a hilariously obvious big reveal.

Also the choices aren't all that compelling; I played through it twice just to see most of the alternate scenes, but didn't really care about what was going on either way.

For some reason you can't pause or skip scenes on the Steam Deck, so I couldn't be bothered to play it anymore to see more footage. Bummer.

Charm can take you a long way, especially if you've got very little money to work with.

This thing was clearly thrown together at minimal cost but thanks to the fun performances and knowing script - which pokes fun at FMV games themselves - it's actually a good laugh.

And at 25 minutes in length it doesn't even begin to outstay its welcome. Kind of a shame the guys who made it never put out a sequel.

This is one of those "nice try" games. It looks really nice for a low-budget indie and has some great atmosphere but it's held back by tedious mechanics and jank.

A sci-fi walking simulator on the Moon? Great! Except most of the game has you walking at a snail's pace - or, when the game allows you, jogging - while performing a repetitive slew of dull tasks.

The worst offenders are by far the irritating time-based missions which, while not difficult, will make you start them all over again if you fail. And I really hated the stealth part with the drones mid-way.

All in all I admire the effort even if I found this incredibly flawed, and even at only 4 hours long it felt quite padded.

I'm usually pretty low on the Wales Interactive games, as much as I love the FMV genre, so it's a pleasant surprise that the rom-com of the bunch was actually pretty good!

Sure, it's very straight-forward from a design perspective and isn't doing anything interesting from a technical standpoint, but it's clear that a lot of effort went into the charming writing and especially the performances of the cast.

Unlike the other Wales game this actually makes it super achievable to easily see all the possible endings, which is nice.

Overall it felt like they put more effort into the writing and making this a charming experience, whereas most of the action/thriller games Wales has produced have felt quite low-effort and trashy.

Just a damn fun time. It looks great in both the gameplay and animated cutscenes, the voice acting and music rules, and the combat is fluid and fun as hell.

A few minor issues hold this back from being any higher than an 8 - the repetitive industrial environments got kinda boring after a while, the platforming is annoyingly finnicky in parts, and I wish there were more delineated rhythm-based set-pieces.

But still, a pleasant surprise to kick the year in gaming off.