This game is a competent clone of Vampire Survivor, featuring a similar style and weapon types. It appears well-balanced, especially in the early stages, which feel reminiscent of early Vampire Survivors. However, it lacks the creativity of Vampire Survivors in terms of enemy types and weapon names, missing out on the silliness and lore that makes its inspiration unique.
While it doesn't offer enough novelty to pique my curiosity now, I might revisit it after achieving 100% completion in Vampire Survivors.

So many weapons! The music is fantastic!

The fact that a single person developed this game is mind-blowing given the amount of content, the variety of environments, and the attention to detail. It's even more remarkable considering that one person was skilled enough to handle the art, level design, coding, and the stunning music (the music in this game is truly exceptional!). Despite the retro and minimalist style, there are some beautiful scenes, and the game smartly zooms out to surprise the player and to let them experience the scale of this world.

Compared to other metroidvanias, Axiom Verge doesn’t really let you take different exploration paths, it usually points you in the right direction until you have almost all the upgrades you need to reach the end game, but it doesn’t prevent you from backtracking either (except towards the beginning, and that is smart because it saved me getting lost after I missed a section I could reach). My problem is that every time I went to a section I visited before to see if my new powers would unlock anything new I was bored when I had to go back to where I was supposed to be. The names of the areas were also too weird for me to remember which one is which.

The Bosses were the most disappointing part of the game, with their limited attack patterns, with some attacks being impossible to predicts, and the unclear vulnerable spots. Another problem is that secret areas are often absolutely invisible, and I ended up always running around spamming the powers needed to reveal them, wasting a lot of time for little value (I am not a completionist).

So many weapons! The music is fantastic!

Tales From the Borderlands tells a funny and compelling story, populated with interesting characters. The enjoyment of this game is entirely determined by how much the player enjoys the banter between the characters and the humor, and I was definitely vibing with it even though I have no attachment to the Borderlands universe.

The pacing felt inconsistent, sometimes quick time events come out of nowhere, but my main gripe with the game is that it didn’t seem that there were long terms consequences for my actions apart from which characters I would have available in one section towards the end of the last chapter. The game remains a pleasant experience, and by the end I really cared about every single character.

The buzz around this game made me buy an Humble Choice for the first time (also, I want to try the Yakuza series), and consequently increase the length of my backlog for the first time in a while. I think it was worth it.

This game will certainly captivate any anime fan, owing to its impressive art style and animation. Most of the time, it felt like watching a high-quality animated movie during cut scenes. Although the music was generally adequate, it reached exhilarating peaks in the last few levels. The gameplay is enjoyable and easy to pick up, yet tough to master. Chaining different combos is immensely satisfying. However, some levels felt overly long and redundant. The game's characters were its highlight for me; I enjoyed building the team and spending time with them. The final levels excellently showcased the team.

Impatient gamer verdict: Hi-Fi Rush is fun, fast paced, and not very time consuming. It offers challenges to keep playing after credits roll but I will skip those. Despite feeling repetitive during the middle levels, I never stopped having fun.

Cleaning Backlog: my recent Max Payne playthrough left me craving for more Remedy.

Control excels in world-building and offers thrilling action sequences. The full potential of these sequences is best experienced later in the game when all powers can be utilized, making you feel invincible. Personally, I was drawn to the game's atmosphere, its weirdness (especially the Dr. Darling videos), the lore, and the fast-paced action. The exceptional visual quality of the game left me speechless multiple times. However, due to the office setting, different areas often felt too similar.

I must admit, the action can become monotonous over time. This happened to me when I started focusing on side missions and challenges. Returning to the main plot rejuvenated my interest, especially as it coincided with one of the game's standout sequences (the one with the music, which was a lot of fun).

Impatient Gamer verdict: While Control's optional content can be time-consuming without feeling rewarding, the main plot progresses at a good pace and kept me engrossed throughout my playthrough, resulting in an overall exciting experience. I crave more, but I need to try something different for a while.

Surprisingly, this game lives up to its reputation. While it hasn't drastically changed how I look at the universe, it has provided a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Admittedly, there are moments in the game where the information you collect isn't completely new anymore, and the rewards for discovering new locations can feel a bit lackluster. After all, once you've essentially explored the entire universe, it's challenging to maintain the element of surprise. I concluded the game without investigating every nook and cranny, but the beauty of it is that you can decide to end it whenever you prefer, assuming you've gathered all the necessary information.
Despite these nuances, I firmly believe this game merits a full 5-star rating. Its execution of such an ambitious concept is impressive, leaving me awestruck on multiple occasions.