by LepcisMagna 
Some sequels take everything from the first game and are able to not only expand on the mechanics, but recontextualize what you learned in the first one. Some sequels aren’t so ambitious, but still provide an interesting continuation to a story couched in familiar mechanics. Then there are some sequels that add practically nothing new to the series and can, in fact, lower your opinion of the original entry.
Continue reading “Subnautica: Below Zero”by LepcisMagna 
A trilogy that’s been on my list for a very long time. With the recent “Legendary Edition” out on Steam, I figured now is probably a good time to go and play them all.
Continue reading “Mass Effect – Legendary Edition”by LepcisMagna 
I was definitely ready to make a list of squirrel puns while writing this review. Completing the game, however, drained me of all desire to make that effort. This is the first game I’m putting into Tier Four without hating it.
Continue reading “NUTS”by LepcisMagna 
I’ve started writing this, but I’m still not sure where I’m going to put Subnautica, tier-wise. It’s certainly good – my initial opinion wasn’t too far off the mark. Still, my mind kept making comparisons to FarSky even though it’s been three and a half years since I played either of these games. In most ways, Subnautica is just a prettier, longer, and more complete version of FarSky. The trouble is that that includes the flaws as well.
Continue reading “Subnautica (Completed)”
by Chezni 
Sure, she looks all important while standing in a completely dark room while a door opens in front of her revealing a blinding light beyond, but really she’s just standing there because she needs to wait for her eyes to adjust.
by LepcisMagna 
Myst is perhaps the most famous point and click adventure game series, surpassing both The Secret of Monkey Island and Broken Sword, in my opinion. When I was much younger, Myst was the game that always drew my eye and made me imagine the fantastic worlds that must lie within. For one reason or another, I never played it until now. After accidentally stumbling across C.G.P. Grey starting a playthrough of it on YouTube, I figured now was as good a time as any.
Continue reading “Myst: Masterpiece Edition”by LepcisMagna 
On the one hand, there’s a lot to like here. On the other hand, there’s also a lot of things that don’t quite work.
Continue reading “Suzerain”by LepcisMagna 
I guess I can’t really say why I like Kentucky Route Zero. By all accounts, I should probably hate it. It has as little interaction as a visual novel, has a slow walking speed, is about as open to interpretation as anything imaginable, and you’d be forgiven for saying it was pretentious.
Continue reading “Kentucky Route Zero”by LepcisMagna 
The short: just play Antichamber and The Stanley Parable (which at time of writing would cost about the same amount).
The long:
Continue reading “Superliminal”by LepcisMagna Today, Flash dies. Or possibly the 21st. Or possibly not for a year or two as business applications will have procrastinated on moving to new technologies. But still – today will be the official death date, even if there are some throes for the next while.
Flash games were incredibly popular during what I would consider the adolescence of the internet. Newgrounds, Miniclip, and Kongregate were hubs of entertainment for bored children looking for free games. These days, the equivalents would be mobile games and indie Steam games – but where mobile games try to sap your time and money, flash games were just experiments by aspiring game developers or bored teenagers. Where indie Steam games are usually awful, flash games were, too. But at least they were free. And every once in a while you’d run across a gem. That’s hard to argue with.
Fun story: flash games were the first things I hoarded – er, “curated” – back when modems meant waiting multiple minutes for anything that dared to include audio at bitrates not meant for HitClips. Today, BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint has captured a staggering number of these games (close to 80,000) and preserved them (though my collection still includes a few that I need to curate into Flashpoint – though one of them I just can’t get to work, sadly). I figure this is a good time to remember a few of the good ones.
Continue reading “Flash Games”