Recent reviews by TurtleSwift

Firewatch is not as much a game as it is an experience. The gameplay mainly consists of walking from point A to point B without possibility of failure. That being said, the journey is nothing short of excellence.

So, there's this guy - Henry. Henry is out in the woods as part of a firewatch crew. There's this woman - Delilah, she's Henry's boss and she tells him what to do through a radio. You get the idea. A large part if the game is spent strolling around and talking to your boss, allowing you to take in breathtaking sites portrayed in colorful gradients and flat minimalist colors of various shades. Talking to your boss via radio also provides insight into both characters, making character development feel more direct and organic. The marvelous art and superb voice acting is aided by a vibrant assortment of piano and distant guitar sounds that fit the atmosphere of each scene.

I cannot find a bad thing to say about Firewarch. While I could demand a lengthier experience, six hours felt right for what there is to say. While the ending may not have been what everyone wanted, I felt it befitting for what the game was about. It is why the game is as wonderful as it is.

How life can hype you up, making your imagination run wild - only to let you realize it's actually much simpler than you hoped. Disappointment.

Firewatch is similar to Life is Strange, Gone Home and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, provides a decent metaphorical story and captivating characters drenched a colorful simplistic art style with a befitting soundtrack. It is meant to be experienced.

NightSky is a simplistic platformer in which the objective is to move an innocent sphere to the end. The end of what? You will have to decide as there's no narrative but your own motives to drive you there.

The controls are simple, movement based, which change depending on the level. In a lot of the levels you are the sphere and directly move it where you want to go. Some levels mix things up a bit and let you control things around the level, where the sphere relies on gravity to move. In one level you control pinball style flippers and in the next just need to hang tight on a moving cart and not fall off. Its all done in a tasteful and simplistic manner to break up flow a bit and make things a tad more interesting.

The world is wrapped in beautifully gradient colored backgrounds which let your mind fill in the gaps where the levels are taking place. Shaded foregrounds representing the physical world you move around and obstacles in your path are complimented by factory-brown backgrounds or misty-white rain plains and orange-yellow sunsets behind shades of trees. It's a good example of less is more and its works very well. Music wise, the soundtrack feels genuine to what you see on screen. Ambient and experiential tacks help with invoking the right emotions that coincide with each levels color.

The developers included a new game plus mode which involves the same levels with some objects modified to make them more challenging. This works for the most part and provides an extra set of achievements to complete and lengthens the game if you are into that sort of thing. I would recommend NightSky to anyone looking for a simple platformer to wind down and hey, if you get addicted to the gameplay - there is the challenging NewGame+ to complete after you are done. Took me about 10 hours to complete to 100%.

Hexcells Infinite is probably the absolute puzzle game in the Hexcells series (Hexcells, Plus). It feels like a new version of the previous two with new levels and a random generator for even more levels. Since this feels like a refresh of the series I will copy/paste elements from my review of the previous two and build upon them.

Hexcells is a fairly simple game, much of it employing a combination of mechanics from minesweeper and nonograms (Picross) on a non standard 2D grid. It is a logic game were rules of the levels are defined by numbered brackets (minesweeper style) that give information on whether nearby brackets are false or true. This is sometimes mixed in with column markers that do the same, but for a column (picross style). To deepen the gameplay a bit more, you are sometimes also presented with special rules beside the numbers which frankly, in my humble opinion, make minesweeper look like a joke.

The base levels start easy enough but the difficulty curve steeps beyond what was comfortable in the first game yet stays bellow the hellish fires of Hexcells Plus. This time round we are presented with a random level generator which definitely extends the game but sadly does not escape the dredge facing all random generated content. Even though Hexcells level are simple, they always feel like it is you against the designer. Where the designer tried fooling you with level symmetry, hiding some emotion in the puzzles. In contrast, random generated levels feel cold and somewhat uninviting. It's not a dealbreaker by any means but I would have opted for community designed level sharing instead.

As with previous games, It kept me coming back. Infinite is challenging and fun. Cheap and as long as you'd like it to be. Took me 13 hours to get 100% achievements but I have 999,999,940 levels to go.

Hexcells plus is the devil spawn of the simple logic puzzle game that stole our hearts, Hexcells.

While at its core, Hexcells is a fun, loving simple logic puzzler, Plus is what happens when demons spawn on the streets and start dragging people to hell. For how the game feels, you can read my review of Hexcells. Plus is the same game but with much harder levels, which you shouldn't be playing unless you've tasted the sweet fruits of the first one. Plus is hard to the point of getting stuck in a level and just not seeing any way to progress through it any further. It had me guessing on some levels which really should not be done in a logic puzzle. I'm not sure whether I just didn't see the clues or if the puzzles were designed that way.

Think of it like eating chili peppers. The mild ones have a rich taste, not too hot and spicy enough to open a pallet of flavors. Plus is what happens when you eat that 700.000 scoville habanero pepper and just cannot taste anything for a week after that. That's kind of how I feel about Hexcells plus. It's still fun, I still kept coming back to it after failing many times. I'd only recommend it if you tried the first game and were left wanting more. 11 hours to 100%.

Hexcells is a fairly simple game, much of it employing a combination of mechanics from minesweeper and nonograms (Picross) on a non standard 2D grid. It is a logic game were rules of the levels are defined by numbered brackets (minesweeper style) that give information on whether nearby brackets are false or true. This is sometimes mixed in with column markers that do the same, but for a column (picross style). To deepen the gameplay a bit more, you are sometimes also presented with special rules beside the numbers which frankly, in my humble opinion, make minesweeper look like a joke. It feels like the kind of game you'd see in the crossword puzzle section in a digital newspaper of the future.

It's all good fun, really. Perfectly balanced, not hard nor easy. If any of these aforementioned games interest you, give this a try. For the low price point the developers are asking, you owe it to yourself to play this. Took me a good two and a half hours to get to 100%.

Tricone lab is a puzzle game in which the goal is to connect three different colored cones into one tricone via a catalyst. Simply connect the pieces and you're done! Well, there are obstacles that make this a bit more difficult and tools you can use to circumvent them. The cell walls, borders, require carriers to carry each cone over or breakers to destroy the walls. These in term require their own parts to be connected to their own respected constructor catalysts and built before you can use them. There are more of these gadgets you can use, all of course after you build them, if there are enough resources floating around for that given puzzle of course.

Gameplay is well thought out and features an indirect approach to puzzle solving, requiring the player to gradually build up to the solution and crack the puzzle. Such a design choice equates to very satisfying and addictive puzzle solving.

Everything in the game is well presented to the player in a non obvious tutorial style so the player is familiar with every mechanic. Every map beaten awards the player with a key (and an achievement) representing their understanding of that mechanic. These keys are then in term used to access certain maps thus ensuring one can't play any puzzles using mechanics one does not understand.

Technically, the game runs fine and is without any performance issues. I did not run into any bugs. There is an easy to use level editor available and community designed puzzles can easily be downloaded and played. Artistically I did get tired of the grey and white color scheme quickly but for a one man dev team to accomplish such a well polished product, I can not complain. Took me 7 hours to beat the included 100 levels.

This is a hardcore puzzle game. Unique in every way, no story and no nonsense. The gameplay is fun, a bit addicting and the levels are very well designed. Can't go wrong with this one.

Prepare for a journey of self discovery through distant lands and fantasy wrapped science fiction flavoured worlds.

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is primarily an adventure game following the story of one Zoë Castillo and taking place in multiple different and diverse environments. Futuristic sunny and warm Casablanca, downtrodden rainy Venetian canal ridden streets of Newport, snowy medieval steam punk infused Marcuria and even hidden damp tree house based Swamp City. The characters that fill these worlds are also all interesting and unique. As the game relies on plot to drive the player forward, I will not mention anything about it but it does its job very well. The story is interesting and full of well designed characters and locations. The lore is presented in easy to swallow chunks and allows room for interpretation while still feeling solid and believable. This is a must as much of the game relies on walking and interacting with objects. There are some light environmental puzzles that slow down your progress through the story and break the monotony of walking or pushing through the story too quickly. Though it did feel like there could have been more of them as the gameplay is very shallow mostly consisting of walking and talking to characters. There are some fight sequences but it is evident the developers did not invest much time into them as they feel very wonky.

Technically speaking, the game has no larger problems. Mouse and Keyboard controls are not the best but can be tweaked to your liking – I found the gamepad works best. Graphics are acceptable for a 10 year old game and the high colour vibrant art style means time has been kind to it. 1080p works fine with no frame drops on modern machines. Voice work is all very well done and the soundtrack is nothing less than wonderful.

It took me 12 hours to finish it and I couldn’t get enough of it. As a game relying on story employing not all that spectacular gameplay, I was left wanting more. This game is the sequel to The Longest Journey (separate storyline of other character) and prequel of Dreamfall Chapters (continuation). I eagerly recommend this game to anyone looking for something story rich and similar to games like Life is Strange™, Syberia, MYST and anything from Telltale.

Volume is a pure stealth game with simplistic, yet beautiful colors encapsulating the English spirit.

The premise is simple: you are in a virtually generated room filled with guards and objects to collect, the goal simpler: get to the exit. Most of the times you are given a tool such as a distraction device or full out invisibility to help you along the way. There are 100 such rooms or levels that the developer included although the included level editor and community browser with weekly level staff picks provide a relatively healthy supply of fresh and exciting new rooms. It's fun but It feels very shallow in its entirety. The biggest flaw in the title is the linear design of the levels. Because you are given carefully picked tools to aid you in each level, the gameplay starts feeling like a puzzle solver. This inevitably severely limits your choices on how you would like to approach certain situations therefor making the levels lack in depth. Luckily it is innovative and unique enough to keep one interested.

Length wise It took me a little over seven hours to beat it in its entirety (100% achievements) but again, if you get hooked, user levels are always available. It's one of those games that I feel everyone would enjoy but its questionable how much you could take before you would feel bored. It's a bit of a hard recommendation looking at its steep price point but an excellent approach to visual level design, innovative gameplay and unique writing thematic makes me think its justified. If you like what you see, I've no doubt you will love it.

Welcome to the post-apocalyptic wonderland of beautiful metropolitan Boston, MA - Fallout 4. As per tradition, Bethesda's RPG recipe remains unchanged: open world, quests, levels and skills, sly and witty humorous remarks all decorated in the current coat of paint they have on hand at the time; medieval fairy tale land or post-apocalyptia all wrapped in an engine that's easy to mod. It's buggy, it's an unjustifiable resource hog and the story isn't the best out there but all that is quickly forgotten once you've sprayed your first opponents brain across the room in such a wonderfully gory manner, that even the old Colosseum minded Romans would applaud.

So, nuclear war has hit and you, being the smart cookie that you are, signed up for a full suite in a cryogenically frozen coffin, safe from outside radiation. Fast forward a couple hundred years and your son in stolen from you, your significant other killed before your eyes and you're out for revenge. The first thing you are introduced to in Fallout is settlement creation. A new feature in Bethesda games, you are now able to collect resources from the commonwealth, build houses and furniture, recruit people to live and work there and sustain a healthy settlement amidst the ruins of a post nuclear world. Its all very wonderful really, playing sims when you should be doing better things.
I spent a great deal of time building the perfect village, building houses, placing farms, electric systems, water pumps, walls, defenses and managing my settlers while waiting for the next idiot to send a squad of attackers my way. Needless to say, my defense turrets got the job done before I could taste the blood of battle.

The combat system is quite comprehensive yet as simple as firing a gun. All weapons are modable (as is armor) and allow you to upgrade them with whatever you want, providing you have the right skill or perk leveled up of course. The weapons feel right and very organic, recoil and range feel spot on and handle as expected. My favorite is the rifle of course with its long range, high stopping power and very satisfying head shot head explosions. V.A.T.S. makes a return and aids in killing those oh so hard to hit targets. Just pick the body part you want to hit, press a button and enjoy the carnage. Quite prevalent seems to be the power armor, a strong suit of armor requiring uncommon to find power cores that make you a bit tougher (and cooler). You can paint and mod it of course, though it does require repairs every few battles depending on how much hits you take. I didn't wear it that much as It completely changes the HUD and requires parts maintenance.

There are four main factions for whom you will be doing your bidding in the commonwealth. The boy scout minutemen aim to make the world a better place for humans and the like, the brotherhood of steel who hate everything non human - specifically synths, the railroad who like trains want to free synthetic life and the synth makers themselves - the institute, the bringers of technology and the new hope for underground life. The story throws you into interactions with all of them and due to your devilish good looks make you the go to guy for every peanut bag they need opened. Finally you are given the option on whom you want to side with, which will change certain quest paths but disappointingly not alter the ending by much. Gameplay allows you to rely on however you want to approach certain situations. Going in guns blazing or armed only with your fists seem to be the popular way of doing things, sneaking is always an option, though it's rarely viable if you don't have the right perks. Talking your way out of certain sticky situations is still a possibility sometimes but again only if you have the correct perks. Perks do make the character and although there is no need to carefully plan them, they will determine your play style for the duration of your playthrough. The level cap is set at a rather high number though so in theory you could get most of the perks you wanted.

Technically speaking, the game is a mess. Bugs spawn a plenty as with any Bethesda game but do not prove to be game breaking. Hardware requirements seem drastically too high compared to what the final product looks like. It does seem like a month more time on the optimization table would rid any hindrance of performance issues. On less than recommended specs I did notice some very unreasonable frame drops in some areas of the game and zooming in on some scopes tanked it down to the point that I steered clear of scoped weapon mods altogether. I thought that it was unjustifiable too as the game does not look all that amazing to warrant such high hardware taxation. Some 3D models looked more like they were put together with clay and some textures are far away from belonging in a 2015 game however to some degree this does help with loading times. The developers do make good use of special effects and lighting as moonlit scenes of low fog in forest areas look quite peaceful. Rain feels like it washes all your radiation cares away and radiation storms make you want to just hide under the covers with on e of your faithful companions. So I can't really say the game looks ugly as the style in which is presented in fits so well with everything else. Aided by the wonderful score composition, which is so good it had me shut the in game radio off, the game just feels amazing and you can't be bothered to care about its imperfections.

It took me about 80 hours to complete the game (100% achievements) but that's really a huge understatement of how much content it provides as I probably missed a fair amount of content and quests. It's an open world game and it's not a boring world by any stretch. Everything you find could potentially amuse you in some way or another. Humorous anecdotes await those who only need to seek them. The story is far from spectacular and it's technically not the most stable game but that doesn't mater. From building villages, whatever kind of combat you desire, looting or just exploring the neat and the strange - this game is extremely fun.

This short platformer's got soul, a cool 8 bit soundtrack and tight controls.

I'll skip the story and let you figure that one out for yourselves. The core gameplay consists of platforming, shooting things and using your teleport gun to... well teleport around the place and get over obstacles. There are collectibles scattered all around the place which help you progress more easily and help with the final boss battle.

The soundtrack compliments the mood that the artist has set here; marooned on a strange planet of slug creatures, now stop crying, take that teleport gun, fix your ship and get revenge! It's an incredibly fun experience although it is rather short. My first playthrough took me a little bit over an hour and 30 minutes to complete. Second was a bit over 40 minutes and the last speedrun was just under 20 minutes.

I wouldn't hesitate getting this game even at full price though I must note that it was on sale with a hefty -96% discount when I bought it.