Recent reviews by Fox^

Easily GOTY material for me this year: there's an insane amount of 'game' to unpack here and to call it anything short of legendary is doing it injustice. Plenty has already been said about UFO 50 on reviews, so I won't rehash that. Strong recommendation from me.

In short: 50 high-quality games made with 80s 8-bit design sensibilities, but with lots of modern quality of life improvements and new genres that didn't exist back then. UFO 50 feels and plays like what we remember the NES/SMS/PC-Engine games to be like; it is the very definition of nostalgia, and in the most positive sense possible. Get it if you enjoy 8-bit games, aren't afraid of challenge, and are craving something that is simultaneously familiar and experimental.

Heck, if you're on the fence, just get it and give it a try - the worst that could happen is you refund it. Just remember to try different games if the one you choose isn't doing it for you.

The CryptMaster asked me to give it a thumbs up, so I'm giving it all eight of mine. He put a lot of effort into resurrecting me you know.

Cryptmaster's a pretty cool guy, eh puns about and doesn't afraid of anything.

Sci-Fi themed Ziggurat; I don't know where the 'Megaman' comparisons are coming from because you don't get to use enemy weapons, but it plays a lot like Ziggurat 2 during the earlier days. Fairly polished for an early access title, great art design and direction, and completely unexpectedly: a fantastic soundtrack that uses a lot of leitmotifs similar to the Megaman X series, it's amazing.

Lacks a little in the way of enemy variety and content, but I have high hopes for this to be a solid FPS-roguelite ala Ziggurat if it continues being polished and added to. Recommended to buy, but only if you're into the genre or want to explore this genre as it is not too punishing, just know what you're getting into and don't expect more than that for now.

Excellent deckbuilder in my opinion and deserves to be up there with the best such as Slay the Spire and Monster Train. Don't come into this expecting it to play like either however; Wildfrost is a much more 'compressed' experience in the sense that decks remain small, gameplay very tactical turn-by-turn, and heavily emphasizes its own mechanics over conventionally established genre mechanics.

Top notch art, sound and concept design overall; some mechanics are a bit frustrating, but overall the whole of Wildfrost is an incredible package.

If you approach it as its own game and learn how to play it, there's a very rewarding game underneath. However, it is quite difficult/punishing of mistakes, so this is probably not a great deckbuilder for those just starting out or without taking time to familiarize yourself with how important its unique mechanics are. Great examples of this: when to take crowns vs charms, understanding when to invest/build around 1 card as a win condition vs your deck as a whole, and being comfortable with using HP as a resource due to the movement system in the game.

This game reminded me of the first time I played Half Life; enough said.

Great shooter; not your standard boomer shooter (in the sense that you are not an overpowered ball of destruction rolling over everything), but also doesn't lean too hard into 'ReAlIsM'. Fights are about brief skirmishes as you constantly play hide & seek, kind of like playing paintball or laser tag in reality: peekaboo to shoot people, and use the right guns v the right enemies for maximum benefits.

10/10 - smooth as hell, great atmosphere, great gunplay, lots of secrets. Zero complaints from me - people who complain about the 'old' engine or 'difficulty' are wrong and buzzkills.

O' Amir, don thy Sirwal & Fanila, walk thy path, and dispatchy thy Zindiq! Glory awaits thee at the Astrolith, and even beyond the Maqbara.

You know how Binding of Isaac can either be a ton of fun or an absolute bore depending on RNJesus? Path of Achra is all fun: absolutely fantastic roguelike that really scratches the core of what makes a lot of roguelikes fun, which is creating combinations that can break the game in many different ways. You simply create a character using a combination of cultures, classes, and religions (which effectively set you up to lean into a particular playstyle), then pick skills, all of which are effectively 'passive', and then go to town.

Want to spam hordes of minions? You can. Zip around the map randomly and damage everything? Possible. Damage everything just by walking? It's there. Elaborate chain reactions of damage? Oh yes. Plenty of build archetypes to have fun with, ranging from classic roguelike builds, all the way to really weird and gimmicky.

There isn't much 'active play' per-se other than moving your character and strategically using prayers (think god feats or favors) or hiding behind terrain from being overwhelmed if you're a meele type (most of the time, at least). However, if you would complain about how there are no active skills, I think you're just missing the whole point of this game because it is all about finding synergies that go together with your build's playstyle. It's like being in a lab with lots of dangerous explosives, except the aim is to have your enemies feel like they are locked in with you, and not the other way around.

The lore/flavor text in the game is really weird in a good way: very orientalist, pseudo-religious vibes with a ton of transliterated Arabic that I find very endearing.

10/10 honestly, the only thing I'd ask for is even more content (already rich though, I'm just greedy) and more music as there's only one track that plays, but even then not a big deal because it'll either be stuck in your head since it fits so well, or you'll turn the music off and play your own like any other Roguelike.

Highly Recommended for anyone who is a fan of platforming games; A passion project that cannot be described as anything short of a true work of art and GOTY 2023 for me already. Five years in the making, and fine-tuned to near-perfection.

Pizza Tower is what you get when you put Wario Land, Sonic, and a number of pre-2000 cartoons (courage the cowardly dog, cow & chicken, Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes) in a blender, and pair that with a high quality mix of gameplay, music, and visuals.

The only people who may not find this to be their cup of tea are those who don't like high-speed platformers, platformers in general, or cannot handle a game with a frantic pace - that's OK: this is an amazing game, just not up your alley.

Crimsonland returns, but in the age of vampire survivors.

Tight gameplay, interesting upgrades and character/weapon mechanics, and there is potential to break the game via builds with some thinking. Super fun - highly recommended if you love arcadey top-down shooters and/or games w/ short, sweet gameplay loops.

Easily the best non-Japanese bullet hell out there, with great twists from the roguelite/metroidvania genre to keep things interesting. One of the best games I've played in 2021.

Don't let the cute, 'childish' art fool you into thinking this is a very easy casual game: it's challenging without being impossible, and the gameplay loop is tight and addictive. Development is still active and the game is continuously being polished; this is clearly a labour of love in the vein of Stardew Valley, Terraria, Dead Cells, or Factorio.

tl;dr: Imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery.

Mighty Goose goes all-in on its inspiration: it looks, sounds, and feels as kinetic as Metal Slug.

The vehicles are lifted straight out of metal slug: tank, airplane, some sort of wheel-mech (that's really a tank without a cannon). So are the weapons: Rockets (yes, they home), Machine gun (yes, you have to spam the fire button to continue the barrage), shotgun (yes, it obliterates everything in front of it), and a tesla cannon (which seems inspired by Laser, but is kind of meh actually).

Despite it giving the bird to originality, it plays VERY well: it feels incredible to run & gun, and the goose himself is mighty responsive. Despite a shower of enemies, there actually isn't a lot of enemy attack variety or room to get hit if you're a veteran of the genre, so the difficulty is somewhat low and fairly forgiving - you also get 4 hits before you 'die', and even then you respawn very closely to where you died. You have to try hard to die however, especially since you have a 'super' mode that you can activate on command when you usually need it.

The game does have a few small shortcomings: the weapon variety is small, there isn't much of a plot (or originality), and the armory upgrades don't feel very impactful. That said, it's still a very solid game, and fills a niche that's been absent for years.

Thumbs up.