Recent reviews by Baker

Animal Well invites you into a deep, labyrinthine world of exploration, where an ever-expanding toybox of tools helps you navigate its intricate secrets. There’s no combat; instead, the tools you find assist you in further exploration and help you avoid danger. While it may appear on the surface to be a simple puzzle-platformer, the deeper you delve into its mysteries, the more layers there are to uncover.

With its stunning pixel art, the game is a delight to explore. Even after completing the main story, Animal Well offers plenty to do, revealing its true depth. Its densely packed with secrets that remain consistently engaging...just when you think you’ve uncovered everything the game surprises you with yet another layer.

If you’re like me and craving a new FEZ-like experience, I highly recommend this game.

Getting lost in Grounded is an absolute pleasure and wonder. As players are zapped into miniature form, they find themselves exploring a vast backyard straight out of the 90s. The encompassing experience involves piecing together makeshift tools, weapons, armour, constructing shelters/bases, and collecting food and water. I had a great time creating a network of flying foxes for easy traversal around the backyard, establishing mini-bases as safe havens from the bugs only so that i can go deeper into the backyard and further explore this delightful game.

Certain armor and weapons work better on certain enemies, so it's imperative for you to kill all kinds of bugs and collect various resources to be scanned into your database to see what you can make from them. The weapons and armor sets are quite diverse, allowing you to explore various build types. Furthermore, you're encouraged to find molars scattered around the backyard for permanent character stat upgrades like HP and Stamina. There is a story to discover about why you have been shrunken down, a friendly robot named BURG.L helping you, and miniature science labs throughout the backyard.

Performance-wise, Grounded is as visually stunning as it is smooth, with no notable issues that I have encountered. The post-launch support for the game has been amazing, consistently introducing new content. Grounded is an easy recommendation.

CYBERPUNK!- Keanu Reeves

Being a stranger in a strange land exploring The Oldest House with its constant shifting brutalist environments is a real treat uncovering the conspiracies and mysteries abound of what exactly is going on.

Combat is a spectacle in it self with destructible environments and with abilities like telekinesis to send missiles and grenades back to there owners will leave a once a pristine ordered area into the lobby scene from The Matrix. Upgrading your service weapon and powers shifts your play style and ability to explore once before unattainable areas.

Remedy does not disappoint with the staple of integrating video clips of live action actors to only further enhance the games story telling. Control is a beautiful game with rich eerie atmospheric environments that'll keep you guessing on what is around the next corner. Control has a great OST with Poets of the Fall making a return.

Control has done a fantastic job of story telling, world building , exploration and combat.

Don't skip on Control, go visit The Oldest House and TAKE CONTROL!

A deep charming farming game with lots of side activities to be had.

SteamWorld Dig 2 is a delightful metroidvania, that builds apon the concepts from the first with its rich art style and chill breakbeat style soundtrack.

HITMAN is the assassins playground. With multiple tools, gadgets and weapons at your disposal HITMAN's open maps allows you to tackle the mission more than one way.

Taking advantage of opportunities through gathering info while on ground, assuming multiple identities to get closer to your target, improvise on the fly, set traps, execute your mission and escape with out getting caught.

6 giant maps each offering hours of gameplay and challenges fulfil, Escalation mode where your assigned target/s with parameters to follow after completing said parameters they'll further escalate. HITMAN is best in the series and it's the most fun a HITMAN can have.

INSIDE pulls you into its dark dystopian world from the start and won't let you go with the drive to know more, questions you want answered and the only way to find out is to keep moving forward. INSIDE is told through environmental story telling with it's with mute colours, featureless figures, dark atmospheric music and minimalistic sound to highlight and set the somber tones. Puzzles are there to slow you down but are not frustrating and difficult to over come. INSIDE for me was the drive to know more, explore and find out what on earth is going on. INSIDE deserves your time and attention and best be played in one sitting.