Recent reviews by Icel

A Little to the Left is a charming puzzle gem. Arrange household items in logical ways, with some puzzles offering multiple solutions for a satisfying challenge. The adorable visuals and relaxing atmosphere make it a perfect game to unwind and unleash your inner organizer. The main campaign takes about 5 hours, with DLC and daily challenges adding even more content. Highly recommended for puzzle fans!

Imagine XCOM, but with its strategic and tactical layers seamlessly merged into one. Now, throw in a They Are Billions/Age of Darkness-inspired campaign with turn-based combat. That's The Last Spell in a nutshell, and it's fantastic!

The game shines in its character management. Heroes gain abilities based on their weapons, but level-up bonuses are randomized, allowing you to craft unique specializations. It's a system that rewards experimentation and strategic thinking.

The Last Spell isn't a cakewalk. I've fallen to the first boss three times now, coming tantalizingly close to victory each time. But fear not, fellow commanders! The game features an "ease system" that unlocks as you progress. Each new game lets you choose three "signals" – buffs like increased lives, rations, or critical hit chance – to make things a little more manageable. This roguelike twist adds another layer of strategy and replayability.

Wildfrost is a roguelike card battler that's equal parts gorgeous and punishing. Think Monster Train or Slay the Spire, but with a breathtaking art style inspired by global indigenous cultures. The first tribe you encounter has a strong Inuit vibe, for instance, and the game's mechanics are cleverly woven into a natural world theme – acorns bolster your defenses, mushrooms unleash poisonous attacks, and so on.

Everything about Wildfrost is a visual and thematic treat. However, don't let the beauty fool you – this game packs a serious punch! I'm three hours in, and the difficulty is no joke. While I adore everything this game throws at me, I'm a little unsure how far my skills will take me

Here's the thing: even if Wildfrost ends up kicking my butt repeatedly, the experience itself is simply stunning. If you're looking for a visually captivating card battler with a unique thematic twist and a challenge to match, Wildfrost is definitely worth checking out. Just be prepared for a wild ride (pun intended)!

Tower defense fans, rejoice! Thronefall is a must-play. It's perfect for couch gaming with a controller, offering a refreshing twist on the genre. Inspired by Kingdom, you build defenses around your central kingdom instead of a linear path. The fun doesn't stop there – the difficulty scales nicely, and each map boasts optional challenges for the truly strategic.

House Flipper 2 scratches that home improvement itch perfectly. It's a fantastic job simulator with a wide variety of tasks, from the thoroughly satisfying to the slightly less thrilling.

While the scripted tasks offer a structured experience with clear goals, there's a certain freedom in tackling "flip" houses for sale. It's a blank canvas where you get to call the shots – but with that freedom comes the responsibility of remembering all the details. A checklist for these houses, similar to what's provided for the scripted tasks, would be a welcome addition.

The other missing piece is guidance on what actually affects the final sale price at auction. Knowing what renovations add the most value (and which ones might not be worthwhile) would be incredibly helpful. Imagine transforming a fixer-upper with the confidence of knowing exactly what buyers are looking for!

As a fan of survival games, I often find myself overwhelmed by their punishing difficulty and steep learning curves.
Enshrouded strikes a fantastic balance. It's an open-world adventure cleverly disguised as a survival game. Quests guide you with clear objectives and handy map markers, making exploration a breeze. It feels more inviting than the usual hardcore survival experiences, which is a big win in my book.
Overall, Enshrouded offers a refreshing take on the survival genre, welcoming newcomers with open arms and clear guidance. With its unique features and engaging world, it's definitely worth checking out, especially if you're looking for a survival experience that's more fun than frustration.

SpellRogue injects some fresh dice-rolling chaos into the roguelike formula, offering a compelling twist on games like Slay the Spire.

The core difference lies in how you power your spells. Instead of mana, SpellRogue uses dice. Each card has a specific dice requirement, ranging from needing a specific number, a range of values, or even two dice of the same face. The strategic depth comes from manipulating these dice: you can re-roll them, change their values, and even reverse them entirely.

Another key difference is the deck itself. Unlike Slay the Spire, SpellRogue doesn't have a traditional deck from which you draw cards. Instead, a pool of cards is always available, and you strategically choose a hand of 6 to work with. Deckbuilding happens through your collection, allowing you to swap these cards throughout your run.

I can confidently say SpellRogue is a fun and engaging experience, even for someone not quite a master like myself. While Monster Train still holds the crown for my favorite in the genre, SpellRogue offers a unique and enjoyable twist with plenty of room for growth as it continues through Early Access.

V Rising is a unique twist on the survival crafting genre, casting you as a resurrected vampire after a centuries-long slumber. Your goal? Rebuild your castle and reclaim your lost power by draining the "V Blood" from powerful humans scattered throughout the world – these turn out to be the game's challenging boss fights!

The game offers both PvE and PvP experiences on servers with up to 40 players, creating a bit of an MMO vibe, especially during late-game boss battles (according to my Twitch adventures). However, I've been enjoying my solo experience on a private server.

While undeniably fun, V Rising has a bit of a slow burn at the start. The early game can feel grindy, especially with travel time between your castle and points of interest. Thankfully, teleportation gates become available later, but they have a frustrating limitation: they can't be used if your inventory is full! This means you can zip out to explore but have to hoof it back home – unless you want to leave your resources behind.

Tom Clancy's The Division is a unique blend of genres. It mixes the cover-based shooting of games like Gears of War with RPG elements reminiscent of Mass Effect or Dragon Age, all wrapped in a Ubisoft open-world flavored with MMO features.

The core gameplay loop is fun. You take cover, manage different weapon types and grenades, and unleash special abilities to mow down waves of enemies. Fortifying a position and strategically taking down foes is genuinely satisfying. However, unlike a traditional shooter, your damage output is heavily influenced by RPG mechanics. Enemy rank, your own rank, weapon stats, and modifications all play a big role. This can lead to frustration for players expecting a pure shooter experience – sometimes, even headshots take ages to take down enemies, similar to the "bullet sponge" enemies found in some Borderlands games.

Despite this, The Division's world is beautifully crafted and immersive. Missions are accompanied by interesting voice-overs, each character has motivations, and even collectibles (of which there are tons!) have stories behind them. While the main plot doesn't reach the heights of something like The Witcher, it's polished and well-delivered. Think of Uncharted as a fast-paced movie, and The Division as a sprawling TV series where you spend time between episodes exploring a ravaged Manhattan and taking down bad guys.

The Borderlands series always intrigued me,

but I never dove too deep. Honestly, if it wasn't for all the buzz on Twitch, I probably would have skipped Borderlands 3 too. But let me tell you, I'm really glad I gave it a shot!

This game is a blast! The environments are gorgeous, the characters and humor are fantastic, and when you snag the perfect weapon, you get this incredible sense of flow as enemies just melt away. The developers also did a great job with diversity. There are way more female characters among the bad guys (something a lot of games still shy away from) and even a same-sex romance woven into the main story.

That being said, I did have one gripe with the seasonal events. They tend to shower you with way too much rare loot, which throws off the game's balance and can lessen the overall experience. I played during two of these events, and thankfully, the second one could be disabled so it didn't mess too much with the story.