Recent reviews by Laura

This past week I had the delight of playing Promesa for the first time, and the experience was stunning.
I took the advice in the main menu seriously - play this game in the dark, with headphones. For me that meant waiting for a free evening, as a lot of my gaming happens during daylight hours, and it was absolutely the right call. If you can play this game in the dark, you should.

Promesa was a breathtaking experience of light and shadows with beautiful music and sound design. The story itself is dreamlike, with slow movement and visuals that hold your gaze. Your progress is loosely bound together by fragments of conversation, which were inspired by a conversation between the developer and his grandfather.

This game conveys the idea of a familial memory, the feelings and stories that are passed down through families, and take root in our hearts and our memories. I can close my eyes, and I remember the hot fields of southern Kentucky, the stories my grandpa and his brother told me, ripe tomatoes, and black barns for drying tobacco. I didn't live those days, but I have seen them through the eyes of my family.

In much the same way, this game takes hold. My first playthrough I spent 35 minutes in my dark office, but I came to know the landscape of Promesa. You walk the same halls, and learn the same places, at different points in time. The game feels lonely, like coming home to an empty house, but the world it creates feels lived in. I was excited to share the experience with my wife, not long after my first playthrough, and I look forward to playing again.

If you enjoy the steady pace of a walking simulator, and a liminal feel to your games, then Promesa is for you.

I finally bought this game after having it on my wishlist for ages, and I really regretted not picking it up sooner! It was goofy, and a lot of fun, with a compelling story and easy to use interface. I loved the feeling of walking around the town, and Paul Rand was a hilariously over the top villain! I thought the time spent playing was worth the cost, and I recommend this to any fan of FMV games!

This game is so much fun! I normally can't play scary games because I'm a very jumpy person, but I love horror, and watch scary games and movies all the time. This game is slow with the jump scares, instead building a creeping dread that the ghost will appear at any time, and so it's much easier for me to play.

There are the normal quirks you would expect of any early access game, but nothing game breaking, or frustrating in my opinion. Playing with friends has been great fun, and there is a very active community on the discord to help find matches as well!

Oxenfree is right up there on my list of favorite games of all time. It is a simple, and beautiful art style, and while it isn't very long it has a story that stays with you for days after completion. I have replayed it several times, and each time have found it haunting, and compelling. I would absolutely recommend this game.

This game is beautiful and evocative. I loved playing it, and hope to see it updated to completion.

This game is pure magic! I sat down to play for a few minutes, and before I knew it hours had passed. There is wonder, and beauty in this little game, and I would reccomend it to children and adults alike. With the soothing music, and lovely scenic backgrounds it is the perfect way to take the edge off a rough week, or get into the holiday mood!

I really enjoyed this game, but it certainly isn't for everyone. For me, exploring a big old house is a very fun thing to do, but the game isn't much beyond that exploration. If anything it's an intersting storytelling method.
If you're looking for an exciting adventure then keep looking, but if you want to play through a unique storytelling experience, this might be the game for you!