Recent reviews by pxlnic

A solid cozy exploration platforming game that has a unique art style and solid mechanics.

I had my eye on this one for a while. The art style really piqued my interest and hearing it was a cozy, no combat, exploration, and platforming game really sold me. I owned and have sampled some of the devs/publishers other games but this one was the first I saw from them and really enjoyed my time with it. I did kind of rush through the game did not complete everything this time around, but it is one I plan to revisit eventually.

The story in this game is pretty simple. You are part of a tribe and your about to embark on your “gliding” which is when you leave the tribe to go explore the world on a hover bike. There is a ceremony that is performed leading up to it and then you’re off. Your tribe travels elsewhere while you are “gliding” so you won’t encounter them again until you are done. From there you are free to explore this chill desolate world with small villages scattered throughout. Your main goal is collecting masks which represent different jobs in the world. You will have to select one of them you collect at the end of the game. There is a lot to explore with different biomes, villages, and ship wrecks.

Gameplay wise it is simple. You explore and meet different people throughout the world. You collect badges by completing sidequests and tasks which can then be turned into a mask castor to create the mask for that role. There is a lot of platforming and puzzles to solve throughout the world, but it doesn’t feel super forced or out of place. The platforming is pretty satisfying overall. You can customize your characters look and hover bike with items you purchase from different merchants as well.

The game feels very chill. You are out on your own in a mostly desolate world, exploring, and meeting a few people along the way. It is a very cozy with a lot to offer, and will not stress you out. Some of the puzzles and platforming can be a little frustrating, but overall, a very enjoyable experience. The art style also really adds the cozy feel. I believe it’s a form of cell shading, but nothing like I’ve seen before.

I played the game entirely on Steam deck and ran pretty well at medium settings and locked to 40 hz/fps. The framerate would dip semi-regularly into the high 20s and 30s but not enough that it was a problem. Aside from that it ran great. Controls felt really good as well.

If you are into cozy “walking simulator” type games, exploration games, or puzzle/platforming games then this one is for you. With a highly unique art style, solid gameplay, mechanics, and controls, and chill atmosphere; it is a great palette cleanser from heavier games and one I highly recommend.

A unique authoritarian checkpoint simulator that can get pretty dark.

This was an odd game that I had heard about for years but never got around to playing. I remember everyone raving about it for the first year or two that it was a shining example of what the indie community can do. They were not wrong. I wish I had played it sooner.

The story of this game is pretty straightforward. You have won the October lottery to man one of the border checkpoints in the authoritarian communist country of Arstotzka. Your job is to check the papers of those trying to enter your country. There are some fun and unique storylines that develop and you can choose to participate in or not. There are a ton of ways the game can end, but I only saw 2 or 3 of them.

The gameplay is pretty straightforward and as time goes more items for you to have to look for are added to your reference and rule book. It mainly consists of your day starting and you check the daily bulletin for any updates in how you are to operate your checkpoint and then you open the checkpoint to either approve or deny people entering the country based on the current set of rules. You’ll have multiple papers on your desk that you have to move around and flip through to try and determine if you should let someone through or not. You’ll also get bribes to let them through or the guards will bribe you to send people to detention. It’s a bit of a fun juggling act.

The game feels unique and has a pretty tight gameplay loop. You never really know which story arcs will come your way and you can decide to engage with them or not. It was a very odd by satisfying game and one that will scratch a weird OCD itch you may not know you have.

I played this entirely on Steam Deck, but I wouldn’t really recommend playing with a controller. I think I would have been able to do more on mouse and keyboard. The game played flawlessly without issue from a performance perspective though. I don’t recall seeing any settings to adjust but I just let it run at 60hz/fps and had no issues.

Overall, I highly recommend this game to anyone who like odd indie or simulation games, or likes to deal with tedious paperwork. Though your supporting a fictional authoritarian regime, the gameplay loop is pretty dang satisfying.

A unique survival and exploration experience that is more cozy than it is stressful.

I have always enjoyed survival games, walking simulators, and visual novels. This is a mashup of all three that was refreshing and short. It was a nice palette cleanser to some of the longer games I have played recently.

If you have played Firewatch and The Long Dark it’s a much more chill version of those that is light on story.

There isn’t much to the story other than you are a young woman who has decided live a life of dog sledding. Your goal is to make it to a cabin that was given to you that has a “Red Lantern” on it. You pick your pups to make up your sled team and are on your way.

Gameplay was very simplistic in that you were essentially just making decisions on what to do during encounters or telling the dogs which way to go at forks in the road. Every decision could lead to a reward or consequence and you learn over time. The most advanced mechanic is a simple timed Quick Time Event for hunting (at least that I encountered on my run).

This game overall feels very cozy and chill, but you feel the weight of your decisions. Depending on what you do your dogs or you could get hurt (or die), you could starve, or various other outcomes. But, it did not feel stressful. I felt relaxed even in the more tense moments.

I played this entirely on Steam Deck in a single sitting. It only took about 2.5 hours for me to complete my run. I played on high settings with the screen locked to 40 hz/fps and it ran flawlessly.

If you are looking for a cozy/chill game and you enjoy survival elements and walking simulators then this is a must. Highly recommend even just as a palette cleanser between beefier or more intense games.

A gritty and memorable batman story with the classic Telltale formula, offering a solid mix of detective work and combat.

I have been a Batman fan my entire life but I have only recently started playing Telltale’s games and I have been thoroughly impressed so far. I wasn’t sure I’d like the Quick Time Events (QTE) initially but it adds just enough engagement to the stellar stories they tell. Now I do not have the deepest Batman lore knowledge as I never really got into comic books but have been familiar with the characters, themes, and general stories/story lines out there.

This story felt fresh but familiar to me. It’s not an origins story but does take place, at least somewhat, “early” in Batman’s career. You delve into Bruce’s history a bit, we meet Harvey Dent before he becomes Two-Face, deal with Carmine Falcone, Penguin, Catwoman, and others. I won’t give any spoilers here, but it is a dark story, where the choices you make feel like they have real weight (even if they don’t impact the overarching story very much). It felt campy at times, but not in a bad way. This very much so felt like putting the comic vibe into a game. All I can say is I had a lot of fun with it and enjoyed it the entire time.

Gameplay wise it is a Telltale game through and through. You are progressing through a visual novel with quick time events, but it’s not all just action. There are scenes where you get to go into “detective mode” and figure out what happened in a scene. You also get to go around as Bruce Wayne and engage in more political/diplomatic engagements as well as engage in at least one romantic storyline.

The game felt overall pretty polished from a gameplay and story perspective. The art style is unique with the cell shaded approach and added to the atmosphere. The whole package overall made you feel like you were in a Batman story.

I played the game entirely on Steam Deck with High graphics settings and locked it to 40 hz/fps. It ran near flawlessly the entire time. There was the occasional graphical glitch here and there, but nothing that was a problem. Overall the game took me just under 8 hours to complete.

I highly recommend this for any fan of Telltale’s style of game or anyone who wants to chill with a visual novel in the Batman universe. It is a fun and engaging story where you feel the weight of your decisions.

A truly gripping tale with the typical Rockstar flare, that delivers a solid (though at times repetitive) gameplay and story experience.

I have only finished 3 Rockstar games in my life (including this one), but have played most all of them. I started this game back when it came out on the XBOX 360 and had a blast, but for some reason put it down and got rid of it after a while. Since then I've been exclusively a PC gamer and have been waiting for years for this release. I wanted to play through this before going over to RDR2 and I am glad I did.

I will say that I think GTA IV was a better game that came out around the same time. Felt a little more immersive to me.

The game starts off with you being sent to a small old west town in the desert by some government types. We learn your wife and kid have essentially been taken hostage until you take care of one of your old gang members that left you for dead years prior. You end up having to hunt down all of your former members and leader in an ever expanding tale. Though the story arcs feel kind of forced as your move from one region to the next and things kind of get repetitive, each portion of the overall story has mostly good dialogue and character development.

Gameplay wise it feels like a Rockstar game. You always have your horse with you and can setup camp anywhere outside of town. Your camp and rooms you rent in a town or properties you own allow you to save your game, change you outfit, and the rooms/owned property all have a chest that will give you extra ammo. The gun play feel solid. You get the added benefit of "dead eye" which slows down time to allow you to take out multiple enemies with finesse. There is a cover mechanic that is serviceable and you can shoulder swap to make sure you have the best angle when in combat.

There are a good number of mission types ranging from bounties, to ranch tasks, to escort, and combat missions; along with a bunch of random events you can encounter.

There are several meters you have to watch out for that handle your dead eye time, horses stamina, and health. Although health isn't really a meter but your screen getting more and more red until your dead. All of these automatically refill over time.

When you put the whole package together it feels like a really solid western Rockstar game.

I played the game entirely on Steam Deck with medium settings and locked to 40 hz/fpz. It ran like a champ with very little stutter and zero crashes. It took me about 26 hours to complete over 13 days.

It is a great XBOX 360/PS3 era game with a solid story, characters, and gameplay mechanics. The game does feel a bit repetitive at times but never got dull.

A unique and cozy climbing game that has more character and charm than it has any right to have.

This is one of the most charming games I have ever had the pleasure of playing. It is also my first experience with a DON'T NOD game. I was looking for a cozy game as a palette cleanser last winter and got sucked back into my main backlog before coming back to it this year. Wholeheartedly recommend if you like cozy games with light puzzle elements.

The story has your character coming to this unbelievably tall mountain/tower in a desert riddled with boats of all shapes and sizes. As you climb the tower you find notes and letters of the towers inhabitants climbing up to where they believe water is to bring the rain. You climb with a little blue creature that can spray water (also used as a gameplay mechanic) and discover more of the inhabitants stories and journey to the top.

There are various biomes you encounter along the way (one for each of the 6 chapters) that each add a new mechanic to the climbing experience. That climbing experience is where the game really shines. You use the triggers to control each hands "hold" on the rockface and use the left stick to direct where the hand not holding onto anything goes next. It sounds super confusing but is really intuitive once you get the hang of it.

The game was a nice departure from some of the more story and combat heavy games I've played, and was super fun to just chill with.

I played this entirely on Steam Deck with low settings and locked it to 40 hz/fpz. It stuttered when entering new areas, but leveled out pretty quick after. It took me about 5.5 hours to beat over the course of 4 days.

One of the most unique cozy games I have ever played. A short palette cleanser that I highly recommend.

A true modern classic with deeply ingrained story and lore, amazing progression and character development, but a lackluster ending if you weren't expecting it.

Even though I have been a big fan of Bethesda's games from this era, this is the first Elder Scrolls game I've finished the campaign on. I played about 30 hours of it back on the Xbox 360 but never finished it for some reason. It is one of the most immersive games I've ever played, which was mostly positive but did have at least one major downside (in my humble opinion). That was the fact the end of the main story came up so quick and did not feel like it had the payoff I would have expected from this type of game.

With that said I think the immersion and near endless number of ways you can approach this game are the better for it. The end of the main story is not the end of the game. I now understand how people can spend thousands of hours in this game.

This game has a decent (although short for the size of the game) main story that will take about 20 - 30 hours if you bee-line it. Where the game gets interesting is in all of the side missions and story arcs you can discover and complete. You start out as a criminal sent for execution when a dragon attacks the village your in and you must escape. Dragons had been long thought extinct, and this sets in motion the events of the main storyline.

From there you make you way to the starting village and town and can explore from there. It is discovered (early on) that you are the "dragonborn" and you follow the thread to find out why the dragons have returned and how to stop them. I overall really enjoyed the main story. The lore was pretty heavy but fun to delve into. In addition to the main storyline you have several side story's and content to engage with:
- the civil war going on in Skyrim between the Imperials (from the capital of Cyrodiil) and the Nords who want their autonomy.
- the guild / faction storylines you can follow which are pretty involved
- the storyline for each of the nine holds (and becoming a Thane of each)
- various small side quests littered throughout the world

I played the game as wood elf thief/rogue and focused on the main storyline, the Thieves Guild side quests, and the Winterhold quests (mainly from being led there by the main story). I also became a Thane of 3 of the houses which all had pretty interesting story arcs to complete.

Mechanics wise there was a lot, although it is simplified from prior entries. You can choose a race and class at the beginning of the game which determines your starting stats, base abilities, and perks. As you level you'll be able to put points in to the various skill trees, which you have to level up by using to acquire the higher level perks. This overall felt pretty natural and not overly grindy. You have a reputation with people, villages/towns, and factions which primarily addresses whether or not they will try to kill you on sight. I kind of wish they had fleshed it out a bit more and added nuance to it.

Combat feels like a Bethesda game, kinda clunky but satisfying. I focused on using a bow and some magic which did feel really good overall.

The game has an incredibly immersive feel and you can really do whatever you want. Though it feels really clunky (and event janky) at times, there really is no other game like it. You can just ignore the main storyline for hundreds of hours if you wanted, and just spend you time exploring. You'll discover what's out in the world of Skyrim and ton's of side story's and missions that offer a lot of value.

I played the game entirely (this playthrough) entirely on Steam Deck. It took me just over 69 hours to complete. I played with it on high settings and locked to 40hz/fps. It played flawlessly.

For anyone who enjoys Bethesda games, immersive fantasy realms, or solid action RPGs, you really cannot do better than Skyrim. There truly is no other game like it.

Solid sequel with a stronger focus on storytelling and character development.

This was a really solid entry following up FFIV. This was my 6th FF completion, and 9th game played. It didn't bring a whole lot new mechanically, but the story telling, world building, and character development were a step above. Felt a lot closer in tone to my first foray into the franchise (FF7).

This entry, like most of the other classic titles, focuses on world crystals that are being destroyed and four heroes who need to save the world. Even though the high level strokes of the story are the same they did a stellar job telling a unique story, with some deep world building, and strong characters. You take your party on a journey to undo the damage a dark force is trying to unleash on the world. There are numerous twists and turns that I was not expecting and was pleasantly surprised by.

Gameplay wise, you explore the world to complete the main quests and any side quests you can encounter (mainly unique items, magic, and summons). Character customization is mostly the same from FFIII. You have a job and you level that job up through combat, and you purchase magic at the shops. The jobs did feel a bit more unique and varied though. I was able to level up almost all of them by the end of the game which was pretty cool.

One thing this game leaned more heavily into was the "cinematic" scenes and dialogue. The characters felt very alive with their own personalities. Animations were also a big step up.

The overall feel of the game was pretty amazing. It's definitely on par with my experience in FFIV which has been my favorite so far in these classic titles.

I played the game entirely on Steam Deck. It ran at 60fps/60hz with no issues. It sips battery so you can get some long play sessions in with this one. The game took me a little over 42 hours to beat and it was well worth it.

Overall, this was a very solid entry in the series. The storytelling, world-building, and character development was top notch with some solid gameplay that didn't get too grindy. Highly recommend if you are a fan of the series at all.

A major shift for the franchise to a more action oriented RPG with epic scale with solid gameplay and mechanics, but a worse "Assassin's Creed" game.

## Scores
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9
Sound: 8
Story: 7
Performance: 8

## Details
I have played every mainline AC game up to AC: Odyssey and though this felt like less of an AC game than any of the previous ones, it was a blast. I did not play much of the DLC's this time around but they seemed pretty solid.

### Gameplay & Experience
The story of this game has a grand and epic scale, with a lot of humor and heart. It can feel a bit off though with the dialogue, and the amount of choice the game gives you feels like it breaks the dialogue sometimes. Not terrible, but definitely breaks the immersion at times. Your choices felt like the have weight, but would make story progression a little awkward at times.

You follow one of two Spartan siblings (Alexios or Kassandra) on a journey throughout Greece. You deal with family heartache and difficult choices regarding family members, political intrigue with a cult that is driving the war between Sparta and Athens. I won't give away any spoilers here, but the over arching story is pretty good, albeit feels weird because of how they implemented choice and the resulting dialogue. It did kind of just end for me though when I thought I still had more to do. You can continue to play after the epilogue though so no worries, just felt a little odd.

Gameplay wise you level up like a normal RPG and have basic skill trees to assign points to for active or passive abilities. These felt fairly robust at times but didn't feel like it altered the gameplay that much. It doesn't feel like it offers enough variety to give you different builds, but it could just be me. You can fight with various melee weapon types and a bow. You also have a special "spear tip" that plays into the story that is satisfying to use. Traversing the world and parkour feels great like the prior few games. The game also brings back ship mechanics, but the don't feel as good as they din Black Flag. It really does feel like a "bolt on" feature to the game.

The world offers tons of points of interest and a "leader" mechanic, where each region is either controlled by Sparta or Athens, and you can weaken the region to trigger a battle sequence where you can change who the ruler of the region is. Feels a little gimmicky at times, but does add a nice flavor to the gameplay.

Overall the game feels great, even though some of the mechanics, and story/dialogue feel off. You get to explore a huge world that feels empty at times, but really does add to the scale of it. There are a lot of sites to explore, and collect items from, as well as military forts/camps you can clear. You'll find a lot of these sites as you travel around.

### Additional Details
I played the game entirely on Steam Deck and it played near flawlessly at 40fps. It would dip into the 30's in the cities, but was not that noticeable. I played with a mix of medium and high settings as well.

The game took me almost 63 hours to complete.

### Conclusion
The game is great, but would be better if it wasn't labelled as an Assassin's Creed game. It offers a lot of gameplay, even though some of it can feel gimmicky or forced. You won't be bored, and feels like it has some replayability.

A huge leap forward for the franchise. An amazing sequel with solid storytelling, world building, and mechanics.

I have to say this has been my favorite of the originals so far. Being my 8th FF game to play (only 5th finished though) I enjoyed this one from beginning to end. It truly feels like they pulled everything that worked from the prior games and utilized the better tech available to create a near perfect game.

The story is not dissimilar from the prior 3, and is nothing to write home about, but the storytelling and worldbuilding are the best yet. It's the same old fated heroes tasked with saving the world from evil, and it involves crystals. This one changes things up a bit though where you start out as a dark knight, on the wrong side of things and makes the decision to leave that path behind. All of the characters feel truly unique with pretty decent dialogue. This one also offers a lot more storytelling through cutscenes (including battle sequences) that truly add to the depth of the game. The story is fairly linear, with an open world, but there are some side quests you can miss out on if you're not paying attention. The end game was a challenge, but was pretty rewarding in my opinion.

Gone are swappable classes (or jobs), and magic is no purchased this time around. You learn new magic at certain levels based on the characters predefined class. Though characters swap out in your party throughout the game, it did not feel like a burden. You had a pretty consistent core of characters with one or two that change periodically. There weren't a whole lot of puzzles, and the dungeons were fairly straightforward, with secret paths throughout.

Combat felt really good and varied. You had to use your characters abilities and specialties more, and it didn't feel forced. Mini-bosses and bosses felt like a proper challenge, and progression made feel like you had to grind too much to continue on in the story.

Exploring the world was pretty straightforward as well but you get an airship much sooner. There were a number of dungeons littered throughout the world, and a couple other zones related to the story (no spoilers).

The game felt cohesive, challenging, interesting, and fun. All of the game systems, story, and world made for a remarkable experience.

I played this entirely on Steam Deck and it ran flawlessly. 60hz/60fps and didn't break a sweat (not surprising, but still nice). I had 0 crashes or frame dips. The deck is tailored for this kind of experience. It took me just over 22 hours to complete.

Overall, this is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. It had awesome storytelling, the progression and combat felt solid, and it was just a fun experience. Highly recommend for any RPG/JRPG fan.