Recent reviews by Robot Cousin

I love Subnautica. It gives me a feeling of nostalgia for stuff I don't even remember, of stuff from before I ever played it. The soundtrack, soundscape, the look of the waves, god rays, the sense of wonder, exploration, discovery, dread, and sheer terror are second to none, and they all mix together so well.

Do not read or watch a guide for this game. Play through it on your own. Take it all in.

And then jump back in to do it again.

This is, simply put, what I always wanted Minecraft to be. I played MC on and off for over ten years and generally, you get over that sense of impending danger, and bases built with teamwork don't feel that fulfilling.

Valheim fixes all that. Real physics, real combat, real skill levelling (use it to improve it), real teamwork, but most importantly, real danger.

I love it.

See, it says I have fewer than 10 hours in Skyrim, but that doesn't count the 360, Switch, and standard PC editions.

I have played this game to death, and I will continue to play the Special Edition AND Anniversary edition. I haven't done an official count, but I must have 1000 hours in it. Still haven't beaten it, don't care. The world itself is just so wonderful to get lost in. I love it. I used to think that Daggerfall was my favourite TES game, but nah, it's now Skyrim. A++, but you don't need this review to tell you that.

I loved this whole experience. It had me guessing throughout the entire time, and the way the story unfolds was VERY well-done. Definitely pick this one up if you enjoy atmospheric exploration and interestingly told stories.

When I was a kid, I'd play outside with my friends and the neighbourhood kids. It started as a real-life Contra game where we all ran around with pretend guns, fighting off enemies all over the place. Eventually, our imaginary guns all gained crazy abilities, and our enemies and boss fights got bigger and grander.

Borderlands 2 feels like I'm playing that sort of thing again.

I unequivocally adore this game. It's wonderful. It's fun. It's frustrating (in a good way, if that's possible). It's the perfect roguelike. Responsive controls, eye-catching and cartoonish graphics/art style. And the best part is, from one run to another, aside from shortcuts, the only thing you actually unlock is real-life knowledge of the enemies, areas, and mechanics of this very game. You don't carry over items; you carry over the smarts to know how to react in any given situation.

Beautiful game design.

I'm not the biggest roguelike player I know. Sure, I enjoy randomization, I enjoy permadeath (a lot!), and overall, I appreciate the types of games they are. Before I played Caves of Qud, my favourite roguelike was probably Dungeons of Dredmor. I still love it, but that's mostly for the writing, as I loved how goofy it all was.

At first, Caves of Qud didn't really grab me. I didn't play many ASCII games growing up, aside from a really great one called 'Sleuth'. I was among the many that looked at a game's graphics and judged it solely on that. My my, how times have changed.

If you can look past the simple-yet-complex visuals that you're faced with in Qud, and if you get a hang of the fairly easy controls, there is a very, VERY deep game here. One that allows you to opt-in for a character defect that will cause to you spontaneously combust, all so that you can balance that out with something better. What kind of better? Well, how about having hands so cold that you literally freeze your enemies from touching them? Or a way to see 5 moves into the future?

How about the ability to clone yourself to make your own follower? Or give yourself better night vision and hearing abilities, so enemies are easier to detect? Or what if you just wanted the mental ability to 'hate' something to death? All of these options are fairly viable in your character creation process. That's why I love this game, and I've barely scratched the surface.

Play a gunslinger with extra limbs who survives by photosynthesis. Play a water farmer who is constantly hunted by your evil twin. Play a character who has a beak. The possibilities are endless, and endlessly weird.

This game is so much damn fun.

I can't overstate how great this game is. At first, it might not click with you, but once you get into your flow, it's like digital crack. Getting super overpowered and then having the game still challenge you anyway is very satisfying. Highly recommended

First of all, despite having 'received this product for free', that only applies to this specific Steam version, which I gladly would have paid for. I won it in a giveaway when it was first released here, and I had planned on buying it otherwise, so please don't let that aspect taint your thoughts on this review. This is actually my 5th time owning Resident Evil 4 (1st = Gamecube / 2nd = PS2 / 3rd = Wii / 4th = Xbox 360). I can't get enough. It's easily in my top 5, free copy or not, and for good reason.

Why is it so good?

It's a fun gameplay loop within a gameplay loop. Moment-to-moment, you use satisfying weapons to take out murderous villagers in satisfying ways. Shooting at their legs, and then coming in for the kick, and THEN knifing them when they're down (to save ammo) is a lot of fun, especially when you're trying that tactic with more than a few villagers. With quite a few variances, you're more or less doing that for most encounters.

The larger gameplay loop is, once you beat the game, you get to keep your upgraded weapons, with a few more open to purchase. You get to be extremely overpowered, and it's incredibly cathartic to revisit previously-difficult encounters without a worry or care as you exact revenge. One-shotting bosses, laying waste to large groups of enemies without concerning yourself with ammo conservation, and being able to zip through otherwise long and tedious sequences is incredible, and keeps me coming back for more.

And that's just the main campaign! In addition to that, you've got two side stories featuring Ada Wong, with slight changes in gameplay, and the Mercenaries mode, which is Resident Evil 4's take on a Horde mode, of sorts. Limited time, unlimited enemies, see if you can stay alive until the helicopter arrives. The incentive to beat all of these extras comes in the form of even more upgraded/powerful weaponry and costumes (Ashley in the Knight suit for life) for the main campaign.

I can't recommend it enough.