Recent reviews by StackcatS

Darkwood is one of the greatest survival horror games I've ever played, combining my favorite aspects of rogue-likes and exploration driven RPGs with a narrative and setting that feels inspired by Lovecraft, Fallout, Silent Hill, and David Lynch films and yet still manages to put a unique spin on it.

I love this game. Great game that just keeps getting better. Very responsive controls, beautiful art. I almost wish the devs would stop updating the game because every time I come back to it it's a brand new game and I end up sinking another 10-20 hours into it.

Excellent puzzle game with great sci-fi atmosphere and a decent story. Short but sweet.

Dark Souls is one of the most satisfying action RPG games I've ever played due to its extremely polished combat system. This is a game of skill and as you learn the mechanics you will be amazed how enemies that were once major threats become easy to defeat, and not due to increased stat values but rather your skills improving as a player.

The surface story is very light (almost non-existent) but the world is very rich and there is actually quite a compelling backstory that you can piece together if you are paying attention to your surroundings.

The game has become somewhat notorious for its punishing difficulty but this is greatly exaggerated. The game is very challenging and can be frustrating at times but it is not impossible by any stretch - you just need patience. The hardest thing to wrap your head around is that it is okay to die. Yes, you will lose your souls and feel like you've lost progress and that's okay! Once you accept that you will die and can just get back up again and try again you will find the game much more enjoyable.

For all the postives there are a few negatives in this game. First of all, the PC port is pretty poorly done. Fortunately you can find a patch called DSFix that resolves most of the performance issues. Secondly the game does not teach you how to play at all. You are given a bunch of attributes with vague descriptions and almost no direction as to how to improve your weapons or your character in an effective way. It's worth reading some basic guides just to learn how to play the game (but try to avoid spoilers).

I stayed up all night trying to remember if I had insomnia or amnesia...

Amnesia is one of the few games that actually scared me enough that I needed to take a break (the only other game I can remember doing that is Silent Hill). It's got a good story, great atmosphere, and some really cool gameplay twists. I believe Amnesia was responsible for a bit of a revival in horror gaming. It may be older now and a lot of the ideas have found there way into other games so if you missed it when it was new it may not seem quite as original as it did when it first released but this game is a classic.

Pros:

• Fallout is one of my favorite gaming worlds. It perfectly blends retro-futurism, post-apocalyptic surivival, and dark humor to create a very unique universe that is fun to explore.
  
• Your character matters: How you build your character and the choices you make really do change the story much more than in your typical RPG.
  
• I love turn-based combat. While a little rough around the edges it still holds up.
  
• The game focuses on your character. While you can get companions the story revolves around you and I really prefer this to having to manage an entire team of characters as I find it more immersive and am better able to role-play.

Cons:

• There are bugs. They shouldn't stop you from enjoying the game and there are fan-patches you can get that improve the game.
  
• By today's standards the game can feel a little directionless. Try to embrace it but if you get stuck or lost you can always find a guide online.
  
• The combat AI can be frustrating. For example, if you give a companion an automatic weapon they are just as likely to end up killing you as they are to kill your enemies. There are work arounds of course but it would be nice if the combat was a little smoother.

Bottom line, Fallout is truly a classic that spawned a huge franchise. If you've never played it you really should give it a shot.