Recent reviews by Tycho

I was a bit lazy and didn't immediately write a review for this game, but here it is. I'm not really going to go in-depth, but I still feel obliged to praise its storytelling.
The story was very interesting, I could barely leave the game (finished it in two sittings). The music is great, the atmosphere, animated backgrounds, are all quite pretty. The characters are interesting.
It was overall a very enjoyable experience. Would recommend.

Forget about Bloodlines, Vampire the Masquerade: Coteries and Shadows of New York are the real pinnacle of World of Darkness storytelling. Both games are equally as fantastic, but this review is about Shadows, which is a sequel to Coteries.

In a thrilling finale to the series, we follow the story of a recently fired investigative journalist, Julia Sowinski in her climb to the top of the vampire society. Will she be able to overcome her struggles and the traps set by the New York's night elite?

I just couldn't put this game down. It felt shorter than the first one, and it had some minor differences, but overall it was a great experience. Would definitely recommend.

I've just finished the game, so it seems fitting to leave a review.
The first thing you probably noticed about this one is that it is positive.
I'm giving this game a Yes, but BARELY.
This is precisely the kind of game that you'd give a Mixed review to.

So, what's wrong with the game?
Cons:
- The camera is BAD. I mean REALLY BAD. I got headaches just trying to move around. Forget about watching a youtube walkthrough, or you're gonna need epilepsy pills. You know the worst part? There are MULTIPLE levels where you need to run while the roof is falling behind you. If you make a single misstep you're going to die and have to restart. What seems so tough about it? Well, the fact that the screen is constantly SHAKING!! Not just that, it shakes even more when you run, so good luck doing that. I had to boot up the Cheat engine and slow the game to 0.25x to be able to finish the last running level. After trying to finish it for like 50 times.

- My God, the FOG! I get it, it's an island near Boston, it's gotta have fog. But it's not the kind of fog that you'd usually expect - it's the "Make-you-completely-blind" type of fog. I felt like a blind man with a support dog and a stick just walking around. The lighting is generally bad too.

- Puzzles are neither intuitive nor fun. I recommend just reading a walkthrough.

- Your choices don't actually matter that much, except for a few different endings (which don't differ that much either)

Well then, are there any pros?

+ The actor who voiced Dr Jonathan Reid is back! I just adore that voice.

+ The character design is nice. I really liked most of the characters.

+ The story is a mindfoook, precisely what you'd expect from a Lovecraftian horror. I enjoyed reading letters and torn pages of lore about the island.

+ The songs are wonderful (especially "I'll see you in my dreams")

+ I enjoyed the art, especially the paintings by Sarah Hawkins

I wouldn't recommend this game at full price. Recommend getting it on a sale for 5-10$. In the end it's a good-story-bad-gameplay experience. Even though most levels gave me a headache, it was an enjoyable game. Get it in a bundle if you can.

Where do I even begin?
I've started this game about a week ago (already at 72 hours), and I just couldn't put it away. The main story, side investigations and lore completely mesmerized me.
I wouldn't call it the best story ever, but it certainly is a BIG plus. +
Most of the characters are interesting, the voice acting is excellent and the main character, although a tortured soul, is very well done.
Environment is beautiful most of the time, and the lighting is great for a game set in the dark and gloomy streets of London night life, which is a gigantic plus from someone as visually impaired as myself.
What I really liked about the game was its fantastic musical score. A majestic violin piece, if I'm not mistaken. I enjoyed it very much.

The game, sadly, has its shortcomings, such as THE DAMN CAMERA. It irritated me so much, it would just bounce around, move and rotate weirdly. I almost wanted to throw up at times. Don't get me started at the "lock camera on enemy" feature because it'd bounce and swap locks from one enemy to another every half a second, which made it unusable in combat with more than one opponent.
The game also suffers from heavy frame drops while merely walking around. It appears to be a problem with loading assets, one which a lot of people complained about.

Somewhat of a mixed opinion I have on game's combat mechanics. Health and stamina replenishes when you re-spawn, but ammunition, health packs (serums), and blood level sadly, do not. A mechanic which created a lot of frustration in me and caused me to repeatedly die. I mean, if I can't defeat the enemy WITH a serum and ammo, how am I supposed to beat it WITHOUT?

In the end, I got over all of the not-insurmountable cons and wonderful pros, and enjoyed an overall great experience, one which I'd recommend to anyone even remotely interested in a good story as I am.

I'm a bit embarrassed to say I've put off playing this game for so long. This game, although having literally no combat whatsoever, was a breath of fresh air in the KILL-SHOOT-FIGHT smog ridden neighborhood. I much rather prefer games without combat but with touching story than mere FPS multiplayer shooters.

I fully recommend this game to everyone who at least remotely likes stories, especially sad ones with relatively happy endings. Not to say that I cry while playing games with sad stories, but I teared up at the end.

I've been a fan of Scribblenauts for years, and I've finally gotten the chance to replay this gem (thanks to HumbleBundle's 0,87€ bundle, haha)

In a world where dragons, robots and regular people coexist together, Maxwell goes on a quest to save his sister Lilly.
Equipped with but a mere notepad and a globus, he needs to collect 60 starites in order to break the spell of stone cast on his sister.

This game, while it doesn't have any hard puzzles, does in fact require a bit of creativity and thinking outside of the box. Need to help a cat stuck on a tree? Just write "wings" in your notepad and fly to kitty's rescue!

I've completed every level 100%, everything that's left is object starites, which I didn't find that fun working on. This is a great family game, and I enjoyed it very much.

This is literally the best MMORPG I've ever played. It used to be too grind-y, and it's too easy now, but it has most enjoyable storylines out there. The F2P model is great, and you'll get all of the expansions FOREVER if you sub for one (1!) month.

If you're playing on Darth Malgus, feel free to add me. I'm mostly playing as Aleus Romello these days, but I've got 7-8 years old characters like Adriator which I use from time to time.

I waited three years for this game, so I guess a review is due.

Do I recommend Magical Diary: Wolf Hall?
Hell yes!*

But what's with the * then?

Well, there are some things you should probably know about this game before you purchase it.
It's a redo of the first game (Horse Hall), set in the same first year, with the familiar characters of Donald, Virginia, Minnie, William, Damien, etc, but without the female protagonist from Horse Hall.
Instead of her, there's a foreign exchange student from the Balkans (Most probably Croatia) whose rich parents made a deal with the school to offer him a unique experience at a completely new surrounding without the luxuries of his home.

The following year at Iris Academy will be exciting, with lots of ups and downs, new friendships, new knowledge, even romance! And it is up to you to decide how it all plays out.

The average playthrough should be around 10-11 hours, although you may probably see it took me 14.5 hours for my first try. The game offers a lot of unique choices, beautiful art, breathtaking music (seriously, I can't stop listening to the soundtracks, especially americana!), some interesting dungeon designs (there are 8 dungeons/exams in the game).

Unfortunately, there's a massive downside to the storyline that really made me feel disappointed, and that's.. I'll try to explain it. The first half of the game (up to the Christmas break) feels so alive, there's always something happening, something going on, a day can't pass without there being an event, like a prank from Donald, hanging out with William, the class president election, etc, etc. But the second half of the game (from the Christmas break to May the 1st) feels incredibly empty. A single conversation on every fifth day, one event in a month, 4-5 dungeons crammed together in a really close span to fill up the emptiness.. The first part took me like 10 hours and the second like 4.. It just made me a bit sad. Don't get me wrong, I totally love the game, and still 100% recommend buying it at full price like I did, but it's just something to note.

Overall it's an another great game from Hanako, 100% must get for every fan of Magical Diary or of a magical school ideas.

Much better than originally anticipated.
A Visual Novel with solid writing, nice art and good music.
Big plot twist at the end, very likable characters, and the price is only $5.
Took me around 1,6 hours to beat. Even though the game's short, it still leaves you with a lot of feelings for it.
Just what I needed to cheer me up. Thanks, game devs.

Oh, and I almost cried at the end. That doesn't happen often.

I've literally spent my whole childhood battling pirates on open seas, dancing with beautiful ladies, finding hidden treasures and becoming the most notorious pirate on the top ten list.
No, seriously, you can play this game over and over again and it never gets boring. Heck, I've come to a point where I could finish it in an hour or two if I wanted to.
This game is just fantastic, I'd go as far as to name it Sid Meier and Firaxis' magnum opus.