Recent reviews by Winimalism

Very, very rarely these days do I encounter an RPG where I don't feel like I'm waiting for it to start feeling good. Waiting for it to engage me, once I hit that point at which my character finds its rhythm and identity.

In PoE 2, I have been completely engaged consistently from minute one, and the ebb and flow of my character's progression has been a constant source of glorious and perfectly paced dopamine rushes. The maps are beautiful. The audio is great. The bosses are best in-class, easily, by a stupid margin. This game is absolutely sick, and so incredibly refreshing in an era where it feels like a lot of games come packaged with small pockets of disappointment. Even in Early Access, I'm convinced I'm playing something made by people who absolutely know what they're doing.

I'm an ex-RuneScape player looking for something similar but different. This game is exactly that, and I'm really satisfied with the experience so far. No sleazy microtransactions (unless you count a monthly subscription), just a long grind and a busy world. I'd give you more info but writing reviews is exp waste.

This might be my all-time favorite rhythm game, which is saying something, as I've spent more time than I care to admit playing Rock Band, Patapon, Guitaroo Man, Crypt of the Necrodancer, THUMPER, etc etc. Something about this game keeps my otherwise racing mind calm, relaxed, and focused.

The music is a vibe, with a lot of the tracks being genuine 'would listen to this on loop for hours' type bangers. The rhythm challenges are pretty straight-forward in their execution, and are more about focus and endurance than having to match any crazy time signatures or obnoxiously complex rhythms. It's a game that is much more about consistency and responding appropriately to audio cues than some of the more 'hardcore' rhythm game alternatives (e.g. Osu).

Aesthetically, this game is top-tier, with beautiful animations and a unique style that I find incredibly appealing. It's a cathartic game, that'll challenge you while making you feel good, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for something rhythm-based to occupy their mind with.

I tried to play on the US East servers (I'm in US West), and they were a little laggy with some issues, so I jumped over the the South East Asia servers, and my experience has been entirely positive since.

What the game currently provides is an insanely robust crafting system, base building, and exploration of a beautiful world that's gradually being built up by player-owned structures as we speak, and it looks spectacular. There is some relatively basic PvE in the form of hunting animals for meat, pelts, bones etc, and humanoid NPCs who guard castles/dungeons. The real highlight here currently is the depth of the crafting system, none of which feels like padding, as it's all useful, be it the multiple layers of armor your character wears, the parts of weapons to be made into full weapons, alchemical ingredients, additives for the food you cook, or cosmetically appealing base construction pieces, etc etc. It's crazy how I'm still barely scratching the surface after almost 40 hours.

The devs have said they intend to add economic features (trading, money), and features to drive social interaction and engagement, and if pulled off, those will make this game something truly great.

If you're looking for something fast-paced, this game isn't for you. But if you want to feel like you can't possibly play every role and need other players to work with in order to succeed, while being rewarded steadily for your hours of effort with genuinely exciting options opening up regardless of which direction you take your character, then you should absolutely keep your eye on this game.

Early Access bugs are present, but the vision for this game, coupled with the solid foundation that already exists here, are something truly special. If you liked Runescape, Rust, or EVE Online, you'll probably really enjoy this. I tried this game on a whim and I'm all-in. It's excited me with its prospects more than any other MMO in a long, long time.

A number of the other reviews I've read complained of boredom, so I'll preface this review by saying that Cloudpunk is not an action game. It's a narrative game. It's for those of us who like the combination of driving and listening to something that we can immerse ourselves in. As for those complaining about the voice direction; they're just objectively wrong, and that's okay.

I picked Cloudpunk up as a sceptic, but a sceptic that really just wanted to fly deliveries in a sci-fi setting. What I got was a really engaging story, great voice acting, compelling characters, a fantastic synthwave soundtrack, and ultimately, fulfilment. I couldn't put it down.

It's pretty linear, story-wise, and the choices you're asked to make definitely had me second guessing myself, but ultimately I don't think they have a huge impact on the events that take place in the story. With that said, it's so nice to just fly around in the rain and let the dialogue wash over you. It's equal parts relaxing and exciting, with story beats that kept me playing just to find out what was going to happen next. It turns out it's exactly what I was looking for at the time of purchase.

I've just finished the story, which took me about 10 hours, but for this game, I'm going to wait some time, and play it again, with a focus on finishing off the achievements, rather than grind it out now. This game deserves another full playthrough.

I really hope many others get to enjoy this gem as much as I did. There's something kind of special about Cloudpunk, that I've struggled to find in other games. It's like being a passenger on a really good road trip. If you like that idea, try this game.

If you've ever tried to learn to navigate a computer or network via the terminal, and enjoyed it when you got it to do what you wanted it to do, then you'll probably like HackNet. It's gamified hacking, with a really comfortable learning curve. It does expect you to learn the game's command-script language, but it's simplified and very accessible, as well as rewarding should you take the time to learn how to use it to its fullest. The story and dialogue are engaging and well-paced, and there's plenty of entertaining chat logs to browse while you're digging around on other peoples' computers. Not to mention, the soundtrack is absolute fire.

So far HackNet has provided me with some healthy doses of adrenaline, and the perfect amount of challenge; enough to keep my brain engaged with whatever puzzle I'm solving, without driving me to the point of frustration. I'm well immersed, and for the price, it's a steal. Highly recommend.

The games industry needed to be reminded what fun feels like. BattleBit Remastered is that reminder. A game far better than its AAA competitors, with an indie game price tag. It will run on a potato, so there's no barrier to entry. The gameplay is top-tier. The maps are fun. The guns feel good. The attachments are numerous. You can strap mines to a drone and fly them at your opponents. You can rappel from a helicopter. You can blow up walls. You can smack talk your opponents as they camp on your corpse. If this game loses GOTY in 2023 I will riot in the streets.

Maki's adventure seems like a somewhat respectable platformer, but unfortunately I couldn't enjoy the content provided due to issues with controller input mapping while using a PS5 controller. I played this game with my wired PS5 controller running through Steam. I attempted to play with Steam Input enabled and disabled, and in both cases I had issues. With Steam Input enabled I couldn't interact (Y) with things, and with it disabled the camera is set to constantly rotate while travelling between islands. In both cases, I could not propel myself forward while travelling between islands without attacking.

Leaving a negative review for now.

For the short time that it lasted, I was completely consumed by this game. The realisations I had along the way were really satisfying, and at no point was I stuck to the point of frustration. It strung me along happily from beginning to end. Would recommend.

Just wedging my review in here to drive this game's review score up. And not just to iron out my pun skills, but also because it's genuinely really fun.

If you ever got way too into minigolf flash games (RIP Flash), Worms, or simply enjoy the novelty of playing a spot of golf in glorious 2D without having to leave your gaming chair, this game should prove to be worth its price.