Recent reviews by Gearran

So, this is quite the interesting game. Exosuits against waves of dinosaurs is definitely an under-served demographic in the games market today. There is also a very important point to make: as of this review, the game is IN OPEN BETA, and clearly not showing even most of the gameplay. So this review is only going to be talking about what's in the beta, that is, the "wargame."

The Pros:
+ There are several different exosuits you can choose from, divided into three broad categories. Even within a single category (assault, for instance) there is a decent amount of variety in play styles and very distinct looks (again with assault, there are ranged "dakka" types, fast-paced melee, and even one that primarily launches explosives).
+ Each exoframe has several different abilities, including a mobility move, an "ultimate" you charge through killing enemies, primary and secondary attacks, and an equippable "extra" over-the-shoulder weapon that gives a mix of different options including a big one-shot cannon, a heal-zone deployer, and a deployable shield.
+ You can change exoframes in the middle of combat. Hit the T button and you can quickly swap out your exoframe and shoulder weapon, and then "teleport away" your frame to be replaced. Doing so will leave you running around with a basic assault rifle until you can jump into the new exoframe after a short delay.
+ The level designs and the voice acting are really well done. The ultra-AI, Leviathan, who is running the wargame in order to gather combat data to accelerate development, carries the majority of the voice acting thus far, and is a fantastic mix of computer-polite and almost maliciously amoral, and each of the levels feels like a cohesive whole as you work through each section.
+ Your enemies are dinosaurs, and the swarming mechanics look and feel REALLY impressive.

The curious:
? This is a PvPvE game, or at least the Wargame mode is. In it, you will be placed in a five-man squad and tasked to work through a series of tasks (dinosaur cull, area defense, etc) in a sort of segregated race against another five-man team, with Leviathan informing you of who is progressing faster through each stage. Fall behind, and the AI grants you bonuses that let you screw with the other team. The final stage is a task that pits you against both the waves of dinos and the other team - I've seen two different final stages so far, and I can't really complain. I'm not sure I would call this design decision good or bad. I had fun, but I also suck at PvP gameplay. It is at least well set up, and everything seems to operate rather well.

The Cons:
- There is, currently, pretty much no customization beyond determining what your pilot looks like, and that's pretty basic: face (head, hair, eye color, facial hair, scars, face paint) and suit colors. Each of the exoframes is definitely well-designed and you can recognize pretty much every one of them at a glance, but aside from the shoulder weapon, you can't adjust equipment or even your color. This is clearly going to change in the future.
- The game does not have all of its systems in place. As has already been pointed out, this game is a beta test, so that's not really a problem, but it's noticeable. As you play you level up, and I've gotten both battle chests and banners from the battle pass. Where do you go to access them? No clue. The only options available are Wargame, Options, and Exit. This will obviously be properly installed as development goes along, but I can't help but admit it bothers me a bit (I want to open my chests, dammit!).

This is an incredible game. With the caveat that you like puzzles, music, and rhythm-style gameplay. If you don't like that, then...well, go play something else. This game isn't for you. Go on, shoo.

Still here? Okay then. Everhood is a adventure-RPG style game with rhythm-based encounters and really, REALLY good music. The story is a lot deeper than you might think on the surface, and there's lots of secrets to find, and honestly really fun writing.

One thing I actually wanna point out here is the sound work. Not the music - although really, it's fantastic - but the noises they use. Each character in the game, despite the "speaking" sound being...well, that beeping "speak" sound you expect from pixel-style games (did I mention I really enjoy the art style? I do), is distinct. You can tell without even looking at them that it's a specific character speaking (for, admittedly, better or worse in one or two instances).

The only real complaint I have has to do with the encounter system, and it's not that they do anything bad. It's more a problem the "descending symbols on a track" style games have always had, all the way back to Rock Band: they put in all this work making really cool backgrounds and interesting character sprites and scenes, and...I can't look at it, because I'm trying to dodge this barrage of incoming crescents and symbols (seriously, even if you don't have problems with your eyes like I do, turn on "assist" mode in the settings, it adds symbols to each and just adds an extra layer of fun). Clearly, I need to go back and watch someone else play this so I can see all the cool stuff I missed when I was dodging things.

I'm glad to see there's a New Game + option, because I'm going to go through this again.

This. Game. Is. Hard.

And holy crap do I love it for that. Highrisers is a retro survival crafting sim where four survivors who have crashed their helicopter atop a high-rise building must survive to get their bird back in the air and survive to crash again. The amount of detail put into this game is staggering. Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in the building can be broken down into parts and repurposed. The crafting system is simple and pretty intuitive - each part needed to craft something, from a spear to a helicopter part, displays clearly next to where it's being built and mousing over the icon will make any nearby parts of that type glow quite clearly - the controls are solid, and the music is enjoyable.

This game will also kick your ass. The clock is always ticking, and everything takes time (although it does stop when you've got the action menu open). This is also a highrise, so you have over thirty floors to keep track of, between four survivors, so you have to be sharp on your micromanaging skills! At night, the zo- excuse me, I mean, the Dreamers come and climb the building. More show up every night, and if they see a survivor, they won't stop until one of you is dead (and there's more of them than you!). Luckily, you can build barricades and make weapons to help your quartet fight back, and the terrain has a grid layout so you can place defenses and materials exactly where you want them.

This game is not perfect. The sheer volume of items that can be found, disassembled, and put together can be a little overwhelming, and sometimes it's hard to find exactly what you're looking for. Survivors who don't have a weapon will not run away from Dreamers, and just stand there while they get pummeled to death. Some of the dialog needs to be thrown to the editors - while it's comprehensible, there are definitely some typos and translation misses. The UI is a little squished, although that may just be on my monitor, but some elements do overlap.

TL;DR - If you're looking for a fun, punishing micromanagement sim that lets you craft pretty much whatever you want while monsters try to kill you, this is definitely worth your time.

I cried.

Yep, I'll freely admit it. I actually cried the first time I took someone to...well, spoilers. But consider this an indicator that this game is really, REALLY good at making you care about the characters you run into, and then just subtly break your heart when you have to send them on.

An incredibly bittersweet game with incredible animation, fantastic writing, and gorgeous music.

I'll admit, when I got this game (part of Humble Monthly), I wasn't really sure what it was. But, I figured I'd give it a shot; the folks over at Humble may have some odd tastes sometimes, but they've rarely steered me wrong before.

Totally. Worth. It.

A puzzler with some light combat elements, I first took this to be a kid's game, with the pretty and fanciful art styles (even if the game does start with a car crash). It very quickly displays itself to be a lot more than it first appears to be. The art style is clever and makes sense (no spoilers, but it ain't a kids game), the characters are wonderfully realized (Piper is a bit naievely chirpy, but that's on purpose, and it's not annoying), the puzzles are just the right balance between head-scratching and cleverably solvable (there's a good deal of finding stuff to solve puzzles, but it's never tedious), and the music is outright fantastic (listen to the final boss's theme and tell me you don't think you're listening to a Metallica song, I dare you). Even the minor characters - that you never see, as everyone short of the main characters stay stuck in their houses - are a delight, quirky and entertaining.

On the flip side, the game is rather short. I finished it in about four hours, though I didn't gather all of the collectible items. There are one or two minor bugs (nothing game-breaking, just odd little graphical hiccups), and the angle of the view does lead to the usual "wait, how did that hit me" on occasion. Also, the sound direction seems a bit off (not that it sounds bad, but the sound effects seem to overwhelm the music at times and seem oddly loud).

Final verdict: try this game. It's a charming brain-teaser with a story whose depth will surprise you.