Recent reviews by ItalianGamerJoe

Disclaimer: This is a mild spoiler review. I won't spoil the ending.

I missed out on the Hades craze. I remember this game coming out back in 2020, and how the game just took the world by storm. I remember endless conversations of friends and content creators recommending this game as if it redefined the roguelike genre. And to be completely honest, I didn't listen to them.

Without naming names, there are a lot of roguelike games on the market and a lot of them to me are hollow. You go into a procedural generated set of levels, get to a boss, lose to that boss many times, rinse and repeat. The gameplay is heavily focused on getting good enough to one day take down these foes and then get "just a little further". This style of gameplay to me is exhausting. Especially if the story is hollow or if the characters don't bring much to the table other than a good art style. I need something to keep me entertained.

Hades not only exceeded my expectations, but also redefined the way I look at roguelike games forever. Roguelike games will never be the same for me. This game sets the bar of expectations VERY high.

I'll admit, when I first started Hades, I was a little skeptical. The game puts you right into the action immediately. You sort of are decoding the story piece by piece. And then we the player, as Zagreus, eventually loses. I'm fully expecting the game to take us back to some half thought out lobby just for us to get back into the fray agin. But no. That didn't happen.

I was introduced to the house of hades. Of Hades himself. Of Achillies. Of Nyx. Of Ceberus. Of Hypnos. Of Skelly. I was in this strangely warm and beautiful world. I had a lounge, a market place, I had gifts to give characters to further Persona style social links. I have a narrator that actively talks about the world and then a protagonist that also gives us his internal thoughts so much that it rivals Joe from You On Netflix.

This game is deep. Very deep.

What I love about Hades is that losing is the new winning. If you lose, you aren't just going back to a lobby. You get to further bonds with other characters. You get to spend money to upgrade the hub. You get to learn more about the hub and let it grow. Zagreus can bring knowledge from his runs back to the hub and open up new areas or gain more insight on locations. There is so much that happens between doing an escape attempt and losing/coming back to the lobby that this game feels more like a living breathing world than just some arcade roguelike.

And I loved every second of it. I'm still loving it. I've beaten the game 11 times and I have no doubts that I will still play this game will over the required number of times to beat the story.

Also Supergiant Games, thank you for the God mode. Thank you so much for that. It is much appreciated. I love that players have to earn the God mode upgrades as well, so it's not like BAM you're a god now. It's a progression to get to that point. I also love that you can reset the God mode too, so if you want to play with the God mode values, you can. Super helpful, super fun, love it.

Without spoiling too much, I will say that I'm glad I gave this game a chance. I had a firm judgement against roguelike games. Hades reignited my interest in them again. The bar has been raised though, and I do hope that any roguelike developers look at this game when trying to make their own games because Hades just does everything right and more. This should be the standard.

I can't believe I have over 49 hours into this game and counting. It doesn't feel that way at all. I really have to be sucked into a game to enjoy at and this game delivers again and again.

Other small lightning round things that I loved:
- The codex. Loved it. I also love how standing near a character and opening the codex will open their entry instantly.
- The nectar gifts. It's simple and I love that it's just one gift. I don't like guessing games. I love that it's just easy and fun.
- Decorating the House of Hades. It's comedic and fun. I love upgrading the lounge.
- The little emojis above the heads of the ghosts.
- The adamant arms railgun. Amazing.
- The voice actor for Zag. I could listen to him all day.
- The lack of health potions and instead "death defiance". This was cleverly done.
- How the game isn't super long. It's the perfect length, and the replay value comes from the persona style social links, the upgrades, etc.
- The simplicity of the user interfaces. It followed "KISS" mantra. (Keep it simple stupid)

Things that I didn't like but excusing:
- The satyr tunnels and poison mechanics. Ugh. It's frustrating.
- The lack of a chat log or even a "previous" dialogue button.
- You can't gift nectar to Charon bought boons.
- The codex needed a "story so far" or like a more obvious text explaining that completing the game more than once is required

Wishful things to see in a Hades 2/Hades 1 update:
- More things to do in the hub. Maybe some 1 time play (between runs) mini games.
- The ability to watch "cutscenes" somewhere in the hub.

Overall though. I love Hades. Thank you so much for this game. Can't wait to keep playing it and start Hades 2!!

Thank you so much EA/Maxis for re-releasing Sims 1 and 2. This is amazing! My critiques for Sims 1 are below:
- The Map screen is zoomed out a lot and there are no settings to fix or optimize this. Is there anything that can be done to fix this at all?
- The In-Game UI also doesn't scale properly. Is there a way to fix this?
- The Steam Deck version of the game works awesome, but can you work with the Sims team to try making an official steam deck controller layout? I went and looked up the PS2 controls of The Sims 2, and tried making a layout based on that. It works but it's not perfect.
Thanks for this wonderful game! This game was my childhood!

I've been playing Use Your Words 1 for so many years. 7 years now, I think? This game has gone down in history as being my family's favorite party game of all time. My parents are Gen X and they love this game because of the nostalgia vibes. They also just love the simplicity of the games. One of the problems I have with Jackbox Party Pack games is that their games try way too hard to be different, edgy, and off the wall crazy that they miss the point of being simple fun in the first place. Where with "Use Your Words", the games are simple, to the point, and hilarious.
So much is true for the sequel, "Use Your Words 2". I downloaded this game on my Steam Deck and had it streaming on the TV. It worked perfectly. Granted, my controller analog stick had to handle mouse input, but it was fine.
The new games this time around are very fun and simple. Book It is hilarious. Letterheads got so many laughs. Sign Me Up is such a simple game but with so much creativity involved.I haven't tried Out of the Question yet, but I'm eager to see how it goes.
I also love that all the classic Use Your Words 1 games are included in this game as well. So by purchasing this game, you also get all the original games. Thank you Smiling Buddha for that. I really do appreciate having all the games in one, convenient pack.
I do have some suggestions of improvement:
1. The instructions for the new games are at the bottom of the screen. This can be problematic if people disconnect. Can you move the instructions to the top?
2. The disconnects can be frustrating. If your phone screen fades and goes to sleep, you get disconnected. It is easy enough to just sign back in and tap your name. With phones having battery saving modes nowadays that limit screen activity, is there any way to resolve this? If not, no worries.
3. The House Decoy button is on top of the Submit button. I've accidentally tapped "House Decoy" instead of Submit about 3-4 times. I hate the position so much. Can Submit go first instead?
4. The Gizmos seem cool, but it's kind of weird that only one gizmo can be used per round.
5. I haven't unlocked "Mix it Up" yet, but I do think it's a little strange that you have to "Unlock" it. What if I buy the game on Switch or something and have to unlock it again? I think it would be better to just have it be unlocked from the get go.
6. Sub The Title's font is kind of small when reading back what players wrote.

Other than that, this game is great and I highly recommend. The issues I have above aren't even that bad to fix. They are purely cosmetic. I will glady choose this game over Jackbox any day. Thank you so much Smiling Buddha for this game. When I realized the sequel dropped, my family was thrilled! We can't wait for this game to be a longtime family game night treasure!

I am enjoying this game so far, but I do have some heavy critiques. My favorite Puzzle Quest was PQ1.
1. The User Interface is very messy and convoluted. Especially when you get to menu screens. Some modals for example have an X on the corner, and then some menu screens have a back arrow. It's just not clean at all. The menus are also all very messy. How is it that Puzzle Quest 1's user interface was more intuitive than this?
2. This game reminds me a lot of Gems of War. Every story progression point involves moving to a new part of the map, engaging with conversation and the continuing forward. I'm on the fence with this. I liked PQ1's map system more. With PQ1, moving around the map was a nice change of pace between the gem swapping. Where with here, that isn't the case.
3. The story is not very interesting. I'm still pretty early on, but the story is just there. It feels a lot like MMO RPG stories. "Kill the rats to get this thing".
4. The gear, spells, etc is all very messy. I don't understand how all of this is just so messy. It's painful going through menus. It's like the devs never played an rpg before. I'm sorry. I mean that in the most respectful way. It's so confusing going through these screens. Why can't this be more like Final Fantasy? Like why not just stick to what works already to make the game more accessible for lots of players?
5. The skill system is cool, but the images don't help. I like how PQ 1 had the name of the skill, image, and then highlighting it would show the description. Again, this just goes back to my qualms with the user interface.
6. The change to 3D is really cool, and I love that we have a 3D look and feel. The 3D map is also really nice. I just wish that there was more of a reason for the 3D. I don't know why PQ2 is not available anymore, but I loved the isometric exploring. I think it would've been really cool if PQ3 did what PQ2 did.
Overall, I don't think PQ3 is bad. I just think the game needs a lot of simplifications. The menu system is a nightmare to navigate. The story isn't very interesting. The gem swapping mechanics are awesome, and I have no complaints there at all. Puzzle Quest in the early 2000s was like a marvel of a game. It was so popular. It was like Farmville. Everyone talked about it. And I think the push away from being a premium game to freemium is ruining this beloved series.
If the devs sticked to perhaps a shorter experience, made them premium, we could have tons of Puzzle Quests by now. We could be at Puzzle Quest #30 by now.
Thanks for the game, but I do believe that this game could be a lot better.

I originally discovered Mark Leung from his Final Fantasy YouTube parody from over 10+ years ago. Sometimes I'll go and look up those parodies just because they were a fun part of my childhood and how I originally got into Final Fantasy. One day I was just curious and decided to do more research on Leung, because I was always familiar with his parody, but not with him as a creator. That led me down a rabbit hole of various things, including his passion for ice skating, his accident, and how much effort he's put into making this game possible. I have to give you so much credit, Leung, for being able to make a game like this and to make it as beautifully smooth, fun, and overall just as wonderful as it is. Despite the condition you are currently going through, you persevered and you've once again given us the gift of a world inside your head. Valentina's story is a lot of fun to go through. The game is very slice of life. You can tell that Leung put a lot of effort into the characters, the world, the dialogue, the OST, and more. Everything about this visual novel just has so much heart and love put into it. This game is also very educational as well, giving readers the opportunity to learn more about figure skating. I'm still in the middle of this story, but for the time I've reading it, I am loving it so far. Leung thank you so much for sharing this story with the world. I noticed that this is part 1. I hope that part 2 is going well and hope to finish this as soon as I can so I can look forward to your sequels! Amazing game, highly recommended, and overall one of the best slice of life visual novels I've read. Thank you!

Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys is a HUGE step in the right direction for Nancy Drew games. HeR Interactive has the tough responsibility of trying to appease both classic fans that have grown up with the Nancy Drew games since 1999, and then the modern Nancy Drew game fans that yearn for the opportunity to see Nancy in a 3D world. So where does that leave us? Can there be any sort of compromise? Mystery of the Seven Keys answers that question by giving both play styles to us!
I personally picked and enjoyed the modern play style, but I did play with the classic play style as well and it was equally fun for me to enjoy. My only critique would be to have the camera “straighten” when clicking between areas because sometimes the camera has awkward angles. Not a dealbreaker, just a tech perspective.

The puzzles in KEY are very challenging and fun. I found myself struggling between them and I used hints frequently, even opting to getting the strategy guide for further clarification. The mystery itself was a blast and I loved how each clue led seamlessly to the next.

The suspects in this game are plentiful and a real treat. Each character had equal motivation to be the culprit and I was genuinely surprised by the ending. No spoilers.

I think moving forward, I honestly am going to start looking at modern Nancy Drew games as an entirely new series altogether. Yes, it’s technically the same series, but with the new HeR dev team, and the new engine, it would be unfair of me to criticize the Nancy Drew games by directly comparing them to games that the new team didn’t even work on in the first place.

This is truly a new generation of Nancy Drew games with a whole new team, whole new fresh prospective, and between MID and now KEY, I truly feel the team is listening. A lot of the problems I had with Midnight in Salem got fixed here. Nothing is more refreshing to me than walking through Prague at night and seeing how beautiful it is.

The developers also must’ve really decided to bring in super fans or something because the amount of references to past games and Nancy Drew content creators is amazing. I love it. I love the amount of passion and love here. Seeing it made me feel giddy and excited inside and I just loved every moment that I saw references.

I wholeheartedly support KEY and I think this is a huge step in the right direction for the Nancy Drew games. Treating this as a standalone game series apart from the classic series makes me feel better because they are in fact in different hands. Why would I complain about past games if that team isn’t even around to make them anymore?

The new team in my opinion is doing a wonderful job at listening to our critiques and overall, KEY is a very fun game.

The 17 hours (not reported on Steam, I got the game first on the HeR store) I put in were quite a wild ride and I’m excited to see what other adventures the Nancy Drew developers will bring us on next.

Thanks HeR for keeping the Nancy Drew games alive and for making them such a fun series! Here’s to the wonderful game 34 and hope that game 35 and beyond is just as fun and amazing!

Two Point Campus is very much a spiritual successor to Two Point Hospital. The game is wonderful in so many ways. From the gameplay, to the graphics, to the music and animation. I have nothing but great things to say about this game. Also thank you for making this game Steam Deck Verified. Steam Deck is becoming a lot more popular now and it's nice to see the focus be on making games compatible with Steam Deck and other handhelds.

One thing that I would like to bring up about this game compared to other "tycoon" games out there is the social features. This game will show you where your steam friends line up with what levels they are on compared to you and even show you high scores. It's a great, small feature that adds to the overall fun of the game.

I'm glad Two Point Studios is having fun with Two Point Campus. These games are a blast, very happy and fun vibes all around. I'm curious to see what other Two Point style ideas that they have up their sleeves. Two Point Neighborhood? Two Point Resort? Two Point Hollywood Studio? The ideas are endless!

Two Point Campus is wonderful, and I'm happy to recommend this game to anyone that enjoys tycoon style games. Even if you've never played a tycoon style game before, know going into it that the game will hold your hand through everything and it doesn't get overwhelming at all. If anything, I'd say that both two point games do a great job at keeping things simple and yet elegant.

Thanks for reading!

I'm pretty early on in this game. The steam deck integration is awkward. I had to change my Steam Deck settings a few times and I still wasn't able to get the game to load properly. Please have someone look into the steam deck integration.
As for the gameplay itself, I never played the originals other than watching family play them growing up. I think the modern version of this game needs some more TLC.
Below are some bullet points of critiques I have:
1. ON SCREEN GUI. Devs, please give us on screen button tips for how to control Lara. Make it like Zelda or Final Fantasy 15/7 remake. It's not obvious what buttons do what, and for a game that relies heavily on platforming, this game isn't Super Mario. The controls are very complex. We need some sort of tips or on screen hint.
2. Saving and Loading is awkward. I load on accident when I meant to save. I'm not entirely sure how to fix this other than making it more obvious that you are saving/loading.
3. The modern controls are kind of awkward, especially because without button tips or a gui guide on the screen, they are vastly different from tank controls. I was stuck in the pool because I didn't know how to get out with modern controls.
4. The game has an identity crisis when it comes to stealth vs combat. God forbid you encounter enemies in close range. They will mess you up and cancel any inputs you try to make for yourself.

This game isn't bad but to be marketed as a full blown remaster, it feels more re-release with better graphics. Devs if you are reading this, please consider the above critiques. I understand that diehard Lara fans may disagree with these points, but to me this isn't a "get good" situation, there are clear issues with the controls, saving/loading awkwardness, lack of a helpful user interface, and more. And not being able to run this on steam deck without making weird modifications.

Please fix the issues and I will update my review.

I haven't finished this Agatha Christie game yet but so far I am VERY impressed with the quality of this game. If there's one thing that I've been confused about with Agatha Christie games over the years, it's that each new iteration of Poirot seems to be made with a different studio, a different engine, different user interface, etc. It's difficult to get excited for these games sometimes because even though Poirot is the same, the gameplay varies so much between Orient Express, The First Cases, and ABC Murders. At least with Nancy Drew by HeR Interactive, you know the games are part of a series. The disparity between Hercule Poirot games just feels a bit off and it's hard to communicate to audiences which game they should play first, if they are connected, if they are part of a series, etc. So the marketing is not great and it's even more confusing that there's no specific dev team that works on these games. It's just all around confusing.

That being said, Murder on the Orient Express is a very solid mystery game. For starters, the game works wonderfully on my Steam Deck. Even though the game doesn't say steam deck approved, the game runs PERFECTLY on the Steam Deck. So thank you for the Steam Deck consideration.

As for the actual mystery, this game is a modern take on Agatha Christie's original "Murder On the Orient Express". I literally laughed out loud when Poirot took out a literal iPhone to take photos. It blew my mind seeing Poirot in the modern age using modern tech. I loved it. The game somehow feels like a special world where modern meets classic, especially with how the train itself is more on the traditional historical side of things. The game aesthetically is beautiful, from the luscious train landscapes to the interior of a bustling hotel, to a regal mansion and even a spooky cabin in the woods, the game is beautiful. Granted, it's not AAA cinematic quality that's like breathtaking, but we as adventure gamers don't need that either. Not every game needs to be a cinematic masterpiece and with Agatha Christie, the game does a fine job at bridging the balance between aesthetically beautiful and stylistic.

The gameplay doesn't stray too far from Hercule Poirot: The First Cases. Back is the mind map, but this time around the mind map feels like an integral part of the game. In the First Cases, the mind map got in the way and it just wasn't fun at all using it. I actually was annoyed by the mind map in the First Cases because it forced you to draw conclusions with bubbles all over the place. It was a mess to be honest. I couldn't even finish The First Cases, because the mind map drove me mad.

This time around, the mind map in Murder on the Orient Express has been simplified A LOT. I always say, when it comes to Game Development, KEEP IT SIMPLE (KISS). The mind map serves as a todo list which is super helpful. The mindmap also serves as a mini-game hub for when Poirot needs to recount evidence or events. I also love that the mindmap has it's own soundtrack. The song that plays in the mindmap is very soothing and relaxing. One other thing that I love about the mindmap is the way the game sometimes lets you draw your own conclusions based on survey questions. They don't impact gameplay but it lets you feel more like Poirot. So thank you for the simplification of the mindmap. I could easily play 30 Hercule Poirot games with this mindmap feature.

The investigation gameplay is a lot of fun. I love how the camera shifted from a ceiling view to a Life is Strange shoulder view. The switch in camera prospective is very welcome. I love it. I think future Poirot games should maintain this camera prospective. It feels more intimate and up close in the action. The hotspot integration with a gamepad is very smooth and fluid. Moving the camera around allows you to choose which hotspot Poirot should focus on. The game blends 3D environments with 3D objects as well. Poirot will often times zoom into 3D areas to find more evidence. All of it is done very smoothly. The game also gives us insight into Poirot's headspace with voice recorded dialogue. It all reminds me so much of Life is Strange. I'm glad that the developers went that direction too. Making the inspiration Life is Strange was the PERFECT way to go.

The puzzles in this game were a very nice and welcoming addition. I am a big Nancy Drew game fan, so seeing puzzles being implemented is great. The puzzles range from Mindmap puzzles (coming up with a sequence of events, mixing and matching, memory based challenges) to environment puzzles (jigsaw puzzles, weight puzzles, sequence puzzles). The puzzles break up the investigation gameplay quite nicely and I loved every minute of them. Seeing Poirot's smug smile at the end of each puzzle also made it a blast. I felt like I was there with him. It's a fun dose of artificial affirmations that just feels so good.

This characters in this game are great. The voice acting is believable and fun. My favorite character is Beuc, Poirot's assistant. This game takes creative liberties in being a little comedic. In one scene, Poirot has to be quiet to listen to the sounds a puzzle makes, and halfway through the puzzle, Beuc starts having a full blown conversation with Poirot, disrupting the puzzle. The only way to solve the puzzle is to literally tell Beuc to be quiet. It's the smallest things like that that make this game charming and fun, and give it that comedic flair that I don't really see in adventure games that often. The rest of the suspects are all very fun to talk to, some having more of a memorable impact on me than others.

Joanna is a new protagonist to the game. I was quite surprised by her inclusion. Her character works the same as Poirot, but having us step into her shoes made the game very fun as well. I'm equally invested in her character. She reminds me a lot of the Phoenix Wright/Maya Fey dynamic. This game also sort of borrows from that concept and even though we are playing as Joanna, we can't fully trust her either. It's a really cool plot point and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

The soundtrack in this game is incredible. I love jazz, and hearing jazz on the train just feels amazing. It's cozy. It's relaxing. It's ironic considering the murder but just sounds wonderful. The mindmap music is AMAZING. I want this soundtrack badly. I want the mindmap music to be my new focus playlist at work. It's sooo good. Thank you so much to the musicians in charge because the OST of this game is wonderful. Also special thanks to the Poirot voice actor. Thank you for your wonderful work in helping us get in Poirot's head. It must have been a lot of work not only voicing the main lines but also the internal dialogue lines (like Life is Strange) and it works very well here.

I can't wait to finish this game. I hope that Microids considers making more Agatha Christie games with this game engine. Please consider using the same developers for next time because this game feels like the first and best iteration of the Poirot games compared to all the others. The other games sort of feel like prototypes where this game feels like a real, honest fully finished Poirot game that has the best of the best in it.

I highly recommend this game. Even if you've seen the film, read the book, or maybe even played past games like this mystery. It's really good.

Rhythm Doctor is the closest thing we have to Rhythm Heaven on PC. This indie game is incredible. It teaches you so much about rhythm concepts and theory, all told through the story of a remote hospital doctor that heals patients with heart problems. If you never played Rhythm Heaven before, basically Rhythm Doctor is a "rhythm game" where players hit a single button to the beat of a song.

In the beginning, you're told to hit the button "on the 7th beat", and it shows you tutorials and everything. But later on in the game, you'll eventually get to a point where the mechanics shift and you're not just doing 7th beat hits, but also holds, and more. It's a really cool concept that grows with each chapter.

One thing I love about this game is that it has a lot of musicals with full blown cover album songs voiced and all. The songs are very catchy and even include the lyrics on the screen if you want to sing along. Without spoiling some later levels, the game does a great job at keeping the player surprised at every direction.

Rhythm Doctor is a short game. I would say it's the same length as a Wario Ware/Rhythm Heaven game. Maybe about 4-5 hours to beat the game. HOWEVER, the game does have a lot of post game content including "Night Shift" modes which include harder versions of the campaign levels, "Perfect Runs" which basically are challenges where you must get a perfect score in a level, the "Nurse Campaign" which is a completely different side story from the main campaign, custom levels that can be downloaded from online, a custom level creator that allows you to make your own levels, and much more.

According to the developers, this game is still in early access with more content along the way. I'm actually really excited to see what's in store for us. The most recent update was an entire baseball player campaign and that was a lot of fun to play through. It reminds me a lot of the Rhythm Heaven karate guy levels. I highly recommend Rhythm Doctor. I've beaten the campaign and here I am still playing the game over and over again. It's a great, fun game with a lot of charm. It feels like a "Nintendo" game with how much polish there is to it.

Thank you 7th Beat Games for the wonderful experience. This is definitely one of my favorite rhythm games of all time next to Rhythm Heaven and Um Jammer Lammy!