Recent reviews by Graeldon

I'm reviewing Steam games in alphabetical order, and you can watch my review here: https://youtu.be/7LWb-4BlxYY

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This is one of Peaksels older point and click escape room style puzzle games. Unfortunately it's also the most broken. Not only did one puzzle appear to be unsolvable without hints, but after completion is skipped me to the end of the game, completing every level at the same time. So the level progression simply doesn't work.
The art is also pretty forgettable, and considering that each room is meant to be based on the actual office of a real-world company, it's a shame that there is literally nothing to help the player figure out which companies were featured.

Even if you're a fan of the genre, I'd steer clear of this one.

I'm reviewing Steam games in alphabetical order, and you can watch my review here: https://youtu.be/7LWb-4BlxYY

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Yet another point and click, escape room style puzzle game by Peaksel. This one features more bright and colourful graphics than their previous games, but the core mechanics are more or less identical. This one suffers the least from being ported over from mobile, and played well from start to finish. As with the others, it suffers from encouraging the use of level skips, essentially giving the player the feel that even the devs don't care if you play the levels or not. Some of the puzzle solutions are pretty nonsensical, but if you enjoy these kinds of puzzle games you're probably used to that and will still have a good time here.

Wouldn't recommend it to non-puzzle/escape room enjoyers, and even then I'd only recommend it on sale to those that do. Decent enough, but don't go out of your way to get it.

I'm reviewing Steam games in alphabetical order, and you can watch my review here: https://youtu.be/7LWb-4BlxYY

Prefer to read?
This is a point&click hidden object style game about escaping from a mysterious prison. Each room is a self-contained puzzle that requires you to use items in the room by interacting with them or combining them in order to escape. The main character is modelled after Beren Guney, an instagram model and influencer, but a large percentage of the art appears to be AI generated, or at least AI was used during the creation process. Puzzles range in difficulty between extremely easy, and frustratingly obtuse - not necessarily intentionally by the devs, but because some of the puzzle solutions are frankly ridiculous. There are also many issues that appear to be a direct result of the port from mobile, such as menus with touch screen style controls, and a "mission" system that doesn't provide any rewards. The game also encourages the use of hints or skips to bypass levels, while also having a point system that rewards fast (non-skip) completion of levels, showing that the design is at odds with itself.

That said, the game plays just fine, and if you happen to enjoy these kinds of games you'll probably have a good time, as there is nothing the game does that is outrageously wrong, it's just a lot of small things. Maybe pick it up on sale, or grab the free version from your mobile app store.

I'm playing games in alphabetical order and you can watch my review here: https://youtu.be/nJ9k-Jysm7I

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There are much better match 3 games out there. This one tries to tell a story about rebuilding an airport in 100 days, while also telling a who-dunnit style murder mystery when your boss dies after the first day.
None of the story makes any coherent sense, sentences contradict each other, thoughts trail off, and questions go unanswered. The plot is also never properly resolved, the killer isn't revealed or apprehended, and it's unclear if it was just an accident.
The plot also ends on level 88, with the remainder of the levels being playable and earning you stars that cannot be spent on anything. There are only two music tracks, which get grating very quickly. There are also a handful of bugs with vanishing tiles, duplicating tiles, or visual effects that fail to play. For example, there is a mexican-wave style pattern that begins when you finish a level. It gets halfway across before freezing. Much like my enthusiasm for the game.

tl;dr not worth your time or money unless you really, really love match 3 games.

I played through this game live, feel free to check out the VOD here if want to see it in action: https://youtube.com/live/dDq5Cv22nEM

KOUR 64 is the result of combining the collect-a-thon aspects of Banjo-Kazooie with the movement of Mirror's Edge and then cramming it into a Nintendo 64.
It's a blocky, chunky, graphical mess that nails the fever-dream like aesthetic, with excellent level design and player movement that makes exploring each level a joy. There are multiple paths for each stage, and great variety between the open, explorable maps, the frantic slide levels, sky-diving, and time trial races. This game has amazing speed running potential, if it's able to get in front of the right people, but is also accessible enough for the average player.

It has some rough edges: The music is sometimes a bit soft, dialogue boxes can't be progressed without moving away from the NPC and back again, and the movement physics sometimes mess up slightly, but it's rare when that happens. Personally I'd like to see a few more powerups (maybe I just missed them) like a grapple/hookshot, or a double-jump, even if there are restricted to a specific level, simply because they'd lend themselves well to the already great movement.

This game is simply fun to mess around in, and I had a great time playing through it!

I'm playing games in alphabetical order, and you can watch my review here: https://youtu.be/kMNSbFwKD20

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This is a first person survival crafting that is currently, and like forever will be, in alpha. As far as I can tell this project is completely abandoned.
It had some interesting ideas, such as having a defined end goal instead of being a simple sandbox, and having an in-world crafting system instead of using menus,
However, the game is barely functional, as you will often and seemingly at random, fall through the world and be forced to restart. The crafting system is barely present, rocks give planks when mined instead of stone, most NPC's have no animations, stairs are too steep to walk up easily, you can't drop items, the day counter skips day 2 completely, and the hunger meter doesn't work correctly.
You could survive 100 days easily by climbing a mountain and then standing perfectly still, because walking is somehow more dangerous than anything else in this game.

I've played through this game live, and you can watch it here: https://youtube.com/live/RkiCDlbKlvY?feature=share

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Self Defense Kinda... took me by surprise, in a good way. It's a boss-rush style RPG with homages to Undertale in the narrative and way the actual fights play out, with many of the fights being more akin to puzzles that need to be solved. The graphics are reminiscent of the flash era of games, with a crude, hand-drawn style that oozes charm and personality. Screens can look very busy at times, but the game does a good job of alerting you to what is important at any given time. The sound track is also fantastic - each fight has it's own music track, and each one is a banger.
I would say that the narrative itself is a bit of a weak spot though. The fights are the highlight of the game, and at some points the narrative drags and gets a bit in the way of the main event. Rather than big ♥♥♥♥♥♥ of text after each fifth fight, it may have felt better to have a small handful of lines after each individual fight, allowing the story to address things as they happened, rather than in a recap afterwards.
Having played through the main game, there are also optional hard mode fights that unlock special abilities, and even custom fights, which is a great addition for replayability.
Ultimately, while this game has some rough edges, I was pulled through with sheer curiosity to see what wacky yet cleverly designed fight I would be faced with next, and I was impressed by the devs ability to constantly keep shaking things up and keeping the fights feeling fresh.

tl;dr if you like RPG boss fights that are more puzzle and less grind, enjoy a bit of quirky humor and can vibe with the graphics, you'll have a pretty good time here. It's rough, but it's interesting.

I'm playing Steam games in alphabetical order and you can watch my review here: https://youtu.be/5l-fer6s-7Q

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Firstly, this game is called "Twilight Story - A Quiet House" after adding it to your library, so you know these devs are doing shady things.

This is a 100 hidden object style game, but with AI generated art, and then the "cats" are selected by AI.
AI is notoriously bad at finding things in images.
There are 20 scenes with 5 "cats" to find in each. Some look like dogs, some are ducks, and most are eldritch monstrosities.
The art style of the main menu is completely different to the actual game, but is also AI generated. The music is obnoxious.
Americans will be appalled by what you've done to the "Lady Liberty".
AVOID.

I'm playing Steam games in alphabetical order and you can watch my review here: https://youtu.be/5l-fer6s-7Q

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This is a 2D 100 hidden object style game, but with 101 hidden objects. But only 100 achievements. 1 of the unlucky cats isn't important enough to have their own achievement apparently.
The art is fairly detailed but appears to be a mix of different art styles or assets, judging by some items like flower pots looking out of place compared to other things. There's a high level of zoom, and it's needed as some of the cats are tiny and pretty well hidden. There isn't a hint system, but even so it should only take a few minutes to beat. The game also comes with a timer if you're into speed running.
Overall this is a B-tier compared to other games in this genre.

I'm playing Steam games in alphabetical order and you can watch my review here: https://youtu.be/5l-fer6s-7Q

Prefer to read?
This is a 2D 100 hidden object style game, but with 101 hidden objects. But only 100 achievements. 1 of the unlucky cats isn't important enough to have their own achievement apparently.
The art is fairly detailed but appears to be a mix of different art styles or assets, judging by some items like flower pots looking out of place compared to other things. There's a high level of zoom, and it's needed as some of the cats are tiny and pretty well hidden. There isn't a hint system, but even so it should only take a few minutes to beat. The game also comes with a timer if you're into speed running.
Overall this is a B-tier compared to other games in this genre.