Recent reviews by Malkiyyah

While the UI certainly takes some getting used to, I like that Civ has gone in a new direction yet again. Well, new to Civ, anyway: fans of Humankind will certainly see some similarities. But I've been enjoying what's out so far.

TL:DR - If you want a good spooky love story wrapped around a solid game, you should absolutely give Banishers a shot.

Review:
Banishers was pretty much made with me in mind, oddly. Likeable protagonists a supportive, friendship-rich romance? Check. Ghosts and spookiness? Check. Investigation and mystery? Check. Incredibly solid writing and voice acting? Check. Good engine and graphics without anything remotely approaching high-end tech requirements? Check. Love to see it.
As I played more, it seemed to me that one of the core themes in Banishers is this:
"How selfish is love, and if you go too far to preserve it, are you still the same people who fell in love in the first place?" I'm here for it. It's not the sort of question that I've seen explored in games a lot, and I think it's a question that has a TON of room for good exploration. Add to that the fact that some of the choices made are BRUTAL (but never in a way that I found too cheap-shot-y), and it really gets on thinking about just how much love it worth, especially when set against trauma, guilt, and horror.
Game-play wise, it's fun and solid, but not in any particularly ground-breaking ways. It's smooth and gets the job done, and there's a good amount of room for customization of builds in both equipment and power sets. But, at the end of the day, I would guess that people are going to be talking about the story of Banishers a LOT more than they will about game play.

I've really enjoyed the game so far. It marries a setting and tone that I love with a gameplay that I really enjoy, and I've had a great time revealing more of the story and seeing new dynamics form in gameplay with ability unlocks and map features.
There certainly are some downsides: I think that tooltips could be more clear, and I am never a fan of the Paradox-standard Day 1 DLC. But, the game shines for me regardless, and I foresee myself spending a lot of time in this world, with these characters.
I recommend fans of either genre (be it X-Com-style play or Adventure Pulp Setting) to snag this. Not only is the game a lot of fun to dive into, but the art style is endearing and solid, and Everist's score really shines. Go save the world, and get paid!

The game is very fun, with the minor rogue-like elements insuring that things don't get stale. The writing is witty, and the game really opens up into areas you wouldn't expect. I've been enjoying it so far, and like that it has several modes of play.

An amazing game in the genre. The team at Harebrained has captured the spirit of Shadowrun perfectly here (unsurprising, considering that the guys who run Harebrained created the franchise), and it's a delight to play. The writing is top notch, Everist's music is astoundingly good, and the game is fun to go back and replay with different character builds and choices.
The additional content added by the Director's Cut is fantastic as well, and gives more story and polish to an already great game. Treat yourself and pick this up.

In short: Bastion rekindled my love of games. Don't get me wrong: I've always loved games. But, Bastion was so well crafted, it played like an homage that combined the best aspects of platformer-type games, story-based games, and experimental games.
The platformer aspect is solid:while it's not quite a run & jump, the level itself is still a mobile obstacle that must be considered during play. The story of the game is touching and interesting, and keeps a player that cares about said story on their toes, and possibly reaching for a box of tissues. It's hard to pull off a sympathetic villain and morally ambiguous hero in any story, but I find it's even harder to do in games, where the player (as the protagonist) is putting in tons of time and energy to work against the "villain." The experiemental bit was the Narrator. Cunningham's narration may be a fixture now, but when the game was released there were a TON of people who thought that it would never work. For most, though, those fears disappeared when his rich voice started, and you always wanted to hear more of what he had to say.
Supergiant Games have released just two games so far, but each of them have been gems. Bastion set them on the stage in a big way, and as their fans look forward to Pyre and beyond, it's good to recognize the game that brought the studio to us in the first place.

So, first review for Transistor:
The game is pretty, both to the eyes and the ears. Music is solid (beyond solid, it's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ amazing), the art style is gorgeous (sort of what would happen if you took the cel-shaded style of Bastion and crossed it with Art Deco), and the detail is good, but not overdone or too busy.
The gameplay certainly won't be for everyone, but I like it. It's an interesting take on a "tactical" style, and the sheer variety of moves and ways to go about doing solving a fight are pretty keen. Lots of abilities to use, and multiple ways to tweak each ability, not to mention passive buffs. All of this while trying to maximize a cap on how much "boom" you can wade into a fight with at once.
Only problem I have so far: some bugs definitely made it out of their QA department. Hard-crash bugs. This is a bad thing. It's not hitting everyone, and apparently it's better if you play it in Offline Mode on Steam. I'm guessing Supergiant Games is driving for a fix at the moment, because no studio likes handing out game crashes.
So, yeah: I definitely recommend it. It's on the shorter side (haven't beat it yet, but I have a feeling), but beautiful, fun, and has a refreshing take on the mechanics of a platformer. Might just wanna wait a few days for the bugs to get squashed.