Recent reviews by Skie

If you are looking for a slower paced open world exploration experience that does not feel either overwhelming with sheer size or too mechanically challenging, Caravan Sandwitch is a game that might be worth your attention.

In this game you will be chatting up a few NPCs, doing side quests with bits and pieces of exploration puzzles that involve a vehicle. The gameplay loop is quite robust and boiled down to the basics - as you explore (either during quests or freely), you'll be picking up components to simply advance towards a new ability for your van which will enable you to access more of the gorgeously presented world that's just pleasant to look at and cruise through, There are no combat systems, and even as far as platforming puzzles go there is no fall damage either. It is a safe sandbox, and outside of a few minor glitches at the time of writing this review there are no real friction points within the game itself.

I would say Caravan Sandwitch does not try to be more than what it appears to offer, and it's its honest strength. You can expect to finish the game in under 10 hours, or slightly more if you're a completionist. I approached the game during a time when I was looking for a slower paced, pleasant experience I could "vibe" in, and Caravan Sandwitch let me accomplish exactly that.

An instantly enjoyable, extremely well scoped blend of fast paced gameplay that just feels fantastic to blaze through, especially if you enjoy a good FPS challenge with no bloat,

If you have enjoyed Neon White and/or Hotline Miami, I Am Your Beast will absolutely scratch this itch in a refreshing format. The game features a highly surprising amount of (bangin') music, and really well executed voice acted scenes that absolutely set the scene without overstaying their welcome.

As a game developer myself - I Am Your Beast did, probably more than any other game this year, made me remind myself that we need to make more smaller games with an extremely tight game loop, as this is a brilliant example of one such experience.

Don't miss it!

Reviewing on the first day of Early Access, and I need to say that it is VERY Early Access - actually closer to an Alpha than Beta for now.

In short, the game on day one of EA is much more barebones than what is available in KSP1 when it comes to functionality. Certain areas are vastly improved:
- Tutorials are fantastic, fully guided and narrated, even supplemented with animations and in-game videos
- Vehicle assembly is much more functional and even has built-in dV calculation
- Music is welcome addition and well done, varying between different SOIs and activities

The core of the game shows promise, you already are able to apply thrust to vessels while in timewarp, and many of the added parts have potential, but if you are looking for a complete (and bug-free) experience, do stay with KSP1 for now. Performance is currently ATROCIOUS, especially at the KSC. For now let's hope the developers stick to their plan and balance out optimisation and adding roadmap features accordingly.

I am very optimistic about the future of the game, but I can't easily recommend the game unless you already are a fan of KSP and don't mind jumping on the ship REALLY EARLY. Do make sure to acquaint yourself with the roadmap and pay attention to the cadence of updates so you don't set yourself for disappointment.

Remember that it took long years for KSP to get where it is now, and consider that you might have to wait at least 1-2 years until KSP2 begins to outshine its predecessor. Interplanetary travel is a slow burn after all.

Great racer from Criterion Games that does what it sets out to do really well, upholding not only the namesake of the Need for Speed franchise, but also their own roots carrying over Burnout games.

During racing the game conveys great sense of speed with polished up visuals that hold up great thanks to the recent remaster. The overworld is pretty, and serves as a very enjoyable playground for different kinds of well over a 100 events you launch from menu. Police encounters are hilarious and very over-the-top, even in the semi-realistic setting with a big variety of realistically modelled cars. Sadly the freeride does not allow you to set up impromptu races, do challenges or even initiate chases, but is nevertheless available.

If you have played the original release, there is little point to dive into the Remastered version, unless you are interested in slightly refreshed multiplayer with cross-play, QoL tweaks, and updated visuals that might also come with performance penalty on weaker machines.

If you are a fan of the franchise and did enjoy previous work of Criterion Games, I don't think you will be disappointed. The game delivers about 15-20 hours of haha car go fast fun, and even more if you are interested in multi-player.

Just purely relaxing and pleasing. Not much of a game on its own, more like a toy that gives you pleasant vibes. Still in development, but already worth it if you're looking for a casual, uncomplicated, and relaxing sandbox experience.

A pretty fantastic refresh of a 20 year old classic.

Graphics feel very detailed and consistent with smooth animations, so the difference between Definitive Edition and CD/HD is very substantial even if you don't use a 4K display. Game feels fresh and very pleasing to the eye, but this might come at a price of lower performance on weaker machines, although we've already seen some improvements with recent updates and we know that there will be further improvements coming.

Gameplay has also received a bunch of quality of life tweaks that ended up being very welcome in the community. The new Civs added to the game are strong -- and perhaps too strong at release --, but as of now we're just past the first batch of balance adjustments and at the moment they don't feel unfair in any sense anymore. Currently it feels like the game is in a really strong place when it comes to game balance with almost all of the 35 Civs being viable picks for competetive play and that's a very commendable achievement.

The multiplayer works pretty great, as dedicated servers are finally incorporated. Long gone are days of P2P desync, though an occasional hitch can still happen. Thankfully, the recent patches did help with performance, too, though there is still some room for improvement in terms of game stability with some PC configs.

Overall, if you've been a fan of Age of Empires in the past, you can easily do yourself a favour and jump back in. Age of Empires II is still just as fantastic of game as it was 20 years ago, and a truly standout RTS that still holds up well in player numbers, particularly with the renewed attention Microsoft is giving to the series.

A must-have experience for any VR and firearm fans.

Constantly updated, expanded and refined, H3VR already presents itself as the most accurate and above all enjoyable firearm sim in the 2018. Lots of available content, various ranges, game and challenge modes make it easy to sink tens of hours into the game without even noticing.

A must-have for any video game gun lovers. Be forewarned though - no action game will ever feel the same after playing H3VR.

Don't bother getting the original release. Definitive Edition has more content, new skills, areas and allows you to fast-travel around the world, which comes really handy as most player will feel encouraged to revisit areas for collectibles.

Platformers aren't my favourite genre as I'm often far too picky about pixel-perfect jumps, unpredictable physics or issues with backtracking in far too many of them. Thankfully I was relieved to see that these weren't the case as soon as I launched Ori.

First thing you might notice from the videos and screenshots is the unique graphics. The game uses a parallax effect to give depth to its hand-drawn, animated 2D planes and such treatment compliments the game extremely well in the visual department. There is a ton of care put into both characters and environments, with graphics looking sharp even on 1080p+ screen resolutions and higher frame rates.

What'll probably stand out next for the potential player right after they jump into the game is the orchestral music composed by Gareth Coker. The whole score of the game is masterfully composed to the point that it doesn't simply fit in the mood of the game - it amplifies to the degrees that I often couldn't wait to visit a particular area of the game on a subsequent playthrough just so I could hear my favourite tracks again. I have to admit that the highly emotional story of the game made me fell in love with the soundtrack even more, which made me end up listening to it for months after completing the game, quietly reliving the most memorable moments of both the gameplay and story in my mind.

Gameplay wise Ori is very strong as well; The movement feels natural, as the whole world is driven by physics that feel predictable to interact with, without any quirkiness that often comes with less-polished Unity engine games. Ori controls feel right just minutes into the game and that allows for players to master new skills with ease. And speaking of character progression - it's often done in a way that kept me smiling with joy each time I earned a new ability - which in turn encouraged the backtracking I had initially dreaded. It turned out that I enjoyed it even more, as the hidden collectibles are actually worth pursuing. I'd even say that getting to them is often a puzzle that's a pure joy to solve.

There are a few problems with the game such as skill descriptions that could be somewhat improved or difficulty of some escape sequences that might be a problem for some players. The game itself tends to be on the tougher half of the difficulty spectrum and for that reason I'd recommend people that aren't well acquainted with platformers to start with the Easy mode.

The thing with the issues I had found is that... they're really miniscule as soon as one begins to appreciate the main values of the game. For new players it's sitting at around 8-10 hours of a standard playthrough or a 11-13 hours for getting extra collectibles. There are multiple save slots and challenge difficulties available, as well as extra footage added by the developers for the Definitive Edition.

I wholeheartedly recommend this game to not only fans of the genre but also you, fellow reader, even if you aren't one. The big chances are that you'll at least enjoy it a whole bunch, maybe even tear up a bit, but ultimately smile in the process. After all this is what the video games often should be about: things that not only bring fun to our mundane lives, but also memorable experiences we get to share with others.

I almost had skipped this title because I was focused on getting through my backlog in a relatively quicker pace. Instead, I found a game that stuck with me for long enough that I stopped caring about the backlog and just focused on a thing I really enjoyed. I did not expect that I'd end up saying that when I started the game for the first time, but Ori and the Blind Forest is the most important platformer I played since Cave Story.

I really think you should play it too.

A brilliant but flawed and ambitious venture into Action RPGs.

The story is inherently forgettable and the world feels somewhat unfinished, but that doesn't really take away the fun that comes from tightness of the controls, immensely enjoyable gameplay, non-restricting progression and overall very high quality of the experience. It's that kind of a game that does enough unique things with a popular formula to feel fresh many years after its release.

The PC port runs wonderfully on weaker machines and it comes with a huge DLC area that adds tens of hours of fun and extra playtime. I wholeheartedly recommend Dragon's Dogma for every fan of the ARPG genre.

An awesome, well-polished twin-stick shooter. It's a very addictive, fast-paced game with lots of secrets and a really enjoyable gameplay. If you liked any of the previous games made by Vlambeer (Ridiculous Fishing, Super Crate Box, Luftrausers) then this is the definitive screenshake Vlambeer game. As of today.

Well worth the little you have to pay for it. Unless you're a whiny PCGMR that cannot stand the juicy 30 frames per second and funky pixel graphics.

It's rad fun.

♥♥♥♥ you, Little Hunter