Northern Journey: I enjoyed the vast majority of this game. Sudden difficulty spikes notwithstanding. But the quicksave button was a lifesaver. (The haunted glacier level & glider part sucked. And I couldβve done without 2 or 3 of the final five boss fights in the end game.) Hard to recommend to just anyone. But itβs nice to enjoy an FPS for once.
Overbowed: The things the game does get right (like little character interactions and health upgrades to reward exploration), doesnβt save it from being a little mediocre overall. Bosses arenβt fun to fight, and I really dislike how the map is designed to be one color/unable to be viewed in its entirety. (No custom map markers either. And for a metroidvaniaβ¦thatβs an odd choice to make.)
Dead Island 2: The gorey-looking combat and decent multiplayer doesnβt really save this game from being just okay either. As the plot and characters (and their dialogue) are pretty bad. And I got a little sick of how often it spammed enemies behind you & how long it took to kill literally everything.
I Wani Hug That Gator: No, itβs not actually a lewd game. Has genuinely good characters, and decent dialogue that lets you engage with the teenage melodrama of a plot. I donβt usually play visual novel games like this. But the internet (and the heaps of praise it gave this) got this one right.
Gris: I gave this one a try. But it was a very boring experience. Play something like Omno instead of this.
Nimbusfall: Just a bad arcade boss rush, that might be a little better with a friend. But I didnβt have one to play it with. So the simple one button combat and bad enemy hitboxes made me not want to finish this.
Iβm very much enjoying Perennial Order. (Though I did want to play its Co-Op. Iβm flying solo atm.) Though Iβve heard that itβs a bit of a βBoss Walk/Crawlβ, because it has a lot of downtime between its fights. But the bleak world is nice to look at, and the character interactions are interesting. So I certainly havenβt minded it yet.
I will attempt to play more of Darkwood too. Because it really does have a nice spooky atmosphere. But its controls seem strangely unresponsive. (Especially with my mouse.) Maybe Iβll try using a controller instead?
Regardless, I'm getting closer to completing my last Christmas purchases. So I'll have plenty of room for more new games...