Recent reviews by Ghostie

Bargain Blocz is a very simple puzzle game. Each level presents as a top down board of varying shapes made of squares with a given starting square. From there you can move along the squares in one of four directions with a goal to step on every square. Squares change from empty to filled when stepped on and can only be stepped on once.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3024941943
The levels are collected into a series of 5 sets called ‘cups’ and play like a gauntlet. Once started, if the levels are failed or restarted a level more than three times then the ‘cup’ starts from the beginning - same for exiting the levels, there is no saving or checkpoints. 60 seconds are given to complete a single level and a score is presented once all the levels in a ‘cup’ have been completed based on the time taken.

Mouse can be used in the menu screen but the primary controls are keyboard (either WASD or arrows). There is also some very basic controller support. The last set of levels introduces Octagons with QEZX for diagonal controls.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3024941958
Although far from a must play game, this would still have been perfectly adequate if it weren’t for a game breaking bug preventing completion of the second set of levels or ‘Blue cup’. I never completed the last three sets.

A fantastic collection of five well presented free-to-play horror shorts. The games avoid being reliant on cheap scares, focusing on creating a dread-filled atmosphere with dark corners and metallic sound design that left me with an unsettled feeling that continued afterward.

The primary theme of each game is operating machinery, usually in claustrophobic rust-aged spaces, figuring out how individual components work and fit together. Despite their similarities in gameplay mechanics, each story is able to provide a different and thought provoking encounter.

The games have fairly standard keyboard and mouse controls with no option to change them. Most of the games have at least one ‘timed sequence’ where the player must complete their task before it finishes. I only failed one of these sequences (in Carbon Steel) and there wasn't any real consequence outside of restarting at a checkpoint, can't speak for the other games.

I didn’t experience any major bugs but the buttons didn’t line up for click locations in ‘Concrete Tremor’ (possibly due to my screen resolution 3440x1440), however this did not prevent me from being able to complete this story. (This is also the only game in this anthology that I didn’t like).

Unsorted Horror is absolutely worth the time of any horror fan, with each of the experiences lasting between 5 and 30 minutes and one achievement awarded per completion of each game.

Short, F2P, and not to be confused with the 2022 game of the same name - ‘THE BUTTON’ is exactly what it says it is.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2983142037
The goal is to reach 30 presses in a row. With every press, the chance for the count to reset increases. A small test of patience and mental fortitude, the ‘game’ comes with a surprising amount of customisation including a dark mode. After 30 points have been reached the option to continue and chase higher scores remains.

Pursued by the Grim Reaper and with the minions of Dr. Krull standing in the way, 8 keys must be collected across the many towns in the Afterlife to unlock a portal that will allow ‘Soul’ to return to the living and attend to unfinished business. Afterlifes inhabitants often seem like they’re barely managing to keep the place running, and the actions of the player often topples them over the edge in this mildly chaotic escapade.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2983054864
The difficulty is all over the place - Restless Soul is a real hodgepodge game mechanics, twin-stick bullet hell combat, puzzles and secrets all interlaced with the highly narrative driven ‘adventure-style’ gameplay. Every NPC has something unique to say and huge swathes of the game are just walking around and having conversations with them. The stark difference with the boss fights can feel brutal, even with health potions, and checkpoints often being just the room prior. Completing secrets has some tangible rewards that really help against combat.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2983055033
The main draw is the humour - cute, funny, a little bit meta, cheesy puns that frequently break the fourth wall - but there is an overabundance of it and it does get wearisome, especially as a lot of game progress is hidden behind this dialogue and many characters exist purely to give one quip before they disappear. On more than one occasion I felt like I had spoken to everyone in a town and was none the wiser on how to move onto the actual gameplay.

There is a strange mix of 2D sprites used within 3D environments that are used as an added layer of absurdity with the jokes. Despite the washed out monochrome palette of the Afterlife, each town you visit does have a distinct tone and spirit and lots of little details have been added to the world and its inhabitants.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2983055421
I like this game, I really do but it’s complex. Where parts of the game are entertaining, it’s highly repetitive and the mediocre parts end up feeling like a right slog with severe pacing issues. For a solo developer this is still an impressive project with a lot of heart hidden beneath the layers. It took me just under 6 hours to complete this game, including all the achievements.

Dream Bright is a terribly wholesome F2P game and an experience that can be completed in about 20 minutes.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2982816963
A young girl is exploring her new home trying to find her toys. Unable to reach them in the real world, she enters a dream realm to meet them with the aid of her adorable companion - who for some reason encourages her to run down stairs during the tutorial. In total there are only two toys needing rescuing and it’s a very easy game.

In her imagination she gains extra skills transforming gameplay from a slow basic puzzler into a pretty fun platformer with decently solid controls. Alongside the new double jumping, her companion has an extra ability which acts as a small slingshot to help scale tall objects. ‘Accidentally’ missing a landing has this really nice seamless fall straight back onto a recent platform.

When she returns to the real world daylight is gone and the night takes over. The house is now full of ‘monsters’ and ‘dark clouds’. These have to be avoided either by stealth, running past, or using the second companion ability which when timed right stuns them. Honestly the ‘monsters’ activated some primal fear in me cause it freaked me out a little the first time I saw them but they’re not terribly scary. This segment reminded me somewhat of the game ‘Among The Sleep’.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2982816796
Dream Bright has several visual bugs with widescreen resolutions but I never noticed any playing in windowed mode. I really like this game, there are lots of intriguing ideas and it’s very cute. I would happily pay for a polished and fully fleshed out release.

F2P 15 minute 2D platformer with 8 levels total, gameplay is pretty standard - collect all fruit and kill all enemies to complete a level. Good use of multi-directional exploration and challenges in level design. The player is given one life, death restarts a level.

There are two types of enemies (both represented by mouse sprites), they are easily defeated but have quite small hitboxes - many stand still, and for the rest you can stand still and wait for them to come to you. Not every obstacle was obviously dangerous (I was duped by something I thought was a fan for floating, still not sure what it is but death occured) but most of the game it is clear what to avoid. For widescreen monitors the background doesn't fully reach the entire screen.

Guns & Fishes is a 3D parkour-platformer shooter with a novelty of using aquatic life for projectiles instead of bullets. I was originally going to give this game a thumbs up because although it’s unpolished with jank floaty controls, the first few levels are surprisingly fun.

Starting out with a simple pistol, eight fishy-themed gun types are slowly introduced as progress is made in the game. The ‘fish’ bullets are solid and will ricochet off scenery, enemies and other bullets. Ammo drops from enemies and ammo is lost as a penalty for dying - this can lead to situations where you don’t have enough firepower to pass the end level gauntlet. Once a weapon is unlocked, ammo for it is available as a drop in all levels.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2981460065
There are both melee and ranged enemy variants. Enemy bullets fire quite slow, so they’re a little bit of a quasi ‘bullet time’ where it's possible to dodge them. The majority of enemies can be skipped in some levels, jumping over their heads until the end gauntlet is reached, this is especially made easy when combined with the exceedingly generous checkpoints. Killing an enemy regenerates a small amount of player health.

Platforming and parkour is alright, it’s nothing special - mostly due to the controls I felt like I was landing on ice, and when I say parkour, I mostly just mean it has wall jumping and sliding. Combined with the gunplay however creates the dynamic experience which forces a player to think and react quickly to the situation. This assumes the enemies have been aggro’d because if not, they’re standing around like lemons waiting for the player to arrive, making them prime sniping targets.

When the grappling hook was introduced that’s when levels become less mindless fun and more annoying. I personally think the rope is too short and there’s no visual cue for your next throw. In particular grappling between helicopters to traverse the level was painful as the game didn’t seem to know how to handle the physics. Level 17s helicopter trial was not an experience I seek to repeat.

https://youtu.be/PjQcT5E1sLY
I did encounter several bugs, most noticeably:

• Sometimes enemies can shoot through walls
  
• Some scenery blocks the player from shooting enemies even when the object looks hollow
  
• The death counter was broken
  
• The most recently played level can only be selected via continue and won’t appear in level select until it has been completed, nor can currently played level be restarted from within the level. If an older level is replayed, progress from the current level will be completely lost.
  
• And the bizarre helicopter physics of course.

This game is still in early access so it has potential and I am looking forward to updates but please don’t get me wrong, there are tons of other games of this (and similar) genre that will provide a much better experience. Still, it was challenging and kept me entertained, with just under four hours to earn all the achievements.

https://youtu.be/5hoYnflrBfo

A successful woman revisits her childhood town for a stress free break from her big city job in exchange for a couple of weeks casually delivering mail. The location is so beautiful and it’s obvious a lot of thought went into the design, it’s hard to imagine why she left. During her stay she gets to know the locals and generally enjoy the gentler pace of small town life.

WIth a name like ‘Lake’ it doesn’t do much to inspire the imagination but it is accurate, there is a lake in this game. Riding on some 80s nostalgia, it’s dialogue heavy game and fits nicely into the category of ‘Walking Sims’, it’s just a shame walking felt excruciatingly slow at first. Posties are some of the fastest walkers I know (absolute calves of steel!), so seeing her waddle slower than what I could after recovering from my broken foot was mildly frustrating to say the least, even if she is a ‘newbie’ to the job. Eventually I was able to melt into a relaxed routine and find optimal routes to minimise the walking.

Driving feels smooth though, with no consequences for driving poorly. When I got the keys for the affectionately named ‘Goose’, the first thing I did was drive down the wrong side of the street - it accidentally caused a traffic jam that was still there after I returned from my rounds. Additionally to the driving is a rudimentary ‘fast travel’ system that teleports you to key points in the map and an ‘auto-travel’ option. If the actual driving side of the game doesn’t do anything for you, it’s skippable.

Voice and sound occasionally seemed off. Too quiet in parts, or it sounded like it was in a bubble. That being said I love the soundtrack to this game, it’s super chill and relaxing but it is very limited. The devs seem quite aware to the point a joke was made about it by an NPC. In game you can choose to listen to the ambience or the few songs the local radio has actually access to.

Dialogue could be a little cheesy but it’s wholesome and I found myself grinning along. It’s not possible to skip or speed up dialogue, and there choices in-game but they mostly boil down to yes I'll do that or no I won’t, the latter just meaning you’ll miss out on a scene or two. If you’re playing this game for the story you might as well say yes. There are a couple of potential romantic interests which play a key role in the final decision for our protagonist, this is completely optional - you do not have to romance either. I don’t know if I imagined it but the female romance came across as written more in depth.

I can’t help but think some of the characters were mildly inspired by those in Twin Peaks, the cat lady in particular but that’s probably wishful thinking… Most were more reminiscent of those found in shows like Northern Exposure or Murder She Wrote (minus the murder part). Quaint, a little bit eccentric, hard working sorts. I grew up surrounded by ‘80s media so this game felt like a small nostalgia trip - especially visiting the rental store, I must have spent at least 20 minutes or so just looking at the poster parodies in there.

Although I’m giving ‘Lake’ a thumbs up, I’m happy to acknowledge its flaws and admit this game is definitely not for everyone, at first I wasn’t even sure it was for me. It took its time but the characters really grew and the mellow nature felt like a breath of fresh air. This game really embodies the phrase: ‘Life’s a journey and not a destination, just grab the wheel and enjoy the ride.’

Brutalism 22 is a horror walking sim about the anxiety of invasion and war. Atmosphere is unsettling, the world is disorientating, snow is crunchy, and the misty weather does well to hide the otherwise short and linear experience.

When I first played the game there were camera sensitivity issues with the mouse controls. The developer has been very quick to react to feedback and after checking this now seems to be fixed. Using a controller felt smooth as butter.

Jumpscares are incredibly frequent and they become more irritating than anything else - on more than one occasion I heard music indicating a scare but I didn’t get to see the effect/animation before it was over.

The story has some pacing issues but lots of interesting ideas are explored and presented. It took me less than one hour to finish a playthrough and there are no missable achievements.

A heavy brutalist architectural landscape and towering structures that make even the open spaces feel claustrophobic. The hollow sounds of the wind whistle through the streets of this desolate city, your only goal is to escape.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2962182072

BABBDI is entirely F2P. There isn’t much of a story, no fall damage and the inhabitants don’t have a lot to say but there are plenty of secrets to uncover. I want to call it ‘almost a walking sim’ - you can complete it just by walking around but it also offers tools and options for alternative playstyles… if you can find them.

Exploration is excellent, especially vertically - something that often feels like a rarity. Pathways twist and wind, from crawling through sewers to slowly creeping along the edge of a wall, I truly felt like I was trapped going round in circles but there was always something just around a corner to keep me invested in finding more. There’s a lot of looping, on more than one occasion I completed a ‘difficult’ platforming section only to find there was a much easier route to the destination. Several dead ends and decent sound design complete the oppresive maze-like nature of this game.

Parts of the game reminded me quite a bit of Half-Life 2 and E.Y.E Divine Cybermancy in atmosphere, but it is probably closer to an unusual combination of games like Off-Peak, The Old City and Sagebrush. My first playthrough I was really taking my time and it took me just over an hour to complete, gathering all but the speedrun Steam achievement. My second playthrough took me just over 2 minutes.