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video game reviews

The Best Games I’ve Played in 2023 so far

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2023 has been an interesting year. I decided to take my game reviews a lot more seriously, and as a result, I got to cover a cool event, meet some interesting people, and play some fun games. Since the year is about halfway over, I think it is the perfect time to make a list of the best games I’ve played so far. This list is based on my opinion and in no specific order. I put a lot of thought into only including the games I believe deserve the most attention. There were some hard choices, but I didn’t want this list to be long.

Fire Emblem Engage

I am not the biggest fan of strategy games, but this one was so much fun. Check out the full review!

Dameo

If you like tabletop dungeon crawlers, you need this game. You can play solo, with friends, or with strangers. Check out the full review!

Liberte

This was a fun little ARP with an interesting deck building you don’t want to miss. Check out the full review!

Everspace 2

This was a very unique RPG with an interesting story, but mechanics that are out of this world. Check out the full review!

Havendock

If you are looking for a new village builder to play, or simply looking to wet your feet with the genre, check out Havendock. Go read the full review!

Super Dungeon Maker

If you like classic RPGs or have always wanted to make your own, this game is in a great place right now. Check out the full review!

Volcano Princess

While this may not be perfect, it was such a unique, memorable, and fun experience that I needed to add to the list. It may not be for everyone, but it is worth looking into. Check out the full review!

Strayed Lights

This was such a beautiful game with a fantastic soundtrack. If you need another souls-like, this should be in your library. Check out the full review!

Planet of Lana

This is a cute puzzle adventure game with a solid story and great music. I know I just reviewed it, but I had to add it to the list. Check out the full review!

To My Readers

I am beyond grateful for the opportunities I’ve gotten this year. I have a lot of ideas and more opportunities for the future, but I wouldn’t have gotten here without you. To all of you who continue to read my work or those of you who just got here, thank you! Writing this blog has been so much fun, and it means so much to me that you take time from your day to read what I have to say.

Make sure you like and subscribe because that helps me out a lot. Most importantly, thank you! I love you all.

video game reviews

Game Review: Broken Spectre

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If you have been enjoying my content and want to support what I do, please consider buying me a coffee

I was sent Broken Spectre as a review code. I am very grateful for the opportunity, but I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

Broken Spectre is an unreleased horror narrative for VR that uses hand tracking instead of the remotes. You play as Casey as she goes into the mountains to search for her father who went missing 25 years ago. But the truths she uncovers are a lot more sinister than expected. 

Taken from the Press Kit

I don’t do well with horror games, so this title took me longer to complete than usual. That said, Broken Spectre is a great horror story. The music, the 3D sound, and hand tracking work together to create the game’s ominous atmosphere. The deeper I got into the story I got, the harder it was to convince myself to keep going.

It is hard to talk about the narrative because I don’t want to ruin the ending, but it is a well-crafted narrative. All the clues you find, the visuals you see, and the bits of dialogue you hear all build to the games satisfying conclusion. I found it a bit short, but enjoyable. 

The use of hand tracking was a nice touch because it made the game feel a lot more immersive. If you do use hand tracking, make sure the room is well-lit. I felt that the controls were buggy in dim or low light.

The game was released in June 2023, but it felt pretty finished to me. I did break the game a few times, but I was able to work around it. If you like horror and visual novels, you should look into getting this game. It is available on the App Lap if you don’t want to wait.

video game reviews

Game Review: Power Chord

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I was sent Power Chord as a review code. While I am very grateful for this opportunity, I will not let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review of the game.

Power Chord is a rogue-like deck builder available now on Steam similar to games like Slay the Spire or Monster Train, but with a metal-inspired aesthetic.

Pictures and video are taken from the game

Demons run the city. It is up to you and the band you assemble to defeat them. As you make your way to the top of the demon tower, you will collect cards that you will use to make a deck worthy of killing the four warlords that guard it. Along the way, you will also find gear or trigger random events that can help or hinder your ascent. This game is very RNG-reliant, and this can make your runs fun or miserable. 

For the most part, the gameplay is solid. The animation and art style are neat, the attacks and flavor are fun, and it requires enough strategy to keep me engaged through your first run. The story doesn’t really matter because most of the gameplay exists within the grind. My issue with the game is that it is repetitive. I like card games enough that I didn’t mind the repletion so much, but this isn’t a title you will no life to completion.

The RNG can be an issue in this game. When it is fair, and you get excellent pulls, the game is a lot of fun. Other times, you will pull the worst cards, and your run becomes nearly impossible. While the RNG might give the illusion of variety, it makes the grind feel harsher than it is. Unlocking new cards and champions felt slow because I kept running through the same scenarios. They have been adding new playable characters to the roster. This gives the deck building side of the game a bit more diversity, but you still have the issue of facing the same types of battles.

I liked the game, but I love deck builders and metal. Because of how repetitive this game is, the price is an issue. If you are looking for something you can play in small bursts when you just want to chill and listen to some cool music, the game is fine. If you want a challenging and complex story, wait for the sale. If you are a fan of the genre, you might be disappointed by the game’s lack of diversity. I would probably wait for a sale or for the developers to add more content.

This game is available on Steam.

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Game Review: Knights of Honor II: Sovereign

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I want to mention that this game was sent to me as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will not let this sway my opinions. This will be my honest review.

Knights of Honor II: Sovereign is a medieval-themed real-time strategy game. The goal is to become the most powerful kingdom in the world. It is similar to the Civilization game but with a lot less waiting and a lot more choices. If you are a fan of strategy or want to get into the genre, this is a fantastic title to add to your collection.

First off, this game has the strange ability to manipulate time in real life. It was morning when I started my campaign, but when I got up, it was well past midnight. I still had choices to make and kingdoms to topple. Knights of Honor II quickly became an addiction, and I don’t even like strategy games.

Choose a kingdom and start making your plans toward world domination. Victory takes many forms in this game. You can bolster your economy through trade, becoming the most prosperous. You can raise mighty armies and watch kingdoms crumble under your might. You can influence the world through your religion and diplomacy. But if you are feeling sneaky, send in your spies to sow dissidence within your enemy’s borders. There are so many choices in this game, and they all matter.

 

Do not be discouraged. This game sounds complicated, and in many ways it is, but it is easy to pick up. I am terrible at strategy games, but I picked it up quickly. The game does a fantastic job of giving you the resources you need to understand the game, but there are some great guides out there for when you get stuck. I played my campaigns without referencing any guides. I didn’t feel like I needed them, but I made mistakes. None of my runs were optimal. I suggest you look some up if you plan to play online. I didn’t play online, but I assume that people are a lot less forgiving than the AI. The AI is great and found it provided the perfect amount of challenge. If I made too many mistakes or didn’t think about my choices, I was easily overrun by enemy states. I have left behind my collection of failed empires but had a blast losing them. 

This game is worth $49.99 it is asking for. I can play this game for hours, and I dare you to not do the same. My only complaint is that sometimes the audio would cut out, but I never play with audio anyways. Get this game if you love strategy. Get this game even if you don’t. Head over to steam and grab your copy today!

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Game Review: Digimon Survive

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This was not a review code. I bought this game when it came out because I love Digimon. Digimon Survive is a visual novel with some survival and RPG elements. You can play it on all major consoles, but this review is for the Switch version.

If you are a fan of visual novels, this is a solid one based in the digital world. The art is cool, the voice acting is amazing, and the story is fine. Most of the gameplay involves flipping through a visual novel with a bit of exploration and combat sprinkled in.

The exploration is simple. You move between rooms and talk to other characters to unlock more of the story. The game does encourage exploration by hiding useful items in each room, so be sure to click on everything. The exploration is limited to whatever rooms are relevant to the current events in the story. There is no voice acting for the exploration scenes, so you will have to do the voices yourself. This isn’t a criticism because I love the sound of my own voice. 

All images and video are taken from the game

Combat is where I had the most fun, but it is a bit limited compared to other RPGs like Fire Emblem. You control a team of Digimon that you can continually edit as you progress through the story. You can move, make attacks, use abilities, boost your Digimon, and even befriend enemies. I recommend you mess with the settings to speed up the combat unless you don’t mind the tedium of sitting through the animations. Compared to other games in the genre, the grind is almost non-existent. You can grind as much as you feel necessary, but it wasn’t a life-sucking endeavor that others have been. You can enter combat whenever you want in between stories, but I wish there was a bit more in the form of dungeons personally. I had a lot of fun with the combat. It was my favorite part of the game.

Music by QubeSounds from Pixabay

The visual novel makes up most of the gameplay in Digimon Survive. The story is fine, but if you don’t like anime, you are going to have a bad time. I watch a lot of anime and felt the story to be a bit on the generic side. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t do much to break the mold. If you are a fan of anime and love Digimon, this will be a decent experience. The story is voice acted by very talented actors. It is in Japanese and I couldn’t have it any other way. I can only hope that this can become adapted as an anime because the fights would be amazing!

So is this game worth it? It depends on your tastes as a person. This is a very niche game made for a specific audience. If you are a fan of Digimon and anime and enjoy visual novels, pick it up. If you don’t mind spending your gaming time reading and want to dive into the visual novel genre, this is a decent place to start. If you are on the fence, I would wait for a sale. While I did enjoy this game and am glad I bought it, I could only play it in small bursts because of my short attention span. 

You can play this on the Switch, Playstation, and Xbox. Links are for my affiliate shop.

Now for a shameless plug, check out Canva. If you need a quick and easy photo or video editor that works in your browser, try Canva. It is free, easy to use, and you get access to a wide selection of templates for those who are like me and aren’t that creative. Check out my affiliate link today! You can also try Amazon Prime with my Affiliate link!

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Game Review: Soccer Story

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I would like to mention that I was sent this game as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will not let that sway my opinion. This will be my honest review.

All pictures and video are taken from the game

Soccer story is a cute little soccer RPG that you can play on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and the Switch. This review will be on the PC version.

Evil corporate soccer has banned all recreational soccer. The world is in shambles as people are desperate for their favorite games. You and your team must band together, raise the ranks, beat the evil corporation, and bring back soccer for the people. Are you up for the task?

This game is like FIFA without the bugs or predatory ultimate team and Zelda without the challenge. You roam around different parts of town collecting coins and completing quests with your soccer skills. You can level up your players with the coins you collect to gain an advantage in soccer matches. Soccer matches are 4v4 3-minute games. Soccer Story reminds me of the Inazuma Eleven game for the 3ds, but not as good. 

The RPG aspect of this game is simple. You shoot at targets, run races, and collect things for NPCs. It’s cute at first, but it gets a bit repetitive. If you level up too quickly or wrong, quests become tedious. I started liking this aspect of the game the more I played. 

The soccer part of this game is a lot of fun. It is a more simplified version of Fifa, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. There is some skill and strategy required to progress. I played it on normal and it was perfect for my skill level. You can play this in multiplayer, but I didn’t get a chance to play with other people. This would make a fun party game, but it is much too expensive to be one. 

Music by Gvidon from Pixabay

The game is cute, but it lacks any depth. The story is simple and negligible. I found that this was a game I could only play in small bursts. The gameplay quickly grew repetitive and stale. There is a niche this game fills, but it doesn’t fill it well. It isn’t a bad game, but it isn’t something I would keep coming back to. 

If you like art and love Fifa, I would still wait for there to be a sale. $20 is too much for this game. Yes, I had fun and enjoyed it, but that enjoyment was short-lived. You can go buy it on Steam, Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox.

Now for a shameless plug, check out Canva. If you need a quick and easy photo or video editor that works in your browser, try Canva. It is free, easy to use, and you get access to a wide selection of templates for those who are like me and aren’t that creative. Check out my affiliate link today! You can also try Amazon Prime with my Affiliate link!

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Game Review: Frozen Flame

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If you like what I do and want to show your support, please consider buying me a coffee

I was sent this game as a review code. I am grateful for the opportunity, but I will not let that sway my opinion. This will be an honest review of the game.

Frozen Flame is a casual survival RPG available on Steam today. You can play online with your friends or you can play solo. If you like survival games but want one that isn’t a huge complicated investment, give Frozen Flame a try.

Screenshots and video taken from the game

Take control of the character of your creation as you brave the elements and traverse an unforgiving landscape. Gather the resources you need to fight monsters, complete quests, and build basses as you make your way through the various realms of Arcana. Do you have what it takes to conquer the wilderness?

Of all the survival games I’ve played, Frozen Flame is the easiest and simplest to get into. This game does a fantastic job of guiding its players through the mechanics required to be successful. I never felt lost or overwhelmed by the number of tasks available to me. If you get lost, the game has an in-game guide to guide you. You can also find comprehensive guides online with walkthroughs and recipes online. I liked referencing the guide by TechRaptor because I felt it was best formatted.

The main complication of this game comes in the form of managing different conditions and resources. You must use your survival skills to mitigate the weather and keep yourself in peak physical condition so that you are always at your most effective. Like any other survival game, there will be a lot of inventory and resource management. I found management in Frozen Flame relatively streamlined and easy to keep track of. 

Combat is fine for what it is, but it is pretty simple. If you are looking for a complex combat system, prepare to be disappointed. That isn’t to say that combat in this game is easy. If you aren’t managing your stamina or upkeeping your gear, you will die a lot. Stamina is your main resource in this game. You use it to fight, cast spells, dodge, and sprint. Managing your stamina is essential for your survival. Most of the combat in this game is about learning the monster’s patterns and making sure you always have the stamina to spend.

There is a base building in this game, but I never really bother with this mechanic. I usually build a box to protect myself from the elements and call it a day. That said, the options are pretty limited and if you enjoy base building, this offers a basic experience. It is great for those who want to start getting into the genre, but everyone else will find it lacking.

My only complaint with this game is that it does get a bit repetitive after a while. You are going to find yourself repeating the same tasks and it will get old. The game does a decent job of keeping combat fresh by introducing different mechanics in boss fights, but the novelty doesn’t last long. You will slowly start to recognize the patterns and it can become a battle of attrition.

Music by AlexiAction from Pixabay

So what do I think? I had fun with this game. I liked that it wasn’t a huge commitment. The story is easy to follow and the mechanics are simple and easy to pick up. I can see myself picking up this game when I just want to chill, build a base and not have to worry about complicated recipes to survive. There is also a light RPG element that keeps the game interesting. But, this is a casual game for the casual gamer. For those looking for an in-depth RPG or survival game, this isn’t it. This is great for the gamer who doesn’t have much time but still wants to play a decent survival game. The graphics are fine, the game runs smoothly, and it isn’t a huge commitment. Check it out on Steam. 

Now for a shameless plug, check out Canva. If you need a quick and easy photo or video editor that works in your browser, try Canva. It is free, easy to use, and you get access to a wide selection of templates for those who are like me and aren’t that creative. Check out my affiliate link today! You can also try Amazon Prime with my Affiliate link!

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Game Review: The Entropy Centre

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If you like what I do and want to show your support, please consider buying me a coffee

I want to start by mentioning that I was sent this game as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will not let it sway my opinion. I will treat this game as If I bought it with my own money and provide you with an honest and fair review.

All Media are taken from the game

The Entropy Centre is a puzzle game similar to Portal that is available on PC, Playstation, and Xbox. This review will be on the Steam version of this game.

You wake up in a strange place without your memories. You find yourself in a deserted facility and the fate of the world in your hands. You and a quirky little AI must now traverse through humanity’s final stronghold, solving puzzles in order to save the world. Will you ever find the truth of why you’re here? Will you be able to save humanity? You will need to play to find out.

As a puzzle solver, you are issued a gun that lets you rewind the time of certain objects. Use this gun to get through the puzzle rooms and generate power for the world-saving machine. The story is pretty linear and easy to follow. You move from room to room, slowly unraveling more of the truth. 

Music by EvgenyBardyuzha from Pixabay

The game does promote exploration by hiding lore and achievements throughout the center. I had fun reading through the different emails and getting a fuller picture of the world. I loved the quirky lines of dialogue that would proc when I interacted with certain objects. I appreciate the attention to detail put into this game even if the story isn’t complex. Exploration in this game isn’t mandatory. If you do the puzzles without reading any emails, you will get just as good of an experience but won’t get many of the achievements. 

The puzzles are all very manageable but offer enough of a challenge to keep the game interesting. I thought this game was a bit easier than Portal, but I would also like to think that I have gotten smarter since. With this game, I never felt stuck or the need to look up guides and hints. If you pay attention to the layout of the room, you can figure out what is needed to escape it. As a disclaimer, I am pretty good at puzzles, so your experience might vary. Either way, the developers do a fantastic job at giving you the tools you need to be a successful puzzle solver. 

I loved this game and think it is very much worth the price. If you are a fan of the Portal games, this is one you should check out. If you are new to puzzle games or are trying to get into them, this is a great place to start. The Entropy Centre looks great, runs better, and it makes puzzles fun. Pick it up on Steam, Playstation, or Xbox.

Now for a shameless plug, check out Canva. If you need a quick and easy photo or video editor that works in your browser, try Canva. It is free, easy to use, and you get access to a wide selection of templates for those who are like me and aren’t that creative. Check out my affiliate link today!

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Game Review: The Valiant

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I was sent The Valiant as a review code. While I am grateful for the opportunity, I will not let this sway my opinions about the game. This will be an honest review of my experience.

The Valiant is a real time strategy game where you control a group of Templars as they try to save the world from an ancient evil. It is available now on both Steam and Epic Games.

I liked this game at first. The graphics are good, the music is solid, and the mechanics were manageable. Unfortunately, my experience with this game grew staler the deeper I got into the story. The missions got repetitive, the fights got annoying, and the story isn’t great. The story isn’t bad, but it isn’t anything exciting. The more I played, the harder it was to convince myself to keep playing. It is a shame that the story isn’t better because the voice acting is fantastic. I didn’t play multiplayer, but I doubt it would have saved the experience for me.

The gameplay isn’t great. It could do with a bit of polish. The mechanics were fine at first and very manageable for my skill level. There are skill trees, random drops, and some macro management that adds some depth to the game without being overwhelming. Unfortunately, there isn’t much variety in the missions and it gets a bit tedious. My biggest issue with the gameplay is with the pathing. The pathing in this game is a pain. I lost a few missions because my units would get stuck trying to find a path while the enemy slowly slaughtered them. This makes some of the missions unnecessarily hard because there is no way to replenish your troops. This would have been fine if the game didn’t get boring.

 

I don’t think this game is anything special, but I also don’t think this is a bad game. There is an audience for this game, but they might have to wait till it goes on sale. If you are a veteran of the genre, you will be disappointed. Stick to the classics. If you are new to the genre, this is a solid introduction, but know that there are greener pastures. For the price, you can do better. But for those interested, you can check them out on Steam and the Epic Game store. 

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Game Review: Lovecraft’s Untold Stories 2

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I want to start out by saying that I got this game as a review code and while I am grateful for the opportunity, I will not let that sway my opinion. This will be an honest review of the game.

Lovecraft Untold Stories 2 is a 2D isometric dungeon crawler for pc based on Lovecraft lore. You start off choosing from three playable characters: the witch, the professor, and the detective. Each character has its own unique abilities, armor, and weapons. You control your character through randomly generated dungeons as you try to solve a mystery.

All pictures are from screenshots.

I was very excited about this game. I liked the art, I liked that the cutscenes were comic-like, and I had fun at the intro level. But once you get out of the intro mission, the game becomes frustratingly unplayable. Movement becomes clunky and slow in the cluttered rooms. I was constantly getting stuck on boxes, holes, and trees, making kiting enemies virtually impossible. To make matters worse, I was getting stuck on the invisible boundaries of boxes and trees. The witch has a cool teleport ability that could pass through enemies but would get stuck on invisible artifacts. I died so many times because my teleport was constantly being canceled by nothing. There are instances where I would teleport only to be trapped in between an inescapable grouping of trees. When the environment is more deadly than the enemies, that is bad game design.

I thought the randomly generated dungeons were cool at first, but that view quickly turned sour. I quickly learned that the room generation was quite unbalanced. Some rooms were laughably easy, with only two enemies standing in my way. Others were impossibly hard, with too many enemies and no way to escape. There was one room I couldn’t even complete because there was a wall blocking the exit. I love the randomness of life as much as any other gamer, but this experience was frustrating. 

The insanity mechanic is nonsense. If you get hit by an enemy, you slowly get stacks of insanity. If you get too many, you die. The problem is, there is no clear indication of how much insanity you have, nor is there an easy way to clear it. Because the environment made movement difficult, it was impossible to clear a level without getting stacks of insanity. You either got killed because you got stuck trying to run away, or you died because you gathered too much insanity. This poorly designed mechanic made this game harder than it should be. 

I was beyond excited about this game because it reminds me of the Arkham Horror board game. I have been desperately trying to find a group to play with, and I believed this game would be my only chance. The disappointment I collected from this game was so painful, I couldn’t muster the strength to finish this game. I forced myself to play as much as I could, but I can only be so patient. This game is broken to the point where you won’t get any meaningful enjoyment out of it. Lovecraft Untold Stories 2 isn’t worth your time as a free game, let alone the $25 it is asking for. But if you don’t believe me, you can buy it on steam.

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