⚔️ Dark Deity | Nintendo Switch | Review | 9/10 | "A Shining Example of The Genre" ⚔️ @DarkDeityGame #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

A Kickstarter funded title from developers Sword and Axe LLC, released through Freedom Games - Dark Deity was brought to my attention through an innocuous press release.

Initially, upon seeing a few screenshots – and thus the anime-styled character portraits, combined with blocks of dialogue– I foolishly assumed that it was a visual novel and my expectations dropped accordingly…until I watched the trailer.

🤠 Unavowed | Nintendo Switch | Review | 9.5/10 | "Taking The Crown" 🤠 @WadjetEyeGames #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

I was asked, “do you want to review a game called Primordia?” -which I did, and it was a great game – and then I had a message that read, “I got excited and grabbed an Unavowed code for you as well.” - so this game was a complete surprise for me, I knew it was one of my brother's favourite adventure games, which meant it had lofty expectations.

Having huge expectations is always a double-edged sword, it’s great that a game is held in such high esteem, but if you don’t enjoy it as others have, there is a huge let-down and that sometimes creates a bigger negative feeling towards the game - anyone who is on Twitter can attest to this.

Luckily, Unavowed is an absolutely amazing game, and now holds the crown of being my favourite graphic adventure game of all time, sorry The Secret of Monkey Island, it has been a good 31-year streak.

🕵️ Lacuna | XSX | Review | 9.5/10 | "A Perfectly Crafted Sci fi Noir, That Has Bags of Character and Music to Die For" 🕵️ @digitales_games #GameDev #IndieGames

I'm going to start this review in a strange way - by telling you that I have tried to write this opening paragraph four times now, and I'm struggling because everything I write sounds like hyperbole. I keep using such strong words that I end up thinking, “do I really think this? Can I love it this much? 

Can I keep writing the words ‘near perfect’ or ‘special’ and truly mean it? When I say, ‘I would put this in my top 10 favourite games of all time’, is this just recency bias or do I genuinely think that this may be one of the most well-crafted games I've ever played?”

The more I've had to rewrite it and reflect on it, I keep thinking, “Yep, I do utterly adore it” and I genuinely think it may be one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had.

This is where I usually outline the plot, but all you really need to know is that you play as Neil Conrad, a grizzled member of the CDI investigating a recent murder, boom, done. 

The less you know the better.

🪙 The Forgotten City | Nintendo Switch | Review | 9/10 | "8-10 Hours of Adventure Mystery Romp" 🪙 @ModnStoryteller #IndieGames #GameDev

I’ll be honest, in the first few minutes I was worried that I really wasn’t going to like this game. And I was wrong, so gloriously and happily wrong. 

A little history: The Forgotten City started out life as one of Skyrim’s many mods, and it was successful. So successful in fact that the developers took the idea, built upon it, and fleshed it out into the standalone game I’m reviewing today, creating a gloriously designed Greco-Roman city, replete with fantastically written characters, period-accurate architecture, and a central gameplay mechanic that is simultaneously clever, fun, and educational (yeah, I know – they don’t go together often). 

I went into The Forgotten City completely blind, and I would recommend that you do the same. It’s hard to review a game like this one without some kind of spoilers, so if you’d like to get the absolute most out of it, stop reading after this statement: The Forgotten City is 8-10 hours of adventure mystery romp, driven by fantastically written and acted dialogue. Play it. 

⚔️Ghostrunner | PS5 | Review | 9/10 | "Your enemies are hapless mooks destined to be carved into chunks"👻🏃 #IndieGames #GameDev @GhostrunnerGame @PixelHunted

In Ghostrunner you’re a super-powered, hyper-agile katana-wielding cyber-ninja. Your enemies are hapless mooks destined to be carved into chunks during your time-bending, telekinetic acrobatic rampage. Pounding electronic beats drive you through levels with the destructive potential of a tornado that’s sucked up the contents of a knife shop. In the right hands you can not - will not - be stopped.

⚽️ Tux and Fanny | Nintendo Switch | Review | 9.5/10 | "A rich world of wonder, packed with magic" ⚽️ @simplysylvio #GameDev #IndieGames

I had never heard of Tux and Fanny before happening across a conversation on Twitter a few days ago in which the developer stated that he was incredibly proud of the game and that it featured over 25 mini-games.

As a sucker for mini-games, I went into my usual trance and my hands worked of their own volition, guiding me inevitably towards the Tux and Fanny trailer on YouTube. I watched the trailer with my eyes and was absolutely sold on the Microsoft Paint-like chunky pixelated visuals and simple characters.

As I’ve mentioned recently in other child-friendly games I’ve covered, I’m compiling a list of games to play with my son when he is old enough and this is firmly, firmly on that list, it’s Pikuniku levels of brilliant.

🚪 Death’s Door | Review | Xbox Series X | 9/10 | “Holy Crap, this is going to be a good game!” 🚪 @acidnerve #IndieGames #GameDev

Within seconds of booting up, I whispered to be myself, “Holy Crap, this is going to be a good game!”, I had to whisper as my daughter was within earshot and getting slightly charmed by the bird protagonist.

Yes, you heard right, a bird of the Corvus family, commonly known as a crow.

⚔️ Demons of Asteborg | SEGA Mega Drive | Review | 9.5/10 | "A Modern Mega Drive Classic" ⚔️ @DAsteborg #Retrogaming #IndieGames #GameDev

The Mega Drive is very much a console that I hold in high regard. As someone who has played, loved and collected for the system for decades, it’s very clear to me, if Demons of Asteborg was a Mega Drive game released in the mid-'90s - it would be regarded as a classic, ‘must have’ title. 

Released in 2021 on the Mega Drive, however…. it’s still a classic, ‘must have’ title.

🚗 Crash Drive 3 | Xbox Series X | Review | 9/10 | "It's an open-world, cross-platform arcade stuntfest" 🚗 @M2Hgames #IndieGames #GameDev

I wasn't really sure whether an open world MMO racing game on a budget would actually be any good. I mean, I've played and enjoyed the Forza Horizon games, but they have huge amounts of money thrown at them and are very, very shiny (to the extent it kind of stops being that much fun after a while, as they take themselves a bit seriously). 

Crash Drive 3 does not have this problem. It's an open-world, cross-platform arcade stuntfest where you tear about in a huge array of vehicles in amusingly varied environments. And it's fun.

🕺 Disco Elysium | PS5 | Review | 9.5/10 | "Bringing Disco back" 🕺 @studioZAUM #GameDev #IndieGames

The Disco Elysium opening tells you a lot about the game. First is a weird exchange between your limbic system and the void, and after that’s all done you awake in a trashed hotel in only your underwear, whilst hearing voices and with total amnesia. You proceed to find your clothes - which includes a talking tie - and it’s off to the races. It's interesting, it's surreal and it encapsulates the rest of the game.

👁️ Intrepid Izzy | Dreamcast | Review | 9/10 | "I’m off to punch a giant sea creature in the eye." 👁️ @SenileTeam #GameDev #IndieGames

I do love covering new releases on classic systems. When I received the accompanying press kit for Intrepid Izzy from Wave Game Studios, there was a statement in which the game was described as a blend of Sonic the Hedgehog, Castlevania and Streets of Rage.

I wasn’t sceptical so much as squinting into the distance, trying to visualise what that mash up would look like.

It looks like Intrepid Izzy, as it turns out.

💚 Where the Heart Leads | PS4 | Review | 9/10 | "A warm-hearted tale of life and all its possibilities" 💚 @ArmatureStudio #IndieGames #GameDev

When I was asked about reviewing Where The Heart Leads the only knowledge I had was that it was a dreamlike, narrative adventure with a lifetime of choices, which are words that fill my heart with glee.

Making decisions is probably my favourite thing to do in terms of mechanics, I love it. Having to contemplate things like morality, ethics and predicting outcomes are things I enjoy in other media as well as life in general, so I was very excited for Where the Heart Leads.

☁️ Cloudpunk: City of Ghosts PC Review 9/10 ☁️ @Pixel Hunted @ionlands #IndieGames #GameDev

Cloudpunk has proved to be a marmite game. You play a delivery driver piloting a flying car in a vast dystopian metropolis. With heavy influences from Blade Runner and The Fifth Element, you swoop through a perpetually rainy metropolis, past gigantic neon billboards, and weave through oncoming traffic.

🏚️ Creaks | Review | Xbox Series X | 9/10 | "Characterful Presentation Perfectly Fused with Classic Puzzle Gameplay" 🏚️ @Amanita_Design #IndieGames #GameDev

Machinarium is such a wonderful, wonderful game. From the soundtrack to the oddly powerful, wordless tale that unravels for the player, it’s a game that won me over with all of the above combined with a gorgeous hand-drawn art style combined with a perfectly pitched, idiosyncratic soundtrack.

Over the last decade, I have transitioned from PC gaming to pretty much pure console gaming, and so almost a decade of the work of Amanita Design has completely passed me by due to their PC exclusive nature. It was only whilst half-drunk one night - and trying to buy the Machinarium soundtrack on vinyl - that I discovered that they had released a game called Creaks that was available on Xbox…and so our love affair resumed.

🎙️ EPOS B20 Microphone | GF Recommended | "The Yeti Hunter" 🎙️ @eposaudiogaming

‘The EPOS B20 four-pattern USB streaming microphone is a high quality, digital plug-and-play microphone that will elevate your game. Volume, gain, mute, and pickup pattern dials are built into the microphone together with a headphone jack for real-time monitoring.

🎧👂 Gioteck TX70 Wireless Headset Review | GF Recommended | "A comfortable, robust and chunky-sounding headset at a competitive price" 🎧👂 @GioteckArmy #GamingHeadset

Having covered- and been impressed by – the Gioteck TX50 a few months back, I was looking forward to reviewing this new, wireless headset from Gioteck.

Featuring similar design points to the TX50, whilst this version is superior in some respects, you’ll really feel the benefits more as a PlayStation or PC user, although the TX70 does cater for all modern systems.

🌵⚔️ Ittle Dew 2+ | Nintendo Switch | Review | 8.5/10 | "A Bigger Sequel That Keeps The Ideas Coming" 🌵⚔️ @Ludosity #IndieGames #GameDev

I adored the original Ittle Dew when I played it back in 2019, a really punchy top-down game with clear roots in early Zelda titles, a focus on fiendish puzzling and very open to newcomers to the genre. Top this off with the charming design, lilting music and a fun cast of characters – it was a winner.

🐦 A Short Hike (& Vinyl soundtrack) | Review | Nintendo Switch | 9.5/10 | "An Awesome Slice of Whimsical Freedom" 🐦 @adamgryu #IndieGames #GameDev

A Short Hike was a game that passed me by upon release. During my recent run of various articles and interviews with those involved in VGM, I struck up a conversation with Stumpy Frog Records (awesome guy) when purchasing The Cat Lady (awesome record, awesome game) and ended up receiving the soundtrack for A Short Hike*.

During the brief period that the record was in transit, I took the opportunity to play A Short Hike so that I had context for the accompanying vinyl soundtrack and the stars really aligned here, as I ended up having a memorable couple of hours with a real gem of a game that I heartily recommend.

💥 Huntdown | Review | PC | 9/10 | "Buy This Game" 💥 @HuntdownGame #IndieGames #GameDev

Buy this game

It's hot outside as I type this. Hotter than sunbathing in South Sudan in a foil-lined sleeping sack. As a result, I'd rather be al fresco with a chilled glass of Vimto and a side of onion rings than here writing reviews. Hence the three-word summary above. But, my esteemed colleague Britt is breathing down my neck (he thinks it's alluring) to pressure me into adding in a LITTLE bit more detail.

So, here goes.

🧛‍♀️ Resident Evil: Village | Review | PS5 | 9.5/10 | "The Perfect Game to Celebrate 25 years of Resident Evil" 🧛‍♀️ #ResidentEvilVillage

Resident Evil: Village was always going to be interesting for me, as I thought six was too action-orientated and I found seven too heavy on the horror.

Now, I will admit that when I played seven, I had lost interest in both horror and gaming so I think that heavily skewed my opinion of the game, though I will say - even though I had issues with seven at the time, I understood that Resident Evil as a franchise needed a new direction in both story and gameplay, such as when four was released which moved to the over-the-shoulder camera with a story that was firmly tongue in cheek, accentuating the B-Movie horror qualities of the series. It was what the franchise needed and after six, it was clear they once again needed a new direction. 

So, enter Resident Evil Village. Was I going to feel it was too heavy on action/horror… or was it going to be like the tale of Goldilocks, and everything was going to be just right?