amphibious_ReViews

I had heard that Balatro was addicting. I had heard that Balatro was a time-sink. Yet, for some reason, I took Balatro on vacation with me when I had intended to clear a pile of short games off of my backlog. As I held my daughter's head up on the plane so she could sleep, I needed to find something to play one-handed, so I booted up this unsuspecting game-of-the-year nominee on my Switch Lite. After that, it was all over. I didn't pick up another game for the rest of my vacation, nor for the two weeks that followed. I have been hooked by games before, but I was drowning in Balatro and I couldn't find the surface.   At first glance, it doesn't look like there's much more to Balatro than there is to something like Spider Solitaire. That's a game that had its claws in me way back when I was still using Windows XP, and I assumed this was going to be similarly addictive. There is so much more than a simple card game going on here, though. I'm only recently disco...

I got Cadence of Hyrule years ago, and its initial announcement actually the catalyst that led me to buy the original Crypt of the NecroDancer. I played Crypt as soon as I bought it, but never got very far. However, thanks to a perpetually growing backlog, it took me until recently to actually play Cadence. Now that I've beaten it (and went back in for seconds), I can say with confidence what a fool I was for sleeping on this game. Simultaneously a surprise indie sequel, a glorious 2D Zelda revival, and a reference-stuffed celebration of both franchises, Cadence of Hyrule was a true delight to play through. The game's map, while procedurally generated for each new playthrough, is still Hyrule kingdom. Representing the series as a whole, it's stuffed with familiar locations, like Kakariko Village from A Link to the Past  and Gerudo Desert from Ocarina of Time . The shakeup here is that the world is built on a grid, and you can only move through its spaces in cardinal directi...

I didn't know what to expect when I started playing Inscryption, but it did exactly what I hoped it would. I had seen just a little bit of the game, but it was hardly more than the screenshots on its store page. However, I was hoping there would be some kind of hook to pull me in beyond the already intriguing premise of playing cards in a creepy cabin. With so many unexpected layers and secrets, Inscryption delivered on that front many times over. I've seen other reviewers express some dissatisfaction with later phases of the game, but I was so thoroughly engrossed that I actually kept playing after I had beaten it! I normally don't do that, even for games I love, because I have such a large backlog to get through, but Inscryption wasn't letting go that easily. Inscryption's narrative has an unexpected level of depth that I won't explore further in this review. I was constantly surprised by what happened next, and I think your overall experience will be leagues ...

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team was one of my GBA staples. I played that game until there was virtually nothing left to do in it, and then I still played more. The gameplay loop was okay, and I don't think the rescue missions alone would've been enough to keep me coming back, but I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the world, making it easy to dive in every time. Picking up Rescue Team DX was immediately nostalgic; it looked, sounded, and felt just like I remembered from the original, which I would say marks a fantastic first impression for a remake. Just like the originals, the main gameplay could be improved, but the story is a delight and kept me fully engaged. In Rescue Team DX , you play as a human who mysteriously woke up as a Pokémon.  With the help of your new partner, you have to try and figure out why you transformed while also helping the Pokémon you meet during your adventure. With your partner, you form a rescue team that volunteers to en...