Descent II (PC) Review

While I have incredibly fond memories of playing the first Descent game, it would not enter my home alone, When I picked it up, it was in a boxed set of both Descent, Descent II, an expansion pack for each, a level editor, and a few teaser pictures for the up coming and much anticipated Descent 3. Sadly we would wait several more years before we would hear about this third game again, and the expansions are a lot harder to get today then back then, but I was still excited to continue my revisit on this franchise. And it did NOT disappoint! Come on in!

Transient (PC) Review

When the dice called up this game, I had no idea what I was getting into, but the concept intrigued me. Turns out it was for good reason: it's been a while since a developer got the concept of Lovecraft quite this well... come on in.

Boltgun: Forges of Corruption (PC) Review

While our first run with BoltGun was overall satisfying, we did not complete the story just yet. For when Max Powers picked this one up for me, it was the deluxe edition, which included the DLC expansion pack and I knew I was coming back for it. And for better and for worse, it was everything I expected from more of this boomer shooter. Step inside.

MARVEL Cosmic Invasion (PC) Review

When this game was an announced, I was actually pretty excited to see it. It had been a good long while since I saw a beatem-up I was even interested in, but to see one clearly made to feel like the old games I grew up putting quarters in felt special. Add to this good cross platform play since my brothers and I are always looking for good games to play together (they are console players) and we were all in. This week, we finished up and yeah, it lived up to everything I wanted... and even made me smile with a few surprises on the way. Step inside.

Escape from Monkey Island (PC) Review

After how much I absolutely loved Curse of Monkey Islands, I was actually looking forward to this game. Well I can at least say it was an eye opener for how fast a franchise can fall. Avoid this one, guys.

Desecrators (PC) Review

On First Person Fridays for Extra-Life, I am trying to alternate between more action based and more puzzle based games. With the last game being more point and click then action and a craving for more games like Descent, I found myself picking up and playing a game I had never heard of, but a certain prominent youtuber pointed out during his review of my personal favorite Boomer Shooter. And while he was right about the game being straight up sadistic from time to time, I always walked away happy with my night and somehow wanting more.

Saga of the Moon Priestess (PC) review

I've been enjoying myself playing a lot of older games as of late, particularly on stream. So when the dice called up a game that promised to relive the old days of a certain green-clothed elf on his adventures to save a princess, I figured it might just be a fun time fueled by nostalgia... both mine as a child and a new developer. However this one proved more of a warning right from the opening screen. Come on inside: this won't be pretty.

Realms of the Haunting (PC) Review

Fresh of the joy of playing Descent as a First Person Friday game for Extra Life, I found myself wanting to continue with another MS-DOS title and immediately thought of this gem. While I was taking on my fellow gamers every week in the PTMC mines, I was playing this one on my own and loving everything about it. I don't think Im giving anything away telling you that, yes, I still loved this game. But at the same time, it wasn't quite what I remembered. Let's talk about it.

Filament (PC) Review

Here we have a game I picked up on a whim when Epic Games gave it away as one of their free titles of the week. It had that kind of trailer that suggested behind the bright colors and cozy vibe, it might just hide something darker for the observant gamer to pick up on. And to be fair, that kind of feel usually gets at at least a curiosity glance. This time, maybe I should have just left it at that glance.

The Curse of Monkey Island (PC) Review

It has been a long while since I played a Monkey Island game. In fact the last time I played one, I hadn't even started this website yet. The first two were fun, but the second one left me on a rather confusing note and not entirely sure I should continue. Today, I answer that confusion as the dice called game 3 from the depts of my backlog... and I waited WAY too long for it.

Silver Chains (PC) Review

This title has been a few years coming. During the big yearly sales I make a point to add titles that have been sitting in my wishlist for a while to my collection, and so I wound up with this in my library a few years ago. And while first impressions were absolutely amazing, I have to say as I put down my mouse, I am glad I got it at that steep discount. The bones are very pretty, pretty enough in fact to justify the game even with so little to it... at least until the very end.

Warhammer Quest (PC) Review

Recently in my nerd-talk conversations with my brother, we spoke about Warhammer and Warhammer 40K games and he told me how most of them are pretty awful. Between the fondness of the old HeroQuest game first impressions of this reminded me of and wanting to be optimistic, I was hoping this would be a game to prove him wrong. After all I have collected but not played a ton of these games yet. But this game really just puts a notch in the point he made.

Descent (PC) Review

Now THIS is a game I have some history with. Way back in my high-school days, I found this game like most did: by the shareware version. I loved playing it immediately, getting very good at those first seven levels on my own. I even got together with kids in my class once a week to take over the school library and have 8-player matches against each other. It was a blast! And when I finally got a the official collection with this game and it's sequel late in the life of that 486 machine, I found myself loving everything that followed. But the game would ultimately fall to the side as I found my all-time favorite games on my next PC during the Windows 98 era, including the legendary Deus Ex.

So now as I play First Person games for Extra Life every week, I had planned to open up a much forgotten title I played long ago, only to have it have some serious technical issues I am still aging the fix to as we speak. So I needed a substitute. Looking back far further into my gaming past, my eyes fell on this gem. Does it still hold up? Well.. ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY!

But as a side note, I did not play the base game this time. Like so many FPS titles of the day, the game's code has since gone open source and as such there are several source ports you can use to make it run with some modern quality of life updates. I played this one using Dxx-Rebirth so my exact experiences may be different from yours. But I did include a link to get the port yourself if you wish. Just be aware I hold no responsibility for the software. Use it at your own risk and scan ANYTHING you download! Now with that out of the way, step inside.

Tales of Berseria (PC) Review

This is it, my first taste of the legendary "Tales" games. Its a series I've heard so much good about, and an entry where the main character had my curiosity, so when the dice called it out, I jumped in eagerly. But as I finish up, I look back and, well, if you know the phrase "more then the sum of it's parts" then you are looking at a game that feels like the absolute reverse of that. It has all the pieces, but somehow is less then what it should be.

The First Descendant (PC) Review

I have been watching this title since the first trailers were revealed. Right away the world itself pulled me in with an aesthetic that harkened to one of my favorite franchises, but with a realistic looking twist. So when this became the co-op game to play, I eagerly agreed. Looking back, it started with a bang and for a while did everything I could hope for. But as I put down the mouse for the last time, the game definitely feels like it ends with a whimper, especially compared to that strong start.

Warhammer 40K: Boltgun (PC) Review

Originally this was not the game I had planned on playing next for First Person Fridays (one of my streams I do weekly for Extra Life), but things both good and bad changed those plans. On the downside, the publishers who sell the game I was originally goning play are now on my shit list for their behavior around a very public murder and for the foreseeable future you will not see anything by them being added to my work: stream or review. But on the upward swing, my buddy Max Powers sent this my way, and how could I say no to a buddy? Having put the game down, yeah it was a great time for the most part, if not a perfect one.

Alone in the Dark 3 (PC) Review

And now we close the book on a classic PC game trilogy, but can we really call it all classic? Probably not, as I can not claim to have even really liked the previous title. Still the first absolutely was amazing, and I walked into this hoping to get close to those highs again... Well, I'm not sure we did that, but we definitely moved in the right direction for it.

PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness (PC) Review

This game is an exceptionally moment for me. It was niether chosen because I was continuing a franchise, nor by the dice. Rather, this game was chosen by timing. In addition to my gaming hobby, I am also taking time to watch various shows and movies while I do my daily exercises, and this game takes place during the first season of the anime series Psycho-Pass. I have seen it before, but since I now have season 2, I chose to rewatch it, and this game would be played between seasons. I now put my mouse down and... well, I can't say I didn't enjoy the story, but I don't think everyone should bother with it.

Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (PC) Review

As I put the controller down, we have reached a turning point of this franchise. For those of you who join me on Twitch, I have been on a campaign with this series, to both celebrate it in it's own right and raise money and awareness for Extra Life by playing literally EVERY US release of it. (I do this every Wednesday night.) And now we have finished the classic era.... and man did it go out with a BANG!

AI: The Somnium Files (PC) Reiview

Gonna be honest, this was not a game I was hyped for. I picked it up at some point as part of a steam sale which is how a lot of my backlog was built up. However it looked interesting enough so when the dice rolled it up, I was intrigued. Turns out, this was for good reason even if it comes with a bit of a downturn for the studio behind it. Come... step inside.