How I Rate Games
The main goal of this site is to inform you, the reader, about media that I think is worth your time. While most reviews come with a short description of what I did and didn't like, I also make sure to include a star rating to help you quickly understand how I felt about a game.
My rating is a grade between 4 and 1 stars. A high score indicates a strong recommendation, the middle two are "yes but" and "no but" respectively, and the lowest is reserved for games I absolutely couldn't stand.
Rating games with this method can be tricky. There are plenty of popular games that don't do it for me, or widely panned games that I love. It's important to remember that my rating is not a measure of something's objective goodness; it's whether I thought it was worthwhile and think people with similar tastes will as well.
It's also worth noting that my ratings skew high: I get to choose what I play and I tend to choose things I think I'll enjoy. Keep that in mind when you see how many things earn a 4. It's a very different grade than a perfect 10 on something like IGN's rating system.
With that out of the way, let's go through what exactly each score means and provide some concrete examples!
: Yes!
A 4 star rating is both my highest and my most common score. Games in this bracket can be recommended emphatically. They may not be perfect, but I never felt bored while playing them. A 4 usually means that a game excelled in multiple areas and the result is more than the sum of its parts. Another way to earn a 4 is to succeed so highly in a specific area (such as gameplay or overall concept) that any concerns are dropped by the wayside; they didn't stop my enjoyment.
If you want to see the absolute cream of the game crop, you can check my list of games that were been the best thing I played that year
Here are some recent games that earned 4 stars:
The Incident at Galley House
A gripping story and killer voice acting make this a compelling package.
A gripping story and killer voice acting make this a compelling package.
Drop Duchy
Excellent strategy game that mixes Tetris and deckbuilding. Shouldn't work as well as it does, but it's a hoot. There's a pretty good variety of deck archetypes and you can combine them in interesting and exciting ways. There's a great tech tree to unlock cards and being able to upgrade as you go lends a lot of strategy. Making numbers go up (in sometimes hilarious ways) was a blast. You don't even have to be that good at Tetris!
I could have used 10% more clarity for some of the card mechanics, but there's enough opportunity to undo mistakes (both the last piece and the whole level) that the cost of mistakes is low.
I got the DLCs to support the dev, but neither added particularly interesting mechanics. They're not _bad_, just underwhelming. They both require you to build in a really specific way that takes away some of the flexibility you get from the rest of the builds.
Excellent strategy game that mixes Tetris and deckbuilding. Shouldn't work as well as it does, but it's a hoot. There's a pretty good variety of deck archetypes and you can combine them in interesting and exciting ways. There's a great tech tree to unlock cards and being able to upgrade as you go lends a lot of strategy. Making numbers go up (in sometimes hilarious ways) was a blast. You don't even have to be that good at Tetris!
I could have used 10% more clarity for some of the card mechanics, but there's enough opportunity to undo mistakes (both the last piece and the whole level) that the cost of mistakes is low.
I got the DLCs to support the dev, but neither added particularly interesting mechanics. They're not _bad_, just underwhelming. They both require you to build in a really specific way that takes away some of the flexibility you get from the rest of the builds.
An original and charming mapmaking adventure.
: Yes, but...
Most games that earn a 3 could have been a 4, but something held them back. Maybe it was a plot that didn't quite line up, poor pacing, or unnecessary papercuts in menus. Whatever it was I was annoyed enough about its shortcomings that I have to qualify this recommendation with a "I liked it, but wish they hadn't done XYZ".
Here are some recent games that earned 3 stars:
Echo Isle
A compact, classic-Zelda inspired adventure game. I like that it followed the classic formula well: 4 little dungeons, each with an upgrade and a boss.
True to its word, there's no fluff. A single collectable, a linear series of areas, and few NPCs to talk with. I appreciate when games make a point to streamline their gameplay in useful ways. Much like Shapez distilled Factorio, removing elements helps what remains shine. The graphics and sound effects represent their inspiration well and going on a little adventure with power ups along the way was pleasant. I liked that I could hold everything in my head at once (like all of the places I couldn't reach yet) because the map is small and easy to reason about. Breezing through the whole thing in a sitting was relaxing and satisfying.
But, take simplification too far and the results can feel a little thin. To its credit, I prefer smaller games to those with near-infinite content. But at some point fluff provides opportunities to engage with the game's world and acquired abilities. Echo Isle was so streamlined, it feels like it will lack staying power. It was fun while it lasted, but it felt more like a snack than a meal.
And the combat, while simple, was frustrating at times. The sword swinging animation was interestingly imprecise. More than a few times, I'd be rotated slightly the wrong way or positioned just above an enemy and miss entirely. Accurate to early games, but has really been improved upon since then.
In the end, I enjoyed my brief time with Echo Isles and I think it's a great palette cleanser between other games. It may not stick with you, but you'll enjoy it while you're in there.
Thanks to the dev for the key!
A compact, classic-Zelda inspired adventure game. I like that it followed the classic formula well: 4 little dungeons, each with an upgrade and a boss.
True to its word, there's no fluff. A single collectable, a linear series of areas, and few NPCs to talk with. I appreciate when games make a point to streamline their gameplay in useful ways. Much like Shapez distilled Factorio, removing elements helps what remains shine. The graphics and sound effects represent their inspiration well and going on a little adventure with power ups along the way was pleasant. I liked that I could hold everything in my head at once (like all of the places I couldn't reach yet) because the map is small and easy to reason about. Breezing through the whole thing in a sitting was relaxing and satisfying.
But, take simplification too far and the results can feel a little thin. To its credit, I prefer smaller games to those with near-infinite content. But at some point fluff provides opportunities to engage with the game's world and acquired abilities. Echo Isle was so streamlined, it feels like it will lack staying power. It was fun while it lasted, but it felt more like a snack than a meal.
And the combat, while simple, was frustrating at times. The sword swinging animation was interestingly imprecise. More than a few times, I'd be rotated slightly the wrong way or positioned just above an enemy and miss entirely. Accurate to early games, but has really been improved upon since then.
In the end, I enjoyed my brief time with Echo Isles and I think it's a great palette cleanser between other games. It may not stick with you, but you'll enjoy it while you're in there.
Thanks to the dev for the key!
Fail Fail Succeed
Cute little puzzle platformer where dying with an ability alters leaves something behind to help you solve puzzles. Neat concept, but (despite the cute dog) not really something I'd spend a ton of time with. It's just not the kind of gameplay that engages me. There's good polish though, including a a nice hint system and camera controls. Good ability variety, too!
Cute little puzzle platformer where dying with an ability alters leaves something behind to help you solve puzzles. Neat concept, but (despite the cute dog) not really something I'd spend a ton of time with. It's just not the kind of gameplay that engages me. There's good polish though, including a a nice hint system and camera controls. Good ability variety, too!
The Red Pearls of Borneo
Heavily inspired by "Type Help", it does a good job carving out its own niche with a larger cast, multiple sections, and a visual interface to help your solve. I loved how much actual history it wove into the story
The gameplay itself follows a tried-and-true formula, but I found the game itself a little rough around the edges. The UX had lots of little papercuts and there were a _lot_ of typos. It's free, so one can only expect so much, but it still soured the experience a bit. In a game consisting of mostly text, your text must be correct. Plus, the back quarter of the game drags a bit- it's not a bad story, but it's a lot of clicking and not much solving. I liked the pseudo-interactive nature of the epilogues, but they felt slow compared to the actual puzzles.
But, these are all fixable in a sequel! I hope it gets the care and attention the format deserves.
Heavily inspired by "Type Help", it does a good job carving out its own niche with a larger cast, multiple sections, and a visual interface to help your solve. I loved how much actual history it wove into the story
The gameplay itself follows a tried-and-true formula, but I found the game itself a little rough around the edges. The UX had lots of little papercuts and there were a _lot_ of typos. It's free, so one can only expect so much, but it still soured the experience a bit. In a game consisting of mostly text, your text must be correct. Plus, the back quarter of the game drags a bit- it's not a bad story, but it's a lot of clicking and not much solving. I liked the pseudo-interactive nature of the epilogues, but they felt slow compared to the actual puzzles.
But, these are all fixable in a sequel! I hope it gets the care and attention the format deserves.
: No, but...
Welcome to the bottom half! Games that earn a 2 have more hits than misses, but there are redeeming qualities. It can also mean I would have scored it higher, but I was so put off by something (such as boring gameplay) that I couldn't rate it higher. If you're a fan of this genre you might still find the game worthwhile, but I'd start elsewhere.
Here are some recent games that earned 2 stars:
Shadows of Doubt
It's a technically impressive game, but wasn't for me. I end up with the same problem I have with most immersive sims- there are so many ways to approach something that playing it at all becomes overwhelming. Plus when things start to go wrong, you die very quickly, not giving you much opportunity to understand how to react or take stock of the situation. It's cool that the world is so thoroughly simulated though, it's an interesting concept.
I'm also not sure I would have loved a fully generated mystery. Some of them would have been great, but others duds. I prefer a more crafted experience. I like the idea of truly getting to investigate my own way, but not doing it in practice.
It's a technically impressive game, but wasn't for me. I end up with the same problem I have with most immersive sims- there are so many ways to approach something that playing it at all becomes overwhelming. Plus when things start to go wrong, you die very quickly, not giving you much opportunity to understand how to react or take stock of the situation. It's cool that the world is so thoroughly simulated though, it's an interesting concept.
I'm also not sure I would have loved a fully generated mystery. Some of them would have been great, but others duds. I prefer a more crafted experience. I like the idea of truly getting to investigate my own way, but not doing it in practice.
Tales of Berseria
As a longtime enjoyer of the Tales series, I came into Berseria with high hopes (and shame on me for letting the community set those expectations so high) and it failed to meet them.
The biggest weakness is the combat. Eschewing the series' Smash Bros-style control scheme, it instead lets you slot 4 moves onto each face button. This means to target enemy type and elemental resources there are up to 16 slots you need to memorize (and more if you play other characters). Either you're resetting them constantly to optimize every battle or you lean into the game's "choose for me!" button and literally just press X to clear every battle. There are other attacks (super, block, dodge) but a playable version of the combat felt so watered down that it just wasn't worth it. All of the other interesting gameplay decisions (equipment, etc) fed into combat. But if I wasn't engaging with that, then nothing else felt worthwile.
All that said, the story was pretty good. I loved that we were anti-heroes instead of plucky do-gooders. Some of the dialogue (Magilou, mostly) was the best performance I'd seen in ages. Outside of the typical anime stuff, there are some great characters in there. So much so that I'm planning on watching all the cutscenes through on youtube (something I've never done before).
I felt like I gave it the old college try, but when I'm searching phrases like "does this get better" and "Berseria combat bad?", it didn't bode well.
As a longtime enjoyer of the Tales series, I came into Berseria with high hopes (and shame on me for letting the community set those expectations so high) and it failed to meet them.
The biggest weakness is the combat. Eschewing the series' Smash Bros-style control scheme, it instead lets you slot 4 moves onto each face button. This means to target enemy type and elemental resources there are up to 16 slots you need to memorize (and more if you play other characters). Either you're resetting them constantly to optimize every battle or you lean into the game's "choose for me!" button and literally just press X to clear every battle. There are other attacks (super, block, dodge) but a playable version of the combat felt so watered down that it just wasn't worth it. All of the other interesting gameplay decisions (equipment, etc) fed into combat. But if I wasn't engaging with that, then nothing else felt worthwile.
All that said, the story was pretty good. I loved that we were anti-heroes instead of plucky do-gooders. Some of the dialogue (Magilou, mostly) was the best performance I'd seen in ages. Outside of the typical anime stuff, there are some great characters in there. So much so that I'm planning on watching all the cutscenes through on youtube (something I've never done before).
I felt like I gave it the old college try, but when I'm searching phrases like "does this get better" and "Berseria combat bad?", it didn't bode well.
Chorus
Chorus initially wowed me with its freedom of motion and huge sense of scale. Its dogfighting battles were chaotic and cool, but felt like something I could really get good at. And that was true, but those battles came with a pretty serious legibility problem. With all the lasers and enemies flying around, it's easy to get disoriented. Couple that with a sort of nonsense story (albeit a nicely voice acted one) and an undercooked upgrade system and the game left me wanting. It's worth trying out if it's really up your alley and it's beautifully animated, but it didn't come together for me.
Chorus initially wowed me with its freedom of motion and huge sense of scale. Its dogfighting battles were chaotic and cool, but felt like something I could really get good at. And that was true, but those battles came with a pretty serious legibility problem. With all the lasers and enemies flying around, it's easy to get disoriented. Couple that with a sort of nonsense story (albeit a nicely voice acted one) and an undercooked upgrade system and the game left me wanting. It's worth trying out if it's really up your alley and it's beautifully animated, but it didn't come together for me.
: No!
The lowly 1 is my rarest rating. Because I mostly play things I (hope to) enjoy, for something to earn a 1 it's got to really fail across multiple areas. As long as a game has reasonable plot, gameplay, or artistic direction, I'll usually find enough to like about it that it earns a 2. Earning a 1 means I feel bad for having spent time on this game at all.
Here are some recent games that earned 1 stars:
Nour: Play with Your Food
Sort of an interesting little physics sim, but the physics are all floaty and gummy. Has sort of a goose game / katamari chaos charm, but lacks enough cohesion to make it particularly worthwhile. Some funny interactions, but not something I needed to spend more time with.
Sort of an interesting little physics sim, but the physics are all floaty and gummy. Has sort of a goose game / katamari chaos charm, but lacks enough cohesion to make it particularly worthwhile. Some funny interactions, but not something I needed to spend more time with.
Far from Noise
This stretches the definition of "game"- it's more of a guided meditation with dialogue choices. Unfortunately, not something I'm looking for...
This stretches the definition of "game"- it's more of a guided meditation with dialogue choices. Unfortunately, not something I'm looking for...
The First Tree
While the environments look ok, the fox doesn't control well and the dialogue is pretty poorly written. It attempts to pull at heartstrings, but is more frustrating than compelling.
While the environments look ok, the fox doesn't control well and the dialogue is pretty poorly written. It attempts to pull at heartstrings, but is more frustrating than compelling.