Recent reviews by Torchiest

Shockingly bad game. The interface is entirely inscrutable for the sake of being inscrutable, the controls are janky as hell, and the gameplay is just... nothing. You roll around vaguely alien landscapes, with almost no indication of what you should be doing. Exploration was not fun or enticing, and I had no desire to see what was next. Just aggravating more than anything, which is really sad, because I thought the vibe might be good from the trailers. The music and audio are decent though, on that note.

Artistically ambitious, and totally following in the footsteps of games like Limbo and Inside, but gameplay is simply a chore. Controls are stiff and unintuitive, the puzzles are more of a hassle than an aha experience, and the abilities you start to gain don't really make any sense or draw you in to further exploration. Dying over and over until you understand how things work gets old too.

Seems okay, but I'm not seeing anything as innovative as I'd expect from the Kurtzgesagt gang. It looks like a basic resource gathering and base building game. The goofy framing cut scenes weren't engaging either. I'm sorry!

I can't believe it took me this long to actually play Machinarium. For some reason I had a vaguely negative impression of it, but after actually playing it, I've changed my opinion. There are indeed a few annoying or weird spots, where something a bit nonsensical is required, but overall it's a fun experience. The actual abstract non-inventory puzzles are fantastic. The environments are very off-kilter but nice, and the soundtrack is incredible. Very highly recommended, despite its short playtime.

Moderately entertaining and silly game. The puzzles weren't crazy difficult, but a few required a bit of thought to figure out. Overall an enjoyable, if short, experience. Worth it on sale.

This game was really cool. Having to actually listen and pay attention to all the conversations, movements of characters, and other sounds was a nice change of pace. And solving each crime scene was extremely satisfying, because your understanding what's going on evolves over time. Fairly short, but absolutely worth it for the price. I'd love to play any sequels in the same style if they ever made them.

Pretty good. A handful of spots were irritating, especially one of the boss confrontations. But overall, it's enjoyable, with a decent mix of platforming puzzles and special items and abilities that unlock new areas and puzzles. I've only completed the main game, but haven't gotten all the collectibles, so I'm sure there's a lot more game to explore still. Don't think it's worth it at full price, but on sale, yeah, see what the hype is about.

Intolerable. If you've played any first-person puzzle games in the last decade, this is torture. Slow movement through tedious, convoluted environments, inscrutable systems, and nothing to look forward to except more of the same. I read the warnings from other reviews but dismissed them until I got a taste of it myself. You can find plenty of other options that are more engaging and fun.

This is the kind of game that will suck away days of your life at a time. I really enjoy it, but found it too addictive. Cheers to those who love it though.

I deeply regret getting and playing this game. It was okayish in the early going, but the plot was generic and dull, and the missions were not very interesting. The voice acting was a mixed bag. Some of the characters were pretty good, but a few prominent ones, most notably Pashta, were awful. Her arrival was where I finally stopped caring about the story entirely and just wanted to get it over with. Nothing gripped me, and I didn't care what happened. The thing is, nothing you do really matters. There's no real danger, no actually problems, and in cases where you have a choice, it doesn't actually affect your progression meaningfully. And I didn't care for the voxel artwork at all. I somehow didn't notice it in the video trailers, but it was very offputting. Some of the environments were decent to good, but the character models were hideous. And the flying controls were terrible. You can do better for any of the many itches you might think this will scratch.