impressions
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Photographs Is A Clever Puzzle Game With A Disturbing, Misguided Story
8For the first two hours I spent with it, Photographs came close to being one of my favourite puzzle games of the year. It was everything I could want: Aesthetically beguiling, with a surprising story and puzzles that offered the perfect amount of challenge. Then the story took a turn that was so screwed up…
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Outward Is A Merciless Fantasy Game Where You’re Just A Regular Person
When I began Outward, I found myself surrounded by a murmuring crowd of villagers. They were gathered not to cheer my impending heroic escapades or tell me that I was destined to kill god, but instead to inform me that I was in debt, and I had five days to pay it off before I…
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In Shotgun Farmers, You Shoot Guns And Your Bullets Grow New Guns
In most multiplayer first-person shooters, you don’t want to miss that clutch headshot because 1) it’ll mean giving up your location, and 2) missing just isn’t fun. In Shotgun Farmers, there’s a third factor to consider: your bullet will embed itself into the ground and sprout a happy little gun tree, which your enemy can…
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Astroneer Makes Outer Space Survival Relaxing
The worst problems are often ones we make for ourselves. For instance, while wandering Astroneer’s idyllic starter planet, I found a hole. Its alluring darkness contrasted the planet’s candy swirl aesthetic so perfectly that I couldn’t resist. I gently edged my way down one of its walls.