John Walker
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Writing For
Rock Paper Shotgun
Eurogamer
KotakuLatest Reviews
Manual Samuel
So it's clumsy, no doubt, and not always in the ways it's supposed to be. But it's also good fun for the most part. And a completely unique idea. (Cue commenter who explains how the same idea was done on the Amiga in Russia only.) I didn't find the writing...
Lichtspeer
It's very funny, very sharp, and most importantly, a lot of frenzied fun. I wish there were more enemy types more quickly - it over-uses the same ones, and redresses them for later levels - but that's my only significant gripe. And you get to die an awful lot.
Human: Fall Flat
Human: Fall Flat is unquestionably charming, and tremendous fun when it's not annoying me so much I want to find the developers and put staples in their toes. It's a logical next step for the Grow Home concept, and they beat Ubisoft to releasing it before Grow Home 2, so...
Song of the Deep
It's also really strange that this is a game by Insomniac. It seems to demonstrate none of the beautiful finesse found in the Ratchet & Clank games, nor the slick power of the Resistance series. In fact, it doesn't use their own in-house engine, but Unity. And they don't appear...
Nu Watson and Holmes look dangerously close to Downey Jr and Law, five years too late, and their new voices are bizarrely unenigmatic, if competently delivered. It’s not a reboot, nor a refresh, right down to the repeated locations and character models of the likes of Lestrade, but rather the...
SteamWorld Heist
I thoroughly recommend it, for those looking for something erring much more toward the more casual end of the strategy world, the only region of the genre with which I’m comfortable. It’s bright, breezy, light and fun, and perhaps, after all, that’s enough.
The game’s huge for its genre, a good dozen hours at least of bouncing, flinging, zapping and triple-jumping. The new sections only make it better, the new skills fit in perfectly. Few games come close to being this well made, this lovingly animated, and so madly pleasurable to play. If...
Whether it actually improves your typing I'm not sure, but it gives you statistics on your speed and so on, which you can compare before and after I guess. I'd not see the game that way at all, though, and instead recognise it as a novel (fnarr) way to play...
Samorost 3
And you can’t stay mad even when bumping against one of the few frustrating sections. Samorost 3 is so bursting with life, so lovingly crafted, that it’s impossible not to adore. I cannot think of a game whose soundtrack comes close to this, and few that are so pretty. Gnome’s...
The overall result is a delightful, charming, and relaxing affair. It's a Sunday afternoon television of a game, and goodness me, does that have a place. It's funny, daft, and the look is incessantly fantastic. Backgrounds are beautifully drawn, characters are well animated, and the voice cast are all modestly...
I still adore this game. It’s still the smartest, most elegant, most entertaining adventure game ever made. And now, if you want, it looks new and sounds amazing. Not having Laverne sound likes she’s underwater is a real joy. More could have gone into adding detail to particular scenes, and...
Shardlight
A rushed ending is really the game’s only let-down. A larger conspiracy, or more surprising reveal, might have given it a heftier punch. And it certainly needed a few more puzzles in the later stages, a bit more to do. But these are minor niggles in a really splendid adventure...