startmenu is a website dedicated to mentoring the next generation of games media. Since 2019 it has fostered a community of talented writers and helped dozens of people break into the industry.
Latest Reviews
Pathologic 3: Quarantine
It's all suggestive of a darker game to come, and Quarantine itself may be the darkest material to come out of this series so far. For all the twists present in Quarantine's short runtime, this was the one thing that did not come as a surprise. Each new entry in...
Monster Hunter Wilds
All in all, this is an exceptional game. In 2018, Monster Hunter World stunned the industry by becoming Capcom's fastest-selling game, surpassing sales juggernauts like Resident Evil and Street Fighter.Monster Hunter is mainstream now in all the best ways, and Wilds is the flag planted on the top of the...
Wanderstop
Unlike many cozy games, Wanderstop is not about wish fulfillment. Alta cannot bootstrap herself into newfound strength by brewing the perfect cup of tea, and she cannot heroically swoop in and fix everyone else’s problems, either. She must accept loss — of the fights, and of who she thought she...
When the credits roll, it’s clear that everything in Tape 1 was merely an elongated set-up, narrative dominoes put in place and waiting to be toppled in a bombastic, hopefully satisfying conclusion. As a clearly incomplete title, anyone looking to play Lost Records: Bloom & Rage should come in looking...
Everhood 2
It's a game I'll have to revisit when I'm prepared to overstimulate myself for another twenty hours to complete some of the tougher challenges and possibly uncover more secrets that may have been hidden behind some one-hit encounters or an elevator code that unlocks more answers. In the meantime, I'll...
After a near 50-hour journey, my second trip to the Republic of Calvard was certainly worth it. Despite my issues with the story and the new dungeon, Trails Through Daybreak 2 remains compelling thanks to its strong cast of characters, enjoyable combat and well-considered worldbuilding. It's not quite the leap...
Keep Driving
Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and reflect on your past and future. You have time to explore and to get what’s on your mind cleared out. It's incredibly relatable, like riding shotgun with a kindred spirit at the wheel. Keep Driving is more than a driving game; it...
Urban Myth Dissolution Center
All in all, it’s tough for me to pin down my feelings regarding Urban Myth Dissolution Center. Between its sumptuous pixel art, vibrant personalities and unabashed nerdiness, it’s a game that I admire a lot. (I haven’t even mentioned the music and sound design, which perfectly sell the game’s paranoid...
Hyper Light Breaker
A suture of bullet-riddled combat mostly taken from other games, but the abilities and poise borrowed offers nothing for the player to wrap their teeth around, it is that same old staid combo of slash-slash-parry, once novel freedoms of movement like a frame instant dash that leaves a cloud of...
Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Despite these reservations, Omega Force should be applauded for what is the boldest entry in the franchise in recent times and a game that, once you wade through the muck, stands as an engaging and intense Musou game that maintains its classic feel whilst evolving the series. For fans, this...
Don’t let that dissuade you, though. Overall, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector does a fantastic job of building on the first game without feeling bloated or stepping on its own toes. It shares with its predecessor a fascination for exploring deep themes, letting its excellent writing breathe and some truly...
Ravenswatch
Ravenswatch is a fantastic game and proves just because it’s the same old song, it’s still worth listening to. A corrupted world with varied champions to take, many different combinations of skills, modifiers if you need more or less of a challenge, and all that even before considering co-op. While...