Stellaris Review

Stellaris

Developed by Paradox Development Studio

Published by Paradox Interactive

Author's note: I have bought all the current DLC's for this game so I'll be talking about Stellaris like the DLC's come with the game naturally.

Stellaris is a space faring strategy game. You can be anything you want; ancient robots, normal humans, some sort of space squid, a space hobbit or even a dino bird. Then you get to choose what type of morales your space faring society will value; dictatorship, peaceful, secluded, or politically inclined. There is no wrong way to play this game as there are multiple ways to win at Stellaris. At first, if you are unfamiliar with strategy games, you will be a bit overwhelmed with all the different possibilities, choices, and buttons Stellaris provides for you. Thankfully you can have a little robot advisor to help you with figuring out certain mechanics in the game and never feel ashamed about starting the game over. Repeatedly.

The music of Stellaris is quite expansive. There are over 20 songs on the game's playlist and are nice to listen to. All of the songs come off of as techno and space-like but they each have their own tone. One song, To the Ends of the Galaxy, sounds excited and impatient. Like a child who's excited to visit the waterpark and is unaware of any possible dangers. Another song, Luminescence, sounds like a tempting siren luring you two what you would think would be something fantastic but only brings your doom. Having good variety like this means you're never really bored of the music you're listening to, but you always have the option to pause the music if you want.

The artwork of Stellaris is limited but also fascinating. You can tell that the alien designs were thoroughly thought through and are interesting to look at. Then what's most interesting is the way space looks in the game. It looks absolutely stunning with black holes, dwarf stars, planets and ancient space stations. Giving you that, the-universe-is-much-larger-than-your-punny-life-problems, feeling and it is awesome.

Stellaris is a space strategy game. You want to try and get as much space as possible, don't try to mine everything that's in your territory or you'll have nothing for your mandatory space assignments. Then you have to worry about your galactic neighbors and figure out who you want to be friends with, who you'll barricade out of your borders, and who has the best stuff to trade things for. You've got to make sure your army is self sufficient and can defend itself and your planets. Have to make sure your not starving your people and that they are happy and don't want to revolt. The list is endless really. It also has multiplayer so you can have this kind of fun with everyone who has this game.

 You can buy this game on Steam: $40.

I give this game a 5/5 stars. Great for those strategic people and for those who have nothing better to do and this will be great for killing time.

Mandagon Review

Mandagon

Created by Blind Sky Studios

Published by Blind Sky Studios

Mandagon is a simple platformer game based on the Tibetan philosophy and Buddhism. You play as a square little totem who is trying to open a giant red door as you are trapped inside this one level. I, unfortunately, cannot talk about Mandagon without revealing its spoilers. If this information so far that I have given you is enough then I hope you enjoy the game. The rest of you have been warned about the spoilers ahead.

The totem you play as in the Mandagon was once a man who gave his life up for his daughter. The totem's daughter was dying of some kind of lung disease, Mandagon doesn't really specify what type of lung disease, and the totem decided to die in the place of his daughter. Now that you are in the afterlife you see plenty of symbolism for lungs and large murals depicting the replacement of bad lungs with good lungs. As the totem you eventually also find a mummified man sitting cross legged between an image of Buddha and a Wrathful deity. I theroise that mummified man was who the totem once was before asking the gods to help spare his daughter's life.

Mandagon's music is very calming. Richard Jackson, the music, SFX, and sound design guy, did a beautiful job of making the music both ancient sounding yet still to modern tastes. The music has a low thrumming background, then there's the light strumming of the shakuhachi and the occasional light hit of a gong. There are obviously more sounds to it than the examples I have provided but overall the music is amazingly relaxing. If you want to know more about the sound design and music of Mandagon Richard Jackson has written a blog about his work and you can go here if you want.

The artwork of Mandagon is a simple type of elegant. It gives an impression that the artist, Tom Kitchen, decided to use the mosaic method with paint. This 2D game has decaying homes, overgrown shrubbery, old statues, and large bodies of water. Visually, playing Mandagon is like walking through a snow covered forest by yourself. It's pleasant, a bit isolating, but refreshing.

Mandagon game play is simple enough. Collect six tablets, place them inside six stone blocks and open the giant red door so you can go speak to Yama.

You can get this game on Steam for free or you can get this game as an app for $2. I have not found anyplace else that you can get Mandagon at.

Overall I give Mandagon 5/5 stars. My favorite part of the game were the birds and I hope you enjoy this game if you get it. I also wrote down all the spoken works Mandagon has right here if you want to see it. 

Contrast Review

Contrast

Created by Compulsion Games

Published by Focus Home Interactive

You play through Dawn. A silent woman with an amazing power to faze in and out of the shadows. You are best friends with Protagonist, Didi, and you help her out with her family problems using your shadow powers.

There is very little known about the character you play as. Dawn has no speaking roll so you have to get what characteristic you can from her by Dawn's interactions with Didi and with the snippets of information you collect over the course of the game. If I told you what I know about Dawn I would be telling you spoilers. What I little I can tell you is that Dawn cares about Didi and that it's no accident that Dawn decided to become friends with this little girl.

Didi is a spunky little brat who loves her family very much. Despite being nine years old she gets herself into a lot of trouble that Dawn constantly has to help fix. If her parents are in a pinch then this girl with her technical wizardry can fix any electronic problem, as well as lockpick some doors.

Johnny, Didi's father, is a bit of a scumbag. Johnny dearly loves Didi and he loves Kat, but this man makes friends with the worst people. Johnny makes deals with thugs, gang members, and the like. Then there's his dark past that he'll never escape from that has always hurt his family in the end.

Kat is a hard working singer who tries to take good care of her daughter, but can't seen to be able to afford a babysitter in the 1920's apparently. She has aspirations to become a singing sensation in the world of Contrast but her singing job is barely enough to keep the apartment rent paid. She is so use to working and raising a child alone, despite how difficult it is for her.
Vicenzo is a hard working magician. Nothing gets in the way of his work and he loves it that way. Puzzles and illusions are his bread and butter and nothing brings him more joy than the looks on peoples faces when he performs a new magic trick.

The artwork of Contrast is lovely. The world is like a romanticized version of 1930's Los Angeles. Everything is so grand and colorful in the way when you look through an old, sepia photo. Making the light that you find in the game even more important as it reveals brighter colors. The design of the characters aren't bad either. Both Didi and Dawn wear striking bright colors, like red, making them stand out from the background. The creators of Contrast cheated a little bit with the design of the other characters as everyone else are nothing more than shadows. I can't complain too much about the shadow people though as they are important to the game play, plus it allowed artist to focus on the background art to make it more visually striking and interesting to look at.

The music in Contrast is absolutely amazing. The makers of the soundtrack for Contrast perfectly captured the essence of 1920-1930's swing music. Their one singer, Laura Ellis, just sells it. Her voice has that beautiful, husky, quality to it that melds perfectly with the drums, cello, piano, and sax. There is so much energy in this music, even when it's calm and collected sounding, the music of Contrast gives you this buzz that makes you want to listen to it on repeat for days on end.

Contrast's gameplay is the coolest thing about this game. At its core Contrast is a platformer game in third-person view. So you typically just jump from one platform to another but with Dawn's ability to turn into a shadow person she can also walk on shadows. Imagine, if you will, a normal bike. It's nothing special, but shine a light in front of it to show the bike's shadow, you could turn into a shadow person and ride the giant, shadow bike pedal up to a terrace. It's amazing when you actually see it.

You can buy this game on Steam: $10, Playstation Store: $10, and Xbox Live: $10. Reasonable prices.

I give this game 5/5 stars. I warn you, however, the video game is a bit glitchy and despite all the good things I've listed those glitches might ruin it for some people.