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.

Thomas Was Alone Review

Thomas Was Alone

Created by Mike Bithell

Published by Curve Digital

Thomas Was Alone is a game about an AI named Thomas who wants to escape the computer he's trapped in. As Thomas makes his escape he manages to make some friends along the way. By working together all the AI overcome many challenging platformer levels until they reach their end.

All of the characters in this game are absolutely charming. Even the AI's who are suppose to be assholes are charming. 

• First there is Thomas, the first AI that we meet who upon his creation starts noting everything he sees which in turn helps you notice more about the game as well. He's a confused little block of red but he loves the friends that he makes and has such an upbeat spirit.
• Chris is the second AI that we meet and his attitude is like a sour puss gnawing on a warhead candy. This orange little square doesn't want help and he never asks for help and he thinks he can do things fine on his own. Eventually he warms up to everyone, especially to a certain someone.
• Thirdly there's John, a tall, yellow rectangle who is quite a peacock. He revels in being the center of attention and tries to show off his amazing jumping skills as much as possible. John is also one of the most loyal characters in this game.
• Next we meet Claire the first female shown to us. She's a large, blue square who can't jump or move on land very well and she's very self conscious about this. Once Claire does some self discovery she become quite the hero and starts being more open with her comrades. Trying her best to protect her friends any way she can.
• Then you meet Laura. This poor AI has the lowest of self esteem one could have. She's a wide, thin, pink rectangle who can barely jump and has been used by many AI in the past and then abandoned. She doesn't believe these other AI would actually care about her but she learns to love herself and the new friends she's made.
• James likes to consider himself the weird one. On account that he has an inverted gravity and that he's green. James would love to make friends but is uncomfortable around other people mainly because he is uncomfortable with himself. Thomas helps James a lot with his comfort levels.
• Lastly we meet Sarah, she's a tiny, purple rectangle and a bit of a manipulator. Sarah is on her own personal quest when she met up with Thomas. She misses her old friends and is willing to do anything to finish her quest. Unfortunately life doesn't go that well for her.

The artwork and design of Thomas Was Alone is very minimalistic but in all the best ways. The most striking colors you see are from the AI with muted colored backgrounds and the platformes are black. Since this game is about abstract compute AI and the computer world that the AI are trapped in, they had to hold back on the colors and put more effort into the design of the world. What the designers did for this game is absolutely beautiful. The way the light trickles through the game, casting shadows on and around the characters gives this world a 3D effect. The way the platformes are shaped in interesting squares and rectangles in various ways is never boring to the eyes. I love how the platforms that move, move with the rhythm of the music. the design and artwork mesh so well together it's almost peaceful.

Speaking of peaceful, the music is very lovely. A lot of the music is electronic as one would expect from a game about AI's trying to escape a computer but it's not harsh or over dramatic. The electronic music is soft and cozy sounding. Lulling you into a sense of security letting you better understand the characters you play as, through the music you hear from the background. I also recommend getting the soundtrack from the game all together, Thomas Was Alone's soundtrack is one of those soundtracks that is great to listen to when you need to calm down, relax, or get over something stressful you recently went through.

The game play of Thomas Was Alone is very simple. It's a platformer game. You use each of the AI's special abilities to place everyone in their appropriate portals so you can move on to the next level. Some of the levels can be a bit challenging but it's not over the top challenging. This is a perfect game for casuals to play and for hardcore gamers who are needing a game to relax to after playing Dark Souls or Cuphead.

You can get Thomas Was Alone from Steam for $10, from the Playstation Store for $10, and for you Xbox One for $10. Just to name a few places as to where to can get this game.

I give this game a 5/5 stars. Thomas Was Alone is a chill game that has a story to tell. I highly recommend this game.

Seduce Me: The Otome Review

Seduce Me: The Otome

Created by Michaela Laws

Published by Seraphim Entertainment

The first thing you need to know about Seduce Me: The Otome, is that it's not as silly as it wants you to think it is.

Seduce Me: The Otome is a graphic novel about Mika Anderson (AKA any name you give her) a high school girl who was living a normal life until her Grandpa, Harold Anderson the toy maker, suddenly dies and is sent to mourn at a rushed burial her father set up. Mika then is forced by her father, David Anderson, to move into her Grandfather's mansion. Turns out Harold gave Mika the deed to his estate and toy company to her in his will. Will Mika accept the new responsibilities that her family has placed on her or will she choose a different path?

You play through the character Mika Anderson, but you can change the name of this character to whatever name you'd like. Mika doesn't exactly have a defining character as she is whoever you play her as. She can be as strong willed or timid, hot headed or calm as the choices given to you allow. There are many people you interact with in this game so I'll explain the first three group of characters you meet.

• Suzu is one of your two best friends and is one of the first people you meet. She's a rough-housing, tomboy, sporty girl who enjoys the finer things of life like action movies, spicy food and playing video games.
• Naomi is another one of your two best friends and is one of the first people you meet. She's a polite, upbeat, scholarly girl who enjoys the finer things of life like good grades, daydreaming, and learning how to cook.
• The parents are David and Laura Anderson. Laura is a caring and loving mother who isn't always in the loop of how Mika is raised. David loves Mika in that angry, rich dad troupe way who tries to groom her into the next heir of the Anderson Toy Company. The relationship with both of the parents isn't the best and the Grandfather made up for that before he died.
• Finally there are the five incubi found in the mansion; James, Erik, Sam, Matthew, and Damien. James is the oldest, the leader, and also level headed until you make him angry. Erik is the shameless flirt of the bunch but it's actually all an act. Sam is the easily annoyed, hot head who relies heavily on his instincts. Matthew is the childish type who has mature moments and enjoys having fun. Damien is the quiet type and the youngest of his brothers who is the only introvert.

The artwork of Seduce Me: The Otome is bland. Being a graphic novel is no excuse and being generically anime isn't a good enough art style. The artwork could have been stylized like the work of Satoshi Kon or Masamune Shirow or Isao Takahata; to name a few anime artist. The colors are mute and seem to blend in a way a blender, blends newspaper and water together. This graphic novel could have so much more color in it than what it does have and it's so disappointing. Then there's the general movement in this Seduce Me: The Otome, which is nonexistent. You focus on one still frame after another of stock characters. Facial expressions are stiff and suggested body movement is choppy when present. Maybe if the background was a bit more detailed with bright, cool colors to better contrast the solid, warm colors of the characters in the foreground. Then maybe added more complementary shades to the outfits to fill in the solid colors we see. 

I wouldn't call the soundtrack of Seduce Me: The Otome very inspiring. I wouldn't even call the soundtrack fun to listen to. It's only filler music, but I give it some slack as this seems to be Michaela Laws first graphic novel that she has made and that the soundtrack was made with love and forethought.

The voice acting in the Seduce Me: The Otome is very good in the cheese-y, bad kind of way. The people who voiced these characters try so hard to sound emotionally convincing that it's funny and cringey. Especially when they try to yell and it sometimes sounds like a harsh whisper instead. I can tell that the voice actors were either really into their rolls or they were having a fun time with their work.

The game play of Seduce Me: The Otome is simple enough. You just choose what you want to do and the story of your choice unfolds. I gotta hand it to Michaela Laws, she worked hard on providing as much choice as you can get in this game. You can back talk your father, you can learn about magic, you can get it on with not just the five incubi, but with your best friends, a boy who's father is the rival of David, and so on. All compelling story lines that are fun to listen to.

Seduce Me: The Otome can only be found on Steam and it is a free game.

Overall I give this 3/5 stars. It's a corny game but great for killing time if you got nothing else to do. 

Primordia Review

Primordia

Created by Wormwood Studios 

Published by Wadjet Eye Games

Primordia, in its simplest explanation is the humans are dead and the robots are next.

Written by a team lead by Mark Yohalem. Primordia is about Horatio Nullbuilt, a robot living in the desert with his friend Crispin Horatiobuilt, a companion robot that Horatio made to help him fix the airship they are currently living in, in the beginning of the game. Crispin wants to go to Metropol, the magnificent city of light and glass but Horatio doesn't trust it. When a random robot plunders their home and takes their only energy source to Metropol they have no choice but to go.

You play as Horatio Nullbuilt. Horatio is a cynical, old bot who is too life weary to trust anything nice anymore. Horatio only remembers so much about his life and prefers to live alone with his best friend Crispin. The second character is Crispin Horatiobuilt, being younger than Horatio, Crispin has a more chipper view of life and doesn't question things that sound too nice to be true. These two are your basic dynamic of comic relief and straight man, but these two bots love each other so much that they would die for each other.

The artwork was done by Victor Pflug and the design was done by Mark Yohalem. The world of Primordia is absolutely gorgeous in that dying world, run by robots, the end is near type of look. The team working under Victor Pflug and Mark Yohalem did a wonderful job making the dark and gritty colors of this world pop with the designs of the buildings, robots, and landscapes. The lighting in the game is minimal but what lighting you do get shows how important an area is or if it's a striking, solid color on a robot it gives you a visual sense of what the robot is like.

The music was composed by a team lead by Nathaniel Chambers. Primordia's soundtrack does a fantastic job of giving you that feeling of loneliness and isolation with the deep bass sounds and slight banging of gears grinding in the background. The soundtrack especially loves fluctuating between high notes and low notes, giving it a hypnotic feel. Last but not least the music genre is electronic, which is appropriate as the game is about robots.

The game play of Primordia is simple enough as a click and point, adventure. It uses real world logic with the choices you make and can be pretty frustrating. If you love click and point, adventure games then this is definitely for you whether you're a hardcore gamer or a casual.

You can buy this game on Steam for $10 for your PC and Windows, on GOG.com for $10 for your Windows, PC, and Linux, and on your phone for $5 for your IOS. Just to name a few places that you can get the game yourself.

There is also an audiobook about the events after Primordia --> Fallen

I give this game a 5/5 stars. I would give it a lower rating as click and point games frustrate me but I still enjoyed the game overall. I hope you enjoy this game as well if you ever decide to play it.

To The Moon Review

To The Moon

creator: Kan Gao and founder of freebird games

To The Moon, in its simplest explanation, is a bittersweet and humorous game. 

The game is a story about Dr. Watts and Dr. Rosalene providing a wish fulfillment service. By using high tech mind gadgets on their clients. Clients like Mr. Johnathan Wyles. John's wish is that he wants to go to the moon. However, providing John's wish before he dies is a lot harder than Dr. Watts and Dr. Rosalene thought it would be. 

The characters of To The Moon are all memorable people. The first people we are introduced to in the game are Neil Watts and Eva Rosalene. These two people are interchangeable characters that we play the story through. Dr. Watts is the comic of the two, making puns and references to nerd culture like Anime, Dr. Who, and Marvel. Dr. Rosalene is the straight man as she is the most focused on the task at hand and chastise Dr. Watts antics with sarcasm. The next character you are introduced to is Lily Quinn, the caretaker of John and the mother of two mischievous children. Ms. Quinn and her children relay to you the information that you need as you progress through the game. Finally the third introduction is when you meet Mr. Johnathan Wyles. He's a kind, old man waiting for death to take him but he can't for the life of him, tell you why he wants to go to the moon. You don't have long to wait to find out why he wants to go to the moon when you go through his memories.

The game design is a simple 2D,16-bit animation. Only deviating from this design only once. The artwork is beautifully done with the simplistic animation. The warm colors balancing the cooler colors, making the game feel home-y. I especially praise the ingame lighting. The way the moonlight and sunlight stream through the windows, covering the characters in light and shadow, just completes the look of the game.

The most notable thing about the game is the music. It's sweet and heartwarming listening to the main theme. Making you feel like you are in a dreamland of fulfilled wishes and that your ears are being hugged warmly by a mother figure. The other background musics are all appropriate for their assigned scenes as well. From the piano music For River to the bouncy background music when Dr. Watts starts horsing around. The music was produced by Kan Gao and co produced by Laura Shigihara.

The game play of the To The Moon is a roleplaying, adventure game with puzzles to solve. It's necessary to go adventuring in this game as you can't proceed without what you are needing to find so you can go into the next level of John's memories. The puzzles are simple enough and are great for the casual video gamers but might be disappointing to hardcore video gamers as they are not that difficult. But the point of the game is to unfold a story, not to be challenged so much that the game makes you rage quit.

You can find this game on Steam for your PC and Windows computer for $10, GOG.com for your PC, Windows, and Linux for $10, and on the Samsung Play Store App for your phone for $4.49. These are only a few places that you can buy this game from.

I give this game a 5/5 stars. I hope you enjoy this game as much as I did.