Souls Like Strings

Bright but short lived

Why

• Clean visuals, especially the fire-related stuff
• Combat is solid & varied, especially for a short game
• Frequent checkpoints to prevent frustration

Why Not

• Very short, under 2 hours
• Easy to inadvertently miss secrets

Impressions

As with most people I got this while it was free to promote the sequel, and it was pretty effective at that. There's defnitely enough here to pique my interest in what the team can do with a longer, more ambitious game.

The focus of the game's world is fire and its role in combating...

I have an embarassing confession to make; I've been using vacuum cleaners wrong my whole life.

You know how canister vacuums all have a button you can press to retract the cord at lightning speed, beloved by small children and dogs everywhere?

I always approached this button with a degree of trepidation because as the plug nears its home the speed of its approach tends to make it flail wildly, often rapping me on the knuckles with its metal prongs.

Well today I had an insight. You can simply hold the plug. Just take it in your hand, push the...

It's Golden Week in Japan but The Wife still needs to work, so probably too busy gaming to learn much this week

• Someone reacting to your comment with the eyes emoji does not mean they've read it

Links

• Scroll-driven Animations - Josh w Comeau

Finally, something Josh writes about that I can maybe use! Could be good for scrolling the institution list on Vault? Thought tbh it could also just be annoying... If nothing else I now have an easy way to add a reading progress bar to my blog.

• How the...

An appropriately titled game

Why

• The memento puzzles are kinda neat brain teasers
• The premise of the game is an interesting concept

Why Not

• Somewhat incoherent story in a story-driven game
• They don't do as much as they could with the premise
• Nice pixel art ruined by constant filters
• Dialogue can be forced at times

Impressions

I've heard a lot of good things about this one but just don't get it. The premise is cool but underutilized in favour of a focus on characters who just aren't that interesting and their mountains of sad...

It's ok to just be ok

Why

• Charming pixel art & very nice water
• Which is used to creatively signpost some secrets
• The core combat/traversal mechanic is a cool idea

Why Not

• The core combat/traversal mechanic is more or less the only cool idea
• And it has a few drawbacks holding it back from carrying the game
• Didn't unlock a single achievement despite meeting the requirements...

Impressions

Sealed Bite is a short but solid platformer held back from being special by slight annoyances with its primary mechanic. Shortly after starting your journey a...