Author: AndresPlays

Time To Wake Up is a first-person descent into the psyche of a traumatized person hoping for a better future. Have you ever wished that you had a different life than the one you have right now? It is normal to have regrets. Perhaps if a job opportunity or a relationship did not go south, you would be living in a different country. Or city, at least. But then, as you are here, reading this, that means that you can still change whatever does not please you. Time To Wake Up tells the surreal story of a man caught in…

Curse of Resthaven launched an extended demo today, and we had a taste of its haunting mystery on a cursed island. “Small town, big Hell” is a famous Mexican phrase used to describe what it is like to live in tight-knit communities. Gossip spreads faster than wildfire. Rumors and myths are pervasive. Deep-rooted jealousy and hatred may spark conflict at any moment. I should know; I used to live in one. I played the new extended demo of Curse of Resthaven before its launch on October 29, and this is what my mind was racing through. An alluring glimpse of…

Ved: Recure offers solid roguelite runs and an incredibly flashy anime combat that is marred by performance issues, making it a tough recommendation as is. Roguelikes are a prime example of human ingenuity. A genius concept, the whole idea of going through the same levels with minor permutations could, on paper, mean either boredom or insanity. But developers have made it work. From Greek gods to third-person shooters, there has never been a genre more ripe for exploration. With plenty of conceptual fuel in the tank, arrives Ved: Recure. An anime action roguelite, it brings new ideas to the table…

Control Resonant explores what it means to go deeper into its cold, uncaring world, led by a protagonist who is all too eager to prove himself. Laura Palmer’s body was found near a lake on February 24, 1989. It was wrapped in plastic. The autopsy revealed she died of blunt force trauma and severe blood loss. A popular high school student, she was just 17 years old. While this is the event that kickstarts the plot of seminal 1990 supernatural procedural Twin Peaks, it is also a very timely reminder of how cruel the real world is. When presented with…

Toem 2 might retread old ground, but when it is this joyous, what does it matter if it’s not a reimagining of its charming formula? One of those nights where I had recently finished a long game, the famous gaming slump was starting to set in. Never one to quit, I boot up a quirky black-and-white game that was gifted to me as a hail mary. Breezy and cheery, its simple tasks of photographing people, animals, and things were a welcome change of pace. It was not long until I rolled credits, tearing up at that last scene that reminded…

Songs of Glimmerwick puts you in the robes of a green witch learning the craft in a magical university. There is no other fantasy as welcoming. In the seminal 1911 book “The Secret Garden,” a young girl is sent to an ostentatious estate in the English countryside with her uncle. In it, she finds a sprawling garden in disrepair and tasks herself to bring it back to life. During the process, a newfound passion for nature finds her. A timely reminder that will never go out of style, Songs of Glimmerwick similarly invites curious players to immerse themselves in a…

Kernel Hearts is a roguelike action RPG that dazzles with its authentic anime art style from an Argentinian studio but whose combat leaves much to be desired. Kernel Hearts has me at an impasse. I was thoroughly impressed with the art style at first glance, as I assume many others were. An Argentinian studio nailing that all-encompassing Japanese anime art style? If there is anything that made the rounds online, it is the dazzling pink-haired magical girl animation cutscene. It is eye-catching. It is titillating. And yet, playing the game itself does not deliver the goods in a way that…

Normal Golf Game is a new kind of golf experience where it is equally trying to mess with you and make you have fun learning its flimsy mechanics. Have you ever felt like a game hates you? Like the developer is sitting somewhere just laughing, thinking of gamers trying to achieve self-realization by obtaining one more digital trophy through their obtusely designed gameplay? I have no doubt that some games are actually made with trolling in mind, but there is a unique crop of games that have spurred with a purer goal. Normal Golf Game, as meta as the title…

Virtue and a Sledgehammer is an aggressive game about rebelling against an inevitable synthetic future with a just-revealed launch of October 27. Recently announced at the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, Virtue and a Sledgehammer debuted a new trailer and its highly anticipated release date. Causing a splash (or wreck) earlier this year with its visceral demo, its tentative 2026 launch left many of us wondering when it would actually come out. Out October 27 for PC via Steam, rage-filled players won’t have to wait much longer. The latest 30-second trailer does not waste a second, showing to the sound…

Woodo is an adorable hidden object puzzler that tells the story of a little fox’s unforgettable summer through gorgeous dioramas. What are video games for? The most common answer would be as a distraction to help us cope with the stresses of daily life. A variant of it would be to blow off some steam. These are valid responses, yet I find myself inclined to find a deeper meaning. As any other art form, the convergence of its disciplines is what elevates them. They could pull you out of a rut. Or remind you of a memory that you thought…