Recent reviews by [E] Shrike

If you enjoyed the stories of "Lobotomy Corporation" or "Library of Ruina", this is a free and forgiving Gatcha continuation of that world's story. Project Moon has come up with a fascinating story drawing heavily on classical literature. Further, PM seems to want to tell their story, and are less concerned about maximizing gatcha profits. Around $11 every 3 months for a battle pass that gets you plenty of rewards on top of what you can earn without paying a thing.

It's a good little progression roguelite. Enough difficulty and randomness to keep it interesting.

When this game first came out, my dad, an avid birdwatcher, was very excited.
However, Wingspan is not what he was expecting, but a beautifully illustrated complex and simple multi-resource card engine game using birds as the theme. Teaching him how to play with the hard copy was difficult.
However, this version simplifies many of the back-end mechanics, and improves the game flow greatly.
Building your birding preserve starts and evolves from powers, with potent combinations offset by point values for the endgame. You can change up your approach if needed, and plan for the entire game from your first selections.

It's a very zen game, and you get to hear birdsong as your board develops, along with learning more about the birds themselves.
(I'd certainly love it if additional bonus cards were made to award knowledge of bird ranges and migration, though)
Relaxing while still giving your strategy brain a work-out.

While Y0 seems to have eaten my near-complete save files, I'm not that upset about 150 hours being lost, because Yakuza Zero is just that good.
The writing and visuals are top notch, the main story a serious crime drama (mostly) with an intriguing set of plots, tempered with the generally goofy and light-hearted side stories that help alleviate the darkness of organized crime in 1980s Japan.

I did mention the visuals. The main story's characters and FMV are lovingly detailed, stubble and pores and the play of light on fabric incredibly close to real, with the main characters rendered as more real than much of the world around them, archetypes (or paragons) that really draw your attention. (Also lovingly rendered are the various real alcohols you can drink that are sponsored contact from distilleries from around the world, and the extremely tasty food images... Man, I wanna go get sushi.)

If you tire of being a badass crimeboy, you can spend time in minigames. Tunable toy car races, gambling from both the west and east, play darts, pool, bowling, go on dates, corner the real estate market or run your own high-class club...or if you're not bad at rhythm like I am, make 'em swoon at karaoke or burn up the floor at disco.
You can also pop quarters into classic Sega Arcade games.
There's just so much to do in Yakuza 0, I don't mind having to replay it.

Even with the third entry into the series announced, CK2 is still an excellent game, although the full experience is quite dependent on the DLC.
You are not the ruler. You are the spirit of the dynasty, the free will that controls the destiny of nations and struggles valiantly against the forces of chaos and expansionism as everyone (probably) around you tries to eat your lunch. Your vassals will betray you. Punishment must be swift, but if you cannot throw them in jail, you might lose more of your realm and sink into a war to weaken you just enough to make your neighbors feel that marching over your borders and grabbing your cows is a good idea.

It's all about balancing, about manipulating, about wondering how in blazes everyone else gets thousands of soldiers from their vassals while you struggle to build your castles to pump out waves of men, horses and elephants.

Go on. Be the free will. Fight across generations to breed better rulers or just survive.
It's relaxing. It's infuriating. It's Crusader Kings 2.

Adding to the pile of kudos, this is a marvellous and unexpected game with the only downside being that once you have figured out the story of this unhappy ship, you can't easily forget it and replay.

The monochromatic graphics are excellent and don't inhibit any of the detailed scenes, and the audio is crisp and voices distinct.
But the true beauty of this game is in the mechanics, the game set up to help you navigate its mysteries in a truly novel and innovative way, using just two tools as you perceive and record death.

While you can brute force solutions, every puzzle does have an answer, even if it's in the small details.

Rakuen gives plenty of hints about where it's going, and kept hitting me through the wonderful execution even though I could guess most of the plot. By the end, I was having trouble advancing the story because I knew it would make me cry again.

Beautiful, whimsical, colorful, dark and human... Laura and her team have made a wonderful cathartic valve. The setting and concepts are brave and respectful, and without using extreme mechanical complexity, give a story that evokes real empathetic connections with the characters. Having just lost my final grandparent, this was an unexpected treasure to help me face the loss of memory and mortality. Even now, I find myself pausing to remember both the events of the game, and the events of their lives.

The worst I can say about it is that the gathering mechanics are a touch time consuming, especially considering the amount of backtracking one appears expected to do; lesser item requirements and better spacing would have been appreciated.

If you'll excuse me, I need to go get a new box of tissues.

The ultimate in Aeronautics and Astronautics simulation (outside of highly specialized programs), KSP endures as a charming way to explore the difficulties of reaching orbit and undertaking missions to other planets, teaching logistics and orbital mechanics as the player gradually works their way to better components and more complex missions.

Or, you can blow up the little green men (Intentionally or not), and enjoy how the engine tries to resolve your absurd creations. Play how you like, use one of the plentiful modpacks to add fantastic components or devastatingly harsh realism or new planets to explore. Build. Fly. Drive. Swim. Float endlessly into space.

You're in command. How far will you go?

A fantastic fae farming ...fiasco? Festival. Trees bend under weight, light is modelled... can you survive the turn of the seasons? A must for those who are fans of dwarf fortress, and want to see the other side.

Play. It.