Recent reviews by Simonay

A silly little golf game that will take an afternoon to get through. While never particularly challenging, it has a unique sense of humour that consistently surprised and delighted me.

A neat little point-and-click adventure game that is brimming with charm and good humour, with a bouncy and kinetic animation style that is a joy to behold. The soundtrack is way better than it has any right to be. A short but sweet experience.

I have not been this moved by a game in a very long time, perhaps even ever.

You play as Stella, the titular Spiritfarer, charged with ferrying the souls of the deceased to the afterlife. Over the course of the game you meet new characters (the spirits of those you knew in the living world manifested as adorable animal people), sail around the open seas finding new locations to explore, and customise your boat with houses and utilities. A simple but expansive crafting system is present to facilitate this, but don't let this put you off - it's well-paced enough to never feel too grindy.

Undeniably it's mechanically fairly simple, but it's all in service of your interactions with the characters, which is where this game really shines. You'll meet a new character, learn about them, fulfil their last requests, spend time with them on your boat, and eventually see them off to the afterlife in a bittersweet farewell. You keep them happy by building them a nice house, feeding them their favourite foods, and regularly hugging them with the dedicated hug button. While there's definitely a formula here, it gets twisted every now and again to keep you on your toes. Spiritfarer completely succeeds in getting you emotionally invested only through the quality of the writing, as opposed to any mechanical necessity or laboured surface-level metaphors. Let it be known that I wept.

On top of this, it helps that it's just absolutely gorgeous to play. The cartoony 2D art style is a perfect fit (paired with some VFX work that stunned me), the quality of animation is superb, the movement feels great, and the soundtrack is a beautiful mix of energetic and melancholy that perfectly matches the emotions of the game itself. Thematically you can go as deep as you wish and still find some satisfaction and meaning. The many ways death can come for us and the effects it has on those around us are plentiful, and it's a topic that Spiritfarer deftly navigates with sensitivity, and ultimately, optimism.

My only complaints are the occasional (non-breaking) bugs, and the pacing / storytelling when it stumbles slightly in the final couple of hours. The overall narrative can be frustratingly vague at times, but that feels like a deliberate choice and does not at all take away from the quality of the character interactions, which again, are the most important thing here.

Easily my top game of 2020 (that's coming from a Doom Eternal fanboy), and a worthy entry into my favourites of all time.

-- Edit --
Unfortunately, having played the Farewell Edition, the pacing issues at the end of the game have been made worse, though the characters added and their stories made welcome additions.

I applaud the creativity at work behind this, it is certainly a unique premise with good level design and progression. However, the limited controls make going for high scores and achievements highly frustrating, so be prepared for some mild grinding.

In Doom Eternal, you shoot a hole in Mars and punch god in the face.

This is a dark, moody shooter, highly reminiscent of Bioshock.

You're one of few survivors on board a space station in the midst of an extra terrestrial crisis. You must work your way through the station which slowly opens up as you complete more missions, and you may also backtrack to explore further or take on side quests.

Combat is fast and brutal, with the majority of your time taken up by exploration, looting and problem solving. As with Arkane's best, you're provided with a number of ways to approach problems (both for combat and navigation), providing a good deal of replayability. The most memorable segments take place when you're slowly navigating and fighting for your life outside the station in zero-gravity.

The environment is absolutely gorgeous, the guns and gadgets have a real punch to them, and the story (while fairly simple) is engaging. A certain must-play for fans of Bioshock, Dishonoured and Deus-Ex.

A narrative-based, mechanically light platformer that ruminates on class, friendship, mental health, family, industrialism and the supernatural.

It is an excellent story, told effectively through a well-realised world and a brilliant cast of characters, created by a small group of developers that clearly love what they do.

This is one of those rare games that shouldn't work, but winds up being a shining example of what the medium can achieve.

A very well put together puzzle game with plenty of extra optional content, and a remarkable story. If you're a fan of high-concept science fiction this is certainly one for you.

A good looking, well-put-together puzzle game to kill a few hours.

I would not recommend this if you're looking for a perfectly designed experience as it does appear there is some minor trial and error in places, this didn't take away from my own personal enjoyment however.