To the Moon is a heart-rending tale of dreams, memories, and knowing that love is malleable, capable of taking forms of true beauty, when worked by the right soul. It is my firm belief that you would enjoy To the Moon, so let me sell you further.

Part 1: The Story

The story starts off with two scientist-type fellows known as Dr. Neil Watts and Dr. Eva Rosalene, employees of a mysterious corporation known as Sigmund Corp. They are specifically tasked with providing the elderly and sick with fulfilling lives before they die, by using the means of a certain memory-altering dream machine that allows them to rewrite their client's memory to fit their ordered specifications. Their client, an old, withering man known only by the name Johnny, has enlisted the help of these two scientists. His request, to become an astronaut and fly high into the sky, to reach the outer edge of the world and engage in a long-awaited rendezvous with the moon. Things go routine for a good while, until it appears that something is very wrong with Johnny's memory. Segmented and heavily disjointed, the mind of the elderly man seems to only connect via a single thread, memories of his deceased wife, River. You'll find along the way that she holds major significance to Johnny, much more than could be originally thought, but I'll leave the satisfaction to you.

Part 2: Gameplay

Surely no game is great without some equally complementing gameplay. Whilst travelling through this cavalcade of emotions and memories, you'll have to deal with searching the man's memories and finding items that can link each piece together, like a grand cranium jigsaw puzzle. Mementos will be scattered about for you to interact and find, and engaging in absorbing the story from each memory is a must if you are to succeed. You'll have to go through some light puzzle elements in order to gain access to the linking power of the mementos, but it's nothing a little brain power can't fix. And even with all this brainiac gameplay, there are indeed moments of action. Remember that squirrel you narrowly dodged on the road? Well, I won't say much, but I can say that you surely haven't seen the last of him. You'll need to have a fighter's spirit, but keeping a shoe handy is about the same.

Part 3: The Lesson

The game holds with it not only what you can gather from surface value, but it also carries underneath it a plethora of teachings and meanings. Now nothing I say here is set in stone, as you take what you will from the experience, but what I've collected from the game is as follows: One of the hardest things to do is to do nothing at all, that sometimes love will find us no matter where we are, and that strangers we meet can be the most interesting people we will ever get to know. These certainly aren't the only lessons to be drawn from this wonderful game, interpretation is a most beautiful thing. I leave the gorgeously complex teachings of this game to you to find, as making your own connections is supremely satisfying, and I'd be nobody to deny you the pleasure.

Overview

This game is definitely worth the priced listed. A fine game with charming graphics, a beautiful story, and a heart-rending conclusion that will leave you fully satisfied with your purchase. With the characters very fleshed out and unique, alongside the "worlds" you'd be visiting, not to mention the beautiful OST that'll be accompanying you, I'd give it a most well-deserved 9/10. Buy this game, love this game, remember this game.

Spiral Knights seems great, but lacks in plenty of places

Spiral Knights is an alright MMO, alright for free at least. It's definitely worth a try, seeing as how the initial pricetag is agreeable. For me, however, it's more of a social platform than a real kind of game. Allow me to explain as to why I see it as I do.

Part 1: The Gear

Spiral Knight's selection of equippable gear is quite wide at first glance, there are plenty of different resistances and weaknesses to all kinds of armor, all of which can be interchanged at a moment's notice, but the variety is wasted upon especially superior gear that provides a kind of range that none other can provide. For example, if you were to choose between say, a Seraphic set or a Wolver set, the seraphic would give a damage buff equal to that of the wolver. However, the Wolver set gives a universal buff to swords, meaning that it does what the seraphic does, but can go beyond that, as well. It's armors like those that begin to break down the options available through common sense and unfair stats. Why anyone would go with an armor so selective versus an armor completely open-ended is beyond me, and most likely anyone else.
An even better case is when it comes to early-game bombers and bombers overall. Bombs themselves are fairly underpowered items when working up, so it's more likely people go Gunner or Swordsman, for better attack and whatnot. Bombers overall that strictly follow the bomber line can choose the Mad Bomber Gear, giving them amazing stats for bombs, but horrible defense. There's another armor that does this, surprisingly, but, get this, it does it for EVERY WEAPON. Whoever decided that was a good idea must've thought pretty lowly of bombers, as it completely voids the Mad Bomber gear, allowing for sidearms and whatnot to be used in conjunction with bombs. All in all, the gear doesn't stop there, and most likely won't as the game progresses.

Part 2: Updates

You'd think with the previously mentioned, they'd begin working on balancing armors and fixing things up, right? Hah, no. You want some costumes? Here's a few hundred. You want some reskins? Here's a box of 'em, have fun. Balancing the game is about as much of a lie as Santa. As while it's not real content, some people still love ripping open the new boxes and slapping whatever colorful paper that was inside right onto their character. I can understand dishing out some cash for a thing to make you look snazzy, but why feed a company more money when their game's pretty darn broken? I understand wanting to make the most out of the overpowered gear, but seeing one team of adventurers run into a dungeon all brandishing the same kind of gear is boring, stale, and just sad. There is no unique quality among players, no matter what little accessory they slap onto their armor, it's still the same cookie-cutter formula. I had more fun running into a dungeon with some close friends of whom we all chose oddjob gear, it was complex, it was different, it was confusing, and most of all, it was fun. Don't even begin on promised "updates" that hold new gear, as they delay for as long as they can. I'd get more in-depth with it, but I'll have to get back to you on that one. (Pun intended.)

Part 3: The Monotony

So say you've finished the endgame, you've beat Vanaduke, heated your gear as far as you please, and have successfully reached the coveted rank of Vanguard. What's left? Apparently not much, if you don't have a guild, some good Spiral Knights friends, or anything immediately tying to it. The endgame leaves very little left, sure you have PvP, sure you have Blast Network, sure you might have guildruns, but why bother? PvP offers gear that has an alternative spin on some of your favorite (not-by-choice) weapons, with some stats made exceptionally worse, or some still a bit broken. But what's that to you? You've spent all this time grinding through repetitive missions for the things necessary to create your god-tier gear, so why bother struggling through all of that again? And don't try to play the card that PvP is interesting, it's usually the people with the broken gear using the broken swords. More often than not it's always Skolver wearing Strikers with the occasional Gunner or Snarbolax wearing Striker. Blast Network's just a bomberman port, playable by all skill levels no matter what, and to be fair, it's fairly fun. However, the lack of discrimination between skill levels can make it harsh on those who try it out, and more experienced players could potentially offset newcomers who'd like to begin playing as well.

Part 3-2: The Monotony

Don't think it's just endgame, either, as the monotony can set in as immediately as when you first begin to start. The missions assigned to you to gain rank feel incredibly scripted and not as free as they could be. It feels more like a chore than anything else, and nowhere near as fun as the random generation of the Clockworks (Which seems to be, for the most part, swept under the rug.). The Clockworks now takes discovering on your own to find, which the game already doesn't reward, making it harder to want to do so. Missions are also more likely to have the boxes you need to find to use for the drop system to give you the main crafting materials that you need for better gear, so that's another hit against the Clockworks. If you find that grinding much to your distaste, don't worry, the online store will be happy to help, for the right price, of course. Online store not your cup of tea either? The Auction House sells them at prices only a "few" monotonous boss runs can pay for!
I'm sure I could go on, but the review's already long enough as is.

Overall

Spiral Knights is an okay MMO, not great under any means, but it's not horrible. The only shining light that keeps this game from a true dark abyss would have to be it's community. The community has it's fair share of mean customers and nice folk. You can find some pretty good friends, and some truly cool people on this game. All it takes is a little bit of chatting, and you've found one heck of a pal. The missions and so are more tolerable with a fun group, as the dulling world can take on a new sense of rejuvenation with good talks, funny dialogue, and crazy moments. This game is saved by it's community, whether it be a good or bad thing. I only ever come back to Spiral Knights more for the people than the actual game, truth be told.

All in all, Spiral Knights receives a 6/10 from me, for what it's worth. The game has alot to fix, and sadly, they haven't done much fixing. The experience can only really be fulfilled with friends, as going alone can dull the sense of wonderment you'll receive initially. I say you take some time out and find a little clique of sorts that you do things with, and you'll make it one great of an experience.

Team Fortress 2, a game long joked about being a war-themed hat simulator should be praised, and here is why.

Team Fortress 2 is a game I believe can really fit with all kinds of gamers, from all kinds of scenes. Whether you're into MOBAs, already into FPS's, or just a general player of games, TF2 can find some way to work itself into your heart.

Part 1: The Classes

The classes in Team Fortress 2 are all well-balanced characters that fit into a special role of a team, their well-craftedness leaves the real struggle to the player to make the class shine above all others. The roles of each class don't even stop at what the class could really do. There are so many sub-classes and builds and weapons that change how the entire game functions, it's versatility expands far beyond just what it's labelled as. The classes and their wonderfully fleshed-out personalities with different backgrounds helps you to invest in them and really become a part of them, and possibly have them become a part of you.

Part 2: The Weapons

Weapons in TF2 aren't really improvements to the stock, which makes it different than alot of other games. They're another type of playstyle, another way to play the game. Want the Heavy to be even more of a damage dealer? Use the Brass Beast. Want a reward for all those headshots you're getting as Sniper? Use the Bazaar Bargain. The weapons help broaden the possibilities and types of play of the game, chances are you won't meet players with the same loadout, and even better chances you won't find them using the same kind of playstyle. All in all, I know there might be some sour apples in the bunch, but the range of weapons and the manners in which you can use them is spectacular, and helps others find classes they like.

Part 3: The Hats

You knew this was coming, admit it. The game's cosmetic system isn't all that there is, but it's one hell of a huge chunk. Ever since the first few hats were added, it changed the game. From the beginning, it was one for one, a hat for a hat, but soon, the seed of economy was planted. The economy grew and flourished, values were established. currencies were made, and the true spirit of the war-themed hat simulator came to fruition. The economy is a real shining gem in this game, while prices may seem absurd, it really is astonishing how a video game managed to grow an economy that easily translates virtual goods into monetary value with the unboxing of a crate. The community lives around this creation, molds it, creates it, they coexist peacefully and abide by one another's rules. Not only does the market shine, but the cosmetics themselves, too. Each piece can be equipped together in no specific order (aside from some restrictions with clipping, of course), meaning a bunch of combinations for your signature, unique look. This furthers the customization from weapons, and really helps to make you, you.

Overall

In the end, TF2's a flexible game. No matter what genre of game you're most accustomed to, TF2 will have a place in your heart. Interesting, quirky characters set in the middle of nowhere, fighting over who-knows-what. Plenty of methods of customization to make it fit you. A community that's pretty darn great, and a good bunch of pretty-looking hats. This game more than earns my 10/10, for as much as it counts.
(P.S. It's flippin' free!)