O shadowed land by blood and soot befoul’d,
within thy kilns I gleaned the grace of gold,
upon the wold where mighty nation tower’d
I stood and glimpsed the ages new and old.
And therein I saw beauty—pure and plain
tapestried with lazuli and flowers,
Enir-Ilim and valleys crowned by rain,
a misty mount which thund’ring peaks embowers;
and lordly knights all regal, leal of heart,
by saintly touch, by tender lilies bless’d,
up spires lorn sought eden, yet apart
in velvet sleep by one another rest.
Thro’ wroth and grief, thro’ thousand deaths I sought
to reign and claim—to be the Elden Lord.

Mutazione describes itself as a soap-opera, though it is more of a slice-of-life snapshot from a fantastic, utopian community. And while I think its stories are beautifully human, the cheerful wholesomeness they carry unsettles and suffocates.

As such, it feels as if the game had been sterilised. Characters (often explicitly) stress that everything is and has to be consensual, that everyone has the right to be and feel as they want. No one is the problem, no one is at fault, everyone can make mistakes, and, of course, it is important to let go, forgive, and thank each other… even self-blame is sagely identified as selfish.

These lectures could be expected in a children’s story. After all, the soothing soundscapes and cartoonish graphics would fit the genre. Yet bizarrely, all of that is put in contrast with occasional sexual innuendos, randy pensioners, names such as Wurst and Wiener, or remedies for menstrual cramps.

All the stranger is then the decision to frame the story from a teenager’s perspective… or rather how Hannah Nicklin (then 35-year-old) imagines it to be. Instead of a person, she created a disparaging caricature. The protagonist is inarticulate, often lost for words, ill-educated, yet condescending:

Um. Yeah. Like. I’m pretty stoked. It’s very planty. Looks very boaty. I mean… Totally safe. You were super, uh, sciency. Kinda.

The language of Mutazione is peculiar in itself. Whereas one segment is simple, colloquial, or downright clumsy, another attempts proper or academic English:

But before long I came to understand that the notion of order we like to consider as implicit in the scientific method is a fallacy. Order is a social, not a natural construct. What right do I have to decide the proper name for a thing?

On one hand, there is a lot of philosophising and incoherent (pseudo)scientific monologuing, on another, there are phrases such as “There were some events.”, “explain about”, “sorry for” instead of “sorry about”. There is also incorrect syntax, especially in questions, hyphens being mistaken for dashes, or random capitalisation in the middle of a sentence (Mum, Pulp, Leaf, Husk, Powder). It all comes across as pretentious. Contemptuous, even. In a work defined by writing, especially one which seeks to present academic topics, such disparities amount to a parody.

Content-wise, most of the writing is uninteresting. I appreciated the small jokes, wordplays, and titbits of lore, but they were not enough to keep my interest. It was very difficult for me to get into the story, and even though I felt invested later, I was yet again disappointed to learn virtually every plotline got resolved by the power of love and mutual understanding. Which is a nice thought. But horribly trite.

Then again… can we expect better from a story in which a barely literate teenager heals the world?

I know it is difficult to write a good, meaningful story. However, Mutazione is a 19.50€ game which boasts about its many awards: Excellence in Narrative, Best Storytelling and whatnot. It is therefore expected it would adhere to certain standards which simply were not met here.

Monster Ops is simply a low-effort cash grab which takes advantage of unmet demand for gay games.

The first, free chapter is supposed to lure you in for thirty more chapters the studio plans to release. 5€ per one, totalling 145€ (~$167)—with the option to subscribe to the studio's Patreon for early access. Mind you, this game had already been crowd-funded. It would appear YPG figured out they can get away with charging more for doing less.

Egregious pricing aside, the writing is as inane as it is boring. It is a filler in between unexciting porn scenes—scenes which, instead of sex between men, remind of plastic dolls smashing at their plastic bits.

Everything about Monster Ops is cheap. Except for its price tag.

A game most certainly made with children in mind; nonetheless, as an adult, I was fully taken with its fantastical elements. The artists, quite boldly, rendered a colourful canvas of skill and imagination. As infantile as the story may be, the surreal nature of the world is exciting in itself.

This is a relaxing venture, what with the melodious tunes and fairy-tale aesthetic. It simply feels good to play.

"Whale of a Time
by Jane Gardiner, Record Critic, “O” Courant Weekender

With Nick Lightbearer, Compulsion Games introduces Wellington Wells in yet an unseen perspective, one full of music, dazzling glares, screeching fans, and Joy-addled euphoria. Forget the wastrels, mind not the downers – it’s solo time!

Nick’s tale blends the heady and hedonistic lifestyle of a rock star with a kooky once-in-a-lifetime nightly adventure wrapped up in a dramatic twist. But even more exciting, perhaps, is peeling the corduroy and discovering the “real Nick”.

Wanton escapades, gory pleasures, and marital discord: all that in We Happy Few – Lightbearer!"

As is the wont for many artworks today, It Paints Me seduces with an appealing aesthetic which, upon closer examination, reveals itself as thoroughly commonplace and hollow.

While all the dramatic poses, incomplete renderings and tangled blacks seek to convey nonchalance, the script presents a stark contrast—it depicts a suffering mad artist who realises he’d been dead all along. Said artist’s existence is all but pain; pain accentuated by surrealism and colourful metaphors. On that front, the author succeeded. The tragedy, however, turns comical as melodrama does not become such a topic. The execution is gaudy, but so is the very concept of this game: to aestheticise dysfunction.

One can scarcely call the script a “story”—it is more akin to an outline of a story; one which is all glitter and little to no substance. And that is what makes It Paints Me a dime a dozen.

I am grateful to have been gifted this journey—a beautiful, moving journey I will remember for the rest of my life.

Elegantly, Syberia blends history with mystique, setting the reality of World War II within a fantastic, clockpunk version of Europe. Everything is mechanised and wonderfully Art Nouveau—plant motifs set in metalwork bring about a dream-like world. Combined with emotive, instrumental soundtrack by Inon Zur, it is easy to feel as if soaring above the clouds. Unfettered.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3356510517

Great taste in artistry goes hand in hand with mature writing. Syberia’s story is fraught with touching, human moments. There is an omnipresent sense of wonder and gratitude for everything which makes life nicer. It is optimism as it ought to be.