This game is okay! It's not the most in-depth RPG, But the setting is truly unique, the combat system is VERY removed from the standard D&D combat we're all used to (even though it is very repetitive, I appreciate the effort) and it's not super long by RPG standards. Any longer and I don't know that I'd have finished it, but under 20 hours felt right for this one. Recommended.

I've played a lot of Telltale-style games, but this may be my favorite. The writing and performances are top notch, but really it's the animation and overall visual direction that are standouts. It's simply light years beyond any other game of this type. It's not even close. Dispatch easily looks as good (if not better!) than any animated series you'll find on television these days.

The gameplay is very similar to other games of this kind, but there's the added dispatch and hacking game, which I found myself enjoying. Enough so that if they were to release that as its own, endless game, I'd probably pick that up too.

But really, you're playing this for the story, and the story here is fantastic. Great characters, lots of interesting choices, leading to cool story branches. I can't recommend this enough. Bring on season two!

Outcast is a 3D, non-linear, action-adventure game, released in 1999. At the time it was totally amazing, even with its kinda ugly voxel graphics. It's important to know what you're getting with Second Contact. This is very much a remaster, not a remake. The graphics aren't as chunky, and there are some very welcome quality of life changes, but at its core, this is a 26 year old game. The spoken dialog has been cleaned up, but it's a bit scratchy, due to the original recording quality. The UX is vastly improved, but it's still pretty clunky, as is a lot of the gameplay. And some of the story elements (particularly how it treats its solitary female character) haven't aged very well. At least that gorgeous, fully orchestrated score sounds as good as ever (it was redbook/CD audio before, so nothing really needed there!).

But if you can look its flaws, this game was amazing in '99, and it's still a lot of fun. My only real complaint (other than this being a fairly modest remaster) is that the replacement cut-scenes are not an improvement at all. I get that the old files were probably 320x240, and would look absolutely awful on a modern screen, but the replacement isn't much better, even if it is in the proper resolution.

So yeah. Great game. A little rough around the edges, but well worth playing. And if you really, want to see what the voxel version looked like, check out Outcast 1.1, also available on Steam. It's too bad the two versions aren't save compatible, but at least it's still there.

Definitely a little rough around the edges, but I had a good time. It succeeds where it matters most in a game like this: the story is good Trek, and there are hard decisions to make.

Great game. Very much a French Final Fantasy, but I found the combat surprisingly enjoyable. Much more so than most games of this type. Highly recommended.

There have been a few attempts (some very good!) at making a modern equivalent of Wipeout, but BallisticNG is different. It IS Wipeout, just the way you remember it, but new. All the features you want are here, everything from tournaments to Zones. It's easily moddable if (like me) you want to drop in the classic soundtracks. You can even toggle PS1-era graphics if that's your thing (I prefer to play the way I remember it, not the way it actually looked). All that and it runs great on Steam Deck. Can't recommend this enough if you're an old-school Wipeout fan.

Some of the gameplay falls a little on the janky side, but for the most part I found this to be a great little adventure game. The best complement I can give it is that I was fully invested in its story, which helped get me through a couple of spotty areas. It's also the perfect length and doesn't overstay its welcome. I'm looking forward to checking out Deliver Us Mars at some point.

I was a little worried, but so far (I'm only about halfway through the first game as I write this) Soul Reaver totally holds up.

As far as the quality of the re-release, Aspyr's done a really great job here. The games run flawlessly with zero load times, I appreciate the addition of achievements, and the upscaling looks good, while maintaining the original art style almost identically. It's a subtle enough difference that I have to look up the original visuals just to remember that it's been changed at all. The lack of quick save/load is a major bummer, but I understand the technical challenges involved. Maybe someday they'll figure out how to get it working, because it's a major quality of life change that would be greatly appreciated.

But what really matters is that the games run on modern systems, there's some great extra content, and the audio has been really nicely cleaned up. All those great performances sound fantastic again.

Hopefully Aspyr moves on to the rest of the series after this!