This is a graphic novel about child sexual abuse. If you're not aware of the statistics, the story here helps expose you to some of the experiences of abuse survivors. The chapter with a satellite above the Earth is by far the most revealing, insightful, and important chapter, showing that sexual abuse happens at early ages and most victims are afraid to tell others about their trauma or seek help. The rest of this game is quite a mess. The story is never clear about what is happening. You see a few awkward scenes with children of indeterminate age being exposed to sexual activity mixed with a few scenes of those same characters as adults showing how the scars of their childhood affect their actions and desires later in life. I suppose this game is more interesting than many of the sexual assault and prevention trainings I have taken as a foster parent and childcare worker, but it is inadequate to really motivate players to any response. I suspect creating this game was therapeutic for the developer(s), and the people who will benefit most from it are other survivors who need to know that life can move on past any experience no matter how traumatic. I'm not sure how anyone else will get anything out of this (though I'm probably wrong here considering the Very Positive rating on Steam). As a game, it is really not engaging. The story is told piecemeal and out of order, game play involves nothing more than clicking through dialog, and Orca Park is an unnecessary interruption between each chapter.

I'm not going to finish this. I made it about halfway through the game in 75 minutes. I am surprised that I actually found the story interesting. Usually these type of puzzle games slap on a story that adds nothing of value, instead only delaying your progress to the next puzzle. This one is at least interesting.

This is a game of arithmetic puzzles. The puzzles get repetitive after a while. They also get very complicated. I'm at the point where I can no longer visualize how all the different pieces will interact once I place them, meaning I now have to resort to trial and error rather than math skills. That's not what I was looking for in the game, so I won't bother to finish it.

But I'll still give this game a blue thumb since the game accomplishes what it sets out to do. If you are attracted to this style of puzzle, you'll probably like the game.

With the exception of the fun art style, this is an entirely unremarkable game. The game never manages to utilize the Escher motif in an interesting way. Puzzles are straightforward and simple. The game attempts to build some emotional ties to the two characters, but instead, every scene feels like the game is put on pause for some very slow animations; rather than being dramatic, it's just an interruption of the already slow flow of the game. The entire game is a bland experience in boredom.

This game seems to have a lot of wasted space with a few smaller areas of actual puzzles. The story is a waste of time. The empty space is a waste of time. It would be better if you could just teleport to the few puzzle entrances to get on with what this game offers: flipping gravity platforming challenges.

I did fairly well in the puzzles. Deaths and respawns are quick, checkpoints are plentiful. This game keeps you able to move and trying to succeed without delay. Eventually I hit a mandatory puzzle that I couldn’t pass, so now half of this open-world, non-linear game is locked behind a midway checkpoint I can’t get past.

Oh well. The game is mediocre fun. The gimmick mechanic does little to carry the game. The charm is the quick restarts that allow you to keep pushing yourself to succeed. Take that away (as my stopping point did to me) and all appeal is lost.

Fez is a game that assumes players are smart enough to figure things out on their own—and it is partly correct. This game might be a NSA screening test in disguise! Before you finish Fez, you'll find yourself learning a new alphabet, a new counting system, and another language I don't want to spoil here.

Fez has a steep learning curve that initially turned me away from the game. I only gave it a second chance because of how many people have rated it so highly. Fez is a game that requires a paradigm shift to typical gaming styles. A big aspect of this game is ignoring the things you can't figure out in the moment and returning to them much later once you learn more. This game rewards constant exploration and feels like it punishes the mentality to explore an entire area before moving on. Feel free to wander around and find more cubes without worrying about what you may be missing.

Best advice I would want to know as a new Fez player:
- Go through doors as you find them. Don't worry about what you are leaving behind.
- Ignore the secrets you can't figure out in the moment.
- Go through the final door as soon as you have 32 cubes.

Kingsgrave mixes together exploration, puzzle solving, resource collection, adventure, and metroidvania advancement to create a rather unique experience. The game loop requires you to kill enemies and collect resources, use those resources to restore buildings that give new abilities, and use those abilities to explore new areas. As you explore, you find puzzles to solve, kingdom citizens to rescue, secrets, and a lot of doors you can’t open yet. On the whole, the game repeatedly offers a fantastic feeling of progression as you get just a little bit farther with each discovery.

However, a lack of direction, inability to set waypoints on the map, shortage of resources, and horrible combat take what otherwise could have been a perfect game and make it mediocre.

I estimate a fifth of my playtime was spent re exploring the map trying to find again the areas I couldn’t access when I first discovered them.

Several times I had to rest to cause enemies to respawn just to farm for resources. Early on I found myself short on resources because I hadn’t explored enough yet. In the final 20% of the game, I found myself short on resources because the game is in fact short on resources. You literally have to farm enemies, convert their life essences into other resources, and then use those to progress. Multiple times I discovered new areas of the map with buildings to restore and was unable to build them because I didn’t have enough wood, stone, or mushrooms.

There are also a collection of enemies at the midway point that only take damage from the worst and slowest weapon in the game. The axe does practically no damage while the wood enemies can kill you in 4 hits, making those enemies practically impossible to kill until you unlock fire in the endgame.

Consider this a moderate recommendation. It’s a good game with a lot of flaws. I hope the developer makes a sequel that fixes everything that diminishes the otherwise great game and makes the great elements even better.