Edo Aug @drawpal

Content Warning (Windows)

A wonderfully fun time with pals, albeit with some issues

The Good
Content Warning, much like other proximity chat spooky games (Lethal Company and Phasmophobia), is enjoyed with good and humorous friends.

There is not a lot of learning required, and I think this could be a suitable title for even the most inexperienced of players.

I really enjoyed operating the camera, and it's fun to explore the several spooky locales one visits in the game. Watching the resulting video is always a joy – kind of like a recap episode of a TV show.

The Bad
I wish I could decrease or turn off the amount of headbobbing/wobbling one experiences, as I have friends who easily get a bit sick from such, and even I could feel a headache coming.

I think it's surprising that the emotes one can do cost so much in-game money to obtain.

My microphone – also an issue in other similar titles – does not function with the game, so I have to use a crummy webcam microphone in order to play optimally.

The Bottom Line
It's a fun little game to play with friends. I laughed a lot while playing, even after my own demise. I got it for free during April 1st, but I think I would still enjoy it even if I had paid 89 Norwegian kroner for it. With good company, you'll experience silly goofs and laughter, while trying to go viral (in-game).

I have some minor gripes with the game, but I'm looking forward to seeing future updates, if any.

By Edo Aug on April 2, 2024

Sticky Business (Windows)

Cute, unchallenging game to chill/study/relax to

The Good
The visual style and the audio is very cozy. There are a lot of fun design opportunities with the prerendered graphics that you collage together. Personally, I appreciate the inclusion of various identity flags, though I didn't use them a lot for my sticker designs.

I think for what the game has, it does very well, including the design tool, the printing setup, and the packaging. The packaging is especially satisfying to me, where I can mix and match types of paper with the customers' orders. My least favourite part of the game is setting up sticker sheets for printing, but this not an obstacle.

The drag-and-drop features generally feel pretty good, as they are used for most of the game. Sometimes the sticker hitboxes (to grab) feel a bit weird, but it's not that offensive.

The Bad
When I play business simulator games, I like to feel a bit of tension. It's not what this game is going for, but it's something I miss. I made some mistakes while playing, but didn't feel any particular penalties.

The customer-based stories are short and lack substance, but feel somewhat suitable for the atmosphere the game's going for. The customers will also request various types of designs, which is not a challenge at all – for the most part, I already had designs that featured what they requested, which was a bit of a let-down.

The Bottom Line
I feel like I got my money's worth, so if you're looking for a cozy and unchallenging game, this might do the trick. It's a cute and laidback sticker experience, that allows you to make fun products from prerendered graphics and have customers overshare their lives with you. If you're looking for a more in-depth business simulator with a bit of a challenge, this might scratch that itch.

By Edo Aug on March 29, 2024

Deceive Inc. (Windows)

A somewhat unique entry in the battle royale genre

The Good
As a first-person shooter battle royale game, I'm intrigued by the gameplay and visual style of Deceive Inc. Its retro spy visuals make me feel a bit nostalgic, and the diverse character roster is exciting. The focus on deduction and a heist is especially entertaining to me.

Gameplay is a wee bit confusing at first, even with the tutorial, but if you're familiar with typical first-person shooter schemes, you quickly get acquainted with the various buttons. In the game, you spend a lot of time gathering intel to unlock doors and interacting with other objects, but this didn't necessarily feel like a lot of time to me.

The game uses an unlockable character system, where you may use credits earned in-game or through purchase to unlock a new playable agent. You obtain the in-game currency quite fast, and I feel like new options are never too far away, such as in some other games with similar systems, like the battle royale Apex Legends (2019).

The various characters have unique quirks and abilities. My favourite of the ones I tried ended up being the reporter Chevalière, who has the ability to track down where enemy spies are. I also quite enjoyed Ace and Squire – the first of which has a sniper rifle and the ability to follow a target's footsteps, and the latter has the ability to scan for nearby valuables.

As a neutral thought, there are loot boxes present in Deceive Inc., that you get through levelling. As far as I could see, there was no option to purchase these with real money. They feel unobtrusive, and contain various types of cosmetics for any agents or gear.

The Bad
I find the gunplay to be just fine, though I find that it feels a bit unresponsive. The bullets fly, but I could not sense whether I hit or not, or how effective they were. The same goes for when my player character gets shot.

As with some other "PvPvE" type games, like Hunt: Showdown (2018) and Dungeonborne (unreleased as of writing, alpha test in 2024), players seem somewhat incentivized with waiting it out. Instead of actively trying to complete the main goal (the heist), it can be beneficial to wait for other players to finish it, only to mow them down at the finish line.

One of the core mechanics of Deceive Inc. is being able to disguise yourself as the various non-player characters (and other player's disguises) in order to fool other players and to access areas requiring a higher clearance. Once you get a disguise with a certain stage of clearance, which frankly doesn't take long, there isn't much reason to play around with disguises. The relevant characters wander around where players are, either way, so you don't have to fear standing out, unless you have the one special character as a disguise.

The tutorial does not mention certain things, such as being able to crouch and the interchangeable passive buff system. I also wish there was a more thorough explanation of agent levels, as they seem to unlock various objects and abilities through such.

Some of the text in the game's user interface is occasionally difficult to read. This includes text of a similar brightness to its background. I also see a discrepancy in which decimal marker is used, where there is occasionally both a period and a comma used on the same screen.

The Bottom Line
I have played the solo mode, where you're up to 12 players against each other. There is also a duo mode (teams of two), and a trios mode (teams of three). The various agent ability texts mention having interactions with friendly players, which I imagine can add to the complexity.

I am occasionally fond of games featuring deduction, like Among Us (2018) and Project Winter (2019), and this was one of my favourite aspects of Deceive Inc. It is a blast trying to spot where enemy players are and who they are disguised as, though it usually ends in a pretty average gun fight.

I think that Deceive Inc. is suitable for players who are looking for a slightly different first-person shooter battle royale game, and though I think the gunplay and the disguising mechanics can use some work, I think that it can also be a fun entry for a couple of friends or even players new to first-person shooters. While the tutorial is lacking, it doesn't seem to have an overwhelming amount of depth to it.

I would give it half a star more if I could.

By Edo Aug on March 19, 2024

Apex Legends (Windows)

Favourite battle royale through diversity of characters, weapons, and maps

The Good
I've mainly played the battle royale mode of this game, and compared to other battle royale games I've played, I really enjoy the diversity of playable characters in the game, both in terms of backstory, appearance and abilities! Each legend brings something unique to the squad, which me and my friends often like to play around with. I'm particularly partial to the most recent guy, Ballistic, who can be played quite aggressively while strengthening allies, though I always return to Loba, who can assist allies and herself in getting sought-after loot.

I enjoy the map diversity of the game, even though they're in limited rotations. Some of the maps feel like they have areas that are well-suited for just about any of the characters available in the game, while other maps seem to lend itself to specific types of guns. It's often fun to strategize which paths are optimal when racing from the fiery wall shrinking the playable area, while also recalling what areas often have most loot.

The game has a battle pass, which is something I'm often hesitant towards, but I find it to be one of the less offensive ones I've encountered. It has 100+10 levels, where if you complete the battle pass, you get enough currency to purchase the next battle pass and then some. You are presented with daily and weekly challenges (plus event challenges, should an event be active) that might encourage using legends and weapons you are not too familiar with, which I enjoy. While the daily challenges change, well, daily, the weekly challenges stay active until the end of a season (the battle pass duration), and you receive new challenges weekly. As someone who isn't particularly great at first person shooter games, there are challenges that are more accomplishable for me, as well!

I briefly mentioned the diversity of characters, and this also extends to queer themes. This is particularly exciting for me, as Respawn has not shied away from including clearly queer characters in their game. Upon the game's release, Gibraltar, one of the legends available at release, was confirmed to be gay, and in a recent season, Catalyst, a trans woman, was added to the roster. There are other LGBT+ characters in the roster, as well, which are explored in the game's lore and some voice lines. This is something that I see as a positive aspect of the game.

The Bad
As with most online multiplayer games, you end up getting presented with occasional, but long periods of gameplay balancing you might find dubious. There are times where characters I particularly enjoy playing are quite weak compared to other legends. With each new seasonal patch, there are often changes to the map pool and even some map layouts that might be undesirable, as well.

There seems to be some sort of audio or connectivity (netcode?) issue with the game. Sometimes, gunshots, steps, and other noises that are quite close can not be heard, which might surprise you when you've been downed/eliminated after seemingly being shot once, when in reality you've been shot seventeen times by three different guns carried by two different enemies.

Events in the game, when combined with the ever-encroaching presence of battle passes and events in other online games, last shorter than desired, often giving quite little time to actually experience the event, unless you focus primarily on the game's event before anything else. The character skins, weapon skins, and other items available for purchase during events (and in general) do feel a bit extortionate at times, so I tend to avoid purchasing them.

Recently they've attempted to rework some aspects of the game, namely the legend Revenant and the sniper weapon Charge Rifle. I am hesitant about the major changes done to these, but I am not too experienced with either to make a valid judgment.

The Bottom Line
While I have some gripes with gameplay balancing and audio issues, Apex Legends is currently my favourite battle royale first-person shooter game. It allows for very different playstyles through character selection, weapons of choice, and map location. The battle pass offers an alright experience, though the store for character and weapon skins is quite expensive. I enjoy the representation of LGBT+ characters both through voice lines and external lore.

By Edo Aug on August 27, 2023

Tyranny (Windows)

Great story, though combat left something to be desired!

The Good
I found myself engaged with the story, characters, and world of the game. It was difficult choosing which companions to bring with me, as they have unique personalities, abilities, and interactions. Having consulted a friend about the game, I am looking forward to revisiting the game in the future with a very different story path than the one I explored.

The game has a unique magic system, which is somewhat fun to explore, though might have been a bit much for me at the time of playing through the game.

The Bad
My largest gripe with the game is how finnicky combat felt, where I ended up "hoping for the best" while the game auto-played the encounters for me, with some minor input from me.

I found the pacing of when you are introduced to companions a bit confusing. There was especially one companion that I did not utilize at all, as I met them too late into the game, and they introduced a whole new gameplay element that I didn't take time to absorb, as I knew the end was near.

The Bottom Line
The major selling point for the game is definitely the world, the player character's interactions with the world, the companions, and the moral quandaries available through the game's story. In my case, I didn't vibe well with the combat, but the game is otherwise worth it.

By Edo Aug on August 26, 2023