Recent reviews by 𝔸𝕫𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕠𝕟⚕

Well, what to say? I was first introduced to "The Masquerade" back in the 90's with the TV series (Cancelled after the first season due to the "Final Death" of the Prince), and loved it.
I've played a few of the games since and found them ranging from pretty poor to adequate.
Coteries of New York falls on the upper tier, presenting a detailed storyline worthy of the series - an interesting adventure, but very linear.
Pros:
The story is worthy of the series. It sucks you right in the the world - loved it.
The complexity of characters is fantastic. It's not just the story arc, but the characters don't always react to your actions/speech as you might expect.
Cons:
Very linear - Same saviour, Same types of options.
Poor Replayability - Same story for all 3 factions.
Short. I finished my first play through in about 2 hours.
Limited options to feed the beast and/or use powers. I found myself conserving my powers constantly in order to stay the beast, but failed at least once which violated "The Masquerade".
The game is more a visual novel (pick-a-path), which while well written, was something I used to read as a 10 year old. I would have preferred something a lot more in depth - which is not to say this is for kids, as there is some very explicit language in the game.

Do I recommend it? Yes - conditionally based on the above.

Fun, simple, addictive game play. Level progression system. Game starts off slow until you've bought a couple character upgrades. Unlockables can take a while to get. Worth it at its price tag; even better when sale.

Of note- if running on a slower machine to where frame skip happens, the timer appears to be off; making completing levels much more dangerous.

Very old and enjoyable gameplay similar to Heroes of Might & Magic series. It has a lot of nostalgia elements today because of its simplicity on one side and complexity on the other. It has problems on modern computers to run, so you have to run it with compatibility mode and also apply unofficial fix, to prevent ingame crashes.

The first 2 Van Helsing games were great. This one needs a little work.

There are lots of bugs. Several quests don't complete correctly. Steam achievements don't work yet. The maps are a lot shorter than the first 2 games and there's less to do. Level design is more linear and uninspired compared with the previous games. Potion functionality has been changed to a timer (for the better imo) in that there are no potion items, but aura skills are reused so there's still +chance to drop potions. Classes aren't actually "classes." The skill trees from the first 2 games were just split up and a class is basically a limited build option. Instead of having a fairly large skill tree and some combination skills, the classes are limited to 6ish skills and 6ish auras. Technically the first 2 games would count as having more classes since you could mix and match your own skill choices. VH3 adds unique artwork to each class, so that's something I guess. Spell effects on inclines still render horizontally, so it looks pretty bad. There's errors in item tooltips and enemy descriptions. Skills are terribly unbalanced and don't really "synergize" well with each other, which also kinda defeats the purpose of a "class." Also, I bought it with the 10% off discount, but now it's 20% off for some reason.

That said, it's only a $13 game. The music, voice acting, and sound effects are great. I liked the overall story arc this one completes from the first 2 games. The art and animation is fantastic.

Painkiller Hell and Damnation is a retro arcade shooter which harkens back to the days of old for first person shooters. Cut your ways through mindless hordes of enemies using an array of guns and strafing. Overall the game is visually appealing and the cutscenes are very well done in terms of conveying what minimal story the game has. And this is the games main fault, in essence its story is very minimalistic, not that it represents a genre strong in this regard but if a first person shooter is to be centralized around single player gameplay then the main story should be engaging. Multiplayer is also an option with this game although it seems an afterthought. Regardless this game delivers on action and is a fast paced shooting experience. Recommended for casual play or those wanting to pick up something that will take them back to the older days of FPS.

Before Scarlet Tower didn't play any of these type of games. It seems there are more and more games like this being released recently. Can't say I am a massive fan of the genre but this game somehow wheeled me in. The game isn't difficult as it seems to be about bullet dodging and levelling up. Played through a couple of levels so far and the fact you can just play this for half an hour and then go do something else makes it really attractive. The loop is short enough to get through and gives you a lot of gratifying upgrades while doing it. The only thing it misses, is that it could be slightly more difficult to play as I quite easily can finish the next level when being able to complete the previous difficulty.

This game is real good. I enjoy basically all the content for this game.

Pros ::
- If you like single player games for story, the campaign is long by todays standards and fun. You can play co-op with your friends and you can pretend the game doesn't have PvP or anything like that in it.
- This game has a decent amount of PvE endgame content also. Missions can be replayed on higher difficulty, and it feels real good to be able to beat them when all the enemies are harder.
- Gear sets, exotic items, and gear talents allow for a huge variety of engame gear line-ups that all work well and allow you to customize how you play.
- Division Tech abilities are real cool and fun to use. They feel good when you use them well.
- Darkzone is real fun (when hackers aren't too involved!). I get the same sort of thrill from the darkzone in this game that I would get from a game like DayZ, where when you run into other people, you don't know if they will try to kill you, or if you can talk to them and maybe even join up. OR you can just go rogue and see how many people you can murder and rob before they take you down or you get away!
- PvP balance is better than... maybe any shooter where you have RPG/Borderlands style stats? Still far from perfect, see 'cons'.
- Gears of War style cover system. Not as flawless and seamless as GoW, but if you enjoy controlling your character like this, it will feel good.

Cons ::
- After you beat the main story that came with the game, there has only been a small amount of additional story since, even though they released several large patches and 3 expansions.
- While having cool Division Tech abilities in general is really cool, they are not all created equal. Some abilities or particular mods are -very- good and easy to use, while others are so bad they are essentially useless. This hopefully continues to be less true as the game gets more patches, but we will see.
- PvP can be a real bad experience if you run into hackers. I know this is true with any game, but the PvP in this game goes really hard with the "high risk, high reward" feel. So to lose all of your loot/progress to someone who isn't playing fair doesn't feel great.
- Visual character customization is garbage. The polar opposite of how good it feels to equip whatever sets of gear you want. You get a handful of faces and hairstyles, and then I guess tattoos if you want to look a little unique. 99% of the cosmetic wearables you get are -very- similar looking, and they count the same item of a different color to be a completely different item. This means you will be gathering clothing basically forever, and changing your looks is real tedious because you have to thumb through 10 different "puffy jackets" that only vaguely look different than the "all-weather jackets". And the colors available are usually some variety of gray or beige, with the rare purple or something tossed in. Also, none of them are even alphabetically organized. Just awful.
- Currently (patch 1.6) there is no "search" functionality for looking at your items. This game could benefit heavily from something like this, as it is awful to put loadouts together like this. Do note that Loadouts are a thing that is coming to the game, but it would still be nice to be able to search and sort gear.
- General performance issues keep people with lower power PCs from playing this game. Like, this game is good looking, but that mostly comes from the incredible attention to detail in everything. The actual graphics look real bleh for how hard this thing rails on graphics cards.
- Ubisoft TAINTS everything they touch.

All in all, I think this game is worth the money at it's full currant price. Most of the people leaving negative reviews here on Steam even often say they like the game, but it's not as good as it could be. This game has many solid hours of entertainment behind it, and future patches promise more.

Mirror's Edge is a unique and wonderful experience. There are some rough edges, but it's a beautiful and memorable game.

The closest gameplay comparison I can make is Portal. If you enjoyed the challenges in Portal 2, you will likely enjoy Mirror's Edge, too. The puzzles of both these games are about figuring out how to master a complex open 3D arena through trial and error, and the sense of fulfillment when you figure out the solutions in both games is similar.

Mirror's Edge is set in a beautiful near-future city, with abstract gleaming white towers and stunning vistas. Outside, you engage in parkour-style running, navigating high ledges and leaping from tower to tower, in a fluid manner. It’s similar to the more familiar Assassin's Creed games, but faster. Indoor sequences are more puzzley, usually about getting from Point A to Point B efficiently. The free running is exhilarating, both outdoors and indoors. Missing a jump by a faction of an inch and falling to your death will make your fingers tingle as you catch your breath! And there was a memorable close encounter with a subway train that made me jump out of my seat from the adrenaline surge.

Unfortunately, Mirror's Edge also features awkward combat sequences. The early training missions teach complicated combo moves for executing martial arts maneuvers. For example: blocking a punch while taking a weapon off an enemy. Honestly, these moves were way too complicated for me to execute confidently, but I quickly learned one easy combo that served me well in every situation: the slide-tackle. Turns out that if you take people out at the knees, everything else goes pretty smoothly!

These combat events are generally unwelcome in an otherwise excellent game. Disabling a cop as you round a corner, then dash away? That's fun. Disabling a cop, taking his weapon, and then having a shootout with his partners for 5 minutes, moving from cover to cover? This does not match the overall theme of the game, and it's a distraction. Fortunately, these combat events are few and far between, and not difficult enough to frustrate you, or dissuade you from completing the game. Think of them as a different kind of puzzle.

Last word: The trailer that Steam offers in the Store page is a poor choice. It features the cartoony animation from some of the between-levels cutscenes. The actual gameplay is more like this trailer:

The Gallery is a fun and thought-provoking FMV game. You play as Morgan, an art gallery owner, either in 1981 or in 2021. What is different from many games, though, is the gender-swapping: in 1981 Morgan is female and in 2021 Morgan is male. Likewise, the nemesis of both art gallery owners is Dorian, male in 1981 and female in 2021, who takes Morgan hostage. Your choices, and whether you choose to appease or defy your captor, sometimes have tragic consequences for both yourself and some of the supporting cast. I've played through twice, once for each timeline, and look forward to discovering other endings and twists. A fantastic game overall, with strong acting, quality dialogue, and a disquieting illustration of the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Great concepts, great art, not perfectly executed. I love the many combat mechanics at play here. I like how there are many stats and ways to customize your characters, including voice, though the stats seem a bit unnecessarily bloated (for example, the 10 stamina = 1 bar, and 5=1/2 bar). The UI could use some polishing - sadly that probably won't happen now. I understand its supposed to be difficult, some of the challenge just seems like arbitrary limitation. For example, why start on the hunter you ended your turn with? This hunter has to move around the others if they are grouped, reducing their movement range, and so I have to select another one. Why are they able to use healing items at full health? And why are they able to attack thin air? I've played for only 3 hours, and already seen an invincible bat swarm (thankfully, not aggressive), which raised that question. Why does removing a charm destroy it? So many mysteries yet to discover...