Inestimate's Game Reviews

  Console: Steam, Switch Developer: Giraffe Cat Release Date: October 26, 2023 The Sirena Expedition  is a short and sweet atmospheric horror-themed puzzle platformer that takes place fully underwater and can be finished in about an hour. Made almost completely by David Thatcher, with Amy Greir contributing to the soundtrack and voicing the main character,  The Sirena Expedition  was borne from a Game Jam and made over two years following it. The Sirena Expedition  is styled (and marketed as) a game with PSX-style graphics, and while I don't have the expertise to say how well it truly emulates the console, for me it was effective enough that I chose to play the game using its forced 4:3 aspect ratio option to further sell the illusion that this was an old retro game. The textures are appropriately blurry and crunchy, and the models low-poly in a charming way. At the same time, even though this takes place fully underwater, I rarely felt my thalassophobia get the...

  Console: Steam, Switch, PS4, PS5, XB1, XSX Developer: Not A Sailor Studios Release Date: February 18, 2021 Buddy Simulator 1984  is a narrative game whose genre evolves over time, based around the relationship between the player and the eponymous Buddy, a computer program who is designed to emulate the feeling of playing games with a "best friend". Not A Sailor Studios is a team of four, and made  Buddy Simulator 1984  with some additional help from about four more people. I'd consider the game to be split into four major parts, and I'll tackle them all without spoiling as much as I can.    WAKEY WAKEY!     The first part of  Buddy Simulator 1984  is perhaps its most unnerving. Greeted by the boot-up screen of an old PC monitor and OS, complete with appropriate visual filters to sell the illusion, the player is immediately both put off and immersed by the droning ambiance and the echoes of the key taps. The game starts off with you nee...

  Console: Steam Developer: Tributary Games Release Date: July 10, 2025 Occlude  is an occult-themed Solitaire game where you must try to figure out the hidden rules by observing the behavior of four coins. It's a modified version of Solitaire, featuring two-sided Foundations (starting at Aces and Kings), a "Purgatory" slot where you can place a single card, and seven different "Rituals" which serve as the game's puzzles. The whole thing is tied around a cosmic-horror narrative, where the game of Occlude is played by desperate participants to change their realities. It's a fairly simple and straightforward little game that can be finished in one or two sittings, depending on your skill at Solitaire. Occlude 's main gimmick has to do with the four coins in the top right corner. Each of the game's seven Rituals have a different hidden mechanic which must be figured out by observing their reactions, all with the same end goal: ending each Foundation...

        Console: Switch 2 Developer: Nintendo EPD Release Date: July 17, 2025 Donkey Kong Bananza  is a 3D platformer with a focus on destructible environments, exploration, and combat. Made by the same team that made  Super Mario Odyssey , this is the first 3D  Donkey Kong  platformer since  Donkey Kong 64  and the first mainline  Donkey Kong  game to be made by a Japanese studio since  Donkey Kong Jungle Beat , the latter of which was developped by the same core team as  Bananza  as well. In a way,  Bananza  feels like a sort of IP reboot for  Donkey Kong , introducing new characters, redesigns to existing characters, and tying it a lot more firmly with the  Mario  universe while keeping it its own thing, similar to the Yoshi , Wario , and Luigi's Mansion  subseries. Though not the first Nintendo-developped game for the Switch 2, it is the first non- Mario Kart  game in the sy...