Inestimate's Reviews

  Console: N64 Developer: Nintendo EAD Release Date:  October 26, 2000 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask  is an action-adventure game with a focus on puzzles, sidequests, and time management. As one of the last first-party games on the N64,  Majora's Mask  is surprisingly complex mechanically, featuring a 3 day time loop with NPCs that all have their own schedules and multiple interweaving yet simple sidequests and events. Though technically a direct sequel to  Ocarina of Time  that even reuses a majority of its assets,  Majora's Mask  feels like its own unique game, not just from it's predecessor but the rest of the series. While I had played a fair bit of  Ocarina of Time  before, I only first finished it  about two years ago ; despite being a huge Zelda fan, I had never played  Majora's Mask , but seen a friend play it and watched videos and playthroughs on it before. Therefore, this was pretty exciting for me: playing...

  Console:  Switch , PC, XB1, Mobile Developer: Sectordub Release Date:  January 24, 2019 Pikuniku  is a simple adventure game with puzzle-platformer mechanics that focuses primarily on absurdity and dealing with somewhat goofy physics. Made by Sectordub, a small French-British team, I'd heard of  Pikuniku  without really knowing what it was. Following the announcement of  Pikuniku 2,  I noticed the first game was over 80% off, so I decided to play it on the spot! 

Console:  PS5 , Switch 2, XSX, PC Developer: Capcom Release Date:  April 17, 2026 Pragmata  is a third-person shooter and puzzle-action game hybrid with a focus on improvisation, multitasking, and risk management. Announced all the way back in 2020, when the PS5 was first revealed,  Pragmata  was delayed multiple times due to apparent difficulties with the game's core mechanics. While I was first intrigued by  Pragmata 's reveal, I only became truly interested when it reemerged following its long delays with a trailer that had gorgeous piano music that genuinely made me a bit weepy-eyed. I got the game day 1, and I don't regret it at all. This was one of my most anticipated games of the year, after all!

  Console: Gamecube, Wii, PS3, PS4 , PC, Xbox 360, XB1, Switch Developer: Capcom Release Date:  April 30, 2002 (Gamecube), January 20, 2015 (PS4) Resident Evil (2002)  is a survival horror remake of the 1996 game of the same name. It's centered around inventory management, threat management and puzzle solving. To be quite honest, I've never been a survival horror person; I'm much more into horror adventure, action, or visual novel games and games that lean more into spooky than scary. However, I love watching people play games like  Resident Evil  and  Silent Hill , and as a way to step out of my comfort zone, I decided to tackle this game. 

  Console: PC , 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.

  Console: PC 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.

    Console: 3DS Developer: Intense Release Date:  March 3, 2016 Parascientific Escape: Cruise in the Distant Seas  is an escape room visual novel with simple puzzles. Developed by Intense, Cruise in the Distant Seas  is the first game in the Parascientific Escape  trilogy, a 3DS eShop exclusive series. I bought them before it closed down since they were cheap and I wanted a few visual novels on my 3DS, especially exclusive ones.

  Console: Switch, PC Developer: Simogo Release Date: May 16th 2024 Lorelei and the Laser Eyes  is a puzzle game with strong point-and-click and text adventure leanings that focuses on logic puzzles, a twisted narrative, and art. Developed by stand-out mobile game developer Simogo, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes  is their first console/PC exclusive. Simogo are most known in the console and PC space for Sayonara Wild Hearts , but it feels like Lorelei and the Laser Eyes  is poised to be their first big hit, relatively speaking. It's worth noting that, all things considered, Simogo are essentially a two developer team, and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes  was created in 4 years, according to the credits. It's hard to go in detail in this review, as a lot of the game's intricacies lie in its narrative, which I don't want to spoil, and I obviously can't detail all the puzzles.

  Console: 3DS Developer: Intelligent Systems Release Date: December 8th 2011 Pushmo , known perhaps more fittingly as Pullblox  in PAL regions, is a puzzle game with platforming elements centered around solving puzzle box-like stages by pulling and pushing blocks. It's an eShop exclusive for the Nintendo 3DS, and the first of a quadrilogy. The  Pushmo  series is one of Nintendo's lesser-known first party franchises, as the entire series was comprised of eShop exclusives.  It seemingly was designed to be a bang-for-your-buck type of game, as despite being simple and straightforward, Pushmo  boasts 252 stages and even comes with a robust level creator.

Console: PC , PS4/PS5, XB1/XSX, Switch Developer: Geometric Interactive Release Date: September 29th 2023 Cocoon  is a puzzle game centered around navigating worlds inside worlds. It's the first game by Danish indie studio Geometric Interactive, formed by Playdead ( Limbo , Inside ) alumni Jeppe Carlsen and Jakob Schmid alongside a few others. Cocoon  was nominated for Best Independent Game at The Game Awards 2023 and won Best Debut Indie Game at the same event.

Console: Nintendo 64 Developer: Nintendo EAD Release Date: November 23rd 1998 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a third-person action-adventure game with a focus on an open world, puzzles and simple combat. Ocarina of Time needs no introduction: it's widely considered one of the greatest games ever made, is very likely one of the most influential games ever made, and... it's a game I'd never played start to finish before this year. I'd always stop somewhere around the third dungeon of the game.

  Console: 3DS (eShop Exclusive) Developer: HAL Laboratory Release Date: June 30th 2016 BoxBoxBoy! is the sequel to BoxBoy! which released a year earlier, though I'd argue it feels more like a massive level pack than a sequel. As a result, I'll be talking about both games, since they're so similar.