tldr videogame curation
melbourne, australia

Genre: Role-playing (RPG)

You know what it is. Not as good as Odyssey, and that wasn’t particularly good either. They have to look at refocusing and reinventing the franchise at some point… right?

My worries for such a fundamental shift, turning Darkest Dungeon into a roguelite, are completely quashed. Its predecessors brutal, punishing heart is still here, inside an absolute masterclass in presentation.

One of the best games of its generation and a shining example of how to do reboots creatively and exceedingly well. Great characters, story, combat and world. Super ambitious and pulls it all off.

For me, does relatively well to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was Subnautica. Super polished and great to look at. Compelling world to explore, lots to do. Definitely more fun with friends.

Great example of how to faithfully refine a predecessor. Lots of charm, tonnes to do and a sensational level of variation and dynamics. Movement still feels a bit rigid to my taste, but that’s OK.

Vampire Survivors but enemies have significantly varied attacks & the engine is 3D. It’s definitely fun (and addictive), but can be a bit hard to read with hectic FX covering incoming AOE indicators.

A roguelike which plays like a tabletop cardgame in which your inventory management itself defines how combat plays out. An interesting concept allowing for dynamic builds. Could do with some UX love.

A refinement of its great predecessor, Nioh 2 does everything you’d hope for from a sequel. The core mechanics remain tight & additions fit in seamlessly without ruining any balance. Outstanding game.

A surprisingly compelling soulslike despite quite a bit of jank. World is cool & very pretty. Combat is easy but enjoyable. Disappointing amount of invisible walls, and overall a bit clunky, but fun.

Can’t blame them, but someone clearly loves Bloodborne. Thymesia is cool and like a lot of new soulslikes, has a bunch of neat ideas, but somehow feels like less than the sum of its parts. Decent.