Galley's Game Reviews

BugSnax is a bizzare adventure in all of the best ways. It is a children's adventure that did not shy away from getting too deep into the water.

You start as a failing reporter who is often trying to sell stories of cryptids, etc. You (and a lot of other people) have heard about a respected academic who has found an island full of edible creatures. You seem to convince your boss for one last chance and you set off towards the island.

The island's inhabitants are a lively bunch, and their personalities do not match very well - however this just adds to the charm of the people and their interactions. The characters created by the game designers were great to hang around and their development was fun to watch.

The BugSnax themselves were all adorable, entertaining, troublesome, and frustrating all at once. The catching of the BugSnax was certainly difficult at times, especially for some of the "rarer" ones. Taking a photo of a BugSnax with the camera would give you details on how to catch it, very much giving of a Pokemon Snap feeling.

The game took me by surprise when it had the final test of skill - the events to get off the the island. Characters you had grown to love had a real chance of dying on the island. In my playthrough I lost Scorpy. The game does give you a chance to redo the island escape if you want - but I had felt it was time for me to move on from this game.

This was an excellent experience, and I do recommend it to all.

Far is a game that is about the journey rather than gameplay minutae. There are puzzles, there is platforming, but the core of the game is just being along for the ride.

The art is fantastic, and the ability of the game to make you feel isolated is done well. The ending was satisfying. Taking about 4-5 hours I can recommend this game to anybody on a lazy Sunday.

The concept behind Forager is well done, however the mid-game grind was a bit much for me. After two attempts to get past this point (two save files) I just could not truly get into this game. It has high reviews, so I presume it is worth it but for some reason I cannot do this grind.

This game is beautiful.

The story, the heroine, the NPCs, the environment, the machines, and everything else. This world is a wonder to explore.

There is so much about this game that are examples of good game design. One that stands out particular to me is the introduction/tutorial missions. You do these missions as your main character when they were a small child - this add a fun thematic experience that carries the player through the tutorial with ease.

The world is vast with lots of nooks and crannies. I do wish there were more secrets to find in the far flung corners, but I was still happy with what was found.

This is a good game and I look forward to playing the sequel.

Inscryption is a card game like no other. For one to truly enjoy this game you must go in with as little spoilers as possible - because of this I will keep this review brief.

I really enjoyed this game. The entire experience was unpredictable yet cohesive. The horror aspects of the game could have been a tad spookier, but the game itself was fantastic. The art was great, and shows that you can easily tie low-rez and high-rez into the same world. I would have wished the end game was a little more difficult, though.

If you are a fan of deck builders, horror, secret hunting, and good writing then I fully recommend this game.

A cute little puzzle game. The animations are great and the art looks awesome. The puzzles are fun and forgiving if you need to start over. The entire experience is very polished. Good puzzler.

An adorable 3D platforming adventure that is chock full of laughs, cleverness, and lots of hidden secrets to find.

I think it is apparent that the developers took a lot of time and effort into crafting the world you explore in this game. There is so much humor and cuteness involved. The levels also offer a lot of extra areas to explore.

The bosses can be a little bit of a "damage sponge" at times, but they still feel very much like a traditional Kirby boss.

I do recommend this game.

Loop Hero is a great "I want to watch YouTube and have something to fiddle with" game.

The art is amazing, the detail on the pixel art is just wonderful. The music is great and the sound effect are fun. It is a very good retro-style game in this sense.

The game does feel a little too grindy. I understand that Rogue-lites are supposed to be that way, but you need to play so many rounds to unlock the River, for example. This is simplified by learning to farm certain creatures, such as the spiders, near your campfire once you upgrade your watchtowers. The bosses are really difficult, so this is not a game for someone looking for an "easy steamroll" - although some good runs certainly do happen.

All in all Loop Hero is certainly a fun game, but the grind factor is real. Because of the grind this is much better suited as a game to play while spacing out during other activities.

You ever played Mario Kart? Well, you know what Mario Kart 8 is then. This game does add graphical enhancements, a ton of new courses (especially with the Expansion Pass), and a lot of nostalgia. Do recommend.

Minecraft dungeons is a fun little romp through the world built by Mojang. Any previous players of Minecraft
will recognize loads of references, locations, blocks, mobs, etc - with quite a few thrown in that are unique to Dungeons.

The player will find themselves going through increasingly difficult levels, each with its own selectable difficulty setting. Higher difficulties yield better gear. Since I had previously played the first portion of this game on my Switch I decided to go the first few levels at a higher difficulty - this allowed me to get better gear and then the later levels on "normal" were easier for me.

Overall this is a fun experience. I recommend a play if you have Gamepass, it is a fun 4-5 hour adventure.

This is a quest. This game has so much story to it - it is rather incredible.

Giving memories of game genres past, this lengthy 2.5D RPG is a beautiful entry into memory. With eight protagonists to follow to completion through the entire story you will find yourself bouncing around a large world. Even if some of the bosses feel more like a bullet sponge than anything else this game is well worth a play and your time.

This game breaks the mold. Pokemon has felt as if it has been stuck in a rut for the last few generations - in fact most games followed the same formula. Gamefreak decided to throw all of that up in the air. The most fun Pokemon game in at least a decade.

Your Pokedex has been updated to include challenges for each Pokemon as well as a knowledge level for each Pokemon. Once you reach level 10 your Pokedex displays a Pokeball icon to inform you that you have done sufficient research.

The world is divided up into a main home-base city and five rather large wild areas to explore. You can fast travel within these wild areas to various base camps that have been set up either at the start or via quest lines.

The story is not centered around gyms at all - there is not a single gym in this game. Instead your big fights are boss Pokemon, with combat that feels almost Souls-Like with how you need to keep doing your dodge roll.

This was a very needed refresh from Pokemon, and I am excited to see where the franchise goes from here.

Resident Evil: Biohazard set out to redefine the Resident Evil franchise and it did so amazingly. This game was great!

The developers of this game did an amazing job packing so much detail all over the game world. The mansion the player explores, as well as the abandoned ship, are intricate and maze-like. The horrors are real and this game certainly gets your blood pumping.

The story is great and the ability to have different endings is a nice touch. The replayability is also enhanced by unlockable weapons, etc, for subsequent playthroughs.

Resident Evil: Village sets out to outperform its predecessor and achieves that goal spectacularly. From examining the design choices, to appreciating the art - we can see that this game was made by game loving professionals.

The choice of the main village setting was a good divergence from the previous game - where you felt like you always had a center of operations as opposed to just a tiny trailer. The addition of a merchant character was also a welcoming change which added both some comfort and a tad bit of humor. The merchant's appearance and demeanor certainly added positively to the atmosphere of the village.

The environments that the player explores were exquisitely detailed and there was plenty to explore which added to the story and lore. The characters were certainly fun to interact with, even if some of the boss fights left something to be desired.

Overall Village presents the player with an excellent experience. The replayability presented via the Mercenaries mode as well as the unlockable modifications for the weapons in the Story mode give the feeling that you should try again - and you should.

Subliminal was a total trip. It was a little difficult at first, but once you realized just how far you needed to think outside of the box it all fell together. Perceiving objects as large or small actually made them large or small. Get ready.

This game left me statisfied and with a positive outlook on life. I fully recommend this game.

Terarria is truly a sandbox adventure. From starting out with just a measly pack of equipment you begin to explore a world that has so much in store for you.

The world is split out into a bunch of different biomes, both below and above ground. This is very similar to Minecraft - but where Terraria differs is that it is much more heavily adventure based. There are dozens of bosses for you to fight, with a plethora of them only possible to face if you summon them.

Terarria makes you start out humble, but you quickly become the opposite in a very satisfying gear-to-difficulty curve. I do suggest this game for anybody looking for a crafty adventure.

This is the premier Tetris experience. The Journey mode for single player is a work of art. Before you begin I highly suggest a pair of headphones and a dim lighting.

The sound design in this game is amazing. It is just sheer brilliance how well the music interacts with you as the player - just moving the pieces adds notes, quick placing the blocks adds other notes. The music picks up and calms down at the proper moments. The soundtrack really gets your head into the game, so to speak.

The backgrounds are pure psychedelica and perfect for when you are too laser-focued on the tetrominos.

All of the old Tetris gameplay is here, with the bonus of a stack mode. Once you get enough lines you can freeze the tetrominos in place and try to fill as many lines as you can - larger line counts mean larger bonuses. Not only is this a fun mechanic, but it can really save your bacon when the pace starts to pick up.

The Outer Wilds is a shining example of the human kind's ability to create a sense of wonder and adventure.

The premise of the game (no spoilers) is that you are stuck in a time loop that is 22 minutes in length. You have no idea of this until the first 22 minutes have passed, however. When you start the game you are greeting by waking up next to a campfire (which doubles as a healing station and a time fast-forwarder should you need one). It is your first spaceflight today. You have passed the training program and are officially and astronaut for The Outer Wilds Ventures. You fly out of the crater your species has lived in for eons and enter into the solar system wherein which you reside.

You are greeted with a star system that has several planets, a sun, as well as some stations and satellites. That is all of the guidance the game gives you in the form of a tutorial at this point - it is time to explore! You pick a planet, you land on it, and you walk around. The star system you reside in was previously home to a prior civilization (explained to you before you even take off). Landing on any body will have ruins or other such items for you to look at. After the player has been playing the game for 22 minutes the sun goes super nova and everything explodes. The player then wakes up near the campfire and everything was exactly how it was when the player started (except you can skip the tutorial now, as you know the launch codes). The only advancements you get in this game are knowledge. There are no new items for you to collect after the start. The one exception is your radio equipment can tune to different frequencies as you discover them - but arguably that is just knowledge of where to turn the dial. With this sytem in place, the player is entirely free to explore everything however they wish and to complete the game at their own pace. The story is quite well done, intertwining the history of the solar system's prior inhabitants (The Nomai) and your race. The story gets quite existential, and focuses on the themes of inevitability.

This game is excellent. With its genre-blend of Zelda and Souls-like it carries you through a fun little world with lots of mysteries - from discovering the lost pages of the instruction manual to finding hidden passageways to extra treasure and loot.