by and large, the puzzles are very... they’re not spoonfed to you, but it’s generally apparent what the rules of the puzzle are and how you should proceed, rather than, say, combining random inventory items together and “chicken + lightbulb” is randomly the answer. like you’ll be faced with a “flick the switches in a…

There are some cute easter egg and dialogue mentions but all truly stand alone in the game content.

I agree, the puzzles are very solvable, but do require you to take notes and pay attention to details given to you in the game. There are some, however, like Sodoku and other logic puzzles that require the player to solve on their own. The older games are pretty archaic in their user interface, so you may want to…

These games were designed with puzzles in mind, like a lot of educational PC games in the ‘90s. So, they’re very solvable — that’s not to say some aren’t frustrating or difficult, but those are relatively few. Also, for what it’s worth, there’s a big community on the HER interactive forums to help players, and you can…

YOU PUKED

Ok.......*sigh*

Look, I get people being disappointed. I can even understand, to a certain extent, people being angry. No one was expecting, nor did anyone ask for, a Diablo mobile game. I think Blizzard is at times a little full of itself...high on their own supply, if you will. I don’t think they’re “out of touch”,…

Nor should they expect it. I agree it’s a bad idea and not what i want. What will i do with this turn of events? Not play it and maybe check out Path of Exile. This Gamers Rise Up bullshit is just embarrassing. They don’t care how angry you rage on reddit. They care if they don’t make money on it. No amount of reddit…

Just ask them to leave it out?...

Well, corn as a topping tends to be associated more with Sapporo style ramen, so tonkotsu or shoyu styles tend not to use it.

I honestly agree with you to the extent that yes, when you show something to the main public, it will be subjected to criticism, no matter the context of the release.

You’ll understand once you make it to that level in the game.

I run the gamut from death metal to 80s hair bands, 90s pop, classical music, and more or less anything Two Steps From Hell touches.

...I have also been known to appreciate the very rare country tune, and I like progressive jazz (think Dr. Didg).

There’s just something about crooning that sets my teeth on edge. It’s not…

Music seems to be at once a universal and incredibly personal thing; we all love it, but we tend to love it differently—even if in minute ways—from others, and sometimes those disagreements can become something much stronger than they started out as.

It’s a little silly—but in the end, so are most things.

And no, I…

I think the best way to describe this take on Lovecraft is those Focus Sherlock games with a darker overlay. There’s no combat (which is something I find frustrating in “horror” games, as I like to hit things) and there’s a lot of that ‘go into investigation mode and find the little circles of evidence.’ The game has…

Hey, I’m sure it’ll be some people’s huckleberry and if you don’t mind games being really slow, maybe it’ll be fine for you. Cyanide and Focus don’t have a stellar track record in general and I, personally, found this one highly flawed in terms of pacing, visuals, puzzles, and writing/story. Also, that’s not me…

Do you think Rockstar and companies like it will change their behavior as long as the money keeps flowing in, though?

No apologies necessary; thank you for the detailed, forthright, and even-handed insight into your corner of the industry.  Having that inside perspective to work with will, I think, be helpful for all of us as we grapple with how we feel about and will respond to this issue going forward.

Kirk, this is easily the best game review I’ve ever read, but also the best writing of any kind that I’ve read on this website. I enjoyed your creative narrative prose over the the technical trappings of FPS and other “data.”

My copy just shipped from Amazon today (will supposedly be here tomorrow; we’ll see how that works out), and I am absolutely jacked to play this.

The uncomfortable questions surrounding the game’s development—and the culture of crunch that drove it (and continues to drive development of many AAA titles)—feel like the…

Maybe I’m old. Maybe I’ve been married “to long”. Maybe I just don’t like bullshit. But I don’t care if you wear makeup or not.