Amanita Design is a small Czech studio that has carved a unique niche for itself very long time ago. The original Samorost was less of an adventure game and more of a “virtual interactive playground”, where you had to do certain things to progress, but the fun was in the visuals, sounds and fun animations. But it wasn’t until Machinarium of 2009, that was their first commercial release, that they’ve achieved fame, and that game was far more of a conventional puzzle focused point and click adventure. Since then they’ve gone back and forth – sometimes focusing more on the playful interactions and fun, sometimes attempting to make a puzzle game and as far as my preferences go – I always liked them being more fun and playful. Chuchel and Botanicula remain their best titles in my eyes, but nonetheless I do like to check everything they do just to enjoy the visuals and the music. Phonopolis is, unfortunately for me, a puzzle focused release. But I still liked it enough.
Tag: great soundtrack
In love with: Persona 3 Reload
Oh hey, it’s Persona 3. Again. But is anyone surprised, given how important this particular entry is? Not just for Persona sub-series, but for the general Megami Tensei franchise. Inventive mix of life simulation and turn-based party-based RPG dungeon crawling. Memorable story and characters. Unforgettable soundtrack. I’ve always had plenty of criticism for the game, but even I couldn’t resist wanting to play it again. Despite saying that I won’t do that 3 years ago after finally completing a playthrough of Persona 3 Portable. Persona 3 Reload is great. Easily my first pick for Persona game recommendation as of now in fact (yep, over Persona 5 Royal and Persona 4 Golden). But it’s not without flaws and downgrades.
Happy about: CONSCRIPT: Director’s Cut
While Conscript has been out for almost two years now, something about it didn’t quite click with me for the longest time. It’s the type of game that is almost hard to believe is what it actually claims to be, because it feels like it shouldn’t work. A classic survival horror game in the setting of the Great War that doesn’t technically have any supernatural elements and works with the top down perspective? How is that going to work, right? But it does. Not without faltering, of course, but Conscript, in its current updated Director’s Cut version, is a genuinely interesting game and fans of the genre shouldn’t ignore it.
Happy about: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat – Enhanced Edition
Seven years ago I sat down and played through the original three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. titles. Of that playthrough, Call of Prypiat was easily the big highlight. Shadow of Chornobyl was frustrating, if curious. Clear Sky was a slog. But this one? This one was actually cooking. It felt like GSC Game World have finally figured out what the series are supposed to be about, at least as far as my tastes were concerned. So, when I decided to check the Enhanced Edition versions of all games that are part of the Legends of the Zone Trilogy release, I fully expected things to go similarly. I mean, I secretly hoped that the re-releases would fix the first two games as they desperately needed it, but, unfortunately, while the new versions are mostly superior, they didn’t change how messy and frustrating those games are. Call of Prypiat was already good, so is there a point in this re-release? Well, kinda.
Read more“Happy about: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat – Enhanced Edition”
Happy about: Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered
Being the Legacy of Kain fan that I am, as I’ve covered in my review of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered last year, I was extremely excited about Defiance. Ever since Soul Reaver 2 still didn’t finish the story started in Soul Reaver 1, people expected the inevitable Soul Reaver 3 (and Defiance was actually known by that name internally at the start). So when the Blood Omen 2 (which hasn’t been remastered yet) was released first, I was slightly confused, but also intrigued. After all, the events of the game contradicted the known timeline, and even the developers vaguely mentioned that something in Defiance would lead to Blood Omen 2 events existing. Then the early PS2 trailer for Defiance (as it was officially unveiled) hit with some cool nu-metal-ish song playing and I downloaded and rewatched that trailer a lot (the track is called “In the Crossfire”, by the way, as I’ve learnt years ago from the best LoK fan site). Playing as both Kain and Raziel in an epic conclusion to the storyline of Raziel (as it would probably be), was such an exciting prospect.
And then the game came out and… I liked it. But it was also weird. It did conclude Raziel’s story in a mostly satisfying way in broad strokes, it left a lot of questions unanswered. But far more importantly – the game felt even more unfinished than Soul Reaver 1, and that game ended with a “To be continued” screen. This feeling is not something that Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered can fix, but where it could, the remaster made the game a lot better.
Revisiting S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl and Clear Sky – Enhanced Editions
Seven years ago was the first time I’ve decided to finally sit down and play through all of the original three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. titles start to finish. Because even though I have followed the development of the original from early 00s, when it was just a sci-fi Oblivion Lost project with no ties to the Roadside Picnic or the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, I didn’t particularly care about the game when it finally came out. Anyway, that playthrough from seven years ago was the second time I’ve completed Shadow of Chornobyl, first time I’ve completed Clear Sky and also first time I’ve played Call of Prypiat at all. For that playthrough I chose to not use any mods or fan patches to judge the games as they were. Now that Enhanced Edition versions of all three games are part of the Legends of the Zone Trilogy, I’ve decided to do the same. And in this post, I will talk about Shadow of Chornobyl and Clear Sky, the two titles I like less and which should have benefitted the most from a re-release.
Read more“Revisiting S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl and Clear Sky – Enhanced Editions”
Happy about: Everspace 2 (with DLCs)
Since I’m not a fan of roguelite or roguelike games, I did miss Everspace when it was originally released. It was a curious combination of action RPG, space sim (or more space shooter) with the FTL: Faster Than Light inspired structure, where you were jumping between different procedurally generated locations, while being chased by a powerful foe. It did have a story, but the main draw of the game was specifically in that die and repeat nature of the genre and the fact that the space dogfights were quite fun. And then in 2023 the developers released the sequel Everspace 2 (although it was in Early Access for a few years), and with this game they’ve changed a lot in the direction that got me interested. Instead of a purely roguelite structure, a proper handmade world with interesting exploration, story, quests and all of the cool stuff I tend to like, while still keeping the fun space battles intact. Knowing that the game will get updates and DLCs, I decided to postpone my own playthrough and now, when the game is, as developers claim, in the more or less completely final state, I’ve decided to finally give it a go. And while it is quite a bit messy, I enjoyed playing it a lot.
Few notes on: Videogame music 2025
It’s that time of the year – the time to praise some really really good music in videogames. Music that you remember after playing it. Music that you want to buy and listen to outside of the game. The previous year (or just recent releases that I’ve finally got to play since the last year retrospective) has been quite exciting for music, with some new and unexpected wonderful soundtracks. But, as it often happens a bulk of this list is going to consist of older titles that got re-released or had all of their DLCs added last year.
The only game in the list this time that I didn’t review, and maybe never properly would because of what type of the game it is, is Megabonk. I did play it a fair bit and enjoy it, but it’s just not quite the game you complete and review and it also gets constantly updated, so… But I liked it and the soundtrack is very good, so it’s in this list. And as for honourable mentions, I will call out Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which has the music that is almost something you want to listen outside of the game, but it doesn’t quite go there fully. And also World of Goo 2, which is great, but also – it’s just the music for the original game in new arrangements, which aren’t necessarily better, just different. Another important notice is that while I really liked the OFF remastered soundtrack, it is not available anywhere, but the original game soundtrack is still free.
Either way, I’m leaving you with this list and hope you enjoy this music as much as I did.
Revisiting Assassin’s Creed Mirage with The Valley of Memory update
A year and a half ago I’ve enjoyed playing through Assassin’s Creed Mirage. It was a nice attempt by Ubisoft to remember what made the series what it was in the first place and while flawed, the attempt was a success and the game was easily among the best entries in the franchise. Heck, if you remember that the series are supposed to be a story-driven action stealth game in the urban environment, this might’ve been the best implementation of the idea yet, mechanically anyway.
And then, out of the blue, the studio has announced a free story expansion for the title called The Valley of Memory, that eventually released a few months ago. I wasn’t planning on revisiting the game so soon, if I’m honest, but I was in the middle of trying to force myself play through Assassin’s Creed Shadows, so I wanted to remind myself why do I even like these games. So I quickly played a few minutes of almost each title to remind myself of how they were, which culminated with me completing The Valley of Memory. Which renewed my opinion that Mirage is among the best entries. And that Assassin’s Creed really needs to figure out its own identity.
Read more“Revisiting Assassin’s Creed Mirage with The Valley of Memory update”
In love with: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
So, I’m not the biggest fan of turn based RPGs, as I always say when I’m about to talk about one. Neither am I that huge of a “jRPG” fan. I’ve played all of the numbered Final Fantasy games and like most of them, Chrono Trigger is among my favorite games, Parasite Eve is fantastic and all that, don’t get me wrong. But back when the whole PS2 era of Japanese Role Playing Games was happening with dozens of games coming out, I have played almost none of them. Why am I talking about it? Well, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a huge love letter to that whole era of RPGs.