Recent reviews by Power of Seven

I love this game, but sometimes trying to go from 99% to 100% is extremely frustrating.

I like this game a lot. I also need to get my Steam Awards Badge upgraded so that's why I'm posting this.

I like this game sometimes. I also like how reviewing it gives me a badge.

Baba Is You is really fun but it's quite challenging. It's hard to believe that a game where you only use the arrow keys and don't have a time limit can be so difficult. However, the game's challenges are based around changing the rules of each level as opposed to simply trying to reach the exit.

As a side note, this game is arguably one of the most successful "Sokoban" type games, which there's been dozens of them and many are here on Steam. Believe it or not, this game was developed by a single developer, Arvi Teikari, who came up with the idea at a game jam while he was still a student at the University of Helsinki. The game won the Excellence In Design and Best Student Game at the IGF Awards, which is unprecedented.

I made my Write-In Award as "The Game That Most Deserves a Sequel But Will Never Get One" because I'm a realist. I've gone through all five stages of grief with Half-Life and reached Acceptance: The game franchise is dead and there's nothing that I can do about it.

Maybe one day the IP will get sold to somebody like Disney or EA, who will then announce that there will be a new Half-Life game every year, spinoff games for side characters like Barney and Alyx, and loot boxes in all of them. (Yes, I'm being very sarcastic.)

2020 Review Update: I originally wrote this review many years ago, and I swear that I had no idea that Valve would actually make a Alyx spinoff game. The fact that I mentioned this as a joke and it became true is almost frightening. In addition, today (November 20, 2020), Valve updated this game to include the rather unusual achievement of Gabe Newell launching Gnome Chompsky into space for real (for charity) due to his partnership with Rocket Labs in New Zealand.

For some background, Bastion was the first game to come out of Supergiant Games, which includes former Gamespot editor Greg Kasavin as one of the lead writers. This game was created by just seven people, including the musicians and voice actors, and it's proof that really good games don't need multi-million dollar budgets or a massive development team.

It's an isometric action-adventure game with some RPG elements to it. Because the game exploded in popularity, the developers purposely made it accessible so anybody can play it. The easiest gives you infinite lives and is impossible to lose, whereas the hardest (activating ten Shrine Idols) has only been beaten by a small percentage of gamers.

However, Bastion's biggest claim to fame is the original soundtrack and the incredible narration by Logan Cunningham. Nearly the entire story is told by an old man named Rucks, and it's so well done that it's been copied by other indie games since then. The story makes sense and it's quite detailed, and the characters can't be strictly classified as either "good" or "bad" but more ambiguous like real human beings.

To be fair, there are some weak spots like in any other game. In particular, the game decided to implement an awful "Hop Scotch" sequence at the end game. It's usually bad game design to introduce a new game mechanic in the very last chapter of a game. I have no idea why the developers included it as it just frustrates the player.

However, I still love Bastion and I honestly think almost everybody will love it too.

The graphics may be dated and it's always overshadowed by L4D2, but unlike the other game, you can just join a random group of players and have a great co-op experience almost every time. It's strangely addictive and the DLC are nothing but cosmetic items. I really like this game.

Defense Grid is without a doubt my most favorite tower defense game that I've ever played. I'm biased against laser towers (but others love them), but I like how most of the towers actually have a purpose and the game lets you choose what strategy you want. Multiple solutions exist for almost all stages unless you're doing the ultra-difficult challenge modes like "Out of Bullets" and "Green Towers Only".

I will admit that I am biased toward Defense Grid, as this game let me go to the Portal 2 launch party, so it'll always be a little special to me. I spoke to the developers and they are incredibly nice people. One more fact: This is one of the few modern games that was released on the PC first and then ported to the console.