Hidden In My Paradise, Relaxing and Charming

 *Note: I received the game for free for my honest review. Thank you to Ogre Pixel and Stride PR for the Nintendo Switch game key! 

I've liked all the Ogre Pixel games I've played so far. Lonesome Village and Tiny Sticker Tale were a lot of fun for me, so I was excited to check out their next game, Hidden In My Paradise. One thing I will point out is that in the settings for all of their games the music and sound is very loud for some reason. Luckily, it's easy to adjust it to a comfortable volume which I did quickly. Hidden In My Paradise is a hidden object game with little missions within each level. There's a quick easy to follow tutorial at the start with a fairy helper explaining what to do. 

Learning how to find hidden objects. 

The toolbar has pictures of the objects you're supposed to find. I thought it was pretty cool that you can move the items in the picture around when searching for objects. The game encourages it in fact because some things are hidden behind other objects like trees. You can also change the time of day, another thing the game encourages because certain items show up better at sunset or evening. This is where the mini missions come in. In each level, you have two photos called snaps. You have to examine the photo closely, then find the objects in the picture, and then place them to match the photo so you can take your own photo. If done correctly, you get a little green checkmark and some bonus coins. There are also chests hidden within each scene that also give you coins. 

Learning about snaps. 

There is a shop with a gacha capsule machine. Sometimes you find gacha tickets which you can use on the machine to get different decorations. You can also use your bonus coins to buy various decorations. These can all be used in the sandbox mode to create your own scenes and hidden object puzzles if you like in sandbox mode. 

Getting things from the gacha machine. 

Sandbox mode is another feature of the game I found to be a lot of fun. Not only can you decorate your own scene and choose objects to be hidden, you can share them online with others. You can also check out their scenes and play them finding all the hidden objects. I had a lot of fun checking this out and it was great seeing all the different types of scenes other players came up with. 

Checking out sandbox mode. 

Needless to say, the art for Hidden In My Paradise is adorable and true to Ogre Pixel form, full of whimsy and tons of lovely things to find including hidden fairies in each scene. It's a lot of outdoor scenes, but no two are alike. Ranging from camping in a pretty forest to a nighttime garden full of animal friends there were so many wonderful things to see in each hidden object puzzle. If I had to critique anything, it's the controls. Picking things up and moving the camera are the same button and sometimes when I was trying to pick an item up, it would drift and I would accidentally click the camera. It's not a big deal, but it's noticeable. I'm hoping in a future update they adjust that so it plays a little better. Hidden In My Paradise isn't very long; with doing everything in the main puzzle area I finished in about five hours. The nice thing is you can play as much or as little as you want, playing a few puzzles at a time or playing them all. There's no pressure and no rush making it a great relaxing and charming game. Ogre Pixel gave us another terrific indie gem. 

One of my favorite scenes, nighttime garden. 

*Hidden In My Paradise is available to play on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Mobile

*Join our community on Twitch while we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mothergamer Plays Wylde Flowers

 A lot of friends recommended Wylde Flowers to me because of my love of cute farm sims and relaxing games. Right from start Wyld Flowers had me hooked. You play as Tara, who has left the city life to come try out farm life. Her grandma Hazel is a great guide for the start of the game explaining how to plant crops, how to fish, the importance of getting to know her neighbors, and how to make magic potions and spells. That's right. The small town of Fairhaven is home to witches and that includes Tara's grandma. 

Tara ready to learn farming from Hazel. 

The fact that there's magic and a coven of witches adds an interesting layer to Wylde Flowers. I loved being able to gather wild herbs and flowers for crafting potions in my cauldron. You can unlock more spells and recipes as you go. There's also cooking in the game and as you improve friendships and work on a romance, sometimes they'll give you their favorite recipe to try. Speaking of romance, I felt so seen as a queer Asian person seeing the diversity of all the characters and the queer romance options. I appreciated the understanding that there are all kinds of people in the world and Wylde Flowers showcased this in such a beautiful way. 

Crafting some magic things! 

I did like that you could adjust the settings for how fast time goes. In the normal setting, it goes by pretty quickly, but in the relaxed setting you can take your time getting your daily tasks done and talking to everyone. You can adjust it at any time so if you need to speed time up to get certain events to happen you can. 

Having a walk in the town square. 

One issue I feel the game has is a bit of slow pacing and a bit of unbalance when it comes to upgrading your farm. It takes a long time to even get some of the materials and money needed to rebuild things on the farm such as a chicken coop and a bigger garden. There's a lot of logging and mining involved which is fine. However, I found I ran out of energy really quickly and would have to either replenish it with food or just call it quits for the day. You can sell a lot of the cooked dishes you make for a nice chunk of money or you can do some odd jobs on the community bulletin board which will give you money or items you need for things. Sometimes I would have no idea what was needed for things so I would have to look it up and at times that could feel a little frustrating, but the game's story and ambience is so charming I didn't mind that much. 

Chopping some trees to build some things on the farm. 

There are of course all sorts of cute animals in Wylde Flowers including an adorable cat and yes you can pet them and all the animals. The cat is the first animal that shows up and you can feed and cuddle them. The chickens are the easiest animal to get after that once you have the chicken coop built. The story itself is interesting with a bit of a mystery to solve thrown in. Wylde Flowers had me invested to the point I kept telling myself let's play one more in game day. With all the things to do, the story, the characters, and the relaxing vibes Wylde Flowers is an indie gem that is delightful to play. 

Yes, you can pet the adorable kitty. 

*Wylde Flowers is available to play on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Apple Arcade

Join our community on Twitch where we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer 

Mothergamer Plays Creatures Of Ava

 I thought Creatures of Ava looked really interesting from what I saw of the trailer and screenshots so when I saw that it was on Gamepass, I decided to check it out. The introduction has a pretty cool animated sequence that introduces us to the main character, Vic whose ship crash lands on the planet Ava. She was headed there anyway to extract animals from the planet to a bioark to save them and study them. I'm going to be honest; that part gave me pause because it felt a lot like a "savior" interfering with indigenous people and insisting their way is the only way and not really listening to the people who actually live there. It was not a good feeling. I kept an open mind hoping the game's story would evolve from that. 

When Vic lands on Ava, this gives you a tutorial on how the mechanics of the game work with movement, jumping, and my personal favorite taking photos of the creatures for Vic's codex. It's easy to follow and you can adjust the game's difficulty. There are also some good accessibility options, but I do feel they could have had a little more. One of the things I enjoyed is that there is no actual combat in the game. You don't have to hurt animals or people to get the tasks done. The whole point is Vic is there for conservation of the creatures and learning about the planet. The creatures themselves are really cute and the fact that you can hug every single one is incredible. 

Just hugging a cute alien horse.

Vic has special tools to do this of course via a staff and a flute from the tribe that lives there, the Naam. The staff helps with purifying the animals from black thorns that cover them and can make them aggressive. Once they're cleansed, they're back to normal and just vibing. Vic can play a tune that links with them causing the animals to follow her and of course Vic can pet them and hug them. This also makes it easier for Vic to send them to the bioark. I did like this aspect of the game because it was fun to see all the different types of creatures and taking photos of them unlocked information about each of them for the codex. 

Playing a song for a creature. 

Vic can also get the creatures to help her with things like clearing out brambles so she can go down a different path. There are a few puzzles here and there that involve getting the creatures to help. They're not terribly difficult and there are lots of notes to be found adding more information about the planet. My issue is with the way Vic was written especially her attitude towards the Naam. A lot of things Vic says towards them really frustrated me because it was giving colonizer attitude. She is absolutely stubborn and not listening to what they want or actually hearing them when they explain they're suspicious of humans because the humans that came before Vic did a lot of damage and broke their trust. It was a shock for me considering that Vic is a black character and yet the way she's written is for me problematic because again colonization. I was curious so I looked it up and I was surprised to see that Rhianna Pratchett cowrote the story for Creatures of Ava. I'm really hoping she didn't write this aspect of it because when I checked out the rest of the team, there isn't a single black person on the team at all. For me that explains a lot about how Vic was written. It's as if they did the bare minimum and then patted themselves on the back for it. It makes me wonder if they consulted with any black writers at all because the way Vic comes across is as if a white person wrote a black character with zero input or actually educating themselves and called it good. That's incredibly disappointing because Creatures of Ava has a lot of good things in it and the different biomes are quite beautiful. If only they hadn't reduced Vic to this one note ignorant thing. 

This area was beautiful. 

I enjoyed the side quests a lot because it gave Vic more interaction with the Naam and gradually over time showed that she was changing her mind about how she saw things and that she actually wanted to learn about them and make things right. I just wish it hadn't taken the majority of the game's story for her to get there, but perhaps that was the point. Sometimes it takes a person a long time to acknowledge that they may not know everything and that their world view isn't necessarily the only way; that there are a lot of different ways to look at something and it's important to communicate with each other and work together to reach a solution or multiple solutions and coexist. 

Vic makes a new friend. 

The story itself is not bad. I did like aspects of it such as the importance of learning from each other and being mindful about our impact over the environment and creatures. I appreciated how unique each of the four biomes in the game were as well. The variety of the creatures also stood out and I was always delighted to pet and hug each one. The ending of the story did make me emotional because of the way it talked about loss and grieving. That part was done in a thoughtful and mindful manner which hit all the right emotional notes. While I didn't love Creatures of Ava, I did like it and appreciated what it brought to the table with a different approach to action games and while the storytelling wasn't perfect, there were elements that added to the importance of the idea of connection and communication. Overall, I did enjoy the journey. 

Taking in the view. 

*Creatures of Ava is available to play on the following platforms: Steam, Xbox Series X and S

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Just Crow Things: Come For The Chaos, Stay For The Adorable Crow

*Note I received a game key for Nintendo Switch for my honest review. Thank you to Unbound Creations for the game key!

Have you ever wanted to cause a bit of chaos as a cute little crow? Well, Just Crow Things lets you do exactly that. I had to adjust the settings for the music because it was a bit loud. The accessibility settings are pretty good with being able to adjust the font of the text for the game and tweaking the controls a bit. I also liked that I could choose story mode so I could just enjoy the game without frustration. We're introduced to a cute little crow talking with her grandma about going into the world to have an adventure and experience lots of new things. It's very cute and sets up why we're hanging out with Crowy perfectly.

Just a little crow with her grandma. 

There are twelve sandbox style levels with different things Crowy has to do to complete each level. The first one of course is a tutorial that shows how the controls work for walking, picking items up, flying, and of course wreaking havoc on humans by pooping on them. 

Hedgehog friend shares some knowledge. 

Right from the start I was hooked on Just Crow Things. It's a lot of fun with the cute art style and hilarious with many puns, dad jokes, and nods to various video games and tv shows. I had such a giggle at the Alan Wake parody references in one level which then had a nod to The X-Files immediately afterwards. I also love that they had a whole level that was a parody of Wind Waker my personal favorite Legend of Zelda game. No two levels are alike and they're wonderfully creative. My personal favorite was a craft world because I had a great time running around making things. Each area has a checklist of things to do or items to find. Crowy does this in order to get crowputation and of course crow street cred. You need one hundred crowputation to finish each level. 

The chaos this little crow can cause is glorious especially with all the pooping you can do. One of the funniest moments for me was Crowy eating some glitter and pooping glitter bombs on all the humans in town. The good times don't just stop there. In every area, there are snacks to eat for more disaster poops, tools to use, and helpful animal friends who point out the many ways Crowy can stick it to the humans for animals everywhere. There are also adorable hats, costumes, and accessories she can wear to be as stylish as possible while being an adorable problem.

Just a crow wreaking havoc with a blowtorch. 

Each level I went to, I always found something unexpected and delightful. The parody nods to so many gaming, TV, and movie references are so well done. There are also parody nods to social media that make for some really funny conversations among Crowy and her fellow animal friends. Each area gets a little bigger as you go giving Crowy plenty of places to explore and lots of things to do. I enjoyed the Edgar Allan Crow area with its Halloween haunted house theme because I love Halloween. I had a great time helping a ghost find all their spilled candy and laughed about a kid ghost getting me to use a leaf blower so they could claim to their ghost mom they did all their chores so they could go play video games. 

Sweet, I can change to a ghost crow! 

The game isn't very long. With main story and side quest things, it's about three hours. I'm not the best gamer so I miss a lot of stuff and I like to take my time. For me, I finished Just Crow Things in about eight hours. Once you finish, there's still things you can do. You can unlock new game plus and wander around through the levels finding things you may have missed with all the items and tools at your disposal. I went back and finished all the race challenges which are a lot of fun. The game has the perfect amount of whimsy, chaos, humor, and so many adorable interactions with Crowy and her friends. I had such a blast playing it and I could tell how much love went into making this game with each level, dad joke, and an excellent variety of nods to so many games, movies, and TV shows that many of us love. Come for the chaos, stay for the adorable crow, and enjoy every bit of Just Crow Things because it's such a great indie gem. 

Ready to dive into this level! 

*Just Crow Things is now available on the following platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch,Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4, and Playstation 5

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Mothergamer Plays Thirsty Suitors

 A good friend suggested I play Thirsty Suitors because they thought I would love it. They weren't wrong. I quite enjoyed everything about this game. That's how good it is. Two of the biggest things that made me so happy about this game is the South and Southeast Asian representation among the characters and the queer representation. Both are done really well and so beautifully it made my Filipino queer heart incredibly overjoyed. 

Thirsty Suitors starts with the main character Jala, a local skateboarding legend returning home to the town of Timber Hills after years of being away. The game clues you in immediately that Jala had a bad falling out with her family and a bunch of exes before she left and her returning home after a bad breakup is pretty awkward. There's a fun mini tutorial to get you used to the controls in the game with moving around, skating, and doing tricks on the skateboard before you get off the bus and head into town. Many have called this game a break up simulator, but it's much more than that. It's about facing the past, taking the time for self reflection, and learning from it in order to find a way forward towards doing and being better. 

Jala and Machan the dog. Yes, you can pet the dog!

There are lots of things you can do in Thirsty Suitors apart from the main story such as going to the skate park and doing the challenges  for some pretty nice rewards like outfit changes and new boards. There is combat in the game, but not the way you think. The combat is turn based and Jala has to use her words and thoughts as a mood system to take advantage of winning the battle. With the random suitors it's a way to level grind and boost Jala's stats. With Jala's exes in town, it's a little different. They're essentially the boss battle with the stage being an inner world representing their feelings towards not just Jala, but how they feel about themselves. You have to really think about strategy and what you want to say in order to resolve the conflict between Jala and her exes. It's handled quite well and thoughtfully in regards to the cultural and queer identities and I loved every minute of it. 

Jala needed to hear how her exes really felt, for example how she really devastated a girlfriend who was her first love for always breaking up with her for other people so much she doubted her own self worth even during her transition. The voice acting for this scene especially was great with the raw emotions and I was sucked in the entire time. When Jala is successful with the exes battle, there's always a great scene of both parties having some closure and understanding each other a little better. I also like the fact that there is not always forgiveness, but an acceptance of realizing sometimes a relationship is not always a good fit for either person and that it's okay to let it go. 

Jala has a dance off with her ex Sergio. 

One thing that was a constant in the game is cooking. I loved the cooking minigame because it was fun and you get to learn about all the different South Asian dishes and food is a big part of the game too. It adds another layer to Jala talking about how she felt about her culture as a kid and also dives deeper into the relationships with her exes and her family. It bodes well to do the cooking because different dishes boost Jala's stats, heal her health, and can also help mend some relationships and friendships. I especially loved the moments when Jala would get to cook with her dad because it gave you a nice view into how they were kindred spirits and her dad was definitely a buffer between her and her mother when they were struggling to understand each other. I loved the cooking moments with her mother too because you got to see Jala realize that her mother was a person with her own hopes and dreams when she was her age and that she may have struggled with that too. The cooking aspect showcases this really well and it's wonderful to see how each person's attitudes change as they come to understand each other a little better. 

Time for some cooking! 

Throughout the entire eight hours of the game, I was invested in everything. The story, the cooking, skating at the park, and finding lots of collectibles made it thoroughly engaging. From the South Asian perspective, it was wonderful and felt like coming home. I also felt really seen with the queer romances, the varying body types, and most of all the universal message that food can bring so many of us together. I loved that it showed that sometimes familial relationships and romantic relationships can be messy, but that communicating with each other is important and it may not resolve everything, but it at least can help to find mutual understanding. 

I also appreciated by the end of the game you get to see the growth that happens to Jala as she finally stops running away and faces her past and has those much needed genuine conversations with her family and her exes. Seeing her grow as a person and really taking those steps to try and change throughout the story and seeing it gradually happen is fantastic. Thirsty Suitors was so enjoyable and I loved experiencing Jala's journey. There was the right balance of humor and connections within the story that made it really stand out. After the main story, you can putter around in the game at the skate park trying new challenges or finishing up side quests you may have missed which is great if you're not ready to say goodbye to Jala yet. Everything about this game was amazing and I'm glad I checked it out. 

Jala and her ex Tyler come to understand each other.

*Thirsty Suitors is available on the following platforms: Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, and PC

*Join our community on twitch for gaming and discussions about mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Review

From the start, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is interesting with the opening introduction to main character Nor a soldier who is part of a coalition fighting against the undead and old gods. Right away, I liked Nor because of her confidence and her battle skills. Armed with an axe and a flintlock pistol, Nor takes down all the enemies in her path. The game gives you a nice feel for the combat with a quick tutorial. I do see how and why it's getting compared to a souls light game, but it's also it's own thing. I will say a couple of thingsthat I do not like is the fact that if you play on story mode you do not get any of the achievements. You can only get them if you play on normal or hard mode. It's ableist to do this and there's no point to lock achievements like this. It feels insulting to people who want to just enjoy the story and feels like a punishment. Frankly game developers need to do better and make their games accessible for everyone. That brings me to the second thing. The accessibility settings aren't bad, but they could do a lot better. Being able to adjust the size of the font for subtitles is appreciated as well as being able to turn off motion blur, but there needs to be more than that especially for people who are disabled. Make your games accessible so that everyone can play. 

Other than those two things, I found myself really enjoying Flintlock from the start. Things go off with a bang, literally and it's where Nor's adventure truly begins and we get to see more of the world building and lore of Flintlock. 

Nor and the Coalition being badass. 

Nor meets a creature that looks like an adorable fox and then finds out he is a god named Enki. I found this aspect of the game fascinating because Enki and the gods in the game are based on actual gods from ancient Mesopatamia. I looked up Enki because I was curious and found that Enki is the Sumerian god of wisdom, fresh water, intelligence, mischief, healing, creation, fertility, and art. His magic also used trickery to benefit humans. This adds an insightful perspective on the partnership between Nor and Enki because of the conversations they have as they travel together. Enki is clearly a bridge to the world of the gods for Nor as he shares some of his experiences with them and his experiences of traveling the human world. 

Enki can fight alongside Nor and their tag team efforts in battle is well done. Combat is fast paced, but above all it's fun. With Nor's battle skills and Enki's magic they can chain attacks together really well making them practically unstoppable. Nor can get better weapons and firearms from merchants at camp or from a merchant at the coffee house in each village. There's also brightly colored and stylish soldier outfits Nor can buy. There's also various types of armor Nor finds or can buy from merchants. All of these as well as the firearms and weapons can be upgraded as long as she has the materials for them. 

Nor battles an undead boss. 

There are side quests along the way that offer some good rewards for Enki like increasing his magic powers as well as some weapons for Nor. A lot of the side quests were just stand alone with the exception of one that added to part of the story. I did them all and I appreciated being able to explore different places. One fun way of travel was Enki carrying Nor through triangular rifts which helped getting across vast chasms or up to very high towers. 

Some of my favorite moments were when Nor and Enki would stop for a moment and discuss mundane things like a water wheel. I was amused and charmed at how Enki found a water wheel amazing and talked about how he could hear the water singing through it and that he wanted to just sit and listen to it. It added another layer to their growing friendship that was endearing. 

I enjoyed all of these aspects of Flintlock and I found myself quite invested in the story. The boss battles are intense, but great fun and they all go with the flow of the story. Flintlock itself is not a long game. With the side quests and the main story I finished the game in about fifteen hours. It's not a bad thing that it was short and sweet. I liked the ending and the fact that it leaves it open ended a bit if they ever want to do some DLC or a sequel is rather nice. For me, it was a fantastic adventure and I had a great time with it every magical step of the way. 

Nor and Enki taking a break. 

*Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is available on the following platforms: Xbox Series X/S (on Gamepass), Playstation 5, and Windows (On Steam)

*Join our community on Twitch where we play video games and discuss mental health: twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mothergamer Plays Little Kitty, Big City

The minute I saw the teaser trailer for Little Kitty, Big City I knew this was a game for me. The story starts with an adorable kitty taking a relaxing nap on their window ledge bathing in all the sunshine like cats do. Suddenly, disaster strikes and the kitty falls from the window and all the way down to the ground. This is where the kitty's adventures begin as they try to find their way through the city and try to get back home. 

Just a cute kitty having a window nap. 

I was happy to see they made it so the kitty is never really hurt. The biggest obstacle is giant puddles of water that the kitty has to find their way around. It was so much fun playing as kitty that I made myself everyone's problem. I did all kinds of cat things like rubbing against people and tripping them, stealing their phones, stealing their dropped food, and meowing to get their attention and get lots of head pats from them. I love the fact that the game allows you to do this. There's no rush, you can take your time exploring and just be a cute little cat. Kitty can talk to others to find their way around like an adorable fluffy cat that is the self proclaimed mayor. The mayor gives kitty some advice for getting around town after kitty does some chaos cat things for him. 

Kitty talks to the Mayor. 

There are puzzles to navigate for getting around the city like climbing up and over obstacles. This is a cat after all and climbing and jumping are things they do best. There's also a lot of cute collectibles to collect like hats. The hats are my favorite because each design is incredibly cute ranging from an apple hat to my personal favorite a frog hat. You can get them from doing side quests and also from gacha machines as long as you have enough coins. 

Kitty looking very cute in an apple hat. 

It's not easy for kitty to make it back home. The whole journey is about regaining their strength so they can make that long climb back to their window. The side quests help with this a lot because they get rewards that help with that in the form of fish to eat and lots of cute hats. Helping is a great idea not just for the rewards, but because the side quests themselves are funny, cute, and charming. My favorite quest was finding all the adorable ducklings. 

Playing video games with a duckling. 

Eventually, you also find a way to fast travel thanks to a very smart Tanuki. It makes going back and forth to get collectibles a lot easier. Little Kitty, Big City is not very long. If you do the main objectives and nothing else, it's about two and a half hours. If you're like me and want to get everything done, it's a little longer and I finished it in about six and a half hours. It's short and sweet which is not a bad thing. For me, Little Kitty, Big City hit all the bells and whistles for cuteness, a cheerfully fun adventure, and a lot of cozy charm. It's a delightful romp getting to play as an adorable kitty living their best adventurous life. 

There is only frog hat!

*Little Kitty, Big City is available on the following platforms: Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S (Gamepass), and Nintendo Switch

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Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, I Made So Many Duck Puns

Note: I received a game code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest review of the game. Thank you to Future Friends Games for the code!

Right away Duck Detective is very cute with the art style that feels like a mix of sticker and cardboard cutout game pieces. We're introduced to Eugene McQuacklin a down on his luck detective hanging out in his office trying to figure out what he spent his rent money on. You can move Eugene around looking for clues and this gives a nice tutorial into how the game works. 

Eugene McQuacklin, duck detective.

After the introduction, Eugene gets a case at Bearbus, a bussing company. This is where the detective skills go a little more in depth having you look around for clues and adding clues to the case file. Eugene has to talk to the people there and certain words will be highlighted implying that it's relevant to the case. 

Adding a vital clue to the case file.

Eugene can also investigate various characters while he talks to them. Using his magnifying glass he can examine them and pick up clues like a loose thread on their sleeve or other interesting details he can add to the case file and write a note in his notebook. There's also a bit where you have to guess the person's name and when you do, you can add it to the suspect list in his notebook. 

Checking for clues on a penguin.

Eugene can explore a lot of places. He can snoop through someone's computer, check notes, talk to more people, and even look through someone's duffel bag for clues to solve the case. It definitely kept me guessing adding a few twists and turns. When Eugene has enough clues about one scenario he can put it together in what are called deductkions. I did like that the game would let you know how much of it you got right and then would tell you two things are wrong so you could go back and look at it again. It also gave helpful hints so there wasn't too much frustration solving the puzzle. 

Doing some deducktions. 

The story was interesting and so was the case. I also loved that it didn't take itself too seriously with all the silliness in some situations and of course the duck puns. I made so many duck puns myself while playing this because it was that much fun. The game also had little joke duck facts in between loading screens which I found really amusing. 

Eugene has trouble talking with a cat. 

The game isn't very long. It's a fun, short mystery that I finished in about three hours. The art style, the funny jokes, the main mystery, and the general whimsy of Duck Detective made it an enjoyable time. I love Eugene and his hard boiled detective voice. I also loved the myriad of characters at BearBus that added more humorous shenanigans to the story. Quacking the case was a great time. 

Eugene gets a ride home. 

 

*Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is available on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam 

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Mothergamer Plays Ravenlok

 I'm so glad I got a chance to play Ravenlok before it left Gamepass because I really enjoyed it. Let's dive into why I had so much fun with it. The game starts by introducing us to a girl playing with her dog and we find out the girl's name is Kira. Yes, you can pat the dog and also have it wear cute hats which is adorable. As Kira wanders around, the story shows that she and her family have just moved to the countryside. This introduces us to the fetch quest system of the game when her mom and dad ask her to get certain items like a dusting cloth. 

Kira and her dog. 

It's not long before Kira finds a mirror and travels through it to a magical land known as Dunia. It's obvious that the game is inspired by Alice In Wonderland which delighted me as that is one of my favorite childhood books. There's a white rabbit naturally who calls Kira by the name of Ravenlok explaining that she's the hero from the prophecy that will save Dunia from the Red Queen. 

Kira arrives in Dunia. 

There are multiple fetch quests Kira has to do for the various characters she meets including a giant cat that is very reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat in Alice In Wonderland. One of the quests including Kira getting a sword and shield. This is where the combat tutorial starts and it's easy to follow explaining the hack and slash mechanics as well as the magic battle skills Kira can do. The combat style is simple, but I don't think that's a bad thing because it felt like they considered the fact that kids could play this game and so it's not too challenging or frustrating. 

Fighting mushroom monsters. 

I loved exploring the different areas. The design and whimsy of each area is well done. The nods to Alice In Wonderland are lovely and I found myself smiling upon finding each one and appreciating all the details that went into Ravenlok's designs. My personal favorite was the tea party with the Mad Hatter who also seemed to be a mix of the March Hare in design. I ran around doing his fetch quest so he could have a lovely tea party. 

Kira meets the Mad Hatter. 

Sure at times the fetch quests could be a little tedious, but it didn't bother me that much because I was having a lot of fun with the game and enjoying the story. There were a couple of boss battles where it took me a bit to figure out what to do, but once I figured out the patterns I was able to hack and slash my way to victory. I liked the story and kept playing because I wanted to see how Kira's adventure ended. Ravenlok isn't very heavy with the drama and the storytelling is simple, but enjoyable. Simple doesn't always mean bad and Ravenlok shows that really well with the simplicity of the combat system and the variety of fetch quests woven into the story. It's not a very long game about four to five hours, but for me it was about ten because I explored everywhere and did the extra quest of finding cute collectible white rabbits in the game. I loved the ending and felt it wrapped everything up neatly giving concise answers to multiple threads in the story. For me, Ravenlok was a lovely game to play because I appreciated the charm and whimsy that went into it which made for a delightful adventure. 

Kira and friends celebrating their victory.

*Ravenlok is available on the following platforms: Microsoft Windows (Epic), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

*Join our community on Twitch where we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Paper Trail: Come for the Story, Stay for the Charming Art Puzzles

 Note: I received a game code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest opinion and review of the game. Thank you so much to Newfangled Games for the game code!

I was intrigued by Paper Trail the minute I started seeing the trailer for it and some of the art. It did not look like anything I had seen before and the fact that it was a puzzle game hooked me in. I'm not the best at puzzles, but I love them and I wanted to see what Paper Trail was all about. The story introduces us to Paige who is ready to leave home and go to university, but her parents don't want her to go. Paige decides the only thing to do is run away from home and fulfill her dream.

Paige and her parents. 

This is where we're introduced to Paige's interesting powers. The mechanics in the game are top down puzzles. Paige is able to fold the world like origami and create new paths like making a path to a lighthouse and repairing its tower. It's such a unique way to do puzzles in a game. It starts out simple at first to ease you in, which I appreciated and then gets gradually more challenging adding new elements to the mix like movable statues. 

Folding the world to fix a lighthouse.

I will say that I liked that I could adjust the accessibility settings. Sometimes, it was hard for me to see where to fold places on the map. I went into the settings and there was a feature called show grid. This broke the map up into a grid that I could see and it made things a lot easier for me figuring out what to fold and where. It did not distract from the relaxing lo-fi music or the charming art style of the game. No two maps are alike and I found myself delighted by each one. My personal favorite was the swamp with all the cute frogs because I love frogs. Each area looked like a lovely painting and I found myself taking time to stop and admire each little detail.

Look at the cute little frogs!

It's not to say that I didn't get frustrated with some puzzles, but that was a me issue because I didn't always see the patterns. I have Dyscalculia which makes it harder for me to see patterns with spatial things like this as well as struggling to see patterns in math. It's not that I can't get it, it's just that my brain takes a little longer to get there. Honestly, I feel this is where Paper Trail really shines for someone like myself. There's no hurry and no timer to solve the puzzles. The game gives you that freedom to take your time, to try different things, different folds, to see what works and what doesn't. So even though it got a tiny bit frustrating in places I would tell myself, okay let's take a moment and try again. The fact that Paper Trail is so relaxed it allows you to do that is really wonderful. 

This puzzle was a doozy for me.

Some of the story cutscenes have folding puzzles in them too. They're a little simpler and as you fold in the right places, you get more of the cutscene images. Sometimes I would be absolutely bamboozled by a puzzle because I could just not figure out how I was supposed to do it like a puzzle with a lot of lights and statues. This is where the hint feature comes in. I love that they thought about this and incorporated it into the game so that everyone can continue enjoying Paige's journey. It's called the slider and it will take you step by step through the puzzle showing where and how you fold the map. This is such a nice thing to have and when I got stuck on a couple of puzzles, that slider helped immensely. 

Thank you slider for all the puzzle hints! 

As I continued the journey with Paige, I loved learning more about her and what was driving her towards her goal. There were some parts of the story that made me sad for her, but it made me understand her much better. Paige wasn't running away, she was running towards something important that she felt would help her achieve her dreams and things she wanted to do. Speaking as a parent I do understand that fear of letting go, but eventually children grow up and they have to live their own lives and we have to let them. I do love the gentle way Paper Trail shows this with Paige's journey and by the end of the story I was happy for her and her family. The game itself isn't very long, I finished it in eight hours. I think that's the perfect length for it and I loved everything about it. The story is well done, the puzzles are interesting, and I love the charming art style. If you enjoy puzzle games, you will enjoy Paper Trail. It was such a joy for me to play and I'm so glad I got to experience it. Thank you, Newfangled games for this beautiful game! 

A vibrant Autumn landscape.

*Paper Trail is available to play on the following platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Netflix Games

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth: Fun Times And A Great Story

 I was so hyped when Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth was announced because I loved Like A Dragon and I adore Ichiban. Seeing that Ichiban and Kiryu would be together in the game had me really excited and I was excited to dive in right away. Infinite Wealth is set three years after the main plot of the first game with Ichiban working at Hello Work. The game gives us a great view of where Ichiban and his friends are at and how they're doing. It also gives a nice introduction into the improved battle system. It's still turn based, but now there are circles showing where your party members can move and they can move a lot more freely so you can plan your strategy during a battle accordingly. 

The gang is back together again! 

Without giving too much away, circumstances change things for Ichiban and his friends which leads to the main story of Ichiban going to Hawaii. It's exciting having an entirely new place to explore, but with the usual odd enemies that stem from Ichiban's imagination. Ichiban runs into Kiryu in Hawaii and the two of them teaming up is brilliant and it's the dream team I didn't know I needed. I love Ichiban and Kiryu together duking it out together against all these enemies. The over the top special attacks and tag team attacks are everything I love about the Like A Dragon games. They're fun, funny, and work really well with the story setting. 

Dream team Ichiban and Kiryu battle it out. 

There's the usual conversations between Ichiban and his friends, but now there's a fun twist called Friendship Bingo. Ichiban and Kiryu can chat with everyone and learn different things about them like favorite foods or hobbies. When they get a Bingo it increases the bonds which unlocks more battle abilities as well as supporting attacks known as chain reactions. It adds another fun layer to the battle system and with Kiryu you get to see the cool street fighting style he has since he can switch between stances and when his heat mode is full, he can go full brawl. The fights are fun which makes level grinding less of a chore. 

Friendship Bingo card. 

There's also of course tons of mini games in Infinite Wealth. There's the usual knowledge center mini game in the new Hawaiian setting and the can quest is still around in Japan. The Sujimon index is back too with even more Sujimon to discover and Sujimon battles which are an amusing parody of Pokemon battles. There's also a hilarious dating app minigame which leads to some pretty funny results for Ichiban. My personal favorite was Crazy Delivery and if you've ever played the game Crazy Taxi you will notice the references to it. It's such a good time and you can earn some pretty good rewards from it. 

It's time for crazy delivery! 

Then came my absolute favorite minigame, Dondoko Island. Think Stardew Valley meets Animal Crossing, but with a Yakuza setting and of course more Ichiban shenanigans. For me, it was a ton of fun tidying up the island and getting that resort to five stars. There's also a farm and you can have your Sujimon work there which levels them up and boosts their stats. One of the things I really enjoyed about Dondoko Island is you can leave and come back anytime throughout the story and you can invite people to the resort. After you finish the game, you can also go back and do any extra things you might have missed. 

Sujimon battle on Dondoko Island.

The story of Infinite Wealth is great. I was so invested in all of it because of how much it got me to care about not just Ichiban and Kiryu, but their friends too. I loved that we got to have so many moments with them throughout the story revealing intimate knowledge of things they struggled with, what made them happy, and how much they cared about Ichiban and Kiryu. I found this was strongest during the Drink Link substories which not only gives everyone in the party experience, but gives huge boosts to the friendship bonds. I of course also enjoyed all the karaoke which is always fun especially with Kiryu who is delightful. 

It was interesting switching back and forth between Hawaii and Japan with Ichiban being the Hawaii team and Kiryu being the Japan team. It is story locked, but it's smartly done and works surprisingly well with the flow of the events in the story. The story itself is great and had me in its grip for a good sixty plus hours of gameplay. There were a lot of beautifully emotional moments in the story that had me crying and some incredibly heartwarming moments that had me smiling.  The epic battles, the fantastic storytelling, the great side quests, and the great storytelling made Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth such a good time for me and I'm so glad I got to appreciate another adventure with Ichiban, Kiryu, and all their friends. 

*Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth is on these platforms: Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

*Join the Mothergamer community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer