Human In Boardgames Podcasts

As someone who's not the biggest FMV fan, I don't have that much experience with the genre; however, and in spite of that, I've played a handful over the last few years and enjoyed my time with most of them. I can't say the same about Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus?. What should have been a fun murder mystery was little more than a prison sentenc…

I'm about as far from the motocross fandom as one can get, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy myself a motocross game every now and again; however, I haven't enjoyed one in years thanks to seemingly all of them going down more of a simulation route than an arcade-y route. While Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Video Game 5--it's a mouthful,…

Do you like beat 'em ups? Do you like kaiju? If you said yes to either question, there's a good chance you'll enjoy Dawn of the Monsters, a fun, if a bit easy, beat 'em up all about beating the shit out of kaiju. You can play as one of four different characters--two robots and two kaiju--all of whom feel unique and can be upgraded and augmented to …

I'll admit, Catie in MeowmeowLand had an uphill battle before I even started playing it. While I love the art of many point-and-click adventure games, I rarely enjoy the puzzling-solving side of them. This is because, so often, the puzzles require a nonsensical way of thinking, don't make sense, or depend more on brute force clicking than creative …

I love match-3 games. I love them a lot. When I heard Princess Farmer's gameplay was all about match-3, I was immediately interested; however, after spending almost an hour with the game, I left feeling pretty indifferent about the gameplay, but the exact opposite about its story. How did this happen? How did a game about matching vegetables hook m…

On this episode of Attack the Backlog, I blow up everything but dolls in Just Cause 3, a game where you cause mayhem and destruction...just 'cause. This marks a first for Attack the Backlog. This is the first time I've ever gone back into my backlog to finish an old save, instead of restarting a game from the beginning (if it's something I've playe…

35MM throws you into post-apocalyptic Russia with just your buddy and a flashlight. In order to survive, you must explore the world in order to find supplies and maybe a few answers at the same time. This all sounds fine, uninspired, but fine; however, everything is lost the second you try and explore and get stopped in your tracks with the game fl…

Curious Expedition 2 scratches that Oregon Trail itch. Instead of attempting to survive the Oregon trail with your family, you're attempting to survive various expeditions with your crew. Like Oregon Trail, Curious Expedition 2 is heavily reliant on randomization in order to make every playthrough unique; however, in spite of how much was out of my…

To say Super Cyborg was inspired by Contra would be putting it mildly when the first level of Super Cyborg is basically the first level of Contra. Now, this isn't a bad thing since Contra is one of the greatest games of all time (and Super Cyborg does a pretty good Contra impression), but it does mean you won't see, and shouldn't expect, much of an…

Dungeon Color isn't the most challenging puzzle game in the world, but it does require one to step back, look at their surroundings, and figure out what needs to be done in order to proceed; for me, that's all I really want from a puzzle game. If that's all you want too, Dungeon Color is well worth checking out.…

I wish I could tell you more about Kombinera. I wish I could give you in-depth, detailed information on what the game is and whether it might be for you. I wish I could do a lot of things--like dancing, playing guitar, and reading/speaking Japanese fluently--but I can't and that long list of "can't"s includes being informative about Kombinera. The …

If you like classic arcade racers like Outrun, Rad Racer, Top Gear, and the like, you'll likely love Slipstream and hate how often I've already used "like" in this opening sentence; however, Slipstream does have an Achilles' heel. While Slipstream feels great to play--the drifting in particular is perfect thanks to how much control you're given--as…

On this episode of Attack the Backlog, I go on a roller coaster of love to like with Returnal, a third-person roguelite shooter that takes a lot inspiration from shmups and successfully translates it to a 3D environment. The gameplay is sublime, but because of the way it's structured, the game doesn't respect your time. What could have been one of …

Fluffy Cubed is a cute and fluffy little puzzle game and that's both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. While incredibly pleasant to look at, in large part because of its inviting pastel color palette, the puzzles are too easy and never increase in difficulty. Level 69 was as easy as Level 1 and, while that means it's probably great f…

Splash Cars, a game where you bring color to a colorless world by driving around and leaving a trail of color behind you wherever you go, sounds like a good time and looks like one too; however, this de BLob-like with cars plays its entire hand way too fast and never does anything to keep things exciting or interesting after level one. You may be a…

Super Dungeon Maker is the Legend of Zelda Maker you've all been waiting for...kind of; the foundation is strong, but, being the Early Access title it is, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Thankfully, as I've already stated, the foundation is strong--the core gameplay feels good, the art is fantastic, and while the tools your curr…

Young Souls has a lot of potential and might be a great game, but it spends so much of its opening hour talking your ear off that it's impossible to know how good the game is or what you'll spend the majority of your time doing, unless the whole game really just is, story story story, smidgen of gameplay, story story story. For this type of opening…

If you want to watch a video of someone sucking at The King of Fighters XV while talking about how they suck at The King of Fighters XV then this is the King of Fighters XV video for you! That said, if you're interested in hearing what someone who hasn't played a fighter in years thinks of The King of Fighters XV and if the game is accessible and w…

Spanning three chapters of five levels each across beautiful environments thanks to its simple but striking cartoony aesthetic, Agent Intercept puts you in the wheels of a transforming car tasked with taking down the evil organization, CLAW. In Fast and the Furious fashion, you’ll do a lot of drifting, mixed with over-the-top action, and a story so…

On this episode of Attack the Backlog, I return to the world of Ratchet & Clank with Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando. I went in with the highest of expectations and left with the saddest of realizations: I, maybe, don't like Ratchet & Clank. I loved the original game when I played it so many years ago and loved the reboot/remake, but, until now, th…

Wife Quest makes a good first impression with better-than-expected visuals, but throws it all away with average-at-best gameplay, a grating sense of humor, and an excessive amount of girl-on-girl action.By Pixelated Sausage

The Shadow Warrior series has been around for a while, but I've never put more than a few minutes into any of them until now, so if you're looking to find out how this one differs from the others, I can't help you. With that out of the way, I liked Shadow Warrior 3. I liked it so much I went back and finished it after recording this episode. It may…

Aztech Forgotten Gods is a mess. There are glimpses of quality there--the movement is fun and some of the art is alright--but it's all sandwiched between two thick pieces of janky, ugly, buggy, and surprisingly talky bread. I wanted to enjoy Aztech Forgotten Gods so much, but when it looks worse than Jak & Daxter, is boring to play 90% of the time,…

I'm not going to lie. I kind of hated Explosive Candy World when I first started it. It's not that it took time for me to "get it," but that it looked like crap and didn't bother telling me anything about how it played or what I was supposed to do; talk about a terrible first impression. That said, once I figured things out after a minute or two, a…

I'm not going to waste your time. Do not buy Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure. I don't care how good the table is--spoilers: it's nothing special--there is no justifying the price of this single table, costing significantly more than every other piece of Pinball FX3 DLC, even the three-table packs. If it's because of the Indiana Jones license--…

What if Castlevania II: Simon's Quest was a good game? Don't get me wrong, I love Simon's Quest, but there's no denying it isn't without its faults. Infernax feels like the answer, taking everything I loved about Simon's Quest, removing everything I hated, while adding some modern design in order to make a game that looks great, sounds great, plays…

On this episode of Attack the Backlog, watch as I duel and reviewel my way through the beautiful forests and valleys of Ghost of Tsushima, a game where you play as a samurai fighting against tradition in order to bring freedom and peace to Japan. If that sounds like your jam, I can't recommend it highly enough. I may sound negative at times in the …

Music Racer is a game I played when it originally came out in 2018 and, while this new "Ultimate Edition" adds a bit more content and the ability to use your own music, my feelings about the core game itself haven't changed; Music Racer is an amazing audio visualizer, but it is a terrible game and in no way fun to play. Does that mean I don't recom…

I'm very hit or miss when it comes to puzzle games, so The Last Cube already had a barrier to break through before I even started playing it and, like in-game, it broke through that barrier with ease to become one of my favorite games of the year (so far). This may only be my first impression based off the first 45 minutes and it could fall off a c…

Elex II is not a good game. It's buggy, full of jank, and not particularly fun to play; however, if you enjoy yourself some Euro jank--I've been known to dabble--you'll likely find plenty to enjoy in Elex II. It has a weird charm, terrible voice acting, and writing so creative, there's literally a creature called, "Annoying Critter." I can't recomm…

Let's get one thing out of the way right at the start. Gear.Club Unlimited 2: Ultimate Edition is not a bad game. In the grand scheme of things, Gear.Club Unlimited 2 is a solid entry in the racing genre. That said, it's clear from second one that Gear.Club Unlimited 2 is a Switch game being ported and it can't compete with what the other consoles …

Despite playing and loving many games like PowerSlave, I never played PowerSlave until now thanks to the new and shiny Exhumed edition, which takes aspects from the Saturn and PlayStation versions and mashes them together. I don't know what's from what, but what I do know is I had a really good time with PowerSlave Exhumed and wanted nothing more t…

This is going to sound weird. Castle Morihisa is a good game and I had fun playing it. Weird, right? That said, I would recommend Castle Morihisa to no one. Why? Because what Castle Morihisa does is it takes Slay the Spire, changes very little, and delivers a lesser experience. Sure, it's still a good game and imitating one of the best deck-buildin…

On this episode of Attack the Backlog, Marc puts on their best Obama mask and gets high as a kite while burning fields of dreams in Call of Juarez: The Cartel, the kind of dreams that only weed can make true, especially when playing a game that's worst that poo. The Cartel is a bad game in so many ways and the kind of game that leaves you constantl…

No matter what you think of this episode, you can't deny my commitment to a bit. Speaking of bits, the little bit I'll say about Beyond a Steel Sky is that I played it for an hour and a half, enjoyed none of it, and was bored by most of it. I never played the first game and have no idea if that matters, but, ultimately, Beyond a Steel Sky left me w…

What do you get when you take a ball, kicking and punching, and scoring goals by hitting your opponent's bell? Kungfu Kickball, of course! With a great first impression thanks to fun, colorful art and good (at first) music, Kungfu Kickball seems like a good idea; however, despite solid controls and the aforementioned great art, in practice, it fail…

This one is a bummer. A bummer because I've enjoyed past games from Tonguç Bodur, a single developer who's made some incredibly imaginative games, games so creative and full of heart that, even while rough around the edges, provided me with some of the most memorable experiences I've had in the last five years. The Dead Tree of Ranchiuna doesn't ap…

I don't usually play asymmetrical multiplayer games like Propnight, especially not horror-themed ones, but, you know what, I had a good time with Propnight. I may have only played it for a hour, but it was an enjoyable hour and, as far as first impression go, Propnight made a good one and one that has me wanting to go back for more. There's no tell…

Dysmantle is apparently a very me game. I say this because I spent two hours doing what likely took every other player only 15-30 minutes to do. What was clearly the starting area, cemented by the appearance of the title card and opening credits upon leaving said area, took me two hours to get through (and I would have taken longer if I wasn't stre…

Spirit Roots is not a bad game, it's just...fine, and when it comes to talking about a game, there's nothing worse that trying to talk about a game that's just...fine. Why? Because it's...fine. It doesn't do anything special or memorable and won't impress you in any way, but it also doesn't do anything to overly annoy or aggravate you. It works; tt…

On this episode of Attack the Backlog, Marc stays sweet and wholesome instead of tying hens while tentacling some holes, son, in Octodad: Dadliest Catch, a game where you play as an octopus who marries a human woman with two human children (who are never explained) and has a penchant for making a mess wherever he goes, delightfully so. Octodad orig…

Reverie Knights Tactics does one of the things I hate most--it overloads you with story and characters right at the start, forcing you to take in the story before you even know if you like the actual game. I guess, in a way, this is a tactic of trying to get someone invested in a story so, in case they don't care for the gameplay, they'll still sti…

QUByte Classics - The Humans by PIKO is a collection of two versions of the classic game, The Humans. Like many collections of old games, if you go into it without nostalgia, you'll likely end up appreciating the games more than actually liking them, which is how I felt after playing The Humans. Little was done to modernize the controls and little …

Yes. Yes it is. El Gancho immediately grabbed my attention with great music and lost it seconds later as soon as I started playing the game. I only spent 15 minutes with the game, but that was 14 minutes more than I needed in order to know El Gancho wasn't for me. Great music and decent art are nice, but gameplay is king and El Gancho's gameplay ma…

Cannibal Cuisine takes the Overcooked recipe, throws in a bit a tourist killing, and hopes its one new ingredient is just what the doctor ordered, except this doctor is apparently a vegan. There are a lot of Overcooked-likes out there and Cannibal Cuisine is both bad at being one of them, while also failing to do anything interesting with its one u…

Battle Brothers commits one of gaming's greatest sins when it comes to onboarding new players: it doesn't. It says there is a tutorial and recommends starting on Easy, but if what I played was supposed to be a tutorial, it was a cruel joke. Opinions will differ, but if a game can't take the time to teach me how to play it, I'm not going to take the…

I think we've all had enough of the number jokes by now, so let's just keep it nice and simple, eh. In this episode of FIRST!, I talk about Blackwind, a sci-fi action game where you pilot a mech suit and take out aliens and giant bugs while quipping endlessly along the way. The thing about Blackwind is, it's not a bad game, but it's not particularl…

On this episode of Attack the Backlog, Marc spies on teenage girls while trapping vampire ninjas in Night Trap, an FMV game that's pretty stupid and infamous for its help in creating the ESRB thanks to having scenes that were considered, "sexually suggestive and exploitive." Night Trap originally came out on October 15, 1992, for Sega CD and has si…

Say hello to the third episode of FIRST!, the second episode of SECOND!!, or maybe, just maybe, it's the first episode of THIRD!!!. All I can say for sure is, this joke is well past the point of being even remotely funny, I'm sorry, and I hope you can all forgive me. That said, this episode is all about Vagante, an action-platformer roguelike that'…

Say hello to the second episode of FIRST!, or maybe it's the first episode of SECOND!!? Who's to say? I am. I am who can say either way. And I say nay. It is just the second episode of FIRST! and that's that. Speaking of this episode, this episode is all about Cake Invaders, a cute mashup of Space Invaders and Missile Command that's a good time whi…