Recent reviews by Mabry

This game was awesome and much better than I had expected.
The graphics are fresh and unique, the story is downright enthralling, and the plap plaps are nice & satisfying.
It can be a bit on the easy side, but there's good enough mechanics that keep the combat and boss fights fresh.
The creature design and storyline were definitely the highlights for me.

The move and middle lane mechanic definitely puts a fresh take on the genre.
That being said, it does wear off after awhile.
Still had fun playing it and would recommend to anyone interested in the genre.

It's an intriguing concept based on the auto battler genre, I just wish it was more... realized.
I had fun playing but felt like I hit a wall after a couple hours of gameplay. Most of my time was spent frantically trashing junk items in hopes that I don't miss an actual useful drop. 95% of the combat revolves around the weapon, you barely have time to read items before slapping it on your character assuming any stat increase is an upgrade.

This game gets a recommendation because the Dev is cool and continues to work on the game, so I'm hoping to see some improvements in the future. If the inventory was larger, I feel that the gameplay would be more strategic as you would have time to evaluate what you put on your character, and maybe take 50% of the junk from the pool because 85% of the gameplay is moving stuff into the trash.

A neat way to kill a couple of hours.
Piece together synergies to create a landscape.
The text is a bit hard to read on the steamdeck though

This game is missing most all the charm the original had.
First Talos Principle was a simple game with leftover assets that they crafted into something special.
TP2 feels bloated in all the wrong places... I just wanted to solve puzzles, not play a walking simulator and listen to shallow quippy dialog.
After a long introduction, the puzzles I did play were fine. But the story, 1sided philosophy, dialog, running around, and cutscenes in-between got on my nerves. There are plenty of other puzzle games to play out there, this is just the most popular one.

While the core gameplay is entertaining, I just can't help but feel it isn't finished OR polished.
Collecting loot and doing battles are what you spend the most time doing, and that's well enough. However it's the rest of the game that feels forgotten.
The town aspect looks thrown together in the last minute, the map is frustrating to utilize, and transitioning from area to area looks stupid. These all bring down the core gameplay down to a sludge crawl.
Main reason I'm giving it a thumbs down is because I think it's overpriced at 20. They could have kept the scope down and realized a better smaller game.

I want more games like this!!
despite it's jankiness, it was quiet entertaining to play.

The setting and presentation are great!
However, the story doesn't offer any explanation during the very short runtime, and the devs don't really have an episode two planned at the moment.
I'd recommend either waiting for an episode 2 or discount.

I enjoyed the style, but the gameplay just isn't there.
The mouse action is floaty, the card mechanics are fairly basic, and there are unexplained mechanics that I can't get use to.
It doesn't seem like a bad game, but there are just to many other better options out there for me to give this a thumbs up.

A hidden gem from one of my favorite gaming companies.
They always bring something a little unique to the genre and of course the poppin' music always helps.