Cannon-Less Freebooters

HIGH  I need to know what is on that island.

LOW   Another chest of junk was on that island.

WTF    What is piracy without cannons?

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Salt 2: Shores of Gold is a first-person role-playing, exploration and sandbox adventure themed around piracy that sailed out of early access in November, 2025.

As is standard with any role-player rubbing elbows with a ship, the story opens with my character surviving a presumed shipwreck — and this happens often enough to be a running gag. A blurry figure greeted me, excited I survived. They then departed for destinations unknown while I suffered another brief blackout before the tutorial.

The tutorial was typical fare for anything involving crafting and survival mechanics these days. Several scattered books gave tips to help me along as a new player, and by the end of half an hour, I was the proud owner of some half-usable crafting materials and a ship of my own.

I set sail following my heart to see what was on offer. As I began my journey, the uncooperative wind danced aimlessly behind my sails more than a fickle mermaid princess celebrating the find of a new dingle-hopper. I assumed this would hinder my progress, but soon discovered that the wind held little sway over my course — in fact, neither the wind nor ocean current presented an impediment. I was free to sail anywhere I liked, with the only thing impacting me being when the ship bounced on waves.

I had hoped for a bit more immersion with the sailing physics, but the graphics and audio filled in with the sun and moon charting their course through the sky, casting beautiful shadows. Together with the sounds of the sails and ocean, it created serene moments as I marked new islands with my sextant. The music came and went gingerly, never overstaying its welcome and setting a wonderful mood for exploration. Unfortunately, this serenity was jarred by islands popping into my spyglass due to the game not being able to manage immersive draw distances.

Setting foot onto an early island gave me a taste of combat, and it was bland like stale hardtack and watered-down grog. The only complexity in the first-person shooter-style gameplay was a basic parrying system that didn’t help when I was outnumbered. I also noticed that a mechanic from pen-and-paper games was a stowaway here — I was “rolling” critical failures indicated by red damage numbers popping up. Even when making a headshot with my flintlock from stealth for bonus damage, I often got minimum damage rolls, ruining my opening attacks at random.

These critical failures dismantled all feelings of power from gear upgrades and made dungeon delving for better kit feel like a waste of time. There were ways to mitigate this through randomly-generated gear traits, but I lacked the resources to craft equipment early on. By hour ten, I stopped caring and healed my way through combat setbacks with copiously provided potions as I took advantage of the easily confused, often-stuttering enemy pathfinding.

My hopes for sea combat were dashed as all ships I encountered ended up being friendly shops. Despite a non-player character mentioning cannonballs, I never found a single cannon to pilfer or fire. The only quarry to sink my cutlass into were pirates, undead, and animals — and even then, on the islands only. There were no beasts or other freebooters to combat on the seas.

Island exploration also sunk. Salt 2 uses procedural generation to randomly place islands based on a seed, though the islands themselves are pulled from handcrafted assets with pseudo-random points of interest. In about six hours, I had seen the same underwater cave multiple times with loot in the same spots. Boredom followed swiftly.

Puzzles found on these islands posed zero intellectual challenge, with none more complex than pulling levers in the correct order, and there was always a note that told the answer. The only one that held some promise was a brief riddle towards the end of the major quest chain for the Sea Divers Guild. However, even that quest was no more difficult than paying attention to where each statue was looking.

Acquiring loot from enemies, random containers, or treasure chests brought terror-inducing flashbacks of Bethesda-style grabbing of everything that was not nailed down. It was an unwelcome feeling and never felt satisfying, and searching islands or dungeons for treasure chests often yielded junk. The only notable find was a legendary recipe for a spyglass that required hours of leveling skills to craft.

Speaking of crafting, the system is tiered and basic as the rest of the experience. Each level of equipment is locked behind a secondary skill that requires spending time and resources to level up. I attempted to make better gear often, but could never find new recipes from shops. This forced me to try and hunt for them, but I never managed to discover even a middling boot recipe in my 30 hours with Salt 2.

All of this lead me to one poignant conclusion — none of this content made me feel like a pirate.

The pirate theme was everywhere, but rather than imparting immersion, it felt like a cheap Halloween costume, flimsy plastic sword included. Also, after 30 hours, I had died a total of two times — once in combat getting my sea legs, and again from a buggy fall due to the complete absence of climbing mechanics. Taking risks is a key facet of piracy! My ship was unsinkable. There was never any risk of drowning. Food was copious. I could always strike enemies unopposed and heal near infinitely. Bosses had no unique abilities or mechanics to challenge me.

Ultimately, I can’t imagine who this game was for. If it was directed at children I could understand the level of difficulty, but the thin content and basic systems will hardly appeal to seasoned players. If Salt 2 were a ship, it would give the Kraken indigestion.

Rating: 3 out of 10

— John Powell

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Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Lavaboot Studios. The game is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via Steam as a paid digital download by the reviewer. The game was reviewed on PC. Approximately 30 hours were devoted to the single-player mode and the game was not completed. 0 hours of play were spent in the multiplayer mode.

Parents: This game is not rated by the ESRB. The game includes depictions of blood, alcohol use, mild violence, mild horror, references to gambling, human remains, references to cannibalism, and suicide.

Colorblind Modes: No colorblind modes are available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game does not offer subtitle settings. The introduction cutscene contains subtitles. All other dialogue is presented via written text regardless of audio settings. Spoken dialogue when interacting with non-player characters is flavor dialogue only. Enemies have non-subtitled audio cues when reacting to the player. This game is not fully accessible. Interface and written text options include: English, French, Italian, German, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Portuguese for Brazilian audiences, and Spanish for Spain and Latin America audiences.

Remappable Controls: This game offers fully remappable keyboard controls. Full controller support is offered through Steam for Xbox, DualShock (USB Only), and DualSense (USB Only) controllers. Controller buttons are not remappable in game, but are remappable via Steam interface. The game displays controller face buttons and their functions through user interface context hints.  Keyboard binds are similar to first-person shooter-style WASD schema. The gamepad had a mostly standard setup based on Xbox controllers — left stick move (click for sprint), right stick look (click for crouch), A for jump, and X for use. An odd choice was the right bumper was dodge and right trigger was attack. Left bumper is reserved for the weapon wheel and left trigger is block.

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High On Life

HIGH It’s a no-stress title to wind down with.

LOW WALK FASTER!!!

WTF A talking refrigerator?

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Developed by Armenian studio Mandragora, I Am Future transforms survival into a peaceful experience best paired with a cup of tea. The idea differs from the traditionally violent nature of survival games, instead focusing on resource management and socializing with anthropomorphic appliances. The third-person gameplay is well thought-out and I always had a thousand things to do, but as the story unfolded a few problems cropped up for me, and In my experience, the mellow, cozy nature which is ostensibly the selling point of I am Future becomes its biggest flaw.

The tale kicks off on an isolated rooftop where the player wakes up with amnesia and a sky-high sense of confusion. The city around them is completely flooded, and survival is accomplished through a complex system of gathering and crafting.

At first, materials are collected from piles on the floor — simple parts like wood planks, plastic, and metal scraps. These basic ingredients are used to upgrade to higher quality parts and tools.

Quests are usually checkpoints that require certain objects to unlock. This loop of foraging, building, and crafting creates a deliberately slow experience that rewards patience and planning. I enjoyed collecting materials because they cleared up the roof every time I picked them up, and seeing a messy junkyard turn into a clean home served as motivation to gather. Additionally, the story is supplemented with rooftop excursions like fishing and exploration which add another layer of depth.

In terms of narrative, the plot is a little underwhelming. While there are hints of an interesting backstory, lore is delivered through large walls of text that didn’t feel exciting to read. The content itself is also fairly generic and struggles to stand out on its own, piggybacking off of the gameplay instead of being a central part of the experience.

Throughout the narrative, simple obstacles like hunger, health, and basic enemies pose a slight challenge. The player needs to craft meals and sleep, which are quite easy to do. A small mechanic I loved was working to unlock recipes. From simple foods like baked mushrooms to more advanced fish soup, these crazy concoctions provided a nice distraction from the big quests. Besides basic human needs, the player also needs to repel leeches (called electrosites) that appear every night. Alas, electrosites are threatening through quantity instead of quality, and by the mid-game, they stopped feeling like a meaningful enemy. Adding to the annoyance, they spawn even on “peaceful” mode, which kind of defeats the purpose of that setting.

Throughout this review, I have mentioned that in general, the vibe is is slow-paced. Unfortunately, it gets a little too sluggish.

Many progression requirements demand large crafting times while rarely introducing new mechanics, shifting the experience to busywork. The storage system is also poor, as each item gets its own slot inside an inventory menu. However, the beginner inventory and chests don’t have nearly enough storage slots for the amount of items introduced, and I spent ridiculous amounts of energy trying to organize and find materials. This is addressed with upgrades in the mid-game, but I still think the player’s starting inventory should be bigger.

Back to the positives, the graphics and artistic style ofI am Future are phenomenal. The art is colorful during daytime and gloomier at night. In addition, each object has a unique design that makes it easy to keep track of.

Character customization is extensive and I spent more time than I would like to admit mixing and matching hairstyles and mustaches. Yet while the graphics bring the flooded paradise to life, movement sinks it again. I am Future has only one movement option — walking. The walk is infuriatingly unhurried, which left me desperately wishing for running or jumping. I did find out about a teleport button, but it was obscurely hidden in the menu and had a ten minute cooldown which rendered it basically useless.

I am Future targets the fans of slower crafty games. Gathering resources, dismantling objects, farming, fishing… it all comes together to make a non-rushed title, and while I wanted to like it, it just didn’t click. Quests ended up feeling like chores, and the story wasn’t exciting enough to make up for the lackluster gameplay. Overall, I am Future offers a pleasant starting loop, but it never evolves into anything bigger.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

— Eddie Guo

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Disclosures: This game is developed by Mandragora and published by tinyBuild. It is currently available on XBX/S, PS5, PC and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 6 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. There is nothing explicit or violent here, and it is safe for all ages.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There is no dialogue, and everything is communicated via text bubbles. No audio cues are needed for play. This title is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The game has fully remappable controls.

The post I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

Dire Evidence

HIGH A one-handed mode and strong accessibility options.

LOW Lack of visible body/feet in first-person view.

WTF Witness testimonies reimagined as interactive, playable memories.

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Courtroom drama is criminally underrepresented in gaming, and The Darkest files does its part to change that, bringing a rare mix of historical gravity, narrative agency, and emotional nuance to the table.

Set in post-WWII Germany, The Darkest Files follows a young prosecutor working under the stern eye of Fritz Bauer (a real historical figure) as they sift through evidence, interview witnesses, and try to untangle the lingering moral wreckage of a nation trying to rebuild.

The setting alone is enough to grab attention, but it’s the small touches that elevate the experience — picking dialogue responses, interrupting witness testimonies to present evidence mid-conversation, and risking rejection when submitting proof to the court. Unlike other titles where success is often telegraphed, The Darkest Files isn’t afraid to let players fail – reinforcing the idea that justice, like memory and life itself, are fragile.

Played from a first-person perspective, the hook to The Darkest Files lies in its approach to investigation. Witness interviews feel dynamic because players aren’t just passively listening — the memories described are fully playable scenes that players can explore, adjust, and challenge.

For example, in one moment an elderly woman describes a fleeting glimpse of a suspect, and within seconds, the player’s view shifts into a surreal reconstruction where one can move about, examine evidence, and try to piece together a credible timeline. However, in a move harkening back to the developers’ bravery via presenting opportunities to fail, certain parts of the reconstruction trigger the end of the investigation opportunity, whether or not the player has investigated all points of interest — and missing some could lead to a weaker case and a potential loss in court.

The gameplay is smooth and largely intuitive, and accessibility is clearly a high priority – one-handed mode being just one of many thoughtful options. Reconstructing events and organizing evidence flows naturally, with stakes added by the fact that even a seemingly complete compilation of proof can be rejected by the court. There is no hand-holding here — players are asked to think critically and advocate fiercely.

Not everything hits the mark, though. While the court scenes are engaging, they tend to resolve quickly, leaving little room for the kind of strategic maneuvering seen in other legal dramas. The inability to lay traps for the defense – such as baiting a lie and then revealing contradictory evidence – feels like a missed opportunity to add extra layers of tactical satisfaction.

Still, The Darkest Files manages to do something special. Its neo-noir art style – heavy on blues, whites, and yellows – beautifully complements the somber tone of its story, evoking a blend of 1960s comics and classic detective cinema. Meanwhile, characters like Simon Petere — an old rival initially rooting for the player’s failure — inject a sharp tension that prevents the narrative from sinking into being a dry historical rehash. Some of its best moments come from small, human details – things like retail stores half-heartedly justifying their wartime behavior, and citizens wrestling with guilt and denial – that paint a complicated portrait of post-war Germany that is rarely seen in games.

The Darkest Files doesn’t simply retread expected courtroom cliché — it asks hard questions, demands patience, and treats its players with the respect they deserve. Putting a few minor mechanical shortcomings aside, The Darkest Files succeeds by refusing to sanitize history and doesn’t oversimplify the complexities of justice and the human spirit.

Rating: 8 out of 10

— Patricio do Rosario

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Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Paintbucket Games. It is available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 8 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed.

Parents: This game is Not Rated by the ESRB. There are depictions of Violence. A description about the game reads: Germany, 1956. The war is over, but justice is not served. Former Nazis walk free, while their victims lie in unmarked graves. As a prosecutor, you’ll unearth long-buried evidence, confront witnesses and hunt down perpetrators. Will you have the courage to bring these “ordinary men” to court? It’s not meant for children.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The Darkest Files offers no options for audio accessibility other than subtitles, but there are no necessary audio cues and the game is playable without sound. This game is fully accessible. There are options to resize texts and subtitles. (See examples above.)

Remappable Controls: All controls are fully remappable.

The post The Darkest Files appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

Start Believing In Ghost Stories

HIGH Dark, gloomy atmosphere and captivating narrative.

LOW Looking for that one missing piece.

WTF Are some of these character motivations?

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If one particular genre broke onto my gaming menu in 2025, it was mystery titles.

Like most things, it started off simple. The buzz around Disco Elysium became too alluring and the incredible writing quickly turned it into a personal favorite.

Shortly after, a friend recommended a little-known indie game called Outer Wilds and I joined the cult of players who now seek to vicariously relive their space venture through others.

Since then I’ve been making my way through some recent classics like Paradise Killer, The Case of the Golden Idol, Return of The Obra Dinn, and also some great releases from the current year such as The Roottrees Are Dead and Blue Prince. Needless to say, the bar has been set pretty high, and on my partner’s recommendation I booted up The Séance of Blake Manor as a potential new addition to the list.

Set in a rural Irish manor on the Halloween of 1897, the player takes on the role of Declan Ward, an investigator hired to look into the disappearance of Ms Evelyn Deane, a guest who had until recently been in residence.

At the same time, the Manor happens to be playing host to a colorful cast of characters attending a grand séance, touted as the first time that humans will manage to pierce the veil and truly talk to the deceased in the afterlife.

The initial task is to find out the truth behind what happened to Ms. Deane, but things quickly spiral into an interconnected web of intrigue and lore as the player learns more about the motives of each guest in an effort to find the culprit.

Initially, I was greeted with a small tutorial section that introduces Blake Manor’s mechanics and sets the scene for Ms. Deane’s disappearance. The player will investigate objects around the manor in order to obtain evidence, and may need to further discuss that evidence with guests in order to learn enough information to construct a hypothesis and finally confront the guilty individual.

In a move that I suspect may alienate some players, there is also an overarching time limit at play — investigating objects and talking to the manor’s patrons will burn through the limited time the player has available before the séance takes place. This also plays into the schedules of each character, who may be unavailable to speak to or located in different places depending on the time. While this adds an element of urgency, I did manage to resolve all the mysteries despite spending quite a few hours on inefficiencies. Thankfully, Blake Manor does offer hints as to what actions will progress each mystery, and does not punish the player for rechecking existing information — this adds a slightly forgiving feel, and was much appreciated!

For the first few hours I was absolutely overwhelmed with information as I rooted through the manor grounds and developed a rather unhealthy desire to break into everyone’s bedrooms, and any confusion was greatly reduced by Blake Manor nicely cataloguing all the information I found into a series of separate conspiracy boards to help track each mystery. While it might feel a bit “handholdy” compared to others in the genre, I found it to be vital thanks to the number of stories and motives simultaneously happening around the manor.

To further assist the player, Blake Manor also limits who they can quiz about certain pieces of evidence to keep each puzzle a bit more contained. Again, this felt like a wise decision to keep the player focused on the overarching narrative, rather than asking them to test every piece of information against a guest… which I did once or twice anyway. For spoiler reasons I won’t touch on the story beyond what’s been mentioned, but rest assured I believe it to be absolutely worth playing through, and there are some great twists in store.

The dark themes of the story are complimented by Blake Manor’s muted comic book aesthetic, which gave the manor a foreboding presence. It looks fantastic, and the important story beats are often accompanied by a comic book panel-style scene depicting the events, which adds to the feeling of discovery. Honestly, I have no real criticism about Blake Manor’s presentation and especially want to praise the character designs, voice acting and one-off sequences.

So far this has been a whole lot of praise — and it’s well earned — but I would be remiss not to mention some minor complaints.

For a start, the player will be spending a lot of their time exploring the manor and re-treading old ground. Due to how the manor and grounds are segmented, this also means spending a lot of (real) time going between zones. Each zone transition necessitates a loading screen, and it can begin to feel rather tedious if the player is lacking a clear goal or direction. It’s not a dealbreaker, but I imagine the problem will be compounded for players using a HDD or weaker PCs.

Secondly, the player is not allowed to solve a mystery until they have found all the pieces of evidence. For a number of cases, I understood the character’s motives and had solved the mystery in my head, but couldn’t solve it in the game itself because I hadn’t found the last piece of information to arbitrarily allow me to suggest a hypothesis. While I understand the need for this from a gameplay perspective, I would have liked the option to make an ‘educated guess’ when I had the majority of clues.

It’s also worth stating clearly this is a narrative-focused title first and foremost, and that the puzzles the the player is asked to solve are fairly simple, with only one or two exceptions that break previous puzzle logic. Minimal mental legwork is needed to crack the mysteries associated with each character.

These are all relatively minor complaints in the grand scheme of things. For lovers of supernatural mysteries, Irish folklore or even just a good old comic book, I am happy to give The Séance of Blake Manor an enthusiastic recommendation. I greatly enjoyed getting to know the characters and revealing their dark secrets, and ultimately unearthing the mystery of Ms. Deane’s disappearance. If this mystery looks even remotely appealing, my guess is that the experience will be enjoyed.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

— Adam Sharman

Buy The Séance of Blake Manor — PC

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Disclosures: This game is developed by Spooky Doorway and published by Raw Fury. It is currently only available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via paid download and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 15 hours of play were devoted to the game and it was completed. There is currently no multiplayer option.

Parents: The game is currently unrated by the ESRB. There are no jumpscares or graphic imagery, but there are a number of spirits who may be upsetting to younger players. Various changes also happen as the player explores the manor to give it a haunted feel. Blake Manor also deals with mature themes such as suicide and murder, and also features a sequence based around hallucinogenic drugs.

Colorblind Modes: There is no colorblind mode.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Key dialogue is voiced, but all dialogue is also communicated via text. (See examples above.) There are audio queues for certain events, however they do not impact gameplay. The text and cursor each have a “larger” option for additional accessibility.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls on keyboard and controller.

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