TheMadWelshman

TMW is Transferring Domains, But Don't Worry!

Hi there!

So, as the title says, TMW is moving hosts, and transferring the domain to said new host. This'll be happening somewhere between the 2nd and the 5th, and is expected to take about three days.

But you will not be unable to view the reviews, as a mirror is already up at themadwelshman.com (Although, due to a database cockup on my end, it only goes to September at the time of writing. I'll be fixing that before the 2nd, don't you worry.) After that, hey, everything's normal again, .com will most likely end up redirecting to the .co.uk, and things'll carry on much as they have for the past 5 years!

Damn, 5 years... I feel old now.

SFW Reviews From December and January

Sorry for the lack of updates, folks, December and January were... A thing. Very unpleasant, and if something could go wrong, it did go wrong. Nonetheless, we're finally here, at the end of January, and I can update these catchup posts!

Nexomon, an Early Access pokemon-like game, alas, grated me from the word go. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/nexomon-early-access-review/

Disc Creatures, meanwhile, while retaining that Game Boy Colour/Advance aesthetic, also brings a lot more of its own design decisions to the monster catching genre, so comes recommended! https://themadwelshman.co.uk/disc-creatures-review/

Blink: Rogues, a solid shooter, was nonetheless also pretty workmanlike, despite its gimmick of shifting between playfields. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/blink-rogues-review/

Blaster Master Zero 2, however, is a solid metroidvania style game continuing the story of a boy, his tank, his frog, and his friends. Good stuff, despite my griping. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/blaster-master-zero-2-review/

Gonna go outside of chronological order for these two, because, while Das Geisterschiff was pretty interesting, albeit somewhat hard (https://themadwelshman.co.uk/das-geisterschiff-going-back/), Der Geisterturm, despite its quality of life improvements, also turned up the difficulty. Damn. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/der-geisterturm-review/

Ashencame to Steam! It's a soulslike! It's got a bright world with actual hope in it! It's good! https://themadwelshman.co.uk/ashen-review/

Speaking of, there's a few "Came to PC!" titles, including SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays, a Super Robot Wars styled turn-based SRPG involving, you guessed it, the world of Gundam. With an absolutely sillyamount of content, this one comes highly recommended. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/sd-gundam-g-generation-cross-rays-review/

Little Dungeon Storieshas a mechanic we've seen before, the swiping from both Tinder and the Reigns games, and it's a nice little roguelike, works pretty well. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/little-dungeon-stories-early-access-review/

I also took a look at the complete Steam version of Divinationand, despite a hefty content warning for themes of self harm and suicide, this one's a short, but well written visual novel. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/divination-review-2/

Demon's Tiltreleased, and, if you know me, I love me some pinball, and I've been loving the multiple subtables of this goth synthwave pinball bullet hell game. Yes, that's right, all of those things. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/demons-tilt-review/

Jamestown+ , a revamped version of the original bullet hell with the original DLC, and a little extra on top, remains as it was when I first reviewed it. Love it, except for the gating of the final levels behind difficulty levels. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/jamestown-review/

For Sayonara Wild Hearts, I only reallyhave to say "It has literal Sword Lesbians" to sell it, but it's a solid multi-style arcade game, super fast, and also a music video with a heartfelt story about coming out. Hell. Yes. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/sayonara-wild-hearts-review/

The Coma 2: Vicious Sistersis one of the better horror titles I've reviewed in the past year. A 2d side scrolling affair similar in the basics to the classic Clock Tower, it definitely has its own identity, a lot to recommend it, and take note: Body horror! https://themadwelshman.co.uk/the-coma-2-review/

Another "Oh hey, a good thing came to PC!", Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth(Although it should more accurately be titled "Digimon Stories", since it also has the Hacker's Memories sequel as part of it) is two content filled games, with some crossplay mechanics, and all the DLC with it, including the timesaving stuff that, while I dislike, nonetheless is appreciated for the inclusion. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/digimon-stories-cyber-sleuth-complete-edition-review/

Remember how I often say "Hey, wouldn't it be nice if there was a game like [console exclusive] on PC?" , and, often, I get what I want, but in a Monkey's Paw kinda way? Well, Dragon Spearis not one of those times. Heavily inspired by noted RPG Beat-em-up Dragon's Crown, this one's... Solid! https://themadwelshman.co.uk/dragon-spear-going-back/

Kelipotis certainly an interesting one. A furry not-quite metroidvania, not quite roguelike, involving a take on the story of Cain and Abel, and multiple parallel worlds, alas, in its present state, I had a hard time with it. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/kelipot-early-access-review/

Piko Piko, similarly, is a game I'm having a rough time with right now, mainly out of bewilderment at its breakneck pace and somewhat confusing world. Still, despite that, it definitely shows promise. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/piko-piko-early-access-review/

Speaking of promise in Early Access, Spellsword Cards: Dungeon Top is a card-based, , turn-based, sortakindamayberoguelike strategy RPG that I've really appreciated so far. Check it out. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/spellsword-cards-dungeon-top-early-access-review/

Oho, another monster catching game? And it's an MMO? Yes, Temtemhas hit Early Access on Steam, and y'know? It's pretty good so far! https://themadwelshman.co.uk/temtem-early-access-review/

Finally, although I've seen folks griping about its length, Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York does exactly what it sets out to do: Tell interesting stories in the vampiric part of the World of Darkness. With a great art style, I honestly liked it.

And that's your lot for now, folks, look forward to February, not least because World of Horror is finally hitting Early Access next month, awwwwwh yiss!

Reviews from the latter half of the month (SFW)

The end of the month was, in fact, pretty slow for SFW games. While I definitely missed some interesting ones (don't worry, we'll be dealing with as many as we can in the early part of December!), the ones I reviewed were mostly pretty cool.

Sigma Theory, for example, is a strategy game of perhaps the biggest cold war. The cold war race for posthumanity. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/sigma-theory-review/

Spring Falls, meanwhile, was a fun little puzzler with a cool idea. https://themadwelshman.co.uk/spring-falls-review/

Detective Kobayashi, alas, has its irritating moments. But if you're into what you read... https://themadwelshman.co.uk/detective-kobayashi-review/

DemonCrawl, however, is bloody solid, despite being... Roguelike Minesweeper? https://themadwelshman.co.uk/demoncrawl-review/

We'll continue next month, NSFW games and SFW alike, so look forward to it!

Reviews From The Early Part Of The Month (SFW)

Hey folks... Kinda forget to post, because hey, the reviews are on the site, right, and anyone can look 'em up. But visibility does kinda rely on posts, so I'd best start changing that. Hopefully there should be two, maybe three posts a month, to coincide with what I jokingly call the ReviewDumps (Because hey, I post my reviews in batches. Sometimes big ones.)

Anyway, reviews. It's been, as is usual for TMW, a bit of a mixed bag, but there's been some gems in among the rough, and, also as usual, the rough gets minimised due to me picking things that seem interesting, rather than what's big name. Without further ado:

Tangle Tower - A cool mystery puzzle game, with some good voicework, solid character writing, and quality of life additions I appreciate greatly.  https://themadwelshman.co.uk/tangle-tower-review/ 

Meteorfall: Krumit's Tale (Early Access) - A strategic card puzzler roguelite, Krumit's Tale has a pretty unique aesthetic, and has a promising start with complexity arising from simplicity, as tight games have.  https://themadwelshman.co.uk/meteorfall-krumits-tale-early-access-review/ 

The 13th Doll: A 7th Guest Fangame - Holy hannah, Stauf returns! While there's heapings of cheese and ham, and some evil puzzles, this is definitely a solid successor to the 7th Guest. No, not the 11th Hour. We don't talk about the 11th Hour.  https://themadwelshman.co.uk/the-13th-doll-a-7th-guest-fangame-review/ 

Posthuman: Sanctuary (Early Access) - The story based adaptation of the boardgame of the same name, Posthuman is interesting. But, as this latest Early Access review shows, the lategame... Could use work.  https://themadwelshman.co.uk/posthuman-sanctuary-early-access-review-2/ 

Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient (Episode 1) - Yup... That sure is an episode 1 of a Corpse Party game alright. The problem being, since it's a chapter 1... There's not a lot to say right now.  https://themadwelshman.co.uk/corpse-party-2-dead-patient-chapter-1-review/ 

Abyss Manager - Ohhh boy. I'd kind of hoped this would have cut down on the grind, but no, Abyss Manager shows the tedium of dungeon management... Through grind. Not fun at all.  https://themadwelshman.co.uk/abyss-manager-review/ 

Site's back

It's been a very tiring (and frustrating) few days, but, apart from problems I can now work on later, TMW is back up. Thanks for your patience, folks.

A Somewhat Hellish Weekend

As folks may have noticed, the site's been down all weekend, and Monday too. This is probably going to be for another day or two, and, in a bleakly amusing twist, it's because I wanted to improve the site.

Essentially, we've tried to update the site to more modern standards, and this... Has broken the site. I've been in pretty much constant communication with my host provider, trying to get the site to work.

Worst case scenario, I can nuke the site, and restart from zero, reuploading content and plugins, and get the site up by the end of the week. Best case, the next fix attempt in a few hours will be the final one. I will make sure to post on the Patreon when the site's back up, but in the meantime, I apologise for the outage.

Jamie, TMWReviews.

Patreon Update

Okay, so, for now, you've hopefully gotten an email from the Patreon folks about the per pledge fees being walked back (Thus keeping the fees on my end, and payments to multiple creators charged as a single transaction.)

If not, well, that's the gist of it. Things folks were worried about have been, for the time being, rolled back and will not be happening on the 18th.

I'd like to thank you all for the support this year, as it's been a rough year, and... Well, it warms my critical heart to see folks support TMW. Wishing you all an awesome Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year. There'll be a few more reviews toward the end of the month at the very least, and, obviously, hoping to continue next year. :)

Stay awesome, folks!

Jamie

Patreon Changes, And What They Mean For You.

Hi folks, come to give some bad news. Patreon's incoming changes, if you're someone who donates small amounts (<$5) are... Not good. Essentially, rather than taking an amount from what *I* get (Which is how Paypal business transactions work, and the like), they're shifting that so that, when you pay $1, they're adding a service fee onto *your* donation.

Yeah, okay, that means more for me. But that's at the expense of folks who want to pay X, but are, from December 18th, going to be paying X + 2.9% + $0.35 for every patron donation.

Needless to say, I would perfectly understand if your donations went down, or, in the case of small donations (the under $5 crowd), went altogether, and I shall try and keep you posted as to whether this change (due, as noted, December 18th, so in time for next month) gets rolled back, because it's proven *distinctly* unpopular now that it's out there.

Wishing you well, folks, and have a good christmas, the reviews are continuing, I just thought I'd give you a fair heads up!

Jamie, TMW.

WE LIVE! AGAIN!

(Although, mysteriously, the support page isn't linking properly in my pinned tweet. But the site's back, words shall flow once more, and my docket is now ridiculously full, so... Look forward to that...?)

Help, I'm stuck in a reviewing factory and the door's locked. ;_;

Site's Down, Should Be Temporary.

Just so you know, there are site probs right now, host provider is working on fixing 'em, and I'll make another post once it's sorted.

Still On The Case! (A Rough Guide To Next Month)

Crossposting this from Twitter and Mastodon , because it is very true that I do not, in fact, post here for you lovely folks enough.

Right. Even though the break in *general* is ongoing, I should hopefully be able to stream some things on my docket either tonight or tomorrow (Most likely via the twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/jamiethed) , and I *am* making sure things are on the docket. Let's go through some of the additions briefly.

LOCALHOST. Fuck yes. I will not be streaming this, as it is essentially a VN, but it is definitely on the docket. (https://sophiapark.itch.io/localhost)

Ys 7. Won't be streaming because I *like* talking, and the game enables me like anything. Still, I'm somewhat happy that a friend convinced me to give this a go.

(Pictured: Ys has pretty scenery.)

Pixel Puzzles Picross. It's mfin' Picross, will stream. It makes some odd decisions, but I'll get into those, and a couple of other niggles with what would otherwise be summed up as "It's Picross, mate" on stream.

Still on my docket due to Early Access are ESSENCE, GRIP, Bombslinger, Predestination, Hacktag, and Principa: Master of Science, and I have some reviews I was planning from last month (before the break) in the form of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, and Dungeon Manager ZV Resurrection.

So, some of the things to look forward to, TMWReview wise, this month. As is, that should hopefully be 11 plus reviews (Plus not only because I add things to the docket as I go, but because there's some I'm keepin' under my hat.) Wishing you well, folks, and feel free to spread the word about the post! :D

Regular Streams Reminder

Well, I'm not exactly the most talkative person in the world, it seems, as I'd forgotten to mention that regular streams are a thing right now.

Every TUESDAY, at 7PM GMT, and every Friday, at 11:59 GMT (Both times allowing for the wonders of "TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES"), at http://hitbox.tv/jamiethed . Tuesdays are generally older games with some interesting stuff, while Fridays are generally something I'm in the process of reviewing (So this Friday, for example, will be Pony Island.)

You may also notice there's some more Patron rewards, too. Don't worry, you can change what you opt into/out of at any time, folks!

Hope you're doin' well!

Jamie Durbin, The Mad Welshman

Patron Art Update

The art for $15 a month patrons is being worked on, and the first is almost done! (Just tidy up and title card) A shrunk preview is above this post, and Patrons will, at the present time, be sent A4 glossy.

As always, continuing to put up reviews and videos (The most recent have been a retrospective on Deadnaut, some footage of Invisible Inc ("Hilarity" is incoming there, be warned!) and a reprint of some of my previous work, with King's Quest Ep 1, Vector Thrust, Interstellaria, and, after a short break between the 3rd and the 5th of next month, Blood Bowl 2 all incoming in the near future.

So let's (briefly) talk support. Right now, if you can't afford to support The Mad Welshman, there are, of course, other ways to help get the word out, such as letting folks know about articles or vids you've particularly liked, liking and sharing the Facebook page... Basically, gettin' the word out about this Patreon.

Either way, I shall continue to try and provide for as long as I can, and wish Patrons and fans the best! Hope you're all havin' a good week!

Feedback on how you think the Patreon could be improved, or the site, etc, can, as always, be left as a message here or via the site. So if you're on the fence, give some feedback, see how it goes!