Pros: Bastion is an absolute masterpiece that makes a strong case for greatest indie game of all time, period. To begin with its lesser triumphs,...

Cons: The other reviewers were correct in pointing out that it can be hard to tell when you're about to fall off an edge. That said, it doesn't...

Pros: Bastion is an absolute masterpiece that makes a strong case for greatest indie game of all time, period. To begin with its lesser triumphs, the game features phenomenal music, near-flawless design, and a striking visual art style, particularly in the beautiful still drawings like the one you see near the top of this screen. As far as gameplay goes, it's hard to imagine a better-executed single-player action RPG; it's just fun to play. To name just one great design choice, the customizable difficulty/reward system is fantastic. But since the other reviews covered the gameplay aspect nicely, I'm going to focus on Bastion's single most glorious strength: the narration.

In most games, that would be a strange thing to pick out. Narration is typically used as exposition if at all, and is not always welcome, though it has been used to great effect. The most exemplary experience would be the Portal series, but Bastion manages an even more difficult feat: while the Valve titles mix darkness with light humor and tell much of their story via environmental cues, virtually everything you learn about in Bastion comes from the rich voice of the narrator, who takes his world very seriously. Because of this, the game could easily have come off as ridiculous if the writing, the story, or the voice acting were of lower quality. But all three are top-notch, and each deserves separate consideration.

Bastion may be the only game I have ever played whose individual written lines have stuck with me. Not just mottos or plot points like "The cake is a lie" or "Would you kindly" either-- I mean the casual throwaways interspersed into everything else. This is the kind of thing that separates great writing from the middling and forgettable, or even the merely good. Not that every single line in Bastion is a work of staggering genius, but when the narrator tells you that stabweed "Hurts like a broken heart" or that one of the characters was "raised like a gentleman" learning "theology, history, and mercy," you sit up and pay attention, dammit. If the beauty of human language means anything to you, playing Bastion is an experience to be treasured. By the time I got to the huge Lunkhead boss, Sir Lunky, I was so enraptured that the name struck me as amusing and even a little badass, not ridiculous.

The brilliance of the writing isn't merely technical or poetic either. Bastion takes place in an original world with its own history, geography, and cultures. Most of the game involves the player learning about events leading up to the apocalyptic Calamity, meaning that a great deal of the narrative action has taken place before the start of the game. I won't spoil anything, but it's a story of war, exploitation, colonization, and human folly that miraculously avoids heavy-handedness. It's not a direct allegory, but it may be a cautionary tale, or it may just be a damn good story. Maybe the best example is its treatment of religion (minor spoilers): the gods exist and are hostile, but they've also been converted into children's toys, their altars ignored. The real-world parallel is there, but it's less important than the sheer beauty of the narrative. And at the very end of the game, when the protagonist known only as the Kid literally holds this fictional world's fate in his hands, you feel like you're making a truly momentous decision: not just about the future of the Kid and his companions, but about human nature in general. It takes quite a bit of thought.

As for the voice acting, there just isn't much to say other than that it's pitch-perfect. You really just have to hear it. And so, this is the point in the review when I tell you to stop reading this review and go buy Bastion. I have the highest hopes for the future of fledgling developer Supergiant Games, but regardless of what they do from here on out, Bastion will stand as a proud milestone marking what an indie game can be.

Cons: The other reviewers were correct in pointing out that it can be hard to tell when you're about to fall off an edge. That said, it doesn't hurt that much when you do, so it's not a huge deal. Also, a few of the god bonuses could be balanced better, and not every power-up or weapon available seems particularly useful. It's a bit annoying that you can't go back to old levels, but it does force the player to move forward and hear more of the incredible narration instead of just replaying old levels, which really wouldn't be that much fun. There just aren't any major complaints to give about Bastion.

Pros: Reviewing artsy puzzle-platformer LIMBO is pretty straightforward. The game boasts crisp animations and a darkly beautiful black-and-white...

Cons: Probably the biggest weakness in LIMBO is its lack of narrative. This obviously represents a conscious choice on the part of the...

Pros: Reviewing artsy puzzle-platformer LIMBO is pretty straightforward. The game boasts crisp animations and a darkly beautiful black-and-white visual aesthetic, easily its strongest points. Sound and music are appropriately minimal, mostly limited to the crackling one might associate with an old-timey film projector.

Most of the puzzles are reasonably clever and satisfying, though you'll be using trial and error to solve many of them. Some are more cerebral and others are more based on timing, but none are terribly complex. Fortunately, if you die, you're quickly returned to where the last puzzle started, so you don't have to play stuff you've already beaten over and over again.

The length, 3-4 hours in my case, feels about right; there's no narrative to speak of, and there isn't much exploring to do, so I felt about ready to leave LIMBO by the time I was done. In general, it's a decent game, but outstanding only in its art and animation.

Cons: Probably the biggest weakness in LIMBO is its lack of narrative. This obviously represents a conscious choice on the part of the developers, and you could probably read much more into the post-apocalyptic features of the setting than I bothered to, but it feels like there's something missing. All you really get is the line (on Steam, not in the game) "Uncertain of his sister's fate, a boy enters LIMBO..."

Granted, the game looks and feels great, and platformers don't necessarily need much storyline (see: Mario games), but I would have preferred even the cryptic writings of VVVVVV, vague clues hinting at what once happened in the game world, to nothing at all, which is what LIMBO gives you. Then again, I might have been negatively influenced by my recent playing of Bastion, a game whose written narrative drives the story entirely and makes it, for my money, vastly superior in artistry to this one. LIMBO is beautiful, but pointlessly so.

Pros: Oh, Super Meat Boy. How I want to like you, with your dark, quirky humor, your awesome music, your adorable art, your inclusion of the...

Cons: THIS GAME IS THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING I HAVE PLAYED IN YEARS. It's insanely difficult, sure, but that's not the problem. I could deal...

Pros: Oh, Super Meat Boy. How I want to like you, with your dark, quirky humor, your awesome music, your adorable art, your inclusion of the robot from Machinarium. Your cut-scenes manage to be cute, funny, and disturbing all at once, in the best of ways. You burst with meaty, indie charm. And yet...

Cons: THIS GAME IS THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING I HAVE PLAYED IN YEARS. It's insanely difficult, sure, but that's not the problem. I could deal with that. However, there are two huge issues that push Super Meat Boy from challenging to maddening, and they're such fundamental parts of the game that I cannot overlook them.

First of all, there's something weird about the way Meat Boy handles. I always seem to press the jump button a split second too late, hurtling off the ledge to a lame, stupid death. Or I'll move a bit too far, or not quite far enough, and... hurtle to a lame, stupid death. In a 2-D platformer with Super Meat Boy's difficulty level, you need to have your fingers, eyes, and character in perfect sync. No matter how much I play, something still feels off, and it usually seems like the game's fault rather than my own when I die. I can tell the difference-- sometimes it was obviously me who screwed up, and then it's okay. But this isn't the sense I get most of the time, and unbelievably frustrating.

The second huge problem is the lack of checkpoints. Admittedly, most levels are pretty short anyway, and I'm kind of being a wuss here. But having just played VVVVVV, a game where checkpoints are everywhere, it's hard to remember why I should be forced to navigate traps I've already conquered and can conquer again with mindless ease. On the longer levels, I might jump through the same easy hoops for up to 30 seconds before getting to the part I can't beat. And I might do that 50 times before finally passing the level. At least Meat Boy respawns quickly and you don't have to worry about lives (except on special, horrible warp zone levels), but it's still extremely annoying.

For me, these two factors combine to turn what should be (and according to most critics is) a great game into a frustrating and ultimately negative experience. Most of the time, when I beat a level, instead of a surge of joy and a triumphant cry of "Yes!" (like might have happened in VVVVVV) I just furiously flipped off my screen. As much as I love certain aspects of Super Meat Boy, I cannot recommend a game that I spend 90% of pissed off at because the platforming feels wonky or because I've wasted half an hour repeating the same easy crap just so I can get to the part I need to practice. And so, with great sadness, I must hit the "Don't like" button. I'm sorry, Super Meat Boy.

Pros: How do you review a game like Minecraft? The entire experience is what you make it. Literally-- it's a game about creating. (Unless you...

Cons: The worst thing about Minecraft is the Creeper. The Creeper is a horrible little green dude who looks like an upside-down Y or field goal...

Pros: How do you review a game like Minecraft? The entire experience is what you make it. Literally-- it's a game about creating. (Unless you don't want it to be.)

There is one easily fulfilled directive provided by Minecraft, which is to build a defensible shelter for use at night. You have to figure this out for yourself, since the game just drops you at your spawn point with no explanation whatsoever, but after a night being slaughtered by zombies, skeletons, and spiders, you'll figure it out. However, once you get a decent shelter, you're pretty much set. With one exception (see Cons), enemies can't knock down your buildings, and with the same horrible exception, they die or become non-hostile once the sun rises. And all the monsters will eventually disappear once you get far enough away from them.

During the day, you're free to explore the world, which is as beautiful as a landscape consisting entirely of blocks can be. Maybe you'll find a series of cliffs, or a waterfall, or a lake of lava. If you're extremely lucky, you might run into a dungeon full of danger and treasure.

But Minecraft's main draw, for me, isn't the natural terrain. It's how you can affect it. Personally I chose to build a tower, then a larger room connected by a corridor, and I walled the whole thing in. They were made out of sand, but then I replaced it with stone, just so it looked nicer. I then wanted to explore the world but didn't want to get lost, so I made a series of roads and bases, so I would always know where I was going. Finding a suitable spot, I placed a brand new waled stone castle. Wandering ever farther from spawn, I found a majestic cliff, and placed a huge multi-room complex atop it, including a glass observation deck and a cloud-topping tower. I sank mineshafts deep into the earth, occasionally discovering valuable deposits of iron, gold, diamonds, and redstone. I created a lava waterfall for defense.

And so on. But I have a friend who chose to focus on exploration (minus all the roads and bases), so his home complex didn't impress me very much. His energies had been spent elsewhere, and he had more interesting treasure to show for it; he'd even found a dungeon.

The point is, Minecraft is what you make it, and you can make so many things of it. The day/night cycle and enemies provide some basic structure to the game, which is otherwise regulated only by your limited access to resources. You don't just build with these resources, either: you can make tools, paintings, weapons, armor, vehicles (minecarts and boats), and more. It's a wonderful sandbox. If it doesn't sound like your kind of game, don't worry-- it didn't sound like my kind of game either. But I tried it out and now I love it. You will too.

Cons: The worst thing about Minecraft is the Creeper. The Creeper is a horrible little green dude who looks like an upside-down Y or field goal post. He doesn't make any sound until he's right behind you, at which point he hisses like a bomb fuse and then explodes, wrecking the terrain and dealing serious damage to you. They can be safely slain with arrows, especially since you're faster than almost all enemies, except maybe the spider. But because they... creep... many is the night when a Creeper will destroy your hard work. Also, they're immune to the sun, though they won't spawn during daytime, so you'd better have a way of checking whether they're outside before you open your door. Otherwise, you can wave goodbye to most of your little shelter.

I'd also like a faster way to travel long distances. In theory, some weird glitch involving mine tracks can be used to achieve infinite speed, but I never found enough iron to make use of that. Minecarts can take you downward pretty fast, but sometimes I fail to board them before they take off, so I have to chase it all the way down, and anyway they're not much good for horizontal travel.

Also, some may be turned off by the game's complete lack of direction. If you need someone holding your hand in order to build fantastic castles, or killing monsters, or exploring an endless world, then Minecraft won't supply that. There's also no plot or anything, and only simple music, graphics, sound, and animation, but none of those are especially relevant to the Minecraft experience.

Pros: Machinarium is a wonderful, beautiful game. You can tell that it's beautiful just from looking at the art, but it's not just the visuals,...

Cons: As I mentioned, the actual gameplay in Machinarium isn't its strongest point. Some of the puzzles aren't particularly interesting, and...

Pros: Machinarium is a wonderful, beautiful game. You can tell that it's beautiful just from looking at the art, but it's not just the visuals, as breathtaking as they are. That little robot (his name is Josef; the game is Czech) has endured experiences both profound and heartbreaking, as you find out over the course of the game. These are communicated in little flashbacks and dialogue, though no one actually speaks. Instead, they talk and think in the universal language of images and animations; you'll find no awkward translations here.

Machinarium's music is fantastic. One of the game's most rewarding moments is when you finally fix up the last instrument belonging to a robot street band: you are treated to a soulful saxophone solo, accompanied by a trash can lid drum and something like a digeridoo. Josef dances along, which, it goes without saying, is adorable. One of the most difficult rooms in the game has the sound of horrifying electric robo-torment in the background, which sounds bad but adds a lot to the atmosphere-- and if you're not man enough to take it, you can just turn off your volume. In general though the background music is simply lovely, easily among the best of any game I've played.

Though the puzzles aren't all top quality, they generally make sense once you get them, which is what a point-and-click game requires. Sometimes you'll be solving conventional puzzles, and other times you'll have to execute the usual "apply correct item in correct spot" formula, though on occasion you'll find more creative parts, for example in a little arcade you find. Actually, you have to play a short arcade game to unlock hints, which makes it feel less cheap to use them.

Overall, the charm and beauty of Machinarium make up for its less than stellar gameplay. The art, animation, music, and story make this a game well worth experiencing.

Cons: As I mentioned, the actual gameplay in Machinarium isn't its strongest point. Some of the puzzles aren't particularly interesting, and you're likely to spend a lot of time wandering around the city looking for places to use your random items. It can get frustrating. Also, Josef doesn't move very fast, especially when you've stretched him to be tall or short. You can't cancel a movement action after you command it, so it can get annoying watching him waddle across the screen when you accidentally clicked something there or just forgot to set him back to normal height.

Also, it's a pretty short game, which might not quite justify its $20 price tag, though $5-10 is more than fair given the quality of the experience. It lasts maybe 5-6 hours, and there's no replay value until you forget how to solve all the puzzles.

Pros: VVVVVV is a stellar example of minimalist game design. There are exactly three commands relevant to gameplay, two of which are "move left"...

Cons: The name! How do you say it? Why is it called VVVVVV? There is virtually no in-game explanation, except that it takes place in Dimension V....

Pros: VVVVVV is a stellar example of minimalist game design. There are exactly three commands relevant to gameplay, two of which are "move left" and "move right." The third flips the direction of gravity from down to up or vice versa, though you have to be standing on the ground (or the ceiling) to do it. The game uses these basic elements to create an excellent 2-D platformer. There's no jumping, no climbing, no attacking or defending yourself, just lateral movement and the gravity switch.

Basically anything you touch that isn't the ground will kill you-- except when the ground has spikes on it, in which case it kills you too. Various enemies wander in eternal loops within each level. They aren't intelligent, they don't chase you, and they only kill you if you touch them, but that doesn't mean you'll get past them easily. Gameplay consists of attempting to maneuver your little blue man past these enemies and around spiky ground to reach the next level. That's it. If you die, you immediately respawn at one of the ubiquitous checkpoints.

The story is equally bare-bones, but as with the gameplay, that's not a negative assessment. Your spaceship crashes and finds itself in Dimension V, and as the captain, you have to rescue your five stranded crew members. You get a map, which slowly fills in as you explore the dimension. There are open space areas, which you can explore at your leisure, and specific colored areas, whose levels must be completed in order, where crew members await rescue. As you go, you find terminals which reveal snippets of information about the dimension and the research of its former inhabitants, though their precise fate never exactly becomes clear. You'll also want to collect the twenty shiny trinkets hidden throughout dimension V-- obtaining them is an extra challenge, and something good happens if you grab them all.

The art fits the simple nature of the game. Your character and the crew are just little blocky men (and women, though you can only tell by their names), with two facial expressions: happy and sad. The enemies are more interesting, ranging from a large green ghost to a chain of broken hearts to the word "LIES". The ground is made up of simple geometric shapes. The background is either the same, or is a star-filled outer space, depending on where you are. The sound is basic and there is no voice acting, but the music is a charming and varied 8-bit send-up.

In fact, VVVVVV as a whole brings to mind an old NES platformer. There's no complex strategy, no resource conservation, nothing but your muscle memory, reaction time, and skill. Most of the levels require a bit of thought, but the focus is on execution, not on strategy. It's a short game, only a few hours long, but there are plenty of time trials and challenges if you crave more and you're masochistic enough to take them on. VVVVVV may be small, but it's a little gem.

Cons: The name! How do you say it? Why is it called VVVVVV? There is virtually no in-game explanation, except that it takes place in Dimension V. This might not bother you while you're playing the game, but it will if you're trying to discuss it with your friends (in person or online-- it's just as annoying to type as it is to try to say).

Also, I would have liked a better explanation of what the crew's mission is and what happened to the former inhabitants of Dimension V. The terminals provide hints, but the information is never neatly summarized, and I was too focused on the gameplay to pay close attention. Of course, this also means that this isn't a huge drawback to the game-- you'll probably be more worried about taking on the next level than about the story.