kenadrian's reviews on GOG.com

Created on 10 October, 2026 07:43

The survival horror that inspired many

The classic 1996 Resident Evil is a title that spawned a franchise, and inspired many games in later years. It's a survival horror played from a fixed-camera perspective. Inventory and ammo management is key, as you will need items to unlock doors, solve puzzles, and even just to save your progress you'll need ink ribbons. There's quite a decent amount of them, just don't waste them by saving too often. In this game you play as either Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield trying to escape a strange mansion. Both characters have advantages and disadvantages, like Jill has more inventory slots, but Chris has more health. Sadly, other than the cutscenes, most of the story and gameplay are the same for both characters. I still recommend playing at least once with each character to get the full story, though. Preferably Jill first as her run is easier, you don't even need ink ribbons to save on her first run. Before GOG released this version, it was a bit hard to find a 1996 RE1 version that works well on modern PCs, and I'm really thankful they released this version, which you simply just install, and comes with some very welcome updates such as the ability to skip the door opening animations by pressing the interact button and overall better compatibility. Before this port was released, I played the HD remaster of the 2002 remake, and it's interesting to see how similar the 2 games are, I even remember some of the maps. While the remake adds more lore and content, the original version is more colorful, and I like comparing the differences between both versions. If you love the Resident Evil franchise, you definitely should try this game, to see where they came from. The dialogue may be a bit campy and unintentionally funny, but it's part of the charm. And with this easy to install and play modern port, what are you waiting for?

Created on 16 June, 2026 19:27

Updated on 16 June, 2026 19:49

More dinos, less ammo crisis

Dino Crisis 2 follows Regina again, though most of the time you'll be playing as her partner, Dylan Morton. The game takes a different direction from its predecessor, being more action-oriented instead of survival horror. It's still played from a fixed camera perspective (although the camera really don't move) and have you pick up objects to use later, but the level layout is more linear and there are less puzzles. The biggest difference is how you fight the dinos. In the first game, ammo and healing items are scarce, so you have to be very careful about the creatures you kill and take minimal damage. Here, there are way more ammo and healing items than you need. Lots of weapons, which you can buy by collecting scores gained by killing dinos. There are more types of dinosaurs as well. When you finish the game for the 1st or 2nd time, extra game modes are unlocked. First is a Dino Colosseum where you fight increasingly harder waves of dinos, and second is Dino Duel where you use dinos to fight a 2nd player. If you ask me which Dino Crisis game I prefer, it's kind of an unfair question because of how both games are. I prefer the slower-paced story and 3D environments in DC1, but DC2 is more fun to play, easier, and has more enemy types. But the environments are hand-drawn backdrops (which are kinda low-res) and having too many enemies ganging up on you kinda messes with the story flow, even though you get rich quick. A perfect combination would be DC1's exploration gameplay with the action gameplay of DC2. Dino Crisis 2 kinda feels like an arcade mode of DC1, in the way that both games look and play similar, but one focuses on horror and the other focuses on chaining killing scores. If you enjoyed the first one, I'd recommend playing DC2. Maybe it's because I enjoy the action a lot more, and how they have more weapon and enemy variations. But if it's slow-paced horror you're looking for, it's not really here, it just plays similar to and has elements of one.

Created on 30 May, 2026 09:08

Resident Evil meets Jurassic Park

Dino Crisis is a survival horror game, where you play as special ops agent Regina infiltrating an island where a presumed-dead scientist is running experiments. However, the island is infested by very alive, very hostile dinosaurs. Created by the same team behind Resident Evil, this game plays similar, with fixed angles, tank controls, collecting items, and solving puzzles to progress. You can only save in save rooms, however you can choose to continue after death which respawns you outside the room where you died. You can choose between Original and Arrange mode when starting, the former has 30 continues while the latter only 5, so I recommend playing the original. One thing I find unusual for a survival horror game, is that you have no health indicator. You can only realize you're low on health when Regina changes her walking pose. I recommend only heal until then, but sometimes dinos can seem to pull finisher moves even when she doesn't do the hurt walking pose. I like how this game already has many bonuses already unlocked. All costumes are already unlocked, and you can change when you load your game. Another game mode, Operation Wipe Out, is also available from the start. It has no story, more like an arcade/survival mode where you kill dinos under a time limit. And finishing the game once rewards you with infinite ammo grenade gun. If you're a fan of Resident Evil, you'd already be familiar with the gameplay. Now if you like dinosaurs or Jurassic Park franchise as well... lets just say Dino Crisis would be a perfect combination. The GOG version runs well and many bonuses are already unlocked so you can just play through without stressing much about unlockables.

Created on 17 May, 2026 20:01

More combat, less puzzles, still great

Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 is the 4th game in the franchise, and it's a bit weird timeline-wise. It takes place between Blood Omen 1 and Soul Reaver 1, but in an alternate timeline where changes to the past were made in Soul Reaver 2. Atmosphere-wise it also feels kinda clashing with the previous games, and it's more linear. Fans of the series consider this game one of the worse ones, but honestly, it probably has the best combat system. Unlike previous games with endlessly respawning enemies who only serve as obstacles, here enemies don't respawn, and when you drink their blood, you gain XP which can level up your health. Combat feels more reactive with more moves and not too stiff for an older game. It still has puzzles, but simpler, and focuses more on the combat and boss fights. However, this game had some questionable choices. Firstly, the weapons are breakable. If you block an attack of have your attack blocked, it slowly damages the weapon, and eventually it'll break, and weaponless melee attacks deal less damage. And if you save and reload a checkpoint, your equipped weapon will be gone, and you must either find one somewhere or defeat an enemy. Lastly, cutscenes are unskippable, which can be annoying if your game crashed or you must exit before finding a save point. Mine crashed several times, unfortunately. Despite its flaws, Blood Omen 2 is still a great game, and if you enjoy the Legacy of Kain franchise you'd still have fun. Simon Templeman delivers an amazing performance as Kain, even despite the fact that Kain feels more arrogant and condescending here compared to him in BO1 and Soul Reaver games.

Created on 03 May, 2026 18:03

An emotional journey

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is an adventure, puzzle game where you play as a big brother and a little brother on a quest to find a magical tree which can cure their dying father. They journey through the fantasy-setting world, encountering people and creatures, both helpful and hostile. The game is playable solo or local co-op, where in the former you control both brothers at once. You can play with a keyboard but using a controller is highly recommended as it plays much better. This game is a classic, known for its emotional story and creative gameplay. Puzzles make use of this mechanic, like how there are some things the older brother can do, and some only the younger one. None of them are hard as well, the game is pretty relaxing and not too long. There's a remake that enhances the graphics to be more realistic and add more cutscenes, but I prefer the stylized art in the original.

Created on 29 April, 2026 07:20

Updated on 29 April, 2026 07:47

Short, beautifully somber game

Adios is a short walking simulator game where you play as a farmer during his last day of being alive. With his wife gone and son estranged, he decides to quit the mob, and his hitman friend had to end his life. For most of the game, he does his routine, with said friend assisting him in farm tasks and some minigames. Plenty of dialogue, talking about the farmer's life. Though I wished there were more items with dialogues we can interact in the house, like in Gone Home, as there are some rooms and objects which could be explored for backstories, but we get nothing. It's not a long game and can be finished between 1-2 hours. It might not be a masterpiece, but it's an interesting game where you have the chance to play a character who chooses and accepts their own death and say his goodbyes in a grounded setting. It's a pretty heartbreaking short experience, one worth a try if you enjoy walking sims.

Created on 18 April, 2026 20:44

Interesting retro vampire RPG

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is a top-down RPG where you play as Kain, a murdered nobleman resurrected as a vampire by a necromancer. His mission is to hunt down the guardians of nature's aspects, a group of powerful sorcerers. I initially didn't plan on playing this game, but after finishing Soul Reaver 1-2 remasters (where Kain is the main antagonist) my interest was ignited. For an old game, and thanks to GOG's preservation program, it plays really well and smooth. I finished it with no technical issues. Gameplay is pretty fun, you explore the land of Nosgoth, visiting the dungeons where the bosses reside. You can explore side areas to find powerful armors, weapons, and spells. These will make your journey more interesting, and fighting enemies will be easier. This game can be repetitive though, like most of the time you will be avoiding traps and chopping enemies. And some dungeons just have too much traps and enemies. And enemies respawn every time you leave an area, could be good or bad because even if they attack you, you can drain them for blood or magic. For its time, I think Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is a great game, and still holds up today. If you enjoyed the Soul Reaver games and curious about how our enemy's journey started, play this game. I'd love a remaster of this game, or maybe a 3D remake would be amazing.

Created on 27 February, 2026 05:13

Kinda easier and more fun than base game

Dead Man’s Promise is a DLC for Blood West where you play as a Shaman (not the one from the main game) who is also Twen's father on a mission to depart lost souls. The game only has 1 chapter, set in a swamp like chapter 2 of the main game, but a different swamp. There are also new types of enemies, and also new weapons. Gameplay is mostly the same, emphasis on stealth and enemies who deal high damage, as well as curses/debuff if you die. But the weapons here made things a lot easier. Like you have staves that use stamina to fire magic bolts, and also a voodoo doll which deal decent damage and serves as a ranged weapon. Even early stage gear gives bonus to sneaking and stealth damage. In short, Dead Man’s Promise is a great DLC which keeps the tone and gameplay of the base game, while also adds interesting new weapons that makes it more fun. My only complaint (other than it still being hard) is that I wish it was longer, and with more sidequests. But if you love the base game, you'd love this too as it's basically more of the same with some variations.

1 gamers found this review helpful

Created on 09 October, 2025 20:10

Updated on 14 October, 2025 18:40

Decent game, step-down from originals

Thief is a stealth game where you play as Garrett the Master Thief, caught between warring factions and investigating the disappearance of his protege. One unique thing is that this game feels like a stand-alone sequel and soft reboot of the franchise. You have characters with the same names, and also references the events and locations of the originals, so maybe there's a reincarnation thing going on. I played this game as my entry to the franchise, and coming back after the originals I can see why it's a disappointment. Levels feel very monotonous and linear, while the original had more color, variation, and cooler fantasy elements. The original was also hailed as an immersive sim, with emergent gameplay and freedom to do things. But here it's restrictive, like how you can only jump and use rope arrows at certain spots, very railroaded. It felt like a dumbed-down Dishonored. There's a hub area, but due to the bland color palette and same-looking areas, it's kinda difficult to navigate unlike in Deadly Shadows. You can replay missions, but you have to navigate the city to find the (unmarked) mission start point. If you see Thief as a standalone stealth game, it's decent. But compared to the originals, it's a step down in almost every aspect, except maybe having more realistic graphics. Still, it's quite fun if you enjoy stealth. And the GOG version comes with full DLCs, including bonus equipment and upgrades as well as a fun bank heist mission.

8 gamers found this review helpful

Created on 28 September, 2025 19:57

Not as good as the first, still great

Broken Sword 2: Remastered is a remaster of the second game, also known as The Smoking Mirror. You play as George Stobbart and Nico Collard again, this time investigating a conspiracy related to an evil Mayan god. They are separated for quite a while in this game, so you follow 2 pretty distinct adventures. Unlike the remaster of the first, this game remains faithful to the original. No new levels or scenes are added, they only remaster the visuals and add the close-up facial animations during dialogue. Story-wise, I feel like it's weaker than the first, the ending also felt a bit rushed, but I would still consider it a great game. It's also shorter, even compared to the first without the new chapters. If you enjoyed the first Broken Sword game, you should play this title, as it looks and plays the same, both the originals and remasters. And if you like point-and-click adventure games in general, the Broken Sword franchise is one you should try.

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