Infinity Trials

tl;dr Incredibly well designed and a genuine blast to play. The basic mechanics are deceivingly simple, yet still manage to give rise to some surprisingly complex interactions. In the same sense that a talented wine maker doesn't need anything other than grapes, yeast, and possibly some oak in order to make a tremendous wine, Infinity Trials gets far with a simple melee attack, a bow and arrows, and the occasional dash. The control scheme is tight and feels natural, meaning that you don't really have any excuse for the myriad of silly deaths you'll no doubt experience. The greatest strength of Infinity Trials is how easy it is both to pick up and put down. It's the ultimate game when you have 15 minutes to kill. The price is also an absolute steal. I'd easily pay 10€ for this, if not more. Another upside is that the player base is still small enough that you have a realistic chance of getting into the top 10 on the global leaderboard if you put some effort in. I'm at #7 at the time of writing, and I fully intend to defend that title with every inch of my being. Come at me! In the effort of writing an honest review I do have to mention my 1 gripe with this game: the story. I think there's a lot of untapped potential for environmental story telling, particularly when it comes to the actual environments you blast through as you chop down the endless horde of nameless foes, but also with items, specifically their designs and names. Right now it's all kind of generic video game-y fare, whereas I think there was an opportunity to give the game a more unique flavor here. The dialogue, which is thankfully sparse, also comes of as a bit stilted. That being said, I'm probably the weird one here, thinking about the story even though the fast paced action and amazing soundtrack always takes center stage in Infinity Trials. That's what the game is about, and if that's the sort of game you're looking for, I guarantee you won't be disappointed!