Playdead's Inside is gloomy masterpiece

The first 15 minutes of developer Playdead's newest effort, Inside, on Xbox and PC, set the tone perfectly.

As a young, faceless, nameless boy emerging from a mysterious forest, you make your way ever closer to a mysterious facility.

Pursued by mysterious adults and vicious dogs, you begin to wonder if there's any other way to go-- but the reality of Inside, is that there isn't.

The game chugs onward and pits the nameless protagonist against puzzles of varying length and difficulty as he attempts to make his escape from a facility where nothing is as it seems.

Inside's story and settings are one of its biggest strengths, and it's best to advise you to enjoy them for yourself. Every moment is tense, and I can almost guarantee that you won't expect what happens in the end.

Inside's moment-to-moment gameplay borrows a lot from its predecessor, Limbo. You need only two buttons in Inside-- jump and interact as you move through the environment. Puzzles are a bit easier than they were in Limbo, but some require some critical thought-- and generally some trial and error via gruesome death scenes-- to fully solve.

Inside places its puzzles inside of a gloomy, immersive world. The game's color palette is intentionally limited-- featuring a combination of greys and blacks with an occasional, intentional use of a vibrant color to outline an important part of the scenery.

There isn't much sound to speak of in Inside, but what there is works. Most of the game is quiet, contemplative and tense, but subtle music and sound effects help set mood even more effectively.

Inside chugs along at a refreshingly brisk pace-- the game can be completed from start to finish in around three hours. This works extremely well as it doesn't overstay its welcome and serves to allow the story to remain poignant and powerful. Inside's length may be its most powerful asset-- it's short enough to make you want more and the thought of a second play through isn't particularly daunting given its length.

Inside is a scary game. Not scary as in ghouls and goblins, but the kind of scary you feel in a nightmare, where everything makes sense and is comprised of ideas you're familiar with, but you're just not sure what comes next or where you'll end up before you wake up in cold sweat.

Those who enjoyed Limbo will love Inside-- many of its best ideas and storytelling mechanics are borrowed again and improved upon. For those new to Playdead's games, there is still a lot to love.

Inside will leave you thinking-- I still am-- about its ending, its motive and what it all means.

You may relive some of the game's most tense scenes in your head long after playing and ask yourself how it all fit into the ending or remember how uneasy it truly made you feel.

Inside's ending is an unexpected enigma-- one that will spawn plenty of Reddit posts and debate among players.

The beauty of Inside, as was the case for Limbo, is that it's all open to interpretation.

Do yourself a favor and enjoy the ethereal, disturbing masterpiece that is Inside.

I don't like to give out 10's to games-- I think perfection is a lofty descriptor-- however, I can find nothing to complain about from what is one of my favorite games of this generation and possibly all-time.

Play it. It'll haunt my dreams for many a night to come and an arbitrary numerical score wouldn't do anything to change that.

RIP, Vita

Less than a year ago, I bought a Playstation Vita.

It was the perfect one-- a slim model, refurbished from GameStop for $160 with hardly any scratches. A couple of light dings on the back, but nothing serious.

Now, I'm saying goodbye.

My farewell to the Vita comes with some regret. I had some pretty great gaming experiences on the little handheld-- Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Killzone: Mercenary and Persona 4: Golden, which coincidentally is one of my favorite games of the past decade.

But there aren't enough of those great experiences. Not anymore.

I came to the realization when reading the most recent issue of Game Informer.

"Has Sony abandoned the Vita?" A reader's question beckoned.

"Sony sure makes it seem like it based on their E3 showing."

That's all it took.

Quickly, I swarmed through Sony's E3 conference announcements. Amid a sea of trailers, gameplay demos and press conferences, I found plenty to love.

A new God of War game, Horizon Zero Dawn, Resident Evil 7, Playstation VR...

But nothing for my little black handheld.

Nothing?

I put my Vita for sale online and asked for $130: "Vita complete with charger and Tearaway," my post read.

It didn't take long for someone to offer $115.

Fair, I thought. Fair for both. He gets a Vita cheaper than GameStop will sell for and I get more than GameStop would give.

But I can't help but wonder what could have been with the Vita.

I have nothing but good things to say about the Vita, but hardly anything to show for it.

For every 100 obscure J-RPGs in the console's library, there is one quality AAA title.

J-RPGs aren't my thing and neither are visual novels.

Which means when it comes to the Vita, I'm out of luck.

I've owned a New 3DS and a Vita, and I must say, I loved both, but then again, the Vita doesn't have Pokemon..

Edge, Nintendo.

You don't hear that often these days.