Played 2 hours and realized I just was not having any fun. I don't particularly like the weapon (his attack animations/feel). I have problems timing the parry and the dodge to the attack animations. I love big shields in Dark Souls, but that feeling is NOT the same as shielding in this game. I dont like that the first area is just a open area with some "ruins".

I got to the second area (a big safe zone city) and all my exploration drive went away. I do not want to hear any more talking, I don't want to explore anymore so I just quit.

Yeah I think the artstyle, setting, and music is a good change of pace for Souls-likes, but it I don;t like the combat so 👎

a lesser person would say "i'm speechless" when reviewing this. i am not speechless. i got the speech.

this is, somehow, really fucking cool. i love experimental and surreal shit, and this is obviously not exactly a "game" but more of an experience. you watch this weird ass footage while INCREDIBLE music plays -- no shit, this is going on my list of the best soundtracks of all time.

i played this purely out of curiosity. i watched a bit of a gameplay on youtube but i wanted to know how it actually controls, like what do you do while watching. basically nothing. but i still think it's something cool. and i must note, if these weren't images of a near naked woman, i would still love it, hell, i'd probably love it more. if it were bad early 2000s surreal cgi, it would be amazing. this is going on my list of "dream games".

i'll probably not watch this all the way through because i honestly don't care but i'm really impressed lol.

Armored Core 6 is a true love letter to the franchise, and it shows.
You're not just fighting against other mechs; you're tearing through massive environments, dodging barrages of missiles, and unleashing devastating firepower. It's a visceral experience that really makes you feel like you're piloting a giant war machine.

The customization options are just as mind-boggling. You can build your AC from the ground up, choosing from a vast array of weapons, armor, and internal components. There are endless combinations to try, and it's a blast experimenting with different builds to find the perfect one for your playstyle.

The story is surprisingly compelling, too. It's a bit of a slow burn at first, but it gradually builds to a crescendo of epic battles and emotional reveals.

Full video review: https://youtu.be/UOqd-po5uP8

The original Valfaris was a fun 2D platform shooter, yet here we are four years later with a sequel in a completely different genre.

Gameplay
The game went from 2D platform run and gun shooter to a full-blown 2.5D side-scrolling shoot ‘em up. It is quite the shift and one I can definitely see turning off a lot of fans, but as someone that likes both genres - I kinda like it.

The game manages to take several of the elements that made the former good and translate them perfectly into the shmup space. The weapon variety and customization, for one. There are plenty to unlock there and each can be upgraded to become even more powerful.

The core to the shoot ‘em up gameplay is solid. It’s not like anything super complex or unique, but does the genre justice and that’s honestly more than I would expect from a complete genre shift like this. The shooting and movement is intuitive, melee is satisfying, the hitboxes are well-defined, and it just feels good to play.

Difficulty
The standard gameplay, as in, outside of bosses, is fairly straightforward and hardly ever caused trouble. The bosses, on the other hand, offered up a fair bit of challenge, especially later on. I felt like it was a good balance, but of course, you could make it even more difficult by ramping it up to the “hard” difficulty level.

Camera
The game’s camera was probably my biggest enemy. It felt like it was overall too slow for the new gameplay here. The delay between enemy spawns often felt like too much, like there weren't enough enemies. And then there are moments where you have to dodge obstacles in the environment, but the camera would sometimes get me stuck and, as a result, killed by being crushed by the environment. Maybe I am just too used to Cave shmups, but it was a bit annoying and I feel like the game could do with some additional speed.

Story
There is a story here, but it’s really just this tacked-on thing and I wouldn’t say you need to play the first game to understand what is going on here. I mean, there’s not really much to understand in the first place, which is not even a bad thing, just something to note.

Art and Music
The game’s transition to 2.5D was well-managed and I would say that the models and environments look good enough for a retro aesthetic like this, but I also cannot deny I preferred the 2D spritework of the original game. I feel like some of that detail and charm was lost here. Although I will give props to the devs, they did improve on making things more “visible” this time around. I did not struggle with seeing projectiles like I did in the first game.

The music is just as good too. Roughly on par with the first game, with nothing too standout, but nothing really bad either.

Length and Replayability
The entire experience takes roughly 2-3 hours to clear depending on how much you die, so it is less than half the length of the former game, but that’s a pretty standard length for a shoot ‘em up and I can’t say it felt like it was too short or too long an experience. The rate of new content was steady throughout and honestly quite engaging with how often you’re introduced to new enemy types and areas.

There is a new game+ mode as well as secret areas to find and extra modules to unlock, but I cannot say that there is much replayability beyond that.

Performance
I had no issues playing through the entire thing at 4k 144fps on my 3080 Ti. You get the usual settings to change - resolution, frame rate limit, and graphics quality - but this isn’t really a difficult game to run so I am not going to complain about the lack of settings here. It is fairly polished too. I had no issues with bugs or anything of the sort.

Overall
Valfaris: Mecha Therion is a fun follow-up to the original Valfaris that takes what made that one good and slaps it into an entirely new genre. The game is now a shoot ‘em up and comes with some good gameplay, level design, visuals, music, and some really solid weapon variety. That said, the camera is a bit of a pain and the game mostly plays it safe with regards to its approach to the genre, which might not even be a bad thing for some. Regardless, it’s a fun play whether you’ve played the original or not.

Massive Improvement over the original game by a wide margin. The gameplay is a lil different than i would've expected from a Ghostrunner dlc and for good reason. Instead of playing as Jack in the main game, You play as Hel, an experimental modification of the Ghostrunners semi-replacing freeflowing agility with sheer ruthlessness and super jumps.

Now if she sounds familiar, that's because she was a boss fight in the main game and you had to fight her, and parry her attacks, jumping from one platform to the next, and often shoot her "surges", as its called in this dlc, at you.

They did a really good job at, not only replicating her style into gameplay but also made it intertwine with the main games gameplay mechanics without it feeling forced or jarring. Even adding a new mechanic called "Rage" which you can fill up by killing enemies, or stand in individual powerups for a refill. And this allows you to shoot "surges" at enemies similar to Jack's. Only this time, its really necessary given its your only tool and you don't have the other abilities he had. Despite that, it worked in the dlc's favor because of the satisfying combat actually getting an additional incentive to play aggressively. In fact, I wind up playing far more aggressive overtime in this than i did in the main game because of it. If the main game is more focused on freeflow movement and strategy, then this DLC is like Katana Zero but in first person. Focusing on SLAUGHTERING those in your way.

Even the upgrades focus on aggressiveness. While it shares traits like multiple dashes, outline enemies, deflect bullets, etc. It also has its own unique upgrades like giving you a temporary shield when your rage meter fills up that can block plenty of attacks, giving you a split-second chance. or being able to change your surge into an X, just like the hel fight in the main game. Even the tetris upgrade minigame has more of an incentive giving you additional Rage abilities like Very short invincibility after shield is down and X-ray being able to see enemies through walls or Overdrive which you kill enemies by air dashing into em. Even without these upgrades, you still feel like an unstoppable force to be reckon with.

Which does suit well with the story, which i definitely prefer in terms of execution than the main game despite it being a direct prequel. While Hel is obviously a puppet just like Jack, the story of her going from Maras puppet to capture the commander after refusing her orders to straight up becoming more and more ruthless and losing it overtime makes it more memorable. No biological brain and even starting to gain willpower and becomes rebellious against Mara. The whole tone of the DLC is a lot more mean spirited with dark humor throughout which suits it nicely of the premise of playing as an unhinged killing machine. Between Hel's banter with mara being straight up being a smartass with her in a matter-of-fact way, to even a cutscene confrontation where she confronts 3 climbers, only to kill one and the other panicks and shoots himself realizing its futile to go against her, and the last one getting choked while interrogated only to get his neck snapped. Even the rebel plotline is a lot more fleshed out with the spearheader "Connor" being flippant towards his pal Diego's concerns about Us going after them, and even Zoe argues with him basically going from giving a huge speech to the masses over the comms only for him to not really risk his ass on the frontlines AND having to leave Jack behind. Its brief but its WAY more effective than the main story which treats it as an afterthought.

In terms of enemy variety? There's only 2 main bosses in the expansion and 1 new enemy type. The new enemy is a rocket propelled soldier shooting sticky bombs while flying in the air, forcing you to traverse and not stay in one singular spot. they can easily be taken down like the drones in the main game. Just jump on em and its an instant kill. and the 2 bosses, one being the aforementioned commander which acts as both a hybrid of the new enemy type and a callback (or call forward, I guess?) to the constant parrying Hel's fight. and the other, without spoiling much, is a mech whose lasers and orbs you have to dodge whilst simultaneously avoiding the shocking platforms. Yes you've read that correctly. There's a shit ton of em and while i've gotten used to their patterns, it does feel cheap as hell sometimes during combat or certain sections of platforming.

I'd still take the final boss any day of the week over that frustrating final parkour section of the main game. And if that's all i had to complain about, then the DLC over exceeds at doing what it needed to do and even overshadows the main game in terms of gameplay, story and even Music which is a tall task given the main game already has a great OST. Its short but sweet, and its a great stepping stone for what to do with Ghostrunner going forward.