Efty
2022
Great game with a great story. My only complaint is that I feel like you are incredibly overpowered throughout the whole game, and while it was satisfying to feel almost invincible and destroy everything with ease, it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of challenge.
If you liked Sanabi, I would also recommend checking out Ghostrunner, Rusted Moss and Katana Zero.
If you liked Sanabi, I would also recommend checking out Ghostrunner, Rusted Moss and Katana Zero.
2022
Incredible atmosphere, exploration and soundtrack unfortunately tainted by combat that, despite offering a huge arsenal of weapons and spells, feels monotonous due to bare-bones and predictable enemy AI.
Still a great game that I recommend if you like exploring and finding secrets. It gets really weird with the secret endings :)
Lunacid made me a fan of Kira's style and from now on, I will likely play everything they release.
Still a great game that I recommend if you like exploring and finding secrets. It gets really weird with the secret endings :)
Lunacid made me a fan of Kira's style and from now on, I will likely play everything they release.
2020
Decent litte game that mixes gungeon gameplay (bosses only) with hyper light drifter map design and art style.
2024
Best card-based roguelike since Slay the Spire. Avoid at all cost if you want to be productive with your life.
2018
Just when you thought you finally beat the game, you realize it's just getting started.
It's got the soundtrack, the art style and satisfying gameplay. I couldn't ask for more from a shmup. Learning how to get through the levels and improving slightly every attempt to finally reach the end was incredibly rewarding.
Zero Complaints... hehe
It's got the soundtrack, the art style and satisfying gameplay. I couldn't ask for more from a shmup. Learning how to get through the levels and improving slightly every attempt to finally reach the end was incredibly rewarding.
Zero Complaints... hehe
2020
Fully completed in one 6 hour sitting overnight because I simply couldn't stop playing. Hollow Knight is my favorite game of all time and Ato hits the same exact spot for me. Big recommend for fans of the genre.
2022
oh no... I'm addicted
Everything gameplay-wise in this game is excellent, it just needs more content. Give this man a good dev team (plus some writers) and doom eternal / titanfall 2 will have a new competitor for best fps campaign.
2023
Finally, a worthy competitor!
This game is not subtle at all about its inspirations, the way they manage to combine the combat systems of both sekiro and bloodborne is brilliant; certain moves are better avoided by dodging and others by parrying. This makes learning boss movesets and how to respond to them more complex and reduces the repetition of rolling through every attack of dark souls games. I do think the stamina recovery speed should be significantly faster though, it felt way too slow, even with the amulet that improves it.
- Bosses are the strongest part of Lies of P, some of them I would consider to be top tier souls-like encounters. Each boss' design is immaculate, I kept being pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous the encounters looked and how well their attacks are telegraphed. The satisfaction you get when you learn their moveset and can perfectly parry a full combo to stagger them is THE reason to play this game. It's the closest thing to a Sekiro sequel that exists at the moment (I didn't like Wo Long very much).
- Areas are visually striking and enemy variety is impressive, but I found the level design to be mediocre. The game is very very linear, there are no side areas, no branching paths and you never get a choice on where to go next. However I think it was a calculated tradeoff by the devs to instead focus more on complex enemy movesets. The exploration isn't very good, but even smaller foes have such awesome movesets, that they could pass off as bosses if they had more health.
- Story is forgetable, which didn't bother me because of how easily it can be ignored. It also isn't something I look for in these games.
- Difficulty is brutal, I think some of the bosses second phases are too hard. I say this as someone who can now casually beat sekiro in one sitting and enjoyed beating DS3 without leveling up. I think some attacks just come out way too fast to react on time consistently, and left me frustrated. I also ran through the game in NG+ and have rarely ever played anything that hard, not sure I would recommend honestly. Maybe with the summons it's fine but I'm too stubborn to use those.
In the end, I loved my time with Lies of P, but souls-like is my favorite genre so I'm a little biased. This game makes me hopeful for the future of the genre, because I now know that From isn't untouchable. Can't wait for Black myth: Wukong and other competitors to innovate even more on my favorite genre.
This game is not subtle at all about its inspirations, the way they manage to combine the combat systems of both sekiro and bloodborne is brilliant; certain moves are better avoided by dodging and others by parrying. This makes learning boss movesets and how to respond to them more complex and reduces the repetition of rolling through every attack of dark souls games. I do think the stamina recovery speed should be significantly faster though, it felt way too slow, even with the amulet that improves it.
- Bosses are the strongest part of Lies of P, some of them I would consider to be top tier souls-like encounters. Each boss' design is immaculate, I kept being pleasantly surprised at how gorgeous the encounters looked and how well their attacks are telegraphed. The satisfaction you get when you learn their moveset and can perfectly parry a full combo to stagger them is THE reason to play this game. It's the closest thing to a Sekiro sequel that exists at the moment (I didn't like Wo Long very much).
- Areas are visually striking and enemy variety is impressive, but I found the level design to be mediocre. The game is very very linear, there are no side areas, no branching paths and you never get a choice on where to go next. However I think it was a calculated tradeoff by the devs to instead focus more on complex enemy movesets. The exploration isn't very good, but even smaller foes have such awesome movesets, that they could pass off as bosses if they had more health.
- Story is forgetable, which didn't bother me because of how easily it can be ignored. It also isn't something I look for in these games.
- Difficulty is brutal, I think some of the bosses second phases are too hard. I say this as someone who can now casually beat sekiro in one sitting and enjoyed beating DS3 without leveling up. I think some attacks just come out way too fast to react on time consistently, and left me frustrated. I also ran through the game in NG+ and have rarely ever played anything that hard, not sure I would recommend honestly. Maybe with the summons it's fine but I'm too stubborn to use those.
In the end, I loved my time with Lies of P, but souls-like is my favorite genre so I'm a little biased. This game makes me hopeful for the future of the genre, because I now know that From isn't untouchable. Can't wait for Black myth: Wukong and other competitors to innovate even more on my favorite genre.
2016
This review contains spoilers
Firewatch baits you into thinking its story is more interesting than it really is... but in a meaningful way. Let me explain,
The game purposefully makes you suspicious of your co-worker, Delilah, and also makes you believe some kind of grand twist is coming that will explain everything you experience throughout the game. However, the ending is very bland, even disapointing and leaves you wondering why the game kept hinting at a more sinister reveal.
You quickly learn from the beginning of the game that Henry, the protagonist you're in control of, took this job to try to escape from and forget his life troubles. He would love for something mysterious, something dangerous to happen to distract his mind in any way. I think their goal was to simulate that coping mechansim he used and how it isn't an effective long term answer to hardships. In the end, Henry realizes that and decides to deal with his guilt head on and visit his ill wife.
As a game, Firewatch is nothing special, I wanted a short relaxing game and I got about what I expected, but the moral it cleverly conveyed was hearfelt and memorable.
The game purposefully makes you suspicious of your co-worker, Delilah, and also makes you believe some kind of grand twist is coming that will explain everything you experience throughout the game. However, the ending is very bland, even disapointing and leaves you wondering why the game kept hinting at a more sinister reveal.
You quickly learn from the beginning of the game that Henry, the protagonist you're in control of, took this job to try to escape from and forget his life troubles. He would love for something mysterious, something dangerous to happen to distract his mind in any way. I think their goal was to simulate that coping mechansim he used and how it isn't an effective long term answer to hardships. In the end, Henry realizes that and decides to deal with his guilt head on and visit his ill wife.
As a game, Firewatch is nothing special, I wanted a short relaxing game and I got about what I expected, but the moral it cleverly conveyed was hearfelt and memorable.
Recently, I decided to revisit some of my favorite indie games, and Cuphead was my first pick since there was also new content released.
Most bosses in this dlc completely surpass every single main game boss in quality, complexity and spectacle. Paterns are visually gorgeous, fun to learn and clearly telegraphed, making every hit you take your fault and not the game being unfair. This makes it so even though the game is difficult, it is never too frustrating.
Getting all achievements and S ranks made the game last just the right amount of time (around 15 hrs main game + dlc) therefore removing the only complaint I have with the dlc, it's short lenght. It also added an extra challenge which made this second playthrough almost as hard as my first.
The Delicious Last Coures confirms that the main game was not a fluke. As a result, studioMDHR is now part of the list of dev teams that I fully trust and will play any game they make in the future.
Most bosses in this dlc completely surpass every single main game boss in quality, complexity and spectacle. Paterns are visually gorgeous, fun to learn and clearly telegraphed, making every hit you take your fault and not the game being unfair. This makes it so even though the game is difficult, it is never too frustrating.
Getting all achievements and S ranks made the game last just the right amount of time (around 15 hrs main game + dlc) therefore removing the only complaint I have with the dlc, it's short lenght. It also added an extra challenge which made this second playthrough almost as hard as my first.
The Delicious Last Coures confirms that the main game was not a fluke. As a result, studioMDHR is now part of the list of dev teams that I fully trust and will play any game they make in the future.
Tedious, janky, bloated, boring, FRUSTRATING... no improvements from Rise.
Shadow of the tomb raider mostly felt like a chore to play, because a SIGNIFICANT part of the game is waiting for animations to end (collectibles, crafting equipment, looting enemies, pushing a lever, turning a wheel, prying a door open, crawling, shimmying across a ledge, etc.) Even the tombs are boring... in a TOMB raider game!!! The only part I enjoyed about this game (other than the gorgeous visuals) is the stealthy/strategic combat. Unfortunetly, combat is a lot rarer than the previous two games of the trilogy, and the game focuses more on dull semi-open world areas filled with side content that feels like doing chores. I also felt like stealth was heavily discouraged, because simply shooting everything with the assault rifle was a way better solution in most encounters.
I did like that they added options to remove the white paint telling you where to go and the survival instincts ability, but the game clearly is built around those helping mechanics, so I was often wandering around with no idea what to do next for a few seconds/minutes before figuring out how to progress.
I would have liked the game to focus more on the "survival in the wild" aspect that was tossed to the side after a few hours of gameplay. I thought a jungle-themed tomb raider would have more to do with wild predators than just another one-note power hungry villain and his goons.
DLC adds a few quests that are somewhat better than the main game. However, I encountered a glitch that made it so I couldn't progress and ragequit. Decent game with a lot of potential, but too many quirks that annoyed me to enjoy my time playing.
Shadow of the tomb raider mostly felt like a chore to play, because a SIGNIFICANT part of the game is waiting for animations to end (collectibles, crafting equipment, looting enemies, pushing a lever, turning a wheel, prying a door open, crawling, shimmying across a ledge, etc.) Even the tombs are boring... in a TOMB raider game!!! The only part I enjoyed about this game (other than the gorgeous visuals) is the stealthy/strategic combat. Unfortunetly, combat is a lot rarer than the previous two games of the trilogy, and the game focuses more on dull semi-open world areas filled with side content that feels like doing chores. I also felt like stealth was heavily discouraged, because simply shooting everything with the assault rifle was a way better solution in most encounters.
I did like that they added options to remove the white paint telling you where to go and the survival instincts ability, but the game clearly is built around those helping mechanics, so I was often wandering around with no idea what to do next for a few seconds/minutes before figuring out how to progress.
I would have liked the game to focus more on the "survival in the wild" aspect that was tossed to the side after a few hours of gameplay. I thought a jungle-themed tomb raider would have more to do with wild predators than just another one-note power hungry villain and his goons.
DLC adds a few quests that are somewhat better than the main game. However, I encountered a glitch that made it so I couldn't progress and ragequit. Decent game with a lot of potential, but too many quirks that annoyed me to enjoy my time playing.
2014
The main challenge of this game is being quick and accurate while not having a crosshair. It sounds frustrating but is very well compensated by having very forgiving enemy hitboxes and short levels. However, the game unfortunetly becomes way too hard in worlds 4 and especially 5. Still, I did 100% the game, but only because of my stubbornness, not because it was enjoyable. I think getting all 3 stars in the first 3 worlds and just finishing the rest of the levels is the best way to experience this game. I think Neon white is much better, but this is still a fun little game if you want more of that kind of gameplay.
Only worth playing for the boss fights and visuals. The weapon system is also really cool, and makes you come up with effective combinations. Unfortunately, the exploration part of metroidvanias is just not there. Every room is just a bunch of rectangles with enemies here and there, and you barely ever get to pick which way to go first. I would only recommend this if you really like metroidvanias and have played all the greats already.
2023
Best hidden gem of the year, if not game of the year honestly. Everyone knows that if you want to make a good game, you put in a grappling hook. Both of rusted moss' platforming and combat sides are centered around one of the best feeling grappling hook mechanics in any game i've ever played. Swinging around never got old throughout the 12 or so hours it took me to complete this game in full. Big recommend, but only if you play with keyboard and mouse, it's not really made to be played with a controller.