Kizma
2018
Just a hands down great arcade rhythm experience. Only downside is that it is very hard to access outside of US/Asia/OCE.
Also because of how odd the cabinet design is, a "controller" alone is gonna set you back USD $1,399 with shipping fees from $441 to $999 depending on your location.
Of course, if you go with the home controller option, you're gonna have to get your hands on a not-so-legal dump of the game files and run in on your PC.
It's fun enough that I've had 2 separate trips to England and playing maimai was a major reason for going.
Also because of how odd the cabinet design is, a "controller" alone is gonna set you back USD $1,399 with shipping fees from $441 to $999 depending on your location.
Of course, if you go with the home controller option, you're gonna have to get your hands on a not-so-legal dump of the game files and run in on your PC.
It's fun enough that I've had 2 separate trips to England and playing maimai was a major reason for going.
2021
Valheim is an amazing open world survival game with some QoL hiccups that can be easily remedied with mods.
In addition to most of your actions having XP and Levels, Valheim has the classic loop of: Gather materials > Upgrade your Gear > Fight Boss > Gather better materials with upgraded gear, rinse and repeat. A very addicting dopamine cycle that feels rewarding.
And for those who want to unwind, the game also provides the player with simple yet effective landscaping tools and a surprisingly complex building system. You can't just place blocks anywhere willy nilly, everything has to have a foundation or support to stay where it is placed. This turns building a large/tall structure into a bit of a puzzle, trying to turn your vision into an actually stable building. There's also farming and animal husbandry that goes hand in hand with landscaping and building to create some visually stunning AND functional bases.
The combat in the game is also fairly good, but has some issues that make it frustrating from time to time. The balance of using stamina for both attacking AND running makes it hard to kite enemies effectively, which makes some fights very exciting. And when you've got a shield, this lets you do one of my favourite moves in video games, parrying! If you time a block right before an enemy attack lands, you parry their attack which stuns them for a short duration. During this stun, your attacks do critical damage as the reward in addition to the enemy being unable to attack during the stun.
The issues that make fighting more annoying are height difference, where if you're fighting on a hill and the enemy is either below or above you, your attacks will very rarely land. There's also surrounding objects, since nearly everything in Valheim takes damage, including buildings, walls, the ground, bushes etc. and doing damage to multiple targets in one attack spreads your damage out, this leads to combat in tight corridors or small buildings a lot slower since your damage is being spread out to random walls or trees.
With Valheim having such a huge open world, it uses portals to aid with long distance back and forth travel. This is incredibly useful to save some time and make the game less of a walking simulator. But for some reason, some of the most important materials that you spend a lot of your time gathering from far away locations are excluded. You cannot bring ores or smelted bars through the portals with you. I can't think of a great reason for this decision other than encouraging multiple bases near some more dangerous areas, but the people that don't wish to do that will simply just build a boat to fill and use that to transport the metals to their home base. And depending on the wind, that trip might take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes of doing barely anything. Thankfully this is easily addressed with mods that make metals transportable through portals, but I wish the vanilla game had at least a command or world setting where it allows you to choose what can go through a portal.
Overall an awesome game with some very minor issues.
In addition to most of your actions having XP and Levels, Valheim has the classic loop of: Gather materials > Upgrade your Gear > Fight Boss > Gather better materials with upgraded gear, rinse and repeat. A very addicting dopamine cycle that feels rewarding.
And for those who want to unwind, the game also provides the player with simple yet effective landscaping tools and a surprisingly complex building system. You can't just place blocks anywhere willy nilly, everything has to have a foundation or support to stay where it is placed. This turns building a large/tall structure into a bit of a puzzle, trying to turn your vision into an actually stable building. There's also farming and animal husbandry that goes hand in hand with landscaping and building to create some visually stunning AND functional bases.
The combat in the game is also fairly good, but has some issues that make it frustrating from time to time. The balance of using stamina for both attacking AND running makes it hard to kite enemies effectively, which makes some fights very exciting. And when you've got a shield, this lets you do one of my favourite moves in video games, parrying! If you time a block right before an enemy attack lands, you parry their attack which stuns them for a short duration. During this stun, your attacks do critical damage as the reward in addition to the enemy being unable to attack during the stun.
The issues that make fighting more annoying are height difference, where if you're fighting on a hill and the enemy is either below or above you, your attacks will very rarely land. There's also surrounding objects, since nearly everything in Valheim takes damage, including buildings, walls, the ground, bushes etc. and doing damage to multiple targets in one attack spreads your damage out, this leads to combat in tight corridors or small buildings a lot slower since your damage is being spread out to random walls or trees.
With Valheim having such a huge open world, it uses portals to aid with long distance back and forth travel. This is incredibly useful to save some time and make the game less of a walking simulator. But for some reason, some of the most important materials that you spend a lot of your time gathering from far away locations are excluded. You cannot bring ores or smelted bars through the portals with you. I can't think of a great reason for this decision other than encouraging multiple bases near some more dangerous areas, but the people that don't wish to do that will simply just build a boat to fill and use that to transport the metals to their home base. And depending on the wind, that trip might take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes of doing barely anything. Thankfully this is easily addressed with mods that make metals transportable through portals, but I wish the vanilla game had at least a command or world setting where it allows you to choose what can go through a portal.
Overall an awesome game with some very minor issues.
A fast paced 3v3 Arena shooter with a large emphasis on movement, abilities and classes.
You have the choice between Shift, Vector and Gunn. Think of these as the Light, Medium and Heavy classes respectively. With each class having its own abilities and movement properties, they all have their own purpose in the game(I'll be specifically talking about the CTF game mode, as TDM is a lot more loose with your choices).
Shift is a faster, smaller and harder to hit target. This combined with its healing abilities makes it a hard enemy to catch and eliminate, making Shift the go-to for assisting the capture of the flag.
Vector is the medium class, with abilities that assist in one-on-one combat as well as making its way around the maps. This guy will be the one doing the heavy lifting in CTF, as it can eliminate flag defenders in a quick manner using it's very combat focused abilities. One of the most potent and most versatile abilities, not only for the class, but for the entire game would be the grappling hook. Using the grappling hook, Vector can grapple onto enemies, pulling itself to melee range and deal a huge chunk of damage instantly. This combo of grapple + melee is definitely the bread and butter of the vector class, as it is the fastest TTK combo in the game and it also lets you pick up any health drops you might get from killing the enemy. The grappling hook can also be used to latch onto most surfaces in the game, which lets you start an extremely fast wall ride that is faster than the Shift class.
What you combine with your grappling hook depends on what you're going for, but for a very combat heavy combo that absolutely wrecks house, the damage booster ability takes 15/120 of your health and boosts your damage by 50% for 5 seconds. With your grappling hook and melee combo being your close ranged guaranteed kill, using damage booster with a longer ranged weapon can make you a threat at medium to long ranges as well.
Gunn is a big large tank, reminiscent of reinhardt from Overwatch or Heavy from TF2. As the designated defender class, Gunn is decked out with shields, traps as well as a pseudo-grappling hook that grabs enemies to you, which is another nasty way to melee someone right after. His traps also slow you down in an area, which leaves any squishy little flag grabbers vulnerable to your team.
As you may have noticed, my words for Gunn and Shift were very brief, that's mostly cause I've almost exclusively played Vector as it seems to be the most versatile and potent class as of the February 2024 Steam Next Fest open beta.
For movement, you have dashing, sliding, wallriding as well as rail grinding. Combining all these movement types can get you up to some ludicrous speeds when used right, namely the wallride doesn't seem to have an upper limit on speed. But when landing on a rail or starting a slide, they will take you back to a more sensible speed that isn't as crazy. Using all these to traverse the map gives the player near infinite choices when running for the enemy flag, or chasing down to get your own flag back.
To sum it up, Contenders: Arena, when mastered is an amazing experience that gets the blood pumping as you either defend your flag, chase down the enemy flag or just gun down opponents in the chaotic battlefield. The game has huge potential as a fun competitive shooter much like Unreal Tournament or Quake but for the modern audience.
You have the choice between Shift, Vector and Gunn. Think of these as the Light, Medium and Heavy classes respectively. With each class having its own abilities and movement properties, they all have their own purpose in the game(I'll be specifically talking about the CTF game mode, as TDM is a lot more loose with your choices).
Shift is a faster, smaller and harder to hit target. This combined with its healing abilities makes it a hard enemy to catch and eliminate, making Shift the go-to for assisting the capture of the flag.
Vector is the medium class, with abilities that assist in one-on-one combat as well as making its way around the maps. This guy will be the one doing the heavy lifting in CTF, as it can eliminate flag defenders in a quick manner using it's very combat focused abilities. One of the most potent and most versatile abilities, not only for the class, but for the entire game would be the grappling hook. Using the grappling hook, Vector can grapple onto enemies, pulling itself to melee range and deal a huge chunk of damage instantly. This combo of grapple + melee is definitely the bread and butter of the vector class, as it is the fastest TTK combo in the game and it also lets you pick up any health drops you might get from killing the enemy. The grappling hook can also be used to latch onto most surfaces in the game, which lets you start an extremely fast wall ride that is faster than the Shift class.
What you combine with your grappling hook depends on what you're going for, but for a very combat heavy combo that absolutely wrecks house, the damage booster ability takes 15/120 of your health and boosts your damage by 50% for 5 seconds. With your grappling hook and melee combo being your close ranged guaranteed kill, using damage booster with a longer ranged weapon can make you a threat at medium to long ranges as well.
Gunn is a big large tank, reminiscent of reinhardt from Overwatch or Heavy from TF2. As the designated defender class, Gunn is decked out with shields, traps as well as a pseudo-grappling hook that grabs enemies to you, which is another nasty way to melee someone right after. His traps also slow you down in an area, which leaves any squishy little flag grabbers vulnerable to your team.
As you may have noticed, my words for Gunn and Shift were very brief, that's mostly cause I've almost exclusively played Vector as it seems to be the most versatile and potent class as of the February 2024 Steam Next Fest open beta.
For movement, you have dashing, sliding, wallriding as well as rail grinding. Combining all these movement types can get you up to some ludicrous speeds when used right, namely the wallride doesn't seem to have an upper limit on speed. But when landing on a rail or starting a slide, they will take you back to a more sensible speed that isn't as crazy. Using all these to traverse the map gives the player near infinite choices when running for the enemy flag, or chasing down to get your own flag back.
To sum it up, Contenders: Arena, when mastered is an amazing experience that gets the blood pumping as you either defend your flag, chase down the enemy flag or just gun down opponents in the chaotic battlefield. The game has huge potential as a fun competitive shooter much like Unreal Tournament or Quake but for the modern audience.
2019
I'm in the very early stages of learning the game so far, but it has been an absolute blast. It makes Civ 5 feel like child's play.
I just really wish this complexity came with a pause button that let me really think about my next move. Instead, the games pause button will bar you from interacting with the game at all and hides valuable information.
I just really wish this complexity came with a pause button that let me really think about my next move. Instead, the games pause button will bar you from interacting with the game at all and hides valuable information.
2022
Start your restaurant, set the layout, take customers, prepare the food and serve! Take their money and use it to buy additional equipment for your restaurant until your popularity becomes too much and missing a single customer closes your business down. And then you do it all over again.
A very simple game with solid core loop and extremely basic controls, which makes it a really fun game to play with younger relatives and such. Neat accessibility settings, multiplayer is also seamless and playing locally is an option, which is really nice to see.(seriously, what happened to local multiplayer in games?!)
Wish the game had an optional 3 strikes option, as playing with people that aren't very used to video games in general means our restaurant gets closed before we can even reach 2 stars.
A very simple game with solid core loop and extremely basic controls, which makes it a really fun game to play with younger relatives and such. Neat accessibility settings, multiplayer is also seamless and playing locally is an option, which is really nice to see.(seriously, what happened to local multiplayer in games?!)
Wish the game had an optional 3 strikes option, as playing with people that aren't very used to video games in general means our restaurant gets closed before we can even reach 2 stars.
2022
While Dave the Diver is very enjoyable for the first few hours, the gameplay starts to fall off in enjoyability fairly quickly.
The loop of fishing for the restaurant and then serving said fish to customers is a fun experience and also feels like 2 games in 1, a great deal!
But after the first 4-5 days in the game, you start getting bombarded with a lot of new quests and mechanics at once without being properly introduced to them, which not only feels a bit tiresome and tedious, it also detracts from the original loop you were introduced to since you now have to fetch some starfish or something as well as the fish for your restaurant.
Other than the gameplay though, the game is awesome! The visuals underwater are stunning, the music is soothing and the characters are funny and genuinely interesting (for the most part).
The game is definitely a fun brief romp, but I'd say the hype was very overblown for what the gameplay ultimately is.
The loop of fishing for the restaurant and then serving said fish to customers is a fun experience and also feels like 2 games in 1, a great deal!
But after the first 4-5 days in the game, you start getting bombarded with a lot of new quests and mechanics at once without being properly introduced to them, which not only feels a bit tiresome and tedious, it also detracts from the original loop you were introduced to since you now have to fetch some starfish or something as well as the fish for your restaurant.
Other than the gameplay though, the game is awesome! The visuals underwater are stunning, the music is soothing and the characters are funny and genuinely interesting (for the most part).
The game is definitely a fun brief romp, but I'd say the hype was very overblown for what the gameplay ultimately is.
2022
Great recreation of the Guitar Hero gameplay, with many added QoL features and compatibility improvements compared to the xbox 360 games it is replicating.
The most jarring feature that it is missing (as of Q1 2023'ish, I haven't played it since) an in-game song downloader. Instead you have to download charts from websites and drag the files into a folder which makes browsing for songs fairly annoying.
The most jarring feature that it is missing (as of Q1 2023'ish, I haven't played it since) an in-game song downloader. Instead you have to download charts from websites and drag the files into a folder which makes browsing for songs fairly annoying.
2016
Great experience for competitive players, it rewards great mechanics and great tactics equally which is a rare occurrence.
But with casual modes and game browser given so little time and thought by Blizzard, the game is impossible to enjoy casually.
I think the main focus of the game being a competitively balanced eSports title is what has kept it from growing to the size and popularity of Team Fortress 2.
But with casual modes and game browser given so little time and thought by Blizzard, the game is impossible to enjoy casually.
I think the main focus of the game being a competitively balanced eSports title is what has kept it from growing to the size and popularity of Team Fortress 2.
2022
Neon White is the ultimate "I want to feel like a badass while playing a game" experience.
It's not just the characters that are cool, but it genuinely feels awesome to enter a level, figure out the right sequence of cards and enemies and then execute it perfectly.
The soundtrack made by the incredibly talented and iconic Machine Girl is hands down the best synergy between gameplay and music. The game just wouldn't feel right without this pairing.
The story segments of the game follow the visual novel formula, character emotion sprites along with voice acted lines. This could either be seen as a break from the high octane gameplay to readjust and gather your thoughts, but for me it feels a bit contradictory to the main game.
Since I have an fairly short attention span, the amount of dialogue got a bit overwhelming at times and I pretty quickly gave up on the story as a result, but I rarely care about narrative in a game so I'll give it a pass for that.
Overall, the game is amazing. If you like platformers or fast paced FPS games in general, it will NOT disappoint.
It's not just the characters that are cool, but it genuinely feels awesome to enter a level, figure out the right sequence of cards and enemies and then execute it perfectly.
The soundtrack made by the incredibly talented and iconic Machine Girl is hands down the best synergy between gameplay and music. The game just wouldn't feel right without this pairing.
The story segments of the game follow the visual novel formula, character emotion sprites along with voice acted lines. This could either be seen as a break from the high octane gameplay to readjust and gather your thoughts, but for me it feels a bit contradictory to the main game.
Since I have an fairly short attention span, the amount of dialogue got a bit overwhelming at times and I pretty quickly gave up on the story as a result, but I rarely care about narrative in a game so I'll give it a pass for that.
Overall, the game is amazing. If you like platformers or fast paced FPS games in general, it will NOT disappoint.
Honestly, I'm not sure why I love this game so much.
The writing is funny but impossible to take seriously.
The gameplay is alright, good for a hack and slash.
The soundtrack is to die for.
I guess I just have a huge soft spot for edgy games and overly cool characters.
The writing is funny but impossible to take seriously.
The gameplay is alright, good for a hack and slash.
The soundtrack is to die for.
I guess I just have a huge soft spot for edgy games and overly cool characters.
2017
A Benchmark for a great 3D platformer.
Great mechanics that allow for skill expression while still managing to be friendly for younger players.
Extremely satisfying collectathon gameplay with the moons and coins. And unlike some other Mario games the coins are actually used as currency, which gives an actual reason to go out of your way to collect them.
The soundtrack is also top tier. I don't even need to say anything, just give a listen to Jump Up, Super Star.
Sadly the multiplayer is very wonky and feels like a last minute addition to advertise co-op. I'd much rather the game be without it, since it did get my hopes up just to disappoint.
Another weak point is the forced use of motion controls. I do NOT want to shake my controller to throw cappy downwards or in a spin throw. It feels ridiculous and is also inaccurate at times which can be incredibly frustrating.
Great mechanics that allow for skill expression while still managing to be friendly for younger players.
Extremely satisfying collectathon gameplay with the moons and coins. And unlike some other Mario games the coins are actually used as currency, which gives an actual reason to go out of your way to collect them.
The soundtrack is also top tier. I don't even need to say anything, just give a listen to Jump Up, Super Star.
Sadly the multiplayer is very wonky and feels like a last minute addition to advertise co-op. I'd much rather the game be without it, since it did get my hopes up just to disappoint.
Another weak point is the forced use of motion controls. I do NOT want to shake my controller to throw cappy downwards or in a spin throw. It feels ridiculous and is also inaccurate at times which can be incredibly frustrating.
2017
The first metroidvania game I've completed, and it was amazing.
The amount of skill expression and playstyle customizing that is given to the player is large but not overwhelming.
Progression is extremely satisfying and actually feels meaningful, with health and charm upgrades being fairly hard to find once you're out of the early-game.
The story is something that didn't grab my attention much, but that bothers me so little that I personally don't mind.
The only reason it's not a 5/5 is that getting lost and being frustrated with running around in circles is commonplace in this game. Some may enjoy the feeling of being lost in a large area like this, but for me it was a slight nuisance.
The amount of skill expression and playstyle customizing that is given to the player is large but not overwhelming.
Progression is extremely satisfying and actually feels meaningful, with health and charm upgrades being fairly hard to find once you're out of the early-game.
The story is something that didn't grab my attention much, but that bothers me so little that I personally don't mind.
The only reason it's not a 5/5 is that getting lost and being frustrated with running around in circles is commonplace in this game. Some may enjoy the feeling of being lost in a large area like this, but for me it was a slight nuisance.
2018
Infuriating and satisfying in all the right ways. Platforming combined with a heart tugging story of a girls battle against depression.
Art style is great, Animations are even better and the controls are top notch. I'm not even a 2d platformer fan and I absolutely loved this game!
Art style is great, Animations are even better and the controls are top notch. I'm not even a 2d platformer fan and I absolutely loved this game!
2023
Amazing game to play with friends, doesn't babysit you and lets you learn from mistakes. Also voice effects and attenuation adds an incredible amount of fun moments when you're getting mauled to death.
Only thing that is missing is an end goal, for now it's simply reaching a forever increasing quota.
Only thing that is missing is an end goal, for now it's simply reaching a forever increasing quota.
2013
A very challenging but not frustrating zombie survival game. While it's daunting to get into, once you get the basics the rest is fairly trivial to understand.