MORPHEUS
2020
A third person shooter/baby souls-like where you become the little girl. The Early Access Demo made it seem wafer thin but this game's actually got some meat on it's bones.
The key difference is that this game borrows Demon's Souls two big revelations; losing money when you die, and dodge rolling the fuck out of everything. LWN manages finds a nice compromise in those mechanics by making you only lose money when you use the shitty welfare healing items, and having enemy animations be reasonable (VERY refreshing after Elden Ring).
Reminds me of the games From Software used to make for the PS2, Agetec would've been all over this shit. If you understood that then you're obligated to buy this game.
The key difference is that this game borrows Demon's Souls two big revelations; losing money when you die, and dodge rolling the fuck out of everything. LWN manages finds a nice compromise in those mechanics by making you only lose money when you use the shitty welfare healing items, and having enemy animations be reasonable (VERY refreshing after Elden Ring).
Reminds me of the games From Software used to make for the PS2, Agetec would've been all over this shit. If you understood that then you're obligated to buy this game.
2022
The Devil Daggers developer returns from the void with another arcade shooter that functions more like an inversion than a sequel.
It retains the same shart-or-spray primary weapon, and the enemy archetypes (skulls) are functionally identical, but the change to the scoring system is a brilliant slight of hand.
Instead of being an endless arcade shooter where your score is determined by how long your session time was, Hyper Demon counts DOWN and forces you to raise the time/score by killing enemies in rapid succession.
Aside from some cute philosophical implications (Devil Daggers is a theoretically perfect game, and Hyper Demon can be theoretically perfected), the immediate change is that beating your high score and improving your performance no longer incurs diminishing returns from the player.
Hyper Demon is an overall improvement over Devil Daggers, and a fascinating case study in game design, and how radically an experience can change with the slightest tweak.
It retains the same shart-or-spray primary weapon, and the enemy archetypes (skulls) are functionally identical, but the change to the scoring system is a brilliant slight of hand.
Instead of being an endless arcade shooter where your score is determined by how long your session time was, Hyper Demon counts DOWN and forces you to raise the time/score by killing enemies in rapid succession.
Aside from some cute philosophical implications (Devil Daggers is a theoretically perfect game, and Hyper Demon can be theoretically perfected), the immediate change is that beating your high score and improving your performance no longer incurs diminishing returns from the player.
Hyper Demon is an overall improvement over Devil Daggers, and a fascinating case study in game design, and how radically an experience can change with the slightest tweak.
2022
Immaculate world building and storytelling, combined with machine-precision game design. Signalis is a dark, difficult game which propels you forward with jarring moments of tenderness. It is a complete work of art that stands on it's own merit.
Half farming, half beat em' up, all comfy.
A perfect game where all the teeny mechanics feed into each other in a perfect loop. Beat the crap out of demons, then wind down with meticulous rice farming.
A perfect game where all the teeny mechanics feed into each other in a perfect loop. Beat the crap out of demons, then wind down with meticulous rice farming.
2019
Come for the catgirls, stay for the war crimes.
The melancholy plot and spectacular Yoko Kanno soundtrack elevate this game above the average 2.5D platformer of it's era, into something truly special.
2020
The only thing wrong with the game is that it's not complete yet.
Sometimes less is more, but more is also even more.
Sometimes less is more, but more is also even more.