RaidaUK
19 Reviews liked by RaidaUK
Crow Country
2024
I don't wanna write anything in-depth and analytical about this, because I think that wouldn't fit with what this game is: simple and perfect. It doesn't necessarily reinvent the wheel, but it is more than wheel in spirit. I dunno, it's the middle of the night and I just finished the game. GO PLAY IT
Small notes I thought of after posting the above "review"
- I think it's a testament to the quality of the writing that I figured out the twist very early, but still gasped a bit when it was revealed proper. Admittedly, they weren't really hiding the twist in question, but I found that to be kinda fun actually. All the lil hints were cute.
- The very few moments that control of the camera is taken away from the player showcased just how good the devs are at framing a shot. The fact that almost any angle you position the camera on your own can look stunning is an even better testament to the devs' prowess.
- I found it surprisingly refreshing to play an indie-horror game that had a mystery which was wrapped up neatly at the end. I love ARGs and Lynchian abstract story-telling, but it seems to be a bit oversaturated in the indie scene lately. Plus, the story itself here was quite compelling, in large part due to the characters.
- I love this game so much.
Small notes I thought of after posting the above "review"
- I think it's a testament to the quality of the writing that I figured out the twist very early, but still gasped a bit when it was revealed proper. Admittedly, they weren't really hiding the twist in question, but I found that to be kinda fun actually. All the lil hints were cute.
- The very few moments that control of the camera is taken away from the player showcased just how good the devs are at framing a shot. The fact that almost any angle you position the camera on your own can look stunning is an even better testament to the devs' prowess.
- I found it surprisingly refreshing to play an indie-horror game that had a mystery which was wrapped up neatly at the end. I love ARGs and Lynchian abstract story-telling, but it seems to be a bit oversaturated in the indie scene lately. Plus, the story itself here was quite compelling, in large part due to the characters.
- I love this game so much.
It's Powerwash Simulator for Warhammer stuff. You know what to expect by now with these DLCs.
The very last vehicle was a pain in the ass though. Massive thing.
The very last vehicle was a pain in the ass though. Massive thing.
I love Getting Over It and have beaten it hundreds of times. I was excited for this game, it looked the most similar to Getting Over It out of any other rage-bait game out there. Living up to the "foddian" name it talks about in the steam description.
But the core gameplay is just too annoying and painful. Like it literally hurts my hands to play this game for more than 10 minutes. Having to hold down the buttons and yoink my mouse super fast and hard to swing is like the least ergonomic activity in the world. So I'm refunding this game sorry.
The dev really did nail the style of Getting Over It perfectly though.
But the core gameplay is just too annoying and painful. Like it literally hurts my hands to play this game for more than 10 minutes. Having to hold down the buttons and yoink my mouse super fast and hard to swing is like the least ergonomic activity in the world. So I'm refunding this game sorry.
The dev really did nail the style of Getting Over It perfectly though.
Dredge
2023
It’s a good fishing & management game with some horror on the side. I’m just waiting for a sequel at this point.
SPOILER The two endings you get are kinda strange? Like they're not very well built up beforehand.
SPOILER The two endings you get are kinda strange? Like they're not very well built up beforehand.
Yeahhhhh it's just not for me. I think I'm not really a 3D platformer fan in general, so you can take this with a grain of salt if you want. But Penny's Big Breakaway was janky as hell, had some super broken sections (the boat boss fight), and the general platforming I just couldn't get into.
It feels really weird. I'm sure if you're a speedrunner and you are really good at using the yo-yo, it feels great. But I'm not, and it didn't. It's got the momentum-based platforming of a 2D Sonic game which feels good for about 2 seconds before I start falling into the void. When going fast, I would fall off so many edges or go flying into the abyss. But if I go slowly, that's boringggg and it feels like I'm playing the game wrong. Overall the platforming just never felt satisfying to me even after my seven hours of playtime.
Also I don't really like the artstyle or cutscenes or story or characters. Which is kind of a shame because I LOVE Sonic Mania and have played it so many times.
It feels really weird. I'm sure if you're a speedrunner and you are really good at using the yo-yo, it feels great. But I'm not, and it didn't. It's got the momentum-based platforming of a 2D Sonic game which feels good for about 2 seconds before I start falling into the void. When going fast, I would fall off so many edges or go flying into the abyss. But if I go slowly, that's boringggg and it feels like I'm playing the game wrong. Overall the platforming just never felt satisfying to me even after my seven hours of playtime.
Also I don't really like the artstyle or cutscenes or story or characters. Which is kind of a shame because I LOVE Sonic Mania and have played it so many times.
Smushi Come Home
2023
cute mushroom. cool gliding and climbing parkour sections. more linear than other similar games but that's not necessarily a downside and there are still a bunch of funky side quests.
This highlights everything that is wrong with modern gaming, in one soulless predatory, cringey, outdated and repetitive package.
Peak creative bankruptcy and Rocksteady should be ashamed of themselves.
Uninstalled out of 10.
Peak creative bankruptcy and Rocksteady should be ashamed of themselves.
Uninstalled out of 10.
I enjoyed just walking around in a fucked up environment and interacting with it, but the actual content of the story and the way its portrayed is pretty amateur if I'm being honest. Some of these ideas are good but are presented in a pretty cheesy way.
This only reinforces how I feel about Konami re-entering the video game space. I'm not convinced they know what they're doing. Metal Gear Survive, Contra: Rogue Corps, taking on a bunch of Silent Hill projects, remaking Silent Hill 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3...I just don't think they can pull it all off and I'd love to be proven wrong, but this didn't give me the most confidence.
This only reinforces how I feel about Konami re-entering the video game space. I'm not convinced they know what they're doing. Metal Gear Survive, Contra: Rogue Corps, taking on a bunch of Silent Hill projects, remaking Silent Hill 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3...I just don't think they can pull it all off and I'd love to be proven wrong, but this didn't give me the most confidence.
Dave the Diver
2023
Playtime: 27hrs
Achievements: 22/43
Played On: Steam Deck
I picked this game up on the Switch earlier this year but for whatever reason I pushed it off, pushed it off again, and then pushed it off once more. I will admit I felt a bit of shame doing that as more and more praise was beginning to stack up for this title. BUT I can proudly say that I get it now. After finally having picked it up and this time on the Steam Deck - I get why so many people put this on their best of the year 2023 lists!
The simple concept of spear gun fishing and managing a sushi restaurant sounds like an odd combo at first but it works. Oh my does it ever work!
Fishing and swimming around in this game feels endlessly fun. Getting the chance to see what you will serve is enthralling in its own right. But then taking that catch and planning the night’s menu is wild.
On top of continually upgrading Dave’s equipment to catch new fish, reach new depths, and continue plundering the ocean is such a satisfying gameplay loop. You keep getting drip fed upgrades and new entire gameplay systems all the way through the end of the game. I was shocked with how much was packed into this very, at first, unassuming package.
I loved this game and my 27 hours with it. If you take your time and complete everything you could easily, nearly double that. This for sure was one of the better games from 2023 and I’m glad to say I have been able to experience it!
Achievements: 22/43
Played On: Steam Deck
I picked this game up on the Switch earlier this year but for whatever reason I pushed it off, pushed it off again, and then pushed it off once more. I will admit I felt a bit of shame doing that as more and more praise was beginning to stack up for this title. BUT I can proudly say that I get it now. After finally having picked it up and this time on the Steam Deck - I get why so many people put this on their best of the year 2023 lists!
The simple concept of spear gun fishing and managing a sushi restaurant sounds like an odd combo at first but it works. Oh my does it ever work!
Fishing and swimming around in this game feels endlessly fun. Getting the chance to see what you will serve is enthralling in its own right. But then taking that catch and planning the night’s menu is wild.
On top of continually upgrading Dave’s equipment to catch new fish, reach new depths, and continue plundering the ocean is such a satisfying gameplay loop. You keep getting drip fed upgrades and new entire gameplay systems all the way through the end of the game. I was shocked with how much was packed into this very, at first, unassuming package.
I loved this game and my 27 hours with it. If you take your time and complete everything you could easily, nearly double that. This for sure was one of the better games from 2023 and I’m glad to say I have been able to experience it!
This review contains spoilers
Absolute glorious DLC for Goat Simulator.
Goat Simulator feels like one big joke of a game and surely does not take itself seriously. I cannot even imagine how you can come up with this and how you turn a normal everyday animal into a video game. But they did, and it works!
If you take a simple look at the game, it is nothing more than a square sandbox in which you can screw things and people up as a goat. You earn and unlock mutators for even more carnage and madness like flying, spawn goats, build blocks Minecraft style and many, many more. Normally this type of games bore me pretty quick because there is no end goal or clear end to the game. But because the game as one hundred and twenty-four achievements, requiring you to do certain things and interacting with the world and the various secrets and Easter eggs, I automatically got a purpose to play the crap out of this game. It also gave me a full tour throughout all the crazy and hilarious stuff in this godforsaken piece of glitch. Going for the achievements is the way to go to fully explore everything and feeling that what you do matters.
There are four DLC’s available for this game and all four of them are totally worth it.
The third one I played was Goat Simulator: Waste of Space. At one point, our little goat needed to go to space of course, to complete the absurd experience of the main game.
In this DLC, the developers mock the many sci-fi themed games and make the DLC as stereotypical as possible. You run around a space station, annoying people, collect different parts and space salvage and eventually, build your glorious spaceship and go to war with space pirates in outer space.
The parts in space are the only time you can actually "lose" in this game and may have to start the spaceship battle over. It added some new challenge, especially with the god-awful controls, which can be expected from a goat flying a spaceship.
The map in this DLC is massive and, like the other DLC's, there is a ton of stuff to do, explore, and achieve here. It offers a good five hours of extra content, and I had a great time.
I liked this DLC, although I still need to recover to this day from the (intentional) horrendous controls of the spaceship.
Definitely recommend this DLC to everyone.
Goat Simulator feels like one big joke of a game and surely does not take itself seriously. I cannot even imagine how you can come up with this and how you turn a normal everyday animal into a video game. But they did, and it works!
If you take a simple look at the game, it is nothing more than a square sandbox in which you can screw things and people up as a goat. You earn and unlock mutators for even more carnage and madness like flying, spawn goats, build blocks Minecraft style and many, many more. Normally this type of games bore me pretty quick because there is no end goal or clear end to the game. But because the game as one hundred and twenty-four achievements, requiring you to do certain things and interacting with the world and the various secrets and Easter eggs, I automatically got a purpose to play the crap out of this game. It also gave me a full tour throughout all the crazy and hilarious stuff in this godforsaken piece of glitch. Going for the achievements is the way to go to fully explore everything and feeling that what you do matters.
There are four DLC’s available for this game and all four of them are totally worth it.
The third one I played was Goat Simulator: Waste of Space. At one point, our little goat needed to go to space of course, to complete the absurd experience of the main game.
In this DLC, the developers mock the many sci-fi themed games and make the DLC as stereotypical as possible. You run around a space station, annoying people, collect different parts and space salvage and eventually, build your glorious spaceship and go to war with space pirates in outer space.
The parts in space are the only time you can actually "lose" in this game and may have to start the spaceship battle over. It added some new challenge, especially with the god-awful controls, which can be expected from a goat flying a spaceship.
The map in this DLC is massive and, like the other DLC's, there is a ton of stuff to do, explore, and achieve here. It offers a good five hours of extra content, and I had a great time.
I liked this DLC, although I still need to recover to this day from the (intentional) horrendous controls of the spaceship.
Definitely recommend this DLC to everyone.
Digimon World
1999
100 Prosperity, 15/15 Medals, 66/66 Cards, Raised 61/61 Digimon.
Death's Door
2021
a great game, beautiful, easy to understand, all the puzzles are great and the combat is fluid. challenges are fun and challenging. you should give this a shot.
bro i held out on playing this because I saw mixed reviews and then just never got around to it. But this shit slaps so hard. Three long levels that are just really good and jam packed with difficult fights and also some cool story. I love Urdak so I was happy to go back there as well. I played this all basically in one sitting. I was expecting the DLC levels to kinda just be like Master Levels, but they add lots of new stuff so it warrants being a DLC.
Amazing expansion to an already amazing game. More cool levels with cool new things. What more could you want!
Amazing expansion to an already amazing game. More cool levels with cool new things. What more could you want!
Borderlands 2
2012
Why tf is this rated only 3.6/5 this is literally the best looter-shooter ever made you virgins.
Webbed
2021
As someone who loves bugs (especially spiders), good movement, and unique control schemes, Webbed was basically made specifically for me.
I seriously cannot overstate how good the movement and controls are. Swinging around and using webs to create ramshackle structures and physics tools as this cute little spider gives me a schmovement high comparable only to Melee, which is basically a miracle considering 20+ years' worth of other games have failed to even come close. I want to speedrun this game sooooooooo bad, if only just to have an excuse to zip around in it regularly.
The "puzzles" are really more like little physics challenges thrown in to occasionally spice things up than actual puzzles, but I'll take any excuse the game gives me to try and make my webs-per-second speed even faster. There's actually lots of other fun little bonuses just thrown in like that too; other games wish they had an alternate movement tool as fun and unique as the skateboard or a hard to reach surprise as delightful as the hat button.
Everything about the game (including the adorable art, charming writing, and dynamic music/soundscapes) really works for me, and it's very quickly become a personal favorite of mine. Highly recommended, can't wait to see what this team does next.
I seriously cannot overstate how good the movement and controls are. Swinging around and using webs to create ramshackle structures and physics tools as this cute little spider gives me a schmovement high comparable only to Melee, which is basically a miracle considering 20+ years' worth of other games have failed to even come close. I want to speedrun this game sooooooooo bad, if only just to have an excuse to zip around in it regularly.
The "puzzles" are really more like little physics challenges thrown in to occasionally spice things up than actual puzzles, but I'll take any excuse the game gives me to try and make my webs-per-second speed even faster. There's actually lots of other fun little bonuses just thrown in like that too; other games wish they had an alternate movement tool as fun and unique as the skateboard or a hard to reach surprise as delightful as the hat button.
Everything about the game (including the adorable art, charming writing, and dynamic music/soundscapes) really works for me, and it's very quickly become a personal favorite of mine. Highly recommended, can't wait to see what this team does next.