RpgN
2021
We got us another roguelike/lite! Only this one is the twin stick shooter type. There are 3 random generated biomes, multiple characters to unlock, same with difficulties, lots of skills and weapons too. It’s for the most part the usual and actually the type of roguelike I normally dislike. There is absolutely no progression to work towards. Neither permanent nor the chance to find/buy things. All the items and weapons are unlocked from the get go and there are many of them. Unlocking characters is the motivation to keep playing. The characters are mostly locked behind different difficulty modes which I find that to be motivating on paper.
The game can be incredibly addictive. I’ve spent around 36 hours completing the game on easy, normal, hard, fiesta and attempting hardcore. The items and weapons truly change the game and are so fun to experiment with. The characters are also different enough with clear advantages and disadvantages. It looks so cute and it sounds really nice.
But it has some real issues unfortunately. You see, the game is on the difficult side but a lot of it has to do with balancing more than anything. A lot of enemies and bosses can be far easier to deal with if you have certain items/weapons. It’s ridiculous how much of a difference that makes, more than any other roguelike I’ve played. There is nothing you can do to affect the RNG to drop something you really need. Being able to banish or bring some items when starting a run could have helped out tremendously. It doesn’t end here though. As mentioned, the biomes are random generated. That includes the rooms and enemies. Some of the enemies are truly unbalanced, they attack too quickly or have a big reach. This becomes more of a problem when lots of enemies are cramped together in one tiny room, or the exit you come from is shaped in a way where you are going to get hit no matter what you do. But the worst of all is hardcore mode and having 3 achievements locked behind it. They are: unlock Canta, complete a run with Canta and unlock all characters. Hardcore is hard mode only with 90% less health. This means you die with one hit for the most part unless you find a tunic that increases your max health by 20%, this allows you to get hit 3 times. You can increase the odds by finding 20% damage reduction armour, the cursed stone with 30% damage reduction, 20% chance to avoid damage and getting one life when dying. Good luck finding all of this in one run and it will most likely still not be enough. Personally I feel there are 2 better routes the developer could have taken to solve the achievements/hardcore mode problem. Either change the max health reduction from 90% to 50% or unlock Canta in hard instead of hardcore. I find the latter to be the better option because hard is seriously no joke and you don’t unlock anything when completing it. My heart sank when I completed it and I didn’t get anything for the effort. Hardcore should have been kept as an optional mode, not having 3 achievements locked behind it.
The game did obviously do something right for me to spend this much time on it and remain engaged for so long. But it’s a shame how the experience can drastically be improved with a few very minor changes to the game’s balance. I hope the developer will patch the game to make it easier to unlock Canta one day. This game is worth looking into if you like to get punished or don’t mind not being able to get all the achievements since it can easily be completed on easy and normal.
The game can be incredibly addictive. I’ve spent around 36 hours completing the game on easy, normal, hard, fiesta and attempting hardcore. The items and weapons truly change the game and are so fun to experiment with. The characters are also different enough with clear advantages and disadvantages. It looks so cute and it sounds really nice.
But it has some real issues unfortunately. You see, the game is on the difficult side but a lot of it has to do with balancing more than anything. A lot of enemies and bosses can be far easier to deal with if you have certain items/weapons. It’s ridiculous how much of a difference that makes, more than any other roguelike I’ve played. There is nothing you can do to affect the RNG to drop something you really need. Being able to banish or bring some items when starting a run could have helped out tremendously. It doesn’t end here though. As mentioned, the biomes are random generated. That includes the rooms and enemies. Some of the enemies are truly unbalanced, they attack too quickly or have a big reach. This becomes more of a problem when lots of enemies are cramped together in one tiny room, or the exit you come from is shaped in a way where you are going to get hit no matter what you do. But the worst of all is hardcore mode and having 3 achievements locked behind it. They are: unlock Canta, complete a run with Canta and unlock all characters. Hardcore is hard mode only with 90% less health. This means you die with one hit for the most part unless you find a tunic that increases your max health by 20%, this allows you to get hit 3 times. You can increase the odds by finding 20% damage reduction armour, the cursed stone with 30% damage reduction, 20% chance to avoid damage and getting one life when dying. Good luck finding all of this in one run and it will most likely still not be enough. Personally I feel there are 2 better routes the developer could have taken to solve the achievements/hardcore mode problem. Either change the max health reduction from 90% to 50% or unlock Canta in hard instead of hardcore. I find the latter to be the better option because hard is seriously no joke and you don’t unlock anything when completing it. My heart sank when I completed it and I didn’t get anything for the effort. Hardcore should have been kept as an optional mode, not having 3 achievements locked behind it.
The game did obviously do something right for me to spend this much time on it and remain engaged for so long. But it’s a shame how the experience can drastically be improved with a few very minor changes to the game’s balance. I hope the developer will patch the game to make it easier to unlock Canta one day. This game is worth looking into if you like to get punished or don’t mind not being able to get all the achievements since it can easily be completed on easy and normal.
This is a very cool game that has a lot going for it. But it’s totally not polished, especially when you try to get the other endings. It focuses on story and puzzles. There are at least 7 endings depending on the route you take. You have 7 lives where a day is repeated after dying (only in terms of plot). You can try to change your fate by either focusing on the heroes, special powers or items. You have to pick one of those three in 3 main areas, you will then have a fourth area without choices and then a final area where you defeat the boss.
The game oozes charm with its style and dialogues. The game is very colourful with detailed environments and the characters have some funny animations that make the game feel like an enjoyable anime. The dialogues have some very minor typo but they seem to be written by natives. The dialogues are so witty and fun. The gameplay is pretty varied. It has puzzles similar to point and click adventure games, you need to explore to find items to use them somewhere and you have to avoid enemies when they charge at you. There are consumable items to heal yourself in case you get hit.
On to the flaws, they’re mostly related to programming, UI and bugs. So the game has at least 7 endings, you know what to do to get the other endings once you complete the game once. There is a secret room where you can take shortcuts to get the other endings. It feels like the shortcuts are unfinished in terms of development. Some routes don’t work (with softlock at least once), the third main area doesn’t have an extensive selection like the first 2 main areas which forces you to repeat the third area often. The third area has an annoying ice maze which makes this a missed opportunity. On top of this, you have to do the puzzles again every single time. There is no skip option. Same for cutscenes and most dialogues. I don’t know about you but all the things mentioned above are a big deal when a game focuses on different endings, certainly when there are many achievements attached to them. I felt like my time was being wasted too much by repeating the same steps over and over even though I absolutely had a blast with the first ending. The puzzles can be really good and engaging but a few of them are unclear and one felt downright misleading (the code door in the fourth area). The map is a bit confusing, the UI with the items feels a bit clunky etc. I could go on but those are the main flaws.
The game’s heart is in the right place. It’s a great game that’s definitely worth the 90% off sale price I got it for. You might be surprised what you’re getting in terms of content even with the normal price. But the developers need to work on improving user experience and UI. This matters more with a game of this type.
The game oozes charm with its style and dialogues. The game is very colourful with detailed environments and the characters have some funny animations that make the game feel like an enjoyable anime. The dialogues have some very minor typo but they seem to be written by natives. The dialogues are so witty and fun. The gameplay is pretty varied. It has puzzles similar to point and click adventure games, you need to explore to find items to use them somewhere and you have to avoid enemies when they charge at you. There are consumable items to heal yourself in case you get hit.
On to the flaws, they’re mostly related to programming, UI and bugs. So the game has at least 7 endings, you know what to do to get the other endings once you complete the game once. There is a secret room where you can take shortcuts to get the other endings. It feels like the shortcuts are unfinished in terms of development. Some routes don’t work (with softlock at least once), the third main area doesn’t have an extensive selection like the first 2 main areas which forces you to repeat the third area often. The third area has an annoying ice maze which makes this a missed opportunity. On top of this, you have to do the puzzles again every single time. There is no skip option. Same for cutscenes and most dialogues. I don’t know about you but all the things mentioned above are a big deal when a game focuses on different endings, certainly when there are many achievements attached to them. I felt like my time was being wasted too much by repeating the same steps over and over even though I absolutely had a blast with the first ending. The puzzles can be really good and engaging but a few of them are unclear and one felt downright misleading (the code door in the fourth area). The map is a bit confusing, the UI with the items feels a bit clunky etc. I could go on but those are the main flaws.
The game’s heart is in the right place. It’s a great game that’s definitely worth the 90% off sale price I got it for. You might be surprised what you’re getting in terms of content even with the normal price. But the developers need to work on improving user experience and UI. This matters more with a game of this type.
2018
Recently I played Journey and Firewatch, they were also on sale with at least 80% off and described as relaxing games or walking simulators. I was worried about Gris for being described similarly as well. Those games disappointed me a bit but Gris is different. It remembers that it’s also a video game while being an awesome piece of art.
The game is a 2D puzzle platformer. There are 5 completely different levels that are fairly long in length (aside from the first one). There are 4 ability upgrades that you will unlock to solve some puzzles, a few ‘boss’ sections and actual platforming with some timing involved. There is also one collectible type in each level and a couple of secrets mostly related to the achievements. Playing the game extensively took less than 5 hours, an extra hour was spent on getting the rest of the achievements.
The game simply looks gorgeous thanks to its art. I often felt like I was in a garden straight out of heaven whenever I was playing this. What’s nice is also the little touches that make the areas feel lively. The music (and sound) support the graphics to create some unforgettable moments. The music is also used to help with gameplay on rare occasions. You’d think the gameplay would fall behind when the rest is so good but WRONG. The controls are incredibly responsive with a controller. The gameplay is engaging enough, there are sections you need to think briefly to solve them and there is some skill required to perform certain jumps. It’s almost never frustrating though. The developers opted for a nice balance to satisfy a bigger group instead of pleasing one group above the rest. The game auto saves and it always saves when you find a collectible or secret. This is especially handy for achievement hunting. This has been made easier after completing the game. You unlock chapter select and can even continue from some checkpoints so you don’t have to backtrack too much.
That said, I didn’t really get the story or the metaphors until I unlocked a secret cutscene. It doesn’t explain everything but it gives some idea of what’s going on. I don’t find that to be wise to lock something like this behind a secret. The story should have been clearer to make you understand why you’re playing. There are also rare moments where I find the music to be used excessively. It gives me some pretentious vibes when the violins are loud to force you into an emotion. But that might be just me!
This is not a hardcore game, so don’t expect to sweat to complete it fully. It’s still trying to be relaxing but at least it feels like a game where a bit of effort is required from the player. It was a very enjoyable experience. It felt like the length was just right even though I wouldn’t mind playing more of this. It’s definitely worth a buy when it’s on sale again. Full price might be worth it if you have the cash and don’t care about a game’s length.
The game is a 2D puzzle platformer. There are 5 completely different levels that are fairly long in length (aside from the first one). There are 4 ability upgrades that you will unlock to solve some puzzles, a few ‘boss’ sections and actual platforming with some timing involved. There is also one collectible type in each level and a couple of secrets mostly related to the achievements. Playing the game extensively took less than 5 hours, an extra hour was spent on getting the rest of the achievements.
The game simply looks gorgeous thanks to its art. I often felt like I was in a garden straight out of heaven whenever I was playing this. What’s nice is also the little touches that make the areas feel lively. The music (and sound) support the graphics to create some unforgettable moments. The music is also used to help with gameplay on rare occasions. You’d think the gameplay would fall behind when the rest is so good but WRONG. The controls are incredibly responsive with a controller. The gameplay is engaging enough, there are sections you need to think briefly to solve them and there is some skill required to perform certain jumps. It’s almost never frustrating though. The developers opted for a nice balance to satisfy a bigger group instead of pleasing one group above the rest. The game auto saves and it always saves when you find a collectible or secret. This is especially handy for achievement hunting. This has been made easier after completing the game. You unlock chapter select and can even continue from some checkpoints so you don’t have to backtrack too much.
That said, I didn’t really get the story or the metaphors until I unlocked a secret cutscene. It doesn’t explain everything but it gives some idea of what’s going on. I don’t find that to be wise to lock something like this behind a secret. The story should have been clearer to make you understand why you’re playing. There are also rare moments where I find the music to be used excessively. It gives me some pretentious vibes when the violins are loud to force you into an emotion. But that might be just me!
This is not a hardcore game, so don’t expect to sweat to complete it fully. It’s still trying to be relaxing but at least it feels like a game where a bit of effort is required from the player. It was a very enjoyable experience. It felt like the length was just right even though I wouldn’t mind playing more of this. It’s definitely worth a buy when it’s on sale again. Full price might be worth it if you have the cash and don’t care about a game’s length.
I really enjoyed what this game is trying to do. It’s a unique platformer with its own rules. It doesn’t really feel like a typical platformer due to the high tempo that is required from you. You can move wherever you like but you have a health gauge that depletes with time. You have to eat food to stay alive. You’re encouraged to keep running through 8 worlds. Each world has 4 stages. A lot of them look similar or are practically the same, but new elements keep getting added. Think of new enemies placed in awkward positions, an egg containing dangerous content instead of good, a stone that forces you to move differently etc. This keeps you on your toes, it plays with your expectations and it shines on the highest difficulty mode. There you only get 10 lives to finish the game.
The game is very fun and different. The controls need some getting used to but I felt like a pro after a while. The cartoony graphics are cute, especially the playable characters and enemies. I love that the 3 difficulty modes are separate and can be accessed at any time. This helps with practicing certain levels on normal in order to get better with One Coin mode (the hardest difficulty). The achievements are fair and enjoyable. It felt very satisfying to complete One Coin mode after playing for over 19 hours. Actual length of the entire game might be less than an hour if you complete one mode without making mistakes.
The game doesn’t have resolutions higher than 1080p. I had black borders with a 1440p monitor. Even though One Coin mode is fun, you have to complete it in one session. You can’t quit and continue later. Although I understand the developers are trying to replicate that arcade feel, I would have still preferred to continue later with the 10 lives you’re given. Also, it would have been really nice if you get rewarded with a new life after reaching a certain score (like every 100k or 200k). It kind of made the high scores pointless if you don’t care about that. It would have been helpful with One Coin mode too.
Wonder Boy and Monster Boy games seem related as a franchise but this game is nothing like the other Wonder/Monster Boy games I played. It might as well be a different franchise. It’s a good game regardless of that. I got it for €1,80 on sale and it’s 100% worth it. Get it if you’re looking for a challenging platformer. It can be enjoyed on normal but this game is the best for the ones who love remembering patterns and want to practice to complete the highest difficulty mode. I’m not particularly looking for difficult games but I felt rewarded whilst trying to get all the achievements. It’s not impossible, it might even feel easy with a certain mindset. It’s one of those challenging games that I feel is done right. It motivates you to get better because you know you can do it.
The game is very fun and different. The controls need some getting used to but I felt like a pro after a while. The cartoony graphics are cute, especially the playable characters and enemies. I love that the 3 difficulty modes are separate and can be accessed at any time. This helps with practicing certain levels on normal in order to get better with One Coin mode (the hardest difficulty). The achievements are fair and enjoyable. It felt very satisfying to complete One Coin mode after playing for over 19 hours. Actual length of the entire game might be less than an hour if you complete one mode without making mistakes.
The game doesn’t have resolutions higher than 1080p. I had black borders with a 1440p monitor. Even though One Coin mode is fun, you have to complete it in one session. You can’t quit and continue later. Although I understand the developers are trying to replicate that arcade feel, I would have still preferred to continue later with the 10 lives you’re given. Also, it would have been really nice if you get rewarded with a new life after reaching a certain score (like every 100k or 200k). It kind of made the high scores pointless if you don’t care about that. It would have been helpful with One Coin mode too.
Wonder Boy and Monster Boy games seem related as a franchise but this game is nothing like the other Wonder/Monster Boy games I played. It might as well be a different franchise. It’s a good game regardless of that. I got it for €1,80 on sale and it’s 100% worth it. Get it if you’re looking for a challenging platformer. It can be enjoyed on normal but this game is the best for the ones who love remembering patterns and want to practice to complete the highest difficulty mode. I’m not particularly looking for difficult games but I felt rewarded whilst trying to get all the achievements. It’s not impossible, it might even feel easy with a certain mindset. It’s one of those challenging games that I feel is done right. It motivates you to get better because you know you can do it.
2016
Plantera is the first idler/clicker I got to play and I think it’s a good introduction for newcomers to the genre. You get a small land where you get to grow some plants, purchase animals and minor upgrades/enhancements. So it has some management in it but it’s very basic. This is the most active gameplay you’ll get out of it aside from clicking. Clicking comes in the form of picking up fruits/vegetables when they’re ready to be harvested, scaring off animals trying to steal your food and interacting with loot hero to get lots of money occasionally. It’s all about getting money to upgrade things in order to get MORE money. But you don’t have to engage with the clicking part. There are blue helpers that will do the work for you. You will get more of them when you expand the land or add more plants/trees. Sure they’re not as fast or smart but they will do the job even when you turn the game off. That’s where the idler aspect comes into play naturally.
The game has a very adorable style. Everything looks so cute! The game is relaxing since it doesn’t require a lot of energy and the music helps with this too. The gameplay is very simple, so anyone can play it. It seems like a suitable game for kids, casual players or ones who want a relaxing game between the big/tough games. The achievements are very fair and can easily be gotten after a period of time. I’m only missing reaching level 100 and that will come in a few days. I only need to turn the game on for a couple of seconds every few hours.
That said, it got old after 3 hours (total time I spent is 5 hours). I was level 40 at that point. It felt like I saw everything the game had to offer, I was only playing to get all the achievements once I hit that time. There could have been a tiny bit more complexity offered. The game also doesn’t seem to offer 1440p resolution. You have very limited options in the setting menu. The graphics look blown up and blurry with my monitor.
I got it on sale for €0,59 on Steam. It’s definitely worth that. I’m glad to have experienced the genre while also creating expectations of how the formula can be improved and expanded on in the future. The sequel released about a year ago. Maybe it will be the one adding what I’m missing with this one.
The game has a very adorable style. Everything looks so cute! The game is relaxing since it doesn’t require a lot of energy and the music helps with this too. The gameplay is very simple, so anyone can play it. It seems like a suitable game for kids, casual players or ones who want a relaxing game between the big/tough games. The achievements are very fair and can easily be gotten after a period of time. I’m only missing reaching level 100 and that will come in a few days. I only need to turn the game on for a couple of seconds every few hours.
That said, it got old after 3 hours (total time I spent is 5 hours). I was level 40 at that point. It felt like I saw everything the game had to offer, I was only playing to get all the achievements once I hit that time. There could have been a tiny bit more complexity offered. The game also doesn’t seem to offer 1440p resolution. You have very limited options in the setting menu. The graphics look blown up and blurry with my monitor.
I got it on sale for €0,59 on Steam. It’s definitely worth that. I’m glad to have experienced the genre while also creating expectations of how the formula can be improved and expanded on in the future. The sequel released about a year ago. Maybe it will be the one adding what I’m missing with this one.
2022
B&G came at the right time as I was looking for the next co-op game to play. It delivers most of what is expected from it with a bit of a twist. It’s a roguelite which comes with random generated levels, equipment and perks. There are 4 main dungeons with a shorter fifth dungeon focused on the last boss you will be fighting. There are also 4 classes to pick from (attacker, defender, mage and rogue) each with their own moves and specials. So far it sounds typical. What makes it stand out is the use of arcana, co-op and how stats create synergies. Arcana are unique modifiers that look like cards. They affect dungeons greatly with some big changes positively and negatively. You can turn what you don’t like off. You can basically mix and match. Co-op is very extensive and seamless. All the options you expect are there. However, what adds more to co-op is the synergies created from the gameplay. Each equipment comes with passive abilities and some come with active abilities. The game has 4 paths you have to pick from on top of it (an alliance that grants you different perks/passives throughout your run). With all of this combined, you can create some crazy builds. And with co-op, you can take specific roles that need to be kept to make it work on harder difficulties.
This creates fun situations. The snappy gameplay with all the progression around it makes it pretty engaging. I love that there is a full blown log book filled to the brim with different records. Think of all your equipment (wands, gauntlets, boots, necklaces) with all their stats, all the monsters, bosses, the arcana you have unlocked, the achievements and stats being tracked and all the followers you have unlocked. Followers are the NPC you free in dungeons, they help you out and show up more often when playing alone. The game has charming graphics that are pretty detailed and appealing. The music is average. It’s pretty good along with the sound effects. Everything works technically, there were no bugs I noticed. You can also save at any time and continue later (online too with a separate save). I think you can save and continue from the last room within a dungeon.
The negatives might be typical to the genre if you’re not a fan of certain roguelites and there are some balance issues. With the former, I mean not having permanent progression. You always unlock the chance to encounter things and never take anything with you on your next run. RNG can be heavily in your favour or against you. There is more to say about the later. It’s one of those games where the game becomes far more challenging when playing co-op. I played with one friend but it feels like it’s designed for more players as there are too many enemies sometimes and the bosses have far more health. It can feel chaotic and hard to keep up with. RNG and my friend carried me through the runs. It’s also thanks to this friend that I managed to get all the achievements (including the new game plus run which is no joke). It’s because of this that I find it hard to gauge whether all the achievements were fair to get or not. Most of them certainly are and they’re fun to get. Also, why is Yeti boss so difficult even when playing alone? He’s more difficult than the last boss! Lastly, this is something my friend noticed: there is anonymous data being tracked by default. You can turn it off in the options menu but it’s ethically bad to have this on by default. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
This is a decent game that could have been better in certain aspects but I’m still pretty impressed with what we do have. It took me around 26 hours to get all the achievements. Right now it’s still offered as this month’s Humble Choice. I definitely recommend it when it can be gotten this cheap, especially when you want to play co-op.
This creates fun situations. The snappy gameplay with all the progression around it makes it pretty engaging. I love that there is a full blown log book filled to the brim with different records. Think of all your equipment (wands, gauntlets, boots, necklaces) with all their stats, all the monsters, bosses, the arcana you have unlocked, the achievements and stats being tracked and all the followers you have unlocked. Followers are the NPC you free in dungeons, they help you out and show up more often when playing alone. The game has charming graphics that are pretty detailed and appealing. The music is average. It’s pretty good along with the sound effects. Everything works technically, there were no bugs I noticed. You can also save at any time and continue later (online too with a separate save). I think you can save and continue from the last room within a dungeon.
The negatives might be typical to the genre if you’re not a fan of certain roguelites and there are some balance issues. With the former, I mean not having permanent progression. You always unlock the chance to encounter things and never take anything with you on your next run. RNG can be heavily in your favour or against you. There is more to say about the later. It’s one of those games where the game becomes far more challenging when playing co-op. I played with one friend but it feels like it’s designed for more players as there are too many enemies sometimes and the bosses have far more health. It can feel chaotic and hard to keep up with. RNG and my friend carried me through the runs. It’s also thanks to this friend that I managed to get all the achievements (including the new game plus run which is no joke). It’s because of this that I find it hard to gauge whether all the achievements were fair to get or not. Most of them certainly are and they’re fun to get. Also, why is Yeti boss so difficult even when playing alone? He’s more difficult than the last boss! Lastly, this is something my friend noticed: there is anonymous data being tracked by default. You can turn it off in the options menu but it’s ethically bad to have this on by default. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
This is a decent game that could have been better in certain aspects but I’m still pretty impressed with what we do have. It took me around 26 hours to get all the achievements. Right now it’s still offered as this month’s Humble Choice. I definitely recommend it when it can be gotten this cheap, especially when you want to play co-op.
2017
The time has finally come to talk about this game. I’ve spent more than 60 hours and completed the game 3 times with a failed 4th+ run trying to get the last achievement. Feelings are mixed and tensions are high.
Firstly, the game is described as a dungeon crawler but it’s more of a dungeon crawler/puzzle game. It’s not a traditional dungeon crawler. It places more emphasis on puzzles and there are many notes to flesh out the story. There are also many secrets hidden (chests) that offer you better equipment or stat boosts. You control one character instead of a party. There are 4 classes, different weapons and magic (called gadgets here) to use. Your stats increase when you level up and you get one skill point to improve a skill from a list. The skill tree usually improves the effectiveness of a chosen class but you’re still given some room to experiment as well. There are 12 levels to clear with no fast travel. It took me over 20 hours to fully explore the areas and read all notes the first time. You can save anywhere whether quick, manual or even auto. The game has one unique gameplay mechanic, pausing everything with real-time gameplay. Normally you use the attack button and you see your hits carried out. Enemies also attack you and will kill you if you don’t do anything. Pausing at any moment gives you the time to think properly. Pausing is also used with certain puzzles to great effect.
This game is incredibly polished. There are no bugs I’ve experienced. It feels like a lot of thought went into creating and balancing it. It looks incredibly atmospheric and just plain gorgeous. Lighting and shadow is so impressive here. I love the steampunk style. The gameplay is very satisfying whether it’s the puzzles, fights or exploration. It is viable to try out different classes. I was also impressed by some of the notes, some are fully voiced with different characters. The devs basically executed the game perfectly in terms of implementing what they wanted to do.
The problems arise with certain design decisions, mainly the achievements and secrets. Some of the worst achievements involve grinding heavily, beating the game without a map, without saving manually/quickly and speedrunning the game within 90 minutes. Even though I managed to beat the game without a map & save, I don’t think it should have been an achievement. Beating the game on the highest difficulty (brutal) and in combination with receiving less than 3000 damage should have been enough. But the absolute worst one is the speedrunning achievement. Putting this in games designed specifically around speedrunning is one thing, short games that can work well like certain platformers is also a possibility, but putting it in a long game that’s best enjoyed by taking your time is just inconceivable. Not only that, speedrunning is incredibly niche. That audience doesn’t need an achievement to speedrun a game. What you’ve done is dragging the completionist community into it and ruining the game for them. I’ve wasted so many hours starting a new run multiple times. I always made it to level 8 and was always around 2 minutes behind compared to others. As for secrets, I normally love secrets as part of finding collectibles, but the way this game does it is mostly horrible. It’s turned into an extreme version of spot the difference. Often times you’re supposed to spot a tiny dot that could have been a dirt or part of the detailed environment. I would waste lots of time examining every wall and I’d still miss secrets. I lost my patience near the end and just decided to look them up. I also have minor issues with the last 2 puzzles (getting lost in the dark and getting out of a teleport maze). The puzzles are generally without obvious hints. You have to figure them out yourself by trying things and it worked for the most part. It just went too far here even with the hints provided. The hints for the teleport maze were too well hidden and could only be viewed from one angle.
It’s hard to recommend the game outright. I got it on sale for €3 and I got tons of hours out of it. There are moments where I absolutely enjoyed the game. But there are moments where I feel like the game is too punishing and it ruined the experience. The speedrunning achievement will haunt me for not getting it. The only reason I’m not giving a personal negative is because the sequel/prequel clearly has better achievements. I’ve also read the secrets are telegraphed better. It seems some of the feedback is already implemented. It shows growth and improvement. So I’m willing to let it slide once. I still caution completionists from playing this game though. Get it only if the issues mentioned don’t bother you.
Firstly, the game is described as a dungeon crawler but it’s more of a dungeon crawler/puzzle game. It’s not a traditional dungeon crawler. It places more emphasis on puzzles and there are many notes to flesh out the story. There are also many secrets hidden (chests) that offer you better equipment or stat boosts. You control one character instead of a party. There are 4 classes, different weapons and magic (called gadgets here) to use. Your stats increase when you level up and you get one skill point to improve a skill from a list. The skill tree usually improves the effectiveness of a chosen class but you’re still given some room to experiment as well. There are 12 levels to clear with no fast travel. It took me over 20 hours to fully explore the areas and read all notes the first time. You can save anywhere whether quick, manual or even auto. The game has one unique gameplay mechanic, pausing everything with real-time gameplay. Normally you use the attack button and you see your hits carried out. Enemies also attack you and will kill you if you don’t do anything. Pausing at any moment gives you the time to think properly. Pausing is also used with certain puzzles to great effect.
This game is incredibly polished. There are no bugs I’ve experienced. It feels like a lot of thought went into creating and balancing it. It looks incredibly atmospheric and just plain gorgeous. Lighting and shadow is so impressive here. I love the steampunk style. The gameplay is very satisfying whether it’s the puzzles, fights or exploration. It is viable to try out different classes. I was also impressed by some of the notes, some are fully voiced with different characters. The devs basically executed the game perfectly in terms of implementing what they wanted to do.
The problems arise with certain design decisions, mainly the achievements and secrets. Some of the worst achievements involve grinding heavily, beating the game without a map, without saving manually/quickly and speedrunning the game within 90 minutes. Even though I managed to beat the game without a map & save, I don’t think it should have been an achievement. Beating the game on the highest difficulty (brutal) and in combination with receiving less than 3000 damage should have been enough. But the absolute worst one is the speedrunning achievement. Putting this in games designed specifically around speedrunning is one thing, short games that can work well like certain platformers is also a possibility, but putting it in a long game that’s best enjoyed by taking your time is just inconceivable. Not only that, speedrunning is incredibly niche. That audience doesn’t need an achievement to speedrun a game. What you’ve done is dragging the completionist community into it and ruining the game for them. I’ve wasted so many hours starting a new run multiple times. I always made it to level 8 and was always around 2 minutes behind compared to others. As for secrets, I normally love secrets as part of finding collectibles, but the way this game does it is mostly horrible. It’s turned into an extreme version of spot the difference. Often times you’re supposed to spot a tiny dot that could have been a dirt or part of the detailed environment. I would waste lots of time examining every wall and I’d still miss secrets. I lost my patience near the end and just decided to look them up. I also have minor issues with the last 2 puzzles (getting lost in the dark and getting out of a teleport maze). The puzzles are generally without obvious hints. You have to figure them out yourself by trying things and it worked for the most part. It just went too far here even with the hints provided. The hints for the teleport maze were too well hidden and could only be viewed from one angle.
It’s hard to recommend the game outright. I got it on sale for €3 and I got tons of hours out of it. There are moments where I absolutely enjoyed the game. But there are moments where I feel like the game is too punishing and it ruined the experience. The speedrunning achievement will haunt me for not getting it. The only reason I’m not giving a personal negative is because the sequel/prequel clearly has better achievements. I’ve also read the secrets are telegraphed better. It seems some of the feedback is already implemented. It shows growth and improvement. So I’m willing to let it slide once. I still caution completionists from playing this game though. Get it only if the issues mentioned don’t bother you.
2017
Making badges on steam can be worth it sometimes. In this case, I got a 50% coupon for Tauronos. It’s appealing to give such a game a try when it costs me €2,50 and it seems to have its priorities straight. I can say with confidence that the game has been worth it after spending 6.7 hours on it.
The game is mostly a mix of exploration, survival, health/stamina management and being chased by a monster in some stages. You have a light around you that lets you see your direct surroundings but the rest of the stage is dark. You have to be careful of traps or you need to avoid getting lost in a maze. Clearing rubbles takes time and running costs stamina. You can become stronger when you find upgrades for your stats (armour, stamina, interaction time, strength of light and movement speed). There are 6 chapters with each one having between 5 and 8 stages. The game also has secrets where you can find extra lives, health regen, unlocks for a map editor etc. There are different difficulty modes with easy allowing you to continue after losing your lives. But you will have to start from the beginning of a chapter. Game auto saves when you clear a stage.
The most important aspect the game got right is the gameplay. It kept my attention because the levels are well designed, the stats and the upgrades work well with noticeable improvements every time, the game is challenging in the right way and it’s engaging exploring or managing your health/stamina. I played on easy and it feels like it’s just right in terms of challenge. Having to retry an entire chapter is a good motivator to do your best without the game being too punishing. The game seems like it could get frustrating if played on higher difficulties (I didn’t test this) and I normally hate being chased in games. This shouldn’t be a game for me on paper but it really works on easy at least. The chase sequences feel like puzzles and offer a bit of variety to the whole package. What’s surprising is a game like this having quite a bit of voice acting for the main character. I like it, it gives it a bit of personality. The achievements are also fun and will require playing the game twice. It’s great that you can get all the achievements on easy. There are luckily no difficulty related achievements.
With all that said, the game has a few minor flaws. I’ve experienced one bug where the playable character got stuck on a wall with one specific stage. I had to exit the stage and retry a few times until it worked. This can be more of a problem on higher difficulties as you lose a life every time you exit the game if you don’t select ‘continue later’ after finishing a stage. It’s not possible to select stages or retry the ones you’ve completed. If you missed secrets, though luck. You can retry with new game. The game also only shows you what you missed after finishing a stage, it doesn’t show you in advance. This coupled with not being allowed to select or retry stages forced me to write down the stages with the secrets I’ve missed for my second run. It sounds pretty bad but the game is not long and there are some alternative choices where you’re going to replay the game anyways. And lastly, the game lacks variety in terms of graphical assets and color palette. The stages look a bit similar even though they’re different in terms of gameplay design.
I’m impressed with Tauronos, I had a great time despite some of the flaws mentioned. The developer knows how to create a fun game and they made sure everything around it is of a decent enough quality. It’s one of those good examples where a budget is effectively spent while you can see it’s small. This game is worth a try if you like smaller experimental indie games and are on the patient side.
The game is mostly a mix of exploration, survival, health/stamina management and being chased by a monster in some stages. You have a light around you that lets you see your direct surroundings but the rest of the stage is dark. You have to be careful of traps or you need to avoid getting lost in a maze. Clearing rubbles takes time and running costs stamina. You can become stronger when you find upgrades for your stats (armour, stamina, interaction time, strength of light and movement speed). There are 6 chapters with each one having between 5 and 8 stages. The game also has secrets where you can find extra lives, health regen, unlocks for a map editor etc. There are different difficulty modes with easy allowing you to continue after losing your lives. But you will have to start from the beginning of a chapter. Game auto saves when you clear a stage.
The most important aspect the game got right is the gameplay. It kept my attention because the levels are well designed, the stats and the upgrades work well with noticeable improvements every time, the game is challenging in the right way and it’s engaging exploring or managing your health/stamina. I played on easy and it feels like it’s just right in terms of challenge. Having to retry an entire chapter is a good motivator to do your best without the game being too punishing. The game seems like it could get frustrating if played on higher difficulties (I didn’t test this) and I normally hate being chased in games. This shouldn’t be a game for me on paper but it really works on easy at least. The chase sequences feel like puzzles and offer a bit of variety to the whole package. What’s surprising is a game like this having quite a bit of voice acting for the main character. I like it, it gives it a bit of personality. The achievements are also fun and will require playing the game twice. It’s great that you can get all the achievements on easy. There are luckily no difficulty related achievements.
With all that said, the game has a few minor flaws. I’ve experienced one bug where the playable character got stuck on a wall with one specific stage. I had to exit the stage and retry a few times until it worked. This can be more of a problem on higher difficulties as you lose a life every time you exit the game if you don’t select ‘continue later’ after finishing a stage. It’s not possible to select stages or retry the ones you’ve completed. If you missed secrets, though luck. You can retry with new game. The game also only shows you what you missed after finishing a stage, it doesn’t show you in advance. This coupled with not being allowed to select or retry stages forced me to write down the stages with the secrets I’ve missed for my second run. It sounds pretty bad but the game is not long and there are some alternative choices where you’re going to replay the game anyways. And lastly, the game lacks variety in terms of graphical assets and color palette. The stages look a bit similar even though they’re different in terms of gameplay design.
I’m impressed with Tauronos, I had a great time despite some of the flaws mentioned. The developer knows how to create a fun game and they made sure everything around it is of a decent enough quality. It’s one of those good examples where a budget is effectively spent while you can see it’s small. This game is worth a try if you like smaller experimental indie games and are on the patient side.
2013
It’s a great time to get into Steamworld games, what with them having just concluded a deep sale on Steam and Heist 2 getting released soon. Dig 1 starts strongly and there is a lot to like about it. But there is one thing that ruined the experience for me as a completionist.
The game is literally about digging your way through vertically. You collect valuables to sell for money and you find orbs that can be used to buy items/upgrades along with the money you’ve accumulated. There are different things to keep in mind that force you to come back to town on a frequent basis. This slowly gets better with the power ups you find and the items/upgrades you buy. You feel pretty powerful near the end. There are 3 big caves that also contain smaller caves. The game has some random generated elements but not completely. When you enter a world for the first time, the lay-out is set in stone along with the valuables, orbs, enemies and the order you encounter the less important caves. So it can feel fresh with each new save.
The gameplay is addictive. You can play it in short sessions but I ended up spending long hours because I was getting so invested in the gameplay loop of exploring, finding stuff and getting upgrades frequently. The world created looks appealing in terms of style. The controls are fine for the most part. It’s of a good length when you take your time. The game is very polished, I haven’t encountered any bugs.
My biggest problem are the achievements ‘Master Prospector` and ‘A Fistful of Dirt’ to a lesser extend. The latter is a pure grind where you can think of completing the game around 3 times to dig 15000 tiles. You won’t ever get this naturally the first time, you’ll need a grind session but at least it’s only a time waster. The former is a time waster AND very frustrating. The game wants you to get over 20000 gold, 150 orbs, not die and do it within 2.5 hours in one save. The biggest issue is the requirement of 150 orbs. They’re not as plentiful as valuables, they’re random and there is no specific detector for them or a percentage to show you that you found all of them in areas. I can get all the other requirements except for this one because of the limited time you have. I’ve completed the game in 8 hours the first time, I’ve spent over 10 hours trying to get this achievement (with at least 2 new saves). My friend helped me get the last achievement to stop the stress. The 3 other requirements were challenging enough. If they wanted 4 requirements, then they should have done everything about the orbs better. RNG can really get in the way on rare occasions, you can die in unexpected and cruel ways. And lastly, I mentioned how the controls are fine for the most part. The reason I mention this is because you have to hold a direction when you’re digging (d-pad with the dig button). If you accidentally let go of the d-pad, then you dig in front of you. This causes you to unintentionally dig the wrong tiles. It happened too often with me.
Despite this, I’m still willing to give an overall positive with the promise that the next games will be better about this. I know that Dig 2 and Heist will also have a challenge to get 4 requirements in one save, but they appear to be more reasonable based on my research. The rest of the game is mostly good. It’s even impressive for a first game in the franchise. You’ll have a great time if you don’t care about getting 100% with the achievements or you’re very skilled/lucky with your save. I’m not sure if the game is worth the stress if you’re a completionist.
The game is literally about digging your way through vertically. You collect valuables to sell for money and you find orbs that can be used to buy items/upgrades along with the money you’ve accumulated. There are different things to keep in mind that force you to come back to town on a frequent basis. This slowly gets better with the power ups you find and the items/upgrades you buy. You feel pretty powerful near the end. There are 3 big caves that also contain smaller caves. The game has some random generated elements but not completely. When you enter a world for the first time, the lay-out is set in stone along with the valuables, orbs, enemies and the order you encounter the less important caves. So it can feel fresh with each new save.
The gameplay is addictive. You can play it in short sessions but I ended up spending long hours because I was getting so invested in the gameplay loop of exploring, finding stuff and getting upgrades frequently. The world created looks appealing in terms of style. The controls are fine for the most part. It’s of a good length when you take your time. The game is very polished, I haven’t encountered any bugs.
My biggest problem are the achievements ‘Master Prospector` and ‘A Fistful of Dirt’ to a lesser extend. The latter is a pure grind where you can think of completing the game around 3 times to dig 15000 tiles. You won’t ever get this naturally the first time, you’ll need a grind session but at least it’s only a time waster. The former is a time waster AND very frustrating. The game wants you to get over 20000 gold, 150 orbs, not die and do it within 2.5 hours in one save. The biggest issue is the requirement of 150 orbs. They’re not as plentiful as valuables, they’re random and there is no specific detector for them or a percentage to show you that you found all of them in areas. I can get all the other requirements except for this one because of the limited time you have. I’ve completed the game in 8 hours the first time, I’ve spent over 10 hours trying to get this achievement (with at least 2 new saves). My friend helped me get the last achievement to stop the stress. The 3 other requirements were challenging enough. If they wanted 4 requirements, then they should have done everything about the orbs better. RNG can really get in the way on rare occasions, you can die in unexpected and cruel ways. And lastly, I mentioned how the controls are fine for the most part. The reason I mention this is because you have to hold a direction when you’re digging (d-pad with the dig button). If you accidentally let go of the d-pad, then you dig in front of you. This causes you to unintentionally dig the wrong tiles. It happened too often with me.
Despite this, I’m still willing to give an overall positive with the promise that the next games will be better about this. I know that Dig 2 and Heist will also have a challenge to get 4 requirements in one save, but they appear to be more reasonable based on my research. The rest of the game is mostly good. It’s even impressive for a first game in the franchise. You’ll have a great time if you don’t care about getting 100% with the achievements or you’re very skilled/lucky with your save. I’m not sure if the game is worth the stress if you’re a completionist.
I’ve completed Lara Croft on the PS3 before and had a wonderful time back then. I decided to play it on PC again since it can be gotten for cheap often and I was looking for a co-op game. It holds up mighty well and the PC version is excellent on top of it.
The game is an action adventure with lots of fighting, puzzles, collectibles and various challenges you can complete. The fights are fun with lots of different enemies. The puzzles are great, just enough to make you think for a bit sometimes but they’re well integrated in the game and they’re often optional for the collectibles. The collectibles are weapons, artifacts and relics you equip or upgrades that offer permanent stat boosts. There are 14 stages with some short ones dedicated to boss battles. The entire game is fully playable in co-op and online. You can create private matches and invite friends no problem. Progress is saved for both sides.
I don’t know of many better examples if you’re looking for a good co-op game that can be completed within 12 hours (doing everything). The levels are well designed with good pacing and engaging gameplay all the way through. The game looks decent for a spin off and certainly impressive for an older game. As mentioned, the performance on PC is good and it looks great in 1440p. The achievements are fun and doable. The majority you will get naturally but the last one requires you to complete all the challenges and find every collectible. This is fair, the game even informs you once you’ve reached a spot where you can complete a challenge which is really nice. I wish more games did this.
In terms of flaws, I’m nitpicking for a bit but they’re still worth mentioning. Some rare challenges are silly and have no business in the game. There are a few rare bugs but they’re very minor for the most part. The game also has 3 DLC content packs that seem overpriced for what you get out of them. Luckily they’re not needed, Lara Croft feels like a complete experience and there are no DLC exclusive achievements.
My review is basically giving my blessing to get the game in case someone is still on the fence about it somehow. It focuses on its strengths efficiently and effectively. You know what you’re getting out of it just by looking at it.
The game is an action adventure with lots of fighting, puzzles, collectibles and various challenges you can complete. The fights are fun with lots of different enemies. The puzzles are great, just enough to make you think for a bit sometimes but they’re well integrated in the game and they’re often optional for the collectibles. The collectibles are weapons, artifacts and relics you equip or upgrades that offer permanent stat boosts. There are 14 stages with some short ones dedicated to boss battles. The entire game is fully playable in co-op and online. You can create private matches and invite friends no problem. Progress is saved for both sides.
I don’t know of many better examples if you’re looking for a good co-op game that can be completed within 12 hours (doing everything). The levels are well designed with good pacing and engaging gameplay all the way through. The game looks decent for a spin off and certainly impressive for an older game. As mentioned, the performance on PC is good and it looks great in 1440p. The achievements are fun and doable. The majority you will get naturally but the last one requires you to complete all the challenges and find every collectible. This is fair, the game even informs you once you’ve reached a spot where you can complete a challenge which is really nice. I wish more games did this.
In terms of flaws, I’m nitpicking for a bit but they’re still worth mentioning. Some rare challenges are silly and have no business in the game. There are a few rare bugs but they’re very minor for the most part. The game also has 3 DLC content packs that seem overpriced for what you get out of them. Luckily they’re not needed, Lara Croft feels like a complete experience and there are no DLC exclusive achievements.
My review is basically giving my blessing to get the game in case someone is still on the fence about it somehow. It focuses on its strengths efficiently and effectively. You know what you’re getting out of it just by looking at it.
2019
It was just recently that I discovered this game through the activity of others buying it on steam. It looks intriguing, has a nice style, it seems polished even for the normal price of €10 and it’s 90% off. It was an easy buy. I’ve already completed it 100% after 3.5 hours. While I don’t regret getting it, I feel mixed about the package. All that I noticed still holds true but there is more behind the surface.
The gameplay is mostly going from room to room, find & examine notes, read them and create a memory out of them after you’ve found enough. You get to learn about a family from 300 years ago. It might help with saving humanity after a big collapse that wiped out most humans. Exploring rooms is similar to classic Resident Evil, only without the puzzles and fighting. You can find the notes on your own but you can also use the scanner that shows everything you can interact with, similar to how it works with The Thaumaturge (based on the demo I’ve tried of it). The map shows you whether you’ve read all the memories in each room and the collectibles you’re missing. There are also some very rare points where you can pick up items you need to reach new rooms but this is very automated. Sometimes you can’t pick up the items until the game tells you and shows you where they are in the map. Even when you get a code to unlock a door you don’t input the code yourself. Most of the game is lots and lots of reading. It’s not a novel but it’s still a lot. Exploring rooms and going to the next rooms offers a tiny bit of break in between.
As mentioned, the game has a great style, performance is fine, there is good attention to detail with objects and text, it sounds good whenever there is music (it happens in rare instances), I haven’t experienced any bugs, the game auto saves whenever you enter a room and you can always save manually. The writing is pretty decent and I was interested to know more about the family. The controls are fine whether it’s with mouse and keyboard or controller. I appreciate the quality of life options such as showing you the total collectibles on the map and which rooms you’ve seen the memories of. All in all, it’s a relaxing game that won’t frustrate you in any way.
That said, I would have liked a bit more gameplay. Some puzzles would have added a lot to the game and it would have been fitting too. Then there is the fact that there are no achievements. I prefer no achievements instead of having annoying achievements that ruin games but they can be motivating when they’re done right. I could have easily seen achievements related to the story, certain optional interactions and all the collectibles found etc getting added. And lastly, I’m not sold on some of the characters/interactions. There are 4 female and 3 male characters for the most part. Somehow, all the female characters are brilliant with their work, they’re obsessed with it and they’re often the boss in the relationship. There are multiple notes detailing their accomplishments and what they do for a living. The male characters on the other hand care more about the sentimental things, love is a higher priority to them, they often have more supportive roles and you don’t know much about their careers (one of them or their company is hinted at being involved with the collapse). There are certain dialogues that double down on the things I mentioned. If only 1 or 2 female characters were obsessed with work and same with 1 male character, then it would have been easier to accept. But the game is so one sided and unbalanced, that it affects the believability of the story. It’s a big deal when it’s the game’s focus.
I’ve been hesitating on whether to give this a positive or negative because of the characters. I went with positive in the end because the story is still interesting and it becomes less obnoxious near the end. The ending was satisfying and emotional. The game could have been better with more gameplay and achievements but what’s there is good enough if you enjoy reading. Give it a try if you’re willing to play it with the right expectations. The price is very cheap at the moment too, so there isn’t a lot to lose.
The gameplay is mostly going from room to room, find & examine notes, read them and create a memory out of them after you’ve found enough. You get to learn about a family from 300 years ago. It might help with saving humanity after a big collapse that wiped out most humans. Exploring rooms is similar to classic Resident Evil, only without the puzzles and fighting. You can find the notes on your own but you can also use the scanner that shows everything you can interact with, similar to how it works with The Thaumaturge (based on the demo I’ve tried of it). The map shows you whether you’ve read all the memories in each room and the collectibles you’re missing. There are also some very rare points where you can pick up items you need to reach new rooms but this is very automated. Sometimes you can’t pick up the items until the game tells you and shows you where they are in the map. Even when you get a code to unlock a door you don’t input the code yourself. Most of the game is lots and lots of reading. It’s not a novel but it’s still a lot. Exploring rooms and going to the next rooms offers a tiny bit of break in between.
As mentioned, the game has a great style, performance is fine, there is good attention to detail with objects and text, it sounds good whenever there is music (it happens in rare instances), I haven’t experienced any bugs, the game auto saves whenever you enter a room and you can always save manually. The writing is pretty decent and I was interested to know more about the family. The controls are fine whether it’s with mouse and keyboard or controller. I appreciate the quality of life options such as showing you the total collectibles on the map and which rooms you’ve seen the memories of. All in all, it’s a relaxing game that won’t frustrate you in any way.
That said, I would have liked a bit more gameplay. Some puzzles would have added a lot to the game and it would have been fitting too. Then there is the fact that there are no achievements. I prefer no achievements instead of having annoying achievements that ruin games but they can be motivating when they’re done right. I could have easily seen achievements related to the story, certain optional interactions and all the collectibles found etc getting added. And lastly, I’m not sold on some of the characters/interactions. There are 4 female and 3 male characters for the most part. Somehow, all the female characters are brilliant with their work, they’re obsessed with it and they’re often the boss in the relationship. There are multiple notes detailing their accomplishments and what they do for a living. The male characters on the other hand care more about the sentimental things, love is a higher priority to them, they often have more supportive roles and you don’t know much about their careers (one of them or their company is hinted at being involved with the collapse). There are certain dialogues that double down on the things I mentioned. If only 1 or 2 female characters were obsessed with work and same with 1 male character, then it would have been easier to accept. But the game is so one sided and unbalanced, that it affects the believability of the story. It’s a big deal when it’s the game’s focus.
I’ve been hesitating on whether to give this a positive or negative because of the characters. I went with positive in the end because the story is still interesting and it becomes less obnoxious near the end. The ending was satisfying and emotional. The game could have been better with more gameplay and achievements but what’s there is good enough if you enjoy reading. Give it a try if you’re willing to play it with the right expectations. The price is very cheap at the moment too, so there isn’t a lot to lose.
Top Nep is basically a cute anime version of Space Harrier. There are 5 varied stages with 5 bosses. You move around freely, attack with a long ranged weapon and use your sword to slash most dangers near you. It looks vibrant, it runs well, the controls are great with a controller, it’s fun, it has fair achievements and a first run usually takes 16 minutes. How long it takes to fully complete the achievements depends heavily on how skilled you are. Most of them can be gotten naturally except for 2: no damage run and get 200k score. It took me less than 6 hours to complete Top Nep (at least 30 minutes was afk).
There aren’t many faults with Top Nep. Maybe more options in the settings menu and some cool things to unlock would have been nice. That said, I like this package with a cheaper price point and not outstaying its welcome. Perhaps €4 might be a bit high for what you get, especially if you don’t care about achievements or high scores. But €0,80 with the last sale is absolutely worth it if you enjoy these type of games.
There aren’t many faults with Top Nep. Maybe more options in the settings menu and some cool things to unlock would have been nice. That said, I like this package with a cheaper price point and not outstaying its welcome. Perhaps €4 might be a bit high for what you get, especially if you don’t care about achievements or high scores. But €0,80 with the last sale is absolutely worth it if you enjoy these type of games.
2020
UG has been a bit of a gamble for me. I’m not really into photography games and I’m not knowledgeable about the subject in real life either. Many games allow you to take pictures on the side, I tend to mostly ignore this function because it feels pointless without any objectives. The negative reviews focusing on the tight timer, unclear objectives, janky gameplay and bad controls also had me spooked. And yet I feel very happy for getting the game against all odds. It seems as if the game is misunderstood with some of the claims.
The game has 8 stages and 4 DLC stages. Each stage has a couple of main objectives that you have to do to complete a stage. The main objectives are taking pictures of something unique related to each stage. There are also optional objectives that are always the same regardless of the stage. You can think of earn x money with your pictures, find x amount of film canisters etc. Each stage has at least two camera tools to unlock. One is for completing the stage and the other is for completing everything, including the optional objectives, in one go. This means getting it done within 10 minutes. I usually HATE timers in games but it’s really not bad here. You can perfectly ignore the timer and take as long as you need. You can even turn it off from showing in the options menu. You can attempt it after exploring a stage thoroughly. It’s easier than it sounds because the stages are not big at all. It’s easy to get everything done quickly once you know where everything is. In fact, I’ve had instances where I’ve (almost) done everything on my first try once I understood how the game accepts the pictures taken. It’s also better to unlock some lenses early before attempting the timers because they will make things FAR easier.
This makes UG feel like an arcade game. None of the objectives you did before are remembered, so you’ll always have to do them again. But it works because you’ll always have the lenses and other tools you unlocked plus remembering what you did before. It also does an excellent job of giving you an idea of how actual photography works. This along with making the gameplay and progression system fun, while informative, impresses me a lot. Some people mentioned how the objectives can be unclear or how some screenshots are not being accepted while they should. This has not been my experience for the most part. Some of those pictures are required to be taken with certain lenses, you’re shown the icons in the objectives menu and it was mentioned in the tutorial. It makes it feel like those people missed these important aspects. The controls are also fine with mouse and keyboard. It’s similar to an FPS with some minor differences for the most part. The complaints were mostly about the controller, so do keep that in mind. The game looks and sounds like a Dreamcast game a bit. I’m slightly reminded of my time playing Jet Set Radio. The achievements are enjoyable to get too. There are some creative ones that might get annoying to figure out but the game has tons of guides to help out with that.
The criticisms regarding janky gameplay and a few bugs are valid. Sometimes you jump really high when you go up the stairs. Jumping can also not work when you’re too close to objects. These are the kind of janky gameplay problems that can be dealt with and avoided once you know how they trigger. The UI is not the best. It feels clunky but it can get the job done. In terms of bugs, the speedrun achievement does not work. Right now you can either go back to an older version (it’s introduced with the last update), use SAM or pray the devs will patch it at some point. It doesn’t seem like the latter will happen since the last patch we got was in 2022. The game also has weird performance issues but it’s not something I’ve seen others mention. So it might be my set-up in combination with the changes I’ve made in the options menu. The game has a kind of annoying and pretty constant stuttering. It’s worse in certain stages and can disappear after a while. None of this is solved by forcing 60fps through Nvidia.
UG is a required taste. Not everyone is going to put up with the lack of polish. But what it does is unique and it does it really well. I paid €1,85 for the game and DLC when it was on sale. It’s definitely worth it. The normal price for both is too high but they’re worth considering when they’re cheaper.
The game has 8 stages and 4 DLC stages. Each stage has a couple of main objectives that you have to do to complete a stage. The main objectives are taking pictures of something unique related to each stage. There are also optional objectives that are always the same regardless of the stage. You can think of earn x money with your pictures, find x amount of film canisters etc. Each stage has at least two camera tools to unlock. One is for completing the stage and the other is for completing everything, including the optional objectives, in one go. This means getting it done within 10 minutes. I usually HATE timers in games but it’s really not bad here. You can perfectly ignore the timer and take as long as you need. You can even turn it off from showing in the options menu. You can attempt it after exploring a stage thoroughly. It’s easier than it sounds because the stages are not big at all. It’s easy to get everything done quickly once you know where everything is. In fact, I’ve had instances where I’ve (almost) done everything on my first try once I understood how the game accepts the pictures taken. It’s also better to unlock some lenses early before attempting the timers because they will make things FAR easier.
This makes UG feel like an arcade game. None of the objectives you did before are remembered, so you’ll always have to do them again. But it works because you’ll always have the lenses and other tools you unlocked plus remembering what you did before. It also does an excellent job of giving you an idea of how actual photography works. This along with making the gameplay and progression system fun, while informative, impresses me a lot. Some people mentioned how the objectives can be unclear or how some screenshots are not being accepted while they should. This has not been my experience for the most part. Some of those pictures are required to be taken with certain lenses, you’re shown the icons in the objectives menu and it was mentioned in the tutorial. It makes it feel like those people missed these important aspects. The controls are also fine with mouse and keyboard. It’s similar to an FPS with some minor differences for the most part. The complaints were mostly about the controller, so do keep that in mind. The game looks and sounds like a Dreamcast game a bit. I’m slightly reminded of my time playing Jet Set Radio. The achievements are enjoyable to get too. There are some creative ones that might get annoying to figure out but the game has tons of guides to help out with that.
The criticisms regarding janky gameplay and a few bugs are valid. Sometimes you jump really high when you go up the stairs. Jumping can also not work when you’re too close to objects. These are the kind of janky gameplay problems that can be dealt with and avoided once you know how they trigger. The UI is not the best. It feels clunky but it can get the job done. In terms of bugs, the speedrun achievement does not work. Right now you can either go back to an older version (it’s introduced with the last update), use SAM or pray the devs will patch it at some point. It doesn’t seem like the latter will happen since the last patch we got was in 2022. The game also has weird performance issues but it’s not something I’ve seen others mention. So it might be my set-up in combination with the changes I’ve made in the options menu. The game has a kind of annoying and pretty constant stuttering. It’s worse in certain stages and can disappear after a while. None of this is solved by forcing 60fps through Nvidia.
UG is a required taste. Not everyone is going to put up with the lack of polish. But what it does is unique and it does it really well. I paid €1,85 for the game and DLC when it was on sale. It’s definitely worth it. The normal price for both is too high but they’re worth considering when they’re cheaper.
Let’s get straight to the point, this definitive edition doesn’t add a lot to the game. The art of the characters got changed (some characters look much better), same for some of the UI and you can edit your party before starting battles. I might be missing some other minor things but this is what you can expect for the most part. The game itself is a mix of puzzle and RPG, the fights are the puzzles and the rest is a light RPG. Your party members and the hero level up individually, you find artifacts to equip on the hero, level up increases a few stats, you have currency to re-buy some party members, you run through areas, talk to NPC and you can do some side quests. There are 5 mini campaigns with a different hero each with unique moves, party members and artifacts. The campaigns are unlocked one after another because the stories are connected.
The game perfectly balances many elements. While it’s not a full fledged RPG in terms volume and options, what’s there has a purpose and is well designed. The game has a kind of simplicity that makes it easy to get into but it’s also complex enough in the right way. The puzzles are very addictive. The story, while nothing original nor the best, is engaging enough to follow. The entire game has a good pacing with no real filler. It took me around 31 hours to 100% the achievements. It looks and sounds nice, you can save anywhere and the game seems to generally respect your time even with the most grindy achievement.
That said, the game seems to have many loading screens that take longer than I’d like. The loading times themselves are not too bad but I’m surprised how many times the game needs to load. There are some multiplayer exclusive achievements with at least one requiring 3 other players. They’re not bad if you can find others to work with but you’re basically on a timer to get this done. I got lucky when I checked steam forum. Lastly, this definitive edition could have added more to the game. The text on the game’s steam page is misleading when it mentions many new quality of life additions. It feels like it was released with the bare minimum effort to cash in on the game. I bought it when it got released with a discount for owners of the original game (I paid around €8). The normal price is way higher than the game’s original price.
Even with all of this in mind, M&M CoH is a game not to be missed if you haven’t had the chance to play it. It’s a beloved game that is timeless. It doesn’t feel old despite the age. I’m an RPG and puzzle fan. The game offers the best of both worlds without the bad stuff like bloat or dragging out the experience. I wish we had more games like it.
The game perfectly balances many elements. While it’s not a full fledged RPG in terms volume and options, what’s there has a purpose and is well designed. The game has a kind of simplicity that makes it easy to get into but it’s also complex enough in the right way. The puzzles are very addictive. The story, while nothing original nor the best, is engaging enough to follow. The entire game has a good pacing with no real filler. It took me around 31 hours to 100% the achievements. It looks and sounds nice, you can save anywhere and the game seems to generally respect your time even with the most grindy achievement.
That said, the game seems to have many loading screens that take longer than I’d like. The loading times themselves are not too bad but I’m surprised how many times the game needs to load. There are some multiplayer exclusive achievements with at least one requiring 3 other players. They’re not bad if you can find others to work with but you’re basically on a timer to get this done. I got lucky when I checked steam forum. Lastly, this definitive edition could have added more to the game. The text on the game’s steam page is misleading when it mentions many new quality of life additions. It feels like it was released with the bare minimum effort to cash in on the game. I bought it when it got released with a discount for owners of the original game (I paid around €8). The normal price is way higher than the game’s original price.
Even with all of this in mind, M&M CoH is a game not to be missed if you haven’t had the chance to play it. It’s a beloved game that is timeless. It doesn’t feel old despite the age. I’m an RPG and puzzle fan. The game offers the best of both worlds without the bad stuff like bloat or dragging out the experience. I wish we had more games like it.
2020
ET has been an experience that surprised me more than anything. It looks like your typical Super Nintendo RPG, but these are mostly optics. The gameplay is described as having some Diablo in it. I haven’t played a Diablo game to make that comparison but don’t expect anything hardcore with these claims. There is heavy emphasis on loot of varying rarities and equipments with durability. However, the fights are usually a breeze and durability is not much of a factor. Enemies drop tons of equipment that you’ll never really feel a threat and the longer you play the game, the more you’ll have a chance to find gold/legendary rarity equipment with permanent durability. Challenge can be increased or decreased with specific things in the options menu further. So you can play the game however you want in a sense and that’s a good thing!
What makes the game so good is mostly the secrets/exploration and the game’s charm. A lot of what you can do in the game is optional. You can think of recruiting party members, having a blacksmith in the game’s only town or even dungeons that you can completely miss. It’s so much fun trying to figure out how to find everything. The charm comes from the graphics, soundtrack and some of the writing. Like mentioned before, it feels like a Super Nintendo game in the best way possible with some extra modern technology added such as the heat effects when you’re in a fire dungeon or light shining more brightly in the forest. The soundtrack is also catchy and makes me nostalgic. When I think of the writing, I’m mostly talking about some character interactions or descriptions of the equipment/items. There isn’t a lot of story (some of it is optional too) which can be seen as a good thing. You go straight to the action with nothing getting in the way. I like how you can save anywhere and how you can decrease/increase random battles when you’re focused on something. The pacing is pretty excellent with no real filler and the game is not unnecessarily long. My first run might have taken between 12 and 16 hours. Most of the achievements are very fun and they also can help you figure out some of the secrets :)
I say mostly because 2 are excluded from the praise. One is for fighting an optional boss and the other is reaching level 50. With the optional boss, it’s only a problem if you want to find it without outside help. It involves coincidence instead of figuring out how to find it mostly. I had more issues with the level 50 achievement. Basically, the game becomes too grindy. My first run with default XP got me to level 36-37. New game plus with +50% XP (max possible) got me up to level 44 and that’s with around 70% complete. It was impossible to get level 50 even with new game plus fully complete and max XP. Luckily this got patched, a default first run should be between level 35 and 40 now. I advise turning max XP on with the first run if you’re only planning on playing the game once or with minimal grind in new game plus. Other flaws are the main story and battle system. Mind you, those are very minor. The little story there is seemed typical and unimpressive but you don’t really play ET for that. And the battle system is a bit simplified. There are few spells which means you’ll default to certain ones similar to spamming attack in certain RPG. The variety comes from taking one of the companions with you who all have 4 magic spells each and combining that with what you have. I didn’t mind though, the game is about the secrets, loot and atmosphere. It was relaxing and therapeutic not having a demanding game on default at least.
I had a great time playing ET. It reminds me of my childhood memories of feeling adventurous. Exploring the unknown and being happy with discovering things for the first time. I’m glad to have discovered ET through a bundle. The normal price of €12,49 also feels appropriate. The developer is wonderful btw. If you want to support an indie developer, then he belongs there on that list. We had many great conversations on discord and he pretty much fixed every single bug I threw at him. And I didn’t hold back! In fact, the Mask of Nour equipment got added in patch 1.50.7 is inspired by the many reports I made. It was a complete surprise and very sweet to use my name. I’m looking forward to Ephemeral Legend and whatever he comes up with really.
What makes the game so good is mostly the secrets/exploration and the game’s charm. A lot of what you can do in the game is optional. You can think of recruiting party members, having a blacksmith in the game’s only town or even dungeons that you can completely miss. It’s so much fun trying to figure out how to find everything. The charm comes from the graphics, soundtrack and some of the writing. Like mentioned before, it feels like a Super Nintendo game in the best way possible with some extra modern technology added such as the heat effects when you’re in a fire dungeon or light shining more brightly in the forest. The soundtrack is also catchy and makes me nostalgic. When I think of the writing, I’m mostly talking about some character interactions or descriptions of the equipment/items. There isn’t a lot of story (some of it is optional too) which can be seen as a good thing. You go straight to the action with nothing getting in the way. I like how you can save anywhere and how you can decrease/increase random battles when you’re focused on something. The pacing is pretty excellent with no real filler and the game is not unnecessarily long. My first run might have taken between 12 and 16 hours. Most of the achievements are very fun and they also can help you figure out some of the secrets :)
I say mostly because 2 are excluded from the praise. One is for fighting an optional boss and the other is reaching level 50. With the optional boss, it’s only a problem if you want to find it without outside help. It involves coincidence instead of figuring out how to find it mostly. I had more issues with the level 50 achievement. Basically, the game becomes too grindy. My first run with default XP got me to level 36-37. New game plus with +50% XP (max possible) got me up to level 44 and that’s with around 70% complete. It was impossible to get level 50 even with new game plus fully complete and max XP. Luckily this got patched, a default first run should be between level 35 and 40 now. I advise turning max XP on with the first run if you’re only planning on playing the game once or with minimal grind in new game plus. Other flaws are the main story and battle system. Mind you, those are very minor. The little story there is seemed typical and unimpressive but you don’t really play ET for that. And the battle system is a bit simplified. There are few spells which means you’ll default to certain ones similar to spamming attack in certain RPG. The variety comes from taking one of the companions with you who all have 4 magic spells each and combining that with what you have. I didn’t mind though, the game is about the secrets, loot and atmosphere. It was relaxing and therapeutic not having a demanding game on default at least.
I had a great time playing ET. It reminds me of my childhood memories of feeling adventurous. Exploring the unknown and being happy with discovering things for the first time. I’m glad to have discovered ET through a bundle. The normal price of €12,49 also feels appropriate. The developer is wonderful btw. If you want to support an indie developer, then he belongs there on that list. We had many great conversations on discord and he pretty much fixed every single bug I threw at him. And I didn’t hold back! In fact, the Mask of Nour equipment got added in patch 1.50.7 is inspired by the many reports I made. It was a complete surprise and very sweet to use my name. I’m looking forward to Ephemeral Legend and whatever he comes up with really.