Serbrethren
2023
it's about what you'd expect for $1.20 length-wise, but it was surprisingly engaging
i could see this working as a proper game in tabletop simulator. the grimy visual aesthetics, all the little animations, and the persistent club music gives this game one hell of an atmosphere, and i don't regret dying and coming back to life a couple dozen times for it
i could see this working as a proper game in tabletop simulator. the grimy visual aesthetics, all the little animations, and the persistent club music gives this game one hell of an atmosphere, and i don't regret dying and coming back to life a couple dozen times for it
oh yeah i played this one too
its basically three episodes of new content for the three poster characters. warrior is basically more of the same, and i quite liked the inventor's gimmick, and i liked that the witch basically just focuses on puzzles (although the witch's last puzzle was way too hard without a guide)
its basically three episodes of new content for the three poster characters. warrior is basically more of the same, and i quite liked the inventor's gimmick, and i liked that the witch basically just focuses on puzzles (although the witch's last puzzle was way too hard without a guide)
1995
pretty classic. slumps near the end with all the sidequests and a lot of it requires a bunch of esoteric nonsense, but it's got great music, a story that's both fun and harrowing (a bit tonally dissonant at times, lol), and some really good designs from toriyama
magus is funny
magus is funny
i think ive played enough dicey dungeons for a good year or two, but this was a nice final episode with some cool new gimmicks for all the characters. some better than others.
enemy changes are mostly unremarkable, but some enemies have new equipment that help them feel more balanced. others i wish remained as they were originally, but i don't mind. i was hoping for at least a couple new enemies but im not gonna get pissy about a free update not having a bunch of new enemies. the new music and areas were fun enough.
most of what's interesting are the changes made to characters, whom i'll rank from least favorite to favorite!
6) jester - probably the biggest downgrade, unfortunately. their gimmick isn't terrible but it has a similar problem to base game witch where you can't build too far into a niche until you know which of the "equipable items" are going to show up in the shop. it sucks upgrading your electric equipment too early and not getting the battery item, or upgrading your mana dependent items and not getting the mana pendant. it's not terrible but i hated feeling pigeonholed into a playstyle depending on the shop items.
5) robot - a very interesting gimmick for sure, but one that doesn't strike the appeal of robot that they had in the base game. coin flips being wholly 50/50 means that there's a lot less methods to manipulate the jackpot in your favor, and replacing autoroll with fury is just puzzling to me. it's not terrible and there are ways to work around it, but it wasn't that fun for me compared to some of the others.
4) witch - pretty much the same as her halloween special, albeit easier on average. nothing as bad as the pumpkin spice puzzle, for sure. honestly my biggest complaint here is the music gets repetitive because it takes place over the entirety of one fight. still, inoffensive.
3) thief - thief feels the most "standard" out of any of the characters, but he's definitely not bad for a warmup character. it's sort of a mix between his first two episodes and the enemies have enough interesting equipment that thief can get some very fun builds going. i particularly enjoyed stealing singer's "return a good dice" equipment. it's basic, but fun.
2) inventor - this one's also interesting! it's a spin on her scrapping mechanic where instead of replacing equipment after every fight, equipment are all limited use. inventor in this episode actually felt a lot like robot in that you can either lean into the spontaneity of her constantly changing equipment or focus on using an item like whetstone that helps keep your build more consistent. this feels like the most improved character from the original game.
1) warrior - not only is the "workout" spin on warrior hilarious, but it makes for some really interesting and surprisingly challenging runs! the workout system is really fun as a delicate balance between longer term rewards from workouts such as max hp or building up to omnislash, and between doing direct attacks to end fights before they get too lethal. it's a limitation that makes warrior far more engaging and challenging despite still retaining a number of his old tricks.
so yeah! im definitely burnt out on the game at this point, but it was an incredibly fun ride and i dont regret having spent so much time with it. i hope terry cavanagh's next game is just as fun!
enemy changes are mostly unremarkable, but some enemies have new equipment that help them feel more balanced. others i wish remained as they were originally, but i don't mind. i was hoping for at least a couple new enemies but im not gonna get pissy about a free update not having a bunch of new enemies. the new music and areas were fun enough.
most of what's interesting are the changes made to characters, whom i'll rank from least favorite to favorite!
6) jester - probably the biggest downgrade, unfortunately. their gimmick isn't terrible but it has a similar problem to base game witch where you can't build too far into a niche until you know which of the "equipable items" are going to show up in the shop. it sucks upgrading your electric equipment too early and not getting the battery item, or upgrading your mana dependent items and not getting the mana pendant. it's not terrible but i hated feeling pigeonholed into a playstyle depending on the shop items.
5) robot - a very interesting gimmick for sure, but one that doesn't strike the appeal of robot that they had in the base game. coin flips being wholly 50/50 means that there's a lot less methods to manipulate the jackpot in your favor, and replacing autoroll with fury is just puzzling to me. it's not terrible and there are ways to work around it, but it wasn't that fun for me compared to some of the others.
4) witch - pretty much the same as her halloween special, albeit easier on average. nothing as bad as the pumpkin spice puzzle, for sure. honestly my biggest complaint here is the music gets repetitive because it takes place over the entirety of one fight. still, inoffensive.
3) thief - thief feels the most "standard" out of any of the characters, but he's definitely not bad for a warmup character. it's sort of a mix between his first two episodes and the enemies have enough interesting equipment that thief can get some very fun builds going. i particularly enjoyed stealing singer's "return a good dice" equipment. it's basic, but fun.
2) inventor - this one's also interesting! it's a spin on her scrapping mechanic where instead of replacing equipment after every fight, equipment are all limited use. inventor in this episode actually felt a lot like robot in that you can either lean into the spontaneity of her constantly changing equipment or focus on using an item like whetstone that helps keep your build more consistent. this feels like the most improved character from the original game.
1) warrior - not only is the "workout" spin on warrior hilarious, but it makes for some really interesting and surprisingly challenging runs! the workout system is really fun as a delicate balance between longer term rewards from workouts such as max hp or building up to omnislash, and between doing direct attacks to end fights before they get too lethal. it's a limitation that makes warrior far more engaging and challenging despite still retaining a number of his old tricks.
so yeah! im definitely burnt out on the game at this point, but it was an incredibly fun ride and i dont regret having spent so much time with it. i hope terry cavanagh's next game is just as fun!
1998
This review contains spoilers
two notes:
- not that into fpses to begin with (though i did quite like ultrakill)
- i somehow never played half life for real until now and only recently learned the specifics of the cultural and mechanical impact this had on video games
so from the perspective of someone who never played half-life, how does this game age?
there are certainly games that have aged worse than this. aspects of this game's design are relics, while others are clearly limitations of the time. these limitations can work in the game's favor and provide it some of its charm.
what pleasantly surprised me is how much of the game does age well. obviously not talking about the first person platforming sections, but the unbroken first person perspective and the intro to the game are incredible at setting a tone. the early hours of the game are genuinely unforgettable. i can imagine someone complaining about how long the intro is, but i'm here for it.
the way gordon evolves from "hapless dude with a crowbar trying to figure out what the fuck is going on" to "guy who can take on the government and alien conquerors" is surprisingly natural, and i love small details such as the hevc soldiers and even the aliens beginning to call you out by name after a certain point in the game. these elements are honestly timeless.
some aspects don't age as well. something about how fast your character moves makes playing the game disorienting for long periods. this might just be a "me problem," but it forced me to stop playing at certain points due to genuinely getting nauseous.
divorced from the topic of "does this age well" lies an aspect that most fans seem to agree wasn't good from the very start: xen.
xen and its four levels are incongruous with the rest of the game in a bad way. it suddenly grinds the tension to a halt and has you wandering aimlessly through an hour and a half of poorly designed alien worlds before finally going up against the nihilanth, which feels like the world's most annoying sleepwalk.
frankly, i wish the entirety of xen was just a climactic boss fight against the nihilanth (also i wish the nihilanth was better, thanks <3). there were only a handful of memorable setpieces on xen, and most of them for the wrong reasons.
but im complaining a bit. the game's actual ending leaves a strong impression, and the majority of the game is pretty good, even great. the problems drag it down for me, personally.
it's still a game that i respect for what it has done for the medium, but if i ever replay the game, i'll probably only play about two-thirds of it.
- not that into fpses to begin with (though i did quite like ultrakill)
- i somehow never played half life for real until now and only recently learned the specifics of the cultural and mechanical impact this had on video games
so from the perspective of someone who never played half-life, how does this game age?
there are certainly games that have aged worse than this. aspects of this game's design are relics, while others are clearly limitations of the time. these limitations can work in the game's favor and provide it some of its charm.
what pleasantly surprised me is how much of the game does age well. obviously not talking about the first person platforming sections, but the unbroken first person perspective and the intro to the game are incredible at setting a tone. the early hours of the game are genuinely unforgettable. i can imagine someone complaining about how long the intro is, but i'm here for it.
the way gordon evolves from "hapless dude with a crowbar trying to figure out what the fuck is going on" to "guy who can take on the government and alien conquerors" is surprisingly natural, and i love small details such as the hevc soldiers and even the aliens beginning to call you out by name after a certain point in the game. these elements are honestly timeless.
some aspects don't age as well. something about how fast your character moves makes playing the game disorienting for long periods. this might just be a "me problem," but it forced me to stop playing at certain points due to genuinely getting nauseous.
divorced from the topic of "does this age well" lies an aspect that most fans seem to agree wasn't good from the very start: xen.
xen and its four levels are incongruous with the rest of the game in a bad way. it suddenly grinds the tension to a halt and has you wandering aimlessly through an hour and a half of poorly designed alien worlds before finally going up against the nihilanth, which feels like the world's most annoying sleepwalk.
frankly, i wish the entirety of xen was just a climactic boss fight against the nihilanth (also i wish the nihilanth was better, thanks <3). there were only a handful of memorable setpieces on xen, and most of them for the wrong reasons.
but im complaining a bit. the game's actual ending leaves a strong impression, and the majority of the game is pretty good, even great. the problems drag it down for me, personally.
it's still a game that i respect for what it has done for the medium, but if i ever replay the game, i'll probably only play about two-thirds of it.
2007
perhaps the best game you could complete in less than an afternoon. the perfect mixture of fun physics and portal based puzzles with sharp, dry comedy while basically having only one actual character. it's no wonder this game exploded the way it did.
2016
i havent reviewed it on this platform because it's been too long since ive played it to give coherent opinions on it, but the first dark souls game is also a 4-star game. what's interesting is that it's a 4-star game for completely different reasons than this game.
dark souls 3 is very well designed overall and has great gamefeel, with the more generous roll timing allowing them to create more elaborate bosses with quicker attacks. you can certainly see the influence bloodborne had on the game.
dark souls 3 also has the most consistent boss roster of any of the soulsbornekiroring games (that's what we're calling it now, right). it's still not perfect, obviously, and once you beat vordt you'll have a string of mediocre bosses to get through before reaching irithyll, but the roster is generally well made.
what makes dark souls 3 good, and what makes the original dark souls good are very interesting to compare. dark souls 3's biggest failing is in its generally lackluster level design compared to its predecessor. the game is quite linear, which certainly makes it more accessible than the others. it also means that the act of unraveling the world of dark souls 3 is generally not as interesting as it is for the original game.
it's hard to explain this properly, but the world of dark souls 1 felt like opening up a fantastic book that's difficult to parse but in the end, you feel like you've learned a lot about the society within the text, the bestiary of fantastic monsters, and all the intricacies of its politics.
the world of dark souls 3, perhaps somewhat intentionally, feels more like reading a collection of good, even great short stories whose only interconnecting theme is that the world should probably end already. it certainly has variety, and there's something enjoyable about these different stories, but lothric lacks the same perception of depth that lordran had. many areas feel like completely different worlds that you never get to properly explore.
this lack of cohesion, despite being undoubtedly the most cinematic of original trilogy, means that it is also less memorable overall compared to the original game. i should clarify that i'm not referring to the most cinematic fights in the game. slave knight gael isn't "less memorable than the taurus demon," thank you very much. but the areas and bosses of the original game manifest in my mind so much more easily than those of dark souls 3. i think this, too, has a lot to do with the level design, both on a mechanical and aesthetic level. even an area like darkroot garden sticks with me more than a place like farron keep.
that being said, dark souls 3 is undeniably the game i could easily pick up and play over the first game. the way it controls and the feel of the combat are so much better overall compared to the original game's general slowness that this game triumphs in the moment to moment gameplay.
so i guess, all in all, i'd rather play dark souls 3 if im bored and want to kill time but i'd rather play dark souls 1 if im in the mood to get immersed in a proper world.
what's that? dark souls 2? give me like... a couple years. maybe i'll actually beat that one if i have that much prep time.
dark souls 3 is very well designed overall and has great gamefeel, with the more generous roll timing allowing them to create more elaborate bosses with quicker attacks. you can certainly see the influence bloodborne had on the game.
dark souls 3 also has the most consistent boss roster of any of the soulsbornekiroring games (that's what we're calling it now, right). it's still not perfect, obviously, and once you beat vordt you'll have a string of mediocre bosses to get through before reaching irithyll, but the roster is generally well made.
what makes dark souls 3 good, and what makes the original dark souls good are very interesting to compare. dark souls 3's biggest failing is in its generally lackluster level design compared to its predecessor. the game is quite linear, which certainly makes it more accessible than the others. it also means that the act of unraveling the world of dark souls 3 is generally not as interesting as it is for the original game.
it's hard to explain this properly, but the world of dark souls 1 felt like opening up a fantastic book that's difficult to parse but in the end, you feel like you've learned a lot about the society within the text, the bestiary of fantastic monsters, and all the intricacies of its politics.
the world of dark souls 3, perhaps somewhat intentionally, feels more like reading a collection of good, even great short stories whose only interconnecting theme is that the world should probably end already. it certainly has variety, and there's something enjoyable about these different stories, but lothric lacks the same perception of depth that lordran had. many areas feel like completely different worlds that you never get to properly explore.
this lack of cohesion, despite being undoubtedly the most cinematic of original trilogy, means that it is also less memorable overall compared to the original game. i should clarify that i'm not referring to the most cinematic fights in the game. slave knight gael isn't "less memorable than the taurus demon," thank you very much. but the areas and bosses of the original game manifest in my mind so much more easily than those of dark souls 3. i think this, too, has a lot to do with the level design, both on a mechanical and aesthetic level. even an area like darkroot garden sticks with me more than a place like farron keep.
that being said, dark souls 3 is undeniably the game i could easily pick up and play over the first game. the way it controls and the feel of the combat are so much better overall compared to the original game's general slowness that this game triumphs in the moment to moment gameplay.
so i guess, all in all, i'd rather play dark souls 3 if im bored and want to kill time but i'd rather play dark souls 1 if im in the mood to get immersed in a proper world.
what's that? dark souls 2? give me like... a couple years. maybe i'll actually beat that one if i have that much prep time.
has a lot of interesting ideas, particularly with how you choose both your upgrades and the enemy's upgrades, and it's got a very addicting gameplay loop
however, i really wish the folly shields worked on all "accidental suicide" moves. it's aggravating to lose a run by accidentally shooting a piece to death that was obscuring a rook or a queen when you are given grace for other moves such as stepping into a checkmate or shooting when you're in check. it's a minor point but it's the cause of at least a third (if not half) of my lost runs and that's quite frustrating when they normally give you warning about these things
still, its quite fun overall and that's really the only big annoyance i have with the game.
however, i really wish the folly shields worked on all "accidental suicide" moves. it's aggravating to lose a run by accidentally shooting a piece to death that was obscuring a rook or a queen when you are given grace for other moves such as stepping into a checkmate or shooting when you're in check. it's a minor point but it's the cause of at least a third (if not half) of my lost runs and that's quite frustrating when they normally give you warning about these things
still, its quite fun overall and that's really the only big annoyance i have with the game.
2024
MICHAEL
DON'T LEAVE ME HERE
-cough-
MICHAEL
MICHAAAAAAAEL
-KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK-
HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEE
DON'T LEAVE ME HERE
-cough-
MICHAEL
MICHAAAAAAAEL
-KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK-
HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEE
2024
a short, snacky experience that i had a lot of fun with! the presentation is stellar and the gameplay is genuinely quite creative and fun. i loved using the power brake in battle mode, and battle mode in general is where this game shines the best
it's mostly bogged down by weird enemy AI, item variety being a bit lopsided, lack of enemy respawns in normal races, and some other miscellaneous bugs that im sure will be ironed out with future patches
yeag/10
it's mostly bogged down by weird enemy AI, item variety being a bit lopsided, lack of enemy respawns in normal races, and some other miscellaneous bugs that im sure will be ironed out with future patches
yeag/10
who would've thought the best way to innovate on soulslikes was to stop making them increasingly difficult and just work on making them fun and interesting to play
guarding in most souls games tends to feel like the easy option, but forcing you to rely on your shell and its unique attributes helps guarding feel a lot more active. it creates a lot of fun, hectic moments when your shell breaks and you're forced to scamper around to find a new one
this does mean that enemies are quite punishing with their attacks, and sometimes it feels like dodge rolling is a bit less refined by comparison, both of which can meld into some annoying moments. overall, however, the game is quite fun
the story, similarly to aggro crab's previous game, has a very sardonic and bitter sense of humor that fits well with the whole "the world sucks because of crabitalism" theme (though going under only has a few crabs).
said themes feed into the game's visual design, where crabitalism has caused... well it's pollution but its clearly a metaphor for climate change. the various locations and outfits worn by the ocean's denizens are both funny, creative, and serve as an ever-present reminder of how messed up the world's gotten. i particularly like the bleached city's focus on cleaning products
y'know, like, in the game. definitely not in real life. haha. i love microplastics.
8/10 check out assist mode its got funny options
guarding in most souls games tends to feel like the easy option, but forcing you to rely on your shell and its unique attributes helps guarding feel a lot more active. it creates a lot of fun, hectic moments when your shell breaks and you're forced to scamper around to find a new one
this does mean that enemies are quite punishing with their attacks, and sometimes it feels like dodge rolling is a bit less refined by comparison, both of which can meld into some annoying moments. overall, however, the game is quite fun
the story, similarly to aggro crab's previous game, has a very sardonic and bitter sense of humor that fits well with the whole "the world sucks because of crabitalism" theme (though going under only has a few crabs).
said themes feed into the game's visual design, where crabitalism has caused... well it's pollution but its clearly a metaphor for climate change. the various locations and outfits worn by the ocean's denizens are both funny, creative, and serve as an ever-present reminder of how messed up the world's gotten. i particularly like the bleached city's focus on cleaning products
y'know, like, in the game. definitely not in real life. haha. i love microplastics.
8/10 check out assist mode its got funny options