UrLocalBanktoad
I enjoyed my time with the base game, so this expansion both getting announced and being free definitely caught my attention. This does a great job of expanding on the story the base game left off on, exploring Kratos as a character and how he's evolved throughout the series. They also have plenty of other small side stories from other characters as well, giving lore-hungry players something to chew on.
The gameplay of Valhalla is truly a treat. It's a roguelite experience, meaning you start a run, you either make it to the end or die, and if you die, you start at the beginning. There's ways to increase your stats at the end of each run, successful or not, to make further attempts easier. You collect all sorts of skills and perks as you advance through encounters, including new moves that have a set amount of charges that don't recharge, making you have to think about the proper times to use them.
I played on the game's equivalent of "Normal" and was able to see all the major story content after around 5-6 hours, and even after that you're encouraged to keep doing runs to see more smaller lore bits and become even stronger, so there's plenty here to keep you engaged.
If you loved. God of War Ragnarök and want more of that game's story and gameplay, you have no reason to overlook this DLC, especially since it's FREE!
The gameplay of Valhalla is truly a treat. It's a roguelite experience, meaning you start a run, you either make it to the end or die, and if you die, you start at the beginning. There's ways to increase your stats at the end of each run, successful or not, to make further attempts easier. You collect all sorts of skills and perks as you advance through encounters, including new moves that have a set amount of charges that don't recharge, making you have to think about the proper times to use them.
I played on the game's equivalent of "Normal" and was able to see all the major story content after around 5-6 hours, and even after that you're encouraged to keep doing runs to see more smaller lore bits and become even stronger, so there's plenty here to keep you engaged.
If you loved. God of War Ragnarök and want more of that game's story and gameplay, you have no reason to overlook this DLC, especially since it's FREE!
The move to make less endings but have more going on with storylines was a good move, in my opinion. You really get to see Nicole's sadistic side shine here way more than the first game, and it's a wild treat. If you played the first game and thought it was great, you're gonna love this one!
2023
I've dabbled in the Rhythm Heaven series and enjoy what those games offer, so seeing this pop up randomly absolutely caught my attention. What we have here is basically a Rhythm Heaven minigame except it's WAY more intense and anxiety inducing, somehow.
You play as a seal clapping along to a set of notes. First you hear and see them, then you click to clap them. Simple enough, right? Well, it starts off that way, then it gets harder, achieved by becoming WAY more complex. You start to tense up as you see the "SPEED UP" messages and breathe sighs of relief when you see the "SPEED DOWN" messages as you try to learn the rhythms you need to survive to get a high score. "Is this one going to be on the backbeat?" "They put HOW MANY notes in this part?" These thoughts and more will swirl through your mind as you try to keep up with the pace.
Despite how scary it sounds, it's a super fun game. It's kind of like a horror game where the thrill comes from how much it puts you on edge but instead of being chased down by a creepy creature, you're trying to clap along to a song playing as a cute seal. It's free and will definitely help make some time pass by and leave you satisfied. The itch.io page for it can be found HERE!
My high score is 14, by the way!
You play as a seal clapping along to a set of notes. First you hear and see them, then you click to clap them. Simple enough, right? Well, it starts off that way, then it gets harder, achieved by becoming WAY more complex. You start to tense up as you see the "SPEED UP" messages and breathe sighs of relief when you see the "SPEED DOWN" messages as you try to learn the rhythms you need to survive to get a high score. "Is this one going to be on the backbeat?" "They put HOW MANY notes in this part?" These thoughts and more will swirl through your mind as you try to keep up with the pace.
Despite how scary it sounds, it's a super fun game. It's kind of like a horror game where the thrill comes from how much it puts you on edge but instead of being chased down by a creepy creature, you're trying to clap along to a song playing as a cute seal. It's free and will definitely help make some time pass by and leave you satisfied. The itch.io page for it can be found HERE!
My high score is 14, by the way!
2000
[Average Reading Time: 3 Minutes]
Breakout took me by surprise. I went into this game expecting it to be a normal brick-breaking game that used its 3D elements to make interesting structures to break apart. What I got was a game that prioritizes creating interesting gimmicks unique to each stage.
The game offers a story mode where you experience these stages. You take the role of Bouncer, whose friends and girlfriend have been kidnapped by Batnix, an evil pong paddle. Oh, yeah, all the characters are pong paddles, and you get to see how they run around and make shocked faces at things. It's jarring but also really funny at the same time.
You have six worlds to explore, each having multiple stages with each stage having its own gimmick. Some stages are going to be as simple as defeating all enemies or breaking all the bricks, but they keep things interesting by doing things like having enemies approach you in a Space Invaders style, or have characters come and lay down more bricks to replace ones you've destroyed. There are also stages where you're running from things chasing you, climbing towers, and shifting across conveyer belts to launch balls into a wall. The game is surprisingly varied, and I was always eager to see what the next stage would be.
Along with these gimmicks, there are also some interesting ways to control the paddle. You can switch between two paddle styles on the fly, offering different ways to angle shots. You can also hold down the shoulder buttons to angle the paddle to try to line up shots properly. I wasn't expecting this much depth in a brick-breaking game, so I was pleasantly surprised by these additions. It made me wish more games like this tried to offer mechanics like these to allow for a higher skill-ceiling.
As you progress through the 6 worlds in the main game, you'll unlock other paddles to use. Each one is different in specific ways, with some being larger but slower and others being smaller but faster. There's one that has magnetic properties, effecting how the ball travels when it passes by the paddle. You can also switch between characters in the middle of a stage at any time, so this on top of the paddle mechanics I mentioned earlier allow for a lot of experimentation in regard to how you would want to approach a stage.
As you clear stages, you'll be given a rank. It's not based on how quickly you clear a stage or anything. It's more like a combo system. Every time you beat a stage, your rank goes up. Every time you lose all your lives in a stage, your rank goes down. It doesn't seem to effect gameplay at all, but it is a neat incentive to try to be better at the game.
As for what I didn't like about this game, there's a few things. First off, at the start of the game there's a tutorial where you're introduced to a character called Coach Steel, who is a ball who teaches you the mechanics of the game and manages your rank. The tutorial feels like it goes on longer than it should have, but I can forgive it slightly since the mechanics are important to learn and are rarely seen in other brick-breaking games.
What I can't forgive is the noises Coach Steel makes when you lose a stage. In each stage, you get three lives, with the ability to get extra lives if you collect power-ups that have them. When you lose them all, your rank lowers, which is fine. What isn't fine is Coach Steel making an annoying taunting noise every time you game over. You never want to hear it again after the first time and every time after that is just grating. When I beat this game, I came out of it happy to know I wouldn't hear that sound again.
My only other gripe is how short the game is. You can easily beat the story mode in around an hour or two, leaving you wanting for more stages. It doesn't help that as far as I am aware, there's no other game that controls like this one, so this may be all that you get.
Breakout was a surprise I never saw coming. It did things with the mechanics that I feel did a great job of evolving on this formula and had really fun stages, to boot. I just wish I could find more games that played like this, because there is definitely a ton of potential in the gameplay presentation this game offers. I highly recommend people give this game a shot!
Breakout took me by surprise. I went into this game expecting it to be a normal brick-breaking game that used its 3D elements to make interesting structures to break apart. What I got was a game that prioritizes creating interesting gimmicks unique to each stage.
The game offers a story mode where you experience these stages. You take the role of Bouncer, whose friends and girlfriend have been kidnapped by Batnix, an evil pong paddle. Oh, yeah, all the characters are pong paddles, and you get to see how they run around and make shocked faces at things. It's jarring but also really funny at the same time.
You have six worlds to explore, each having multiple stages with each stage having its own gimmick. Some stages are going to be as simple as defeating all enemies or breaking all the bricks, but they keep things interesting by doing things like having enemies approach you in a Space Invaders style, or have characters come and lay down more bricks to replace ones you've destroyed. There are also stages where you're running from things chasing you, climbing towers, and shifting across conveyer belts to launch balls into a wall. The game is surprisingly varied, and I was always eager to see what the next stage would be.
Along with these gimmicks, there are also some interesting ways to control the paddle. You can switch between two paddle styles on the fly, offering different ways to angle shots. You can also hold down the shoulder buttons to angle the paddle to try to line up shots properly. I wasn't expecting this much depth in a brick-breaking game, so I was pleasantly surprised by these additions. It made me wish more games like this tried to offer mechanics like these to allow for a higher skill-ceiling.
As you progress through the 6 worlds in the main game, you'll unlock other paddles to use. Each one is different in specific ways, with some being larger but slower and others being smaller but faster. There's one that has magnetic properties, effecting how the ball travels when it passes by the paddle. You can also switch between characters in the middle of a stage at any time, so this on top of the paddle mechanics I mentioned earlier allow for a lot of experimentation in regard to how you would want to approach a stage.
As you clear stages, you'll be given a rank. It's not based on how quickly you clear a stage or anything. It's more like a combo system. Every time you beat a stage, your rank goes up. Every time you lose all your lives in a stage, your rank goes down. It doesn't seem to effect gameplay at all, but it is a neat incentive to try to be better at the game.
As for what I didn't like about this game, there's a few things. First off, at the start of the game there's a tutorial where you're introduced to a character called Coach Steel, who is a ball who teaches you the mechanics of the game and manages your rank. The tutorial feels like it goes on longer than it should have, but I can forgive it slightly since the mechanics are important to learn and are rarely seen in other brick-breaking games.
What I can't forgive is the noises Coach Steel makes when you lose a stage. In each stage, you get three lives, with the ability to get extra lives if you collect power-ups that have them. When you lose them all, your rank lowers, which is fine. What isn't fine is Coach Steel making an annoying taunting noise every time you game over. You never want to hear it again after the first time and every time after that is just grating. When I beat this game, I came out of it happy to know I wouldn't hear that sound again.
My only other gripe is how short the game is. You can easily beat the story mode in around an hour or two, leaving you wanting for more stages. It doesn't help that as far as I am aware, there's no other game that controls like this one, so this may be all that you get.
Breakout was a surprise I never saw coming. It did things with the mechanics that I feel did a great job of evolving on this formula and had really fun stages, to boot. I just wish I could find more games that played like this, because there is definitely a ton of potential in the gameplay presentation this game offers. I highly recommend people give this game a shot!
2023
Is there a reason Ronald McDonald wasn't invited to Grimace's birthday party? Are they on bad terms? Maybe Ronald was out of town? Very strange.
There are so many things I can say about this game.
I can praise its story for how interesting the characters are and how strongly it displays some scenes, despite the graphics not being on par with other games on more powerful hardware. I can gush about the game's absurdly amazing mechanics that must've been a nightmare to pull off but damn was it worth it. I can praise the fun side missions and how great the rewards for them can be. I can go on and on about how cool the new additions to the map are and how interesting they are to explore.
There's so many ways to sell someone on this game that has easily become my Game of the Year. If I can sum all these thoughts that weigh my mind down into one sentence that clearly conveys how good this game is, it would be this:
Of all of the $70 games I have bought and played to completion, Tears of the Kingdom is the only one that truly justifies that cost, AND YOU CAN BUY IT FROM NINTENDO FOR EVEN LESS THAN THAT!
Why are you still reading this? Play the game already!
I can praise its story for how interesting the characters are and how strongly it displays some scenes, despite the graphics not being on par with other games on more powerful hardware. I can gush about the game's absurdly amazing mechanics that must've been a nightmare to pull off but damn was it worth it. I can praise the fun side missions and how great the rewards for them can be. I can go on and on about how cool the new additions to the map are and how interesting they are to explore.
There's so many ways to sell someone on this game that has easily become my Game of the Year. If I can sum all these thoughts that weigh my mind down into one sentence that clearly conveys how good this game is, it would be this:
Of all of the $70 games I have bought and played to completion, Tears of the Kingdom is the only one that truly justifies that cost, AND YOU CAN BUY IT FROM NINTENDO FOR EVEN LESS THAN THAT!
Why are you still reading this? Play the game already!
2021
Playing this game with my wife was a blast. Just when we thought the game couldn't get more insane it pulls some ridiculous move that leaves us in stitches. Play this blind. Play it with friends.
Jeffery should've suffered more tbh
Jeffery should've suffered more tbh
2019
Not gonna lie, this is totally me when it's a lovely morning in the village and I am a horrible goose.
2021
Toree 2 is the follow up to Toree 3D, a 3D platformer with only a handful of stages that had a strong emphasis on speedrunning stages. Toree 2 feels like an expansion on the first game, offering even more stages to explore and speed through, as well as secrets to find and hidden surprises.
I played this on PC via itch.io, which did not like the idea of me using a controller for some reason. No matter how I tried to configure it, it just wouldn't work. I wound up settling for using keyboard and mouse controls. While they weren't ideal for this kind of game, they got the job done and I still had a fun time regardless.
Toree 2 feels good to control, and while you can beat it in under an hour, you'll definitely want to go back to improve your times and find secrets to unlock other characters. Plus, this game is super cheap. It's 1 dollar on itch.io and Steam and is honestly worth more than that.
If you're looking for a short inexpensive platformer that plays great and gives you plenty of goals to achieve, look no further than Toree 2!
I played this on PC via itch.io, which did not like the idea of me using a controller for some reason. No matter how I tried to configure it, it just wouldn't work. I wound up settling for using keyboard and mouse controls. While they weren't ideal for this kind of game, they got the job done and I still had a fun time regardless.
Toree 2 feels good to control, and while you can beat it in under an hour, you'll definitely want to go back to improve your times and find secrets to unlock other characters. Plus, this game is super cheap. It's 1 dollar on itch.io and Steam and is honestly worth more than that.
If you're looking for a short inexpensive platformer that plays great and gives you plenty of goals to achieve, look no further than Toree 2!
RPG Time: The Legend of Wright is less an RPG and more an exploration-focused action game. Your journey takes you into a hand-drawn world full of cute characters and mischievous enemies. You'll fight foes, solve puzzles, and get creative to complete your journey to save the world.
The first thing you'll notice about this game is its presentation. It comes in the form of a game made up by an elementary school kid who seems to put all of his free time to excellent use, not only creating the book the game takes place in and filling it with wonderful drawings to convey the world to the player, but also creating loads of crafts that enhance the story and become game mechanics. You have pencil sharpeners that are blacksmith tools to sharpen your pencil sword, there's a slot machine that creates a unique special attack, and loads of other wonderful things to surprise you. This game never runs out of steam in regards to creativity. You'll be engaged seeing just what new things the game will introduce to you, from wonderful drawings to clay figures to paper mache works of art. It's a feast for the eyes and it'll do everything in its power to use that fact to put a smile on your face, and it will succeed!
The gameplay is a mix of a number of things, but primarily you'll be exploring the world, solving puzzles, and fighting enemies. The challenges you face are very unique and fun, and the puzzles are always fair, making this an easy recommendation for casual players. The combat also isn't too hectic, which some may see as a negative but for the sake of the general feel of the game I feel that this is to its benefit. You'll fight foes by slashing your pencil sword across the screen, hunting weak points and using the environment to do strong attacks. The fights are their own types of puzzles in that sense, and the animations during them are cute and interesting to watch.
RPG Time: The Legend of Wright is a love letter to the concept of raw unfiltered childhood imagination and letting it flow freely. As you go through the story, the creator of the game is always with you, gushing about his favorite games and other things, even teaching players about things like chemistry and rigging cup games. You feel the childhood wonder in the character, sensing his passion for not only the game but for the things that make him happy, just as any child would enthusiastically go on about their favorite things. It helps to create a sense of comfort for the player, and it makes every line from the creator that much more welcome. You can almost feel yourself getting as excited as the creator is at some points, and I think that's wonderful. It's a reminder to all of us of just how powerful our imaginations can be, and when we let our ideas flow freely, whether it's on paper or through music or film or any other medium, we shouldn't be too strict in regards to staying in the lines. We should celebrate our ideas with our whole hearts, and put every ounce of love we can into what we do every day, even if things get a little messy on the road.
Since the first trailer was shown for RPG Time: The Legend of Wright, I was interested in seeing the final product. Now, after the past few years of waiting, I've finally gotten to play it, and I can certainly say it was worth the wait. I'll be keeping an eye on this team going forward, because based on this strong release, I believe they're going to do some great things. Definitely pick this one up when you get the chance, if you haven't gotten to already. I can assure you it's worth it.
The first thing you'll notice about this game is its presentation. It comes in the form of a game made up by an elementary school kid who seems to put all of his free time to excellent use, not only creating the book the game takes place in and filling it with wonderful drawings to convey the world to the player, but also creating loads of crafts that enhance the story and become game mechanics. You have pencil sharpeners that are blacksmith tools to sharpen your pencil sword, there's a slot machine that creates a unique special attack, and loads of other wonderful things to surprise you. This game never runs out of steam in regards to creativity. You'll be engaged seeing just what new things the game will introduce to you, from wonderful drawings to clay figures to paper mache works of art. It's a feast for the eyes and it'll do everything in its power to use that fact to put a smile on your face, and it will succeed!
The gameplay is a mix of a number of things, but primarily you'll be exploring the world, solving puzzles, and fighting enemies. The challenges you face are very unique and fun, and the puzzles are always fair, making this an easy recommendation for casual players. The combat also isn't too hectic, which some may see as a negative but for the sake of the general feel of the game I feel that this is to its benefit. You'll fight foes by slashing your pencil sword across the screen, hunting weak points and using the environment to do strong attacks. The fights are their own types of puzzles in that sense, and the animations during them are cute and interesting to watch.
RPG Time: The Legend of Wright is a love letter to the concept of raw unfiltered childhood imagination and letting it flow freely. As you go through the story, the creator of the game is always with you, gushing about his favorite games and other things, even teaching players about things like chemistry and rigging cup games. You feel the childhood wonder in the character, sensing his passion for not only the game but for the things that make him happy, just as any child would enthusiastically go on about their favorite things. It helps to create a sense of comfort for the player, and it makes every line from the creator that much more welcome. You can almost feel yourself getting as excited as the creator is at some points, and I think that's wonderful. It's a reminder to all of us of just how powerful our imaginations can be, and when we let our ideas flow freely, whether it's on paper or through music or film or any other medium, we shouldn't be too strict in regards to staying in the lines. We should celebrate our ideas with our whole hearts, and put every ounce of love we can into what we do every day, even if things get a little messy on the road.
Since the first trailer was shown for RPG Time: The Legend of Wright, I was interested in seeing the final product. Now, after the past few years of waiting, I've finally gotten to play it, and I can certainly say it was worth the wait. I'll be keeping an eye on this team going forward, because based on this strong release, I believe they're going to do some great things. Definitely pick this one up when you get the chance, if you haven't gotten to already. I can assure you it's worth it.
2012
This is that game that I played once long ago and liked but kept forgetting what it was called. Now that I found it again I can assure I won't lose it again and I can actually say stuff about it! It's a very simple casual "number-go-up" game that will keep you entertained for around an hour. Minimal graphics in exchange for gameplay that's surprisingly addicting is honestly a good trade-off, all things considered. I wouldn't mind seeing more games like this in the future.
I'll be honest I'm not getting much out of this one.
The boss fights feel a little too unforgiving on normal and the game as a whole is a boring cakewalk on easy. While it feels good to play, I feel like you need to care about Astro Boy as a series at least a little to get much out of this besides the fun gameplay since that's all there really is here. Also, everything I'm hearing about needing to beat it twice is turning me off from it.
It also does the thing where it's a beat-em-up with stat upgrades and mixing those two together is a major turn-off for me. How will I know which stats I should be caring about before I enter the next stage and get beat to a pulp because I upgraded my special attack stat instead of life? I feel like games like these work best when you can easily respec your character to experiment with different combinations of upgrades to see what works best for a stage. Given the short nature of the game (going based off HowLongToBeat's stats) I guess it would make sense that they wouldn't want to include that but having the option would be welcome.
I want to like this game! Everyone calls it a classic! I feel like I'm missing something here, but I just don't get the hype. I'll have to give it another shot sometime and hopefully I'll be nicer to it then. Maybe you'll get more out of it than I did, so give it a shot if you want to see if it's right for you.
Also, it's complete B.S. that you don't get a stat point if you skip the tutorial.
The boss fights feel a little too unforgiving on normal and the game as a whole is a boring cakewalk on easy. While it feels good to play, I feel like you need to care about Astro Boy as a series at least a little to get much out of this besides the fun gameplay since that's all there really is here. Also, everything I'm hearing about needing to beat it twice is turning me off from it.
It also does the thing where it's a beat-em-up with stat upgrades and mixing those two together is a major turn-off for me. How will I know which stats I should be caring about before I enter the next stage and get beat to a pulp because I upgraded my special attack stat instead of life? I feel like games like these work best when you can easily respec your character to experiment with different combinations of upgrades to see what works best for a stage. Given the short nature of the game (going based off HowLongToBeat's stats) I guess it would make sense that they wouldn't want to include that but having the option would be welcome.
I want to like this game! Everyone calls it a classic! I feel like I'm missing something here, but I just don't get the hype. I'll have to give it another shot sometime and hopefully I'll be nicer to it then. Maybe you'll get more out of it than I did, so give it a shot if you want to see if it's right for you.
Also, it's complete B.S. that you don't get a stat point if you skip the tutorial.
2023
Imagine if a group of people looked at Wario Land 4 and said "What if we made it even MORE insane?"
If you like fast-paced action platforming with unique gimmicks for each stage that constantly surprises and entertains you, then Pizza Tower is your dream come true! Peppino feels great to control, there's secrets galore, and speedrunning stages is both challenging and satisfying.
When you finish Pizza Tower, you're gonna immediately wanna go back for seconds!
If you like fast-paced action platforming with unique gimmicks for each stage that constantly surprises and entertains you, then Pizza Tower is your dream come true! Peppino feels great to control, there's secrets galore, and speedrunning stages is both challenging and satisfying.
When you finish Pizza Tower, you're gonna immediately wanna go back for seconds!
This was a surprise and a charm to play through! The writing is fun and full of charm, the minigames when presenting evidence are great, and the music is surprisingly great. This is a short free game, so I say it's absolutely worth a playthrough!
2021
Wild how Nintendo pulled the devs of Castlevania Lords of Shadow over and got them to somehow make not only a good game, but easily one of the best Metroid games in existence.