1997

An absolutely gorgeous platformer that is nothing short of charming. Never unfair and feels fantastic to play. Every hurdle you get past rewards you with pure satisfaction (and relief!)

The art and OST are absolutely beautiful too...

Also, funny transfem double jumping!!

Just painfully mediocre but with a lot of promise...

For starters, the movement feels pretty bad, just plainly. An important aspect of a shooter (or just games in general) is if it feels good to simply walk around... that is not the case in Dread Templar.

There are a few neat guns but for the most part, the gunplay is pretty lackluster. Almost everything in this game feels weak. I mainly attribute this to the fact that the sound design is pretty horrendous, everything just sounds dull. Really that's the best word for this entire game, dull.

Level design is also not very fun and since the movement feels horrible, I don't care to look for any secrets (not that they're very easy to pin down anyways).

The most redeeming things this game has are its upgrade system and I guess the visual style?? The upgrades can be fun and interesting but they alone don't save the game's gunplay. The visuals are also just kind of generic for the most part... some of the later weapon designs are neat though and the enemies look pretty neat... environments are also kind of cool for the most part.

All this to say that it's not particularly bad, just really damn bland. I can't see myself picking it back up any time soon.

2018

I've had a very complicated relationship with this game. Initially, I've always felt it was a little overrated -- I played ULTRAKILL a lot more first and had pretty much veered away from a lot of other retro and boomer shooters alike. Basically, my idea of a "good shooter" had been completely skewed.

Recently, in the midst of a sort of "old school shooter" binge, I've come to realize that I was a bit hard on Dusk the entire time.

What Dusk does, it does extremely well. You can tell it was made passionately by someone who really endears the shooters of the past. The weapon pool feels great, the enemy variety is awesome (except I fucking hate the Cowgirls, they can go to hell), the level design is fantastic, and who doesn't love a good old cult-themed killing spree?

I still don't believe it is terribly unique as far as shooters go, but the game accomplishes what it is going for with flying colors. It might not be groundbreaking, but it certainly deserves to be called a classic.

The first game that had ever broken me down to the point where I must speedrun it!

The music is sick as hell, the art direction and level design are fantastic, and the gameplay is incredibly dense but feels natural and rewarding. I genuinely think this is the best shooter to have come out in recent years. Can't think of anything else to say. This game is damn near perfect.

2020

Words alone simply cannot do this game justice. However, to the best of my ability, it's probably the closest you're gonna get to being a legitimate wizard.

This is easily one of my favorite roguelikes ever and I'd be willing to call it the best (at least of its contemporaries). What makes me love it is just how much there really is, and just how much freedom the player actually has. The game is so much more than what it appears to be on the surface. You could write an entire essay on the wand crafting... and that would be just one of several essays you could write on this game!

Yes, it's fucking hard as hell -- this game is challenging in every sense of the word -- but if you're a patient person, it is 100% worth it.

Was originally super hyped for this game. Conceptually it's pretty cool, the music is incredible (probably one of my favorite OSTs ever), and the art style is pretty tight. However, it all falls flat on the gameplay.

Pretty complicated to explain entirely but it can be summed up as a lot of neat ideas being executed mediocrely.