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A short puzzle game where your progression revolves around translating unknown languages to figure out how to climb to the top of the tower. The puzzles are fun and interesting and the art style was never dull. My only complaint would be that I wanted a couple more languages to figure out (essentially it's too short).
Tunic is an amazing game. The art is great. The gameplay is great. The soundtrack is great. The sense of exploration and discovery is amazing. The game is a simple isometric zelda-like, but its main gimmick is that in game, you collect pages to an instruction booklet like the ones that used to come with physical game copies back in the day. There are a lot of game mechanics that are available to you right from the start of the game that are never revealed until you pick up the instruction book page for that mechanic later in the game. The game booklet is also written in a fantasy language so figuring out what exactly the book is telling you to do or where to go is a puzzle itself. I had a ton of awesome aha moments when something from the booklet clicked and I figured out what to do next. While I love the game, I should point out problems I had with some of the endgame content. There is more than one ending to this game, and the basic ending is less than satisfying. However, there is a large set of puzzles scattered throughout the game that you have to first find and then solve to make the true ending available. Some of them are pretty simple, but many of them required me to reference an internet guide to find and get the solution to. Among the puzzles I had to look up a solution for, many of those I still have no idea how the solution connect to the environmental clues I was given to solve the puzzle. The game is completely worth completing, but maybe don't feel bad if you need to look some solutions by the end.
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Title says it all, you know this game already. If you haven't played it yet, it's an absolute gem of 2D platforming. The platforming has a satisfying learning curve and the story is absolutely great. For an extra challenge, for absolute tryhards, you can try the B and C sides of all 9 chapters. If you're ESPECIALLY difficult to impress, then try the golden strawberries of said 27 levels. Still not impressed? The modding community has got you covered. Pixel-perfect jumps, utilizing the timed climbing and coyote time to the MAX. Try your best, try not to go insane.
Lots of bugs, and that's the point. They're literal bugs. The equippable charms make you feel powerful enough to fight the sun. Speaking of which... Anyways, the lore is seriously that good. Team Cherry made a GENERATIONAL masterpiece. Everyone and their 2-inch parasite knows this game (*practically. I don't know if you do know about this game.)
Blue Fire isn't a very long experience. If you're looking for a 3D platformer with some fun movement abilities, give this one a shot! My only qualm with it is navigation. This game reminds me of how 2D Legend of Zelda games set up their environments. There are several towns/settlements to visit that serve as hub areas. From these locations you can traverse several paths that are sprinkled with items and challenges. Eventually you'll find dungeons that give a key ability needed to complete the dungeon and also allow you to explore previously unreachable areas. Blue Fire lacks a map. This isn't so bad since the game isn't that big, but many locations blend in with each other. There aren't enough environmental details to make important places stand out. If you're not the type to thoroughly scan an environment you can absolutely miss something important. As a result, you'll be running around in circles trying to figure out what you need to do. With some better environmental design this issue could have been avoided. That is basically my only big complaint about Blue Fire. The movement is pretty nice and there's plenty of ways the game will challenge your skill with the movement. There are combat mechanics too, although, the combat takes a backseat to the platforming. One thing I do like about the combat is that you can chain it into your movement options if you're adept enough. The narrative isn't very deep here. While it stays fairly vague about its world, the well isn't deep. It's a straightforward plot that is easy to follow. The dialogue from some of the characters are fun, but there's nothing to get attached to here. The gameplay speaks more than anything else in this game. Definitely worth playing from beginning to end.
I'll do my best to be as vague as possible with this review because this game deserves as blind of a playthrough as you can manage. If you don't want to read the unfocused ramblings that are sure to follow this intro, let me just say that this game deserved your attention back when it released. It's already too late for the studio that made it but what they left behind is more than worth your time. Before I start heaping praise, let me frontload some nitpicks to prove that I'm capable of being a fair judge. The start of the game is a little bit of a slog where you ping-pong between two main regions collecting your movement abilities. These abilities are designed for precise aerial maneuvers rather than speed, so if you expect to go faster than a brisk walk you may be disappointed. Also, if you're looking to get to the true ending, you'll bump into a huge and abrupt difficulty spike with the platforming and boss encounters which will catch you off guard if you aren't expecting it. I have faith that you'll be able to handle it, but it's something to be aware of regardless. One more thing to note is that the modifier system is pretty cool (think charms from HK), but one modifier in particular is so strong that I always found myself building around it. In my humble opinion I think it should've just been a default part of the movement upgrade it's associated with, but you get it so quickly that you can just think of it as on by default and you can sacrifice it for other stuff if necessary. As the review title states, MIO is shockingly beautiful. The entire world is rendered with shaders that imitate a hand-drawn feel, and at certain points in the game this rendering is tampered with to great effect. The soundtrack blends moments of atmospheric synth for exploration with upbeat techno for boss encounters, perfectly bouncing between chaos, melancholy, dread, and calm when appropriate. The sound design is an absolute treat, too, but I've drawn out the presentation section of this review long enough so I'll let you hear it for yourself. The gameplay is fairly basic, but fun and challenging at times. Mio starts out with a basic 3-hit attack combo and sticks with it for the whole game unless you choose to equip the OP modifier I mentioned at the start. You're only able to heal at checkpoints, so you WILL die to the bosses a lot until you learn them well enough to survive. Each boss is super well designed and always felt fair to me, and I find myself wishing for some sort of rematch system for some of the more enjoyable ones. The platforming starts out with basic double jumping shenanigans, but this very quickly expands into precision-based gauntlets once you start getting the (kind of unorthodox) movement upgrades. The world of MIO is one of the strongest parts of this game. I find myself comparing it to Bionicle whenever I bring it up in conversation, though it's far from a 1:1 adaptation of that particular setting. Each area of the map has its own uniqur theme, but the more you explore, the more you see that the entire world's design is connected and explained. There's even a point where the cause of one area's degradation turns out to be a boss battle! That's probably all I should say about that, though. You'll just have to see for yourself. Lastly, I want to touch on the story. I really don't want to spoil any of the fantastic writing and characters that you encounter along the way, but you'll quickly see that the world you entered is near its end. It's darkly ironic, really, that the studio behind a beautiful game about holding on too long was shut down far too early. If anyone from the team happens to stumble upon this review, thanks so much for releasing the game. tl;dr go play MIO if you like metroidvanias, bionicle, and/or storytelling that takes itself seriously.
it is a very well thought out game. the fishing mechanics is very unique and engaging. Along with mangaing your inventory, you have to decide to spend space on upgrades or just wing it and use for loot(i.e., mainly fish). the story is fairly intriguing as far i got with it, but am going to return and finish the story when i have time.
Everything you would want in an RPG is here. In-depth mechanics allowing for tons of fun build combinations, an amazing story filled to the brim with details, lovable characters, many side quests, frequently rewarded exploration, fun side modes, and more! I couldn't believe how much was packed in this game. I knew Bug Fables was going to be great coming in, but I wasn't prepared for the full course meal on offer. These devs poured their hearts and souls into this game and you can feel it the whole way through. Many may know that Bug Fables is heavily inspired by the first couple Paper Mario games, especially The Thousand Year Door (TTYD). This game can be seen as a successor of sorts to that formula established by the Paper Mario titles. As someone who has played TTYD, I can easily say I enjoyed Bug Fables even more. The narrative is so well executed, even if it has some predictable RPG tropes. I was completely enamored by the world building. They do a lot to make this bug world convincing. Kabbu, Vi, and Leif are an amazing team of protagonists. It's rare that an RPG makes me want to read every bit of dialogue no matter what. I love these three. The active combat is great as well. Those familiar with TTYD will feel right at home. I'll miss being stylish, but Bug Fables expands on the gameplay formula by introducing way more strategy with the turn order and party placement. (TTYD fans will be pleased to know they absolutely designed the progression with the badge strat in mind). I appreciate the difficulty options provided. I played in Hard Mode and was pleasantly challenged the whole time. I wouldn't recommend a new player to do the same even if they feel they are good at RPGs. Unless you're super familiar with TTYD already, I think you'll find that the game can heavily punish the unprepared. That said, you're given the freedom to adjust the difficulty on the fly. I could say more, but just believe me when i say this is an RPG that is more than worth your time. Amazing work.
The first Citadel game ended up being a surprisingly enjoyable experience... So, does the sequel live up to the expectations? No... It completely surpasses them! Now let's get into the how and why... QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES One of my biggest gripes with the first game was the abundance of insta-death pits. At any point while platforming above a bottomless pit, if you fell into it you'd die immediately, which is a problem for a game with no conventional saving. That was literally 99% of my deaths in The Citadel. Thankfully, we don't have to worry about that in Beyond Citadel, as now you instead just get teleported back, and that's great! Now I can jump around and platform like a maniac to my heart's content! Outside of that, we also have more map variety. While I liked the surreal design of the first game (ironically, it reminded me of the Citadel in Half-Life 2), it did get repetitive. Beyond Citadel still has those surreal levels, but also has city levels, a desert level, underwater levels and my personal favourite; a train level, because Blood made it look cool. Game is also twice the length of the original, and has WAY more anime fan service... which I approve of. THE GAMEPLAY The Citadel's arsenal returns in Beyond Citadel, with a lot of them being improved, as well as adding some new weapon varieties for most weapon slots. The meta-magnum is now infinitely better, getting more ammo, being easier to handle and straight up just having the ability to fire grenades, because why not? The Whalegun, a personal favourite, is even more satisfying to use. Game also introduces an RPG-lite upgrade system, where you can buff Martyr's health, speed, carrying capacity, etc. You also get a lot more movement tech, outside of the double jump present in the original. You get two air dashes, a grappling hook and at the end... wall-to-wall running. It can be quite intimidating to encounter a waifu in full juggernaut armour, running at top speed, whilst wielding an auto-shotgun. There's also a bigger variety of enemies, and new vehicles! The mech from the first game returns, but we also get a tank, and a freakin' jet! Also, the optional special reload system is absolutely unhinged and panic-inducing. I love it. THE LORE The first game had a very simple story, and very few characters. That's expanded upon in the sequel, as we get a lot more characters to interact with - my favourite being Sister Chloe ( อกยฐ อส อกยฐ) - a more fleshed out story, and a lot of backstory for Martyr herself. I won't spoil what happens, but suffice it to say... Beyond Citadel made me sad, but in a good way. It's been a long time since a video game has made me emotional, and this Japanese indie game managed to do that. Props to the dev; he made a 30 year old man feel sorry for the main character, and most of the cast. THE NEGATIVES Unfortunately, this game is not without its problems. Beyond Citadel has a tendency to crash, more so than the original. And it's random. Sometimes it won't happen for hours. Sometimes it will happen 2 - 3 times in the span of a few minutes, and I have no idea what causes it. I'll just blame it on Unreal. Thankfully, it didn't happen too often. TL;DR - This game is fantastic! I wish more people would give it a try, especially fans of shooters and anime, because it is genuinely one of the best shooters I've ever played, reaching the godly ranks of Ultrakill, Turbo Overkill, Cultic and Dusk... Uh, just keep it away from Twitter/Reddit/BlueSky freaks. They already mald over Stellar Blade, and they'll likely get several heart attacks upon seeing Martyr and her "outfits". Final verdict? 9.8/10! The ONLY reason it's not a perfect 10, is because of the crashing. The Citadel was great, but Beyond Citadel was beyond amazing! Also, Sister Chloe dating simulator when, developer?
This game is simultaneously an anime fan service simulator, an absolutely graphic and disgusting gore fest that makes Brutal DOOM blush, and just a really good and competent shooter all at once... and I absolutely dig it. The Citadel is a hybrid between a boomer shooter and a modern tactical shooter, combining the speed, mobility (double jumps included) and arena fights of an arena/boomer shooter, with leaning, iron sights and gun recoil usually seen in more tactical shooters; and surprisingly, it pulls it off very well. Much better than I expected. Of course, I do have some gripes here and there, but the overall positives outweigh the negatives. THE POSITIVES Gunplay is absolutely fantastic. Every single weapon felt punchy and powerful, with the only one I didn't like being the grenades. But as I like to say... if a shooter has good shotguns, then it's good. And if it gives me the option to dual-wield SMGs, that do insane damage... well, then it's amazing! The music was also pretty good, showcasing a mix of action, ambience and melancholy. And while I know this art style isn't for everyone, I did like it personally. I don't mind my main character being a hot anime waifu, that carries as many guns as the Doom Slayer. In fact, I welcome it. Also, big shoutout to the devs for not putting a SINGLE hitscan enemy in the game. Not even your guns are hitscan. I'm glad this design philosophy took off after Dusk. THE NEGATIVES The game runs completely on a life system, and you are unable to save. Now unlike Incision, you get to keep your lives between levels... however, also and unfortunately unlike Incision, and by extension DOOM Eternal, when you die, you don't respawn back immediately and continue the fight. No, you have to find these checkpoint terminal things, so your extra lives are not always useful. That in of itself isn't that much of a problem, as I didn't die too much... however, this game also has insta-death pits, which I'm not a fan of, which kinda coincides with my next gripe... Our girl, Martyr doesn't know how to air strafe. If you sprint and jump in one direction, it's nearly impossible to change directions mid jump. It did lead to some โฅโฅโฅโฅโฅโฅโฅโฅ deaths, though from what I've heard the sequel has removed the insta-death pits, which I guess I'll see soon enough. Overall, while The Citadel doesn't quite reach the sacred heights of my designated "4 Horsemen of Amazing Boomer Shooters", those being Ultrakill, Turbo Overkill, Cultic and Dusk, it slots RIGHT after them with games like Amid Evil. 9.2/10! I had a blast, and will most likely return to try out New Game+!
This game had a choke-hold on me during my playthrough. I couldn't stop thinking about it. It just keeps going. It keeps getting more fun. One of the best things about metroidvania design is how it can reward your exploration. You can reach an ending to Hollow Knight relatively quickly if you're focused on the objective, but I doubt you would be able to. One little detour can lead you down a rabbit whole of discoveries that can grant you new collectibles or abilities. You can't resist the urge to check out an area you haven't seen before and each time something new happens. It could be a bossfight, it could be a whole new challenge to overcome, or it could reveal something new about the world. Speaking of which, what a world. I'm baffled by how well thought out it is. There isn't a single wasted location in Hollow Knight. Nothing feels like fluff. They do so much to make the world feel lived in. I couldn't believe how this game managed to get me attached to several different characters. Some of them were never even alive and they still hit me. Oh, and the sound design too. Wow. This isn't even something I pay attention to much, but they do incredible work here. The music isn't going to hit you as hard as the sound effects will. Again, the devs do so much to make world feel lived in and the ambience plays a big role in that. I could sing this game's praises for days. It's as good as people said it was. They nailed every aspect of it. It's hard for me to come up with anything negative to say. Uuuh.. it's a little hard? You don't get punished hard for failing so the difficulty shouldn't be that much of a turn off anyway. Just... play this game eventually. Whenever you get around to it. It's awesome.
I don't mean that it's hard. It's grotesque. This game has very violent imagery that needs to be known upfront. The art is beautiful, but you should know what you're getting into. That being said, what a great game. The world is a deep well to explore, not just in its size, but in its lore as well. I was amazed with how much detail would go into the many NPCs you meet and items that you collect throughout the game. A little too much. I couldn't bother with reading it all, but the depth is certainly there for those who want it. The world of Blasphemous is greatly influenced by spanish/roman catholicism. It's explored in a way I haven't seen anything else do. Incredibly fascinating. That aside, the gameplay is solid. This metroidvania has an emphasis on combat beyond movement. The bossfights are super fun and the enemies are satisfying to deal with. I only have two gripes against this game is some of its level design and the experience with collecting everything. There are too many moments in Blasphemous where you have to make a jump and there are spike pits below you that will kill you on the spot. You get severely punished for something you couldn't have seen coming. It feels like a un-funny prank every time. 100%'ing the game can get rough as there's a decent chance you'll miss something somewhere and you will have no idea where to double-check. Doing it is worth I'd say, there's a real nice pay-off for may of the collectibles, but I would have liked a little more guidance sometimes. Great game though. The death pits may frustrate you, but it's not that big of a deal. It's a must play for anyone okay with the content warnings. (Seriously, it's a lot of gore and body horror. Very well drawn mind you, but it's there).
I will admit off the bat that my review is incomplete. I originally purchased Blasphemous on Nintendo Switch, where I had multiple controller failures that resulted in a host of incomplete games due to the annoyance of stick drift, but I will still offer some overview of the game. Just as the headline suggests, it's Metroidvania, complete with platforming as you traverse the world, light puzzles to unlock new areas. The combat and ambience of the game is where I feel it really shines; this is a difficult game compared to a lot of Metroidvanias, especially the mainline Castlevania games on GBA and DS. The combat isn't slow, per se, but it requires a bit more careful method and thought like a Dark souls or Elden Ring game or you will absolutely pay the price in health. The music and style of the game is heavily steeped in a gothic Spanish influence, ripe with highly religious overtones. The music in particular doing a very good job of conveying a sense of loneliness in an uncaring, beautifully macabre world that I felt burdens you with the wages of sin right from the atmosphere itself. For fans of the genre, I absolutely recommend it. I plan on repurchasing the game in the future to finally complete it, and don't feel any reservation towards spending again, particularly in light of knowing there will be a sequel ready for me afterwards.
Furi is a game hyper focused on delivering an intense combat experience. It's a game filled with nothing but bosses for you to overcome and a story married to its combat. Each fight is more than a way to challenge the player. They're also used to explore these characters. It's a fantastic narrative, but it can be hard to grasp beyond the the 30th restart of the next fight. This game is HARD, demanding really quick pattern recognition and reaction speeds. It's a twin-stick bullet hell that can flip into 3D combat in a moment's notice. Beyond the first boss, the game won't hold your hand for a second. At no point is it unfair. With enough practice each boss can be defeated and damn is it a satisfying feeling every time. Anyone who has played a good SHMUP will know the exact feeling Furi gives you while playing it. A fantastic experience for anyone who is okay with intense difficulty.
Atmospheric Waifustein 3D, combat is pretty brutal and the gore has disturbingly accurate detail. Akira and End of Evangelion vibes throughout this game. I loved the design on the guns, all using overpowered loads as ammo and semi realistic bullet drop mechanics. I liked the variety of enemies that you faced that broke the mold a bit from other shooters. Getting to pilot the mech suit was awesome and lets you wreak havoc like the mech suit sections of FEAR 2 did. The Music was foreboding and spooky with subtle bumps in the night. I thoroughly recommend this game to any boomshoot fans.