Mother Russia Bleeds [MRB] is one of the bloodiest, face smashing, blood born pathogen swapping, zombie kill fest that anybody needing to release an anger-wad could have ever asked for... if it were put together a little bit better. Below are the three things that turned me off this game, and why I think you should pass this title by. i) Hit boxes The hit boxes in this game are so terribly finicky that you will often find yourself punching past or sliding by your opponents. Good luck landing a timed hit of an enemy lunging at your downstairs. You will miss. They will not. ii) Bad guys and their items hanging out off-screen Enemies can be bludgeoned off screen with relative ease when you are screen locked into an area. The enemy AI is prone to staying to the edges of the screen as well. So, should you execute a technique that has a knock-back effect, the enemy and any beating enhancements that they may be carrying are not accessible to you. Too many in fights in MRB take place at the edge of screen. iii)Volume of bad guys VS AI helpers Nothing defines a beat-em-up more than swarms of enemies frothing at the mouth to have their donkeys handed to them. MRB takes this to a higher level. You can attempt to beat every opponent on your own, but it can be tedious undertaking if not insurmountable. However, you can assign yourself additional computer operated meat bags. They are alright at full health, but I find that when you are both close to death, the AI will inadvertently take you down with its preset actions. (Perhaps the number of bad guys should be better prorated for how many human players are present, and/or give an options menu to change how the AI fight ad lib.) I am rather tired of the unfinished feel of many Devolver titles. Blee-yacht/ 10 [Review transcribed from my steam accout; 6.6 hours of play on record]
Hollow Knight is damn good and it is a hell of challenge. A screen shot alone will show you the game art is stunning and well detailed. The game trailers show smooth game play but that is only true after you get a handle of how your character moves and after you have made enough progress to start getting charms (power-ups). The icing on this cake is the most excellent soundtrack. You play a small insect warrior adventuring in the remnants of a fallen underground insect world. Choosing insects as characters in this game was an amazing artistic choice. Insects are, in an of themselves, fascinating creatures that have a wide variety of physical features and survival traits that are often unknown and unseen to most. The developers really incorporated that into the game design and play. As I had mentioned, this game is difficult but it isn't an outright punishfest either. For example, there are sparse check points for your character to rest and swap power-ups. Sometimes, a boss may be far away from a check point so you have to dungeon crawl to the big fight. The travel alone may set you back so that you cannot fight the bosses effectively. Additionally, each time you die you loose your monies and your revived character is not as powerful. The remedy is to go back where you last died and fight the ghost of your dead self. So, if you have died in a particularly difficult area or lost the place where you died, you are in a bit of a pickle. The bosses attacks are pattern based, so each time you die you learn, and eventually you smash in the boss' carapace and dance a jig on his gooey innards. I barely had the chops to beat this thing, but damn this game is good. 9.5/10 (Review transferred from my steam account; 89 hours of game play on record.)
In Crossing Souls [CS] you, your brother, and best buds embark in high adventure that spans beyond the coporeal realm. CS strives and succeeds in emulating the 80's genre of the latch key kids adventure; in addition to encapsulating themes of: friendship, team work, historically/scientifically inaccurate lore, and the value of family and community. CS nailed the pixelated graphics dead on; it looks great. There are 1980's americana nod winks all the way through. CS could be perfect... BUT: Crossing Souls is...well... kinda boring. You play a rotating roster of characters (TMNT on NES had this style of game play). Each character is meant to have a "unique" ability to push along game play. One character can climb, three can effectively jump, one can energize electrical items, there is a strong man, and another chews bubble gum and farts. With these combined abilities, you beat up specters from the neither realm and solve puzzles. There are no skill trees, equipable items, or in game economy. The combat and puzzles are simplistic and rapidly become stale. After I lost initial interest, I would just play to see the cut scenes. Then, not at all. The non-recommend I am handing out is not because the game is intrinsically bad. I think me not liking this game has more to do with timing of its release in relation of my life. In an earlier epoch of my life, a young 6-7yo me would enjoy this game. But I am old, grumpy, and spoiled for choice in a world of rotating seasonal sales and a cornucopia of almost daily modest spindles. More oft' than not Devolver games are a great choice for pixilated digital good times. Ultimately, CS suffers the same problem of other "very positive" Devolver produced titles --they are all high end potential. 6-Potentials /10 (Taken from my Steam account review; 8.5 hours of game play on record)
I had this game on my list for years and I just never got to it. I gotta say, it's been over a decade since the this game came out and it still holds up! I am sad to see the cancelled the fan update of KOTOR; the new graphics, would have been a much needed upgrade. Overall, it is nice to visit a piece of Star Wars that hasn't been corrupted by mus de tenebris malum. I had a great time playing it. Playing a gambling goody-two-shoes murder factory was hilariously delightful. I am not certain that a younger gamer, used to better graphics, would be able to get into KOTOR. I ran in to that problem when I tried playing the very first Fallout; it was unplayable (to me). In some places KOTOR gets stale with: dialogue, fetch quests, side games, glitches etc. But the problems of this game in the light of the modern day are more endearing than annoying. Ultimately, I choose to recommend KOTOR to those who like the idea of finding a dusty old 'Choose Your Own Adventure' and flipping through for gits and shiggles.
If ARPG's are your genre, stop reading, and buy this game. This game has elements of 90's ARPGs like the Secret of Evermore that have made ARPG's my favorite gaming genre. Hyperlight Drifter uses a pixilated art style that is reminiscent of the 16-bit era without looking sloppy. The story line is straightforward and mysterious, and dialogue is delivered in a series pictures. Never is a true word is spoken by any character in the game, but at no point are you as the player lost as to what is happening -- there is just enough of a push for you as a player to find out more. The game play is fun and addictive. As the drifter you are able to dash and slash enemies, or shoot the baddies with a plasma gun. The bosses are challenging and their defeat gives you a sense of reward when you finally crush them. I do have some issue with the controls: there are dashing puzzles that require precise timing to complete successfully. The game is unforgiving in this respect and can lead to explosive bouts of frustration. Also, I find that the controls have the Drifter prone to falling of cliffs (see aforementioned explosive frustration). The music complements the game well it provides the gameplay with an eerie ambience. Don't expect an epic music score. The music is more simple than the orchestrated pieces in blockbuster hits, but by no means is Hyperlight Drifter's soundtrack ineffective. Overall, I think this game is great. I love it. A solid 9.5/10. (Review transferred from my steam account; 53.5hr of game play recorded)
I can go on about what looks to be a clearly thought out story line and I am sure it gets pretty cool as the game progresses. The art? also pretty neato! But the combat system is severely misplaced and it gets boring fast. Imagine you have a top down action-RPG with the combat style of Raiden (Scroll shooter not MK), and to attack you just hold down a button to spew forth your attack bits ad nauseum. The enemy actions funnel you to repeat a nearly singular attack strategy: run away from regenerative hostiles, loop around and re-spew attack bits, vaporize the baddies, and maybe get a little coinage. Are there choices in game to alter the thread of the story? --I couldn't be bothered to care. The combat is spiritless. (Review transferred from my steam account)
This game is a tasty goolash of gaming styles. You've got a little classic RPG, a little 4x, and a little RTS. What makes this game fun for me is the light hearted nature of narrative structure. Imagine your favorite space opera had a tongue and cheek sing-a-long musical episode, played by muppets, that was then cartoonishly pixilated, and made into a game. I got this game on sale. Worth it 6.5/10 (Review transferred from my steam account; 63.7hr of game play recorded)
I entered the Wonderboy/Monsterboy franchise at Dragon’s Trap [DT]. Which, as far as remakes that are true to form go, is nothing short of excellent. DT did have its problems. The Cursed Kingdom [CK] by contrast does not the take the leap in improvement as DT had with its source material. The game play has been smoothed out a bit since DT but, the game does not look or play anywhere near as smoothly as the demo video shows. The CK intro video has the feel of Saturday morning cartoon; I wish Game Alteir and FDG kept with the adventure cartoon mood and atmosphere. It is extremely unfortunate that in the art style and character design have taken their inspiration from mobile games circa farmville. An in game pop-up add for tokens would not look out of place in the Cursed Kingdom. Character animations are stilted; as if they have don’t have enough frames for movement. The starkest example of this is when the frog is swimming: he looks like a piece of paper being slid across the screen. Hit boxes are awkward in a whole new way in CK. Sword strokes have a habit of phasing through enemies and the shield requires precise alignment for it to be effective. Likewise, animorphing between hero forms is not as smooth as shown in the demo video. You select abilities, items, and characters via multiple circular menus. By the last quarter of the game, menu selection makes the game play cumbersome. Lastly, the music is a filled out rehash of old tracks and, although the banjo renditions were pleasant, the music composition felt a bit lazy. I still very much enjoyed this game. The greatest strength of CK is the puzzle platforming design which, although not overly unique, provides a challenge and is fun. CK is just not worth the 40$ price tag. 6.5/10
