Rollerdrome is a truly great game that ponders the question of "What if THPS, but with a gun?" with an incredibly satisfying answer. The gameplay loop, scoring system, visuals, and OST made for an incredibly fun experience that I didn't let go until I 100% completed it (around 20 hours on Steam). My issues with the game mostly come from wanting MORE of the game (more stage variety, weapons, enemy types, music, bosses, tricks, etc) which I view as almost more of a backhanded compliment to the rest of our the game. Really, the type of thing DLCs or even a sequel could've done to expand the core concept. So, why don't I recommend it? Simple, Private Division (former subsidiary of Take-Two) vaporized the studio (Roll7) out of existence in mid 2024. In other words, your money is not directly/indirectly going to the studio or devs, but 2K/Take-Two to do whatever with. Especially with how recent the death is and how it didn't even cross anybody's mind to just let the studio go and let them at least attempt to fend for themselves, I can't in good faith recommend buying it.
KCD2 is by in large everything I wanted out of a sequel of the first game. Every system from the first game is intact and given tweaks to feel more polished without losing the immersive elements. The branching quest design is still here and does an excellent job of funneling the player down more content if they want. The storytelling is still great and the increased production value has bolstered it through gorgeous visuals, architecture, voice acting, and some of the best cutscene direction I've seen in any RPG. The only glaring issue I have with 2 is the lack of gameplay bite by the end, similar to KCD1. My initial concern was the sequel losing what made early game KCD1 memorable. However, even with the game starting Henry with better bare minimum stats, it found a good narrative excuse to start him at rock bottom again and building yourself up during the Trosky region kept me engaged with scouring for whatever content I could find. This dynamic flips once you hit the Kuttenberg region of the game where now you get to flex what you built up and it's fun... for a while. Once the initial high wanes though, you're just left with a game where every enemy can be master stroke'd once or twice, every dialouge skill check passed with ease, and a borked economy. Equipment hunting also becomes about player taste in fashion because late-game equipment is a very small leap in stats compared to what can be already obtained mid-game. The silver lining is that you can basically rush through the main quest once you feel this, similar to KCD1. Unfortunately, the sequel is much, MUCH longer than the first game (even excluding side content), so even bum rushing everything feels hankered by this. In a really backhanded way, it is a testament to the quality of the writing and quest design that I still kept doing side content just because I wanted to see what kind of scenario Henry would be thrown into next. Overall if you like KCD1, the sequel is a pretty safe bet.
It's Intravenous 1 but improved everything by in large (better level design, better loud gameplay, more equipment and weapons, etc.). Even the story while not a big selling point at least tries to make itself more interesting thanks to having two unique protagonists and branching paths near the end of the game. If you like stealth games (Splinter Cell in particular), this is a must buy imo.
So to preface the obvious, it's an Early Access game right now and as of October 2023, has what can technically be considered three main pieces of content right now (the campaign with a tutorial and the first mission, the 2022 demo of a level that will be implemented into the campaign later down the line, and an arena mode). Doesn't seem like a lot but the incredibly amounts of detail and effort put into the levels so far means you will probably be spending a good few hours on your first run learning to navigate through them and complete the objectives (on top of a ranking system that grades skillful play and learning where everything is as replay incentive). The best way to describe the game is it being a fast paced FPS with a lot of cool thing you might've seen from late 90s/early 2000s shooters, "im-sim" games, and its own twist on those mechanics. Bouncy movement reminiscent of Blood (in fact, the game uses Q3: Arena's physics source code for anyone who liked how that game feels), intricate level design that feels lived in with scale (all the more impressive it's a sci-fi setting), an inventory system for healing and food items, a body part oriented health system a la Deus Ex, a fun melee system with unarmed moves and blades to pull off against enemies, and so forth. On top of that, the game has shocking good presentation for a low budget title with nicely made cutscenes and fun voice acting. Fortune's Run can be difficult even on Normal difficulty with high damage but it gives you all the tools you need to succeed so it comes down to a matter of learning the game and it feels incredibly rewarding once you get a grasp on everything. Overall, if it looks interesting from trailer footage or you happened to try out the Steam demo from last year, I think it's worth supporting right now with how much of a passion project this clearly is for the developers creatively.
Played it on Steam already, picking it up again here because yes, it is that good. The best way to describe CAE is to imagine the likes of System Shock, Deus Ex, and Prey 2017, but oriented around being more puzzle based. The combat and stealth elements are all there (even making the distinction between lethal/non-lethal play) but how you go about it is focused on taking advantage of your environment through the ability to possess machines and enemies which all have their own unique functions and abilities. Add on top of a progression system that allows you to unlock new tools to modify your playstyle to your liking (want to go invisible, want to move around objects from a distance, want to turn objects around the world into explosives, etc.) and a simple but effective resource management via EGO (resource which allows you to possess enemies in the first place) and Juice (energy meter to use abilities) turns it into some of the most fun experimental gameplay out there for the genre. One other thing, game has some solid pacing I've seen in a game when it comes to progressive level complexity. I really thought the game was over by Level 6 and then the game slaps me with the actual final two levels which really did put everything to the test and what the player is capable of. Dev has been updating the game frequently too and recently implemented a "sandbox" mode that allows for players to generate their own levels. Can't speak on the quality of it but the dev in general has been extremely responsive on the Steam forums with fixing bugs and adding content to a game that already feels finished. Also tons of cat Polaroids. Never seen another game with so much pussy in it.
Crossbell duology has been a nice reminder why I enjoyed the prior Trails in the Sky trilogy from Falcom before the era of Rean Coldsteel. All the positives from the older games feel like they're at their best in Azure due to really polishing out the formula of exploring, doing side content, and potential quartz/arts builds while still retaining the solid world building and overarching plot built up from FC. All of this on top of another great PC version by Durante and PH3 who somehow made what is essentially a PSP game feel fresh with excellent AI upscaling methods for assets and new effects like reflections on bodies of water. I do have some issues (the amount of potentially missable side quests are a bit annoying this time around compared to Zero (I have no issue with hidden content, just that there was enough to get me paranoid to pull out a guide before every "point of no return" moment), still stuck with only doing one "final" bonding event like Zero, Ellie feels like a third/fourth/fifth/sixth/seventh wheel of the cast even compared to Noel, final chapter brings back SC levels of unnecessarily dragging the end game out) but really, if you've already stuck around playing these games for this long, the problems are mostly negligible.
For the price point, a well made GZDoom game with an interesting weapon set, solid level design, and good enemy balance (albeit repetitive). Only issue is how middling in quality the first episode is levels wise, but the later episodes make up for it significantly.
No, this isn't about mosaics or anything, I'm just amazingly underwhelmed by how boring the game is even compared to the first game. Cute girls and the occasional amusing sentence can't hide the fact that Alicesoft are awful at making gameplay solely reliant on their extremely basic turn-based combat systems lacking an extra layer of strategy or management to make anything going on in the gameplay side feel like it matters. I was hoping the whole "Hero Syndrome" system would make for an improvement from the first game because it essentially gives party members debuffs the longer you stay away from a hub area to heal at a hospice. Problem being there is no limit to how many times you can do this nor any incentive to avoid doing such (having some kind of time limit to do certain objectives would've probably helped with pushing the player forward rather than just healing the moment they catch something). In fact, there are times where the game will just ignore the Syndrome system and stop it until you progress farther in the game (like the opening sections of Chapter 2) so it's a wonder what the fucking point of it even is beyond being a stupid gimmick. This is just on top of the combat still being piss easy in general. On a more subjective note, Alex is a boring protagonist (which brings down a lot of the interactions with the characters), world building was a lot less interesting, and the general plot about diseases wasn't engaging so any drive for me to keep going to a certain point for the sake of the story was dead in its tracks too. You could probably do better with almost anything else in Alicesoft's catalogue than this one. Shame I have to shit on the first game Alice are self publishing in the West but frankly, if it saves someone the time and money to get better eroge, sure.
