Honestly, I think this is a great game/ tech demo. The story isn't deep or very interesting but it's serviceable. The voice acting (English at least) is nice - overacting and over the top 🙂 It's fun and gets the job done - a bit like those "super serious" fantasies most people have as a teen 😄 It's fast paced action. Decent shooter that's not very difficult. The melee is interesting and simple. The enemies aren't very easy but not very challenging either as long as you don't forget to dodge. A bit of positioning and choosing which enemy to take first - voila! You won the fight! You can button mash to your hearts content and still be satisfied with the results! There are some great animations and overall it feels like responsive combat system. Visually, the game is over the top as well. They are obviously trying to highlight reflections given all the wet scenery. It's a short game and I like this - it respects my time and doesn't demand much of me. Reminds me a lot of summer blockbusters - casual, over the top fun! If that's what you are after - go for it!
Quick action pace, swords, 3rd person view, futuristic story - in theory I should love this game. In practice, the controls frustrate me to no end. Camera control has been justifiably pointed out as weak point. The blade mode - I can see what they have tried to do and it can be satisfying to cut the weaker mobs to pieces. Yet it can be incredibly unreliable to turn the blade to the exact angle within the time frame in boss battles. Blocking requires target lock - I bet you will miss this small nugget during the tutorial. It also requires pointing the stick in the direction of the attack - you can guess how the weak camera control makes this into a futile exercise sometimes. Overall for the gameplay - stick to easy mode to have fun. You won't find the tight controls from Devil May Cry, Bayonetta or Dead Cells here. Story wise - it's serviceable. Fans of the franchise will be happy, the over-the-top dialog and action scenes are enough to move things forwards. It's not a bad game but it's not great either. The camera and combat controls have good ideas which didn't deliver well enough in execution. Graphics and world building is well executed.
I really liked this game for the story, wonderful sound and visual style. The story itself is what drew me in - learning about the characters and the world. The narrative of your choices having consequences and continuing forward regardless of the outcome is very mature in nature. Each character, faction and location have their own visual and audio queues bringing life to the world burning a vivid image of the experience. There is a lot of reading - plenty of exposition and notes scattered around. Make no mistake - the campaign isn't an action game and won't bring much satisfaction if taken from this angle. View it as visual novel though - it's a wonderful adventure. There is good pacing, enough time to build connection to the characters, what drives them forward and overreaching purpose, a quest to be fulfilled. When it comes to the game play - I felt it best to leave the difficulty as it was and enjoy the ride. The rite mini-games can be challenging at first but once you get the rhythm along with the enemy tactics, things become easier. There are plenty of strategic elements - choosing your current players and making sure they are levelled up, plays a large role in how the mini-games will unfold. On easier difficulties, items don't hold as much of an importance but I'm sure they will be invaluable at higher difficulty. If you are in for a good adventure that is well presented, then the Pyre won't disappoint!
The game can be conquered in a few hours :) That's a plus btw :D Memorable style, very good OST and decent gameplay. Fast, forgiving (on lower difficulty) but very entertaining. A great dose of "I've had a great time" without being demanding. There has is something to be said about the soundtrack and the Tron-like glow-y aesthetics. They mesh very well leaving a weird sense of calm in the short respites from the frantic shooting. It's not intrusive, constantly thumping in the background with electro vibes letting you plan the next move, aim and get in the tempo of the next shot or very much just roam the recently cleared halls. I very much enjoyed the experience :) Penguin enthusiast - it works well through Lutris and Wine. So far only one crash experienced at first launch.
I love the music and the bold presentation of the game. You get used to the enemies quite quickly and it's satisfying to execute a clean room sweep :) Chance plays a huge role in how a run will progress. Sometimes you get lucky and get OP items, sometimes it will be careful and slow run where even the weakest enemies will make you tremble. A large swarm of flies might be your worst enemy. The game is great - just sit back and enjoy! I would love to see a native Linux build.
I liked the game - it's solid shooter with plenty of character. The level design is good, weapons have their variety, enemies are fine and there are no situations where you can't complete the level or objective. The story and dialog are cheesy just like in most 90s titles - it serves the purpose of giving you the excuse to go on a rampage and that is more than enough. I'm running Ion Fury on Wayland and I could point out that brightness adjustment doesn't seem to work - with some of the level design choices, it can get a bit too dark (a flashlight would've been welcome addition). Other than that very specific issue under Wayland Linux - no complaints on how the game performs. Looking forward to the upcoming Aftershock expansion!
It's hard for me write my appreciation for this gem. The execution is truly amazing on pretty much every level - story, world building, gameplay. It hits home with almost everything. To enjoy the story - do leave spoilers aside and don't get tempted to see what happens in the next missions. This way it will unfold bit by bit and this makes it so much better. The way the game introduces the Focus in my view summarises how well thought out the game is - there is no "magical" or "just because we told you so" elements. For the most part, the developers have found a way to integrate the elements without feeling jarring or out of place. This can be a bit surprising given the amount of exposition through audio and text entries but the devs have done it - a great presentation that is treated with respect and consideration of the medium. The mechanics at their basis are simple and you can go through with limited focus on tactics. On the otherhand, if you have adventurous soul and explore as much as you can, everything will naturally guide you on how to deal even with the most intimidating foes. Have I said that it's gorgeous? It has style, a theme - its own character. Very few games are remembered for their graphics after certain amount of time - I have the feeling this title *will* remain as a great example of how to create "style" outliving a big portion of other games boasting about graphics complexity or new features. Having the game on GoG DRM-free is really something to appreciate and amazing value. The game can and will be preserved for a very long time to come! For penguin loving gamers - you are in luck. With DXVK 1.8 it runs well on Linux. Personally, I installed GoG Galaxy in Lutris first and the game through the launcher. Apart from the audio sync issue, it ran well for me. A small... hint - don't rush to find the power cells. Those will come near the end of the main story line, which can take away from the exploration.
