Games like this are the reason I even bother to keep playing video-games these days. I consider this a hidden gem, as well as criminally underated judging from the hate some reviews give it. But it is because of these reviews that I started the game with tempered expectations and was then absolutely blown away, so no hard feelings. Instead of trying to be souls clone #3687, Dark Devotion gives its own twist to things. It effectively manages to incorporate roguelike elements into its core gameplay without ever turning to procedural generation of levels (and we all know how this turns out). The dungeons are hand-crafted, but traversing them is not reversible, which means that if you missed something you have to do it all over, although this isn't anoyingly repetitive. There are checkpoints too, which means that if you die before a boss and all you want is to defeat that boss, you aren't forced to redo things all over (allthough gathering the equipment along the way might make your life a whole lot easier, anyway the choice is yours). As you might have guessed, it's a game where you die a lot. The combat is deep and button mashing won't get you anywhere. Enemies have interesting and not always predictable attack patterns, even the most basic mobs, which you will need to learn if you are to make any progress. The pixel artstyle is beautifull and intruiging. The soundtrack is pretty sweet too, it maches the atmosphere very well. Sprites and animations are very well done too. The world and plot is a mystery and you're gonna have to piece together the lore you find scattered around if things are to make any sense. Things I didn't like? Hmmm, some non-pixel elements don't blend well with pixel ones, such as in the death animation. The map does't always make it clear which portal leads where. As you can see I have to be very nitpicking. Overall, I'd say this definitely belongs to your collections if you're into the genre.
I have played this game elseware for a bit and all I can say is that it's a great idea with a lot of potential. Could easily turn into something very special if the devs play their cards right. If I had to put a label on it I would say it's an open world action/adventure RPG, but its actually very genre-blending, there's a lot in the mix. Top-down shouting combat, either on foot or airborne, an open world that requires exploration, gathering resources and crafting, customising your ship and loadout etc... Other than the gameplay, the other thing that makes it stand out (rather obviously), is the beautifull pixel art and the inspired sky-nomad setting. Soundtrack is quite interesting as well. I'd say its pretty clear that the game has pretty good art direction as well, to sum it up. A very promising title that you should definitely have in your radar if you're into open world action/adventure games!
Of all the games I've played in the past decade, this was by far the most unfair, frustrating, and just downright disrespectfull of the player's time and energy. Don't get me wrong, I love hard games, and as a rule my favorite games are all considered to be very hard. To prove that I could do it, I even went through the excrutiating torture of finishing this one, so I actually got to the babe and put my hard earned king's crown on my big shiny helmet, in what was about 10 hours of absolute hell. Apparently I was retarded enough to start a NG+, which I eventually quit after going about halfway up, where it became clear as day to me that the game's intended purpose is to make you suffer indefinitely and not to challenge you. Having to excecute a series of ridiculous jumps, landing on something the size of a nail that is located half a screen away, only to end up falling at the beginning of the PREVIOUS level and having to go through all the same crap again just to merely get a chance to correct your mistake - this is the level of bullshit we 're talking here. And it wouldn't even be so mind-numbingly frustrating if you could actually control your jumps with the required insane level of accuracy, but unfortunately you can't, unless you 're a world class speedrunner who put hundreds of hours into this. Whenever I fell it didn't feel like it was hard, it felt like it was cheap, and like the devs were merely making me do the impossible just to laugh at me when I fell over losing a ton of progress. I could sit through the rest of the challenges and finish them after many many hours of pain and frustration, but having some self-respect and an actual life I see literally no reasons to do so. Other than that, pixel art is great, atmosphere is great, soundtrack is short but sweet, and it is for these reasons only that I bothered to even finish it and give it a generous 3/5. Not recommended unless you 're a streamer who gets paid to provide a show of torturing themselves.
Normally I don't ussually play fps games because they all feel the same to me. The Signal from Tolva seemed to have something special about it so I decided to give it a shot, and it turns out I was right. It's not your traditional crazy-action-fps game as a lot of people might have initially expected, but a rather more serene, exploratory and aesthetic experience. From the first moment it becomes clear that the game was made by artists. Personally, I found the game's alien sci-fi setting and presentation to be perfect for me. It really felt like I was there, exploring an alien world where something weird is going on, not having a clue and having to figure out everything myself, all in the middle of a conflict between local robot factions. The exploration of Tolva will require a lot of walking around, collecting materials and scanning for artifacts. For this reason, I can see why some people would consider it to be a walking simulator, especially the ones who thought they were in for a more action-heavy experience. But this wasn't an issue for me at all. Tolva is anything but dull. It was a pleasure walking around, searching for clues and enjoying the scenery. The combat itself is quite satisfying. Basically whatever you would expect from a standard fps, but as I said, it's the setting that really makes it stand out. It felt a bit like Star Wars droids fighting each other. Interestingly, weapon upgrages come as a reward for exploration, creating an interplay between combat and exploration, which I found to be quite original. The game also comes with a free DLC called "The Polar Regions", which is besically more of the same thing, if you enjoyed the main campaign. PS: As of 2021, any issues/bugs seem to be resolved, at least it plays fine for me. My only "complain" is that it runs on 45ish FPS on my GTX 1650 SUPER (on the highest settings). From a game like this, I would expect better performance for my hardware, which means perhaps poor optimisation issues.
Alright the game is a blast. The only potential problem it comes with imo is the KB+M controls (WASD is tilted, just as the view), as they take some getting used to and can become quite frustating, especially when you die because - say - you wanted to dash north but dashed north-east instead. I guess "played best with a gamepad" is especially relevant here, to sum it up. Other than than minor potential flaw, lets see what we 've got: Art Design: Cyperpunk to the core, the best way to describe it is Ghost in the Shell on steroids. Its color palette predominantly consists of bright neon reds mixed with darker colors, and is set from the very beginning to put you in a dark and violent place. Soundtrack: The sound of Ruiner is mainly made of dark synths and industrial/dark techno beats that couldn't be a better fit to the aforementioned atmosphere. Meanwhile, some of the tracks are among the best I've heard in a game ever. Gameplay: It's been a long time since I've played something so... addictive. Yes, addictive is certainly the word. Its clearly an action game that focuses mostly on fast reflexes and efficient management of your skills. Other than making life-or-death split-second decisions, you must also choose carefully how you spend your skill points for each situation (and there is a wide arsenal of skills at your disposal), and effectively manage those skills during combat, which means that spamming the attack button alone won't get you far. Duration/Replayability: It's certainly not a long game, perhaps ~10 hours on your first playthrough depending on difficulty, maybe less. You can play the main story in 3 difficulty levels (easy, normal, hard), and then there's NG+, speedrun mode and arena mode to keep you busy for a while. Story: Personally I liked the story, some others find it a bit anticlimactic though. In any case, it's gonna keep you guessing till the end, and there are some plot twists you certainly won't see coming. Overall, its been great.
Before I start praising the game and its countless merits one by one, I want to point something out first to get it out of the way: it is not for everyone. Seriously, if you tend to get disappointed and give up easily when you lose and you don't like your games hard, you'd better go play something else. I'm not being elitist here, its really gonna take a lot of time, effort and determination on your behalf to finish, let alone complete. With that settled let's get to the main review. Art: The art of the game deserves to be in a museum, period. Beautifully hand-drawn characters and jaw-dropping environments are all over the place, with incredible attention to detail. Not to mention the haunting, immersive atmosphere. 5/5 Soundtrack: Hollow Knight wouldn't be the same without Christopher Larkin's amazing compositions that totally fit the game's atmosphere and make it even more immersive. I still listen to several of the tracks for the memories, or simply because they're awesome in their own right. 5/5 Gameplay: I've got nothing much to say about this cause I don't want to spoil... Anything you'd expect from a Metroidvania, only tighter, sleeker and fine-tuned to perfection. Engaging exploration of a 2D open world and (a bit more than) challenging boss fights that will push your skills to the edge. 5/5 Story: At first I was like "A game about a kingdom of bugs? Ehh...". I couldn't be any more wrong. It's very well set up and keeps you guessing until the ending(s). Not to mention the awesome concepts it introduces... for example, get ready to learn what a "soul vessel" is. Cool huh? 5/5 Content: Massive. You'll think you've come a long way and you'll still be nowhere near the end. 5/5 Difficulty: Get ready to die, enough said. And some of the craziest (optional) achievents may take you several hundred hours. Like I said, its not for the faint of heart. GIT GUD!!! 5/5 (for me at least) Price: Too low for what you get. Go buy at full price now. No regrets
