Much like the other reviewers, I was very mixed with this release. I really enjoyed Fresh n' Tasty, but for some reason Soulstorm had a lot of issues. Don't get me wrong, the game was very well done from a technical perspective (you should be able to finish it without an issue), but that doesn't mean that it's not without issues. The controls feel very janky and awkward, and the hit boxes can be unfair at times. There are also some very frustrating parts that you have to redo over and over to get past, and it gets incredibly frustrating. That being said, the game is a good length, and the artwork/cutscenes are fantastic, but just make sure you rescue enough of the workers, otherwise you'll get the bad ending and you'll have to redo some of the levels where you missed workers.
I was so excited when I heard that Ken and Roberta Williams would be making a new game, especially a remake or retelling of one of the classic adventure games from the past. Ken and Roberta are two of the most iconic game developers from my childhood (and they seem like really awesome people), so I bought this game just to support them. I heard a number of reviews that complained about the visuals, but I can safely say that those complaints were completely meaningless once you started playing the game. While the graphics aren't quite to the spec of modern PC titles, they are still very well done, and the visual style is actually quite charming. It actually makes sense to remake Colossal Cave using graphics from the PS3 era of gaming because it gives it a really charming look and feel. That being said, I have to admit that I am not usually a fan of first person perspective in gaming, but the controls were one of the best that I've ever played in this perspective. Normally I would get nauseous from playing these kinds of games within the first 30 minutes, but I played this for well over and hour and felt fine. I will say that this game plays much more like an FPP, rather than a point and click adventure, but I guess you could say that it is a mixture of both. The atmosphere is really well done, and I think Ken and Roberta were very careful to make sure that the game stayed true to the original text adventure. Naturally that would mean that there are a lot of unusual puzzles and mazes to navigate, but it's still a lot of fun to play through. Well worth picking up! * On a side note, I really hope Ken and Roberta will continue making more games in the future, because it would be amazing to see what they come up with in regards to bringing classic stories to life with new technology. Ken and Roberta will always have my deepest respect.
Sockventure was quite fun for the first 3 stages, but got frustratingly difficult beyond that point. I will say that the game offers a nice challenge for most gamers, but I think there will be a few levels that will cause some players to rage quit. The quest in the game is to find a little boys socks that were lost in the wash, so each stage involves you finding the sock for that particular stage. I actually thought it was a clever idea ... that is until I stumbled upon the "Pride Sock". I for one really don't care how you choose to live your life, or what your sexual preference may be, but I am so sick of games that push a social agenda. I felt the exact same way about Celeste when I played it. As a matter of fact, I actually thought this game shares a lot of similarities with Celeste, but both of these games did exactly the same thing with their awkward social messaging. If you don't mind the not-so-subtle social messaging and challenging gameplay then you might have fun with this game. Three stars.
Apogee made some of the best games back in the early 90's, but after playing the remastered versions of Secret Agent, Crystal Caves and Monster Bash, I can't help thinking that this game is in desperate need of a remaster. While I do agree that the game is a bit short, I strongly believe that if Emberheart remastered this game in the same fashion as the other Apogee classics, I don't see why they couldn't add on a few extra stages. That being said, it's well worth a try in it's original form. Highly recommended!
There were a few things holding this game back from being truly great. First and foremost. The graphics and controls are both very good. Sometimes the controls can be a bit annoying, but the developers did a good job overall. The storyline is mostly generic and repetitive if you've played platformers and metroidvanias like this in the past (dark atmosphere, dark characters, fighting evil, but also teaming up with dark forces, etc). The music was decent overall, but there were a few really annoying tunes that played in a few stages. The composer actually thought it was a good idea to speed up and slow down the tunes in order to make a 'cool' effect, but it mostly annoying and actually made me think my computer was malfunctioning when I first heard it. Lastly, the game relies FAR too much on fetch-quests and backtracking. The checkpoints are often unfairly laid out, and the warp points are an absolute joke. I also found quite a few of the sections really difficult when it came to navigating. Sometimes I would get lost for quite a long time and when I finally ended up finding the solution, it often ended up being the result of some annoying moon-logic puzzle like a hidden door, room or breakable brick. Overall I would say that the game is worth picking up, but it could use a lot of improvement.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this game, but I picked it up on a sale and was pleasantly surprised. It plays a lot like other games like Rogue Legacy, Enter The Gungeon or Neon Abyss, but offers its own unique brand of charm. I have to admit that I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the controls or the visual choices made by the developers. One aspect in particular that you have to get used to are the flashing lights. They have a seizure warning at the beginning of the game that should not be taken lightly.
I was a bit hesitant to buy this game based on the reviews, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how great this game was. It felt like a truly organic improvement to the original, but unfortunately I did run into a lot of game breaking bugs. I didn't actually experience any issues for the first several hours, but once I was about ten hours in it started glitching out in very bizarre ways. The music started breaking up whenever I wasn't in the menu, and I could no longer interact with any of my structures. I also noticed that wildlife stopped coming around my shelter for long periods of time, so I slowly started to run out of food. I thought this might have been just a part of the game, but then they randomly started coming back again at their normal rate. I really hope the developers will put a little more time into this game because it could end up being a favourite game in my collection.
I wasn't sure what to think of this game the first few minutes in, but the more I played, the more I started to enjoy myself. It sort of plays like The Legend of Zelda games for the Gameboy, but you only have 60 seconds to complete your next task. The great thing about it is that you will always keep the items or events that you've completed, so that takes away from any potential frustration from having to redo your quests. It offers an exciting challenge that never gets old. I can safely say that this game is well worth the price!
What an amazing Metroidvania game! I actually wasn't sure what to expect from this game, but it ended up being one of the best games that I've played in quite some time. It's very reminiscent of Hollow Knight and others games of the genre and is well worth the price (too cheap if you ask me). Do yourself a favour and buy this game!
