The story of "Cyberpunk 2077" was a very turbulent transition, unfulfilled expectations and, above all, not a very successful launch. Personally, the storyline appealed to me - it was mature, atmospheric, but incomplete. At one point I believed that the game was cut to fit into the imposed (sic!) limit of 15 hours. Fortunately, like a horse on a white knight, the story expansion "Phantom Liberty" arrives, which fills a certain gap in Night City and the storyline itself.

V, forced to grasp at straws to survive, encounters Songbird - the netrunner of the President of the New United States. She has a proposition for him - if he saves the head of state, the heroine will offer to ''cure'' him of the disease and wipe out Johnny Silverhand. V, not thinking much about it, of course agrees to this deal, by which he gets entangled in something much bigger than he initially assumed. That's how he lands in Dogtown, a kind of state within a state, where lawlessness is the order of the day and the Night City authorities or corporations have no influence there. The plot itself, with its structure and atmosphere or pace, is reminiscent of "Mission: Impossible" or the films with Agent 007, especially when you pay attention to the fact that one of the main roles - Solomon Reed - is played by Idris Elba, the actor who always wanted to be Bond. I'm unlikely to surprise anyone by saying that the story presented in the expansion is complete, incredibly atmospheric, non-obvious and gripping until the final seconds. If I were to rank this expansion in comparison to those Witcher expansions, it would be between Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, although I'll admit that I enjoyed the story of Olgierd's pact with Gaunter more, which of course doesn't mean that Phantom Liberty is bad - on the contrary, it's phenomenal!

As for gameplay innovations, apart from the Relic tree, there aren't too many changes - most of them fell into place in patch 2.0, which built the skill trees and the armor and clothing system from scratch. I'd be lying if I said it interacted badly with the expansion, because it's quite the opposite. Of additional note is the phenomenal soundtrack, featuring Dawid Podsiadło in the title track. Amazing job!

"Cyberpunk 2077" has never been and will never be more complete. Together with the expansion, it creates a coherent story that does not bore, is atmospheric and exciting. I definitely recommend reaching for this production, and if anyone hasn't played CP yet, I can only envy the experience of this game complete. It's called redemption arc!

The soulslike genre is not an easy piece of cake. Early on, a game of this genre creates competition for itself in the form of some of the best games ever made - the Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro and Elden Ring. This is a genre that is based on the foundations created by From Software, so by assumption it is supposed to copy those games as best as possible. Unfortunately, the assumptions end there, as the vast majority of game developers have no idea why Souls is so well-loved and surrounded by a cult following, and as a result, they fail at fundamentals such as gameplay and narrative. Fortunately, Lies of P is not like that. It's a game made by fans for fans. This is evident in every inch, every minute of this game.

The story is very loosely based on the events of Carlo Collodi's novel Pinocchio. It is an original and creative adaptation that, with its approach to the source material, impressed me greatly - the use of characters familiar from the novel or Disney animation in the dark French city of Krat during the belle époque period. The city is highly developed, and technology and discoveries have helped to patent and create marionettes that help people in their daily activities. Unfortunately, due to previously unexpected events, the marionettes became enraged and started killing everything that moves, causing chaos and destruction. With help comes the titular "P," or Pinocchio, who has been awakened by a woman with blue hair to quell the fury of the marionettes and restore order in Krat.

The plot is excellent - it's an original, but familiar world. It's far from Bloodborne by the fact that Lies of P isn't quite as gothic, but a few similarities (especially gameplay ones) can be found. The developers use Collodi's well-known novel to create their unique world, which is dark, compelling and, above all, interesting. The mass of references to the literary original only adds to the whole atmosphere and a certain character of the game. This is not, of course, a literal interpretation, but you can see the spirit of the novel, especially in the rather key mechanic of lying, which brings Pinocchio closer to becoming a real boy. To say more about the main plot would force me to talk about spoilers, which I won't do, so I'll stick with what I've written. I'll add again that through the atmosphere and worldbuilding, the world comes to me - these are my vibes, which I love.

Narratively it's like in souls, but not as much. Characters speak in riddles, but not in metaphors. The average player will seamlessly understand the plot and the intentions of the characters without browsing Reddit for two hours to understand every aspect of the story. Item descriptions and found notes obviously complete the story of the world, but they are not crucial to understanding who we are and why we are killing puppets. Individual bosses also have their own stories - they are original as well as interesting. In addition, none of them, except for one boss, is repeated, so the developers did not go for the easy way, which is a nice experience.

Gameplay is typical Souls series games - attack, strong attack, roll, block. However, the game combines several ideas from different games, so it creates its own identity and the feeling of the game is original. First of all, Pinocchio has a mechanical Legion Arm, which can be modified in many ways - it can be a kind of grappling hook, a flamethrower or a shield. This is, of course, a reworking of the idea of Sekiro's wooden hand, which works just phenomenally in the classic Souls formula. In addition, the system known from Bloodborne is visible, that is, after successfully blocking an attack, we lose some life, which we can regain by attacking the enemy. We also have "Fable Slots" available, which charge a special attack that changes depending on the weapon equipped. This is similar to the "Ashes of war" system from Elden Ring. So a fast katana will have a completely different attack than a heavy bludgeon. This is so satisfying to play that you feel great pleasure in beating the puppets. The attack and dodge system itself is done with purpose - I didn't have a situation where the game was unresponsive or annoying, it has its own character of combat and bosses to adapt to. Dodging alone is not enough, most of the attacks have to be parried, the player is even forced to do it, as a perfect guard is lavishly rewarded. This is the best gameplay Souls clone I've played (and I've played many titles in the genre).

Crafting is ok, nothing else. Ordinary weapons are composed of blades and handles, which can be freely mixed, changing the weapon's scaling and attack style. They upgrade to +10 in classic Souls style. Special weapons are obtained from the "souls" of bosses and are a unified whole - that is, so much so that you can't detach the blade from the handle. It is worth mentioning that special weapons have very unique attacks for Fairy Slots, which stand out from the rest. Throughout the arsenal, we have weapons available under motivity, technique, advance or quality (that is, motivity and technique), however, we can change the scaling of the weapons using the cranks designed for this. An interesting point is the Legion Arm, which we can upgrade or unlock newer and newer arms. And in such a way, for example, a grappling hook at the maximum upgrade level brings out a combined powerful aerial attack, which can further stagger opponents.

The leveling system is again classic Souls with additional nuances in the form of "P-Organs," which are a kind of skill tree. We upgrade them by collecting quartz, which can be found in hidden locations or after killing a strong enemy. The skills range from increasing the number of available Power Cells (Estus) to increasing the damage of Fable Arts. This introduces a certain dynamism to the game, which makes us feel the progression of our Pinocchio even more. As for leveling our character, it is, as I mentioned, a classic formula - after killing an opponent, we gain "ergo", or souls, which are also currency for purchases or leveling. We can choose from such statistics as vitality, vigor, motivity, technique, advance, capacity, etc. The builds are varied and there is something for everyone. Personally, for the first time in soulslike, I chose technique (dexterity), as I found that a faster fighting style would be more useful in a game based on guard and parrying. I was not disappointed, because even enthusiasts of "big wooden clubs" will find something for themselves in the build under the technique, and thanks to the system of crafting and combining different handles, you can create a big saw with a rapier handle, so that such a saw then has scaling from the technique. A really interesting idea!

I want to applaud the side characters and the audiovisual setting. The characters have their own personalities, are really interesting and deep - they hide a lot of secrets, which we will be given to know during the journey. Their real problems and motivations make the world seem real, true, and thanks to excellent voice acting, you just want to listen and listen to them to learn more parts of their story. As for the visuals, I'm unlikely to surprise anyone by the fact that they are phenomenal. The game runs on Unreal Engine 4, which translates into beautiful and razor-sharp graphics, while keeping the game's optimization impeccable. Playing at the highest details, not once did I experience FPS drops. It's amazing, especially in 2023, that a game can run flawlessly. The design of the locations and the artistic direction of the game still deserve praise, of course - taken straight out of the belle époque Krat looks amazing. The game itself is definitely more closed and linear than Souls games, but in my opinion this is on the plus side - you can take a moment's rest from Elden Ring's overwhelming size and return to the roots of the genre. As for the soundtrack - it is downright fabulous. Ambients, weapon sounds or record player songs will stay in my head for a very long time. Even while writing this review, I am listening to the song "Feel" from the game.

The game is not without flaws, of course, but these are so few that it's a shame to list them. However, one can fault the poor design of some of the bosses - their attacks seem all too delayed, and it is impossible to escape from most of the series of attacks after a failed dodge, ending in instant death, to which one cannot react in any way. The problem is also the excessive number of second-phase bosses, which makes it cease to be unique and surprising, but predictable and annoying. This is not something that spoils the experience of the game, but it is a noticeable downside.

I could write endlessly about this game, because as an immeasurable fan of literature, I am enchanted by this game. I consider Lies of P to be the absolute best Souls clone ever made. If you haven't already done so, dear reader, then do yourself the pleasure and buy a Game Pass or the game itself on Steam and immerse yourself in this insanely majestic world that will not only enchant you, but also satisfy you and leave you with a videogame hangover for a very long time. You have no idea so many secrets are buried in Krat...

A game surrounded by a cult, called a legend, professed like a religion. A game that has gathered around it people who hate it, but also people who love it. Considered the peak of location design and repeatedly mentioned when discussing RPGs. Dark Souls took the definition of the genre even higher, spread the brand and caused a veritable "boom" in this type of game. It is considered a legend or even already a classic for good reason. Dark Souls should be known, it should be played at least once. But why all this phenomenon and is it really that good?

A long time ago, the world was not fully formed. It was shrouded in mist, and the only landscape were Archtrees and Everlasting Dragons. Eventually fire appeared, and with fire came heat and cold, life and death, and light and darkness. Then four lords appeared - Nito, the First of the Dead, the Witch of Izalith, the Daughter of Chaos, Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight and his loyal knights, and the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten... The lords defeated the dragons, which gave rise to the Age of Fire, which was prosperity and a good time for the Lords. Eventually, however, the Age of Fire will end, and only darkness will remain in the world... This is how we are introduced to the history of the world, or rather its description. Our protagonist, the Chosen Undead, travels through the lands of Lordran at the end of their existence. We meet the Lords, but they are already on the brink of death. The world is collapsing, falling into darkness, and our task, as the Chosen One, is to prolong the Age of Fire by linking ourselves to the fire. In the meantime, however, it turns out that people have not been treated very well in this world, and the Age of Darkness does not necessarily mean bad times - quite the opposite. Are we just soulless messengers of the gods who want to use us to extend their prosperity? Are the heroes we meet along the way really that pure? That's something you already have to discover for yourself.

The plot is amazing - dark, complicated, multithreaded and not obvious. The world is very original and it is difficult to find another universe as enigmatic. The story clearly shows inspiration from Arthurian legends or ancient Norse poems, and more inquisitive players will find references to Tolkien's classic works in this game. However, despite these inspirations, the world is unique. It does not give the feeling of derivativeness - on the contrary, for me, as a die-hard fantasy fan, Dark Souls is a real gem in modern fantasy creation, because, contrary to appearances, the story is very down-to-earth and real. The setting of the imaginary world is actually an illusion to give us comfort in what we experience.

The next point will be the narrative, which is hated by as many people as it is loved by. But from the beginning - the game is carried out in a non-obvious way, the characters speak in riddles and metaphors - they do not give us a complete picture of the world. Many facts have to be guessed or inferred from the outstanding environmental narrative, which, if we are observant enough, explains a great many theoretically contradictory things. It is also crucial to read descriptions of items, which often present more information than dialogues with side characters, who are also not often eager to talk. Unfortunately, the average player won't get much information out of this game, on the contrary - he or she will probably know nothing, and even if he or she is eager to learn this secret knowledge, he or she may get tired of the fact that the plot is a scattered puzzle. Fortunately, to the rescue comes YouTube and Reddit, where fans share their thoughts, theories and facts from the world of the game. In a way, the game forces us, as the Dark Souls community, to share what we've noticed in the game world and connect all the dots together. Personally, I think this is a phenomenal trick, but I am well aware that not everyone will like it.

The most recognizable element of Dark Souls is probably the gameplay, which today is already considered iconic and whose elements can be found in many, really many different productions, such as 2018's God of War or The Witcher 3. The fundamentals are simple - attack, strong attack, block and the famous rolls. The strength of the attack depends on the base damage of the weapon, its scaling and the level of upgrade, which we can successively increase as the story progresses. The tools of murder are divided into the larger and slower ones, which are related to our character's strength statistic, and the smaller and faster ones, which are centered around characters created with the dexterity statistic in mind, or weapons that are something in between and benefit equally from both stats. In addition, there are also spells and various wands, but I'll admit frankly that I've never been interested in such gameplay, so I'll refrain from describing the game with this style of combat. Melee weapons are really interestingly designed, they have their own particular playstyle, to which you either have to get used to, or you have to search for that perfect weapon to no avail. The choice is huge - from halberds to huge swords leaning against our character's shoulder. It is also interesting to note that there are, for example, swords that are made to play under a hybrid of strength and intelligence, or magic, and a great example of such a weapon is Moonlight Greatsword. I am of the opinion that the combat system is phenomenal and there is something for everyone here.

As for the famous rolls, the matter is quite clear - depending on the equipment overload you have, you move and perform rolls slower or faster and increase the number of "invincibility frames", that is, the time during which you are invulnerable while rolling. This way, with a loadout of 25%, the character is very fast and agile and hard to damage, but at the same time you give up heavy armor and higher resistances. Alternatively, you can take the complete opposite approach and bet on full heavy armor, while giving up agile dodging, but having enough "poise" that increases our balance and resistances. The game leaves the choice to us, the players. I find this system phenomenal, because it forces you to think strategically and allows you to experiment a little with parts of your equipment so that you can fit within the limit of the so-called fast roll, putting on the heaviest armor possible and pushing your equipment limit to the maximum. Great stuff!

Worthy of praise are the bosses, which are still very impressive to this day. Fights such as Ornstein & Smough, Artorias, Manus and Kalameet will remain in my mind for a very long time. Adding to the atmosphere is the amazing music composed by Motoi Sakuraba and Yuji Takenouchi, which is serious, mostly atmospheric and extremely operatic. It adds such "uniqueness" to the boss encounters, making them more special.

The most important aspect of Dark Souls, however, is the game and location design, which is unique compared to other games in the series. Until about halfway through the game, the player does not have the ability to teleport between different bonfires, which forced the developers to cleverly and very intelligently connect all locations in the game to the main hub, the Firelink Shrine. This leads to some truly surprising moments, during which it turns out that we weren't that far from our resting place after all, and everything actually happens side by side. This is unique insofar as no future From Software game has repeated as much attachment to the connection of locations as the original Dark Souls. My fondest memory of the first blind playthrough of this game is that it is very impressive and frankly surprising.

Unfortunately, it is not without its downsides - the most important point is the clearly unfinished "Lost Izalith" location, which is derivative, annoying and repetitive, and the boss of this location itself is simply mediocre and probably the most ridiculously designed boss in the entire trilogy. The visuals of the remaster are also NOT worthy of praise. The studio from Poland didn't make an effort when remastering this game and the only thing they really changed was to slightly improve the lighting, add keyboard key mapping, increase the number of players in PvP and increase the resolution. Dark Souls begs all the more for a thorough rework on the scale of Demon's Souls, but, unfortunately, the remaster was done on the line of least resistance.

Nevertheless, I consider this game to be perfection. How much fun it gives, how intelligently thought out it is, and how well it is remembered is amazing to me. It is enough to overcome the unfounded fear of the mythical difficulty level of this production. It really isn't that bad, you just have to enter this world, this universe and get into the gameplay to fall in love with it all. Dark Souls taught me to overcome in theory impossible things in real life. It is a game that has had a real impact on my life, and I thank it for that. Dark Souls not only entertains, but also teaches.

Praise the Sun! \[T]/

As someone who isn’t a fan of rhythm games, Hi-Fi Rush single-handedly and after playing one level made me appreciate a rhythm game. Where the beat of the rhythm is interconnected in the level design, combat, tutorials, soundtrack, plot and more. Creating a weird mash-up I didn’t expect to play so well. And yet Hi-Fi Rush surpassed all my expectations to do so.

Level design is neither too complex nor too simple, and while it does conform to a linear fashion, it doesn’t overstay its welcome by injecting fresh level changes that work organically and don’t feel forced. This coupled with the combat to the beat makes it so fights don’t become fatigue battles, but genuinely work in favor to complement the rhythm to give off an extra dose of damage. And yet it is not strictly required to go in sync with the music at all. I primarily played off-sync and scored decently well in my rankings. There are even very tutorial-friendly and accessible options in the settings to help players like me who are extremely garbage at rhythm games. And it does work!

Gameplay isn’t just full of battles either. Platforming is here that isn’t too difficult nor too easy. As you progress further in the game, these sections evolve along with the combat to enhance the gameplay formula into something new and fresh. And I found the experience very enjoyable since it complemented the level design very well.

Hi-Fi Rush emulates colorful and stylish visuals reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite games: Jet Set Radio Future. And it works to its favor a great deal, making the setting come alive and vibrant with every color in the rainbow you can think of. Enhancing every corridor, cutscenes, and during boss stages. But not to the point of oversaturation or adding new colors to cross off a checklist. It is balanced equally, to create a varied amount of levels here. And thereby eliminating copy-and-paste design.

I liked the main cast and all of them integrated well into the plot with enough screen time to be relative and not used as a character for the sake of having them to induce a plot device. They feel human, developing alongside Chai(The protagonist) to make the game become something more than just a “videogame.” Also, I adore the references upon references here from so many other games and media. I won’t say any here, but it's best to experience that for yourself. It’s not as plentiful as ready player one does. Where it stacks references and references for the sake of doing so. Here it is integrated fluidly and makes the writing and dialogue great.

Storywise, I feel it was executed wonderfully. It doesn’t win any awards for most wacky or playing it too safe. But the story beats were enough to hold my interest and continue playing more and more. And I think at the end of the day that is what’s most important. To keep players invested in not just the gameplay, music, world, story, and characters. But, the act of playing on and on and holding your interest is a major design philosophy developers keep in mind.

The whole world and NPCs are fascinating to learn about and provide interesting dialogue to flesh out the background of the corporate work structure for new and old Vandelay robots. And as I continued further into the game, it is not all set in one point of view either, there are multiple stances each bot has to say about their job, unsavory practices, or just general gossip here and there. It enhances the game to the point I wanted to learn more about the Vandelay corporation.

Overall there is a lot of care and thought here by the developers of Tango Gameworks, and I am very interested in the next game they’ll release moving forward. I genuinely believe this is a very strong GOTY contender for 2023. And in my honest opinion a must-play for anyone who desires to see an idiot try to take down a big corporation. Watch how that turns out.

9.5/10

It's an interesting, seldom explored idea of vengeful Christ and a vengeful religious world. Unique artistic interpretation, reminiscent in a way of the dark Spanish gothic seen in Blasphemous, or the grimdarkness of Bloodborne. Although, it does sound a bit stupid, considering Christ as a religious figure is completely anathemous to the entire idea of revenge, but hey - fiction is fiction.

Sadly, as much as I would love to explore this game, it's impossible to play. The game released in a garbage state - in only one hour of gameplay, I received around 3 complete freezes, the game is very unoptimized to the point where it only manages around 40 fps in the "fair scene" early on, in a system with 4060Ti 16GB and 5600X - more than enough for a game like that. The characters also stench of extreme jank - every cutscene and dialogue has an awkward little pause between every line or action, as if the game is rummaging through pages of script to find the right next line every single time. It's very hideous, and while it might be somewhat excusable back in the days of Risen and Gothic, it's certainly not excusable for a game created in 2024 and costing 40 euros.

my feelings for this game are so complicated but to keep it short, if you have liked uedas previous games please play this

the games ending made me tear up, and thats why its so hard for me to not give it a 10. i have not played a game that after i finished i only wish it couldve been a tad bit better, but tricos movement i find to be to unresponsive sadly. if this game got a remaster and they fixed tricos clumsy movement, instantly a 10. trico really excelled in areas where he couldnt move, the bit where you are jumping tower to tower trico was great, but thats cause trico literally couldnt move

tldr
if you like uedas previous games (ico and shadow of the colussus) then please play this game, when this game is at its best (which it normally is), its a amazing

Pretty good RPG, feels like along with Dark Souls this will be the best Berserk video game we'll ever get... And I say that with absolute clarity, the game even had a Berserk armor sets DLC (sadly not licensed anymore).

Anyways. The pawn system is great, it feels representative of old Dungeon Crawlers like Might & Magic, Wizardry, etc. Where parties could meet fatal ends, plenty of replacement NPCs, etc. The added aspect of them being player-made is excellent and even the little gifts and advice you can send back, it's fun to see what Pawns other people made and can show up. Great idea. I do wish they had more voice variety and lines to say, and that is something I'll certainly be looking for in Dragon's Dogma 2, perhaps even personality kits similar to Wizardry 8 to assign to them. Mischievous Rogue, Daring Warrior, Honorable Paladin, etc, that determines how they respond to everything. Instead of, "Wolves travel in packs!" the Paladin can say, "Let us vanquish this furry menace with flame and steel Ser!" ... Or well, something cooler.

The combat is fun, the grappling and climbing system, the hack and slashness, the insane spells, character builds, etc. I have two minor gripes, some enemies can have bloated HP without even really being a threat and it takes far too much time and feels just like a waste. And the stamina system is super annoying, I understand wanting it, and wanting carryweight and etc to reflect it, but it makes anything above neutral weight feel like a slog, and even when you're at neutral if you run out you're just stuck for a long time until you're hit or a Pawn's AI decides to bless you.

The world is fun to explore and interesting, enough lore to grab you but wish for a lot more, NPCs are fun and feel like they're in a mix between Berserk and Monty Python, the quests are fun, (Save some of those escort quests), and I do recommend you look up when certain quests became available and expire. As it seems completely random, and backtracking a long distance to an area you wouldn't know to otherwise could have an entire new questline in store for you. The world is gorgeous and interesting. But one small gripe... Far too much backtracking, and it takes ages to get anywhere. And the stamina system makes it even worse. Limited fast travel options. Again, I hope the sequel will fix this, make the world more compact, less empty space and traveling times but have more to see, and maybe introduce a wagon/cart or ship travelling in between settlements you've already been to. I think just having the world more filled in would help too as a lot of Dragon's Dogma's overworld is fairly empty and samey. And the cut-off for many quests is a bit too nonsensical and annoying, although the quests themselves are good.

Overall this is a flawed gem, enough things wrong to stop it from truly being a masterpiece in my eyes, but enough for me to look at it and go: Damn, that's a good game. A diamond in the rough. Such unique mechanics and feeling. Tons of potential.

The Division if you took everything that makes it fun out of the game.

- Boring builds
- Lifeless world
- Bad enemy variety
- Clunky 3rd person cover based gameplay (often can't look above your cover)
- Trash AI
- Weird incoherent story

And to top it all off: The game always crashes when I start it through Steam instead of Ubisoft Connect.

In a tweet by Yuri Stern, one of the developers of the two man team rose-engine along with Barbara Wittmann of Signalis. They remark how "I wish people would be more open to letting others figure out for themselves how their ending made them feel. Instead of telling a streamer "you got the best ending!", maybe you can ask "did you think this was an interesting conclusion?" And they can decide if they liked it or not" Their comment was in response to how some players classify conclusions as absolutes for true, bad, good, etc.

Stern’s answer caught my attention and I admit throughout my time playing games with multiple outcomes in the finale. I realize I am guilty of this too. And yet, this establishes a thought-provoking notion to provide clarification, evidence, and reasoning, beyond simple claims. Player interpretation differs for each individual. Classified as neither good, bad, or in between. It simply is. Consensus can say comparable beginnings, middle, and end. And yet, we conjure causes to describe something that can be difficult or perhaps easy to comprehend. In my attempt to understand everything throughout my playthrough, I’ve come to see it as a Lovecraftian Sci-Fi blended with Survival Horror. Reputable individuals have noted inspiration, references, and homages to King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. The Festival by H.P. Lovecraft. Evangelion by Hideaki Anno, Stanley Kubrick, Resident Evil & Silent Hill franchise Et al. To me, include Nier and Prey(2017). With a dash of Studio Shaft’s techniques. And while I haven’t read/watched/played some of those homages they harken too. A considerable amount of careful effort to not create a reference-filled fiesta akin to Ready Player One. Plenty of satisfying content and unique properties, enough to stand on its own.

You control Elster, a [Redacted] in search of someone important to her. This is her journey after her ship crashes onto an unknown planet. She doesn’t start with much, but a sufficient tutorial resides to grant a fighting chance. Make no mistake, this isn’t a game you run away from consistently. You. Can. Fight. Back. From a top-down 2.5D perspective. Lengthwise, the game took me over nine hours to complete and I didn’t have any major/minor bugs or crashes. Ran smoothly notwithstanding looking akin to a Playstation One game. An aesthetic remarkably familiar to our past of CRTs, floppy discs, and VCRs with unfamiliar technology. A retro-tech meets dystopian surrealism. An unforgiving world, which I became horrified to learn about and lost myself in admiring the art. The color red is used prominently, like in similar games: Scarlet Nexus and Astral Chain for blue, yet it doesn’t detract from the overall presentation. A pleasant strength tied to supplementary elements the game displays to the player. The retro style succeeds in its favor since you’ll be walking, running, and fighting through broken old corridors sometimes in derelict space stations and facilities. The soundtrack has some nice tunes, but you’re usually dealing with silence or at the very least oppressive atmosphere that can be ethereal. Some tracks lend to an ambiance with static to varying degrees of echoes of various sounds you wouldn’t expect like crashing waves, slow piano tracks, and even a tiny smidge of synth. Oddly enough, an inconsistent/consistent rhythm and tempo permeates; some may find grating to hear and will switch into the opposite range and become somehow ‘relaxing’ to listen. The dual nature of melancholic and comforting generates an intriguing dichotomy. Ultimately, the whole soundtrack is decent, though I wish for more variety to bring ‘life’ to the moment-to-moment scenes. Granted, I think this was a deliberate decision by the composers 1000 Eyes & Cicada Sirens to construct a suffocating pressure to incite ‘space hell.’ And I can’t help, but begrudgingly praise the decision to do so. It works!?

The combat felt very tight, responsive and didn’t suffocate me constantly. For several moments I would have despaired, but a handy walkthrough and some tips kept my spirits up! One could even take advantage of Steam’s new note-taking feature to remember critical material! Accessible during in-game and when you exit. So you don’t always have to keep the program on. Combat when shooting could’ve been tweaked a little to make it more accurate. Considering how the enemies' artificial intelligence acts and how we can’t be experts in hitting shots 100% of the time. I can forgive this slight. Certainly not a dealbreaker, but make sure to watch out for your ammo, aim well, and trust in your gut the bullets will fly through. Healing is painless and not complicated. Intermittent yet equitable drops of supplies to recuperate, so you're not left struggling if you carefully check your stock and surroundings. Heck, you can even combine components to make weapons use different ammo, healing, and key items to save slots since you only have six in your inventory to hold. Aiming isn’t even the main bread and butter. Melee weaponry serves as an acceptable tool to fight baddies. You can attain a stun rod to down enemies then kick them to unconsciousness, and push them freely when you need to gain some distance. Hell, you can even burn them when they fall. Cause boy oh boy these nightmarish creatures(I’ll spare you the imagery) can stand up once more! Thankfully, they don’t return to life or should I say unlife heh within a short time. Probably a decent length passes before you realize your foe is ready for round 2.

Outside of combat. I found worldbuilding to be richly rewarding and added substance to the environmental storytelling. I was craving to know more about the inhabitants, the government, the leaders, technology, etc. So much depth and breadth in going the full nine yards where I know about the whole history of nations, the background of citizens and military soldiers of a strict hierarchy during a tumultuous time. Missions and roles for each [R$%#%$#@] unit and even enemies are spared no expense in displaying how they came to be. Chekhov's Gun tickles nearly every reach imaginable and in effect shines so hard, even in the darkest moments. I constantly read countless lore notes in the form of classified documents, redacted information, diaries, and even propaganda posters! No shortage of information almost to the point of overload, however, Barbara and Yuri have emerged with a balanced tightrope to not overgorge the player while not slipping morsels of info. Proportionally, to induce a sense of curiosity to know more, nagging at the far reaches of your brain to check every room for more data to consume. One cool feature in the form of an archive in the menu, you can access anytime. No need to backtrack to the origin of papers. Thereby, making recollections of pertinent details at the press of a button, straightforward.

The puzzles are solid. Used to great effect to tie into the lore whenever possible. Some examples are lockpicking, numerical password combinations and structural obstacles that could hinder your progression. So retracing your steps for an important piece is advisable to progress. There are extras, but I'll refrain from listing them. Best as a surprise. I found the inclusion of them to be welcoming. Didn’t overstay, while having plentiful time for me to seek answers/clues. Some solutions are more obscure than the rest. Though, for the most part, all of them I felt were fitting, and the hints satisfactory to figure out the solution. Careful precision to not go rage-inducing while not making it too easy for newcomers and veterans. Remember it's okay to fail some puzzles and return with a clearer mind.

Likable NPCs. They're personable, relatable, and offer intriguing perspectives during my playthrough. They complement Elster, by acting as foils. With their objectives at large and didn’t detract at all from their sheer presence. I was content, I am not alone all the time knowing comrades are nearby, who are bravely keeping on despite the horrific nightmares, and even more where I’ll refrain from stating, but suffice it say I was sad to see. A dangerous atmosphere prevails and the mood can become bleak in the blink of an eye. Not to the extent that I became leery. While it may seem dangerous due to the unnatural air and presence. These NPCs 'helped' me on my journey and for that, I am grateful for their company but also their dialog. Conversations revealed vital pieces to tying what happened on the planet and what threads they could link to the plot.

The horror elements are not, at least to me, horrific to the point I was disgusted or vomitable. Didn’t see major jump scares to remove my soul from my body, and I am incredibly grateful this didn't occur. Constant jump scares can cheapen the experience if not done well in my opinion. Again balance is integral and the devs have managed to produce a nice gameplay loop of exploration, scavenging, combat, reading lore, drip-feeding you cutscenes, and solving puzzles to be as painless as possible while still creating enough difficulty for a challenge.

Speaking of the story. I’m a bit mixed on. And this isn’t to say it is a bad thing at all. Think of my mixed feelings as neither positive nor negative, but food for thought I'll outline. In aspects, the game tries to impart to the player. I felt the execution was fragmented. It’s not clear what is shown to be definitive or literal to assert a conclusion on which I can base my facts and evidence. This may sound confusing. And I apologize if I’m not making sense. To clarify, you have to build the ‘narrative’ so to speak. This is fine in theory and there is a thread to follow. But sometimes the writing can be somewhat obscure along with puzzling. This pains me greatly since I couldn’t get enough of the worldbuilding. In the end, I was left with a ‘hmmm’ on the execution. Certainly, games like the Souls series are similar in environmental storytelling. Not so much on the beats of the plot to bridge together, but the world itself you piece towards to understand in your eyes what the story could be.

I wish the inventory limit of six expanded as you progressed further. Like up to eight. I didn’t find it too troublesome to turn back to my storage chest to unload my stuff. Yet, this exhibits a constant chore since I want to collect everything in nooks and crannies only for me to check the nearest save room to remove them. This isn’t a big deal. I could just run past enemies, right? True. Elster does have the capability. The issue is when I am running, some enemies will come alive to attack. After I already defeated them. Making traversal to new areas a slightly tedious to do, since I must retreat and precious supplies may be utilized. This is exacerbated when I have to redo this method again when I need more space for key objects to progress. A solution I was ruminating; having separate slots for crucial items. Like, say a flashlight or gun. As accessories.

Lore papers could’ve been more definitive as vague as I could put it. In doing so, the given knowledge would become stronger to grasp. Some notes are clear-cut to comprehend, but these ties could've been linked to creating a tighter cohesion in interpreting the plot. We are given an ample amount of lore to draw our conclusions. This is fine in theory and I’ve seen examples amongst my peers that resonated more with them. So the execution worked. For me, however, I’m stuck in the middle of a hallway facing a door of “greatness” and behind me, a door says “Not greatness.” I wonder if the devs could’ve made some threads easier to digest and distinguish. An alternative drip to gently feed the player. Admittedly, this is my personal preference and should not be taken as a common critique of the game. Individuals aside from me have rated the game highly which is fair. And I have seen the inverse side too. So where do I land? Sweats nervously In between those spectrum's sadly enough. There is a solid vision the two-man development studio established and they walk a tightrope in balancing narrative ties through the gameplay and cutscenes with a red Chekov’s gun to use every tie imaginable to draw players and I can say it prevails with some stumbles. I’m not sure if this is a method of drawing everyone to understand completely what the developers try to impart by the time the end credits roll. Nonetheless, I am unsure if this is a title that could vibe with you until a session of play. And in that respect, makes this incredibly challenging to quantify against the entirety of what the game offers.

Speaking of the ending. And again, no spoiler territory. I think easier alternatives were possible to attempt other outcomes. I got one of them and after checking out the rest, I couldn’t help but conclude the requirements are obscure for players to know. I had to research guides and see how technical the wire can run. Won’t delve into the exact details, but suffice it to say, I surmise avenues are within reach making the process less burdensome if the devs were to patch it. Though I doubt they would. Whether or not, newcomers know multiple resolutions. Before I forget, please go on Youtube for the rest, if you were unsatisfied with the one you got. Just a gentle reminder. One of them is so convoluted the community cooperated to discover the hidden requirements. Sszz127 from the Signalis subreddit was the first to discover clues leading to it as far as I know.

I'm sad to report how strenuous it is to depict my proper feelings in describing how much the title appeals to me against the concerns I stated earlier. A variable slow-burn, that may catch those who don’t mind it. Others may find it not as resonating. Besides the regular praise, I see fellow reviewers and fellow peers of mine who call it “a masterpiece, a return to modern survival horror, one to watch out for and more.” Wonderful seeing high acclaim regarding the game in their manner and I find gratifying content is an enjoyable affair. Equally as those who offer a differing perspective from the norm with evidence. I am at a crossroads where I’m not sure. To discern if it’s a must-play for fans of the genre due to my lacking experience in the department. I’ve only played Metro 2033, The Evil Within series, Bloodborne, Omori, etc. So I’m not an expert. If this can appeal to a newcomer. One could even take advantage of Steam’s two-hour refund policy to see if it appeals to you. And if it doesn’t, no shame in refunding. For me, I was hooked after the first hour.

I believe Signalis may provide newcomers with a unique mileage that might vary experience and value. For horror fans and for those who are not used to it like me. I love the worldbuilding and how retro-tech merges wonderfully with the dystopian sci-fi era. The lifeless music at various points forge an almost oppressive atmosphere that is both melancholy and comforting. The combat is balanced to the extent that I wasn't quite a female Rambo, but someone like Ellen Ripley(Aliens) and Leeloo(Fifth Element). Elster perseveres despite adversity. Has no crazy powers nor impressive intellect to bedazzle us at every turn. She simply is a [redacted]. And I like that. Gameplay elements like puzzling solving were fun and tied nicely with the environmental storytelling. Terror aspects turned out to be not too scary or overdone in a manner I found tiresome to see. A genuine effort by rose-engine to keep them challenging and fair in such a way I still endeavored to keep going. Regardless of my struggles, and food for thought, a cool hidden gem exists. Moreover, I echo what Stern posits about not classifying endings as absolutes and asking yourself how the game made you feel and why? Whether at the end of your journey, you conceive some semblance to share beyond the scope of classifying it in categories. Then by all means, please do so. Your voice is appreciated. There is beauty to find out if Your experience left you something meaningful or not.

7.7/10

Additional Material I couldn’t fit in this review, but may prove useful for those who played the game already:
Source for twitter link by Yuri Stern
Signalis Index - Theory, Lore, Commentary, Symbolism, Reference, Music, Decipher, Data-mining, Unsolved questions and more
Steam Guide on endings with Authors Plot Interpretation - Major spoilers
A Literalist view of Signalis - Major spoilers
A Non-Literalist View of Signalis - Major Spoilers
A Youtuber’s take on Signalis - Warning major spoilers
Camera Perspective mod
Final stats of my playthrough
My thoughts on the ending/s of Signalis
^Major spoilers throughout. Only click if you finished the game.

Note: If any links are down please let me know and I’ll try and correct that.
7-30-23 - Note - Added a Non-Literalist View of Signalis and added further clarification on the Signalis Index link.
11-29-23 - Edited first opening paragraph with correct pronouns. 99% of text still intact and largely unchanged.

"Atomic Heart," developed by Mundfish, a Russian studio, is an extremely controversial game. However, setting aside any preconceptions, I decided to review it objectively. While the game is good, there is room for improvement.

Visually, "Atomic Heart" is impressive. While not pushing next-gen graphics, it is aesthetically pleasing and looks great in screenshots. The retro-futuristic setting adds to the unique and peculiar atmosphere, successfully portraying a crumbling world devastated by a machine uprising.

The gameplay is solid, effectively blending familiar elements from games like Bioshock and other renowned first-person shooters. The developers strike a good balance between incorporating existing ideas and introducing their own innovations. The glove's abilities are particularly interesting and diverse, ensuring the game doesn't become monotonous.

Unfortunately, the narrative aspect falls short. Despite the fantastic world-building and overall atmosphere, the pacing feels off. The story loses engagement and interest at times, with dialogues that come across as pretentious, embarrassing, and needlessly sexualized, particularly in interactions involving a specific robot character. The game had potential, but the studio didn't fully capitalize on it. It's disappointing because the immersive world keeps you invested and wanting more.

I should also mention that the enemies' AI in the game is notably weak, ironically enough. I understand that our opponents are robots, but that doesn't justify their absolute lack of intelligence and minimal resistance. They pose no real challenge.

Ultimately, "Atomic Heart" is a game with a compelling concept, a phenomenal atmosphere, and incredible potential that somehow got lost along the way. Despite its flaws, I would still recommend giving it a chance, especially since it's available on Game Pass.