Nepiki
2013
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/typerider/
''The main objective of Type:Rider is to educate people of all generations about the history of Typography. At times it feels like going through an actual museum with how it thematically set itself up, using fonts and historical people- and events as actual level design. In-between there are books to read that go more in-depth about the history of Typography. On that front, I can say that the game does a splendid job, but unfortunately gameplay matters. Playing as two dots does not only sounds complicated; it’s a mess to control. It’s not really noticeable in early stages which are pretty bland and thus don’t require a lot of platforming, but when you are forced to do platforming you’ll notice quickly how frustrating it is to play the game. I will give praise regardless for being thematically a good educational game but with gameplay like this, I can’t give it any higher than a rather generous 4 out of 10.''
''The main objective of Type:Rider is to educate people of all generations about the history of Typography. At times it feels like going through an actual museum with how it thematically set itself up, using fonts and historical people- and events as actual level design. In-between there are books to read that go more in-depth about the history of Typography. On that front, I can say that the game does a splendid job, but unfortunately gameplay matters. Playing as two dots does not only sounds complicated; it’s a mess to control. It’s not really noticeable in early stages which are pretty bland and thus don’t require a lot of platforming, but when you are forced to do platforming you’ll notice quickly how frustrating it is to play the game. I will give praise regardless for being thematically a good educational game but with gameplay like this, I can’t give it any higher than a rather generous 4 out of 10.''
Full review on my website (Geofront patch): https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/the-legend-of-heroes-trails-from-zero/
''It comes as no surprise that I absolutely fell in love with The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero. Gameplay-wise it’s a nice improvement over the original Sky trilogy with a good amount of quality-of-life enhancements for an even better experience. But obviously when it comes to games like these, the world-building, story and characters are the driving force behind the game. Trails from Zero delivers on all three fronts with a good story that keeps the action going, a loveable cast of diverse characters and excellent world-building. Particularly the last part is noteworthy, as Crossbell uses its smaller region size to keep relations with citizens and important characters very consistent. You also learn straight away just what kind of messed-up state Crossbell actually is due to a strong start, and the game keeps being strong right till the very end with its characters and story. For a game this consistently good, it should come as no surprise that I give this game my highest possible rating: a 10 out of 10!''
''It comes as no surprise that I absolutely fell in love with The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero. Gameplay-wise it’s a nice improvement over the original Sky trilogy with a good amount of quality-of-life enhancements for an even better experience. But obviously when it comes to games like these, the world-building, story and characters are the driving force behind the game. Trails from Zero delivers on all three fronts with a good story that keeps the action going, a loveable cast of diverse characters and excellent world-building. Particularly the last part is noteworthy, as Crossbell uses its smaller region size to keep relations with citizens and important characters very consistent. You also learn straight away just what kind of messed-up state Crossbell actually is due to a strong start, and the game keeps being strong right till the very end with its characters and story. For a game this consistently good, it should come as no surprise that I give this game my highest possible rating: a 10 out of 10!''
2016
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/doom-2016/
''My first journey into the DOOM franchise has left me very satisfied, and that’s because playing DOOM itself has been made very satisfying. It is such a thrill to become a one-man army, able to slaughter any enemy in your path in the most gruesome of ways. Doomguy controls very well mechanically and has a lot up his arsenal. Eventually it does get slightly repetitive due to the variation in demons not being too big, but there are enough modes next to the main campaign to indulge yourself in. I’m afraid the multiplayer aspect won’t be very active much longer after the release of DOOM Eternal, but there’s still the map creator and arcade mode to mess around with. DOOM is great fun, and it definitely deserves my score of a 9 out of 10!''
''My first journey into the DOOM franchise has left me very satisfied, and that’s because playing DOOM itself has been made very satisfying. It is such a thrill to become a one-man army, able to slaughter any enemy in your path in the most gruesome of ways. Doomguy controls very well mechanically and has a lot up his arsenal. Eventually it does get slightly repetitive due to the variation in demons not being too big, but there are enough modes next to the main campaign to indulge yourself in. I’m afraid the multiplayer aspect won’t be very active much longer after the release of DOOM Eternal, but there’s still the map creator and arcade mode to mess around with. DOOM is great fun, and it definitely deserves my score of a 9 out of 10!''
2014
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/xeodrifter/
''Before going into Xeodrifter, you should realise that what you’re about to play is a budget Metroidvania. Describing it as a budget game does not necessarily mean it’s bad as it isn’t; it’s enjoyable to play and the main protagonist controls pretty well despite having a fixed jump height and a very weak gun at first that is unable to shoot in multiple directions. But the Metroidvania part of the game is lacklustre, always having forced progress instead of giving you multiple options where to go. It’s also a shame that you don’t unlock shortcuts with newly-obtained upgrades, meaning that you have to go through the same sections more often than not. This is further emphasised by the world not being connected, but separated into four different levels. Boss fights are constantly repeated as well and while they function well as a ”get to learn the boss’ patterns” boss, it just gets boring after the fourth or fifth encounter. Xeodrifter is a fine game for the amount of hours it lasts (which is not long), but don’t set your expectations too high; this game isn’t going to change your viewpoint on the Metroidvania genre. I give Xeodrifter 6 unoriginal bosses out of 10!''
''Before going into Xeodrifter, you should realise that what you’re about to play is a budget Metroidvania. Describing it as a budget game does not necessarily mean it’s bad as it isn’t; it’s enjoyable to play and the main protagonist controls pretty well despite having a fixed jump height and a very weak gun at first that is unable to shoot in multiple directions. But the Metroidvania part of the game is lacklustre, always having forced progress instead of giving you multiple options where to go. It’s also a shame that you don’t unlock shortcuts with newly-obtained upgrades, meaning that you have to go through the same sections more often than not. This is further emphasised by the world not being connected, but separated into four different levels. Boss fights are constantly repeated as well and while they function well as a ”get to learn the boss’ patterns” boss, it just gets boring after the fourth or fifth encounter. Xeodrifter is a fine game for the amount of hours it lasts (which is not long), but don’t set your expectations too high; this game isn’t going to change your viewpoint on the Metroidvania genre. I give Xeodrifter 6 unoriginal bosses out of 10!''
2016
Full review on my website: https://www.nepikigaming.com/reviews/superhot/
''It’s very clear from that start that SUPERHOT is a game that’s very much self-aware in how it handles the story. It is handled pretty well through the ASCII design of the main menu, but also through the gameplay itself. Since this may-or-may-not be a ”game”, it is important that the player knows what to do right away, which is accomplished through the minimalistic design. That said, however: while the gameplay is solid, the game barely evolves past what it introduces to you at first. This isn’t an issue overall because the game has a perfect length for it, but it didn’t encourage me to try out the post-game content too much. Endless mode is fine on its own, but challenges only restrict the player without any changes made to the exact same levels of the campaign that you’re going through. I did have a good amount of fun with the main campaign, but I feel the magic of what made the game fun wasn’t able to shine in anything other than the main campaign.''
''It’s very clear from that start that SUPERHOT is a game that’s very much self-aware in how it handles the story. It is handled pretty well through the ASCII design of the main menu, but also through the gameplay itself. Since this may-or-may-not be a ”game”, it is important that the player knows what to do right away, which is accomplished through the minimalistic design. That said, however: while the gameplay is solid, the game barely evolves past what it introduces to you at first. This isn’t an issue overall because the game has a perfect length for it, but it didn’t encourage me to try out the post-game content too much. Endless mode is fine on its own, but challenges only restrict the player without any changes made to the exact same levels of the campaign that you’re going through. I did have a good amount of fun with the main campaign, but I feel the magic of what made the game fun wasn’t able to shine in anything other than the main campaign.''