Just dropping wee thoughts about these as I go.
Axis Mundi
A really nice Fatal Frame-like set in a small shopping mall that's under construction and you've been called in by the crew to hunt ghosts. There are evil ghosts to banish, but it's mainly finding trapped spirits, and diving into the past to find out what happened to them. Short and sweet. Just a nice wee thing to play.
Uktena 64
Very similar to the squirrel hunting game from a previous Dread X Collection. As I've said many times, I'm extremely done with the "Things seem nice but there's actually horror here and it's very obvious from the start" stuff. I know one of these games will always be someone's first expose to that concept, but fuck me is it ever tiring when you're on your twentieth.
Rose of Meat
A wonderfully bizarre horror(?) shooter set in a constantly shifting grotesque world. It's hard to convey this thing just with words. Look at it.
Seraphixial
Cool looking shotgun. Bad everything else.
Got that thing where every texture is shiny. Relies on sudden loud noises for scares in lieu of atmosphere. I'm not trying to be mean, but it's like babby's first asset flip shooter.
Black Relic
Man, I love Torple Dook's stuff. Always a real treat. He just makes cool wee interesting things. This time we're a mute monk fighting demons with a crossbow to try and save our monastery from the chaos of the escaped black relic. It's basic and slow, but something about it just works for me. Uses a really harsh pixel filter over block colours for a lovely style too.
The Fruit
I think this is my favourite of the bunch. Exploring a creepy village and fighting corrupted townsfolk, all in the name of love. Using a book to collect special words that open paths. Swapping to your axe because you missed and don't have time to manually reload the single-shot rifle before three farmers are upon you. Both brutally difficult at times, but also very fair in save points restoring your health. Definitely keeping my eye on this dev.
The House of Unrest
A small Resi-like in first-person about a priest called in to exorcise another priest. The house evokes a bit of the Spencer mansion. You know the way. You've got a crucifix to banish evil goo, and a pistol to shoot fleshy dudes. It's too straightforward and easy to be any real fun. Bullets are infinite, and enemies move at a snail's pace. Most can be spotted from miles away and unloaded into before they get close enough for you to hear. Nothing resembling a puzzle. It's just going places and picking up items that let you into another area. Tries a bit of comedy that just falls flat too. I don't hate this, it's just kinda meh.
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Overall, I enjoyed the majority of these. Another mixed bag, which is standard for Dread X at this point. The hub world this time around started cool (haha arctic base), but quickly just felt empty, and not in the atmospheric way it was intending. It had some weepy story with MCU dialogue that was hard to follow. I don't know if that was because it failed to capture my interest, or was just poorly presented. But when you're sitting there blank-faced at the end while someone is saying stuff that feels like it's meant to be important, it's hard to do anything but chuckle.
For my money, Dread X 2 still has the best hub. Undefeated.
Axis Mundi
A really nice Fatal Frame-like set in a small shopping mall that's under construction and you've been called in by the crew to hunt ghosts. There are evil ghosts to banish, but it's mainly finding trapped spirits, and diving into the past to find out what happened to them. Short and sweet. Just a nice wee thing to play.
Uktena 64
Very similar to the squirrel hunting game from a previous Dread X Collection. As I've said many times, I'm extremely done with the "Things seem nice but there's actually horror here and it's very obvious from the start" stuff. I know one of these games will always be someone's first expose to that concept, but fuck me is it ever tiring when you're on your twentieth.
Rose of Meat
A wonderfully bizarre horror(?) shooter set in a constantly shifting grotesque world. It's hard to convey this thing just with words. Look at it.
Seraphixial
Cool looking shotgun. Bad everything else.
Got that thing where every texture is shiny. Relies on sudden loud noises for scares in lieu of atmosphere. I'm not trying to be mean, but it's like babby's first asset flip shooter.
Black Relic
Man, I love Torple Dook's stuff. Always a real treat. He just makes cool wee interesting things. This time we're a mute monk fighting demons with a crossbow to try and save our monastery from the chaos of the escaped black relic. It's basic and slow, but something about it just works for me. Uses a really harsh pixel filter over block colours for a lovely style too.
The Fruit
I think this is my favourite of the bunch. Exploring a creepy village and fighting corrupted townsfolk, all in the name of love. Using a book to collect special words that open paths. Swapping to your axe because you missed and don't have time to manually reload the single-shot rifle before three farmers are upon you. Both brutally difficult at times, but also very fair in save points restoring your health. Definitely keeping my eye on this dev.
The House of Unrest
A small Resi-like in first-person about a priest called in to exorcise another priest. The house evokes a bit of the Spencer mansion. You know the way. You've got a crucifix to banish evil goo, and a pistol to shoot fleshy dudes. It's too straightforward and easy to be any real fun. Bullets are infinite, and enemies move at a snail's pace. Most can be spotted from miles away and unloaded into before they get close enough for you to hear. Nothing resembling a puzzle. It's just going places and picking up items that let you into another area. Tries a bit of comedy that just falls flat too. I don't hate this, it's just kinda meh.
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Overall, I enjoyed the majority of these. Another mixed bag, which is standard for Dread X at this point. The hub world this time around started cool (haha arctic base), but quickly just felt empty, and not in the atmospheric way it was intending. It had some weepy story with MCU dialogue that was hard to follow. I don't know if that was because it failed to capture my interest, or was just poorly presented. But when you're sitting there blank-faced at the end while someone is saying stuff that feels like it's meant to be important, it's hard to do anything but chuckle.
For my money, Dread X 2 still has the best hub. Undefeated.