(This review was made during early access)

Gloomwood is another game from New Blood Interactive and like their other games it’s awesome. In Gloomwood you play as “The Doctor” who has been kidnapped by the sickly huntsmen. Shortly after you are rescued by the mysterious merchant and are set free to start your journey into the nearby city.

Gloomwood takes heavy inspiration from the Thief games, for god sake the developers used to own the domain “thiefwithguns.com” that would link to the games steampage. This doesn't mean that Gloomwood doesn't have its own identity. Right now Gloomwood focuses a lot more on the rural setting unlike Thief that sticks to an urban setting. secondly just like the domain says Gloomwood has GUNS and nice ones at that. Gloomwood has more of a flow between combat and stealth instead of Thief sole focus of stealth.

The maps of the game are also great. They have tons of ways to get through them and the immersive sim elements are fun and are logical. I’ve found tons of ways through the levels and interesting ways to use the game's tools too. The only map design thing I really didn't enjoy was The Mines. They were quite short, linear and without many possibilities for creative problem solving. But in the greater scheme of things it is not huge that one level is boring. The current final level is The City and I really enjoyed it. It really encapsulates what I enjoy about immersive sims and stealth games. That is the free form gameplay where you plan your own path with map markers or waypoints. So while there is only one objective in the city I'm excited to see the rest of them and locations get added in the future.

While Gloomwood is far from finished but I see true potential for some truly great even in New Bloods portfolio this is already one of my favorites from New Blood.

“Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name” is one hell of a title for a game but it is also one hell of a game. The newest and (Most likely) Final solo adventure of Kiryu Kazuma, sorry i mean Joryu.

When Gaiden was announced I was scared. This was the first original LAD game to be released after the departure of Toshihiro Nagoshi and Daisuke Sato. While i always have had faith in RGG i was nervous to see how the franchise would be handled after its creators left the company in 2021. But I’m happy to say that Gaiden is incredible and a worthy successor to its predecessors.

The story of Gaiden was great. It was a brave choice to set the game between 6 and 7 while also setting up “Infinite Wealth”’s story but they pulled it off very well. The game strikes a great balance between being its own isolated story and being a part of the broader “Like a Dragon” narrative. While I don't wanna spoil the game it does have one of the most touching moments in all of the games. Gaidens story was great. I enjoyed what it added to the broader franchise and also the new characters as well. Akame and Shishido being my favorites.

Gaidens gameplay is the classic “Like a Dragon” beat em’ up gameplay we all know. It was nice seeing the old gameplay back now that Kiryu is back as the games lead. The new agent style is fun and the new gadgets are all useful and create new opportunities in combat. In general I love what they have added to the game with the new fighting style and gadgets. But I do think Heat charges way too slowly. It really limits how much you get to use them. I am not a fan of this since Heat Moves are a big part of the identity of these games. In general Heat moves feel limited since you can only find weapons limiting them even more. Still the combat is great and I love seeing more than one fighting style again.


The Colosseum is this game's big side activity just like the Clan Creator from 6 and Kiwami 2. It is about collecting fighters for your clan / team to do big fights against other teams. I had fun with this game mode especially since you are fighting side by side with them unlike the Clan Creator. While it’s not that long I like that it leads into the secret final fights and you unlock characters from earlier games as fighters. Only thing I don't like is the day 1 dlc that RGG has had in the last couple of games. These dlc always make the game incredibly easy and it sucks that popular characters from earlier games are locked behind a paywall.

Overall “Like a Dragon: Gaiden” is a really good game and exceeded my expectations wildly on almost every front. With great gameplay, side content and a touching narrative, it is a must play of this still evolving franchise. Even in a year like 2023 with some crazy good games, “Gaiden” stands out as one of the greats of this year.

I have played Roboquest on and off since 2021 and have very much enjoyed the early access period. Roboquest is a fun but flawed game.

The movement and gunplay is tight and responsive. The movement abilities are fun to use such as the grind and slide. Gunplay feels good guns are accurate and unique. There are tons of great guns in the game that all feel different and special. They all fit a niche with the different classes and perks to create fun and unique builds. Overall combat is the highlight of Roboquest and is the reason you will keep coming back to do more runs. It is very much about the feel and the fun of stomping robots and style.

The music is also great. It is made by Noise Cream who also did the soundtrack for "My Friend Pedro" and "Midnight Fight Express". Here he continues his streak of great high energy soundtracks. He does combat music really well, it's fast and with tons of energy it really gets you going in a fight. The only negative around the soundtrack is that sometimes Noisecreams loud and abrasive style does clash with the cartoony style of the game. Still he was a great choice for the games fast pace.

When it comes to style roboquest does have a lot of it. The overarching look of cartoons is great. I love how sound effects are also displayed as stylized text on the screen. It really sells the whole comic feel of the game. The enemies in the game also feel well realized that they all fit together in a greater overarching style with their rounded shapes and softer looks; they look cartoony and well fitting in the world. The world itself is also nice to look at. Bright colors and vibrant environments always look great and I do really enjoy them.

But sadly Roboquest, like other rogue lites coming out recently, it lacks depth and the story is very boring. While this is not the end of the world it does worsen the game. While I don't mind the bare bones story, I do wish we had gotten some more depth to the Rogue-lite elements in 1.0.

But overall it's fun by yourself and even better with a friend. A great game to do a run or two every now and then!