Wahfuu
2017
The best Ending in videogame history.
Holy fucking mid batman.
Find all the flags? Bosses are a joke once you're above or at their honor level. AI companions distract and tank enemies with ease. All the combat depth from Nioh and hell, even strangers of paradise, is replaced by a passive reactive, light attack heavy attack and deflect snore fest reminiscent of Sekiro but without nearly the design focus.
You can at least turn off the AI companions if you want the game to not be a complete snooze, but then you'll never get their gearset in the drop pool. Shame!
Absolute fucking tragedy of a game. Have to go out of your way to not use as many systems as possible to turn the game into anything but a lazy stroll through the park. All the worst aspects of Team Ninja's modern games with absolutely none of the good.
Find all the flags? Bosses are a joke once you're above or at their honor level. AI companions distract and tank enemies with ease. All the combat depth from Nioh and hell, even strangers of paradise, is replaced by a passive reactive, light attack heavy attack and deflect snore fest reminiscent of Sekiro but without nearly the design focus.
You can at least turn off the AI companions if you want the game to not be a complete snooze, but then you'll never get their gearset in the drop pool. Shame!
Absolute fucking tragedy of a game. Have to go out of your way to not use as many systems as possible to turn the game into anything but a lazy stroll through the park. All the worst aspects of Team Ninja's modern games with absolutely none of the good.
2019
Honestly just found the whole thing pretty boring, to be honest. It just felt like Fallout 3 all over again, and the writing didn't grip me. Didn't make it past the 2nd planet.
Beaten on Maximum Security. This is VERY much a 'mixed' review, but I think someone who hasn't played Dead Space before would enjoy it more than I did.
I'm a huge fan of the Dead Space series, apart from... well, the obvious one. So I was pretty excited about this game. Was it worth it? ...Kind of. Largely, as much as I maybe shouldn't, I'm going to be comparing this game to Dead Space 1 and 2 generally.
Much of my problems come from the fact that I find the game to be a bit of a regression from Dead Space 2, and the game's primary combat loop being unsatisfying to both use and master, and the horror elements being only 'okay'.
This might be a bit of a hot take, but I've always been on the opinion that Dead Space 2 absolutely windmill dunks on Dead Space 1, from horror to gameplay to atmosphere. And the reason for that is because I've always viewed the IP as something more closer to splatter films than I do your typical horror might be. The games have always... not been very subtle. They don't build tension for very long before blaring trumpets and noise at you. Not that the series can't, indeed the abandoned tram in the later chapters of 2 proves it can, but it often is contrasted with limbs and fervor.
Dead Space's horror, has, largely, been about the 'frenzy' form. A confusion of sounds and stimulus and worry of 'what the hell is going to come next'. The pants-shitting moments, as they were, in the original games are when you hear an AI go "lockdown in process." or something similar, as you know the next few minutes of your life are going to involve alot of things trying to eat you. The game's are 'scary', but they aren't about a continual build of tension. This is largely why I think Dead Space 2 is better, with its huge enemy variety (shoutouts to the raptor encounters especially) and better contrast. It leans into the chaos (even if, yes, the iron man stunts are a bit silly, im not gonna pretend they arent) and contrasts it better with nightmare visions, quiet terror. Where as Dead Space 1 likes to >think< its building up tension, but pays it off way too fast and way too often. It has a heightened sense of 'general' tension for most of the game, but there's clear safe rooms, and it often dispels it's own attempts at scaring the player by overplaying its hand.
Now, I've talked a whole damn lot and have only really talked about dead space. What does any of this have to do with Callisto Protocol, beyond the obvious 'the dead space guys made it.' Well, because for all intents and purposes, this game is Dead Space 1.5. It's got that industrial, nostromo-alien feel to it for the vast majority of the game, a lot of the 'they're in the walls/vents/what have you' atmosphere to it, and it has much more of an emphasis on general tension than specific scares. Even the way Jacob is constantly looking over his shoulder reminds me of how Isaac would look in space 1.
And this certainly isn't a bad thing; Black Iron keeps the series speciality of being very well thought out and practical. You can see how the prison functions, even during its destruction. And I think it nails its atmosphere better than Dead Space 1 ever did. The problem is that not only do I feel like it took a step back from Dead Space 2, which meshed its horror elements much better and made them something that made sense for the splatter film type goreshow the games rightfully are, it kept the problems of the original dead space 1.
An example. Early in the game, you are crawling through a small squeeze while you come face to face with a webbed up, infected corpse. You get a pretty good close look at it. The eye of the corpse shoots open to follow Jacob as hes leaving the squeeze. This is a pretty creepy moment, but ruined by the extremely loud blaring of noise and orchestra that happens right when the eye opens. The Dead Space devs struggle to hold it in their pants for longer than a few minutes before needing to shout over the clifftops at that something scary is approaching. It's only when they go after long, singular chapters of quiet that it works. This 'general' tension thats supposed to linger over the whole game never works, because dead space is by its core, a loud splatter film.
So what about the gameplay? A mixed bag. Gone are the inventive and unique armory of Dead Space 1, of mining equipment turned arsenal, or the high powered sci-fi military equipment of 2. Instead we have the most basic, unimaginative weapons possible. Pistol, shotgun, assault rifle. Woopie.
The biggest question mark with the gameplay, however, is the melee system. Essentially the game locks you into a soft QTE with every enemy you face. Everything is dodged by holding a directional button. No timing element. This makes avoiding attacks >extremely< easy when it comes to 1 enemy, barely even a threat. When another enemy gets involved, one of two things happens; the other enemy will sit, and wait its turn like a good little Not!Necromorph, or they will try and hit you during this soft QTE. If they do, and you've already pressed the attack button, then oops, you're getting hit with no input, because once you press the attack button nothing on gods earth is stopping you from finishing it. This leads to the gameplay, especially in the first few hours, to be tedious. Things will only ever hit you if you've accidentally committed to something without seeing an attack or out of vision, because its impossible to fail otherwise. Rarely does damage you receive feel like a mistake as much as it does your little brother taking your controller out of your hands in the middle of a QTE.
Also, sadly, gone is the system of upgrading. Power nodes are gone, instead you inject money directly into the gun to make it stronger. It's not a terrible idea, but I found power nodes to be much more satisfying as a reward for exploration and tinkering around where you maybe shouldn't be. The monetary rewards you get in this game... never feel like enough up until the third act, where it suddenly showers you in it right before the final boss.
So... overall, do I recommend this? I don't know. I can't really help but feel disappointed as someone who likes dead space 1 and adores dead space 2, this game feels like a lot of missed opportunity. But we don't get much survival horror, especially not at this production quality. And while the game is clunky at times and derivative in a bad way in others, it's also artistically sound, with a strong atmosphere and great, haunting area to explore. Maybe that's all you need. I suspect it will be for most people.
(I literally just copied my steam review lol)
I'm a huge fan of the Dead Space series, apart from... well, the obvious one. So I was pretty excited about this game. Was it worth it? ...Kind of. Largely, as much as I maybe shouldn't, I'm going to be comparing this game to Dead Space 1 and 2 generally.
Much of my problems come from the fact that I find the game to be a bit of a regression from Dead Space 2, and the game's primary combat loop being unsatisfying to both use and master, and the horror elements being only 'okay'.
This might be a bit of a hot take, but I've always been on the opinion that Dead Space 2 absolutely windmill dunks on Dead Space 1, from horror to gameplay to atmosphere. And the reason for that is because I've always viewed the IP as something more closer to splatter films than I do your typical horror might be. The games have always... not been very subtle. They don't build tension for very long before blaring trumpets and noise at you. Not that the series can't, indeed the abandoned tram in the later chapters of 2 proves it can, but it often is contrasted with limbs and fervor.
Dead Space's horror, has, largely, been about the 'frenzy' form. A confusion of sounds and stimulus and worry of 'what the hell is going to come next'. The pants-shitting moments, as they were, in the original games are when you hear an AI go "lockdown in process." or something similar, as you know the next few minutes of your life are going to involve alot of things trying to eat you. The game's are 'scary', but they aren't about a continual build of tension. This is largely why I think Dead Space 2 is better, with its huge enemy variety (shoutouts to the raptor encounters especially) and better contrast. It leans into the chaos (even if, yes, the iron man stunts are a bit silly, im not gonna pretend they arent) and contrasts it better with nightmare visions, quiet terror. Where as Dead Space 1 likes to >think< its building up tension, but pays it off way too fast and way too often. It has a heightened sense of 'general' tension for most of the game, but there's clear safe rooms, and it often dispels it's own attempts at scaring the player by overplaying its hand.
Now, I've talked a whole damn lot and have only really talked about dead space. What does any of this have to do with Callisto Protocol, beyond the obvious 'the dead space guys made it.' Well, because for all intents and purposes, this game is Dead Space 1.5. It's got that industrial, nostromo-alien feel to it for the vast majority of the game, a lot of the 'they're in the walls/vents/what have you' atmosphere to it, and it has much more of an emphasis on general tension than specific scares. Even the way Jacob is constantly looking over his shoulder reminds me of how Isaac would look in space 1.
And this certainly isn't a bad thing; Black Iron keeps the series speciality of being very well thought out and practical. You can see how the prison functions, even during its destruction. And I think it nails its atmosphere better than Dead Space 1 ever did. The problem is that not only do I feel like it took a step back from Dead Space 2, which meshed its horror elements much better and made them something that made sense for the splatter film type goreshow the games rightfully are, it kept the problems of the original dead space 1.
An example. Early in the game, you are crawling through a small squeeze while you come face to face with a webbed up, infected corpse. You get a pretty good close look at it. The eye of the corpse shoots open to follow Jacob as hes leaving the squeeze. This is a pretty creepy moment, but ruined by the extremely loud blaring of noise and orchestra that happens right when the eye opens. The Dead Space devs struggle to hold it in their pants for longer than a few minutes before needing to shout over the clifftops at that something scary is approaching. It's only when they go after long, singular chapters of quiet that it works. This 'general' tension thats supposed to linger over the whole game never works, because dead space is by its core, a loud splatter film.
So what about the gameplay? A mixed bag. Gone are the inventive and unique armory of Dead Space 1, of mining equipment turned arsenal, or the high powered sci-fi military equipment of 2. Instead we have the most basic, unimaginative weapons possible. Pistol, shotgun, assault rifle. Woopie.
The biggest question mark with the gameplay, however, is the melee system. Essentially the game locks you into a soft QTE with every enemy you face. Everything is dodged by holding a directional button. No timing element. This makes avoiding attacks >extremely< easy when it comes to 1 enemy, barely even a threat. When another enemy gets involved, one of two things happens; the other enemy will sit, and wait its turn like a good little Not!Necromorph, or they will try and hit you during this soft QTE. If they do, and you've already pressed the attack button, then oops, you're getting hit with no input, because once you press the attack button nothing on gods earth is stopping you from finishing it. This leads to the gameplay, especially in the first few hours, to be tedious. Things will only ever hit you if you've accidentally committed to something without seeing an attack or out of vision, because its impossible to fail otherwise. Rarely does damage you receive feel like a mistake as much as it does your little brother taking your controller out of your hands in the middle of a QTE.
Also, sadly, gone is the system of upgrading. Power nodes are gone, instead you inject money directly into the gun to make it stronger. It's not a terrible idea, but I found power nodes to be much more satisfying as a reward for exploration and tinkering around where you maybe shouldn't be. The monetary rewards you get in this game... never feel like enough up until the third act, where it suddenly showers you in it right before the final boss.
So... overall, do I recommend this? I don't know. I can't really help but feel disappointed as someone who likes dead space 1 and adores dead space 2, this game feels like a lot of missed opportunity. But we don't get much survival horror, especially not at this production quality. And while the game is clunky at times and derivative in a bad way in others, it's also artistically sound, with a strong atmosphere and great, haunting area to explore. Maybe that's all you need. I suspect it will be for most people.
(I literally just copied my steam review lol)
2019
A weird ass game with SOUL.
Terraria-ish combat with a lot of build variety by equipping food items. Mostly linear with a little bit of side paths for extra recipes. The story is... much more than you expect from the game, and from the first few hours.
What starts as a truly bizarre game about celebrating cooking and eating things that were all alive, including plants, quickly becomes an existential dread simulator featuring body horror. To say the game undergoes a tone shift isn't quite accurate. It's more like a tone catapult.
The writing can sometimes be a bit too corny as characters will talk at length about >THEMES OF THE GAME<, but it's heartfelt and the characters have great chemistry with each other. The comedy has a lot of good usage of art assets, too. It's a fun, rather breezy ride.
I do think there's more design than what meets the eye in the bosses and platforming, but the player becomes so horrifyingly strong, and easily, that even on master chef it feels like the game falls over without too much issue, the bosses largely because of one food item that lets you delete projectiles via dashing, and the platforming because the obstacles simply aren't threatening enough.
Either way, a fun romp with fun characters and it has Simmer, so 10/10.
Terraria-ish combat with a lot of build variety by equipping food items. Mostly linear with a little bit of side paths for extra recipes. The story is... much more than you expect from the game, and from the first few hours.
What starts as a truly bizarre game about celebrating cooking and eating things that were all alive, including plants, quickly becomes an existential dread simulator featuring body horror. To say the game undergoes a tone shift isn't quite accurate. It's more like a tone catapult.
The writing can sometimes be a bit too corny as characters will talk at length about >THEMES OF THE GAME<, but it's heartfelt and the characters have great chemistry with each other. The comedy has a lot of good usage of art assets, too. It's a fun, rather breezy ride.
I do think there's more design than what meets the eye in the bosses and platforming, but the player becomes so horrifyingly strong, and easily, that even on master chef it feels like the game falls over without too much issue, the bosses largely because of one food item that lets you delete projectiles via dashing, and the platforming because the obstacles simply aren't threatening enough.
Either way, a fun romp with fun characters and it has Simmer, so 10/10.
2019
I put a hefty amount of hours in this game. I enjoy the concept a lot and think it's a really cool game that I am glad was made, but I think there are so many hiccups that lead to a game that often feels unsatisfying to progress in or bad to control.
1998
Absolutely incredible first half that falls to pieces in the second half. It's so sad that we'll never see a finished Xenogears, but what we do have is still a hallmark of jrpg storytelling. At least initially. Though... I'll be honest, the gameplay wasn't all that good then, and it's kind of painful to do now.
2021
What a game.
ProjectMoon is a peculiar developer. Ruina is not the impenetrable wall that Lobotomy is, but it does share a lot of the same flavors. Such as an incredibly awkward and clumsy UX and terrible tutorial, made worse in Ruina by just many more mechanics there are in Ruina, as opposed to the simple but nuanced gameplay loop of Lobotomy. You just have to accept it as the ProjectMoon flavor at this point.
However, ProjectMoon has strengths, from their incredibly fascinating and fantastical urban hellscape in the city, their inspired SCP-likes in abnormalities, and gameplay ideas. While other popular cardgames try to replicate a draft format via roguelike elements, Ruina is more like replicating a constructing format.
Except this time, there's no bad developers ignoring terrible metas for months on end.
Ruina tests your deckbuilding skills, both in how to make a swiss army knife pile of extremely strong cards, and more nuanced singular counters to specific mechanics in their abnormalities. As the library gains more notoriety, the more powerful and influential figures of The City will show up and seek what it can offer. And you'll take their cards and pages, too.
A notable flaw in this system, however, is the fact that you lose your books upon loss. This can be circumvented with an Alt+f4 before you actually lose, mind, but still it's an unnecessary addition to an already very long game to force backtracking, when there's already plenty of incentive to go back. It's a pretty severe problem the game didn't need.
Nevertheless, the game succeeds in replicating a constructed format vs many different figures and people. Some monsters, some humans pretending to be monsters, and all they command.
One of the things I really enjoyed was how, narratively, despite the plot ostensibly taking place in one area, you get to see just how much the library effects the world at large. You cause so much change in the city, whether good or bad nobody can say. And while the characters initially shrug their shoulders at how the library lures people into its maw to turn them into books, the player themselves may not. You'll hope for characters to not come to the library knowing you'll be forced to cut them down. It's an interesting method of storytelling you won't see much similar to.
Ruina is not a game for everyone. The UX will definitely be too infuriating for some, and the necessity to understand its mechanics with how badly tutorialized they are likewise. Not even counting the barrier of the deckbuilding/cardgame aspect of it. But if you can get into it, odds are you'll be VERY into it.
ProjectMoon is a peculiar developer. Ruina is not the impenetrable wall that Lobotomy is, but it does share a lot of the same flavors. Such as an incredibly awkward and clumsy UX and terrible tutorial, made worse in Ruina by just many more mechanics there are in Ruina, as opposed to the simple but nuanced gameplay loop of Lobotomy. You just have to accept it as the ProjectMoon flavor at this point.
However, ProjectMoon has strengths, from their incredibly fascinating and fantastical urban hellscape in the city, their inspired SCP-likes in abnormalities, and gameplay ideas. While other popular cardgames try to replicate a draft format via roguelike elements, Ruina is more like replicating a constructing format.
Except this time, there's no bad developers ignoring terrible metas for months on end.
Ruina tests your deckbuilding skills, both in how to make a swiss army knife pile of extremely strong cards, and more nuanced singular counters to specific mechanics in their abnormalities. As the library gains more notoriety, the more powerful and influential figures of The City will show up and seek what it can offer. And you'll take their cards and pages, too.
A notable flaw in this system, however, is the fact that you lose your books upon loss. This can be circumvented with an Alt+f4 before you actually lose, mind, but still it's an unnecessary addition to an already very long game to force backtracking, when there's already plenty of incentive to go back. It's a pretty severe problem the game didn't need.
Nevertheless, the game succeeds in replicating a constructed format vs many different figures and people. Some monsters, some humans pretending to be monsters, and all they command.
One of the things I really enjoyed was how, narratively, despite the plot ostensibly taking place in one area, you get to see just how much the library effects the world at large. You cause so much change in the city, whether good or bad nobody can say. And while the characters initially shrug their shoulders at how the library lures people into its maw to turn them into books, the player themselves may not. You'll hope for characters to not come to the library knowing you'll be forced to cut them down. It's an interesting method of storytelling you won't see much similar to.
Ruina is not a game for everyone. The UX will definitely be too infuriating for some, and the necessity to understand its mechanics with how badly tutorialized they are likewise. Not even counting the barrier of the deckbuilding/cardgame aspect of it. But if you can get into it, odds are you'll be VERY into it.
Does a few things better than the sequel still, especially combat freedom, and has a charming, oldschool storybook feel to its atmosphere. Great game with a friend.
It's just a meme for streamers to play, the content sucks.
TBD
I want to add Black Souls 2 but I can't CAN I JUST PLEASE ADD BLACK SOULS 2
Ahem.
The question of the ages since... uh, dark souls 1 released; What is a soulslike? It's a confusing question that nobody has a good answer to. What makes a soulslike? Is it simple combat with a stamina meter? Is it the atmosphere? Is it a storytelling style predominately told by item descriptions and vague npc dialogue? Is it crash bandicoot? Mysteries, mysteries.
Black Souls is definitively a soulslike, despite being an rpg maker game. It misses a lot of typical checkboxes, but I think any single person that has played a single souls game will turn on Black Souls 1 and feel IMMEDIATELY what it's inspirations are. Not just because you start in a prison filled with undead where you are given your estus flask, but even further than that.
The way the maps spread out and sometimes coil on each-other, this bizarre atmosphere of a land that is simultaneously alive and dead. The NPC's actually feel a lot more direct in what they say, but their ambiguous goals and directives that all progress as you progress, it all feels the same. In a good way!
Indeed, while Black Souls is incredibly derivative in a way some might find distracting, the obvious combat system change due to... being an rpg maker game gives it a different flavor, and the theming across different fairy tale stories also let it tackle ground that the souls games never did.
The main issue of the game is... mostly, the game is busted to bits. It's not hard to break, and it's sadly not all that fun to break either. Combat becomes same-y quickly, and you'll find yourself going through the motions fast. A lot of the cool presentation and story of the game lacks punch because of it.
I will say, the story and hints at the greater setting are both intriguing to me. Maybe it's my own love for the works it references, but the ideas presented, both lovecraftian and whimsical in nature, go together and create something unique to it.
Anyways, I think Black Souls 1 feels like a large prototype to Black Souls 2, and the dlc that it would bring forth. I'd like to write a review for that, if this damn site would let me.
Ahem.
The question of the ages since... uh, dark souls 1 released; What is a soulslike? It's a confusing question that nobody has a good answer to. What makes a soulslike? Is it simple combat with a stamina meter? Is it the atmosphere? Is it a storytelling style predominately told by item descriptions and vague npc dialogue? Is it crash bandicoot? Mysteries, mysteries.
Black Souls is definitively a soulslike, despite being an rpg maker game. It misses a lot of typical checkboxes, but I think any single person that has played a single souls game will turn on Black Souls 1 and feel IMMEDIATELY what it's inspirations are. Not just because you start in a prison filled with undead where you are given your estus flask, but even further than that.
The way the maps spread out and sometimes coil on each-other, this bizarre atmosphere of a land that is simultaneously alive and dead. The NPC's actually feel a lot more direct in what they say, but their ambiguous goals and directives that all progress as you progress, it all feels the same. In a good way!
Indeed, while Black Souls is incredibly derivative in a way some might find distracting, the obvious combat system change due to... being an rpg maker game gives it a different flavor, and the theming across different fairy tale stories also let it tackle ground that the souls games never did.
The main issue of the game is... mostly, the game is busted to bits. It's not hard to break, and it's sadly not all that fun to break either. Combat becomes same-y quickly, and you'll find yourself going through the motions fast. A lot of the cool presentation and story of the game lacks punch because of it.
I will say, the story and hints at the greater setting are both intriguing to me. Maybe it's my own love for the works it references, but the ideas presented, both lovecraftian and whimsical in nature, go together and create something unique to it.
Anyways, I think Black Souls 1 feels like a large prototype to Black Souls 2, and the dlc that it would bring forth. I'd like to write a review for that, if this damn site would let me.
Good story, decent gameplay, thank god it's saved from the graveyard of the Wii.
1991
Jamming to simons theme forever and nobody can stop me
A boring grind across an endless green space of nothing. You exist to hold up through the expanse of absolutely nothing, in order to find shrines that upgrade your stamina so that you can hold up for slightly longer while all your weapons break. By far the worst dungeons in the series too. Overrated as an open world game and bad as a zelda.
This is not a game I've really understood the appeal of. The setting is really generic fantasy with a barely finished story, the combat isn't anything to write home about. I don't know. I've tried and failed to get into this game so many times.