I have bit played a lot of roguelites but I feel Hades is a near perfect example of the genre, with every system just playing so well into the appeal of doing run backs. I mainly just used the spear the entire game but even then, every run felt incredibly different due to the different gods and items granting different effects that really change how damage is done and you approach combat. The game is also pretty hard but also have a lot of safety nets and short runs that make run backs a lot less of a headaches than they could be. Personally, this game definitely makes me want to dive further into the genre after Balatro initially got me to enjoy a game in that genre. Overall, great game with incredible design that is worth playing even if you don’t wanna beat it.

Everyone is already on their hands and knees giving this game that porn star tier sloppy toppy and you know what? I can't say I blame them. It's actually so fucking good with every run feeling incredibly random and unique from one another. It's just a game about risk vs reward and math but it's so addicting and so well designed. I don't even like roguelites and I have never played poker but I still loved it. I highly recommend giving it a shot, it's only like 15 dollars or you can do what I did and bum it off of your friend's steam account. Thanks Jon.

A beautiful, fun, and immersive experience, that will give back as much time as you're willing to invest. The seamless co-op is great too. NameBrand.

I read reviews for Stormland, but even then, I didn't really understand what I was getting into, so I'm glad to write it out in a way that I hope can influence peoples purchase decisions.

What you've got here is a gameplay loop of: Exploring, collecting materials, getting into firefights and completing objectives, and upgrading your guns and character. Basic RPG stuff. Then, after you complete the main story (more of a tutorialization of how the rest of the game will be), you'll have 7 REAL LIFE calendar days to do it all over again, with scaling difficulty. In this way, It's almost as if this game is a roguelite, but with death and renewal on a fixed timer.

Which is a cool concept right? It takes about 5 hours to go through a run of the game, which you can definitely work in to your "VR" schedule in a 7 day period, so it's not super grindy to play through the game, and even less so if you're doing a playthrough with a friend. But still, it does suck that you lose all of your upgrades and abilities from the previous run (you do get some, minimal kickback as they're converted to currency, kind of, and this mechanic makes the "roguelite" work, but... sucks lol).

The overall gameplay loop I found to be really enjoyable. I like exploring and the shooting and looting feels good. The movement mechanics have been dialed in and feel responsive, and make traversing the different worlds immensely satisfying. But if you're not into any of the core gameplay loops, it might not be for you! I feel like because of the mandatory 7 day reset, you lose a real sense of progression, and it doesn't get that same roguelite kick to make it feel worth it. So satisfaction comes from all the micro loops... keep that in mind. They're fun micro loops, sure, but your enjoyment is almost completely dependent on them.

This game has not been optimized. It's by far the worse running game for a VR headset that I've managed to play. Half Life Alyx, I can get working just find on mid settings, but Stormland makes me feel like my computer is a freakin' toaster. It's really really quite disappointing how poorly it runs. Beyond that, sometimes the game straight up softlocks sometimes (at least the devs put in a "reload" option in the settings to fix the majority of these). I also think that the scopes on some of the weapons weren't thought out... just felt awkward to hold the weapons to try and aim down sights, and sometimes even then, the reticle would completely disappear. I'll chalk it up to optimizations.

I definitely won't be getting the replayability out of this game that I thought I would, but I will be more than happy to revisit it to play through a run with a friend, and I definitely will return when I have a better system so I can actually appreciate the graphics as well, but right now, I can't see myself being pulled back in to complete another loop on my own, I think it's just not the time in my life where I can get immersed into this as much as I'd like paha.

That being said, I really appreciated this game and everything I was able to experience, and think that it does a lot of cool unique VR things that you won't be able to experience anywhere else. Overall, I had an amazing time, and I do recommend it! Especially if you don't have any replayable VR games in your library, this will spice things up for you and give back as much as you're willing to invest.

Triforce Heroes is a pretty fun multiplayer Zelda with a lot of baffling decisions that hold it back being anything really special. First off, whoever thought that putting literally no invincibility frames should be fired. It's such a baffling component to be missing, especially with how many enemies the game throws at you. This doesn't help by the lives system which makes you restart a level if you die four times which doesn't seem bad but by the end when there are so many enemies on screen and the enemies get hard, the game can feel pretty grueling. The clothing items was a pretty fun mechanic with slight buffs for each player making everyone feel like they have some important role to play in levels, along with multiple items per dungeon that only one player can hold. Some of the worlds were also a bit misses with not a lot of fun gimmicks but most of them were pretty good and one of them was actually pretty fantastic and used the game's gimmick of having three people incredibly well and shows how well the concept can work. At it's best, Triforce Heroes is able to have a lot of really fun puzzles using the three player gimmick or just be a stupid fun with friends, however, at it's worst, it's frustating and a grind to get through.

I am conflicted upon finishing this game. As much as I loved being Gordon and gunning down the Combine, I also became much more frustrated with the gameplay than the last entry. It didn't fix the main issues I had with the previous game: pacing and movement. The later chapters felt pretty lengthy compared to the earlier ones, and I still got stuck on geometry a lot. However, it was worse this time because there were also a bunch of physics objects I got stuck on, and the game was much more combat-intensive. They throw so many enemies at you. So when I would attempt to run for cover, I would get trapped in place by a stray paint can on the floor or something. It was obnoxious.

The story is interesting as it's quite the departure from the previous game. Instead of a localized event, it was a sprawling story with just more overall. Major developments happen off-screen, and I think I like that. It makes you feel like an actual time skip happened in how it plops you into the story. The characters received improvement as well. Instead of nameless scientists (whom I still love), we get an arrangement of people. We have the main secondary character of Alyx Vance and her father Eli, both of whom I liked although they weren't my favorite. The main antagonist Dr. Breen, who I found to be a little lacking but fine overall. As well as assorted others, including some of my favorite characters: Barney, Dr. Kleiner, and Father Grigori. There is a lot more variety. Of course, you still got the stars of the show Gordon and the GMan.

I don't know if I think this game is better than the previous one, but it does do some things better. However, it also does some things worse. Overall, it's hard for me to say one way or the other. If I had to choose, I would lean more toward the first game, but that may not be true after I continue with the story.

my favourite of the trilogy. probably my favourite of the series. almost certainly my favourite visual novel of all time.

Shu Takumi masterfully ties up every single plotline and character development together, to make a masterpiece

along with Ghost Trick and GAA, this man just keeps making peak fiction