sumatran
2021
Round and round we go on a unique rogue-lite adventure. Loop Hero spins an interesting narrative that tries to explain the nature of a rogue-lite, but it's mostly carried by its outstanding music and satisfying game loop (ha).
After your 50th Expedition, the opening minutes of a run become a tiring exercise. Everything is almost scripted to success. But there's still plenty of room to experiment across the 3 classes.
After your 50th Expedition, the opening minutes of a run become a tiring exercise. Everything is almost scripted to success. But there's still plenty of room to experiment across the 3 classes.
The team went through development hell to refresh the Lego video game series into...this? I'm afraid it was not time well spent.
An emphasis was placed on the new combat system, which ultimately amounts to nothing. Does it have combos? Sure! Does it have damage numbers popping out? You bet! Does it have proper 3rd-person shooting mechanics! Pretty much! Does it change the game at all? Not one bit!
Feel free to hack your way to victory, as that's all that's ultimately required. But where this game really falls apart is the bloat. There was no reason to stuff 9 movies into one game. There's barely any room to tell a story, instead bursting at the seams with horrific side missions and collectibles.
It's all about as much fun as stepping on a lego barefoot in the middle of the night.
An emphasis was placed on the new combat system, which ultimately amounts to nothing. Does it have combos? Sure! Does it have damage numbers popping out? You bet! Does it have proper 3rd-person shooting mechanics! Pretty much! Does it change the game at all? Not one bit!
Feel free to hack your way to victory, as that's all that's ultimately required. But where this game really falls apart is the bloat. There was no reason to stuff 9 movies into one game. There's barely any room to tell a story, instead bursting at the seams with horrific side missions and collectibles.
It's all about as much fun as stepping on a lego barefoot in the middle of the night.
2021
There is nothing exceptional about this game. Plays well and looks good. I'm not coming to a bullet hell game for story typically. But even the bullet patterns were fairly boring. And the constant speed and dodging made me pine for the slower, mind-crunching patterns of other titles in the genre.
2023
3 Truths and a Lie:
This game is one of the best attempts at the souls-like sub-genre.
Lies of P has cool bosses.
Pinocchio is stupidly pretty.
This is better than Bloodborne.
I'll leave the interpretation up to you.
This game is one of the best attempts at the souls-like sub-genre.
Lies of P has cool bosses.
Pinocchio is stupidly pretty.
This is better than Bloodborne.
I'll leave the interpretation up to you.
I would never have believed back in 2011 that DQM (Dragon Quest Monsters) was about to exit the United States for an astounding 12 years. How time flies...
Speaking of which, I remember playing Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 & 2 on GBC long before those memories of Joker 2. A novel twist on the classic Dragon Warrior RPG series, but certainly a shameless copy of Pokemon's template. And much to my joy and excitement, it brings and yet maintains its own strengths and novelties to the monster capturing sub-genre.
So here we are - decades later - and treated to a true sequel to Dragon Warrior Monsters 2. While it takes ideas and rules from the Joker series, it displays leanings and references to the originals as well. It combines into a well-rounded package that's a lot of fun to play.
Between monster families, talents, and traits, there are thousands of combinations of monster synergy to offer a limitless wealth of gameplay. That said, the game does not demand it, as it can be mastered with just a decent team - including the post-game. While it requires more strategy and planning than your typical Pokemon title, it still slightly disappoints in the late-game difficulty.
Besides that, the performance is not great. It's better than the recent Pokemon titles, but that's not saying much. Prepare to tough it out when environmental effects attack your poor frame rates. If you survive, you'll have a decently-sized adventure with cool monsters, fun dungeons, a crap story, and battles abound.
Speaking of which, I remember playing Dragon Warrior Monsters 1 & 2 on GBC long before those memories of Joker 2. A novel twist on the classic Dragon Warrior RPG series, but certainly a shameless copy of Pokemon's template. And much to my joy and excitement, it brings and yet maintains its own strengths and novelties to the monster capturing sub-genre.
So here we are - decades later - and treated to a true sequel to Dragon Warrior Monsters 2. While it takes ideas and rules from the Joker series, it displays leanings and references to the originals as well. It combines into a well-rounded package that's a lot of fun to play.
Between monster families, talents, and traits, there are thousands of combinations of monster synergy to offer a limitless wealth of gameplay. That said, the game does not demand it, as it can be mastered with just a decent team - including the post-game. While it requires more strategy and planning than your typical Pokemon title, it still slightly disappoints in the late-game difficulty.
Besides that, the performance is not great. It's better than the recent Pokemon titles, but that's not saying much. Prepare to tough it out when environmental effects attack your poor frame rates. If you survive, you'll have a decently-sized adventure with cool monsters, fun dungeons, a crap story, and battles abound.
This is a competent 4-legged walking simulator with light puzzling. The fox mechanics are equally solid and adorable, with the sole exception coming from your furry friend's jump. Jumping from a stand-still is practically broken and jumping too close to a tiny overhang bonks your cute little head into frustration.
The main weakness are the levels themselves. They're sprawling to the point of pain. There are some decent collectibles scattered about, but the game does not do a good job indicating to the player what is considering in-bounds. So while it encourages exploring, you'll often bump into invisible walls. These issues come to an impressively boring climax within a giant forest level.
All things considered, this is a decent effort for a tiny indie studio. And I'm sure they'll improve on all aspects in the announced sequel.
The main weakness are the levels themselves. They're sprawling to the point of pain. There are some decent collectibles scattered about, but the game does not do a good job indicating to the player what is considering in-bounds. So while it encourages exploring, you'll often bump into invisible walls. These issues come to an impressively boring climax within a giant forest level.
All things considered, this is a decent effort for a tiny indie studio. And I'm sure they'll improve on all aspects in the announced sequel.
Sly 2 makes a few adjustments to its predecessor. Hub levels now provide exploration and minor mission freedom. Game play systems are numerous - impressively so. Each world has interesting encounters that you don't see again. You also get to play a decent amount as your teammates - although, they're more annoying coming from Sly's varied move set and robust movement.
Like most PS2 platformers, it has some finicky controls and an occasionally disruptive camera. Those frustrations culminate in a finale that dampens the overall experience. Sly 2 at least offers more generous checkpoints and abandons life mechanics.
While Sly 2 does slightly improve on the prior title in most ways, it's not enough to elevate it to a recommendation in the modern gaming era.
Like most PS2 platformers, it has some finicky controls and an occasionally disruptive camera. Those frustrations culminate in a finale that dampens the overall experience. Sly 2 at least offers more generous checkpoints and abandons life mechanics.
While Sly 2 does slightly improve on the prior title in most ways, it's not enough to elevate it to a recommendation in the modern gaming era.
2021
This is essentially Zelda. But it draws inevitable comparisons to Dark Souls because of its somewhat higher difficulty along with the fact that your currency in the game is, well...souls.
The weapons are not very interesting at all. I pecked through with the Umbrella for an achievement, but after switching to the other weapons in post-game, I found that they mostly just dealt bigger damage.
The music is the surprise hit here. Death's Door is well-made overall, but the music is jarringly its greatest quality.
The game has a way with humor, relying on audio cues and typical video game expectations. It does feel a bit derivative, but it's worth a chuckle none-the-less.
The weapons are not very interesting at all. I pecked through with the Umbrella for an achievement, but after switching to the other weapons in post-game, I found that they mostly just dealt bigger damage.
The music is the surprise hit here. Death's Door is well-made overall, but the music is jarringly its greatest quality.
The game has a way with humor, relying on audio cues and typical video game expectations. It does feel a bit derivative, but it's worth a chuckle none-the-less.
2017
Author's note: I'm considering "Mastered" as earning all achievements.
There appears to be a niche where the rag-doll physics engine became the core component of gameplay. It's not particularly enjoyable to play, but it sure leads to some absolutely hilarious stupidity with friends.
There appears to be a niche where the rag-doll physics engine became the core component of gameplay. It's not particularly enjoyable to play, but it sure leads to some absolutely hilarious stupidity with friends.
Drinkbox Studios is a favorite of mine. I've enjoyed everything I've played from them. This brief adventure is no exception.
I played through a completionist playthrough in co-op, which was a blast. The writing is often funny, which is increasingly hard to find in video games and the avatar is a quirky little dude, despite being essentially faceless.
But while the world is rather large and the cast of archetypes you can embody fairly extensive, everything is a bit samey. Combat stays essentially the same, no matter the form you take. Gnaw as a rat or strike as a soldier. The dungeons are randomly generated and offer variety in modifiers but little else.
It was worth the initial adventure, but NG+ started to drag, even after taking a 6-month break.
I played through a completionist playthrough in co-op, which was a blast. The writing is often funny, which is increasingly hard to find in video games and the avatar is a quirky little dude, despite being essentially faceless.
But while the world is rather large and the cast of archetypes you can embody fairly extensive, everything is a bit samey. Combat stays essentially the same, no matter the form you take. Gnaw as a rat or strike as a soldier. The dungeons are randomly generated and offer variety in modifiers but little else.
It was worth the initial adventure, but NG+ started to drag, even after taking a 6-month break.
2022
Charming, playful, short, and sweet - just like the titular munchkins in Tinykin. I would have preferred actual 3D models for the characters, but the awkward blend of styles quickly faded. This is an excellent weekend title.
2021
Toem is a delightful little journey, mostly through the lens of a camera. My only major complaint is the colorless world. Clearly an artistic choice - but I feel it creates a painful lack of expression.
2021
PowerWash Simulator was only as good as its co-op, in my experience. The strange satisfaction of erasing digital dirt only carried my interest so far. And eventually, this started to become Nap Simulator.
But when playing in co-op, it's a blast - the jobs move at a decent pace and it's a great place to just hang out with friends while performing monotonous chores. Unfortunately, the co-op is poorly implemented. The game limits the Campaign to a buddy system, simply making you a duplicate of the host. They likely implemented this to prevent an end-game player from carrying a newbie, which doesn't really make sense, as the end-game washers don't turn you into a power-washing God by any means.
The late levels jump the shark a bit and start to deviate from the core charm - which is getting in a rhythm and seeing that grime wash away. I'm hoping they just go bananas with it at this point and do some different things with the game engine - like arena combat or something.
But when playing in co-op, it's a blast - the jobs move at a decent pace and it's a great place to just hang out with friends while performing monotonous chores. Unfortunately, the co-op is poorly implemented. The game limits the Campaign to a buddy system, simply making you a duplicate of the host. They likely implemented this to prevent an end-game player from carrying a newbie, which doesn't really make sense, as the end-game washers don't turn you into a power-washing God by any means.
The late levels jump the shark a bit and start to deviate from the core charm - which is getting in a rhythm and seeing that grime wash away. I'm hoping they just go bananas with it at this point and do some different things with the game engine - like arena combat or something.
2020
Coming from a firefighter family, this one just felt like home. With all the water hose jetpacks and throwing people out windows.
Playing in co-op was a joy the whole way through. The grind to 100% is fairly daunting - expect lots of money grinding, even after accomplishing every objective in every level.
I would have liked to see different fire-related threats. Your only main adversaries are proper fire and gas fires. A wildfire level could have been intense. Or perhaps grappling with chemical fires? Additionally, different strengths of fire would have added more interesting encounters - such as blue fire to indicate a more challenging opponent.
Despite the simplicity of the game mechanics, the levels stay relatively fresh and interesting. And as you progress in your equipment proficiency, new strategies present themselves every run.
If possible, I highly recommend playing the game in co-op. I feel like something is lost tackling this one alone.
Playing in co-op was a joy the whole way through. The grind to 100% is fairly daunting - expect lots of money grinding, even after accomplishing every objective in every level.
I would have liked to see different fire-related threats. Your only main adversaries are proper fire and gas fires. A wildfire level could have been intense. Or perhaps grappling with chemical fires? Additionally, different strengths of fire would have added more interesting encounters - such as blue fire to indicate a more challenging opponent.
Despite the simplicity of the game mechanics, the levels stay relatively fresh and interesting. And as you progress in your equipment proficiency, new strategies present themselves every run.
If possible, I highly recommend playing the game in co-op. I feel like something is lost tackling this one alone.
2021
I played the majority of The Ascent back in 2022, but finished up the DLC in-between other games.
By far one of the buggiest games I've played on Xbox Series S/X. I often was suddenly stopped in my tracks by a full game freeze - or worse - mission markers just disappearing or becoming inoperable. While the bugs were the most noteworthy interruption, the core of the game was not great either.
Although the game looks beautiful (in a dilapidated kind of way), locations are not distinguishable from each other. Every alley, every bridge, every neon bar - all the same. The combat happening throughout is frantic and often annoying. It seems like everyone in this damn city wants to kill you. Unfortunately, it's not fun or engaging enough to validate the unending encounters.
By far one of the buggiest games I've played on Xbox Series S/X. I often was suddenly stopped in my tracks by a full game freeze - or worse - mission markers just disappearing or becoming inoperable. While the bugs were the most noteworthy interruption, the core of the game was not great either.
Although the game looks beautiful (in a dilapidated kind of way), locations are not distinguishable from each other. Every alley, every bridge, every neon bar - all the same. The combat happening throughout is frantic and often annoying. It seems like everyone in this damn city wants to kill you. Unfortunately, it's not fun or engaging enough to validate the unending encounters.