Recent reviews by F.L.O.

If you enjoy the exploration aspect of souls games, you are in for a treat.

Open areas, winding paths, elevators, and shortcuts leading from one area into the next and back to open a shortcut into a recent area via a different route. The moment of immense satisfaction if you suddenly stand in front of a monument you glimpsed from afar hours ago.

The combat is on the slower side, like Dark Souls Prepare to Die, with the usual side effects of having to time your attacks and manage your stamina appropriately. Bigger foes, giants, and some bosses, can be climbed and shanked, similarly to the moves you might know from Dragons Dogma 1. A combo system promotes precise inputs after each swing with extra damage to combat button mashing. Weapons usually come with up to two abilities you can use like Ashes of War from Eldenring. The best part is the blocking. We got a perfect blocking, or deflecting mechanic in Bleak Faith. If you time your block with the enemy hit you get a red lightning effect that tells you two things. You did not take any damage and, the fun part, you are now able to unleash a critical heavy attack that dumpsters lifebars. Combine that with a Two Handed Maul and those bars drop like my motivation on Monday mornings. Pure ecstasy.

There are plenty of other features worth mentioning, like Perks earned from felling bosses, but the one that truly elevated the experience, both in combat and exploration, was the Homunculus.
A portable checkpoint you can drop anywhere. No more grueling boss runbacks. No hesitation before leaping into suspicious pits, forking paths, or going for dodgy jumps. Just plop down your safety net and thanks to the patented ‘shank yourself’ teleportation method zip back to it whenever you please. Or get respawned there after the pit was bottomless after all.

I enjoyed Bleak Faith way more than I expected.

This is one of the best ARPG experiences I’ve had the pleasure of stumbling upon.

Eight possible heroes you can choose between and swap at any time, even mid fight. There are the usual convicts like Rogue, or Warrior, but also rather uncommon ones like a possesed Loremaster, or a Gladiator that powers up by bathing in her imaginary audiences cheering. A couple dozen Weapons with different Weapon Arts with no restrictions on who can use what. Sword and Shield, Greatsword, Scythe, or range options like Shotguns are part of that sortiment.

The combat is challenging, fluid, and flashy, keeping you on your toes. The gearing system strikes a perfect balance between complexity and simplicity. The dungeons, paired with optional modifiers, are a blast to repeat for quests and loot—but it's the boss fights where this game truly shines.

If you’re looking for a co-op game to enjoy with a friend, or a bright, action-packed adventure to sink your teeth into on your own, give this a try. You won’t regret it.

After addressing the sporadic CTDs, what remains is an excellently crafted soulslike. The combat follows the familiar souls dance - parry, dodge, and bonk. What elevates LotF to a league of its own is the atmosphere it weaves.

The spectral realm, glimpsed through the eerie glow of your lantern, strikes the perfect balance between the macabre and the grotesque. A realm where you traverse along jagged spines, where the sun is replaced by a colossal, ever watchful eyeball, or where door frames silently observe you while you tread through it.

While some of the boss battles follow the conventional pattern, a large amount offers a unique twist. Will-O-Wisp like creatures can be triggered with your lantern, can weaken foes, or straight up knock them out of an otherwise invulnerable phase.

So far, my time spent with the game has been immensely enjoyable, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to those who relish soulslike adventures or are not daunted by challenging gameplay interwoven with ample opportunities to get lost exploring.

Vermintide 2 is a challenging coop game, that delivers hundreds of hours of content for lone players and groups. If you are looking for a game that does not take your hand, is still actively worked on, while not requiring endless grind you are absolutely right here.